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fynnlink · 5 days ago

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Arcane doesn't need a THIRD season...

It needed THREE seasons

Arcane discussion / slight critique (obvi SPOILERS)

Alt title: "Arcane's character arcs: Tell not Show"

I'II preface this by saying:

1) Arcane, especially from a creative standpoint, is a masterpiece and testament to what animation and showcraft can be/achieve. The three year hiatus was more than worth it. Hats off to everyone involved.

2) I thoroughly enjoyed the second season and the finale. It hit all the right emotions and I cried laughed and loved throughout my viewing(s).

But 3) Despite my enjoyment of the entire series, there are a few issues I had with Season 2 and the ending of the series.

Now to the title: In my opinion (and despite my wanting one) Arcane does not need another season after the finale and the story can instead be carried on better/just as well in subsequent spin-offs (like the likely Noxian one). Instead Arcane could've/would've benefited from a runtime of three seasons with the story of Season 2 being split up into two seperate seasons.

Without further ado

Arcane Season 2 started off great, from the season opening with the direct and immediate aftermath of Jinx's attack using Fishbones (the rocket launcher), Cassandra Kirammin's gorgeous HAND-DRAWN funeral, to all the emotional and high intensity scenes with the Zaunites from Silco's funeral and the Jinx-Sevika-Isha found family/team-up, all the way to the first act's incredible conclusion with the Temple of Janna Showdown and the Discovery of the Wild Rune below the Hexgate. It had and was everything I wanted and wno et of all the writing I wanted and more, the animation, the acting, the soundtrack and most of all the writing.

There were certain issues which I'll get to in a second but Season 2 Act 1 was mostly solid writing and followed through on Season 1's excellently written explorations of oppression, police brutality, ableism, class divides and classism, racism and prejudiced bigotry and many other complex and importand real themes/matters. After Act 1 followed Act 2 and my first big issue and the entire premise of this post: another (albeit much shorter compared to S1 A1 to S1 A2) timejump. While this usually doesn't necessarily pose an issue especially since Arcane has successfully handled timejumps/skips in the past without too much "Tell not Show" (an inverse of the "Show don't Tell" trope https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShowDontTell#:~:text=This%20is%20a%20writing%20or,book%20doing%20indisputably%20badass%20things.) which can lead to characters and storybeats feeling disconnected or the changes feeling jarring.

The multiple timejumps and montages rush a story that would've benefited from time and patience. I understand why these choices were made and the montages were creative and gorgeous, however there were too many in too few episodes.

The time between Act 1 and Act 2 of Season 2 should have been shown and not summarised into a montage.

Vi's arc and development into her in-game self (i.e an Enforcer) was incredibly rushed and underdeveloped ("Are we still Sisters?"-Jinx "Nothing is ever going to change that" S1 E9 | "My sister is gone. There's only Jinx now."-Vi S2 E3) and in many ways actually devolves/regresses upon her established character ("I grew up knowing I'm less than them. That my place is down there. I want Powder to have more than that and I'm willing to fight for it." S1 A1 "I'm the dirt under your fingernails, Cupcake." S2 E9) compared to season 1 Vi's character is or at least feels very reduced to simply one half of CaitVi, there's also no real follow through / no real consequences to Caitlyn's actions both as a Dictator General of Piltover and especially towards Vi. There was no actual apology from Cait (no, micro-expressions and withdrawing Jinx's guard does not make up for physical abuse) and the entire "Prison Cell - steamy edition" felt out of nowhere/weird (I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT CAITVI'S FEELINGS, THOSE WERE THERE AND ARE VALID AND DESERVE TO BE EXPLORED.) considering Vi and Jinx's interaction just before, Jinx's obvious suicidal ideation and Vi's unexplored trauma from her childhood spent in prison.

Same with Caitlyn being build up as a representation of someone who grew up privileged turning to generalised hatred and dehumanisation of others/"the other" when experiencing trauma (my phrasing is terrible but I'm referring to Caitlyn's turn towards oppression/fascism in response to her mother's death.) Caitlyn falls back into the exact same way of thinking that she denied/judged for example collectively referring to Zaunites as "Animals" despite rebutting these same words when Ekko said the people of Piltover look down upon those of Zaun, as well as Caitlyn calling Vi's blood dirty/tainted saying Vi has the "same blood in [her] veins" as Jinx after Vi stopped Caitlyn from endangering a Child's life as well as hitting Vi first with a stray bullet and then with the back of her rifle during an exclusively verbal argument. All before ascending to the position of General of Piltover during Martial Law and enacting collective punishment, restriction in movement and expression via military checkpoints and guard patrols, revoking Zaunites' right of assembly and peaceful protest and imprisoning most ("half") of Zaun in Stillwater without trial. Piltover even had to built a railcar system to keep up with prisoner transports to Stillwater opposed to S1's boats.

All this was built up only to have Caitlyn turn back after only one interaction with Vi. Supposedly Caitlyn had begun to doubt/regret the excessive and oppressive Noxian measures but apart from one scene of her disagreeing with Rictus' (Ambessa's second in command) "incitement of violence" at the checkpoint but still supported and expanded upon Stillwater (the exact prison Vi was kept in, even keeping the guard who all but confessed to regularly beating Vi during her seven year imprisonment, he even says he does it so often he "never thought to keep count") and even threatened to use cells and methods she knows and agrees are morally reprehensible.

Caitlyn's deeds as General should have been shown to the audience not just summarised into a short montage only to be glossed over. Instead of a complex and very difficult but incredibly necessary and in the end beneficial look inward for Caitlyn, Caitlyn's time and actions as a semi-dictator were glossed over because Ambessa was simplified into a pure warmonger going so far as to attack her own daughter and even Caitlyn cheating on Maddie with Vi in the cell is portrayed as less morally complex since Maddie completely betrays Caitlyn going so far as to try to shoot her to side with/support Ambessa's war (despite Maddie talking about reestablishing the Council in S2 E4).

If we had been given time with Caitlyn during her "#lowkey-Fascist-Era" especially if we had seen her temper cool and see her kinder side shine in more scenes in which she opposes Ambessa as opposed to one scene expressing disagreement with Rictus and later Caitlyn agreeing to Vi's comments regarding Caitlyn "sidling up with [Ambessa]", then this development and CaitVi becoming a couple again would have felt earned and well-written.

Instead of a comprehensive follow-up to Season 1's themes we got a "But TeAmWOrk GuYs!?" the Oppressed and Oppressors put aside their differences because of the greater / "real enemy all along"ᵀᴹ without Zaun seeing any reparations/improvements apart from one single seat at the same council that has oppressed them for decades/centuries. (Sidenote Sevika was immediately side-eyed and judged and can just get overruled by the remaining Council. États généraux, yes you get a vote but only one)

Yet we end the season with Caitlyn and Vi having sped past their issues and (Vi's) trauma to have a final scene in front of Caitlyn's fireplace with Ekko being shown to grieve Jinx more and Vi proclaim being the "Dirt" under Caitlyn's fingernails (they supposedly worked on that line for 27 hours).

Just to clarify I'm not saying Vi doesn't grieve but it's about what's shown and especially what is given time and here a CaitVi scene was more important than a scene dictated to Vi and Jinx's bond as sisters which was/should be the focus of the series. I'll probably make another post at some point about the Sister's bond taking a backseat compared to the relationships in Season 2.

In the end we were told more than shown why characters acted the way they did. With many interactions and moments of growth only implied.

Arcane would've benefitted from more time, maybe even a seperate Season, spent developing the characters to their final state and to give the series the time to deal with both it's arcane (*wink*) and human themes. And the ideal timeframe for this was in-between S2 A1 and S2 A2.

Many characters feels as if the audience had read the first and third book of a series without the in-between. And entire plot-lines and core themes were dropped/abandoned.

If you're still reading, thank you and sorry I went off on a ramble in the middle there. Again I'm not saying the season was bad and definitely not that you can't enjoy it (I liked it) just that it had a few missed opportunities.

#arcane #arcane spoilers #arcane discussion #arcane discourse #jinx #vi arcane #arcane vi #caitlyn kiramman #ekko arcane #arcane ekko

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mysterious-moonstruck-musings · 1 year ago

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Closed Position Prologue

Closed Position Masterlist ||| Dieter Bravo x OFC

Series Summary: Dieter Bravo, now sober, was looking to change his bad boy image after hitting rock bottom. His team hoped that having him join the nationally televised family friendly dance competition would be a good first step, if they can keep him out of trouble.

Katarina Stamos expected her last season as a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars to go the same as it had for the past thirteen seasons. That all changed when she was partnered with the infamous Dieter Bravo.

Dieter and Katarina are reluctantly thrown into their partnership and must learn to work together to succeed in the competition. In the process they form a deeper connection beyond the dance floor that neither anticipated.

👉 Warnings: Themes dealing with intimate partner violence, past alcohol abuse, and past drug abuse. There will be fluff, tears, spicy language, and smut. This will be a slow burn. Read at your own risk. Dieter Bravo comes with his own warnings.

In ballroom dance, the closed position is one of the most common in which partners face each other, typically offset, in an embrace that may vary slightly for each style of dance being performed. This position enables partners to provide the necessary physical contact and support to lead and follow. Increased body contact is encouraged because it allows for a deepened connection and furthers the use of touch to communicate. Another way for partners to establish a deepened connection is eye contact. Eye contact allows each of the dancers to anticipate and synchronize with the other’s movements. The stronger the eye contact and non-verbal communication, the more effortless and intense the performance will appear to be.

Because of the physical closeness and emotionally charged environment, ballroom dance can be an oddly intimate experience that requires a high level of trust between partners. It’s easy to understand why it’s heavily romanticized. For some, it’s not unusual that it may lead to feelings that extend beyond the dance floor.

In my line of work on a nationally televised tv show, I’m placed with a new partner every season. None of which I’ve ever actually achieved a real connection with (on or off the dance floor). It’s always very formal and instructional. Strictly a student learning from their teacher type of experience. The student (or celebrity in this case) is there for the purpose of winning the dance competition and any notoriety that comes with it. I’m there to teach them how to reach their goal and nothing more. I was, after all, in a sometimes-happy long-term relationship that I was not looking to jeopardize.

Everything changed the day Dieter Bravo waltzed into the dance studio. He was looking to repair his image and boost his career after a rumored long stint in rehab while I was simply trying to make it through my last season on the show. We were reluctant partners at first. I was aware of his bad boy reputation and didn’t want my professional image to be tarnished by his antics. He could sense my reluctance, which fueled the initial hostility between us. The hostility soon faded during our sessions as the electricity ignited. The attraction could only be ignored for so long. No one could have predicted the way our stars would eventually collide and be bound to each other’s orbit.

Next: Week 1

I included everyone who interacted with the initial teaser. Please let me know if you would like to be removed going forward.

Tag List: @secretelephanttattoo @titlee78 @maggiemayhemnj @legendary-pink-dot @linzels-blog @morallyinept @survivingandenduring @undercoverpena @wannab-urs @harriedandharassed @hisandsnakes @misstokyo7love @readingiskeepingmegoing @runningmom94 @sin-djarin @cakipy-blog @missladym1981 @guelyury @weho2kcmo @alokaerza @girlofchaos @trulybetty @rhoorl @bitchwitch1981 @madnessofadaydreamer @darkheartgatita @jazzloveslatte @timpletance @musings-of-a-rose

Let me know in the comments below if you would like to be added to the tag list.

Credits: Star divider courtesy of @saradika. Support divider courtesy of @cafekitsune

#dieter bravo #dieter x ofc #dieter bravo fic #pedro pascal #closed position series #pedro pascal characters #dieter bravo x ofc #pedro pascal character fanfic #pedro pascal fanfiction #Pedro Pascal Fanfic #dieter bravo x oc #dieter bravo fluff #dieter bravo fanfiction #the bubble #the bubble fanfiction

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urdreamgirls-dreamgirl · 11 months ago

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the duffers were heavily inspired by the cia’s secret operations called mkultra which targeted women, people of color, and poor people most heavily and completely destroyed their lives to experiment with torture tactics and “mind control” during the cold war, focusing heavily on experimental drug use and electroshock therapy. el’s mother in the show is a victim of mkultra and el is the product.

what the show fails to acknowledge and what would have been so fucking interesting for them to explore in a show abt GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY is that mkultra was built on the intense and extensive manipulation of the american capitalist propaganda machine that instilled fear in americans of becoming victims of these very same brainwashing tactics the american government was experimenting with but at the hands of the “big bad scary communists.”

now, in the 21st century with the benefit of hindsight, we know that the american people were being manipulated and lied to by their own government abt the “dangers” of communism in an effort to manufacture consent for wars in vietnam, south america, afghanistan, etc. that allowed the us and us-backed military regimes to torture and execute millions of people associated with trade unions and leftist organizations. we killed che guevara, salvador allende, attempted assassinations on fidel castro, and facilitated the murders of millions of regular people to maintain the lie that communism is evil and a direct threat to the american people.

instead of exploring these themes they laid the groundwork for in season 1, the duffers succumbed to the pressure of the hollywood propaganda machine and the promise of continued funding and guaranteed marketing and viewership by creating characters like dr. sam owens in season 2 that allowed their audience to begin sympathizing with the us government and framing brenner as simply a “bad apple” within a system where people were just trying their best. brenner is evil and he’s a villain, but he’s no longer a representative of the us government but rather an extremist leading a covert cell of other extremists within the bureaucracy.

in doing this, the show allowed for the introduction in season three of the big bad communist boogey man in the form of the russian government/military and thus allowed stranger things to enter into a series of media products that, though seemingly unrelated & from different studios, nonetheless all work together to manufacture consent in the present-day for us wars abroad that claim to be protecting us from the perceived threat of “brainwashing,” “indoctrination,” and, in some instances, communism/threats to the capitalist machine (think specifically marvel and star wars). “the evil communists are doing this evil thing so we had no choice but to also do this evil thing” becomes the thesis of the show—the ends will eventually justify the means.

except that now it doesn’t. because to remain a part of the hollywood propaganda industry, the duffers have to sacrifice the themes they first established at the beginning of their show. they have to abandon any characters that offer a deviation from these new themes they’ve introduced. and it’s becoming apparent that the duffers lack the talent and the ability to execute complex storylines that go beyond what was introduced in the first season—perhaps they have the ability to conceive, but they lack the ability to follow through and it’s the very nature of the capitalist structure of the white male artistic genius that has now trapped them in this position—their inability to let go and let others take over the creative execution of their product will be their downfall as their series comes to a close.

#i’m not sure if this really makes a lot of sense or if what i’m trying to say is clear at all #but this is something i’ve been thinking abt since season 3 #i originally stopped watching the show halfway through season 3 because it was so clearly propaganda #and i couldn’t handle it lol #i didnt watch season 3 all the way through until i watched season 4 vol 2 for the first time #and then i did a rewatch and was hyperfixated on steve harrington so i was able to make it through that time #anyways #stranger things #stranger things meta

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pinkeoni · 1 year ago

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Figuring Out Lonnie’s Whole Deal

(Or, assembling a timeline of pre-show events inspired by a culmination of theories centering around one Lonnie Byers)

After spending much time deliberating and theorizing, I’ve come to what I believe is a solid timeline of events relating to Lonnie Byers grounded in evidence from the show.

Now I don’t have all of the pieces, but also if I had all of the pieces then I wouldn’t need to be theorizing in the first place. Still, I’m fairly confident in my assessment. Maybe it would be wise of me to wait for The First Shadow to come out to give me more information, but for all intents and purposes of this I will only be looking at evidence within the text of the show. So no cast or crew comments, no supplemental materials, and as much as I love it, no speculation regarding TFS. Still, I think the show has enough evidence to support my assertion.

Things to establish:

A lot of what I’m about to talk about comes from a basis of these three things—

1. Will and El’s storylines mirror each other, which I charted out here. Their stories share a lot of differences, and a lot of similarities.

2. Powers are being used in this show to explore themes of sexuality through a sci-fi/supernatural lens. I talk about this in length here, but tl;dr El’s powers are used to explore the exploitation and reclamation of female sexuality, and Will’s powers are being used to show the demonization and repression of homosexuality.

3. Oh yeah, and Will has powers, by the way.

Surface Level Information We Are Given About Lonnie Byers:

It might be best to have a refresher of what we know about Lonnie Byers. Most of this comes from season one and all of it is displayed directly to the audience—

Lonnie is the absentee father of Jonathan and Will and ex-husband of Joyce

He left his family at an unspecified date that led Jonathan and Will to build Castle Byers the night of

He currently lives in Indianapolis

He used to call Will homophobic slurs

Joyce once argued with him about not showing up to a visitation with Will

Jonathan and Joyce do not speak of him fondly. Will’s feelings are unclear but seem positive “It’s fun to go with him sometimes”

Expressed interest in wanting to see Jonathan more

Referred to Joyce as “babe” despite being apart and having another girlfriend

Did not take Joyce’s calls to his house

Doubted Joyce, took down her Christmas lights and tried to repair the hole in the wall

Has unspecified debts

Likes to fix cars

Doesn’t like cops

Tried to use his “dead” son for lawsuit money

Was kicked out by Joyce and hasn’t been seen on screen since

Things to glean from just below the surface:

The following are things that are not stated directly, but can be easily inferred from clues given in show—

Lonnie is likely an alcoholic, shown through an abundance of beer bottles littering his house. Even if he splits it between him and his tiny girlfriend, it’s still an absurd amount of beer for two people. It’s possible he may have other addictions as well.

Lonnie was likely physically abusive towards Jonathan given his “You’ve gotten stronger” comment in the house. It’s possible that the extent of his abuse could stretch far beyond that for both Jon and Will.

Will likely used to hide from his dad. Jonathan and Will built Castle Byers the night he left, which Jonathan remarks that Will likes to hide in. Not to mention the “he’s good at hiding” comment.

The rest of this post is going to be much more speculative, but it’s all speculation that is grounded in what we see on and just below the surface.

Theory #1) Lonnie was involved with MK-ULTRA

This was an idea that I tossed around a while ago, that after spending time with and finding new evidence I’ve now grown more confident in.

Most of this confidence comes from this conversation between Becky and Jopper. Becky tells Hop that him and Terry would have gotten along, as Terry didn’t like authority or the government— “The Man , with a big capital M.” (which is ironic given Hopper is a cop)

When discussing who was involved with MK-ULTRA, Becky mentions “people like [Terry]”

So people like Terry, who maybe don’t like authority as was just mentioned?

It seems as though the Byers have always been down on their luck in terms of finance. Would it be hard to believe that, especially given the close proximity of the lab to the Byers house and Lonnie's willingness to get money in the show, Lonnie might have partaken in a paid study in the past? ("You were in it for the money!")

Above I mentioned the implication that Lonnie is an alcoholic. If he was involved with a study involving hard drugs, could he have developed addiction problems through the program? Furthermore, wouldn't it also make sense for Lonnie to gain a mistrust of authority after being taken advantage of by the government?

In my initial post about it I discuss how this could be foreshadowed through Hopper’s past as well. Hopper was involved with something government related that required chemicals, something that ended up affecting his child.

Theory #2) Lonnie was working with the lab during season one

Another part of proving Lonnie’s MK-ULTRA involvement is his connection with the lab. Everything that I’m about to list could align perfectly with Lonnie simply just being a shitty ex and father, but everything that I’m about to list could also align perfectly with the idea that Lonnie was working with the lab against Joyce the entire season.

1) Lonnie’s fishiness with Joyce’s phone call

I’ve already made an entire post about this here but I’ll recap all of the important bits.

Right before we see Joyce call Lonnie in the first episode, we are shown the lab spying on her conversation explicitly. Joyce is then sent to voicemail, which given the ordering of scenes makes me wonder if the lab purposefully intercepted her call.

Joyce also never actually talks to Lonnie on the phone. Cynthia picks up until their call is disconnected, which could have been Cynthia but also could have been the lab interfering again.

When Jonathan confronts Lonnie about not returning Joyce’s call, he kind of shrugs off his answer.

Why the hesitancy at first, Lonnie?

Lonnie tells Jonathan that he’s talked to police, which is likely, but then adds a comment that makes me question if he talked to any Hawkins cops at all.

Why do you need to ask if Hopper is chief, if Hawkins police came to question you, Lonnie?

2) The timing of Lonnie showing up in Hawkins

Even after being told this his own son is missing, Lonnie does not show up in town until after—

Will’s “body” is found in the quarry

Joyce refuses to sign off on the fake body

Joyce actually speaks to and is able to see Will through the hole in the wall

The next time we see Joyce is when Lonnie pulls up that night at the Byers house. Here is what Lonnie does while he’s there:

Tells Joyce that Will is in her head

Tell Jonathan not to feed into Joyce’s “delusions”

Takes down the Xmas lights that Joyce was using to talk to Will

Covers the hole in the wall that Joyce saw Will through

Unsuccessfully tries to convince Joyce to use Will’s "death" for money

All of these actions align perfectly with Lonnie’s character, do you also see how it also aligns perfectly with Lonnie trying to purposefully cover up the truth?

We don’t see Joyce call Lonnie to come over and I highly doubt that Jonathan asked him to come. Granted, Lonnie was most likely notified by police of Will’s death, why not come right away? Why wait until after Joyce refuses to believe that it’s Will’s body and after she actually sees Will alive in her walls?

Remember that the lab had likely bugged her house as well, given the scene where Hop finds a bug in his cabin.

Think about the timing of when the lab decided to place Will’s body in the quarry and have it found, something that we know for a fact was their doing. This comes after Joyce had discovered the ability to talk to Will through the lights and right after the writing on the wall scene, when Joyce was coming closer to the truth.

If a lab personnel showed up at the Byers, took down the lights and hammered over the wall, that would obviously draw a lot of suspicion towards them. But if the lab could get someone on the inside to do it, perhaps an ex-spouse that can be easily manipulated with cash and already had connections to them, that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow.

That’s also where the lawsuit comes in. If the lab is paying off Lonnie and his family, they can’t just give them the a ton of cash directly, it would likely have to go through a third party under the guise of something else, like a legal suit. I’m willing to bet all my money that the suit Lonnie wanted to file on the Sattlers was just another cover from the lab.

Theory #3) Lonnie was trying to hand Will over to the lab

Another note about Terry, if Will and El are mirrors then Lonnie and Terry may possibly be mirrors, too. If Terry was desperate to get El out of the lab then maybe Lonnie was desperate to get Will into the lab. Also the difference between Terry's daughter being taken from her/Lonnie voluntarily leaving his own son.

Something we know about Lonnie Byers— he was homophobic towards Will and did not want to visit him after he had left.

Something else we know about Lonnie Byers— he likes to fix cars.

We have confirmation that Lonnie was trying to “fix” Will, at least in a less aggressive manner, by taking him to baseball games. Jonathan says explicitly, “He’s trying to force you to like normal things.” This line is so incredibly loaded, what Jonathan is saying below the surface is "He's trying to force you to like girls."

The above scene is in the same episode where Jonathan goes to Lonnie’s Indianapolis house, and we get a line from Lonnie about him fixing up a car.

Yes, Will is being compared to a car. Lonnie wants to fix him.

And remember, Will has powers, and powers are being used as a way to explore sexuality.

So given Lonnie’s connection with the lab from MK-ULTRA as expressed before, along with Lonnie’s hatred of Will and homophobia, along along with powers as a metaphor for Will's queerness, it leads me to believe that Lonnie was trying to cure Will of his powers through the lab. This would essentially be the supernatural version of gay conversion therapy.

I want to talk about the word “mistake”

This word is so potent and really sticks out because we haven’t really seen it used in this way on the show before. The writers could have had Will say “monster” to relate to El's arc, or they could have had him say “freak” which would not only relate to Eddie but is something that Will has called himself in the past. But instead they decide to give him a new word that is different from the labels other characters give themselves.

The word mistake is unique to Will.

What do you do with mistakes? You fix them.

I have a lot of fun with Will-being-a-lab-kid theories, and nothing but absolute love to those who make them, but after doing a lot of my own thinking I’ve since come to the conclusion that Will didn’t grow up in the lab at all, but Lonnie was making an unsuccessful effort to ship Will to the lab. Part of El and Will’s narrative mirroring is Will coming from a normal background while El does not.

Which isn’t to say that the lab didn’t want Will, I think they very much did. I’ve seen the take that Lonnie tried to hand Will to the lab but he didn’t display powers at the time so they wouldn’t take him. But do you really think that that would stop them from wanting him anyway, especially if the boys father was giving him to them willingly? Do you really think that Martin “you wouldn’t stop” Brenner was gonna turn down another child? That someone was willing to give to him?

So then, if Lonnie was willing to give Will to the lab and the lab was willing to take him, what was stopping them?

For starters, I’m guessing that the process involved in receiving a new test subject, especially one that wasn’t born into the lab, would take patience. They can’t just nab Will off the street. They would probably have to surveil things for a while, gain intel from Lonnie, and come up with a strategy.

A strategy that may involve falsifying an accident, a fake body, and the funneling of money via fake lawsuit?

I’m not saying that the lab was the ones behind Will’s disappearance, at least initially. I think the mothergate opening was completely unpredictable from their end and instead necessitated the plan to be accelerated due to sudden unforeseen circumstances, as well as taking advantage of Will’s presence in the Upside Down to try and take him for themselves.

So why wait until now? If they had an airtight plan, why not act sooner?

Could there have been an incident, perhaps, with the lab, which happened prior to Will’s disappearance, that may have delayed this process?

I’m willing to bet that a mass death event of majority of the test subjects and personnel from the place that Lonnie was trying to send Will to, might be enough to put the brakes on this operation, if not on delay for a few years so they can regroup.

While we’re here, I wanna talk about Will’s similarities to Henry Creel

The comparisons between Henry and Will aren’t something hidden under the layers for only die hard theorists to find, this is something that everyone and their mothers were discussing on twitter. The similarities were noticeable even from casual viewing.

Image via Reddit

We know from his monologue that Henry’s mother knew he had powers and wanted to send him away to a doctor, a doctor that we later learn was actual Papa Brenner.

If Will and Henry are similar, is it possible that their parents wanted similar things? The main difference being that Will actually did evade Dr. Brenner.

Furthermore, is it possible that Will has powers similar to One’s and that the lab could have been knowledgeable of this? If that is the case, it may stand to reason that they might be hesitant to bring in someone with similar abilities to the guy who just killed a bunch of people.

I used to think that Will and Henry had to have completely different sets of powers, and while I do think that Will may have abilities unique to himself, given how they are compared I do think that Will may have similar powers to him. In fact, we may have already seen Will display a traveling into the mind ability in season one.

Theory #3.5) Lonnie’s departure correlates with the Hawkins Lab massacre

If Lonnie was desperate to get rid of the son he hates, and then was told that there was an unexpected delay, it would make sense for him to give up and leave town.

There’s been comments from cast and crew in the past regarding when exactly Lonnie left, but it’s never been confirmed in show.

Evidence for why I think it coincides with the massacre actually comes from the shed scene.

Joyce first mentions Will’s eighth birthday, which would have been in March of 1979. The massacre was in September of 1979.

Mentioning his eighth birthday specifically places emphasis on that age. Jonathan then follows Joyce by talking about the night dad left.

We don’t get an exact timeframe or age, but the fact that this follows the story if Will’s eighth birthday does create a correlation with that age. We then switch timeframes when Mike brings up kindergarten.

Think about it, if their dad had left when Will was eight, bringing up his age again would be redundant because Joyce just mentioned it. Mike mentions kindergarten to let us know that this is a different time and age that we’re talking about.

Let’s talk about Lonnie’s debts

What exactly these debts are that Joyce brings up is never specified. And it could be anything. Maybe a loan he took out, drug or gambling debts, since nothing is stated it’s all possible. But here’s my take:

Will is Lonnie’s debt. That’s what he owes.

Remember that the exact way that Lonnie was going to pay back these debts was with Will. He is linked with this debt conversation.

It is Joyce who brings up the debt, but since she doesn’t specify there’s a reasonable doubt that she herself doesn’t know the specifics. She could know that Lonnie is indebted to someone but not know what/could have been lied to.

I’m imagining the lab giving Lonnie some kind of advanced payment for Will, with the promise that they’ll eventually have him. It would be a way for the lab to control Lonnie. He now owes them, and the lab expects to collect their debts. Despite the lab and Lonnie having similar goals, there is definitely a power imbalance.

Lonnie does want a family, just not one with Will in it

More thorough post here, but in season one we get indications in Lonnie's dialogue that he does want to be around his family, like expressing interest in seeing Jonathan more and calling Joyce "babe," which seems to contradict him living in another town, or hell even leaving his family at all.

When Joyce gets mad with Lonnie over the phone about not coming to visit, it was specifically a Will visitation day. It's seeming more and more that Lonnie's departure is centered on Will. (Which doesn't take away from any of the potential abuse he hurled at Jonathan or Joyce. He doesn't care about their interests, only his. Furthermore, I'm not placing blame onto Will for Lonnie's absence. That is all Lonnie's doing)

Am I saying that Lonnie has powers?

Well, maybe.

That is something that I’ve been wondering if Lonnie had powers, which granted is something that relied heavily on speculation regarding TFS which I said I wanted to stay away from for this post. Since I don’t have all the pieces yet, I want to consider as many options as possible.

Option A) Lonnie was born with powers, and MK-ULTRA was simply how he became acquainted with the lab/his powers were repressed and MK-ULTRA activated them

Option B) Lonnie received powers from MK-ULTRA and passed it on to Will

Option C) Lonnie was not born with powers nor received powers from MK-ULTRA but it did give him super-powered sperm

May I remind you of Lonnie's comparison to Terry from earlier in the post, and the fact that Terry herself does have powers.

I oftentimes see the theory that Joyce herself has powers, and I myself even theorized that her Aunt Darlene may have had powers. However I'm more inclined to believe that Joyce is a carrier of this gene rather than having powers herself. Most of the evidence used to suggest that she has powers comes from Joyce reacting to what Will is showing her. There's also no indication that Jonathan has any powers.

If Lonnie participated in MK-ULTRA after Jonathan was born, then it could explain why Will would have powers and not Jonathan. Moreover, having both a mother who is a carrier and a father with powers/nuked balls would likely have a higher chance of having a powered child. (That's how genetics work, right? Please forgive me if my science is wrong.)

Notes on Lonnie's character

You'll note that there are multiple times in this post where I acknowledge that I lot of Lonnie's actions are explainable because of his identity as a shitty guy, and maybe that's all this is. However, I want to explain why having this type of character is actually perfect for a reveal like this.

In order to pull off a successful reveal, you have to hide the truth while also giving enough information so it doesn't come out of nowhere. Lonnie's personality allows for the truth to be hidden in plain sight.

Let's say that Lonnie was actually an upstanding man. Jonathan and Joyce both had fond memories of him, but he left in the past for some unknown reason. Lonnie was always a great husband, but for some reason he's doubting Joyce and taking down her Christmas lights even when she asks him not to.

Do you see how that would create a huge plot hole? How season one would feel incomplete? How it would create a giant unanswered question that needs answering?

Why didn't Joyce know about any of this?

Unfortunately we are told pretty explicitly in season one as to why something like this could have been happening under Joyce's nose. We are told in the first episode that Joyce works long hours, leaving early in the morning and not coming home until later in the night. Jonathan is expected to get Will up, make breakfast, and take him to school. My guess is that Lonnie may have been in charge of such tasks when he was still home.

If Lonnie was, say, taking Will to the lab for some preliminary tests or meetings, he could have easily done this while Joyce was at work or while Jonathan was in school.

We even hear from Joyce herself that she hasn't been keeping up with Jonathan, she isn't in the know how with her sons. (This is not me calling Joyce a bad mother btw, this is definitely a symptom of capitalism rather than bad parenting.)

Why doesn't Will say anything?

If Will was being taken to the lab for appointments in the past, wouldn't he say something about it? Especially to El, who grew up in the lab?

Well, there's a chance that Will doesn't remember this.

Longer post here, but we are given a scene in season four where Will expresses not remembering something from his childhood very well.

Which I could write off as Will being too little to remember this small detail, but this is also coming from the same season where we just got an entire plot line about memories from El's past being erased. (El who, as I stated in the beginning, has a storyline that mirrors Will's)

The Final Timeline

Tl;dr, or, the timeline written out chronologically:

Lonnie marries Joyce and has Jonathan. Jonathan is born without powers

Lonnie becomes involved with MK-ULTRA sometime prior to Will's birth as a way to make money

Joyce and Lonnie have Will, who was born with powers

When Will is very young Lonnie knows that he has powers

Lonnie begins taking Will to the lab in hopes of curing him

Lonnie and the lab strike a deal that involve taking Will in exchange for money

There is a plan to take Will involving a fake accident. Lonnie will file a fake lawsuit in order to exchange the money and avoid suspicion

The Hawkins Lab massacre happens and the plan is delayed

Lonnie leaves

Mothergate is opened by El and Will is taken

Upon realizing that Will is in the Upside Down, the plan moves forward with Lonnie in on it

Things don't go as expected and Joyce is on to Will being alive, so the lab asks Lonnie to come home in order to help with coverup

Joyce is infuriated about the lawsuit and kicks Lonnie out

The rest of the season follows as we see on screen and the labs plan unravels, some of the personnel is killed by El and the demogorgon in the school

#lonnie byers #will byers #will byers has powers #tw child abuse #stranger things #stranger things theory #my theory #woof this is another big one #maybe giant posts like these will become my thing #okay the plan is post now but schedule a reblog for the morning to ensure traffic #maybe someday i'll talk about how owens is continuing the surveillance of will #byler #<- target audience

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doctormastertardis · 6 months ago

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The "ERA"s of Doctor Who:

I honestly think the "Truman Show" theme this season is BBC/Disney's way of establishing an "alternate reality" for the audience-- sorta like breaking-the-fourth-wall type of "NEW ERA" for Doctor Who. They're literally signaling both OLD fans and NEW viewers: "HI! WE LEFT THE OLD ERA OF DOCTOR WHO, THIS IS A NEW ERA!" I don't think they'll ever explore Fourteen's life with Donna on TV again. I think that part of the Doctor's life is now left to the comic book realities and fandom's imagination.

Thing is, DW has been running for so long that it literally evolved from the outside inwardly, into multiple different timelines and realities. Much like our lives, right?--some only have chapters, others have volumes, others have sequels, prequels, etc.

I personally can categorize the different eras of Doctor Who into the following:

"Classic Who" 1960s - #1-3rd Docs = the real "Classic Who"

"Baker Who" 1970s - #4th Doctor = not sure how to categorize Tom Baker's years; it was certainly a mix of "Classic" AND tech-evolution of the 80s ; I personally call it the "booming era" of DW!

"Psychedelic Who" 1980s - #5-7th Docs = these were the years of "Exploring Gallifrey Mythos"; as well as, exploring the inner philosophies and politics of the Doctor's peoples. This was the "era" when the show's new producers decided to integrate the Doctor's "roots" as a Time Lord into the show's overall continuous adventures.

"Re-Birth Who" 90s/millennium - #8-9th Docs = the era when Time War "goes global"! Production-wise, DW needed a big reason to explain the Doctor's disappearance.

"New Who" early 21st century - #10-12th Docs = "False Memory" years, aka "The Retcon Era" LMAO , aka "The Years of Unnecessary Drama" HEHEHEHEH, aka the "I have lost track of where Gallifrey is era"! HAHAHHAHAH! ...ALL JOKES ASIDE, the Doctor's "re-birth" as a character was exemplified through the process of "re-integrating" all his past lives in the eyes of his NEW companions (Rose, Martha, Donna, Amy, Clara, and Bill). In this series, we see his companions play CENTRAL roles in the advancement of the "Who Narrative". The New Who adventures were basically about the Doctor re-discovering himself through his companions' PERSONAL STORIES.

"Re-Incarnation Who" 2010s - #13-14 Docs = This was the short-run era we just had during the pandemic. The producers wanted very much to revive the show's spark; thus, they took all the Classic Who aspects of the original series and EXPANDED its reality into an ALTERNATE/"FORGOTTEN" TIMELINE. For example, we are given brand new "old characters" like the Fugitive Doctor and her new "old" companions. This "era" gave birth to the ALTERNATE timeline we are now being introduced to....

"Modern Who" 2020s - #15th Doctor and beyond = a mystery.

#doctor who #classic who #russell t davies #fifteenth doctor #fourteenth doctor #tom baker #fourth doctor #new who #fugitive doctor #Jo Martin #Jodi Whittaker

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lostsometime · 4 months ago

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WHAT IS THE FIGHT SCENE CONVEYING? (an incomplete list)

Part 2! (For the breakdown of the five fights in the first episode, click here.)

Episode 2 - Straw Hats vs. Buggy: Again, we are getting themes of teamwork - they all have to pitch in together to take care of Buggy. However, this also shows us that Luffy is clever in his own way - he strategizes really well on the fly. Even while actively getting his ass kicked, he's able to observe his opponent and figure out how to bring him down. It also shows a bit more of the "captain" coming out - they still don't want to think of themselves as "his crew," but Zoro and Nami follow his lead in battle without hesitation.

(Luffy's ability to win over disparate people's respect and affection is especially poignant when contrasted with Buggy, who has had to force people, with threats of violence, to pretend to like him.)

Episode 3 - Kuro vs. Merry: This is not really a fight, per se, since Merry can't fight back, but it establishes 1) How ruthless Kuro is and 2) How fucking fast he is. Now we know what we're dealing with and can start getting worried (so when they pull out the Slasher flick vibes next episode, we're Right There with Nami and Kaya, feeling that fear).

It's also doing something else that I didn't pick up on my first time through, because it's specifically doing it for people who know the manga/anime. I came into this mostly canon-blind for the original One Piece - I knew broad strokes of some of the arcs and I was familiar with the premise, but that's all. In the time since I watched it, though, I've gotten into the manga a bit, so I picked up on this when I went back to watch the scene again for this post.

It's establishing for fans who know the original that they don't know what's going to happen. That characters they thought were safe might not be safe. That Merry can die - and so, by extension, can others. Now these people, too, will be scared - not just here, but in other fights, too. If they'll kill off Merry, who else might not be safe? Kaya? Zeff? Nojiko? All kinds of lovable supporting characters whose survival is now not guaranteed. It means that all the work they put into making things exciting and suspenseful isn't going to waste, because now even people who know how the manga goes are subject to the same uncertainty as the rest of us.

Episode 4 - Zoro vs. Black Cat Pirates: Okay, this one is mostly for Spectacle, but it also gives a lovely bit of character work since this is the first time we're seeing Zoro fight since getting his Backstory Flashback earlier in the episode. We know what the third sword means to him now. We get it when Sham takes it from him, what that means and why he prioritizes getting it back.

Episode 4 - Luffy vs. Kuro: We got a bit of this also with Buggy, but it's an important theme, so they spend a lot of time on it - how confident Luffy is in who he is and what he wants, and how stubbornly he trusts in his friends. Many, many baddies are going to try and do this, to attack his self-esteem or tell him to Be Less Like Himself, and none of them are going to succeed, ever, because Luffy knows exactly who he is.

Episode 5 - Sanji vs. Those Two Guys: Look, here's the thing. There are two things Sanji is good at and those are 1) cooking and 2) kicking people in the face. So that's what his first two scenes gotta show him doing! It's less than 3 minutes, his introduction, and they hit their marks perfectly. Point one, amazing cooking, point two, cussing at Zeff, point three, kicking shitheads in the face. It's such a neat little package. Beautifully done. This is how you introduce a major character in the back half of an eight-episode season - you need to show us who he is, what he wants, and why we should care immediately. And they do! By the end of Sanji's introduction scene I was sold on him as a character.

I think I'll need to do another post for the rest, but the one last thing I want to point out is that, like my earlier post, this post is also analyzing five separate fights. And it takes us into episode 5. I just want to point that out again because it is remarkable to me that they managed to fit 5 combat scenes into one episode for the premiere. They had so much they had to do in that one episode and the fact that they pulled it off impresses me so much I'm still boggling at it, something like 8 months later.

#meta #my meta #opla #opla meta #one piece #one piece live action #op meta #opla episode 2 #opla episode 3 #opla episode 4 #opla episode 5 #fight scene narrative breakdown

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astarionmademewriteit · 11 months ago

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Ch. 1: Harbinger of Death

MDNI. Blank bios will be blocked.

Astarion (POV) x f!Tav Dark Urge

Rating: Mature themes

Wordcount: 2.6k

Tags: Brief mentions of Astarion's background; blood; stalking (if you squint); prostitution; brief mentions of sex; self-loathing; hunger; mentions of murder; Astarion POV.

Summary: Astarion and the Dark Urge have grown used to the other's presence as they independently stalked the streets and sewers of Baldur’s Gate. The Dark Urge approaches Astarion with a proposition, one that would ensure Cazador dies and Astarion would be forever free from his oppressive clutches.

A/N: This will be a mutli-chapter series that follows the friendship of Astarion and the Dark Urge pre-tadpole. I plan for this story to map out their friendship and eventual romance before and after the nautiloid crash. The Dark Urge will have an established relationship with Gortash before their eventual amnesia and tadpole friend. I'd like to play with Astarion's character growth through the story. He will start out terrified and somewhat timid but will grow into the man we all adore.

Ch. 2 | AO3

‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵

She reeked of blood. This stranger whose path I have crossed on numerous occasions, skulking about the sewers or prowling the streets of Baldur’s Gate as if on the hunt. We have never acknowledged the other aside from the occasional gleam of recognition flitting in our eyes when we passed one another.

The smell of murder clung to her skin like a rich perfume–the fragrance a familiar scent that filled my nostrils as she wafted past me night after night. It was no secret to her what I was. That much was certain. Her indifference towards me was something I was unaccustomed to.

There were times I tailed her–my curiosity piqued. I followed her scent through the sewers like a seasoned bloodhound until the pungent scent of blood was so overwhelming that I had to retreat lest I lose control and indulge in the carnage she was responsible for. Cazador’s orders were clear. We could not feast on the blood of humans–a tactic that kept us weak and compliant.

Other times she would slip into the home of a particular politician, his name becoming more prominent as the days passed. Rumors of the rising politician becoming the next archduke of Baldur’s Gate flowed freely from the mouths of bar patrons and brothel visitors. The press was particularly fond of Gortash, painting him as the next savior of the city. It even caught the attention of Cazador who felt a political alliance with the next archduke would solidify his own shady dealings in the city. News of missing persons would never reach the printing press and the city guard would suppress suspicions that pointed to the vampire den so long as Cazador could secure an alliance.

Nevertheless, this beautiful enigmatic stranger slipped into his palace corridors, only emerging once she smelled of sex and blood. Perhaps she was Gorthash’s personal assassin and lover, but I could not be sure. The rumors that circulated never mentioned a partner–political or otherwise. She was a specter of the streets–not unlike myself.

Then, during one grand soiree she appeared in Cazador’s palace alongside her political lover. The moment I laid eyes on her, I couldn’t help but feel resentment. For so long, she was an object of my curiosity. Seeing her among the growing congregation of attendees thrust her into a new light–one I was forced to be a part of as nothing more than entertainment.

I watched her closely as she quietly observed Cazador while he participated in a lively discussion with the next archduke. Her expression remained unreadable as she expertly toyed with the dagger she kept close at hand.

“Boy,” Cazador’s scratchy voice grated my ears as he commanded my attention, “Make yourself useful. Show our new friend here a good time while I secure this alliance with the duke. Give her whatever she wishes,” His power undulates through my body, compelling me to comply without another thought. He had thoroughly broken me, and I was in no position to refuse.

My eyes flit to the young woman as she grips the hilt of her dagger–her knuckles growing white as her grasp tightens around her weapon. She flits her eyes to Gortash who only nods before returning to the conversation at hand. A conniving look graces her features as she eyes Cazador with disdain.

My body moves on instinct, unwilling to anger my master. I bow graciously before extending my hand in her direction. She eyes me momentarily before taking my hand and allowing me to lead her to a curtained boudoir off the main ballroom. She follows close behind until the curtain falls back into place, sufficiently cutting off our view from the other guests.

I slip into my charming, sultry facade as if it were a second skin, “Hello my dear. Allow me the courtesy of satiating your every need,” I purr as I lead her to a cushioned chaise lounge. She stills and pulls her hand from mine.

“I require no such thing,” she spits, before opting to sit in a chair.

I cock my head, seductively, “Then what do you require, my love? I am yours to command.”

She crosses her arms over her chest and crosses her legs, eyeing me with an expression that I cannot quite place, “I do not wish to command you,” she snaps, “It seems you have enough of that as is.”

I stare, momentarily dumbfounded as she eyes me with a cold, hard stare. I finally sit on the chaise lounge, unsure of my next move.

“It seems our paths cross yet again, spawn,” her lilting voice warms even my cold heart momentarily.

“Call me Astarion, if it pleases you,” I mutter.

“Would it please you?” She shoots back, pulling out her dagger to mindlessly spin between her fingers.

She stuns me into silence once again. No one has ever extended such a courtesy to me, not even one as mild as this. I nod slowly, unable to form words.

“Astarion,” she murmurs, tasting every letter of my name on her tongue as if she were savoring a well-aged brandy, “Are you often compelled to entertain guests for their pleasure?”

The question felt invasive, but not unwelcome. “Why yes, I suppose. It is my duty to further my master’s sphere of influence and enact his will.” I cannot hide the grimace that emerges unintentionally as I bear witness to my own weakness. The familiar twinge of self-loathing creeps its ugly head through my mind–the only feeling reserved for myself. It was the only thing I was allowed to keep close to my heart.

She contemplates my words, more than likely passing her own judgments regarding my weakness. She studies me a moment longer before her expression softens slightly–it is a look that I have never had the opportunity to witness before. Her features were always hardened when I passed her on the street, as if chiseled from stone. She pockets her dagger once again before leaning forward to look me squarely in the eyes.

“Don’t you ever wish for something more?” Her voice softens, and there is a strange familiarity in her question, as if she is also asking herself.

I watch her, suddenly frightened that this entire interaction is staged to test my loyalties. It would not be untoward for Cazador to execute such a manipulative tactic to surveil his spawn and pry their sins from their mouths. She was his guest, after all. Even the occasional stalking would not unveil all her secrets, much less where her own loyalties lay.

“It is my duty to further my master’s sphere of influence and enact his will,” I recite once again wearing a carefully constructed mask that would not alert her to my feelings on the matter.

She snorts contemptuously before relaxing and pulling her dagger back out to flip mindlessly through the air. “You are less than convincing, Astarion. You don’t even look properly fed.” Her sharp eyes pierce through me with every second that passes between us.

I swallow, my throat suddenly dry at the mention of my own hunger. I’m unsure what game she is playing. The entire interaction is incredibly foreign to me. Most of Cazador’s patrons place more importance on the proximity of our bodies and less on speaking to me as an equal.

“Why are you here,” I finally ask, confusion churning in my stomach.

A dark grin splits her face, her teeth gleaming in the candlelight and a demented look graces her features. She truly looks terrifying in this moment, the flickering flames reflecting in her irises as if conjured from her very soul.

She drags a finger along the sharp edge of her knife, drawing blood that immediately fills my nostrils with her delicate bouquet. My mouth instantly waters and my body goes rigid as I conjure every bit of willpower to stay planted in my spot. She oozes murderous intent and I immediately recognize that she is not someone to trifle with.

She stands and begins pacing the small enclosure and I try to focus on her while ignoring the smell of her blood as it permeates the surrounding warm air. “Vampires are interesting creatures,” she contemplates, “Undead. Immortal. Difficult to kill.” I gulp unintentionally, readying my body to spring at any sudden movements, “Your master is an interesting individual. Powerful to be sure. No doubt he is responsible for many deaths in this city. Deaths that could serve a greater purpose at someone else’s hands.” She stops and looks at me with interest. “I imagine you would greatly benefit from his death.” She watches me quizzically.

“I–I don’t know what you mean,” I lie, still careful to hide my own contempt for Cazador, “Besides, he’s more useful alive. For your lover, at the very least.”

My quip catches her attention and she watches me with increased interest, “Lover?” she laughs, “Gortash is brilliant to be sure. We have a mutual understanding. But he is not mine, and I am not his. Not completely. My father…” She lets her sentence die on her lips, unwilling–or unable–to complete her thought. Sadness momentarily flits through her eyes before quickly replacing it with longing. For what, I am not sure.

“Would he approve of such thoughts? Eliminating potential political allies seems counterintuitive,” I stand and close the distance between us, lowering my voice to avoid potential voyeurs from overhearing such treasonous words, “How would Cazador’s death be beneficial to you?”

Her smile becomes more menacing, “Contrary to your preconceived notions, Gortash relies on my counsel. We have… plans. Plans that I must ensure come to fruition. Those who have amassed power in the city are a threat. Including your dear, dear Master,” Her voice took on a deranged tone, as if she relished the idea of murdering Cazador. I can’t lie, the thought filled me with unadulterated joy, even if I never voiced it out loud.

“Look,” she murmurs, inching closer until we were practically breathing the same air, “All I’m saying is we can help one another. Feed me information about Cazador, and I’ll…” she taps her bloodied finger to her lips in contemplation, “I’ll feed you. I have unlimited access to blood. And you look positively starved.”

I eye the blood stained on her lips, my throat burning furiously as she cleans it with a swipe of her tongue. I lock eyes with her, trying to suppress my desperation.

“I–I can’t,” I finally conceded, too terrified that Cazador would somehow uncover this plan and dole out a punishment far worse than I have endured already. I pull my hands to my face in shame, unwilling to look her in the eyes.

“Darling,” she murmurs, gently pulling my hands from my face, her voice no more than a whisper, “You have suffered enough already. I can tell. It is time to reclaim your destiny.” She understands my terror, and I wonder what she has gone through to find a kindred spirit in someone like me.

I watch her cautiously, unable to utter another word, fearful of the emotions that threaten to surface. “I see you stalking in the night. What is it that you are being compelled to do, Astarion?”

“I–I lure people back to his palace so that he may feed,” I confess, “I use my body to lower their guard. They willingly follow me to their demise.”

She taps the tip of her dagger to her full lips in quiet contemplation, “Meet me at the sewers entrance tomorrow evening once the sun has set, dear Astarion. I will provide you a victim, and I will provide you with some blood,” I watch her incredulously. I have never been treated so kindly, and her genuine concern is a welcome reprieve from the contempt I feel walking through these very halls.

“W-what are you?” I ask. The question had burned in the deep recesses of my mind since I first laid eyes on her.

Another unhinged smile splits her face, but her eyes shine with a kindness I haven’t known in centuries, “A harbinger of death.”

I stare at her for a moment, letting her words sink in. She wanted to rescue me–rescue all of us and kill Cazador. She was willing to provide me with the things I needed and, in return, all she sought was information. I finally nod in agreement. A sigh escaped my lips and a heavy burden lifted from my slumped shoulders.

“Excellent,” she purrs, “I’ll ensure you never have to endure this kind of humiliation again. Now, let us rejoin the others,” She tangles her hand through mine, “Is this okay? I would hate to raise suspicion.”

I peer down at our intertwined hands, her warmth radiating through my body and stealing away the frigidity of my own flesh, “This is fine. Thank you…for asking,” I will be forever grateful for the kindness she has shown me.

She pulls me from the room, swinging her hips seductively. Her half-lidded eyes insinuate a satisfaction that one can only achieve after having been fulfilled. I cannot help but commend her performance. We filter through the parting crowd, heading towards Cazador and Gortash who seem to have concluded their dealings.

“My dear assassin,” Gortash purrs as he sees us approaching, a dark smile paints his even darker features, “I sincerely hope you enjoyed yourself,” his eyes flicker to me momentarily before settling on his lover once more. Something almost imperceptible passes between them–a silent recognition that would go unnoticed by someone who was unaware of their devious plans.

She looks towards Cazador who is watching her intently, wanting assurance that his prized spawn tended to her every need. She blushes and stifles a giggle, “Oh he was absolutely delectable, thank you,” she bows slightly towards Cazador, “I’d very much enjoy borrowing him from time to time,” she purrs as she strokes my arm lightly.

Cazador eyes me with an unreadable expression before turning back to our mutual friend, “Of course. Anything for our new friends.” He nods his head in my direction, effectively dismissing me. I glance towards Gortash and my new friend, bowing graciously before excusing myself. I meld into the perimeter of the room, looming in the shadows in the hopes that I do not garner any unwanted attention.

I realize I never asked her name. I would have to find out tomorrow. I watch as the party dies down and patrons filter out of the palace. I caught one last glimpse of Gortash and his lover near the exit. She turns and locks eyes with me across the room, a soft smile painting her sharp features.

“Tomorrow,” she mouths before turning away and disappearing into the night once more.

I was allowed to rest in the spawn’s quarters this evening, indicative of my perceived “performance” tonight entertaining Cazador's newest “friends.” I was thankful for the soft bed, if nothing else. It was incomparable to the cold hard floor of the kennels.

I curl into myself and replay the events from tonight through my mind, trying to untangle the confusion that sat like knotted rope in my thoughts. This kind, enigmatic stranger was going to help me. Thoughts of betraying Cazador had long been tortured out of me, earning my compliance and subsequent self-loathing. Entertaining the thought felt criminal, but my new friend was dangerous. If anyone could defeat the vampire Master, I had a feeling she could.

I didn't know much about her, but she reeked of death. I only hoped that she was true to her word. Though, something told me she was.

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percheduphere · 1 year ago

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LOKI SEASON 2 - END GAME THEORIES PART 1

This is going to be a super long post that will need to be divided into 2 parts due to the 10 image posting limit. Here's what I'll cover:

Part 1:

1.) The Original Timekeepers

2.) Trust as a Theme

3.) Social Intelligence is a Leadership Skill

4.) Mobius's Presence Through Food - Food is Socializing ... and Friendship

Part 2: (read: here)

5.) Mobius's Plotline

6.) Sylvie's Role

7.) John = Mobius?

8.) The Original Timekeepers & Time Paradoxes

THE ORIGINAL TIMEKEEPERS

I am 99.99% certain that the original 3 timekeepers are Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie, and that we are in a time paradox by which the future influenced the past. The lore and set design have repeatedly highlighted that there have always been THREE timekeepers.

More than once, the camera has held on the TVA seal for an extended period. The seal above is from the past, when HWR was in power.

This seal is from the future:

In both cases, the image of the seal remains the same. The dagger represents Loki, the hourglass (drawn like a mobius strip) represents Mobius, and the mask (that looks like shield but isn't) represents Sylvie, who can enchant. The papers covering the text appears intentional as well, a nod to the comics, "Loki: God of Stories".

And the writers, cunning folk that they are, are counting on the most avid fans to be too busy looking for scenes supporting their ships to realize that the end game is for Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie to trust and care about one another enough to protect all time(lines), always. Please note that I'm not an anti. I love shipping! It's fun. But an awareness of shipping is also a useful tool to keep the audience distracted from the narrative and cinematic hints that are right in front of our faces. These three need to become a team. The shots below (adored by Lokius fans, including me) foreshadow this in 2 ways:

First, that Loki's character has progressed to the point that he trusts and supports Mobius. Second, that both shots are imbalanced. There needs to be a third person on Loki's other side to balance both shots' composition. The Heart of the TVA is missing its 3rd timekeeper: Sylvie.

This shot is significant for several reasons, all of which are thematically connected. Despite there being two people on either side of Loki, the shot is still imbalanced. Loki is slightly closer to Mobius. In this scene. Sylvie is positioned at a distance, demonstrating lack of trust in both of them.

TRUST AS A THEME

Stepping back for a moment, S1 predominantly focused on Loki and Mobius developing trust in one another:

By Season 2, that trust is well-established. Sylvie hasn't had enough time to build trust with either them. She continues to operate in a survivalist mindset. Her history justifies this: she's relied on herself since childhood. But not having anyone to trust is not the path to happiness, nor is it to the path to success when in the face of an annihilation event. Sylvie is still emotionally and psychologically where Loki was at the beginning of S1.

SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE IS A LEADERSHIP SKILL

I'm an older fan. If you've ever worked for a medium to large employer, the different types of managers that exist become apparent.

1. The micromanagers, managers who do not trust their staff and consequently create a tense environment that can become toxic where no one trusts one another.

2. The absent managers, managers who delegate and disappear, leaving their team feel uncared for.

3. The blurred-line manager, who's friendly and approachable but doesn't hold others accountable and doesn't know how to create and implement plans at a high level (out of fear of upsetting anyone), making their team feel frustrated with in-fighting and lost in terms of what the main goal is.

4. The authoritarian, a manager who follows the book to a T, is rigid, punitive, and has no compassion for individual circumstances.

5. The leader, a manager who takes the time to know team members individually, change their management style based on individual needs, keeps an eye on the big picture and ensure actions are taken toward it, holds people accountable but also makes time to make sure people are getting along.

Renslayer, Brad, and Sylvie tearing Mobius down are foreshadowing, plot set-up, and red herrings. Mobius is not a perfect leader, but he is a strong one by virtue of having exceptional social skills, which Sylvie doesn't have because she's never had real friends before. It's not her fault. However, it is imperative that she move beyond this.

And Loki, who has developed compassion, self-awareness, and personal accountability through Mobius's friendship and love, extends those things to Sylvie. He is gentle when he confronts her. He shares his experience with Thor because he knows where Sylvie is at mentally. But he also doesn't force her to come with him. He leaves her with the free will to choose.

MOBIUS'S PRESENCE THROUGH FOOD - FOOD IS SOCIALIZING ... AND FRIENDSHIP

In S2E4, Mobius's presence and influence are heavy in scenes in which he is not there. The pie scene is one of them, with the flickering lights and sweets sitting forlornly behind glass symbolizing that Mobius's sense of self (very much grounded in trust and hope in others, even if they are broken) is wavering. And as @charcubed noted in their INCREDIBLE meta here, everything goes wrong from this point. Why?

Having pie together was an opportunity to build trust and friendship with Sylvie.

None of them have the technical know-how to help OB, Victor, and Casey. The best thing they could have done is get out of their hair because too much overseeing leads to anxiety and anxiety leads to mistakes. Mobius knows this. What can they do in the meantime? Stress eat and integrate Sylvie as a member of the team.

Note that every moment Mobius makes to eat or drink is not only a moment to de-stress, it is also a moment he uses to bond with others and get to know them better. Renslayer (and later Loki, because he's become close enough to Mobius to know what comforts him) uses this method, too.

S1 - Whisky scene with Renslayer

S1 - Cafeteria scene with Loki

S1- Salad scene with Loki

S2 - Cracker Jack scene with Loki

S2 - McDonalds scene with Brad

S2 - Pie scene with Loki

S2 - Hot cocoa scene with Victor

Knowing what people want and care about is critical to motivating individuals, and yes, this talent can be used as manipulation when the situation calls for it.

Socializing over food is also a means of feeling less alone. We tend to eat with people we trust and care about (a tradition meant for family, found or otherwise), or at the very least want to get along with.

The second scene where Mobius's presence is felt despite not being there?

What does Victor dobwith the hot cocoa?

He gives it to D-90.

Victor gives it to D-90 out of a sense of comradery, a basic human desire to share something nice with someone and maybe make friends.

But this moment leads to tragedy. As @charcubed explained, Mobius separating from Loki led him to comfort eat via hot cocoa. The hot cocoa caught Victor's interest. D-90 goes with Victor to check out the machine. D-90 is pruned, and Victor is separated from the team. This causes a delay in getting Victor prepped and out onto the Loom gangway, which causes the temporal radiation to build up so high, it's impossible for Victor survive. The Loom consequently explodes.

PART 2 HERE!

Thank you to @bebx and @mobius-m-mobius for responding to my asks which consisted of end game theories for Loki Season 2 (here, here, here, and here), and for @wowwwmobius for supporting my thoughts. Your replies got me to feel brave enough to post everything I've been thinking in full!

#loki #mobius #sylvie #lokius #sylki #loki season 2 #loki series #loki s2 #mobius m mobius #loki spoilers #my meta #my theories

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cutekittenlady · 1 year ago

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I do wish people would have more fun speculating on how Alucards relationship to the rest of the group will play out in season 2.

Like, yes, Maria and Alucard were a thang in the games, but I'm not sure that's going to necessarily follow into the Netflix adaptation. Not because of the pearl clutchy discourse but more because the creative team behind the first series made it clear they weren't doing a beat for beat adaptation and had every intention of doing their own thing with the characters. Plus, thematically speaking, it wouldn't shock me if Alucard and her wind up developing a father-daughter relationship given how Alucard was left off in the first series.

I mean, it is kind of interesting how Alucard comes swinging into the story immediately after Maria has more or less lost both her parents in ways that are way worse than death. (I mean her mom loses her humanity and her dad flagrantly rejected her offer to become a real family in favor of his cause; which is actually way worse than if they were both just dead) And at the end of the first series, Greta makes a point of saying that many of the villages orphaned children were freely calling Alucard 'father' so he's clearly established as a guy who has filled a father figure role in the past.

Plus, Alucard is kind of a fun contrast to the Abbot. I mean, the Abbot is an extremely religious conservative whose conversations with Maria in regards to their idealogical differences are heavily tinged with moralizing and tend to patronize her as a confused little girl. Meanwhile, assuming we keep certain aspects of his character from the first series, Alucard is a half-vampire who leans pretty heavily into science and may prescribe more to a lot of the ideas of the enlightenment movement that helped inspire the French Revolution in the first place. Thing is, I don't see him really agreeing with Maria either, but unlike the Abbot, he'd likely approach the discussion way differently and treat her conviction as something with a real moral core to it. However, I can see Alucard still challenging Maria to think more deeply about her own ideas and what it is she actually wants to achieve.

Like, imagine Maria challenging Alucard to take a hand in something like the revolution. Maybe even asking in a sorta accusatory way as though his refusal to take part is a mark against his character/trustworthiness. Alucard, in turn, asking her if she really wants yet another vampire screwing around in human affairs and potentially manipulating people to their own ends. She might try to argue its for a more righteous cause, but Alucard would be pretty quick to point out that both her father and the vampire think their cause is righteous too. And so on.

I just think, thematically, there is a lot of potential there for Alucard to act as a more sincere father figure to Maria with the added benefit that the two living together afterwards would still feel organic and natural as a result. Thereby getting the same net benefit of Maria encouraging Alucard to interact more with the world, just through a different relationship.

Of course, I mention the father-daughter aspect just because there's a pretty clear theming running through season 1 in regards to parentage and how that can influence/define ones outlook and ideals. (And also a ton of parent related trauma. LIke tooooons of it). The same themeing could be continued given Alucards history with his own dad even if he doesnt play a paternal or romantic role with maria.

Alucard could just as easily be a kindred spirit that Maria just comes to really be fond of. Her bitchy bisexual bishounen bestie, if you will.

#castlevania #casltevania alucard #castlevania nocturne #castlevania maria #alucard tepes #maria renard #i still think the idea of Maria learning Alucards real name is a fun one #I shoudl coin the term 'bitcy bisexual bishounen bestie'#it just came to me #but its soooo descriptive #and lets be frank #alucard was TOTALLY Syphas bitchy bisexual bishounen bestie

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imakemywings · 4 days ago

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Arcane S2 thoughts

Arcane season 1 was a breakout show. I didn't know anything about League of Legends when I started it, but I was blown away by the animation and drawn into the world and the complex character dynamics it established. It ended on a massive cliffhanger three years ago, and I've been waiting since to see how it would all resolve.

And y'all, it's a disappointment.

It seems Riot could not follow through on what they set up in S1. As I think is not uncommon in follow-up seasons, they added too many new plotlines to satisfactorily draw them all to a close, which meant we were left with glaring holes in the plot and character motivations that made little sense. They abandoned the heart of the show--Jinx and Vi's relationship--to focus on other things and set themselves up for a new spin-off show set in Noxus, Mel's homeland.

Some spoilers in the full review below.

Mel has always been my favorite Arcane character, and while she got some time to shine this season, she also was mostly a tool to lay the ground for the Noxus spin-off. A great brouhaha is made about Mel's parentage, and she's apparently being hunted by a dangerous group of mages known as the Black Rose, but none of this gets resolved within the show. We never find out who Mel's father is that makes her so interesting to the Black Rose, we never find out what Ambessa did to get the Black Rose on her back, we never really find out what happened to Mel's brother Kino except that it had something to do with the Black Rose (and Ambessa claims she was obligated to let Kino die to save Mel?), we never find out the identity of the mage contacting Mel or what they actually want from her. All of this, presumably, will be addressed in the Noxus spin-off show.

This is something I really hate. I'm here to watch Arcane, not get an advertisement for your studio's next show. I hate it when it feels like one media is already trying to sell you on another. I don't care about the Noxus spinoff (which I would have been excited for before they fumbled Arcane S2 so badly), I care about Arcane, which is what I'm watching.

Because so few questions about the Black Rose are answered, it makes Ambessa's motivations murky as well. She's set up as the big bad of S2, but without clarity of goals beyond "find a good weapon to fight the Black Rose." When Mel makes her argument that if Ambessa backs down, Mel will return to Noxus with her and they can fight the Black Rose together, it's difficult to understand why or believe that Ambessa refuses this offer in favor of continuing to wage war on Piltover. It's also very unclear what Ambessa's plan is. We're led to believe she's a cunning general, but then the show makes her thought process so hazy.

I would have also liked her to be a more three-dimensional villain. It's not a secret that I've loved Ambessa since she was introduced, and I was excited to hear she was playing a role in S2 even as an antagonist, but where in S1 the show put thought and nuance into her character--the moment where she cries out that she had to send Mel away because Mel "weakened" her is one that lives in my brain--this season she mostly just plays the warmonger.

She has virtually no reaction to Mel's kidnapping and disappearance, and barely a response to Mel's return. Mel, who has been so central to Ambessa's character and motivations up to this point! Ambessa who has already lost one beloved child! If her grief for Mel had driven her harshness with Piltover, that would have made sense! But it's not addressed; watching Ambessa, you'd never know anything had happened to Mel at all. The vulnerability she showed with Mel in S1 when Mel presses her is completely gone, for seemingly no reason.

And that's a theme throughout this season. The show is simply juggling so many things it doesn't have time to address consequences or outcomes. Jayce and Mel's relationship suffers similarly. Neither of them has any real reaction to what happens to the other, and their reunion is characterized by bizarre accusations by Jayce that Mel manipulated him in S1. He gives her a half-assed apology after this outburst and they never speak again.

But where they dropped the ball the most, in my view, was with Jinx (speaking of no consequences). So much of S1 was devoted to showing how unstable and unreliable and dangerous Jinx is, all of which is gone by S2; she has been completely defanged. The Jinx of S1 who laughed while she shot people and flew into a rage at the mere thought that Vi might have any other person in her life is replaced with a kind of mopey but harmlessly quirky Jinx whose tricks are more like pranks and whose anger is nonexistent.

Jinx ended S1 by shooting her father figure during a paranoid break and launching a missile at the center of Piltover's government because she was upset that Vi had a life outside of her. These events play no impact on her character in S2. Sure she seems a little lost starting S2, but the king of unhinged grief I would have expected to see from her after she killed Silco is nowhere to be seen. Her team-up with Sevika is also poorly-explained, given how much they hated each other in S1 and that Jinx (who Sevika consistently called out as dangerous and unreliable in S1) is responsible for the death of Sevika's boss, a man she believed in (right or wrong).

Much of her character development is sped along and outsourced to a plot device called Isha, a child dumped in her lap who the show is obviously so desperate for us to find cute and loveable that I was just irritated whenever she was onscreen. Isha is implied to be mute, and while normally I would applaud the inclusion of more disabled characters, the way this plays out ensures we learn nothing about Isha as a person--not about her backstory, or her personality (besides "cute"), or her opinions, because none of that matters. She exists to engender sympathy in the viewers towards Jinx.

Comparatively, almost no time is spend on Jinx's relationship with Vi, a relationship still billed as the core of the show. They have one good fight scene, and zero real reconciliation. They're forced to team up and this just washes away the bad blood; they never discuss what happened last season--where Jinx kidnapped Vi and Caitlyn, and believably threatened to kill them both, and killed a good half the council in a fit. Just like that, the central conflict of the story is hand-waved, and never really addressed again.

Similarly, the conflict between Zaun and Piltover takes a backseat to teaming up against Ambessa and her Noxian army. The end of the show implies Zaun has a seat on the council--which also implies they have not gotten their independence, something the council was ready to approve at the end of S1.

The final arc of the show focuses so heavily on Viktor and Jayce's relationship you'd be forgiven for thinking the show was about them. Little to say about this except that I found it uninteresting.

The denouement is almost nonexistent due to the rush and clutter of the rest of the show. We never find out exactly where Piltover and Zaun settle. We have no idea what Ekko is doing. No explanation about Mel apparently leaving the council and the city she helped build. A quick CaitVi scene which is not really rife with affection (and of course, Caitlyn's role in the events of the season is barely addressed at all by Vi). It was an incredibly unsatisfying final sequence the served mainly to drive home that our focus should now be on the Noxus spinoff.

On the whole, I'm incredibly disappointed. Maybe time will change this view, but I had high hopes for this show after the first season and this one feels like such a letdown. I will not be watching the Noxus spinoff now; it doesn't feel like it will be worth my time.

#rambling

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cannoli-reader · 1 year ago

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My notes from watching the "Wheel of Time" Season 2 finale.

1:28 Is this going to become their “thing”, to have an AoL flashback at the beginning of every season finale?

1:32 Eight people in a circle, presumably Aes Sedai. No significance to this that I can see, but boy howdy do they love their overhead shots of circular patterns or images. Because the show is called “Wheel of Time,” doncha know? Which we wouldn’t, because apart from the departure from the actual Wheel of Time story, there is no sense of the Wheel of Time in this one. No references or allusions to the theme, no stories that could be other stories in a different turning, no servicing the point that knowledge and information change as they pass through hands, because everyone has a different perspective. Hell, this show does not even recognize any perspectives other than “the writers’ opinion” and “wrong.”

2:59 What, exactly are the Forsaken? Are they some sort of demon or god? They are being banished or sealed away with the use of a magic circle, so that’s what I am leaning towards.

Does anyone remember last season, when Ishamael told Rand that Lews Therin had 99 companions and failed to beat him? It looks here like he’s beating him with only 7. Kicking the can down the road 3000 years might technically be considered a failure, but on the other hand, if the Philistine Goliath popped up to start appearing in the people's dreams, would we consider David a failure?

Also, not to harp on an apparently irrelevant series of books, but Lews Therin died more than 3,750 years before Rand was born.

Finally, with all the “giving depth” and “humanizing” of Ishamael this season, plus the absolute failure of any world-building establishing what the conflict was, Lews Therin comes across as kind of a dick here.

3:29 I am watching the intro for the first time this season, and noting that the order in which the actors are named places the importance of the characters as follows: Moiraine Lan Egwene Nynaeve Rand Perrin Mat Elayne Loial “Magdalena” (who is this?) Dain Ishamael Fain Lanfear Aviendha

It’s possible that the order from Loial on down is purely alphabetical. But not the top ones. Then again, these writers might just be dumb enough to think Pike, Henney, Robbins, Madden, Stradhowski and Rutherford go before Finn in the alphabet…

4:25 LIARS! Got it out of the way early this week.

Imma put a cut here, because this is long.

4:53 Dain is wearing a Ren-faire sweater and is accompanied by clinking noises that I absolutely do not believe indicate he is wearing armor.

5:25 The old guy who advised a character to seek Aes Sedai Healing last season is here and in command of the Children. Also, he says they have a secret weapon to make the difference going up against a foe with greater numbers & supplies and in a defensive position. I think that’s what he meant. What he said was, that the enemy are better fortified. He is in a tent, so a pile of pillows in front of the enemy would make them “better fortified” and better fortifications are meaningless if you are planning a battle with hand-to-hand combat, because only one set of fortifications will come into play. If they are attacking yours, you have an advantage, and vice versa if you attack theirs. How good your fortifications are when you are attacking them does not matter.

5:56 So the Watchers at Falme sent out messages asking for help to every ruler and only the Children of the Light came. What are they doing? First of all, this is heavily ripping off the story of Stannis riding to the rescue of the Nights Watch from GoT/aSoI&F, and cramming it into a setting where it does not work. The Nights Watch sending letters to every king had to do with the fact that every king claimed dominion over the lands the Nights Watch protected, including the Watch itself, and thus had a concomitant duty to defend the Wall and aid the Watch. No such obligation exists for the rulers of the wetlands, since Falme acknowledges none of them as their own. Secondly, they are changing this story to make the Children heroic, coming to the aid of people in need, because the enemies are doing morally objectionable things. None of this fits with the depiction of the Children thus far.

6:18 If Prophecies are just the lies of long-dead witches, why are they so well known? Everyone even quotes the relevant line the same.

6:23 Lanfear doesn’t know any light spells? Or have we arbitrarily reinstated the “no channeling in the Ways” rule? How do they get out?

6:47 That was not a particularly clever twisting of Moiraine’s words. She was citing a past circumstance that is no longer applicable.

6:52 How can Lanfear see Moiraine got her power back? Is this a property of the ability to channel or a special skill lost to the current era?

7:11 I sort of like Lanfear for the first time, just for her putting Moiraine in her place.

7:31 Yes, Rand. Mention again that bizarre inconsistency, how you can’t channel in the Ways, but opening the gate requires it.

8:13 Aw, Journey of Destruction didn’t get any lines this season.

8:25 Another one of these desert cities.

Who cares about world-building? The locations are chosen so Rafe & Taylor can have nice tropical vacations while shooting.

8:37 What doesn’t belong here?

8:50 Have they ever explained what it means to wake from the dream? Since other parts of the story have been talking about Rand coming here to fulfil a prophecy, arguably, one might assume that Aviendha means people are going to be forced to confront a new reality.

10:15 “The most dangerous Forsaken” has just screwed up Ishamael’s plans by bringing Rand prematurely, when Ishamael is not ready and does not think Rand is prepared to choose their team. We have absolutely no reason to think otherwise, either.

11:36 What is the geography of this setting? Moments ago, Perrin & three Aiel women were approaching the city on a perfectly clear day. Now, somehow, it’s all dusty and the Seanchan can’t see anything, so they are moving deeper into the cloud, away from the open gates they are tasked with guarding. And I simply do not believe the thurible carried by the Children is responsible for the dust. And where did Perrin and the Aiel get to?

Also, what is the motivation of the Aiel to come to Falme? All we know about them is that two are not sexually interested in Perrin and one might be.

11:46 Oh, wait. Is that blurry thing that Short White Aiel said doesn’t belong here, the cloud covering the Children’s advance? But they are charging the gate that Our Heroes were approaching, so we still don’t know where they are…

12:07 Okay, so the Seanchan are grossly incompetent at military stuff and their troops have poor discipline. These are good facts to know, going forward.

12:17 I am dying. They gave Nynaeve raccoon eyes for her sul’dam disguise. I am literally having trouble typing from laughing.

12:37 They did her makeup before questioning the captive sul’dam for intel!

12:44 Renna, a newcomer to the continent, casually uses the Children’s slang nickname.

13:46 That was stupid. This is just bad writing. They are making Egwene implacably defiant, and have decided that defiance indicates strength and she is awesome, not stupid. And they create a threat to hold over her, and Egwene is still being stupidly awesomely defiant, so now they have to follow through, but Egwene calls their bluff and so Renna backs down and cuts off her braid saying it will hurt more. No sane person would remotely believe the loss of an important sensory organ and means of speech, which has actual nerve endings in it, is preferable to a haircut. And Egwene has clearly had her hair cut before, so it’s not like that hank is irreplaceable. FFS my nieces cut off more of their hair a few years ago to donate to cancer victims (I didn’t ask and have no idea what the cancer victims do with it).

We seem to be intended to be horrified because the braid is important to Egwene. It reminds her that she is alone but never alone. So now without it, I guess she is not alone, but always alone? It seems to have been the reason Nynaeve saved her life after Amalisa overchanneled them. It would be really funny if Nynaeve comes up to rescue her and then just stops and says “Where’s your braid? Oh well, she’s not really a woman, I guess you’re right, Renna, have fun with your pet.”

By the way, the implication of this narrative is that all the other damane suck, they aren’t victims of anything but their own timidity and weakness for failing to call the bluff of their sul’dam. Feminism FTW!

13:50 And now that bitch stepped on the braid! No going back from this!

15:20 Remember the big question this season as to whether or not Moriaine was stilled? Now we’re doing it with Mat and the dagger. Is he Healed or not? The show is treating this like some sort of addiction, rather than a preternatural affinity.

15:34 When someone says they will give you anything, and you want something they are currently in possession of and physically capable of giving you, the smart thing to try is asking them for it.

15:52 Nynaeve has told this woman twice “Don’t lie to me” and the woman has not made a single statement that could be construed as a lie, unless Nynaeve thinks “I will give you anything" is a lie. In which case, what does she expect to get out of this conversation? Is her subject going to have to say “Okay, sorry, I was lying, I won’t give you anything.” Then what?

16:49 Is Rand trying to hide his identity from the Seanchan? Is he famous here in Falme? Or maybe he’s trying to be inconspicuous, with this cloak covering him like we have zero other people doing. “What’s that man doing lurking in that alcove?” “What’s he wearing?” “I can’t tell, he is thoroughly wrapped up in a cloak, covering his hair as well.” “Oh, he must be harmless then. Only people with visible clothing are a threat. Ignore him.”

17:03 The purpose of that scene was to show Rand seeing what he came to Falme expecting to find.

18:20 Why isn’t the dagger having any sort of effect on Fain? Why would he want to give it to Mat, if it is so addictive?

19:05 I am so sick of the relationship bullshit drama between Moiraine and Lan. Why are we supposed to care about it, in the face of the epic battle between good and evil, with other characters facing enslavement, threats of assassination or forcible conversion to evil?

20:13 So if Moiraine can say, while bound to speak the truth, that she has always known Lan to be her better, what is the problem with the bond? Why doesn’t she do what her better is asking and get on with the story?

21:11 What is actually going on with the bond? Up until now, every word on the show has suggested one of two things, that Moiraine masked it, or that it was lost as a consequence of her being stilled. Since the latter is not true, why does unmasking the bond seem to require her to re-bond him? She did nothing like this before going off to hook up with Siuan or head out for the Blight.

21:40 How did they get into the city? Why did the Seanchan let a trio of Aiel in?

22:07 Badass Shienaran is Maseema. We have his name, in the finale.

22:13 So we just got these guys escaping their slave situation and recovering the Horn all on their own, off-screen, with the help of someone who is clearly not Moiraine but the show wants us to think it was. Am I forgetting something? Was there a scene of Lanfear helping them escape? Last I remember seeing Loial, he was talking to Nynaeve & Elayne.

22:29 Tell the barbarian savage warriors standing right there, just how important the object you carry is, why don’t you? If I have no idea what they want and what their motivation is, why isn’t Ingtar concerned?

22:44 Loial argues that they are main characters and obligated by the plot to rescue their fellow main character. He addresses this comment as well to a trio of Aiel he has just met, but not Maseema, with whom he has crossed the continent and endured slavery and retrieved the Horn of Valere.

22:49 That argument swayed Ingtar.

23:54 Some of the Children are fighting for their lives and the others are simply strolling in formation like they are in a white pride rally chanting “take the Tower, burn the witches.”

24:03 How interesting that despite all the efforts to make Egwene out as this staunch heroine who cannot be broken, they had her do a heel turn awfully fast, just because someone cut her hair a little shorter. Whatever your opinion might be of the Children, they are objectively good and in the right this episode, and Egwene has just betrayed everything by fighting them on behalf of the Seanchan. When they want to show her defiance and strength, they show her being petty and recalcitrant over unimportant things, and when they present her with a moral conundrum for the first time, they have her utterly fail.

The bad thing is, I don’t think they realize this is the story they are telling. I think they believe she is the coerced victim here who cannot be responsible for her actions, just as they thought Renna was escalating by going from threatening to cut out her tongue, to cutting her braid shorter.

And how do the sul’dam see what their charges are aiming at, when they are a step down and behind?

24:58 Expectation subverted! Sword duel that teaches Rand a valuable lesson? Nah. Note that Socially Conscious Rand did not kill the Voice.

25:33 Ingtar is observing that the Aiel women understand battle well. He has not seen them fight, just make hand gestures as they walk the streets of the city, but that’s all he needs. I guess no one noticed how well Aiel fight, in that war 20 or 21 years ago?

26:32 Ingtar, this is why you never leave your wingman! He clearly does not understand battle well, since he charged out alone and away from his companions, to no effect.

Is there some reason we are supposed to think anything other than “What a chump!”?

27:06 Moiraine called Lanfear the most dangerous Forsaken earlier this season, and now she is saying only Lanfear was freed because the others are too dangerous.

If I am going through all this effort to watch your stupid show, writers, I think the least you could do would be to watch it, too.

27:32 So if Lanfear and Ishamael were BFF with Lew Therin, how did they come to be known as Forsaken? What does it mean that they are Forsaken. Why were they and their fellow Forsaken fighting the Dragon? Don't quote some books you read to answer my question. This show has violated so much book material they do not get to lean on it.

27:38 Moiraine is just now realizing that they are on the beach near Falme, despite Lanfear’s final words telling her to do her part for the prophecy due to occur ... at Falme.

27:42 Is Domon shopping, with the city under attack, or looting like some low class scumbag?

27:58 Domon can’t you see the eye shadow? What 'good lady' on this show wears that?

28:17 The man who was picking up crap that was sold in sidewalk stalls (i.e. not very valuable), is now suddenly more concerned with survival than taking a risk to acquire riches.

28:40 A tiny broken piece of cuendillar is worth several horses, but that tiny half-empty bag contains enough money to persuade him to throw six intact cuendillar objects into the ocean.

And is there any reason Lanfear can’t accomplish the same task without a ship captain?

31:42 Mat has spent a fair share of time in a cell this year, and has learned that there is usually more than one way out of them. “Usually” he says, referencing his sole experience with a single cell.

Just being in a jail cell gives you the ability to figure your way out of any locked room. Chipping away the mortar on the stones of one cell, to get access to another, and then being allowed to leave through the door, teaches you to gimmick an ashandarei out of an evil magic dagger and also imparts the knowledge that sticking the dagger into a keyhole will activate its evil powers to melt the lock.

Why is the dagger cooperating with someone who won’t take it up and let it mess with his head?

32:00 Are we ever going to get an explanation of how Loial survived a similar wound from that same dagger? Or is this another instance of them forgetting last season’s finale?

33:08 When psycho ladies rain fire down on a city, we must always have a white horse running through the confusion.

33:27 They are taking a long time with this disciplinary issue. And why did Egwene step down from the parapet and obligingly kneel in the middle here? Renna looks increasingly like a chump, which does no favors for Egwene’s image in defeating her.

33:41 I was always for giving the Children of the Light a chance, but now that they have prevented Egwene from losing her tongue, I can see that they are wrong and evil and can only do or be evil. Ecrasez l’infame!

And Dain seems somewhat surprised at the efficacy of siege engines. This might fit in a book series where trebuchets might not actually exist, and ballistae are just being invented, but projectile launching devices were used in the Aiel War in this setting. Maybe he is surprised that they are having more effect against a stationary tower, than they had against light infantry?

34:10 Okay, that looked like Nynaeve, Elayne & their captive just strolled past the Children of the Light’s unit, who did not lift a finger against these “witches”, whom they are intent on killing to make their capture of the city possible.

35:43 Why are the Aiel walking through a battlefield … well, at all, since I have no idea why they are here, or what they want … but what I was going say was "unveiled" ?

35:52 Good thing Maseema’s cool working with a bunch of foreigners. I guess he knows that Aiel are much more trustworthy than other people and so he can afford to work with them to protect the Horn.

Imagine if he had some other opinion?

35:59 Seriously, Aiel woman who might want to have sex with Perrin, what in that fog made you veil when the actual combat your party was in a little while ago did not?

36:25 Mat has, in case anyone has forgotten, seen an Aiel before, and got a good look at their distinctive garb as well as a briefing on them from Thom. More than anyone, he should have known them for what they are at first sight.

36:51 I am not crediting Egwene’s act of defiance for enabling the Children’s attack to succeed. They had plenty of time to reconfigure their positions. The other sul’dam commented on Renna losing control and Renna pulled her out of the line to kneel for another tongue bluff. Someone else was watching that sector. Also, hitting their position does not mean that the projectile came from the direction Egwene was supposed to be watching. She was being directed to shoot fireballs down into the streets, and the missile came from above. And because it flew through the air, launched from beyond the city, it could have come from any direction, since they did not establish the direction Egwene was facing, relative to the siege engines.

36:57 What good is putting the collar on Renna supposed to do?

37:43 Why did that work? Is Egwene wearing the bracelet to her collar? Renna is still wearing hers, and Egwene is still collared, so why is Egwene not getting the feedback of what Renna is suffering?

38:13 Nothing Egwene is doing has changed the fact that she is being held by a trained woman with far more experience using the a’dam. This is just plot armor, again, like the last time she was a captive and Valda decided not to look at her or do anything about the prisoner who just got free in his tent.

39:30 Our heroine just murdered a helpless prisoner. And this writers’ pet is the one for whom Nynaeve is continually stripped of in-book accomplishments, and has been made into an ineffectual chump.

41:15 Show viewers have not been given enough reason to care about this relationship in which they are randomly affectionate or not, and Book readers know he has two superior love interests in danger in the streets below.

41:42 The Forsaken chucking these insufferable versions of Our Heroines around the set will never not be entertaining.

42:46 So you can channel at someone you can’t see, inside a city, while you are in a ship offshore. This apparent lack of a limit will be very interesting when employed in future episodes.

43:06 I must point out that this show has told us fuck-all about what Lews Therin did in his last life.

43:45 If you wanted to make Ingtar have a heroic sacrifice, this might have actually been a good time for it, instead of at a random moment where it really didn’t seem to matter, since they were still in the midst of the battle.

43:59 Where would we be without the Whitecloaks!

I am laughing my ass off because all the woke dipshits who lap up the changes the show made absolutely hate the Children of the Light. The subreddit group that is critical of the show calls itself Whitecloaks, and I saw someone on social media bragging about getting it shut down. These people also call fans who criticize the show Bookcloaks.

And now they’re the heroes.

Incidentally, last we saw of her, Egwene could use their bathing services.

44:22 Nynaeve and Elayne look like they are having a pooping contest.

45:03 Is Hopper going to die saving Perrin from Valda?

46:08 Perrin is running out like he is going to hunt down the people fighting slavers, because one of them killed an animal with no way to know the extenuating circumstances.

46:20 Fuck you, Perrin.

What he did in the books was wrong, but excusable, as he was under mental duress he was not prepared for and did not choose and was attempting to reject.

This was just premeditated murder.

For the record, the score for this episode for murders of people who are active members of organizations fighting for the Light and against the Shadow, by Our Heroes, is 2.

46:45 I wonder who is going to answer the Horn, since we have not heard of a single legend, or the name of a hero in this setting. A doll being named Birgitte does not count.

47:15 Is it just going to be some nonsensical power-up? Because they said when they introduced it in the Episode That They Keep Forgetting About, that it was supposed to call the Pattern’s greatest heroes to fight at their side.

47:30 Fuck. It’s going to be them, isn’t it? The characters are the Pattern’s greatest heroes.

47:52 Oh, good. I mean, I have no idea who these people are supposed to be, so it doesn’t mean much, but whatever. At least it's not teleporting all the MCs we just saw in the montage to Mat's side.

47:56 I do know who they are supposed to be and it’s even worse! That’s Uno and Amalisa in the front. FUUUUUUCK.

For the record, Uno died pointlessly, spitting defiance at the Seanchan. Old Man Bornhald was fighting the Seanchan far more effectively, doing more good for the world, when Perrin murdered him. Amalisa got two heroic women killed with her ineptitude, and would have killed two more had they not saved each other, all after letting thousands of men be massacred with her inactivity. Why are they bound to the Horn?

48:15 Aquaman?

48:43 Mat is desperately trying to remember a legend about a foul-mouthed one-eyed man to figure who is this stranger on his left. And I actually don’t think that’s Amalisa.

49:00 As a Show Viewer, I have no idea what he said or what it means. As a Book Reader, I know that it makes absolutely no sense in this context. (for those who forgot, he just yelled the Old Tongue motto of the Band of the Red Hand, "It's time to roll the dice" which alludes to battle being a gamble and they take pride risking their lives, since their theme song is about dancing with death, and also Mat's incredible luck. Mat's luck has not been established and these are immortal spirits risking nothing in this combat, so far as we know, and since we saw one of them die, who is now active again, we can guess as much)

49:35 While the Horn of Valere was being sounded and Mat leading the Heroes into battle, and Rand confronted Ishamael, Perrin is desecrating the corpse of his murder victim.

Have I mentioned Fuck you, Perrin?

49:57 Uno smoke-ported here to attack the men fighting the villains who murdered him in his last life, whom he was summoned to fight. The Children are literally doing his job, and he attacks them. Because Main Character Morality.

51:32 Nynaeve's and Elayne's story is just suffering porn.

52:00 I guess the Horn made Rand remember past lives, while not having any effect on anyone else? Because they sure as shit have not done anything in 16 episodes to set up or justify Rand’s insistence that he has never served Ishamael. For that matter, they haven’t actually had him assert that Rand has or will.

52:32 AHAHAHAHAHA! You can’t fuck with Prophecies!

They’re really just mashing together book elements. Wow.

Who cares about context or meaning or whether they make sense? And the show simps are going to call this genius and economical storytelling.

53:42 Years ago, I wrote parody retellings of the story depicting Egwene as the unrealistically perfect hero and then gave it up because Sanderson’s account of her fight with the Seanchan was more ridiculously over the top than anything I could devise? Rafe Judkins managed to top him.

54:16 Moiraine will let a thousand innocent people die if it means Rand will live, because that is what it means to support him. But that is not what Lan is saying. His point is that she has no idea how their actions relate to Rand. He is not saying “Is Rand worth it?” He is saying “We have no idea what the situation is or what actions will help Rand and what actions will serve the Forsaken’s goals.”

54:22 But he accepts her statement, because Script.

54:33 Some bad guys randomly showed up on this beach, coming from a direction they have no reason to be coming from, for no reason other than to give Lan a redemption fight.

55:43 Hi Elayne!, Meet your future rebel-turned-vassal, arms dealer and sperm donor!

56:12 She limped through a battle and up a really high tower with a hole in her thigh, because her friend was useless but another friend needed help and is now Healing the prophesied savior of humanity. Should we have had her in the first season?

Nah, we needed time for Dana the Dumpy Darkfriend and Stepin the Tragic Warder, whose story actually had absolutely no bearing on the arc we thought it was setting up this season.

That being said, why did she think it was more important to Heal him instead of helping Egwene fight?

Also, they were trying to make this a big emotional reunion between Rand and Egwene when he arrived on the scene, and then we had her stand between him and the most powerful servant of the Dark … and in the middle of it all, he gets a love-at-first-sight gaze with some random chick who is basically here because she didn’t have any friends.

By the way, is there anyone who can’t Heal? I’m not even kidding. The first on-screen action of a wolf on this show was to lick Perrin’s wound, which he might have taken in Shadar Logoth. For all we know, Wolf-Healing is a thing Perrin can do now.

56:45 Of course, we had to set up Moiraine’s critical contribution.

57:00 What were Suroth & her Voice reacting to?

57:10 The Voice was facing the other direction from Moiraine’s weaves! Everything about this shot says she is flinching away from their approach, but she should not be able to see it coming.

Assuming she can see the weaves, when last episode or so, you had to be a channeler or ex-channeler to see weaves.

57:19 Moiraine was behind the ships and her weave hit them in the prow!

58:19 Should we be impressed by this little mark on his hand, when he was just impaled with a fiery dagger-spear of Evil and had it fixed by a person who is present?

58:39 A better response to Ishamael saying “do you see it, Lews?” would be “My name is Rand!” Followed by a stomp. Stop indulging this frenemy bullshit.

59:25 What is going to be the excuse for Moiraine not channeling to solve other problems on a scale of sinking multiple Seanchan vessels, going forward?

59:34 They have said that prophecy more times in this episode than in the entire book series.

59:42 Okay, why did Lan drop into a superhero landing pose? Is that his “help Moiraine channel” position?

1:00:45 Thank the Whitecloaks! They saved you guys! Rand & co just showed up after they took out all the damane (and one of his companions was one of your oppressors).

1:00:50 Oh, hey Aviendha. Glad you and your friend who would sleep with Perrin and your friend who wouldn’t, could be here. Why was that again?

1:01:03 Please, please cut to Elyas looking up from lifting his leg against a tree somewhere.

1:01:08 D’aw! Look, even Lanfear is proud of you, Rand!

1:01:24 Loial really should be on the tower with the rest of the gang, narratively speaking.

1:01:55 Right, shouldn’t she be getting some cargo to Domon? What has she been doing all this time?

One of them is going to be freed, aren’t they?

1:02:08 More than one. “Softly, softly” I believe, is canonically Moghedian’s line. “My way is best. Softly, softly, in the dark,” but that doesn’t mean anything. Could be Semirhage, since the shallow dipshit segment of the fandom thinks she’s the most badass.

1:02:12 IDK if that’s binding goop from her prison, or if Moghedian is actually a lunatic who plays with spiders and webs.

1:02:52 She actually has spider-themed powers.

1:03:43 Book!Moghedian would not dare risk taunting or failing to strike a foe of actual stature. She thought she could get away with it with a couple of untrained girls, but Lanfear in this position would be dead. She would not say “when I strike, I don’t miss” to an enemy she was confronting, she would have already struck.

1:04:00 “All five of them…” Which five? Perrin, whose contribution was to bring a shield that he was given because Uno wandered off from the main fight instead of just giving it to Mat or showing up on the Tower his own self? Nynaeve, who was Black, and a Woman? But not Elayne, who was more heroic than either of them?

1:04:25 “Light help you, Rand al’Thor.” The problem with this show is that the writers are so stupid, I can’t tell whether that’s just a dumb error in word choice that a character would never say, or a hint that’s she’s repentant or secretly working against the Shadow. I mean, Dark.

1:04:34 Okay, according to the credits, Bain is played by Ragga Ragnars, who is 6’2” according to IMDb, and played Gunhild in “Vikings,” while Chiad was played by Maja Simonsen, who is only 5’8”. Now you can tell them apart on re-watches. The irony is, I have been differentiating them based on the only thing we are told about them, that one would and one would not sex Perrin, and now I don’t remember which one Aviendha said was which.

1:04:36 Someone named Helen Tran played Amaresu, who was a Hero of the Horn ITB, so I guess that’s who took the Horn from Mat, whom I thought was Amalisa.

Wow. Wowie wow wow wow. This was the show’s worst case yet of randomly cutting and pasting stuff from the books with no regard for set-up, pay-offs or context. It was also the worst case of robbing Nynaeve of accomplishments, of promoting Egwene and of ignoring objectively bad things the characters do, all rolled into one.

Seriously, how would the plot of his episode have been different if Nynaeve had suddenly died in Ryma’s safehouse of an allergic reaction to eye shadow? Considering the anatomical nonsense otherwise seen on this show, there is no reason Elayne could not have limped her own ass up to the tower. Or, hey, you could have had a meet-cute with her and Aviendha, and then she could have helped Elayne and been on the tower-top as well, and we’d even have the same racial balance.

In the whole season, aside from filling screentime, Nynaeve’s major contribution to the plot was Liandrin cutting her bonds to allow them to escape the Seanchan, because Liandrin is randomly super invested in Nynaeve. We don’t know why. The show tried to claim she was trying to recruit Nynaeve for the Black Ajah, but how is that supposed to work if she disrupts Nynaeve being taken prisoner as she was ordered by Ishamael. Also, note that Egwene was present to defend Rand, and Elayne to Heal him, solely because of Ishamael’s orders that they be brought to Falme and turned over to the Seanchan. Why are we supposed to have taken him seriously as an antagonist again? If he comes back down the road, should we be scared, or elated that the Light is going to benefit from a bunch more own goals?

But back to Nynaeve, we have her failing to learn to channel, then pushing back against Liandrin, then being made to take the Accepted test, and then suddenly Liandrin is taking them to Falme, where she mostly carps and bitches, Ryma and Basan do all the work before dying stupidly. Nynaeve and Elayne capture a sul’dam to use to infiltrate the damane kennel, but she gets shot and that goes nowhere. She pushes the crossbow bolt through Elayne’s leg, but I have strong reservations about the efficacy of that treatment, especially since she just left the wound uncovered afterward, and whether or not it would make it easier for her to walk on. And then she helps Elayne up to the Tower, where she does absolutely nothing! Why even is she a character? Remember when people took issue with the multicultural casting of the inhabitants of an isolated town whose limited breeding pool was a plot point for two separate issues, the dipshits all shrieked about how important it was to see a Strong Black Heroine? Congrats, ladies! Hope you’re happy.

Rand’s interactions with Ingtar in the books seeded his leadership arc and his coming to accept his role and purpose. But they never even met on the show, and yet, the show felt compelled to stick a bunch of his big moments in there with another character, which had no relevance to that other character’s arc, and they also excised the detail in his backstory that made all those moments important for his arc and the plot!

With Ingtar rendered pointless in hindsight, how did Perrin help matters? As noted above, the plot forced an opportunity for him to wield Dead Uno’s shield against Ishamael, but it required yanking Uno to a different location in the fight to make that happen, and Mat could have got it from Uno if he had just stayed near the Hornsounder. All Perrin did was murder Bornhald Sr., who was a legit hero of this season, and free Aviendha, who also might as well not have been in this season, except to say a nonsense word no WoTcher would understand.

Most of the season was taken up with Moiraine and Lan’s relationship squabbles that were based on something that wasn’t real and a conflict Moiraine claims, while bound to speak truth, did not exist. We got a LOT of the adventures of the Pervert Trio, starring Rafe Judkin’s boyfriend. We got Elayne, whose white privilege pushed her ahead of Nynaeve as a hero for the events of Book 2. We got a pointless Accepted Test that apparently only tested whether or not you were smart enough to come in out of the rain, instead of anything like your commitment to the White Tower or your ability to perceive the falsity of a scenario. The magic system has no discernable rules and is not congruent with the books, which translates into nothing more than a mechanism of plot convenience. We were introduced to the power of a wolfbrother, which makes you racist specieist against white people fighting the Seanchan humans in favor of wolves. We got more Min viewings, which proved inaccurate, again. If you were paying attention, there was an actress who got to play a member of both Ravenclaw House and the Brown Ajah. There was a midget Aes Sedai. Siuan was obnoxiously arrogant and condescending and the show demanded we care about her because she and Moiraine were sooo in love.

Just garbage, all the way down.

#wot on prime #book vs show #i refuse to use the characters names in the tags before I don't knowledge these caricatures as them

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gamerdog1 · 1 year ago

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Chainsaw Man Season 1 Review

Its that time of year again: the time where the hardcore anime fans gear up for a new batch of seasonal shows. This winter, a bunch of popular anime, including Vinland Saga, Tokyo Revengers, and Bungou Stray Dogs are releasing new seasons, to the raucous applause of most of the anime fandom community.

I say 'most', of course, excluding myself. Where am I in this, you may ask? Always behind the curve, picking up the hits years after they've had their debut, like a reverse hipster. What's old is new again for folks like me, who are still trying to watch all the 'old' series, nevermind keep up with new releases. There's merit in this method, though: given enough time, the shiny glow of newness fades, and we can experience the series without rose-colored glasses.

In my never-ending quest to understand why popular media got popular, I stumbled upon Chainsaw Man, a rather recent hit that was practically unavoidable last year. In a sea of generic anime girl snore-fests, it grabbed my attention pretty quickly for its sheer ferocity and love for bloodshed. After being assigned it in a monthly show exchange, I figured it was about time I'd given it a chance. After 12 episodes, though, I feel like my time could've better been spent elsewhere.

Chainsaw Man (2022) is an adaptation of the manga by the same name, written by Tatsuki Fujimoto. The series follows Denji, a homeless teen who is saddled with a ridiculous debt to the yakuza after his father dies. After surviving an assassination attempt, he fuses with the Chainsaw Devil, and gains its powers of, well, chainsaws. Now, he must work together with an elite team of public service agents to hunt down other devils, to keep a newly found comfy life.

One would be foolish to assume this wasn't a shonen series. With a teen protagonist, superpowers, monsters, and an overarching storyline about growing up, Chainsaw Man seems like your standard action/fantasy show. What makes it different, though, is its copious amounts of gore. Most 'shonen' series are marketed towards kids and teens, and because of this, are limited in how far they can go with their violent content. Chainsaw Man, it seems, got a free pass from it's producers to show whatever it wants, and really runs with it.

Most of the series revolves around Denji and his team hunting devils, monsters which personify common fears, and gain power from the fear of them. From hulking furry masses like the Bat Devil, to thousand-eyed pushovers like the Tomato Devil, Denji and his team take them down in a brilliant display of blades, sharp teeth, and blood spray. Violence is the life blood of this series, the thing that keeps its main characters alive, and what keeps viewers like me paying attention.

Each confrontation is intense, as the human-looking heroes face off against monsters that dwarf them in comparison. The series establishes early on in every fight just what the opposing devil can do, and how that poses a threat to Denji and his team, making it feel like there's little hope in their survival. This, combined with the constant reminders from Denji's superiors of how many previous hunters have died on the job, gives each fight a sense of stakes to it. Characters can (and eventually do) die, so each fight, even those early on, are tense.

The music, as well, its pretty damn good. I'd already heard the opening track, KICK BACK this summer, and play it a lot while doing chores, but the opening animation that goes with it is really interesting. Look closely, and you'll see shot-for-shot references to famous films, like The Big Lebowski and Pulp Fiction. Each episode also has a unique ending theme, something unique to this series that made me sit and watch each episode all the way through. Most endings are abstract, mostly just the main characters standing around or posing, but all are experimental, including one that is mostly rotoscoped. They were all a joy to watch, a happy surprise at the end of each episode.

Unfortunately, nice music, dynamic fight scenes and a few gallons of blood tossed around can't distract from the many sins of this anime, ones that made it a very uncomfortable viewing experience. When I started this series, I was optimistic about it, and wanted to learn more about its world and characters. But by the second episode, it became difficult to ignore the less savory aspects of this series, which only worsened with each subsequent episode.

Denji, the show's protagonist, is a teenager who had his youth stolen from him by the Yakuza, when they forced him to take up his father's debt. Once he is freed from it, however, his true nature is revealed, one which makes it challenging for viewers like me to like him. This series, it seems, has broken new ground with its protagonist, since I doubt any self-respecting shonen would have a main character (who we are meant to like and care about) be as unabashedly horny as this one.

That's not to say that having a character who likes sex is a bad thing. People, fictional or not, are allowed to like whoever they want, however they want (with consent of course :)). Denji, though, takes the trope of 'sex obsessed teenager' to the extremes, proudly declaring that the only reason he hunts devils is to have sex with his boss. It gets to the point where one of his teammates accuses him of not taking the job seriously, and Denji has the audacity to claim he is. Meanwhile, Denji is lured into a trap by a female character, all because she offered to let him touch her breasts. These, as well as the countless other instances of Denji staring at women's chests instead of their eyes, or whining about how he wants to 'cop a feel', made him a character that was infuriating to watch get his way.

To make matters worse, it seems like nearly every woman in the series is infatuated with him enough to not only let him do these things to them, but outright encourage them. Halfway through the series, Denji and his teammates join up with another trio of devil hunters to investigate an apartment complex. Before entering, one of the female hunters declares that whoever kills the devil inside will get a kiss from her, and when Denji declines, she whispers that she'll do it "with tongue". Around the same point in the show, Denji's boss Makima explains to him about the Gun Devil, the most powerful and most feared devil ever. When he shows apprehension about taking on such a fearsome foe, Makima offers to do whatever he wants if he kills it, heavily implying that she'll sleep with him.

Never in my life have I watched a show where adult women proposition a teenager, something which I was proud to say until today. I wish I could say that it had its purpose in the overall story, but the show hardly has anything to say about it, almost as if it had no problems with it in general. Denji is sixteen, and the hunters that offer to kiss or sleep with him are easily in their 20's, maybe even early 30's, making every 'romantic' or 'sexy' moment in this show a fur-raising experience that took me a bit to recover from. If it was once, and to make a point about the transition to adulthood, or how its morally wrong, I'd understand, but this is absurd. Whoever thought that a scene where the main character's co-worker drunkenly kidnaps him, then coaxes him into have sex with her is okay, should be fired, and have their hard drives searched by the FBI.

I wanted to like this show. Really, I did, especially after all the hype it has, and all the lovely fanart of it I see on my social media feeds. But after having to sit through all 12 episodes of this, I think I'm tapping out. Sure, the fights are great, especially the final one between Denji and Katana Man, where they fight on a subway. The sharp teeth, blades, and constant blood spray were so thrilling, they almost made me forget about the sexual assault stuff. Keyword 'almost'.

Chainsaw Man isn't just a shonen series about the tumultuous journey from teenager to adult: its an action series with cool monster designs, a feral hero, and more blood than a used tampon. But also, its a series where the main character demands sexual favors, and is rewarded with them by adult women time and time again. This series was a mixed bag, one that had me either glued to the screen or wanting to shut it off, with hardly any in between. The main character should've been anyone else (honestly I'd prefer to be following Power, she's way more interesting), and as the series went on, I felt myself wishing for characters to just die already, so I wouldn't have to put up with them anymore. Here's hoping in season 2 that I get my wish.

#anime and manga #anime review #film critic #review #anime #anime critique #chainsaw man #chainsaw man anime #power is best girl

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