#the juxtaposition of his frame vs Who He Is vs What He Does should be eerie and weird

[lovelyrotter]

thinkin about dragon age for the first time in like ages but smth that always struck me as odd is how often cole is mischaracterized and misrepresented. like i can tell when someone hasnt read asunder from how they depict cole. dudes half avvar like hes not a tiny little boy. thin yeah but have you SEEN his LEGS?? and his SHOULDERS? this is a full grown half-avvar man. the avvar are fuckin massive like theyre chasin up the qunari regularly in terms of height. spreading my tall cole agenda

[twistedminutia]

Diasomnia and Selfishness vs Selflessness

Rereading some of Book 7, and it occurs to me how much Lilia, Mallues, and Silver share in their reasons behind their actions, or how they construe their actions as selfless as opposed to selfish.

We’ll start with Lilia, who kicks this whole thing off. Lilia’s initial action is him leaving. First, analyzing the action, it’s extremely abrupt. Lilia gives no prelude, minimal explanation, and doesn’t even seem to acknowledge that it’s sad. He gives no time for anyone to prepare and, in a matter of days, he’s entirely ready to depart his family, possibly for good.

Now, from the perspective of everyone else in Diasomnia, this is devastating, especially for Malleus and Silver who both were at least partially raised by Lilia. His actions are selfish bordering on callous. But for Lilia? These actions are selfless. Lilia isn’t trying to abandon them. He’s trying to spare them. To Lilia, having the people he cares for watch him wither away and die, having to be reliant on them, having to be a burden- he’s trying to spare them that. He doesn’t even want to show sadness, since that might make things harder.

Lilia is attempting to be selfless- he’s trying to minimize the impact of his departure and reduce grief. But by doing so, he’s inadvertently being selfish. By not sharing his sadness, he’s pressuring everyone else to hide their own feelings. By pulling away so quickly, he’s not allowing others to process the loss. By refusing to allow anyone to come with him, he’s taking away a relationship everyone who cares for him. For Lilia, he’s trying to be selfless, but he’s really being selfish- prioritizing his own comfort at the quick loss over what would be better for everyone.

Malleus does something very similar. He characterizes what he’s doing in the dreams as a good thing- a gift. Something he is selflessly giving to everyone. And it’s possible he even believes this. He truly thinks he’s sparing people from pain and suffering.

But he’s still being selfish. He didn’t ask if people wanted this, and, at the end of the day, he didn’t do this because he came to the conclusion on his own. He came to the conclusion because Lilia was leaving and he wanted to stop it. Malleus is trying to use his power to help, but his motives are, at the end of the day, selfish.

And then Silver. People might be protesting he’s never done anything like the other two, but he’s got shades of this as well. Silver’s moment comes when he learns his identity: he’s the son of the Dawn Knight, the person who killed Malleus’ mother. Lilia spared and adopted him, despite considering killing him.

This is the point where Silver plunges into the darkness and considers letting it take him. He frames this action as selfless- he doesn’t deserve his loving family after what his relatives did to them, so he will take himself out of their lives.

But this action is still ultimately selfish, in the same way Lilia’s action is. He’s still denying the people that love him their autonomy (insisting they could not love him when they clearly very much do) and he is also behaving selfishly in regard to their mission- going into the darkness traps Sebek, Yuu, and Grim in the dream and stops them from reaching Malleus, who both needs their help and needs to be stopped. It’s not a malicious selfishness, but it’s there nonetheless.

And then there’s Sebek, who doesn’t engage in any of this nonsense and is more than willing to call people out on it! He calls Silver out, and I’m willing to bet he’ll call Lilia and Malleus out on it as well when we get those confrontations. He breaks the Diasomnia pattern, and does so by being fully and utterly honest with who he is and what he wants.

It should also be noted that Lilia helped raise Malleus and entirely raised Silver, so that plays a part in their tendencies. All in all, the juxtaposition between selfishness and selflessness in Diasomnia is fascinating, and I hope this was an interesting little reflection on how it comes up in the game!

[tiodolma]

MerGana and How Their Extremism May Follow Vulgate/Robert de Boron's Good vs. Evil Story

I think making bbcMorgana's first acts in S3 and S4 of saying that it was good that women and children of camelot will die was a fascinating and deliberate choice of making sure she was ireedemable and "evil" in the eyes of the audience.

The framing of bbcMorgana as killer of innocents (even when she was just following bbcMorgause's orders) in juxtaposition of bbcMerlin as vigilante executioner of treasonous criminals makes the audience lean more favorably towards bbcMerlin's extremism.

Writing bbcMorgana as one who takes pleasure in the suffering of others also enabled the producers to makes sure that the audience can forgive bbcMerlin's own crimes because he does it with obvious anguish.

............

Points to consider though:

BbcMorgana was educated for one year that what she was doing was right and justified. Based on her intimate knowledge if the peopleof Camelot, they are all complicit in the deaths of millions of the magic race and their allies. Her extremist training under bbcMorgause amplified that drive to punish all and then rejoice in their downfall. The bbcMorgana who cared for the wellbeing of Camelot already died when she was executed without trial and due cause (basically assassinated) for the sake of the Kingdom. (Remember, hemlock has no antidote)

BbcMerlin's extremism allowed him to bypass laws that even Camelot held dear. But since he does this with anguish, sorrow and burden of destiny/god's will then, he is forgiven and justified by the watchers of his acts even though he usually held the metaphorical gun at point blank range and then called it "self-defense"

............

I would say the merlinbbc show matches with the way The Story of Merlin was written in Robert de Boron tradition and the Vulgate. The clear distinction between good and evil in these classic literature was always "light and dark", "hatred and love."

Commiting heinous acts in "wrath, bitterness and revenge" "and taking pleasure in suffering" was the "work of the devil" "letting the devil into one's heart" (as the case of vulgate!merlin's conception)

And committing heinous acts while in anguish is technically acceptable in the eyes of destiny and the christian god. (As was the case of robertdeboron!merlin assisting in arthur's and ector de maris's conception)

...........

Then there is an argument that the show followed the heavily christian vulgate philosophy of good and evil all along?

That other philosophies and ideas which revolve around good/evil, light/dark, hatred/love being in constant balance should not be applied to the show because classic arthuriana doesnt use them?

..................

Redemption, also leans on the idea of bbcMerlin spreading the "good word" to the others. That the unbelievers will be saved if they join him in backing the One and Only Savior and King. If they don't and if they fight against it then there will be a judgement. It is never the other way around despite the unbelievers also having valid justification. As expected this reflects the highly christian messaging of the classic source material too.

Then if other watchers lean/sympathise more towards the motivations and actions of the "antagonists," "the unbelievers," "members of the old religion that fight against the prophecy" then they are "letting evil prevail" and "you dont understand the objective of the story"

Would it also mean that such antagonist-sympathetic fandom wank are technically not worth rehashing because it would be too rooted in actual historicity/real life instead of the classic arthurian mythology and christian influences that the show was based on?

.............

Anyhow the next time you hear people saying that the merlin bbc writers were stupid and didnt know what they were doing, please reconsider.

[notdexterousatall]

I love the juxtaposition of practicality vs sentimentality in Andor. All the main rebels - Luthen, Mon Mothma, Vel, Cassian - are working to serve grand ideals, but in the course of the story have to sacrifice their own sentimentality on the altar to those ideals and act with ruthless practicality.

Vel and Cinta have to put their relationship in the last place of their priorities. Mon frames her husband for gambling and introduces her daughter to a gangster's son as a possible betrothal to cover for her rebel activities. Cassian is introduced killing a cop who is begging for his life because he can't risk that cop ratting him out, and he knows he will. Cassian also misses his mother's funeral despite how much he must have wanted to attend, because he knows he's a wanted man and it's also his best chance to rescue Bix. Acting sentimentally in that moment is never even a consideration for him. And, obviously, Luthen - as he says, he's made his mind a sunless place and is condemned to use the tools of his enemies to defeat them.

All of the rebels' actions are undeniably driven by the empire, who are acting with the same ruthless practicality, and even beyond that. But when the empire does it, their only ideal is power - the cruelty they inflict is the point. The rebels act ruthlessly while serving an ideal - freedom - and it's because of that the people around them are inspired to act as well. We see it with Nemik, who is so inspired by the rebels' cause that he throws himself into a mission he's not really qualified for and writes an entire manifesto, and then dies for it. We see it with Maarva, who is unknowingly inspired by her son to take up the cause, and then raises the rest of the town with her. We even see it with the aliens who rescue Cassian and Melshi from the prison planet, despite their bounty. All these people act against their own self interest in the short term because the rebels give them hope of fighting against the tyranny of the empire.

Obviously this is nothing new - it's the overarching message of the OT! But Andor just executes it so perfectly. We don't need the characters to tell us that the empire is evil - we see it for ourselves. And we don't need to be told that the rebels are the good guys - we see that for ourselves too, despite the undeniable ruthlessness of their actions. And it all builds to Maarva's beautiful funeral speech at the end, where she tells us what we're all - and all the characters, too - are thinking: we should be fighting these bastards. That's when sentimentality wins the day. It's so damn good.

[justsomeguycore]

i also think this episode helped frame something i’ve thought about mike for a long time which is that we tend to give him a lot of passes because he doesn’t enjoy hurting or killing people, he prefers not to do it but sees it as just part of the job, something he has to do only when necessary. which is what it seems like, in that world. but he made his choice to be involved with crime just like everyone else and i really liked how nacho’s father reminds him of that. it doesn’t matter what your intentions are, or that you don’t take pleasure in it. your actions are elbow deep in death and pain and that makes you the same as the monsters at the end of the day. especially because everything he does is to enable them.

i think other than the killing, mike does love his job. he’s very good at it and doing a good job satisfies him. obviously as a former soldier and cop it’s no surprise that he’s completely desensitized to killing, that he’s able to compartmentalize what should be unthinkable and abhorrent as an unfortunate but necessary evil. but i just love the juxtaposition of him and mr varga, who is also an incredibly dedicated and hardworking person but whose industry is not darkly glamorous or thrilling as mike’s.

obviously mike has a conscience, has principles. he just doesn’t think it matters. what good ever came of standing by them? and i’ve said this before about how differently people treat kim and mike, kim who enjoys the scheming and the chaos vs mike who seems to hate it, they want to say she is a villain and he isn’t. but kim’s actions so far have only tangentially led to the death of one person (maybe two if you count her participation in the Great Chicanery as leading to chuck’s death), and when that happened she left. mike has killed countless people, and will stay in it til the end. and i don’t mean to imply that mike is the real villain and kim is innocent. it’s just interesting how people will forgive all of his violence because he doesn’t like it, but won’t forgive the lesser things she’s done because she does. and also because of misogyny obviously. but the point still stands.

[life-rewritten]

Flower Of Evil: A tiptoe into more psychopathology vs normalcy

So this is not full proof that this is the next drama this blog will focus on. However, I must say that after 4 episodes I have become seduced by the storyline of Flower of Evil. Instead of analysing the mystery of the show; how Do Hyun So ended up being framed up in this mess (plus what actually happened 18 years ago with his family). I want to focus again on psychology. In fact, my observations are that it seems this year’s theme of dramas is exploring the fight to be accepted when you are seen or have something psychologically wrong with you. So what’s up with Korea wanting to show the truth of people with ASPD on screen. There has been a portrayal of people with this disorder, not wanting to be known for what they have.  They want to be known for what their potential could be if treated equally, focusing on their need to be in control and rational. 

Psychopathology vs Normalcy 

This shows up as massive bases for these two dramas. We are introduced to Go Moon Young, in Psycho, but it’s okay and Do Hyun So in this drama Flower of Evil. I love how both titles have the juxtaposition of two concepts in them. One is Psycho, but it’s okay; being seen as Psycho means you have something wrong with your mind, so you’re not meant to be okay. On the other hand,  with Flower of Evil; flowers are typically perceived as beautiful and symbolise innocence, love and positivity, so evil is not meant to be connected with these two.

These titles correlate with the feelings our characters have with how the world perceives them vs what they actually think and want to be. They crave normalcy and warmth while the world believes they should be cold and emotionless. While it’s okay to not be okay aims to give a message about how people are all normal even if they struggle with what’s wrong with them, they still deserve love and warmth. 

The Diagnosis

The similarities of both our character’s quest for freedom of trauma and abuse and need to be loved:

Do Hyun So is born with ASPD, unfortunately for him, people did not have a full understanding for it and as we are shown they believed he was possessed and continued to abuse him in need to try and eradicate what was wrong with him. Already he has been outcasted by everyone and society never to really have a place to fall on unless he starts again with no one knowing who he is. Meanwhile, Moon Young is forced and groomed into having ASPD. She doesn’t have ASPD, but judged because of her actions; taught to her by her mother.  When young, Moon Young was isolated, and people viewed her as a monster, not understanding why she said or did the things she did. To protect who she loves, she also chased them away by showing them an action which was seen as monstrous. (chasing Gang Tae away by killing butterflies) 

The Lover

Both become obsessed with someone who brings them a new perspective of wanting to be healthy. Ji Won shows up and falls for Hyun So immediately she sees him, she’s attracted to him and fights to be liked by him. Hyun So realises that she can be used to fake normalcy with his new identity and also understands that she helps his trauma (the ghost of his dad) disappear. Quite similar Gang Tae is attracted to Moon Young for saving his life and also fights to be liked by her when younger, she also realises he’s the prince that can introduce her to new emotions. However, he runs away when she tries to chase him away. And fights to succumb to his feelings when they are reunited because of how he perceives her. Ji Won doesn’t yet know her husband has ASPD and is hiding his identity, and now she is slowly uncovering the truth. Gang Tae is exposed to Moon Young from the start and runs away once he discovers it.

Both can be cruel when they want. Hyun So is to protect the people in his life (I’m sure if he murdered before it’s because he was protecting his sister or someone he cares about and in the act of defence or anger he does it) but he also uses cruelty to prevent his secret from coming out. Moon Young uses cruelty only to teach people realism and help people overcome their trauma. She believes there’s no need to shy away from the truth. 

The Parent

Both have psychopath parents who are killers with no remorse. Hyun So father is apparently a serial killer who probably forced him to watch and learn his actions. And Moon Young has a mother with ASPD that killed people to make sure they don’t take her or her daughter to the hospital. Each parent is connected to the very root of the trauma both characters suffer from.

There is a need for both not to want to end up like their parent even though the world connects them to that.

Do Hyun So, has been on the run for his life for 18 years; adopted as another family’s son. He is also married with this identity and has a kid. He is now desperate to cover up his secrets and make sure no one finds out the truth. Moon Young also rewrote her life becoming famous, actively declaring her self as an orphan despite both her parents being alive, and accepted her fate to be alone and continue being emotionless/monster people viewed her as. Her wealth is protected by her being a well-renowned fairy-tale author. Again both of them have sought different transformations to escape their past while trying to be normal for the sake of it. Do Hyun So actively conceals his identity while Moon Young embraces parts of hers and works hard to erase her connection to her parents. 

The Trauma

However, both have traumatic PTSD visions from their past. Do Hyun So starts seeing his father appear in front of him each time he’s angry or prone to react, and he becomes frightened and terrified. Moon Young has sleep paralysis because of nightmares of her mother pinning her to the bed and telling her she’ll kill anyone she lets into her life. Gang Tae provides Moon Young, a sleeping doll to take away her nightmares, and being with him teaches her to want to let go of her trauma. Ji Won also provides refuge for Hyun So because she makes his father’s vision disappear. Again the idea of love providing this place for them to feel safe and secure in becomes a theme as well in the show. Both have to stop trying to be in control in other to get healing, and right now Hyun So is breaking all his efforts little by little and its causing him to spiral. However the saying the truth will set you free is real, once his wife can see past his disorder and past, they both will help him get his name cleared and also maybe have a relationship that is based on their authentic selves being exposed. 

The Mask

Flower of evil takes a different turn though as we try to uncover this murder case and who is framing Do Hyun So, it becomes apparent that Hyun So isn’t the psychopath killer people have labelled him as because of his ASPD. Instead, he tries hard to wear a mask where he practises fake smiles, fake emotions and counterfeit feelings by looking at cue cards that show those very same emotions. This is similar to the cue cards,  Moon Young is shown by Gang Tae when he thought she didn’t understand feelings. These are used for his brother as well with autism.) The theme of PBIO was the unravelling of the masks and embracing the real person. I wonder if Flower of evil will continue on with that theme. So far, I am intrigued by the show. 

The Truth

I believe that just as Moon Young, the reason why Hyun So is so desperate to control the narrative is that he knows people will keep labelling him because of his ASPD as a monster. No one will believe his truth or the reveal of his story of what happened in the past. No one would be able to vouch for him because they all thought he was crazy, and he also had a parent who was an actual serial killer, it makes it even harder to believe him. He instead retains this façade, though you see him show a little bit of hurt/resentment in episode 4 when Ji Won mentions his ASPD and uses it to connect his reasons for murder and her sheer belief that he is the murder suspect everyone is looking for. He isn’t happy but resigns himself to the fact that it will always be this way. What I think he doesn’t know is that his wife won’t be that way I predict, she’ll panic at first, but like she said at the beginning of episode 1 when she kisses him underwater, she will continue to love him unconditionally no matter what. So she will be the key to unveiling the real truth hopefully.

[attemptingthoughtfulness]

...this is worthless, I’m rambling and procrastinating. Sorry ‘bout that.

(minor spoilers for Naruto and Detective Conan as well as major spoilers for Magic Kaito and... Avengers Endgame?)

I’m procrastinating, don’t mind me. And during that time of procrastination I have been watching a show I used to watch when I was like 12 or 13, so it’s been a while. And even though that show has some obvious flaws - flaws I will be writing about in a bit - it find myself liking it. So why?

Magic Kaito is a spin-off show of the much bigger Detective Conan anime, which was actually my first anime ever and one of the few memories I have from age 0-4. I actually went onto the wiki and looked up the episode, which was a lot harder than you can imagine: episode 282 which features (for that show anyway) rather graphic imagery of a bloody corpse and like blood in showers and stuff. I don’t know if I just randomly watched the most traumatizing episodes of animes or - which is far more likely - I just remember them darker thant they were but the Naruto episode right afterwards was the one where Gaara tries to murder Lee at the Chunin exams which is also a rather dark episode. (I know, it doesn’t really matter but that was season 3 episode 58 of the original Naruto series). I bet you could find out the exact day and station that I was watching because there’s virtually no way those two episodes would ever follow each other more than once.

I guess that’s not what it’s really about but Detective Conan was probably one of the core animes I watched when I was younger because it was well known and free online. It was also the one that got me into doing QCs for subtitles (funny story, since I had been a QC for a while and seen the really bad mistakes some translators did, I actually applied for the “job” of a translator, that was mere months before I wrote my Cambridge Certificate exam which I, not to brag, passed with C2, and I had been rejected, which probably fed into my fear of rejection but is also  very funny retrospectively.)

I don’t like Detective Conan that much, it’s a fun episodic detective story that has a very, very thin overarching plot and is probably only ever end when the writers don’t have ideas for crimes anymore. And Magic Kaito suffers from its bigger sibling immensely. In case you don’t know, and I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, Magic Kaito tells the story of a character that occasionally appears in Detective Conan - a thief who is also a magician (which is quite frankly the best pairing I have ever seen, it’s such a good idea!). Kaito is the son of one of the biggest magicians ever who gets killed in a mysterious accident. One day he finds out that his dad was the thief in the moonlight Kaito Kid and murdered by a mysterious organization - who he now tries to lure out of hiding to protect his father’s legacy and put them in jail.. or something? I mean, there is some revenge fantasy implied, but he’s also like 17 and it’s a children’s anime, so he probably doesn’t want to kill them. Anyway, the way he does it is dressing himself up as Kaito Kid to attract those criminals. And that’s the entire premise of a 24 episodes anime.

Before we get into anything, here some in-universe lore that has been stuck in my mind since 13. My favourite thing about Kid is that his name was also “master thief 1412″, the number being the police file number, but if you write the numbers in a certain way it looks like the word “Kid”, a name given him by Shinichi Kudo’s father (meaning Conan’s father). And both Conan’s and Kaito’s fathers knew each other and were aquantances that respected each other? Like, Conan’s mom went to Kaito’s dad for acting training and stuff which is how his dad figured out that he was Kaito Kid. And when her training ended Conan’s dad gave her a card to give Kaito’s dad with an exclaimationpoint - which was an answer to a card he had previously given him with a question mark. Excuse me if my speech is unclear, I am just nostalgic.

Okay, let’s get started: the series suffers from weak characters and the introduction of too many ideas. That’s it. To get the first thing out of the way: if you make an anime about a spin off character and the main character of the main show keeps showing up that means you don’t trust your spin off to stand on its own feet. I love appearances of in universe characters of other shows, I love the MCU, but imagine if Iron Man kept popping up in Jessica Jones. I mean, he can’t because he’s dead but still. Or Aang keept being part of The Legend of Korra. From 24 episodes, Conan/Shinichi is a major character in 4 of them and is also kinda important in another one. That does not really speak of confidence about your series’ characters which is fair considering it got rebooted. Also, every episode starts with Kaito Kid “opening commentary” the episode before the curtain opens and the actual thing starts - and it also ends with Kid shortly commenting on it and bowing in the end which more often than not features the phrase “I will keep entertaining you if you wish so.”, which is a kinda funny meta commentary of the creator’s being painfully aware of their situation.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, there are really good scenes and funny moments; the one that made me laugh was when Kid hasn’t stolen anything for like three months and since Kaito still goes to high school his friend is kinda disappointed and he thinks: “Who do you think I am? A weekly manga magazine?”, which is already funny but literally a few miliseconds afterwards his friend goes: “Oh, I know why he hasn’t stolen anything for so long! He’s dead!” and he falls off his chair. These jokes wouldn’t be fun on their own but their close proximity to each other makes them work so well. I’m like 70% sure this happened to Gosho Aoyama at some point Over all there is a lot of very good imagery, the magic tricks and heists are fun and often times we have parallel’s, call backs and very well fitting juxtapositions, but over all there’s just a bunch of not-great going on, which I will list now:

1. The Jukebox and the Poker Face: The entire show is also framed by this jukebox Kaito’s dad has left him which has 24 disk and an appendix playing some advice that is tangentially related to the episode. And what more often than not gets repeated is that “he should not forget his poker face”, which, yeah, seems like generally good advice for a magician but... why? It doesn’t serve narrative purpose at all. There is no theme or deeper meaning in the show? The idea of a poker face doesn’t even gets touched on outside of the first episode? Like, otherwise he never breaks his pokerface and there’s like no tension between his real self and the poker face which might as well be a metaphor for Kaito vs. his thief persona. I dunno, am I reading too much into this - why poker face?! Further more, because the jukebox only has 25 audio tracks in total and they play every time Kaito is up to a heist, it kinda feels like he doesn’t do anything in between the episodes? Like, if he listens to that juke box chronologically, which seemed implied, he has only gone to like 25 heists in total which.. is fine for real life statistics but doesn’t really make sense since there is no sense of time in that universe and it just feels like he’s done a lot more?

2. Magic: Yupp, in a universe with a magician reliant on smart tricks and improvisation like a magician on stage there are witches with actual magic. There is actual magic introduced to a world that has previously never had magic before and, believe it or not, magic has no purpose at all. Actually, it does kinda come up in three episodes and they do some really fun stuff the first time with the idea that an illusionist wants to trick and entertain an audience, change their hearts which has different if not more value than actual magic changing the people themselves. Really cool stuff. Would be a shame if the writers wouldn’t know how to go from there and it never comes up again.

3. Super weak as fuck characters outside of Kaito: There are, in total six characters that are not Conan which switch up being the focus of an episode. The witch that practises afor mentioned actual magic is this archetype of a seductress who uses love spells to make boys like her and because her magic doesn’t work on Kaito Kid, she’s like super into him. First, she wants to kill him because she detests his trickery but then she just kinda wants to bang him? And that’s her entire character. Then there is a detective. I didn’t even bother learning his name because he’s the “main challenge” for the first episode he appears and then just kinda stands next to the police officer occasionally to drop observations for exposition or tell Kid something he doesn’t know. I mean, you cannot introduce another high school detective into a universe that whose main character is literally a high school detective. It was as if Jessica Jones kept having Iron Man and another random play boy billionaire with a weird robot suit. There just hast to be a better character than that? Make it a very smart police officer, just anything else. It feels like most of the characters are mostly window dressing and there is just no emotional arc to them whatsoever - they’re treated like most side characters that get shown something by Kaito Kid, have a change of heart and never appear again - with the exception that they are on screen. Constantly. Doing nothing at all.

4.The last two episodes: They’re probably the worst. So, there is this “new magician-thief in town and his name is Kaito Corbeau” and he’s kind of the antithesis of Kaito Kid, dressing in the same suit but in black and probably like a joke on the fact that Kaito Kid is a magician who uses doves which are white and crows are black? I mean, it’s fun but the mirror doesn’t really work that much because the words “Kid” and “Corbeau” don’t mirror each other and Kaito Kid rarely uses doves. But I get the point, A for effort, I guess. Anyway, so. Corbeau who looks suspiciously much like Kaito’s dad and apparently knows something about his death, then challenges Kaito to a duel of thieves also being a magician asks him to solve the mistery of how he will steal some precious gem. By the end of the first episode of the two-parter, Corbeau has stolen the gem and Kaito walks home wondering how he did it. As he comes home the lights of his house are turned on, which is weird since he lives alone because his dad is dead and his mother is always travelling the world. But that unexpected visitor turns out to be his mother and my first reaction was... really? No, they would not be doing such a stupid thing, right? Nah, that’s probably a red herring. No way she’s Corbeau. (Spoiler: she’s Corbeau.) And she asks him “if he really wants to do this? If he doesn’t want to become a magician in Vegas or anything?”, which is a reasonable question from a mother: do you really want to be a thief and hunt some criminals who might as well kill you like your da? But it’s also kind of a stupid one because it is absolutely reasonable that he definitely wants to do that and that there is no grain of doubt in his mind that he does. And that is ultimately the problem of the last two episodes: they’re about testing Kid’s commitment which fails on a bunch of levels. The first one being: there is never a struggle on the side of Kid at all. He never doubts himself, Corbeau isn’t even that big of a challenge, considering he has been regularly challenged by genius high school detectives who seem to be the smartest demographic ever, an actual witch, a serial killer+thief, another differen thief and this shady organization that killed his dad. There is no escalation, no actual struggle against all odds making him question his motivations which - he doesn’t even think for longer than a second about his mother’s questions which is why, when Corbeau tells him around the end that it was all to test his commitment, it could have been substituted for literally anything else.

However, that’s not my real problem with that: Kaito Kid is a necessity, not an identity. There is no need for a commitment towards the figure of Kaito Kid because the moment that criminal organization is caught, there is no need for the mantle of Kaito Kid anymore. This whole idea of commitment of character falls apart because Kid is not a superhero. He’s not taking up a huge and never ending task that is going to take forever - Kaito could very well become a big magician in Vegas afterwards, these things are not mutually exclusive which is why that question kinda backfires and makes his mom look bad because she doubts him for no reason whatsoever? Also, Kaito is literally still in high school and 17, they somehow came up with something less rational than having him dress up as a magician at night and hunting criminals by having him drop out of high school and become a magician in Las fucking Vegas with 17. And I get that it’s the last episode and you wanna end it on a heroic note but that didn’t work at all.

(next morning thoughts: I think I kinda understand the underlying problem of those two episodes now, let me, like the show itself compare it to his bigger brother - Detective Conan. There is no similar episode to test the main character’s strength of mind, but his parents often times wonder and ask him if he really wants to do this considering he nearly died the first time, and that is genuine care and if it wasn’t a better idea to let the police handle it; Conan always answers that he needs to keep doing it. However, these kinds of episodes would actually work with Conan as the main character because for one, his parent’s reasoning is way more sensical and two: he’s inherently human. Yeah, he is super smart and knows a bunch of weird shit that helps him solving crimes, but detectives are humans and they never pretend to be otherwise. I’m not saying magicians aren’t humans, the idea of supernatural things that is beautiful and quite literally casts a spell over us, to be willingly tricked into a world where the impossible is possible is a very human thing. Magicians just aren’t, they’re entertainers and try to exceed our reality, to be exceptional and - to be not human. That’s why the show always has him being cocky and witty, rarely struggling more than a bit with a heist, because he needs to. At this point his poker face has quite literally become his entire character.)

I know, I have been rambling, what I wanted to say is: despite all of this I don’t dislike the show. And in a way it suffers from the same Detective Conan problem of having selfcontained stories but an obligation to connect them to each other, weakening the entire thing. And I don’t know why I like it so much, because I like it more than anything reasonable would justify me to. And this is kinda what I need to find out. I’m very tired now and I have three days to work on my paper and I should go to sleep. If you expected a satisfying conclusion to this whole affair: welcome to Magic Kaito and I’m sorry.

[filmsubject-ive]

ANALYSIS: JOKER

Todd Phillips’ “Joker” is a cinematic masterpiece with exquisite cinematography, music, editing and colour. The four strongest elements of mise-en-scene in this film layer and merge together to create a stunning film with the most use of dichotomy of any film made in 2019. Joker also remains to be one of the most impressive films made in that year, with its constant dichotomy of emotion and tone, as well as leaving the question in the audience’s mind of whether Arthur, the main character, is a protagonist gone wrong or an antagonist in the making.

Right off the bat the tracking shots of the actors running across the street are so fluid and work so well to establish an initial fast paced action scene; this combined with the zooming out of the camera as we move away from the main character on the ground makes for an impressive start to the film, camera-wise. This continues as we see stunning shots with a shallow depth of field, making it so that although Arthur’s face is a tiny proportion of the frame, we are drawn to him and see the weariness on his face as he continues through his day.

Throughout the film, the cinematography does well to emulate the feeling of Arthur being trapped, whilst simultaneously implying that he should be in prison – we see him at work through bars, and then through a wire fence; being shielded from him in this way is eerily similar to visiting someone or seeing them through bars of a cell. In addition, during one scene in the latter half of the film, Arthur is behind a screen facing a clerk, which recalls back to these earlier scenes where he has been shielded from people, perhaps for their safety. However, in this scene his erratic performance adds to the feeling that he should be imprisoned, as this combined with the purposeful framing of the shot suggests that the clerk requires protection from him through a physical barrier. During this half of the film, we are also introduced to Arthur’s more vulnerable side where he either is freely allowed to express himself or we as an audience are given a more personal connection to him, where we understand his backstory and the events leading up to his life in the present day. This is highlighted through handheld camera shots, to perhaps break down the barrier of formal, rigid filming to soften the audience’s perception of him and, again, enhanced by his performance, we are shown these moments where we are free to make our own judgements of him. On the other hand, this type of camera technique is also used during moments where we are supposed to be scared of him or are shown the uglier side of his personality, where his horrifying actions truly come to light, for example, when he first creates this “Joker” persona at his stand-up comedy performance, just after committing his first crime. In this way, Todd Phillips’ decisions to place these events right after each other are imperative in creating the dichotomy that truly brings this whole film to light; the audience are in a near-constant conflict of trying to feel empathy for him and his tragic life, but at the same time feeling disgusted or horrified by his crimes. This dichotomy is very cleverly navigated using handheld camera shots and purposefully planting the idea of Arthur being a threat to people by shielding him from both the audience’s view and other characters’ view.

Music in the film is entirely erratic, and is heard both in a parallel way and a contrapuntal way. For example, the very beginning of the film gives us low and melancholy strings, which, after viewing the exposition and understanding the state of Gotham, is extremely parallel to the tone of the film at that moment. This music becomes loud and ominous as Arthur discovers the cause for his trauma and uncovers lies that he has been told his entire life, heightening the feeling of betrayal we feel second-hand to, as an audience. The music is then intermittent throughout the film’s climax, playing aggressively and loudly over sharp flashbacks to earlier; these editing decisions work well to create an uneasy atmosphere and thus makes the music parallel to the situation. Sound in this way is imperative in subtly and then slowly very obviously hinting to the audience that Arthur has become delusional. This is further explored as a much unexpected end to the music happens when Arthur appears on television to admit to his crimes and deliver his admissions in a terrifyingly calm manner. The audience is pulled into one side of the conflict where we are scared of him, and as the film nears to its end, the most surprising use of upbeat, contrapuntal music accompanies imagery of riots and fires. This is eventually replaced by the solemn strings heard in the beginning, to bring us full circle audibly; however, the damage has been done, and the sharp changes in music from being upbeat, happy and extremely out of place, to devastatingly melancholy brings the audience on an unpredictable audio ride that truly makes way for the madness of Arthur’s mental descent.

In an entirely different way, colour in “Joker” has been used to set the tone for the film and symbolise where it is that Arthur feels he is able to be himself, or when he truly feels comfortable with his feelings – for majority of the film’s locations, Arthur is shrouded in cool colours, with the only warm lighting being when he is with his mother or in his family home, i.e. a place he is comfortable in. Phillips’ seems to draw parallels between Arthur’s face paint and the lighting, as there are many blue, red and bright white hues used to match his clown paint. This could perhaps be symbolic of Arthur’s slow descent into madness that matches the riots and unrest in Gotham, as well as suggesting that Arthur’s influence through his crimes have bled into the city. We as an audience are again faced with a juxtaposition – on the one hand, we see Arthur’s mental health deteriorate and are subtly aware of it through the cool blue and white hues in the locations he visits, but we are also faced with the warm yellows of his apartment building where we are confronted with the proof that he is a kind soul and cares immensely for his mother. This kind of dichotomy is a constant battle for the audience, through camerawork and elements of mise-en-scene that blend together to come back to the enigma code we are presented with through most of the film (bar the ending where we are forced to accept one of these options as being true): is Arthur a protagonist gone wrong, or an antagonist in the making?

As mentioned in the exploration of the elements of this film that have worked together, dichotomy is the most prevalent concept that Phillips’ seems to want his audience to be left with: put simply, do we feel sorry for him because of the circumstances he is in/has been forced into? Or do we accept that his mental health has deteriorated but he is a true antagonist who wants nothing more than to wreak havoc in his city? A complex blend of nature vs. nurture, it is difficult to place the blame of his crimes onto Arthur without acknowledging that his mental well-being has been disregarded by his counsellor, his city and his mother. We are constantly, as an audience, viewing Arthur from afar, the camera being concealed by furniture or physical barriers, as if to say we should be afraid of him and what he has become. But we are also given moments where the narrative has unfolded so that we cannot help but feel sorrow at the state of his life – flashbacks and his own discoveries about the circumstances in which he grew up truly are an eye opener into how people are abandoned by their societies, and how people who have the power to help them turn a blind eye, as if they do not even exist within their bubble .This film truly draws on some parallels about mental health, public services and what is being done by higher powers for the lower classes and those less fortunate. The dichotomy is incredibly important, as it teaches us that we should never assume human beings to be simple, but that there are a huge amount of factors that contribute to how people become who they are, whether they be deemed significant and important, or whether they be inferior and thus “jokers” or the laughing stock of society.

[rwbynarrative]

Why Adam is dead as hell but Cinder survived

I’ve seen enough snide mediocre hot takes today.

The context, content and presentation of Cinder’s “death” in V5 and Adam’s death in V6 are incredibly different, and both give severely different implications about the fate of the characters. Not only was Cinder surviving the clash in V5 fairly obvious even at the time, but there is no room for doubt that Adam is dead now. And as one woman’s attempt to at least stem this sort of sentiment, let me explain fully:

1. Context

Let me lay out the set-up of V5, just so we can be clear. Cinder, our primary villain (not the final antagonist, the main villainous force towards the protagonists), is defeated by Raven, a secondary character introduced the volume before. Cinder, it should be noted, has no revealed backstory, no personal conflict with Raven, unresolved personal conflict with the main cast, including the main character, and is the main antagonist. 

These all indicate that she’s not dying now. Frankly it’d be pretty awful writing to kill her off. Raven is not significant enough to kill Cinder, in the grand scheme of the story. We still don’t know why Cinder does what she does, in an explicit sense. Having her final fight not only not occur with the main cast, but not even in their presence? Do I need to explain why that’s not happening? Also, do I need to explain why killing off the main antagonist before the story is even half over is unrealistic?

Cinder was very clearly not done in the narrative. But Adam?

Well, your mileage may vary. I’ve seen a few people express that they’re disappointed that his story ends here, and propose ways that he could have been incorporated into future arcs. I’ve seen plenty of others express that they feel him dying here was a perfect climax to the arc set up by the V3 finale. If I had to sum it up, some feel disappointed that he was a personal villain to Blake, rather than a plot villain.

This post is not for judging the quality of the writing, but the point remains that he was intended to be a personal villain to Blake. With that in mind, let me lay out the context of his death like I did for Cinder:

Adam, Blake’s personal antagonist from before the start of the show, is killed by Blake and Yang together, main protagonists whose arcs revolve around the trauma he inflicted on them. Adam has no other personal conflict with the protagonists presented in the show, a semi-revealed backstory that infers a lot about his personality, and is a personal antagonist to a character who killed him.

Almost everything, context-wise, is a complete 180 to Cinder’s “death”. This time it is set up in the narrative, in almost every way possible. Narratively speaking, there isn’t anything more to reveal about Adam - we know what sort of person he is, and we know what likely put him on that path. More importantly, this caps off the arcs of two main protagonists, and is a huge important stepping stone for their development. A possible argument you could make is that the reveal of his SDC brand ties him to the Atlas plot and theoretically sets up future conflict potential for him, but even so the show has continually reinforced that his role in Blake and Yang’s story is his main purpose in the story.

Revealing Adam to be alive now? I... I genuinely can’t see any way it wouldn’t feel like a hack move. Because it would be. This is where he’s meant to end. And that’s also exemplified through the presentation of both events.

2. Presentation

I will never claim to have an objective viewpoint. The things I have said in the comments above are, to some degree, arguable, and I respect your right to disagree. So allow me to present evidence for my next point: Cinder’s “death” and Adam’s death are similar on the outside, but are very different in presentation.

For length’s sake, I’ll keep this at the moment of “death” in both cases, because if I get into the differences in the tone of the fights I’ll be here all day. To start with: Raven never lands a lethal strike on Cinder.

The move is never presented as a killing attack, but instead as a powerful stunning blow that downs Cinder. It’s notable even, that Raven wields a bladed weapon, but it wasn’t used in this scenario.

This is, obviously, in direct contrast to:

This, even within the universe of rwby, pretty fuckin fatal. The most serious injury that has been survived on-screen in rwby so far as Yang’s arm being cut off, which was under the implication that it received medical care fairly quickly. But an arm is not required for living - your internal organs definitely are. 

The aftermath of both blows is also notable. In the case of Cinder vs Raven, Raven’s strike knocks her off the platform - after which Raven freezes her solid, allowing her to fall to her “death”

Once again, actual lethality is avoided - there is an implication of Cinder’s death, but it is not shown as an on-screen event. The phrase “no body, no death” is appropriate - the theoretical lethal impact of Cinder is never shown. In the case of Adam, a similar technique is used:

However, what isn’t captured in these screen-caps is the difference. With Adam, the action following the fatal strike isn’t quick. We see nearly 30 seconds for Adam to react to his injuries, from him slowly dropping his arms, to him stumbling forward, his expression, to him finally falling. Staying on this moment is important, because it allows the gravity of the situation to build, and reinforces the scene beforehand - that Adam has been mortally injured by Blake and Yang. It also demonstrates the severity of the injury. It is arguable that the scene implied Adam was dead before he even started falling.

Let me be clear - the length of the scenes, the type and severity of injury, the framing - it is all hugely different between these events. The only overlap is “no body no death”, which I’ll give you - although Adam does hit the rock bridge on the way down with a very loud crunch, which I can only assume is meant to be reinforcement of death.

I could go on. The post-death scenes are also important - the focus put on how Blake reacts to Adam’s death in juxtaposition to the unimportance of Cinder vs Raven in terms of the actual finale conflict in V5, which was between Yang and Raven. 

But the tl;dr of this is: there’s a mile of difference between these scenes, and taking into account these differences suggests far more significantly that Adam is dead than alive.

[themanicgalaxy]

SPN 5X4 The End

ehehehe

ohohoho

hehehe

oh this is gonna be FUN!

oo nice fade in

"god's plan for you" oh heh

he was confused

Cas on the phone is so funny to me

thIS IS THE "voice says I'm almost out of minutes"

HE'S SO DISGRUNTLED IT'S SO FUNNY

"i'll just-" *awkwardly looks at hung up phone* "wait here then"

HE LOOKS SO DISGRUNTLED AND ANNOYED AHAHAHA

hello mr messenger of god

oh huh it IS actually Sam

ope Dean's just Numb

Dean calling out the revenge is a nice touch tbh

"I think the way we(I) was raised made us weaker" IS SO MUCH! it'S! SO MUCH

"always used against us" aaosfhdsf'

I wish someone could analyze this without the...thing happening

BOY he's numb and tired

oho and he wakes up in a decrepit bed

It'S VISION TIME F U C K E R S

o huh Chuck's in this one

good horror imagery with the lil girl

ah you can notice the legs

CROATOAN! OH B OY

shit they REALLY set it up

R U N

god I love this needle drop

2014..

ah the radio! interesting

ah Zachariah!

"no more sports"

hits different now

oh THAT's why the kid looked so disoriented

Dean getting pissed at the Angel Powers is so fun

ah GOD not bobby

hunter journal!! hunter! journal!

C H I T A Q U A

ooo he found the car and it's totaled

that's how you know shit went down

DEAN VS DEAN

G A N K

you can Kinda tell there are effects

he looks SO DONE

green vs blue feels important idk

THE PANTIES THING

what does the target demo think of this, what do they

"Sam didn't make it" LIE

ope they got Super Separated

Trauma huh I never thought he'd say it

"you don't trust yourself" "no" heh

he's the leader, he's not used to it oop

D E A N OH MY GOD

cas..!

HIPPIE ORGIE CAS!

THE WINK?

boy you can tell the Drugs

WHY IS HE LOOKINGDOWN?

the one finger thingggg

he'S SO LooSe AHH

THE ONE HAND BEER THING IS FROM HERE?

"It's a pretty messed up situation" THAT DELIVERY KILLED ME

...is..he pitching his voice dOWN?

boy hE IS C O LD

is there something in..the whiskey

THE OCLT?

"I'm gonna kill the devil" ok cool?

AHAHA HE FUCKED UP HIS LOVE LIFE OH THAT'S FUNNY

Cas is enjoying this AHAH

fEarLeSs lEadEr

god I LOVE THIS WAIT HE'S ACTIVELY TEASING HIM?

"oh so we're torturing again" is a nice line

...I...Wait

Was...other Dean jealous of past Dean or betrayed or

wAHT

it...second in command

they just..banter?

"I want you to see something" is a lot like what Zach said

"say yes" ope

the angels aren't listening

ow

"never actually thought I'd lose" o w

the like..deep meaningful looks at each other are SO IMPORTANT

"hoard toilet paper like gold" AHHHHH

you want some? pfft

oh THAT'S HARDCORE DRUGS

aw Dean..tries

so..so..how did cas..how..did he know if not looking at the soul

human

uSELESS IMPORTANT THERE

ah so he's just...given up entirely

he's so clearly not happy about it either

he sacrifices people, right?

Ah he knows when he lies

he's more self aware than he thinks

"i've seen them in the mirror" O P E

W HY THE FOCUS ON CAS WH Y

lights out Dean

SAM IN LUCIFER SUIT KILLS DEAN HOLY FUCK

THE EYE CONTACT

HELLO DEAN!

I DO like the white suit tho

what is lucifer's angle here?

of course he has daddy issues OF COURSE

cast me out despite my care...feels important

the "why blame me" is like..present in both lucifer and this but WILDLY different damn

"i get what the other angels see in you" ?

it's also GREAT to see Dean not like...shuttering when there's emotion

like he's crying and scowling! good!

"always end up here" "you're wrong" "see you in five years" OW

HOLY FUCK AM I CRYING

Look Dean's A low trust person, I know it's the framing, but I see it, yk?

HIS FACE WHEN DEAN BLIPS OUT

THE LIL SMILES

NEVER CHANGE

ah the reunion

how ... much time has passed

"i'm whatever I need to be" bro

and then Dean never told Anyone

his lesson learned is stay with his brother and forgive

"we keep each other human"

"thank you" Dean's the father/authority/mother figure

"we make our own future"

1. needledrop. I'm just cataloguing all of these. This wasn't a particularly poignant or Sticking one, but I rly did like the "Vibe" it got. Like doesn't stick with you, but jettisons you into the story, good, we like that.

I do think a good needle drop should be more invisible unless it explicitly needs to be visible, and Renegade was SUPER jarring, while all of these work even if you don't know the context of the song.

2. disaster. Listen. Watching this and also the other deserted town plot line after the panorama's been hitting is like. It feels more correct? It feels super close to home and plausible. Like the toilet paper thing? I know that was memed, but I also think actual thought was put into the world building of the disaster.

hell maybe that's why I cried

3. Cas... he is human, right? how did..he tell it was Dean? He WAS LOOKING DOWN

I swear everytime I go "nah it can't be That blatant" it just pulls out all the stops

other than that, the "I'm fine but clearly not" thing he had going on...he picked that up from Dean, right? Also the juxtaposition of this vs the previous episode is so important I feel? like it's not actually him, it's as far from him as you can get

also he was Dean's second in command? like Very Clearly his second in command, clearly liked making fun of him? what the FUCK were we supposed to read into that? gotta go read all of DTA now jESUS

also Disgruntled Castiel and "We had an Appointment" Castiel? top tier, I LOVE THIS FUNKY LIL ANGEL! AND I LOVE THEIR DYNAMIC! IT'S SO GOOD!

4. Dean. ok I'm in no way qualified to talk of all of these or be coherent but I've got

When confronted with someone who knows him, Dean tends to put on FAR less of a mask, and he knows his own tells better than the person he projects should(this was a common trend, he knows what he projects and knows himself in order to unknow himself)

he lies to himself in the mirror(as in, implied he practices his lies in a mirror) but his Lies SUCK, as I've said before, so what's the lie(it's gotta be his persona, it has to be, his entire persona is a performance, that's why he keeps getting caught, rig-)

(also cuz he hasn't been socialized like...at all, but that's something else)

I don't know if it's he prides himself on it, but compassion and helping people is clearly his Top Priority(After Sam cuz of the trauma ofc). Past Dean is genuine, caring, even if he tries not to be, and the fact that Future Dean ended up so cold is probably the most jarring part out of all of it(Dean put Cas above the other girl he slept with..on purpose, right? did he figure out that him and Dean of the future are [redacted]? like WHAT WAS THA-)

The angels liking him..I think again, it's because of the sincerity he tries to pretend he doesn't have? The righteousness that Isn't Cool? that's my theory. Like he Is what he's said to be, but he tries to hide it so ends up not doing it(why Cas gets pissed)

Dean has Deep Seated Trust Issues, because as someone with those, it's very clear, I don't make the rules. he basically doesn't trust the angels on Principle and Vibe alone I think (as he should they're shady as FUCK)

5. Sam+Dean. ok one, that thing about the beginning where "I think the way we were raised made us weaker." BOY that one hit. like It's something both of them have to grapple with and I'm SO pissed we didn't get there

Dean confronted by Sam possessed by Lucifer, saying there has to be another way where Sam ends up dead is also important. Like I think letting Sam go probably would be something he needs to do, but being forced into it, he Repels it, yk?

tbh that entire "see you in five years" scene broke me, I have to go lie in a corner

5. something about belief? ok so Chuck is not to be read as God yet, I don't think(It was cas but Sexual Tension so) but the only angels left that didn't Peace Out are Cas(who fell for Dean "humanity" ) and Lucifer, who according to this lore, fell because he opposed it. The fallen, "bad" angels. I wonder where Anna would be in this scale actually. God is still not present, the angels...forsook this world? but why would they care? I don't know man. That sense of abandonment, dread, and "there's nothing left" (cas in particular) felt important and indicative of Trauma, but I can't pinpoint which one

oh boy

[scottwinters714]

New Post has been published on https://comicbookheros.everythingonlinenow.com/weblines-the-j-michael-straczysnki-run-part-viii/

Weblines: THE J. MICHAEL STRACZYSNKI RUN – Part VIII.

In its primary definition, drama is a composition in prose or verse, artistically (re)presented through a situation with a number of protagonists involved in a conflict and/or contrast, depending on their interests and motivations. To accomplish its function as an art form, it must be attractive, real, and impactful. But most of all, credible, even if regarded as a way of entertainment. If a connection is achieved, its purpose is accomplished. That’s why the juxtaposition of equivalent elements into fiction does not affect its value; for the sake of enjoyment, character representation should enable emotional relatability. A lesson taught from the great literary classics, common in films, series, songs. In the modern mythological sequential art format – also known as superhero comic books – those can also be translated to the reader. Albeit the concept, they’re made to provide the suspension of belief from reality; momentaneous escapism. But superheroes do not only fight supervillains and unconceivable outer-worldly threats. They have secret identities and lead normal lives (mostly) – an aspect that separates them from the myths of old. And from that distinction alone, they have the unique opportunity to look upon humanity with a heightened perspective and intervene when necessary, to do what anyone with some superpowers to help would. That’s another power of storytelling: provide inspiration.

Serialized superhero comic books are not only able to display battles of good vs. evil; but also, through the principles of drama embedded in every human soul, provide a frame of mind into these fictional or real personas. It’s easy to be in awe for their actions pictured on paper, but observing how they behave when engaging with their altruistic standards can be a moral exercise of the psyche. It’s just a part of what makes them compelling. They risk their personal lives against impossible odds not only for the greater good but in defense of those who are incapable of defending themselves or are stuck in difficult situations. Sometimes fantastic visual illustrations ranging from cosmic action to street level-raw violence are not enough; superheroes can trigger inspiration and show the human potential to do good through their journey – such as:

Nightwing #1 (Oct. 1996) – DC Comics:

After the shattering events of the Legacy crossover, a small cliffhanger was designed to give Dick Grayson his long-earned monthly series. Nightwing is sent to the city of Bludhaven by Batman to investigate the murder of twenty-one dead men. From the very moment he first sets foot in the city, he saves a girl from two offenders with bad intentions; then gives her money for a bus ticket back to Gotham and instructs her to ask for a job at WayneCorp on his behalf.

The same attitude is demonstrated in Nightwing#8 (May 1997) in which a homeless man asks him for a little help; Grayson goes beyond the usual response and offers an alternative:

Spoiler: the homeless man is later beaten to death; issues later, Nightwing finds the perpetrator. When the main investigation on the murdered men is concluded, he decides to stay in Bludhaven and become its guardian. The series, considered one of the best Bat-titles of the ’90s, was written by Chuck Dixon and drawn by Scott McDaniel with inks by Karl Story. Highly recommendable reading. Although the Nightwing series portrays the adventures of a powerless superhero in a Gotham City counterpart whose constant antagonists are criminality, violence, and corruption, there’s space – through those excerpts above – to sympathize with Dick Grayson’s soul. He’s a hero whose range of vision grants the reader identification with reality itself. In the extent pantheon of god-like heroes (and some-villains) in the DC Universe, it is a rare attribute. His attitude towards people who are victims of poverty and in dire need of help sparks emotional relatability because it contains real-life aspects of drama; therefore, empathy.

Writers of superhero comics are paid to stretch their imagination about all forms, levels, and nuances of evil. Not an easy task. When the battlefield changes to poverty, social inadequacy, and even personal problems, the challenge increases. After all, they have their own secret identities’ lives to deal with, and writers must expand their world vision from micro to macro. Before J. Michael Straczynski arrived in the title, The Amazing Spider-Man unwavering routine consisted in Peter Parker’s life busy with problems, endless secrets from his supporting cast, and a physical battle with more explanatory dialogues about it than the visual action. When the writer came onboard in 2001, he wrote all those commonalities off and targeted the experienced mind and heart of the man inside the hero. The new direction proved nothing short of successful and meaningful for a readership who grew up with a character whose proper acknowledgment as an icon was long due. The first Spider-Man movie directed by Sam Raimi was still a year away of being released and the first volume of the Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley was already hitting all the cylinders, presenting a modern retelling of the hero’s origin, still in his teens in the coming of the 21st century. Not every writer is capable to balance the infusion of drama with characterization in which the protagonist must devote his powers and resources to solving other peoples’ dilemmas. J. Michael Straczynski belongs to the group who can put all of those storytelling ingredients successfully into the test. Look no further than his Rising Stars (1999) and Midnight Nation (2000) – miniseries published by Top Cow/Joe’s Comics, which granted him the keys to lead Spider-Man’s main continuity forward. Under his direction, Peter Parker rose to the challenge in different arenas.

In Marvel Comics, street-level poverty is not part of Spider-Man’s rogues’ gallery. So, he cannot act exactly like Dick Grayson in the aforementioned examples from the Nightwing series. But any fan, already familiar with the life and times of Peter Parker, knows that his heart can do just the same, if not more. JMS has demonstrated what Spider-Man could do in the 3-part storyline in ASM#40-42 (already outlined in this column); it’s worth noting that it started out as Peter investigating the troubled life of one of his students. In the here analyzed 2-part tale, with John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Dan Kemp, Straczynski touches upon the theme of Peter helping out another of his students – but with a more incisive approach. The difference is that, instead of expanding the story to another level that would lead to an inevitable physical confrontation with a new super-villain, this one remains somehow grounded in Peter’s routine as a teacher.

Along with him in the script and story duties, one of his former collaborators  – Fiona Avery.

She was hired as a reference editor for the fifth and final season of Babylon 5; as a writer in its spinoff Crusade and in another TV series Earth: Final Conflict. Transitioning to comics, she continued collaborating with Straczynski, expanding the Rising Stars Universe by writing the miniseries Bright, Voices of the Dead, and Untouchable – where she also created the miniseries No Honor with artist Clayton Crain and the Witchblade – Obakemono graphic novel with Billy Tan. And just like JMS, her work got noticed by Marvel. Fiona started out with an acclaimed Rogue miniseries (2001) and then tested her ground with the Arachknight in a 2001 annual Peter Parker Spider-Man: set in Peter’s early days with the uniform, he decides traveling to Nazca, in Peru for summer vacation. There, as fate had it, he comes across an ancient tribe – the Spider Village, whose inhabitants are worshippers of the Great Weaver; their temple had been overrun by The Snake Clan and it’s up for Peter to save the day as the spider-warrior chosen to save the village. Despite being an adventure with little retro continuity impact, it does reinforce the Spider-totem theme that Straczynski was already introducing in the beginning of his run. For sure, the tale was inspired by the Nazca lines – located in the system of valleys on the southern coast of the country.

‘Nuff said.

But she left her mark in the company’s mythology by expanding the Spider-mythos with the creation of Anya Corazon – Araña (‘Spider’ in Spanish). Her debut came in the second volume of Amazing Fantasy in August 2004 – penciled by Mark Brooks. Six issues later, she gained her self-titled series in Jan. 2005 with Roger Cruz in the art chores. Adapting the elements used in the aforesaid annual, Avery expanded the Spider-totem mythology in her own way, creating the ancient and mystical Spider Society that sponsors and trains Anna; they cover themselves as a company: Webcorp – having as main antagonists the Sisterhood of The Wasp. Another element borrowed and expanded from an ASM tale conceived by Straczynski. The Araña monthly series lasted 12 issues.

As far as legacy goes, it’s relevant to acknowledge Anya Corazon as an extension of the Spider-Verse, before the term itself existed. She predates Kamala Khan – the new Ms. Marvel by nine years; unfortunately, albeit being bolstered as the new Spider-Girl after the events of the Grim Hunt storyline, she never achieved the same popular status as Ms. Marvel.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES ASM#55-56 (2003 – vol.2): (Covers by Mike Deodato Jr.)

It starts like any other day in the life of a teacher would: on his way to work, Peter recognizes one of his school’s students who’s late talking to youngsters who are flunking class. Her name is Melissa Coolridge, and due to a cast on her leg and a pair of crutches, she can’t hurry. Peter does not only follows her pace but goes beyond: by investigating her academic record, he finds out that she needs help with her grades and units, so he makes her his student in Honors Bio. Then, by escorting her home and carrying her bags; but that’s when they see some thugs robbing her home. Without revealing his powers (and playing the dumb nerd), Peter knocks them down with her bags. In the aftermath, he gets to meet her mother and comes across a learns a coincidence: Melissa’s brother – Joshua – was caught carjacking by Spider-Man and handed to the police. Afterward, Mary Jane just delivers the truth: “So, if you helped make the problem, I guess you kinda have to fix it.” Under the mask, he tracks down the same thugs who robbed the Coolridge home and discovers the reason they were robbed is that Melissa’s brother owes money to some drug dealers; since he was nowhere to be found, her family have to pay. Ezekiel returns (from South Africa) and hears Peter on his current situation and how the Doctrine of Unintended Consequences is a factor that he – as a Superhero – must take into consideration; because even bad guys are responsible for their own have families. That gives him a reason to ponder on his actions; however, not as it used to.

Many times over, the usage of guilt as a fuel to ignite Peter’s attitude used to be the gimmick to insert more drama into Spider-Man’s stories; distinctively during his teenagehood, when his life was not compatible with the one as a beginner superhero. Often, the culpability that forced this youngster to act like a responsible man beyond the normal limits of what any other ‘normal’ man should, became the psychological hallmark that made Spider-Man so unique. But as he was growing older, despite his age and experience, his emotional response was still portrayed as a teenager’s. It’s unclear to determine whether this was the (editorial) template that should be followed by every new writer as Marvel was establishing the personality profile for each of their main heroes and villains. Then again, it’s understandable that any pre-adult without a proper father figure would operate like so. But after decades of countless published issues that would only add more to his history and make him as mature as Steve Rogers and Logan, the time was already more than due to acknowledge Peter Parker’s age as a fully-formed adult in the dawn of the 21st century. It’s what happened to Dick Grayson: Chuck Dixon was already well-aware of Bruce Wayne/Batman’s psyche; with Nightwing, he could shape the character’s learning curve with each issue of the title. It is the same model used by Bendis in Ultimate Spider-Man – building his persona in each issue based on time and experience. By looking back at his history and everything he’s gone through, JMS made Spider-Man/Peter Parker’s voice unique and recognizable. He knows him – just like Frank Miller with Matt Murdock, Walter Simonson with Thor, Chuck Dixon with Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, Geoff Johns with Hal Jordan, and more sui generis runs in the realm of superhero comics.

That’s why it’s easy for Peter – as a teacher – to assess Melissa’s mind and heart once she becomes his student:

His criterion to help is his belief in her, not guilt. Instead of making a weight out of it, he embraces the responsibility as he would with each of his students. In that respect, JMS’s idea to make Peter a teacher justifies his emotional and psychological maturity, and not losing his wit. There are no thought balloons and captions overflowing with aching drama and self-questioning; no preaching over ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ with Uncle Ben’s flashbacks. However, from the way Peter is here scripted, one can even conjecture that he is channeling Ben Parker’s kind nature through him, given his sheer will to do good for someone who needs help. So he’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish it. Once again, proper characterization applied: no longer a flawed young adult teenager with the weight of the world on his shoulders, but a man accountable for his decisions. The writer is encouraging us to reassess Spider-Man, by pushing the flexibility of the character in a way no other writer ever has – and still not offending our intelligence. From a storytelling perspective, it’s enjoyable to read a Spider-Man comic with minimum (superhero) action and more character development; tales such as “The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man!” from ASM #248 (Jan. 1984), became instant classics due to the same prose formula. Here, a character such as Melissa Coolridge serves the story – which is about Peter dealing with her obstacle he himself created.

The reality and consequences of being a superhero is a recurring theme in most of  Straczynski’s comic book work. In Superman, he hypothesized different answers as to how a superhero can help someone with a personal problem, and why in the Grounded storyline, published in Superman #700-714 (2010). After returning from space battling a dangerous threat, Superman is interviewed by a group of journalists; amidst them, a woman stands in front of him and slaps his face. She blames him for not being reachable to save her husband who died of a brain tumor and couldn’t take him to a hospital in time. As a result, Superman ponders on his limitations, what he represents. So he decides to start a journey of self-discovery, walking from town to town across America, dealing with people’s individual issues – from broken cars, unemployment, domestic violence, suicide, and still dealing with challenges that only Superman can. JMS’s mission statement couldn’t be more direct: to bring a demigod out of the sky to walk among the people he vowed to protect in order to learn their (or our) truths about the human condition. It’s a tale about power, responsibility, and guilt; a subtle exploration of the human heart inside the Man of Steel.

art by Eddy Barrows

Straczynski’s admiration for the last son of Krypton used to be a well-known fact in the comic fandom. With the release of his autobiography in July 2019, the world got to know how his Love for stories – and Clark Kent’s soul – literally saved his life from a strenuous upbringing in a tragic family; so much that he put his favorite superhero’s name in the title of his best selling autobiography: Becoming Superman – My Journey From Poverty to Hollywood. If there were ever doubts that storytelling through modern fantasy, science fiction, and superheroes can do so much more for our human essence than just entertain our eyes for some time, Straczynski eliminates them all in this book. He learned from those stories to change his own, until becoming a master of his craft. Superman is the symbol of moral code he’s used as a compass to stay in the path of righteousness – his main inspiration. So he could give it forward with great verve to his readers.

“Just as speech is invention about objects and ideas, so myth is invention about truth.” – J.R.R. Tolkien.

This Superman arc and the two-part tale here examined are seven years apart from their publication. Still, a comparative analysis between both is worth making: not in the sense as to which is the best, but how the same theme of individual help is put through under lenses of the same creative mind. The insight provided by JMS is compelling, to say the least; it’s a unique frame of reference of heroes that could simply ignore the situation they were put in, but face the truth of such unintended consequences of their acts in the same way. Responsibility is taken. So Straczynski’s Spider-Man becomes the definitive evolution of Peter Parker who stands (at this point) shoulder to shoulder with Clark Kent.

There is a plot similarity to Sensitive Issues – ASM#40-42 /vol.2, though this one does not present a supervillain showdown, keeping the ‘realism’ factor into the theme. Ezekiel’s intervention provides a positive closure, thanks to Peter’s words and actions; he is there as a reminder of things to come. The main plot moves forward. Nevertheless, the arc itself is not eventful, but rather meaningful: Spider-Man helps Peter Parker – and not the opposite. And despite being addressed as “old” by Melissa it’s a clever way to suggest that, without realizing, Peter assumes the Father figure he had for such little time: he becomes Ben Parker.

Stories like the ones here reviewed stand apart from the usual conception of superhero comics; they offer possibilities beyond what their reputation is known for. They’re not game-changers in the field, neither propose a new psychological autopsy of what makes them tick. The motif is simple: investigate their introspections when facing other people’s inner problems. Therefore, instigating some thought about the code we choose to live by and provoking – even for a minute – a conscious examination of what is immoral and wrong according to the values we hold dear by living in a law-abiding society, including our next-door neighbor’s. Superheroes are not there to uphold them, but they still inspire contemplation of these values and the unpredictability of life. Because at the end of the day (and the story), it’s the central character’s journey that counts. We identify ourselves with them and forget about our lives through theirs, being guided beyond the limits of our own imagination.

Behind the wheel, sit writers like J. Michael Straczynski, who once again, help to deliver through his work in Spider-Man comics (as he did it with 9/11) a succinct message that whatever the harsh moment of reality we confront or help someone with, it won’t be a perpetual state. If we open our hearts to these stories, they can amuse, inspire, defy, inform, and teach what it means to be a friendly neighborhood person. Even a super-hero.

This post is dedicated to Francessca Vasquez.

Original source: https://www.spidermancrawlspace.com/2020/05/weblines-the-j-michael-straczysnki-run-part-viii/

[bnrobertson1]

THOUGHTS ON “THE IRISHMAN” (BRNR #26)

My introduction to the peerless works of Martin Scorsese began as a quest for something somewhat different: softcore pornography. I was 12ish and while my dad never ponied up for the Cinemax/ HBO package, for some reason we kind of got Cinemax, or at least its static-filled approximation, on our living room TV. For an internet-less pre-teen disastrously crashing into puberty, this Cable company mix-up taught me the importance of enjoying life’s happy accidents.

Here’s how it worked: with my parents asleep and me left to my groaningly embarrassing druthers, I would pray to whatever deity sent me the scrambled Cinemax signal to also hook a bruh up with some tastefully shot augmented bosoms-focused programming. Mind you, this was before a Channel Guide let you know what you were watching, so sometimes you just had to approach watching like fishing, hoping that whatever this fuzz was would shape into someone getting freaky-deaky, and soon.

It was on one of these prideful nights that I encountered something I at first hoped was a Red Shoe Diaries episode starring the guy from No Escape*. He was with one of the crooks of Home Alone, someone who looked familiar but whose name escaped me, and some less-than-handsome guy who appeared to be wearing a really bad toupee. They were walking to a car and saying “fuck.” A lot. Then, after entering the car, the Home Alone actor nonchalantly shoved an icepick into the Toupee Guy’s head, afterwards commenting something along the lines of “Maybe that’ll shut him the fuck up.”

*A Ray Liotta-starring vehicle I TREASURED growing up, mostly due to its innovative violence.

I didn’t know I was watching Goodfellas, but I knew I was mesmerized. It was violent, it was funny, it moved quickly, it did pushed buttons in my nervous system I didn’t know existed. It somehow made the sting of not watching Shannon Tweed dry-hump a decorated general evaporate. Goodfellas simply crackled with life, even when almost indecipherable due to the static-filled presentation. There was a brute, beautiful honesty to it that the things I was getting exposed to simply lacked. My perception of what art was obliterated and resurrected in the course of about 45 minutes.

Flash forward roughly 24 years. The Irishman, Scorsese’s newest highly anticipated mob drama, hits theaters in a culture far from the one that greeted Casino or The Departed. Instead of the automatic praise that usually greeted Scorsese, a new environment questioned his cinematic contributions mostly due to the lack of representation of (a) minorities and (b) women. While some of these criticisms are fair if a little silly*, the simmering became a raging fire after Scorsese commented on his inability to connect to the movies of the Marvel Universe**.  

*It’s a bit like saying Te-Nehisi Coates hasn’t developed a full voice because he hasn’t written a Jane Austen-esque romp through Victorian England. Or that Lou Reed’s status as legend is flawed because he never released a yodeling album. Artists are allowed to have focus. It’s OK.  

**My only thought about the Scorsese vs. Marvel debate, as someone who quite likes a lot of the Marvel movies: They’re algorithms (albeit very fun ones), and Scorsese is 100% right. I also hope the people who are breathlessly defending Disney against America’s best filmmaker will one day have enough clarity to see that siding with an imagination-torching corporation against an independent artist just sucks.    

The most concise review* I can give of The Irishman is this: it’s the Scorsese mafia movie that pretends the Rolling Stones never existed. In fact, he seems to go out of his way to not mention them in one scene where De Niro’s narrator comments on Jimmy Hoffa’s popularity rivaling that of Elvis and the Beatles. While Casino and Goodfellas never approves of the mafiaso lifestyle**, it does show its appeal with slick music, dialogue, costumes, cinematography, actors, etc. Those films, especially Casino, have operatic narratives, clearly connecting them to millennia-old Roman myths.    

*I already failed. I realize this.

**This part seems lost on a lot of Scorsese haters. Joe Pesci’s Nicky Santoro is beaten to death after watching his brother suffer the same fate, and his Tommy DeVito is shot in the back in the head- does that really seem like a glorification of a lifestyle?

The Irishman is less indebted to Rock n’ Roll and epics as the Catholic church, or more specifically, Catholic guilt. This guilt weighs heavy on every frame. And this dive into Christitan scruples goes than the top-line perspective of “that’s bad and should be punished and that’s good and should be praised” of some of his other mob epics. There is no shooting of guns in handbags after truck hijacking. Or close-ups of hands in general. There is a hand-stomping scene, but it’s depicted in such a matter-of-fact way it is obviously not a heralded act*. The soon-to-be-curriculum cab demolition scene is scored by an ominous, brooding soundtrack, not the coked-up WHEES of Mick Jagger (or Harry Nilsson for that matter**). Instead, Scorsese’s focus is on bigger, more abstract themes, such as impermanence and the point of existence itself - questions that are frankly terrifying because the answers do not exist, much less reassure/ satisfy.

*Speaking of the hand stomp, many point to this and some of the stranger looking faces as flaws of the film. I’d argue that one of the film’s biggest themes is the fallibility of memory. It’s a striking juxtaposition to put your current self in the past, yet we all do it naturally. I also realize I’m a huge nut when it comes to Scorsese and maybe twisting myself crooked to defend all of his techniques.

**Maybe the best scene in all of film? 

The Irishman often feels like a mea culpa- a heart-felt apology for any damage Scorsese’s more flamboyant films may have done to the culture at large. The amazing thing about the film is how well Scorsese seemed to predict criticism without merely sycophantically answering it. You say my films don’t feature women enough? Well how about a film where the main actress has about 7 words*? That’s not to say the film is a preachy drag because it’s anything but. It’s still funny (sometime riotously so) and moves insanely quickly for a film 30 minutes longer than Casino. The acting is superb, as is the strikingly methodical editing. The first 2/3 of the movie feels like a Goodfellas or Departed- the last third, especially after the climax, feels paced like his Catholic meditation, Silence. “It is What is It is,” the film’s quasi-mantra, nicely sums up its feelings on impermanence, something that will probably affect us all, even Marty.

*It’s almost like Anna Paquin knows that the number of lines and contribution to a film are not always directly related.

But trying to paraphrase- or comment on- what The Irishman is trying to say is really missing the point. It’s a uniquely cinematic work that speaks a cinematic language. Written words are not suitable to mine its deeper meanings, only experiencing it, and meditating on it, does.

I could go on and on about the voluminous excellence of this film. Simply put, I love it. It does feel like ol’ Marty won’t be making anymore, but what a fucking fantastic way to bow out of the genre he revolutionized. He’s made five better than anybody else (Francis Ford Coppola excluded- kind of). And he ended it with such a reflective, brilliant exclamation point, he might have just proved himself the exception to the whole “impermanence” thing.

But while I’ll defend the intellectual merits of his works ‘til the day I can’t, I’ll always associate Scorsese with pornography. A little forbidden, a little dangerous, but capable of reveal orgasmic- and embarrassing- truths to those willing to forgo the comfort of societal norms and allow themselves to be illuminated by the flame of unflinching honesty. Grade: A++

[lordofpinecrest-blog]

SEASON 7 EPISODE 7 SEASON FINALE THE DRAGON AND THE WOLF

Sunday night’s Game of Thrones Season 7 finale did not disappoint. It was one of the best ever, especially the last ten minutes or so. Season 1 ended with the birth of Daenerys’ dragons. Season 7 ends with the “birth” of an “ice dragon” and maybe the conception of a Fire and Ice child. Plus the collapse of the Wall. It was an hour plus episode filled with family, honor, deception and intrigue. Is also included the long anticipated death of Littlefinger. I am going to do the recap purely on a location basis without regard to when the events occurred in the episode.

KING’S LANDING

The focus of the episode was in King’s Landing so it starts there as it is the epicenter of power in Westeros. I think one of the beauties of the scenes are all the reunions between characters, many of whom had been separated by time and distance.

We start with the return of Grey Worm and the Unsullied standing outside the gates of King’s Landing. Bronn is atop the wall where he is met by Jamie. Bronn is his usual self, full of jokes, as he says he still enjoys it when they call him “my lord” to which Jamie replies “the thrill will fade.” The Kingslayer has come so far in realizing what is important. And we have our first reference to family as Jamie says that is what soldiers fight for. Family will rule the episode. Bronn telling Jamie that Jamie’s brother sided with the Dragon Queen and her castrated army.  Jamie replying sarcastically that the Imp always sided with the down trodden. As he says that, the Dothraki army arrives. As they do, Jamie looks out pensively past Euron’s fleet to see four ships arriving, as he knows his brother is one on the ships.

Out on the ships, we see Tyrion returning the same concerned stare and he goes beside Jon and Davos. Side note: While the Spider is there, he never speaks at all during the entire episode. Did anyone else find that unusual? Jon asks Tyrion how many people live in King’s Landing and the answer is over 1,000,000. While the answer is significant when Jon make his case to Cersei, there was more there. His response also shows the differences in the culture of the North and South, rural versus city. Union vs. Confederates? Ask Trump. From that comment, we go beneath the deck where the Hound makes sure the Wight is still kicking. The Wight reacts in a way that even frightens the Hound, and that says a lot.

Next we see Cersei, giving the Mountain her “Arya” kill list, in order.  As she leaves to meet Danny’s ambassadors, she says “Come Ser Gregor, let’s go meet our guests.” I point this out because she doesn’t say it to her brother and Jamie’s facial expression shows his disappointment in her. I have to say, as a character, the writers have done a great job with the growth of Jamie from a brash young knight to a deep, feeling character. The thrill of being called “sir” has faded.

Our visitors are walking toward the place of the meeting, the Dragon Pit. Missandei asks why they built it. The Dragon Pit is referenced in the books and became responsible for the demise of the dragons. As Jorah tells it, the dragons became a problem in the city as they roamed free, killing live stock and children, so the Targaryens had the Dragon Pit built (back then it had a roof) and imprisoned the dragons. Without freedom, they shrank in size and died. Think back to when the Mother of Dragons had to chain two of her dragons for the same reason, they had killed a farmer’s child and livestock and could not be controlled. It always ties in.

As they walk, they are greeted by Bronn and we see that Brienne and Pod have already arrived. Loved the way the Dothraki soldiers looked at Bronn, wanting to cut his head off. And then we start to have the reunions.  Tyrion and Pod. Tyrion and Bronn. Tyrion and the Hound. The Hound and Brienne, who have a short conversation that was marvelous. Brienne almost apologizing for trying to kill the Hound, explaining she was only trying to protect Arya. The Hound “me and you both,” which was an acknowledgment of his good side. When Brienne goes on to tell the Hound that Arya is alive and that the only ones who need protection are the ones who get in Arya’s way we actually see a smile on the Hound’s face and he chuckles. I believe it is the first time we actually have seen the Hound smile. Later the reunions continue with Brienne and Jamie and finally Tyrion and Cersei. Did I leave any out?

Into the Dragon Pit they go with the melancholy music in the background. The group looks worried and tense. Bronn says to Pod they should go for a drink while the fancy people talk. We didn’t see Bronn again: could he have switched sides? But somebody is missing: Daenerys.

Her Grace enters with the Mountain, Qyburn, Euron and Jamie. Brienne and Jamie make subtle eye contact which is followed by the not so subtle stares between Cersei and Tyrion and then Euron and Theon. So much tension in the air!!

As the Cersei group goes to sit down, we have the next stares and “reunion.” Sandor Glegane and Gregor Clegane. The Hound approaches and the Mountain goes out to “greet” him and after a few lines, Sandor says “You know who is coming for you. You’ve always known.” How creepy were the Mountain’s eyes? Red, dead and no blinking. Looks like we will get a Clegane Bowl next year!!

A very agitated Cersei wants to know where Daenerys is and the tensions keep rising. Then we hear dragons screeching and Danny makes an Academy Awards red carpet entrance. She lands Drogon in on the outside of the Dragon Pit as Euron looks on in amazement, and Cersei in worry. Remember, neither one has ever seen a live dragon. Drogon being there is important. Go back several seasons to The Mother of Dragons’ vision in the House of the Undead. In that vision, we saw the shadow of a dragon flying over a “healthy” King’s Landing and this confirms that part of the vision. More on this later.

Euron tries to bate our dignitaries, and when Tyrion looks as if he might take the bait,  he looks at Jamie who shakes his head not to do it. While other things are staged, Jamie’s repulsion for Euron is real. Jamie says Euron should sit down. Looked like Cersei agreed, but now we know it was an act.

Jon gives a speech like he gave to the Wildings at Hardome before they decided to join in the fight against the Army of the Dead. We don’t like each other, never will,  but we have to join forces. Cersei still thinks it is a joke and then she and Daenerys go after it-real hate there. Had to laugh when Cersei called Daenerys a would be usurper. Really?? The Imp has to intercede and then the Hound brings the crate out. The Hound methodically removes the bolts from the crate, and after hesitating out of obvious fear, he kicks open the crate to release the White.

Freeze frame!!  Out comes the White, screeching as it rushes Cerise. Thirty or so seconds of great TV!!  If the Hound had not held on to the chain, the White would have killed Her Grace and ended all our problems. And why didn’t the dead Mountain step in front of her? Just saying. The looks of pure fright on Cersei’s and Jamie’s faces were chilling. As Sandor pulls on the chain, Gregor and Jamie finally protect Cersei as the Hound proceeds to chop the White to demonstrate what it really is-undead. Qyburn, who was kicked out of the Citadel for experimenting on the dead, is naturally curious so he picks up the chopped off hand to examine. Was this a throw in or could it be important next year?

Cersei does look physically moved, but was she? Jamie is clearly worried about an Army of the Dead of at least 100,000 marching South. But then Euron says he is fleeing back to the Iron Islands, which we all should have known that was BS as he is no coward. But how did he know  Whites could not swim and how had he already have hatched a plot with Cersei to sale his fleet to Eos to bring back the Golden Company? Still leaves the possibility that there is a spy in the Dragon Queen’s ranks.

Much to everyone’s relief, Cersei seems to realize the gravity of the True War, but she adds the condition that Jon, as King of the North, must pledge to stay in the North and not fight the Lannisters. She acknowledges  that Ned Stark’s son would be true to his word.  Even though he is not really Ned Stark’s son, Jon has his values. Jon cannot do as Cersei asks because he is true to his word and has pledged himself to Queen Daenerys. Deal off!! I thought Danny was going to let him off the hook, as she had said last week pride can lead to the deaths of so many. But she didn’t. Question: If Jon had said yes, what then?? How could Cersei have backed out? What was her back up plan? Any ideas?

As Jamie walks off in disgust, he lectures Brienne about loyalty to which she replies “Fuck Loyalty!” as it goes beyond Houses and honors and oaths. Go girl. Flashback–didn’t the Hound say that in an earlier episode? She implores him to talk to the Queen, but tell her what he asks? We know he did because he is worried and has a sense of what is right. Maybe she have give the speech to Jon!!

What transpires next is the start of some really good Tyrion acting. Why couldn’t Jon learn to lie, just a little bit? Tyrion marches off to see his sister alone, to try and convince her to change her mind. Loved the juxtaposition with the Mountain as the Imp strained to look up at him. Watching it again, I noticed the Mountain did not look down. I mention this because the only time the Mountain did look and react was with the Hound. Tyrion encounters Jamie, who says he talked “at” Cersei but tried and failed to change her mind. I liked the Imp’s line as to who the bigger idiot is and Jamie’s reply, “I guess we should say goodbye, one idiot to another.” Jamie has a look of real concern as he has always loved Tyrion. And you can also see Jamie’s disdain for the Mountain.

So in goes the little brother to have a heart to heart talk with his big sister like so many of us have had, well sort of. Cersei is also at the top of her game as she is sitting at Tywin’s desk and tries to belittle the Imp, even calls him a little man. Get it, belittle? Back and forth they go, like two prize fighters. Tyrion trying to reason, Cersei all venom. The Imp finally asks if Her Grace-- since she blames him for the deaths of her children and the downfall of their family, why not end it all and kill him right there? Not what I would have said to a person I had just described  as the most murderous woman in the world. Cersei looks up at the Mountain, and Tyrion goes on baiting Cersei.  “If it weren’t for me, you would have a mother. If it weren’t for me, you would have a father. If it weren’t for me, you would have two beautiful children...” He turns to the Mountain and in tears says “DO IT!” Her Grace sighs and looks away, she can’t seem to do it while looking at her brother. Tyrian needs a drink and then two. He goes on to explain why he backs the Mother of Dragons. The great conversation continues as Cersei says she doesn’t care about controlling her impulses or making the world a better place. She only wants to protect the family. Referring to the White, She says “I know what it is; I know what it means” and that the only thing that matters is protecting her family. And when Tyrion offers wine to Cersei, she declines and that is when the Imp realizes his sister is pregnant. Her Grace brings up Euron, which we now know she was lying about Euron. Again, how did she know about the Army of the Dead? A spy? Given the dialog, it worth re-watching.  One more thing: Why didn’t Cersei kill Tyrion? Was it because Daenerys had her troops and dragons there and Her Grace knew she would lose? Some love for her brother? I say the first.

We are sent back to the Dragon Pit. Did you realize that what Jon picked up was a fossil from one of the last dragons? So small. Danny laments about how they enslaved the dragons and that when they grew small, her ancestors grew small. They were not extraordinary without the extraordinary dragons. I think she was being a bit unfair as some of the Targaryens were great leaders. Others, that relied on pure fear, were brittle and horrible. And when Jon gets close to the Mother of Dragons and says you are not like everyone else and your family hasn’t seen its end, I thought he was going to kiss her!  Jon becomes the smart  one when he debunks Danny’s thinking that she can’t have children by saying “did it occur to you that she may not have been a reliable source of information?” Fake news! You know something Jon Snow. We can see in the way she looked back at Jon, romance in the air.

At this time, Tyrion comes out alone, but is quickly followed by Cersei and her boys. Seems as if Her Grace has had a change of heart. She pledges that she will send her armies North to fight along side Danny and Jon in the Great War. Have to admit, Cersei was convincing as she fooled me! Did she fool you guys?

Next we see Jamie in the “map” room instructing his lords on the plans to march North, as he realizes time is of the essence. Did you notice it had starting to snow there? I think at the end of the last book, snow had started to fall in King’s Landing. Of course, Cersei is oblivious to the snow as Her Grace questions what Jamie is doing and insults him by saying “I always knew you were the stupidest Lannister” How unfair as certainly Lancel could take that crown. Cersei reveals what her plan was all along. Have the Dragon Queen and the King of the North slug it out. Hopefully they win with depleted forces. Meanwhile, Euron has sailed to Eos to bring back the Golden Company. But Jamie protests-he gave his word; that the war is not just about noble houses. Brienne really rubbed off on him. But Cersei calls it betrayal and treason. She echos Sansa’s words–she listened and learned and says “no one walks away from me.” Jamie is going to keep his pledge and march North, but the Mountain gets in his way. Jamie says “give the order then.” Cersei nods her head yes, but again, couldn’t pull the trigger. Her last line to her brother is “I told you nobody walks away from me.” But then Jamie does just that. And we see him ride off alone. Where is going? I presume North as he pledged. And he covered up his hand. It that because he now detests what gold stands for-the Lannisters and is he symbolically separating himself from Cersei?  This time, I think it as was love that kept Cersei from killing Jamie.

WINTERFELL

It is now snowing harder as we see a raven flying to deliver a message.  Sansa and Littlefinger with Sansa holding a scroll in Jon’s handwriting saying he pledged his loyalty to Daenerys Targaryen,  Sansa is clearly not happy with this news and Baelish tries to take advantage of this. Jon can be unnamed as King in the North. But Sansa says Arya would never go for that and would kill anyone who betrayed her family. Littlefinger really should have listened to that warning. He tries to put a wedge between the Stark sisters. But what of his line “I never trust godly persons?” Hard to say what the authors think about religion. Baelish says “Sometimes when I try to understand a person’s motives, I play a little game. I assume the worst.” He pushes Sansa into saying that Arya would kill her-but why? To become Lady of Winterfell–something that Sansa knows her sister never wanted. At this point in time,  is Sansa on to Littlefinger’s game? I think yes.

Later we see Sansa, outside in the snow, where she and Jon had stood. She commands that Arya be brought to the Great Hall. There were several tells here. Bran is in the Great Hall,  and thinking back, it could only have been for one reason. Second tell, Arya arrives with both Needle and the Dagger. Sansa and Arya go at it a bit, but Sansa says she must do what honor demands, defend her family from those who would harm and betray them. At this point, we should all have known where it was going. Sansa announces the charges: murder and treason and then says the accused is Lord Baelish. To be sure, we knew this was coming, but it pulled off so well.  Don’t you think Sansa pulled if so Cersei like? Arya is smiling but Littlefinger’s smirk is gone. When Baelish says he is confused, Sansa buries him with a great prosecutor questioning. Which charge confuses you? The murder of Lady Arryn? Treason against her family? Littlefinger tries to defend himself, saying none of them were there to see it. But Bran has seen Littlefinger’s dirty deeds and says Baelish put a knife to Ned’s throat and said “I did warn  you not to trust me.” It was nice to see Baelish grovel on his knees and Sansa throws his words back on him.  And we knew the commander of the Knight’s Vale, Yohn Royce, hated Littlefinger and wouldn’t support him. As he is crying and begging for his life, Arya slits his throat with the Dagger. He dies the same way Cat died.

In the end, it was very satisfying. I think most of us thought Littlefinger was going to die this season, and in the end, they pulled it off in fine style. I guess the question is when did Sansa realize the truth? Obviously, she met with Bran and Arya and Bran laid it all out. But without Bran, could she have pegged him? I think so. Slow learner, but a quick study! And as Ser Abraham said “He who lives by the Dagger,  dies by the Dagger!” Did anybody mind that Sansa passed the death sentence (although she never said it) but Arya did the execution? I for one did not and thought it played out the way it should.

Next, Sam arrives back at Winterfell and tells Sam he is now the One Eyed Raven. Sam gives him the same look everyone else does-what the F– does that mean? Bran tries to explain and asks Sam why he came to Winterfell. Sam came to help Jon who Bran says is on his way back to Winterfell. Unexpected comedy when Sam asks if he saw that in a vision; nope a raven brought the message. Bran FINALLY tells somebody that Jon needs to know the truth about his parentage and he tells Sam who they are. A little banter on what Jon’s name would be as a bastard born in Dorne, but Sam tells Bran about the annulment. I guess he does listen to Gilly after all! Sam asks Bran if that is something he can see, and now we know Bran takes requests as Bran travels back in time to see Lyanna and Rhaegar’s wedding, which confirms that Jon has the rightful claim to the Iron Throne. And we learn that Jon’s real name is Aegon, who of course, was the fist Targaryen to rule the Seven Kingdoms. Just saying.

It took a long time to get there, but we finally did. How will Jon react to the news? Will he follow his own advise as he gave to Theon? Not make a choice between being a Targaryen and Stark? Of course he will.

DRAGONSTONE

The good guys are back at Dragonstone, planning strategy. Jorah advises for Danny to fly to Winterfell, but Jon thinks it would be better to sale together as allies. Good thing Daenerys followed Jon’s advice!! And we can see that she really does TRUST Jon. And I mean it this time! I won’t spend much time on the Jon/Theon meeting, except what Jon said near the end after Theon agonizes over having to make a choice of Greyjoy versus Stark. Jon says “You don’t need to choose. You’re a Greyjoy and you’re a Stark.” I think that will come into play when Jon learns he is a Stark and a Targaryen. And then Theon “mans” up, beats the crap out of another Iron Island sailor, earns back the respect of his men and sales off to rescue Yara. I put “mans” up in quotes as he wins the fight because he has no balls and thus the knees to his groin didn’t buckle him in pain.

It ends with a scene we all anticipated. Jon and Daenerys finally connect and making love. I  predict a baby was conceived. Tyrion looked worried. Why? I will offer some thoughts below.

THE WALL OR WHAT IS LEFT OF IT

It is a cool scene the way it was filmed. The Army of the Dead, stopped before the Wall. They cannot go any further. Then the Night King swoops in riding Viserion. We don’t hear him say dracarys but Viserion breaths some sort of blue fire and down goes the wall in a great spectacle. And then the Army of the dead slowly marches south. It looked like an endless army. Did you happen to notice the weather behind them? So dark and full of snow. Frightening. I hope Tormund made it out alive.  We have never heard the Night King talk, but I think he can. Agree?  We weren’t sure if the Wall was going to come down. But for me, the way they did it made it okay. What about you guys?

Yesterday, I got some thoughtful questions from Princess Jacklyn which I really appreciated. Send more everyone! She asked:

Why did Tyrion look sad / upset at the end of the episode when John went to Dany's room on the boat?

One of two possibilities. First, he is in love with Daenerys. Seems as if all the guys are! Second, he may not be upset at them making love, but worried about them. Romance has not worked out very well in the Game of Thrones, and especially with the  Great War to come.  One far fetched one is that after learning that his sister is pregnant, he will switch sides to defend his family and he is torn by that. Remember Jon’s speech to Theon about balancing two sides.

Do you think Cersei is really pregnant?

At first I didn’t, but now I do. She didn’t drink the wine and I think we are headed to both her and Daenerys being pregnant.

Why didn't Jaime head north with Bronn?  Do you think Cersei will have Bronn kill Jaime?

I actually thought of the first point. After the first scene, we didn’t see Bronn. Maybe he left with Pod and switched sides. I don’t think Cersei would trust Bronn to go after Jamie. Bronn would rat her out.

Do you think Tyrion believes his sister will actually send troops North?

I actually do, especially with Jamie pledging that he would. Shows how good she is-or bad!!

The battle of fire and ice will ultimately be between the ice dragon vs. the fire dragons.  Which do you think is more powerful?

The real dragons are more powerful, they have minds and feelings of their own and are like real family which is so important. I am not sure if you noticed, but Viserion had wholes in his wings. Even though it has blue eyes, it is a White and they are very vulnerable. Plus if Bran can break the connection between the Night King and Viserion, it will die.

RECAP

Some of you have told me that this year’s episode were disappointing and that even the finale was a bit disappointing. Let me start with this episode. I thought it was a great way to end the season. Littlefinger-gone. The Wall-gone. Jamie leaving Cersei. Jon and Danny finally hooking up. The Starks on the same page. And finally, when Jon gets back he will know the truth of who he really is. But wait, looking at Jon, doesn’t he already know who he is?

The title “Dragon and Wolf” obviously has two meanings. Jon and the Dragon Queen. But Jon is not pure wolf, he is a mut. Who was pure wolf? Lyanna Stark  of course. So it is also her and Rhaegar. But, and this is big but, only Jon is both fire and ice which is the real title to the books.

The season had a lot of predictable events, whether it  was Danny and Jon hooking up, the Wall coming down and many others. But as we go into the final season, some food for thought. Some may be crazy, but what the hell.

Who is going to kill the Night King? Jon-who in many ways gave the Night King the power to bring down the Wall by needing to be rescued? He could pass the sentence and be the executioner. Arya is another logical choice. Could it be Jorah in his last dying act? What about the Kingslayer in his last heroic act to keep an oath? How will the Night King be killed? We know it has to be either Valerian steel or dragon glass or a combination of them. Could that be the Dagger?  Will Qyburn, who is so obsessed with the dead, help or will he become a White before he dies? Maybe he becomes a good guy and helps Sam. Stranger things have happened. And could Gendry forge the weapon that brings the Night King down or have we seen the last of him?

Throughout the season and in the finale, we saw the importance of family, honor and loyalty, but not at the expense of humanity. This led to the revival of the Starks and the division of the Lannisters.  We saw this  in Jamie as he abandoned his sister. Will he be the one who kills her? We presume that the prophesy will be fulfilled and she will die at the hands of her younger brother.

I now believe that Cersei is pregnant. I also think that Daenerys will have a bun in the oven. Crazy thought: their kids marry and we actually get peace! Too crazy?  

Why no Ghost? I missed him :(

Jon’s real name is Aegon. Interestingly, in the books, Aegon is the name of Rhaegar’s son by Ellia Martel. In the books, that Aegon was being groomed by the Spider and others to sit on the Iron Throne. Some thought he was a fake Aegon.

What did we think of the Spider this year? Could he be a spy?  It was strange that he was silent the whole last episode. Something must be up.

Which characters evolved the most? Sansa? Arya? Jamie? The Hound?

Where was Bronn at the end? He was glad to see Tyrion before going off to have a drink with Pod. Cannot be a coincidence.

Prophecies. We need to separate fake news from real news. The witch Duur’s prophesy that Danny cannot have children-fake news. Witch Maggy’s prophesy about Cersei-real news. Then there is the Dragon Queen in the House of the Undead. She sees her dragon flying over King’s Landing-confirmed. But she also saw a destroyed King’s Landing. Wild thought: The Night King was a Stark, but not Bran. Instead of marching to Winterfell, he marches to King’s Landing and it gets destroyed. Too off the rails?

More fake news. The pictures on line of Bran and the Night King wearing the same sigil around their necks was photo shopped. Oh well!

How many of you noticed the holes in Viserion’s wings? He should be more vulnerable than the other dragons. Speaking of dragons, will they survive? Not sure but the Dragon Queen thinks she needs them to be an extraordinary leader, but Jon says no. I hate to say it, but I think all the dragons die next year. But wait-they leave eggs behind!!

It looks like we will see the Clegane Bowl everyone wanted to see this year. Ser Lane Abraham was uncertain what the Hound was referring to when he told the Mountain that the Mountain always knew who was coming for him. I thought it was clear–after the fire incident, Sandor was always coming for Gregor.

Who had the better lines? The Hound or Bronn? In a photo finish, I  go with the Hound.

So who wins in the end? As Cersei said, you either win or die in the Game of Thrones. Let’s have some fun.  Email us your predications for next year as to who will live and die and how it ends up. Start at fun dialog.

Wow, this was long. Ser Tadd Schwartz thinks I am obsessed with this. But he is a Gator so I take it as a compliment. I enjoy doing it. And while some of them are long, I hope all of my lords and ladies appreciate it as it does take a lot of time.

My watch is done for this year. It has been an honor! And honor matters on GoT. :)

Eric, the Lord of Pinecrest