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dweemeister · 3 years

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Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

In American animation outside of Disney, no other studio inspires as much reverence as Warner Bros. The Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes shorts precipitated into worldwide recognition for those series’ stock characters. Despite this success, Warner Bros. did not release an animated feature until the musical Gay Purr-ee (1962), in association with United Productions of America (UPA). Animators at Warner Bros. from the 1930-1960s knew they were not making high art, nor were they pretending to. Warners, since the 1930s arguably the most financially stable of the major Hollywood studios, has historically seen little need to bankroll animated features. With that in mind, it might come as less of a shock that Warner Bros.’ first in-house animated feature is Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm’s Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Originally intended as a direct-to-home media release, Mask of the Phantasm – based on and made by the production team behind Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995) – transcends those modest intentions. It is among of the best superhero films ever made.

In the wake of Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), Batman: The Animated Series, unlike Burton’s efforts, affords time to characterize Bruce Wayne rather than surrendering ample screentime to thinly-written but scene-stealing villains. For that and many other reasons including the looming, vertical art deco-inspired production design of Gotham City; the distinctive and moodiness of its black paper backgrounds; and its balance of dark and lighter tones, BTAS remains a high-water mark among Batman fans – perhaps the best adaptation of the character there is. Mask of the Phantasm builds upon that foundation, in addition to crafting its own unique contribution within the DC Animated Universe (DCAU). As tired as origin stories are, Mask of the Phantasm is part-origin story for the Dark Knight – something largely avoided in BTAS – and somehow integrated here without distracting from the present-day scenes. Rarely is any Batman media a character study of Bruce Wayne, but Mask of the Phantasm proves itself a wonderful exception.

One evening, Batman/Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) attempts to stop a gaggle of gangsters led by Chuckie Sol (Dick Miller) from laundering counterfeit money from a casino. Amid the scrum, Sol escapes from Batman, but immediately confronts a shadowy figure later known as the “Phantasm” in the parking garage – Sol dies in the confrontation. Batman receives the blame for the killing and the concurrent property destruction from Gotham City Councilman Arthur Reeves (Hart Bochner), who just so happened to be profiting from Sol’s racket. Across the film, Bruce reminisces about his courtship with Andrea Beaumont (Dana Delany), their breakup, and the lead-up to the creation of his Batman alter-ego. Juxtaposing Bruce’s past and present, we see how he channels his regrets and profound loss into being Batman. The past haunts him still, overhanging the high roofs of Wayne Manor and the ledges of Gotham’s skyscrapers. Back in the present day, the Phantasm has murdered another crime boss; a third murder involves the Joker (Mark Hamill), initiating an emotional dénouement that, because of the intricacies of motivation that the film develops, elevates the film beyond what might otherwise be sloppy storytelling.

The dramatis personae also includes crime boss Salvatore “The Wheezer” Valestra (Abe Vigoda); Andrea’s father, Carl Beaumont (Stacy Keach); the Wayne family butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.); GCPD Commissioner James Gordon (Bob Hastings); and GCPD Det. Harvey Bullock (Robert Costanzo).

The screenplay by Alan Burnett (producer and writer on various DC Comics films and Hanna-Barbera productions), Paul Dini (head writer on BTAS and Superman: The Animated Series), Martin Pasko (a longtime DC Comics writer), and Michael Reaves (head writer on BTAS and 1994-1996’s Gargoyles) keep the film’s attention on Batman/Bruce Wayne, despite the introduction of various subplots and Joker – whose somewhat-questionable presence might seem to indicate a project going off the rails. Shadow of the Phantasm’s placement of flashbacks stems the awkwardness that Joker’s inclusion brings, assuring that the film stays grounded into Batman’s psychology. In past Bruce we see a charming young man with time, money, and looks to spare. His romantic side with Andrea is an element of his life, one that connects – inevitably, tangentially – to the trauma his parents’ murder. His most personal motivations – that which a younger Andrea could never see, and privy to only Alfred – are stuck in the past, circulating around that childhood loss.

The occasional reflections from Bruce Wayne on what his life has become make Mask of the Phantasm the most introspective piece within the BTAS continuity, freed from the constraints and expectations inherent of episodic television. No BTAS episode forces its eponymous character to confront himself to such extents. What Bruce Wayne and Batman have become in the present-day treads perilously close not to his style of vigilante corrective justice, but vengeance. The tragic paradox that lies at the heart of this tension is the soul of the Batman mythos. Anyone with the most basic understanding of who Bruce Wayne/Batman and the Joker are will at least have a glimmer of understanding of that paradox. This portrait of what Batman stands for is more maturely handled than any of the twentieth century live-action Batman films, and with less sensational filmmaking than Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder could produce. But with the film’s screenplay and Kevin Conroy’s iconic voice acting as the Caped Crusader, it becomes an inquest into Bruce Wayne’s tortured soul.

If Mask of the Phantasm ran longer than its seventy-eight-minute runtime, Andrea Beaumont, too, might also have received similar character development as Bruce Wayne here. Even within those seventy-eight minutes, Andrea – with a great assist from Dana Delany’s voice acting (Delany so impressed Bruce Timm here that she was given the role of Lois Lane in Superman: The Animated Series) – is a nevertheless fascinating character. In a cruel irony, her ultimate role in Mask of the Phantasm is to be an incidental mirror to the violence that occurs in this film. Her decision is not an imposition, whether conscious or unconscious, from someone else, but hers and hers alone.

In this drama fit for opera, this Batman occupies a world of operatic proportions. The background and character animation are not as pristine as the best examples of BTAS due to some scattered bits of animation outsourcing. The animation of BTAS might seem stiff and janky to modern viewers expecting Flash hand-drawn animation or hand-drawn/CGI hybrids. However, Mask of the Phantasm retains the gravity-defying art deco of the animated series that somehow does not clash with the ‘90s-influenced and futuristic elements it integrates. Its primary inspirations are of film noir and the Metropolis seen in the Fleischer Studios’ Superman series of short films (1941-1943). The black paper backgrounds provide Gotham’s street corners and rooftops a nocturnal menace, immersing the viewer into the city’s seediness.

Composer Shirley Walker (orchestrator on 1979’s The Black Stallion, conductor and orchestrator on 1989’s Batman) was one of the few women composers in Hollywood at the turn of the twentieth into the twenty-first century. A pianist (she played with the San Francisco Symphony as a soloist while still in high school) who studied music composition at San Francisco State University, Walker would later become one of the first female film score composers to receive a solo credit for composing the music in John Carpenter’s Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992). But it is her work in the DCAU that distinguishes her – of particular note is her arrangement of Danny Elfman’s theme to 1989’s Batman for BTAS and a wholly original main theme for Superman: The Animated Series. Though Walker could adjust her style to suit a more synthetic sound, she specialized in composing grand orchestral cues. That style was apparent in BTAS and is adapted here from the opening titles (the lyrics here are actually gibberish and are the names of Walker’s music department sung backwards). The foreboding brass and string unison lines seem to reverberate off the animation’s skyscraper-filled backgrounds. Numerous passages in Walker’s score, as if taking hints from Richard Wagner, elect not to resolve to the tonic – setting up scenes where tension escalates alongside the music, forestalling the dramatic and musical release.

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One stunning exception to Walker’s ominous, atmospheric score is the gentle cue “First Love”, an interplay between solo oboe and synthesizer. Bruce’s flashbacks are not only a balm to the grimness of his present situation, but a musical reprieve from the intensity of the action scoring. That Walker can navigate between such differing moods exemplifies her compositional dexterity and overall musical excellence. Walker, who cited Mask of the Phantasm as her personal favorite composition for any film or television production, was one of the DCAU’s greatest under-heralded contributors. And how I wish she was given more chances to score different sorts of films.

Warner Bros.’ last-minute reversal on Mask of the Phantasm’s release strategy – abandoning the direct-to-home media debut for a theatrical release – meant minimal marketing for a low-budget film that made barely a dent at the box office. The film’s home media release would more than make up for the film’s theatrical release failure. Upon the success of BTAS and the critical acclaim lavished on Mask of the Phantasm, Warner Bros. kept the DCAU on television for another thirteen years, with infrequent direct-to-home media movie releases as recent as 2019.

For numerous DC Comics fans, the DCAU is an aesthetic and narrative touchstone. The limited animation is sublime for this period in animation history. In addition, one will overhear fans remaking that a certain superhero’s definitive portrayal might be thanks to the DCAU. The superhero benefitting the most from the DCAU’s characterization and storytelling is unquestionably Batman. And justifiably so, as Mask of the Phantasm shows due respect for Batman and Bruce Wayne – what molded them and how each persona intertwines with the other. The mythos behind any superhero is found not in fight scenes. Instead, it resides in the psychology and rationalizations that forces a person to directly confront another’s wickedness. Mask of the Phantasm realizes that such confrontations test Batman/Bruce Wayne’s remaining vestiges of humanity, and braves to ask moral questions that too many figures of superhero media would rather not think about.

My rating: 8.5/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

#Batman #Batman: Mask of the Phantasm #Bruce Timm #Eric Radomski #DCAU #Kevin Conroy #Dana Delany #Hart Bochner #Stacy Keach #Abe Vigoda #Dick Miller #Efrem Zimbalist Jr.#Bob Hastings #Robert Costanzo #Mark Hamill #Shirley Walker #Glen Murakami #My Movie Odyssey

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passionate-reply · 3 years

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Here’s something I know you’ve heard before--Dare, by the Human League! One of the most famous and widely-acclaimed synth-pop albums there is, Dare was a huge game changer. Find out why by watching my video, or reading the transcript, after the break.

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! Today, I’m going to be talking about one of the single most important albums in the history of electronic music, and, perhaps, in Western popular music as a whole. It’s Dare, the third full LP from the Human League, first released in 1981. While there had been two albums released under this name prior to Dare, these are considerably more obscure.

Music: “Empire State Human”

While “Empire State Human” has a catchy and affable chorus, it’s still a few shades too weird and avant-garde to be a pop hit. In the early days, the Human League’s experimental, underground sound was driven mainly by founding members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh. Prior to the recording of Dare, Marsh and Ware had already left the group, and would go on to form Heaven 17. Frontman Phil Oakey, and newly hired backup singers Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, were without a leg to stand on, as none of them had any serious background in music composition or playing instruments.

While the situation looked quite dire, the trio would find a new musical bedrock in Ian Burden, who had played keyboards on their most recent tour as a session musician. Against the crude, naive, unprofessional vocals of Oakey, Catherall, and Sulley, Burden would provide simple, but competent melodies. The other key ingredient of this new sound was professional production, which would come from Martin Rushent. Despite working with many guitar-oriented acts prior, Rushent was one of the first producers who had deliberately devoted himself to working with electronic instruments at the time. Put all of that together, and you’ve got synth-pop magic, like nobody else had hammered out before.

Music: “Don’t You Want Me”

If you came to this video with even a lick of knowledge about Western pop, then you probably know “Don’t You Want Me” quite well. “Don’t You Want Me” wasn’t the first electronic pop song, nor was it the first major hit to feature a chiefly electronic instrumentation. The real reason it was such a game changer is that it’s ultimately a very ordinary pop song, underneath all of that. Songs like Gary Numan’s “Cars,” or OMD’s “Enola Gay,” were comparatively easy to write off as mere high-concept novelty. Many felt that their vision of a future full of machine music would blow over, the way jetpacks and flying cars had failed to revolutionize the world. But “Don’t You Want Me” proved that you could write an otherwise unremarkable love song, set it to a fairly unambitious synth backing, and achieve major pop success. “Don’t You Want Me” is that watershed moment, where synthesisers start presenting a credible threat to guitars, and everything that they stand for. Moreso than anything else that was released in this era, “Don’t You Want Me” is the reason why “pop” is, at this point, assumed to be electronic by default.

While the sheer influence of this track can’t be overstated, it’s also far from the only thing Dare, as an album, has to offer. In fact, “Don’t You Want Me” is the very last track on it, and its apparent simplicity is heavily contextualized by everything that comes before it. Take “Love Action,” for instance, which was the first single from the album, and one of the band’s best-known tracks.

Music: “Love Action”

“Love Action” is certainly not devoid of pop sensibility, and its being a chart hit makes plenty of sense. But I think it’s decidedly stranger and less conventional than “Don’t You Want Me,” with its piercing intro and glitchy synth effects. While its lyrics aren’t challenging, in an obtrusive manner, they seem to read as a sort of parody of a pop song, declaiming the superiority of limerence or casual affairs--“no talking, just looking.” It’s a pop anthem that’s aware of its own disposability, and the sort of culture of disposability and frivolousness that it’s participating in. Another strikingly ironic number is the album’s opener, “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of.”

Music: “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of”

With its confident proclamations about what “everybody needs,” and unquestioning praise of petty luxuries like ice cream and vacations, the saccharine “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of” is even more pointedly satirical, a wan hymn to the pleasures of postwar prosperity. But even if this track maintains a surface level “believability,” there are still a number of darker tracks to be had on Dare, which more strongly recall the style of those earlier albums. Take a listen to “Do or Die.”

Music: “Do or Die”

One of the more confrontational or frustrated tracks on Dare, “Do or Die” still maintains something of a pop core, and it’s easy enough to sing along to. What I think really stands out about it, though, especially for the time, is the use of mechanical percussion. Prior to this point, acts like Gary Numan, OMD, and even Kraftwerk still had human drummers who physically hit things in their bands. Even Giorgio Moroder’s “I Feel Love” used traditional percussion, despite featuring nothing but Moog synthesisers and the human voice besides. It wasn’t only the guitar that feared for its relevance during this time, but also the drum kit. The dense, rattling backing of “Do or Die” was made with a Linn “drum computer,” and remains an impressive use of it that’s still mesmerizing to listen to. But perhaps the most avant-garde track to be found on *Dare* is “Seconds.”

Music: “Seconds”

While “Seconds” feels sort of warm and dreamy at first, its startling gunshot casts doubt on just how pleasant we ought to feel. “Seconds” is actually telling the story of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, addressing us listeners as though we embody the infamous gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald. The titular “seconds” apply to the brief moments of apparent happiness and security we feel before something goes wrong, and those narrow margins of time during which everything in our lives can change in an instant. While it’s significantly shorter, I can’t help but think it recalls the high-concept narrative tracks done by the earlier incarnation of the Human League, such as “Zero As a Limit.”

Dare’s iconic cover, a powerful symbol of 80s synth-pop to this day, was inspired by fashion magazines such as *Vogue.* While the design would crib the title, the typeface, and the face-focused composition from a 1979 cover of UK *Vogue,* the stark, bare white frame that surrounds this close-cropped headshot of Oakey is a major distinction. Floating in this sterile bath of emptiness, and borderline anonymized, it feels like the interchangeable mask of someone living out a mechanized and mass-produced existence. It’s an image that almost plays into how detractors of electronic music have decried its seemingly emotionless, inhuman ambiance, and it rides that enmity with a deliberate, defiant dignity. It says, we are what you think we are, and we’re damn proud of it. Much like the bold and brash title implies, the cover of *Dare* is a provocation, perhaps even a threat. While the cover isn’t particularly beautiful to me, as many others are, I think its austere ugliness is deeply purposeful, and that’s something I’m compelled to admire.

Despite the breakthrough success of Dare, the Human League’s 1984 follow-up, Hysteria, was a relative flop, plagued by troubled recording sessions and a lack of consistent vision for the band and their sound. Its lead single, “The Lebanon,” would achieve modest success, and its use of rock guitar and surprisingly topical lyrics make it feel very different than what you’ll find on Dare.

Music: “The Lebanon”

Though they would eventually go on to have one last major hit, in 1986’s “Human,” the Human League never developed mainstream staying power, and their core trio’s reliance on outside writers and producers left them without a firm artistic identity to fall back on. They’re still around today, performing concerts that revisit their best-known work from the past, but they never recreated the fruitful environment and industry connections that made Dare possible. Still, it’s safe to say that Dare is an inescapable presence in the history of electronic pop, looming over all subsequent works like some inscrutable Sphinx, a lightning in a bottle success whose influence remains all around us.

My favourite song on Dare is “Darkness.” As the title implies, it’s one of the more dreary, gothic numbers you’ll encounter on the album, narrating the harrowing, paranoid mindstate of an insomniac. I don’t particularly struggle with sleep, but I do have a habit of being awake all night and sleeping all day, so I love nighttime-themed songs. Plus, the lyrics of this song make reference to “seeing sounds” and “hearing colours,” a phenomenon called synesthesia. I’m not sure if anyone in the Human League really experiences this, but I do--which is part of why I’m so strongly interested in music. But enough about me! That’s all for today, thanks for listening!

Music: “Darkness”

#music #great albums #album review #album reviews #human league #the human league #synthpop #synth-pop #synth pop

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hitbythunder · 3 years

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Chandrilan Moons -4

A Kylo Ren x Reader story with much angst, possessiveness and dark themes (warnings will be updated as the story progresses) –> Read also on AO3

Summary: Growing up under the loving care of your foster-mother, Leia Organa, there had been nothing for you and Rey to want for. Though not of kin, you loved Rey as your sister and spent a happy childhood with her on Chandrila. But when the boiling galactic politics demanded for Leia to take action, for the Resistance to rise and fight, the girls could no longer evade the cruelty of the world. Kylo Ren sought a map as a key to revenge, to freedom, and had no use for a force-unsensitive young girl like you. You were simply a means to an end. Until his darkness latched onto you, drawn in by your light as you were by the demon that is Kylo Ren - inevitably gravitating towards each other, bound to be one. Like the Chandrilan moons.

**** WARNING: description of violence, use of the Force

____________________________xXx____________________________

4- A Ruffled Little Bird

Pure adrenaline rushed through my body, dulling the pain of my injuries and keeping my head clear enough to realize who that hooded, black creature in a mask was. Looming above me was Kylo Ren in the flesh, the nightmare of the galaxy. For a brief moment, I doubted my vision - because why would he be here of all places? - but watching Ren slaughter both thieves in the blink of an eye and with such unique vigor, convinced me of his reality and made it very clear that my situation had just gotten so much worse. Like to totally terrifying, end-of-life scenario.

Luckily my body's flight-mode took over then and somehow I managed to get off the ground, stumbling away from the black giant on shaky feet. I didn't get far, though, because my mind spun too much to maintain balance, forcing me back on the ground after a few steps. The jolt of pain in my right hand, which had earlier been stepped on, allowed for a moment of clarity in my mind and above the frantic beating of my heart I heard Kylo Ren's heavy footsteps approaching.

+++

What a fascinating mechanism, this will to live, ingrained at the very base level of any living being and making the girl flee him despite her injured state. Honestly, Kylo was surprised that she even made it that far and watched with almost clinical curiosity how she fell and now cowered on the ground. Panic and sheer horror radiated off her, both peaking when she rolled onto her back and faced him. Looming above her and with the sabre at the ready, Kylo hesitated to end her misery as the gentle whisper of the Force suggested him to spare her.

Suspicious of this whole affair, he took his time to muster her from head to toe. Beige functional blouse, brown combat-pants and boots (all dirty and scruffy by now) exhibited her affiliation to the Resistance, but her built was too small and soft for her to be an active fighter. Perhaps a scout or carrier-pilot. The top of her hair was pulled back and tied in a bun, while the rest lay in a braid over her shoulder, many strands having already escaped. With her right hand cradled against her chest, she looked quite like a ruffled little bird - not at all what he had expected to find amidst the thicket. So why had he come here? He caught her wondering the same, ire rising within him at this waste of time.

"Where's the droid?" he spoke finally, the girl jumping as his distorted voice filled the silence around them.

"I don't-" but he didn't let her finish, for she would have lied anyways, and invaded her mind without preamble nor hindrance. Her latest memories swirled around there, so fresh and raw, yet not in exact chronological order, but Kylo got the gist rather quickly. A snipped of memory revealed that the droid had fled the scene, as confirmed by the suspicious tracks he had spotted earlier, and with it the map was gone. The map. The map. The map.

Kylo felt her mind shutting down, more and more memories and thoughts vanishing into the dark void of her unconsciousness, beyond his access. She's fainting, he knew but continued, skipping through the remaining snippets before those too were gone, and at the next glimpse she was out cold. It had been there, just for a split-second, yet long enough for him to recognize the ripple in the Force which had prompted him to come here. This girl, as insignificant she otherwise might be, had seen the map to Luke Skywalker with her own eyes.

And she'll show it to me. Kylo thought without doubt and deactivated his sabre. In one fluid movement, he then gathered her in his arms and picked her up, making his way back to the ship.

Effortlessly he carried her through the thicket in a quick pace, a rush of elation and excitement flooding his mind upon the apparent success of this mission. As soon as he stepped out of the forest, two of his officers came running towards him, their white boots scrunching on the charred earth. In the background, Kylo made out shouts and shots as stormtroopers fought everything that moved between the smoke and flames, upon the ruins of Takodana castle.

"Resistance back-up is approaching from the sea-side, Sir. Likely contact in 7 minutes!" one of the officers reported after a quick salute to their superior. Still looking at the battle-field, Kylo could sense the other force-user there and briefly frowned at the missed confrontation. But the map inside that girl's mind was of too much value to let it slip his hands - literally.

"Abort mission and have all units return to the Finalizer. I've got what we need." Kylo commanded in a cool, almost detached tone, that left no room for argument. Not that any of his subordinates would ever be as foolish as to contradict him. No, that role was solely reserved for Hux.

"Yes, Sir!" they barked in unison as the trained dogs they were and dashed off to follow his orders. Kylo felt the girl stir in his arms then and sensed that her mind was drifting back to the surface of consciousness upon the noise of the ongoing battle around them. It took but a thought of him to put her back into a deep slumber, her small frame relaxing peacefully, as he cradled her closer against his chest.

+++

Blaster shots and debris whirled past Rey and Poe, both ducking in unison behind a large chunk of the castle's wall - or had it been a ceiling, one couldn't be sure anymore. They had all been caught unawares, in a moment of false security, and suddenly the castle had been under attack. The white ants of the First Order had swarmed the place and pure chaos had risen among the canteen's guests. Staying closely together, Han had led their small group through a secret tunnel that connected the castle with the ground level at the bottom of the main stairs. One could reach the landing area much quicker that way, which was where Chewie and _________ would already wait for them.

But Chewie had come running towards them, firing left and right at approaching troopers. So they had split up to save time: Han and Fin fought their way to the Falcon and would get it ready for take-off, while Rey and Poe turned the other direction to where she sensed her sister. Uneducated in the Force and its ways, Poe was impressed by Rey's capability to track her sister in the vicinity and dashed off as soon as she told him the direction. The thought of __________ and two thugs alone in the woods didn't sit well with Poe at all and he cursed the girl for her foolish bravery.

It's gonna be fine. We'll find her, get out of here and have that drink I promised her.

Oh how foolish of him to believe that. The countless stormtroopers kept blocking their way, slowing down any approach towards the forest, and Poe cursed the stars for being on the ground right now. If only he was in his star-fighter. Peeking up from behind their hiding spot, Poe scanned the area for any useful vessel or a better point of vantage for them to occupy. His sharp eyes landed on a black sleek ship that looked very much like a fancy First Order high-tech starfighter and as he considered the theft thereof he noticed a hooded figure, clad in black from head to toe, approaching the ship.

Kylo Ren, Poe's mind supplied and for a brief moment he visualized what a triumph it would be for the Resistance if they got hold (or rid of) the Frist Order's second-in-command. But such thoughts were wiped away, his mind cleansed until naked dread remained, when Poe's gaze dropped to the girl in Ren's arms.

"No. No, no, no, no! NO!" he yelled as panic overtook him and if not for Rey pulling him back behind their cover he would be sporting a hole in his head.

"Kriff, Poe! What's gotten-" Rey barked but he cut her right off, almost shouting at her to let him go and in the next moment he was dashing across the charred earth towards the black ship. But the ranks of white troopers kept a tight line surrounding their superior, blocking off any further advance, and forcing Poe - as well as Rey, who had followed him of course - to watch helplessly as the galaxy's nightmare carried an unconscious _____________ on board.

Poe nearly burst with frustration and shame when he and the rest of his little group stood in front of the General's ship. All dirtied, with minor wounds and glum faces, they made a miserable welcoming-party indeed. Leia hadn't even properly set a foot on the ground when Rey had thrown herself at her foster-mother in despair.

"What happened, my dear?" the wise lady prompted, quickly glancing at everyone of the group before focusing again on Rey. "Where's your sister?"

"Kylo Ren ... H-he took her!" the young girl wailed under tears and Leia froze on the spot. It lasted only a fracture of a second, but Poe saw it, and he realized with dread that the General was afraid of Kylo Ren. Or at least afraid of what he would do to her girl. And at that moment, it seemed there would be little chance to get ________ back. Not that anybody dared to voice that opinion.

"Hush, darling, hush now." Leia cooed and lovingly embraced Rey to spend some comfort. "We'll think of something. But now we must gather our forces and leave for the base."

"I'll get her on board, General." Poe offered instantly, hoping to distract himself by being useful, and with a nod Leia dismissed him and Rey.

"We'll check on the Falcon, then." Han in his typical avoiding-behavior tried to make himself scarce too but Leia wouldn't have it.

"A moment, Han?" and by her tone he knew it wasn't negotiable.

Stepping a little away from the carrier, they had some privacy and Han spied the cracks in Leia's hardened facade. Understandably, really, for he himself felt devastated at the situation. He then explained as best as he could what had happened, feeling very uncomfortable under Leia's scrutinizing gaze. She nodded, averted her eyes that had glassed over, and Han could feel her pain pinching his heart. He pulled her into his arms without hesitation.

"Do you think he knows?" she whispered against his chest, her head tucked in under his chin like a perfect fit.

"How could he? It's a secret between us three and we've not spoken 'bout it in all those years. He simply can't know." he replied and held her lovingly, like he should have done many occasions prior. Leia slung her arms around his torso, closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

"And may the Force keep it that way."

#kylo ren x reader #possessive!Kylo #drama and angst #slow burn #star wars sequel fic #kylo ren #fanfic

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earthstellar · 3 years

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MTMTE HALLOWEEN 2020 FIC: Costume Party

SUMMARY:

Rodimus sets up an Earth style Halloween costume party at Swerve’s to help boost the crew’s morale. Things get a little... weird, when they start to behave like the creatures their costumes represent.

PAIRINGS:

Rodimus/Megatron and Drift/Ratchet

WARNINGS:

It’s spooky, there is some talk regarding Drift’s traumas, and there is bloodshed/violence in a very creepy way. Please be careful and do not read if you are potentially upset by suggestive violence, blood, etc.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

I was unable to finish or edit this on time for Halloween; I’ll post the final version to AO3 when it’s ready, but for now, here’s what I have! Enjoy the preview!

Rodimus was happy to let Swerve host a Human Halloween event in the bar.

Swerve had wanted to do it for a while, but evidently had to wait for the right Earth season despite the Lost Light being absolutely nowhere near Earth. Rodimus agreed that they could use something fun and distracting to lift the spirits of the crew after a somewhat bad supply pickup had gone south and resulted in a thankfully brief dry spell as they'd had to go without their usual ship wide energon supply, resulting in the bar being shuttered for the duration until they were able to stop at Hedra Nine for a full restocking.

Ultra Magnus had been the only one pleased at the brief closure of Swerve's bar, as it certainly cut down on his workload, but it was unfortunately Ultra Magnus that had to be convinced of the idea. Hence the emergency command meeting currently underway.

"So explain to me again the purpose of this holiday." Delivered in a flat tone, Ultra Magnus never failed to intimidate.

As usual, Ultra Magnus loomed over the relatively small table positioned in the centre of the room, where Rodimus, Drift, and Megatron sat with some research in hand on various data pads, as well as some footage from Rewind and Swerve's collection of human media.

Rodimus, undaunted, continued his pitch.

"It originally started as a folk religious practice around appeasing the spirits of the dead and keeping ghosts, the spirits of deceased humans, from haunting homes and towns. Essentially. But in modern Earth context, it's all about having fun, dressing up as scary or silly characters and getting to relax a bit during a time of year that Earth people relate with darkness, bad weather, that kind of thing. It makes people happy during what were traditionally difficult times. I think we could use something interesting and fun to get the crew back into better spirits after that mess we had to deal with in the Astreus System. See? Fun can have a logical purpose: To improve crew morale. It’s… fun, Mags. People tend to enjoy it. I think it'll be fine."

Rodimus leaned back in his chair and grinned, sure that he had made a strong case. Megatron was absorbed in a data pad featuring a collection of human myths and tales about the holiday, centred around the origins of the modern practice as it was the most relevant information, although he was interested in the older history of the celebration and where such practices may have come from.

Megatron was surprised by the depth and complexity of the human holiday. He was still getting over some of his lingering prejudice towards organics; Reading up on their cultures and history was one way to root out what was left of his more harmful mindset. The best cure for ignorance was often simple research, after all… Orion Pax would be proud. He nearly laughed at the thought.

But he found himself looking forward to Swerve’s little seasonal party, even if there were no seasons per se to celebrate out in open space. Rodimus had made a good point; The crew could certainly use the distraction, and Rung had advised him to try new things that had no associations with any past memories or experiences as part of something they were trying in therapy. He wasn’t exactly excited for it, but it could tolerate it. Especially with Rodimus also in attendance; Undoubtedly most of the attention would be drawn away from him, at least.

Ultra Magnus was completely still, a telltale sign that he was considering something, running through his extensive memory storage of ship protocols and broader applicable legislation in the hopes of finding something that could possibly mitigate any poor outcomes— Rodimus had won, it would certainly help crew morale and such intentions were covered by rules regarding health and safety of passengers and crew members. Fair play.

The bulletin from Swerve, once approved, had been sent out to everyone on board. The event was fairly simple, a marathon of various Halloween themed human movies, followed by a costume party at the bar. Teams of three were allowed to submit group costumes for judgement by a panel led by Ultra Magnus, partially because it was the only way to get him to participate and partially because it was the only way to have a judged competition without anyone complaining of unfairness.

The mood had immediately improved, with the Lost Light buzzing about costume design ideas and speculating on who was joining whose team and what the chances of winning might be.

Rodimus beamed, happy for all the chatter and gossip. His crew was happy, so he was happy. And Megatron was invested as well, glad to go along with it, enjoying the literature about it. He couldn't be more excited for the event; He trusted Swerve to make it as extravagant as possible, despite the limitations of their supplies on board and what little in the way of textile fabrics they could find and pick up from smaller stop-overs at various stations operated by organics along the way prior to the day.

Rodimus had been concerned about the cost, but Drift was enamoured with the spiritual background of the holiday, and seemed all too willing to provide the spare shanix for anything they could find for the crew.

So far, it had been going incredibly well. Rodimus was excited himself, as he couldn't wait to see everyone's final costumes, but the idea of Megatron getting a break to genuinely enjoy something with him brought warmth to his spark, making it spin even faster in its casing.

"Okay, everybody! We had a lot of interest in the costume aspect of this whole thing, but it seems only three teams actually came together to participate in the judged competition. However, most of you have turned up in costume anyway, so it all works out! The judging will go faster and you can all guzzle down some of the special drinks on the menu for tonight only. Welcome to Swerve's, and Happy Human Halloween!"

Leave it to Swerve to kick off the night in style; The doors were thrown open and bots rushed in, claiming booths and seats at the bar, some mild squabbling already starting but quickly dialled back under the watchful eye of Ultra Magnus, who had refused to wear a costume and was fully on duty as usual from his judge's perch near a makeshift stage Perceptor and Brainstorm had thrown together from spare lab materials.

Nobody had seen anyone's costumes prior to the night, so there was a significant amount of ooing and ahhing over the most successful looks, providing a great distraction for the costume contest participants to slip mostly unnoticed behind the stage setup, preparing for the reveal to the judging panel: Ultra Magnus, Chromedome, and Cyclonus.

As the bar continued to fill up and the noise levels increased, Swerve put on a specially composed mix tape for the ambient music that his extensive research had stated was sure to be a success:

Something called the "Munsters Theme" kicked off the night, and things still appeared to be moving ahead as planned, all in attendance having a good night, and the Lost Light hummed with friendly chatter.

The three costume competition teams ended up being

There was the Command Coven, consisting of Rodimus, Megatron, and Drift with witch themed costumes. Drift was more than happy to provide crystal necklaces and little wands for each of them, each designed to replicate gemstones found on Earth, with Megatron's being amethyst, Rodimus adorned in carnelian, and Drift himself wearing amazonite.

He had chosen the colours and designs in accordance with his Spectralist beliefs, as well as something Swerve had shown him called "mood boards" from Earth social data nets, which had kept him up well past his usual recharging hours. It seemed to not have impacted him at all for how thrilled he was at the excuse to dive into human spiritual practices, although he faltered somewhat at the sight of the next team's arrival...

The Medbay had submitted a team, largely thanks to Drift constantly bothering Ratchet about it, with Ratchet himself as well as First Aid and Velocity appearing in vampire themed costumes. They had no team name because Ratchet couldn't be bothered, and was more concerned about the medbay being largely unattended during the event... Although begrudgingly, he did admit to Drift that having the central medical staff immediately on hand in the bar probably wasn't all that bad of an idea.

And the final team, the Minibot Monsters, consisted of Tailgate as a swamp monster, Rewind as a mummy, and Swerve himself, wearing the world's least convincing werewolf costume.

Swerve was the only person with two costumes, so as not to reveal his "true" costume too early in the night; What he was wearing while manning the bar and letting people in was something inspired by Gomez from the Addams Family, although nobody else on board got the reference save for Rewind, who was suddenly upset they hadn't picked that as their group theme. Tailgate was just thrilled to have shiny scales temporarily detailed over his paint job, lending a shimmering effect to his every move.

Back stage, the teams began to intermingle a bit, although mindful of not violating any of Ultra Magnus' rules about potentially spoiling the integrity of the judging process by helping other teams with costumes and so on for about fifty pages.

Drift took in Ratchet's costume, approaching a bit too tenderly for it to be the effect of any engex he may have consumed before hand. It set off Ratchet's diagnostics coding, returning a reading of increased anxiety indicated by signs of ever so slightly rising energon consumption levels as Drift's fuel pump started to rev at a slightly elevated rate, as well as a touch of fatigue from Drift's lack of recharge time beforehand.

"What's wrong? Are you afraid of losing?" Ratchet teased him, but only gently, probing to see where Drift was mentally at the moment. Did dressing up have bad connotations on Rodion? Was Drift relating this to some disguise or situation from his past that was potentially upsetting? Ratchet was ready to leave at any time, stress over an unmanned medbay lingering in the back of his processor; He'd be happy to grab Drift and go if need be.

"I uh, you just did a really good job with your costumes is all. I mean I expected the cloaks and all that stuff, it looks good on you by the way! But the denta..."

Ah.

Ratchet shuffled a bit. "Yes, apparently Velocity found in her preparatory reading that human vampire lore emphasises pointed denta. They--"

Drift interrupted, looking at the ground, looking anywhere but Ratchet's face. "They siphon their energon, or whatever human stuff, blood, from living people. They're siphonists. Like I used to be, way back, when I needed to get fuel, and... And they're evil."

Immediately, Ratchet realised that of course, Drift would associate the vampire fangs with so much suffering from his own past, with cruel comments and judgements forced on him by bots who had no idea what it was like to starve or have to turn to any viable alternative to survive, including taking energon directly from the fuel lines of others.

He raised up his hands towards Drift, testing to see if he'd be welcome for a hug. Drift looked up a bit and smiled, stepping into Ratchet's arms and accepting a brief embrace before Ratchet pulled back to look him in the eyes, hands still lingering on his upper arms.

"Listen, Drift. If this is too much for you, we can go. I can go, you don't have to miss anything. I can take this all off and it's an easy fix; It's a minor procedure to numb and file them back down, and of course we were going to do it afterwards anyway. Velocity thought it would be more realistic if we just went ahead and altered our denta for the sake of it, but I should have thought more about how that might affect you. I--"

Drift leaned up to quickly kiss Ratchet, immediately jerking his head back with eyes wide, seemingly having not fully registered the fangs that met his until they physically pressed against one another, before giving a shakey smile.

"No, it's okay. I just wasn't ready for it. The thought of you having to resort to... Anything like that, it makes my spark hurt. It reminds me of a lot of things I don't like about how I had to get through some hard times, you know? But I don't want you to go. I want you here. Plus... Now we match, right?"

Leave it to Drift to try to power through something so significantly distressing to him. Ratchet appreciated the effort, but saw right through it.

"I mean it, if this bothers you, I'm ready to get back to the medbay, undo it, and we can hit the bar again together later once things have eased up a bit, no problem. The humans might think vampires are evil, and a lot of bots might think siphonists are... Frightening, but I need you to know that they're not the same thing. People are often wrong about what they don't understand, and you only did what you had to in order to survive. And I'm glad you did it. If you hadn't, you wouldn't be here. With me, at a party that will be fun if you still want to go through with all this."

Drift optics gradually returned to their usual brightness, his signs of anxiety slowly disappearing on Ratchet's constant scans, putting him at ease as well.

"Thank you, Ratchet. I'll be okay once the shock wears off. I think it's a good costume choice, and you really do look good in the cloak. The black makes your white paint look brighter! And it's fun to think of all the spooky human stories... And some of our own too, I guess. Imagine, a siphonst medic! You would't have any patients, that's for sure." Drift smiled, making a point to flash his own fangs. Clearly he'd recovered from the initial shock, although Ratchet decided he might try to talk it out with him at some point when they weren’t caught up in all this. He didn't want Drift to suffer any blows to his self-esteem, or fall back into a trauma related depression, even a relatively minor one. He was glad Rung had a positive policy for booking short notice sessions, which reassured him a bit. Any problems, they could all work it out together.

"Well, I think anyone who needs a doctor badly enough is willing to go to whatever doctor happens to be around, in my experience. Siphonist or not. And are you calling my paint job dull? I'll have you know I polished my armour for this. Or First Aid did, at least. He was insistent that we represent the medical team as best as possible."

"Seems like he's learning some things from you about professionalism, Mister No Crystals in the Medbay."

"Hey, Ultra Magnus agreed with me. It violates... Some rule."

"Sure it does."

It was finally time for the costume contest, and

"What happened? What happened? Hey! Someone else get up already!" Rodimus wasn't one to panic, but he was maybe actually slightly panicking. A little bit.

After the Great Sword had reacted to Drift's incantation, everyone had experienced simultaneous processor reset from the energy surge, and it was taking some time for people to come around from the harsh and unexpected reboot.

It seemed everyone in the bar had been affected by the wave, not dissimilar to an electromagnetic pulse, with bots slumped over their tables, a few leaning precariously over the bar, and others laying on top of each other where there had been only standing room left.

Rodimus had been the first to wake, having fallen into a draped position half over Megatron and half pressed into the makeshift stage curtain, briefly tangled in his distress over waking up and feeling... Odd.

He felt like his spark was super charged, like he had ingested far too much high grade energon and was borderline frying his own circuits. It was like his fuses had been blown, but a quick self-diagnostic came back completely normal, nothing out of the ordinary, everything working fine.

His sensory input felt magnified somehow, like he was feeling the EM fields of everyone in the bar at a hundred fold.

It wasn't bad. Just very, very odd. Which was never a good indicator of anything, the way things tended to go on the Lost Light.

He briefly considered paging the medbay, when he caught the passed out shaped of Ratchet and Drift together in the centre of the stage; Ratchet must have picked up on whatever was happening and had made a dive for Drift, resulting in both of them clattering to the ground on top of each other.

Everyone he would turn to for help had also been affected; There was no

"Megatron, wake up!"

—-

"Ratchet, oh Primus, please, are you okay?" Drift had finally woken up, exhausted by his lack of recharge on top of the huge surge of energy that had burst forth from the Great Sword, which was connected somehow to his spark energy... He was drained, but determined to get a response out of Ratchet before he could even consider his own wellbeing.

"Ratchet! Get up! Something's happened with the sword, and it's my fault, and I don't know what happened!" Genuine fear started to seep into his vocaliser, which was likely what finally jarred Ratchet back into awareness.

"...Drift? Are you alright?" Ratchet's voice was low and rough, still drowsy from the forced reboot. Drift knelt further down to help get a grip under Ratchet's shoulders to keep him from slumping over again, being careful of anywhere that may have been injured as he collapsed.

"My scans are showing me you’re fine, but I think I need to run a diagnostic on myself... I feel like I haven't refuelled in Primus knows how long. My fuel tank was reasonably topped up before this, is anyone else experiencing similar symptoms...?" Ratchet was slowly regaining his bearings, relying less on Drift for balance once being sat upright, although they both remained seated with their legs tucked under them in the middle of the stage. Drift felt he could relax ever so slightly now that Ratchet was responsive enough to be engaging his medical protocols.

"We all feel a bit strange. Me and Roddy feel overcharged almost, like having two sparks in one frame. It’s… intense, but manageable. Megatron is still out, and Roddy seems to be more charged up than I am. It might be a Matrix thing with him, we don't know. My fuel levels are good, feeling the opposite of drained right now. Our internal diagnostics are coming back normal, but that's clearly wrong. Any ideas?"

Ratchet was slow to reply. He was never slow to reply, not when it came to medical matters.

"Ratchet?" Drift grabbed Ratchet's shoulders, preparing to brace him and lay him out gently in case he lost consciousness again.

"Drift, I need you to listen to me carefully. I don't know what happened. I don't know what's happening now. I can't identify any apparent problems in my own self-diagnostics, aside from the erroneous fuel tank level discrepancy. I'm not leaking fuel from anywhere, I'm not burning it off any faster than usual. I'd need access to the medbay for more in-depth scans, but I don't think it's a good idea to be wandering the halls right now. We should keep this contained to the incident area as much as we can..." As he continued to speak, Ratchet looked more and more stressed, more concerned. And that concerned Drift.

"What are you getting at, why are the halls unsafe? Do you think this is some kind of attack? It originated from my Great Sword, it was... I think it was the incantation. It had to be. Ultra Magnus made sure the threat level was at a minimum--"

"No. I think that if we went out there, we'd be making the halls dangerous ourselves. Don't you feel that?"

Drift felt his spark grind to a halt.

"What are you talking about? I feel fine, I feel suspiciously better than fine. Are you okay? Are you dizzy?"

"...No. I'm energy depleted. I need fuel." Ratchet leaned forward until they were pressed flush against each other, their knees touching in their kneeled position on the stage, chests touching right over their spark chambers. Drift kept his hands rested on Ratchet's shoulders, grip light, unsure of what to do.

When suddenly, and with all the strength of a field medic frame, Ratchet leaned in and closed the rest of the distance, pushing Drift backwards to the floor so his knees lifted from their bent position and his legs splayed out under Ratchet, who was now so close to laying across the top of him that it nearly took Drift's breath away.

Ratchet whispered directly against Drift's neck cables, close enough to his audials that it made Drift's spinal strut shiver and lock up. "I need warm fuel. I need your fuel.”

Drift immediately froze. This didn't sound like Ratchet. This couldn't be Ratchet. Because Ratchet would never make him feel this vulnerable, he would never do this. Ratchet isn't a siphonist...

...Or he wasn't before whatever just happened, happened.

"Don't do this!" Drift had intended to scream it, but it came out as a whimper that only Ratchet could hear as his breath was taken away by the pointed denta scrapping gently along the central fuel lines in the side of his neck, just above his collar plating and below the corner of his tilted helm, as Ratchet’s glossa searched for the most medically sound place to puncture the lines and begin to siphon fuel.

Imagining Ratchet's mouth full of his energon, still hot from being cycled through his systems, Ratchet’s face swirling the fuel around his fangs and smiling at him in sick contentment the way Drift knew he himself had done to others in his past filled him with a level of dread and distress that he didn't know he was still capable of feeling.

He tried to roll to knock Ratchet off balance, but he was now pinned beneath the medic, whose wider frame was made for detaining unruly patients and built to cope with such resistance. The moment had only caused Ratchet to get a better glimpse at his central fuel lines, Drift's neck having flexed in the process, encouraging a small thrilled hum from Ratchet that terrified Drift straight to the spark.

He couldn't let Ratchet do this. He wouldn't let him become a siphonist. Ratchet is a good mech, a kind-hearted mech, and Drift refused to imagine what would happen if Ratchet drained him of fuel and snapped out of whatever this was and hated himself the way Drift had hated himself...

...But at the same time, they were in a room full of vulnerable and disoriented bots. Many of whom had still not fully rebooted and had no chance of putting up any defence at all. If Ratchet was under some spell, or whatever was happening, then there was no guarantee that he would be able to be restrained, or that he could restrain himself, from simply going after someone else.

Drift realised in horror that if Ratchet didn't get his fuel fix from him, right now, he would likely just hurt someone else while in this trance-like state, focused solely on satisfying a feral hunger... Drift could at least relate, and was awake enough to consent as much as possible under the circumstances, and it didn't take all that much effort for Drift to talk himself into going limp.

As he rested back flat against the stage floor, Ratchet briefly froze, giving Drift a flash of hope that he was coming to his senses, that his medical protocols were overriding whatever this was and that he would immediately jump off and apologise and demand another systems check before they started working out whatever was going on.

But instead, Ratchet made some awful little low trilling noise, lowering more of the weight of his frame against Drift's chest, and whispered into his neck: "Your vents are spewing out so much heat. Your fuel will be so warm in my mouth. Listen to my voice, Drift. You know how much you mean to me. I won't hurt you, I'll never hurt you. I'm a medic. I want you to feel good, be healthy. Forever. I want you to feel the way I do."

Drift was caught between old traumas and the trauma currently unfolding. He had no response, cleansing fluid building up behind his optics, threatening to cloud his vision and steam up his lenses from the inside from all the heat his rapidly spinning spark was generating throughout his systems.

He vaguely became aware of some almighty commotion happening somewhere in the bar, but he didn't dare attempt to move. He couldn't have even if he tried. It was painful hearing Ratchet like this, the kind voice worn by age that he was familiar with tainted by something rough and sinister, for all the friendliness it still contained.

"Did you read all the human myths, or just about the crystals? It seems the Earth vampires can turn another human into one by sharing blood, their energon. After I take a sip from you, would you bite into me? Or would you prefer if I clean cut one of my fuel lines for you to suck on? Would you do that for me? We match, after all.” Drift could feel Ratchet flash a wide smile into the side of his neck.

Ratchet's voice was starting to have some kind of cognitive effect on Drift's processor, numbing him to the waves of anxiety and making the noises in the bar seem even further away, sinking him into Ratchet's grip, making it impossible to activate his own vocaliser.

"We could be together forever, Drift. No more flitting in and out of each others lives. Security. Safety. Stability."

With Drift completely flattened beneath him, helm lolled to the side and central fuel line finally exposing the medically ideal spot to place a bite, Ratchet was satisfied. He leaned in and sunk his pointed denta into the perfect centre of the line, immediately creating a suction and drawing a swift stream of warm energon into his mouth, a deep moan from Drift weakly rising from beneath his grasp--

--And at that moment, Rodimus with immense precision drew down a bar stool leg directly into Ratchet's helm, the metallic clang echoing through the room as Ratchet’s head was forced away from Drift’s neck, a pool of energon steaming up from the tear in the central fuel line, ripped open further by Ratchet’s pointed denta never having had the chance to loosen the bite first.

Rodimus quickly put himself between Drift and Ratchet, kicking Ratchet in the shoulder to create more distance while avoiding harming him as much as possible before turning to face Drift.

“Primus, Drift, we shouldn’t have left you two alone, some of the others started waking up and Megatron’s still struggling a little with the hard reboot, are you okay? Drift?”

Drift barely registered what Rodimus was panicking about as he was only gradually coming out of whatever state Ratchet had put him in. He felt like his temperature regulator has to be malfunctioning now, or perhaps he had just lost too much heat from pushing himself too hard and venting off too much of the heated air that speedster frames tended to build up.

Setting himself upright, he relied on Rodimus for support, immediately showing the tear in his fuel line, optics slightly foggy and looking off to the side. “I need to wrap this up… It’s not as bad as it could be, but it really is, isn’t it? What’s wrong with Ratchet, Roddy?” It was hard to hear Drift’s voice, usually so lively and firm, take a low and demure tone made rough by the damage to his neck.

They both looked over to where Ratchet had been unceremoniously kicked on his back, Rodimus continuing to stay tensed and alert in front of Drift in case Ratchet tried to make another move.

Cautiously, Rodimus spoke up as his right hand helped Drift hold the fuel line edges together; Rodimus winced at how much it must hurt, but Drift was making no complaints as it was slowly and carefully wrapped by some previously subspaced tape. In fact, Drift seemed… Sad, more than scared. He was being too quiet, moving too little even considering his injury, and his EM field was full of exhaustion and distress.

“What the hell happened? Ratchet, you… I didn’t hit you that hard, did I? Can you answer me? What were you doing?” He wanted to ask why, but one thing at a time. He suspected that Ratchet didn’t know the answer to that last one, and Rodimus didn’t want to press someone who was potentially unstable and clearly dangerous at the moment. He pressed his back closer to Drift, fully ready to defend him if needed.

Rodimus took in Ratchet’s crumpled pose, still laid out where he had been kicked back, a look of absolute shock and strain on his face as his fists curled tightly against the stage floor, steaming energon dipping from around his slightly open mouth in small pools as he ex-vented heavily.

As Ratchet shook his helm a bit, he replied with an absolutely wrecked voice, as if it had been his vocaliser nearly ripped out instead of Drift’s. “I, Rodimus, I don’t know how long I’ll be lucid for. My fuel tank levels are registering within perfectly normal levels, but it feels like I’m being constantly drained, like I’m losing fuel from a leak that doesn’t exist—“

“So you put a leak in Drift?” Rodimus knew he shouldn’t have said anything as Ratchet’s head whipped up and stared him directly in the optics, the shattered look on his face so unfamiliar on Ratchet’s features that it startled Rodimus to see it.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. My scans are coming back fine, all of them, I can’t find what’s wrong.” Real panic was seeping into Ratchet’s vocaliser, a bizarre and awful contrast to his usual calm steadiness even in the worst of situations. “You don’t understand, Rodimus, whatever energy the Great Sword released has altered my systems, perhaps everyone’s systems… Drift said you both felt overcharged, but I feel energy depleted, and it’s doing something to my processor. I feel so strange and— And Drift.”

The entire time he spoke, without his knowledge, his glossa lightly flicked out here and there to catch some spare flecks of Drift’s energon that had settled around his mouth. It set off a sick feeling in Rodimus’ spark, as it was clear Ratchet genuinely couldn’t help it, as if his coding had gone severely wrong somewhere. It reminded him of a cyberfox licking its paws after a hunt. It was too unrefined and subtly animalistic for a bot like Ratchet. It looked wrong, it felt wrong, and he could feel a surge of concerned sadness burst forth from Drift’s EM field behind him. Evidently he’d finished wrapping his fuel line and was now focused on Ratchet.

Ratchet noticed and finally moved, only slightly to avoid startling Rodimus into unnecessary action, as he picked up on Drift’s distressed EM signals.

“Drift, Primus, are—“ Ratchet’s optics went wide and he jerked back oddly, not moving from his place lest Rodimus make a move, but as though he were torn so completely that he couldn’t move. “—My medical protocols demand your neck be examined. If I do it, I don’t know what I’ll do. Where’s Velocity and First Aid?”

—-

Megatron bellowed across the bar, “They’re behaving oddly, get ready to fight them off!”

—-

"Drift, we're medics. We know where to bite to take the most energon straight from the central fuel line the fastest. I just did it to you, and being ripped free like that can rip the cable lining and weaken the integrity of the fuel line under pressure. It ruptures and causes a major bleed. It can kill someone. It will kill someone. If at any point we start failing to restrain ourselves, you have to incapacitate us. Tie us up. Do whatever. We are officially dangerous until this is resolved. I can't say my behaviour will be predictable, or sensible."

He then turned abruptly to Rodimus and Megatron, Ultra Magnus off to his opposite side, ready to intervene if needed.

"One of you, or both of you, I am asking you to do whatever you need to do if I go after Drift again. If I go for his central fuel lines again, he's already damaged. Another bite will weaken the line structure, its integrity will fail, and he will lose too much energon to be within safe levels. His nanites will take far too long to repair a gash that size. Please."

Ratchet hung his head, avoiding everyone's optics.

"I am a medic. I heal bots. I don't kill them.

---

AND THAT’S AS FAR AS I GOT, I hope to finish this up and edit it for AO3 soon, Happy Halloween!

#Halloween #MTMTE #transformers fic #ll #maccadam #maccadams #dratchet #megarod

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padme-amitabha · 4 years

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Prequel And George Lucas Appreciation Post

This is an ongoing list of everything I appreciate about the Star Wars Prequels (and by extension the Original Trilogy) and appreciation of George Lucas’ vision and a tribute to Star Wars when it was still about morals and depth because Disney is intent on ruining the franchise and George’s creation. I am only referring to the six original films here and the list is in no particular order.

1. Villains - One thing that Lucas does well is creating great antagonists. Now Darth Vader being a great villain and character is pretty self-explanatory but I love the way his character is handled in the movies. He is presented in three different ways in each film, or that’s how I interpret it anyway.

We see him being an imperial in ANH and a bereaucratic one at that. He is defending the battle station and basically doing his job i.e trying to locate the stolen plans. In ESB, he is suddenly a much bigger threat. He is the epitome of evil which is further enhanced by the stunning visuals. He is the ultimate bad guy who Luke has to defeat to become a Jedi. What we did not expect is the “I am your father” reveal and that Luke is defeated and manages to escape in the end. The Darth Vader in ROTJ is much more subservient and loyal to the Emperor. He obeys the emperor and waits for Luke to show up and is not much of a threat. He is also shown to be very conflicted and tries to convince Luke to join him rather than making Luke join him against his will. The reason I think he’s portrayed differently is because the story is from Luke’s perspective. Yoda and Obi-Wan led Luke to believe Vader is evil and the narrative stays faithful to that. However, when Luke realizes the word of the Jedi cannot fully be trusted, he decides to come to his own conclusion and sees the conflict and good in his father after a brief conversation. Even with the black and white symbolism in the OT, we are introduced to the gray area in ROTJ when it’s revealed Darth Vader is not as evil as he appears to be and the “good” Jedi can just be as manipulative and biased (as acknowledged by Obi-Wan clinging to his own point of view and encouraging a boy to kill/fight his father without even sharing the information with him) - and Lucas continues to explore this in the Prequels.

The Prequels are about the fall of a centuries old noble religious order and how a single man managed to bring an end to democracy. History shows to bring down an established government it must have some structural flaws and as such the Jedi are shown to be just as bureaucratic as the imperials in ANH; the Jedi are portrayed in a negative light. The Jedi had grown arrogant in their abilities and had grown personal loyalties (such as Mace Windu to the Republic) and they were too blind to acknowledge the flaws in their perception. Qui-Gon was an exception to this and he was more compassionate and better Jedi like the knights in the Old Republic and his death in TPM foreshadows the fall of the Jedi order and of the golden era of the Jedi. At the end of the trilogy, Yoda and Obi-Wan are the sole survivors. It proves even the wise and experienced Yoda could be wrong as he confessed to Qui-Gon in ROTS. Obi-Wan was a Jedi who was very loyal to the order and the council and wished to follow the code by the book and still over the years he had grown attached to Anakin and had a strong emotional bond with him which was why he was still alive although deeply affected by the events. Hence, both Yoda and Obi-Wan were forced to acknowledge the weaknesses in their order and as a result grew as characters.

The prequels also demonstrate how the strict and flawed ways of the Jedi drastically changed Anakin’s life and how he struggled to fit in the order but at the same time making a point that the code didn’t change the lives of all the Jedi such as Obi-Wan who was quite content as a Jedi. The contrast shows how the lifestyle affected people like Anakin who were ruled by their emotions, and how it ended up pushing him to the dark side.

Palpatine is another great villain in contrast to Vader because he is anything but conflicted. He is the true epitome of evil and unapologetically so. I have seen very few stories actually pulling this off because a character who’s purely evil tends to be one dimensional or run the risk of coming across as incompetent even though the creator tries to tell us that they are very capable, such as Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter. However, this can be done well if the main focus of the story isn’t on the main villain by minimising their screentime so they still appear a looming threat till the main character(s) defeat them in the end and accomplish something, as done with Fire Lord Ozai from ATLA and Palpatine in OT. Palpatine is a looming, sort of foreign threat in the background who is shown to be purely evil and chaotic and he only appears in the last film. He isn’t defeated by the hero but by his own apprentice who served him for years. Vader is the main villain in OT and of course a great one at that. But the PT establishes that Palpatine is very much an accomplished villain as well. He’s a treacherous Sith Lord who has managed to evade the Jedi at the height of their power by hiding in plain sight. He orchestrates a galactic war by playing both sides and emerges victorious. He turns the clones against their allies and comes to power by latching onto emergency powers, much like Hitler. Even without Anakin/Vader’s help, he’s fairly successful in eradicating an entire order by studying and utilizing their weaknesses.

One of his greatest accomplishments is manipulating Anakin for years and slowly grooming him to be the perfect Sith apprentice. He takes his time to get in his head and establishing trust and knows exactly what to say to win him over, and while he is doing this he isn’t sitting idle. He has other apprentices whom he discards after they serve a purpose. He is ambitious and always scheming and I would say he’s a pretty successful politician too as he had quite a few supporters in the Senate to be elected Supreme Chancellor. He was the ultimate mastermind pulling the strings and manipulating everyone around him even Padmé in TPM.

As others have noted before me, the titles of the prequels have multiple meanings. While Darth Maul is shown to be the Phantom Menace in regards to being a mysterious figure who looks like the devil himself and stalking the main characters, so is Sheev Palpatine and Queen Amidala in the sense neither are who they pretend to be. Padmé’s two identities are obvious in the film while Palpatine’s double identity remains hidden. The Attack of the Clones can also be interpreted as Palpatine vs Sidious as they are the leaders of the both sides and they are referred to as clones as they are identical i.e. the same person. I also love how they incorporated the emperor’s theme from ROTJ into the ending theme in TPM and it’s a subtle reminder that it’s as just as much Palpatine’s victory in being elected chancellor.

I personally don’t mind that Maul was killed off in TPM because even though he lost to Obi-Wan it wasn’t before he killed an accomplished Jedi Knight. He was just as skilled as them and we see the Jedi struggle to keep up even with their strength in numbers. I love the fact that he more like a silent assassin because a lot of villains have a habit of chattering which is often utilised by the heroes to win, and Maul still retained the sense of mystery around him by the end of the film.

It’s pretty well-known that Maul, Dooku and Grievous all foreshadow the rise of Darth Vader, the franchise’s most iconic villain. Maul is a Sith Lord who unquestioningly obeys Sidious, Dooku is a former Jedi who left the order due to ideological differences and also personal ambition and Grievous is part cyborg with a preistent cough (similar to Vader’s wheezing) to make a point that technology is not without limitations and also a reminder of his humanity.

All in all I think Lucas is a genius who has managed to give us pretty amazing and actually proficient villains who could give the heroes a run for their money.

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laughtermagick · 4 years

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Learning Tarot With Memes

Keywords: Leadership, stability, power, responsibility.

Key concept: "He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty."

The Emperor can signify acting rationally for the greater good. In a reading, this could indicate healthy masculinity at its finest. Regardless of gender or lack thereof, anyone can serve in a culturally patriarchal role. Whereas the Empress embodies cherishing and loving, the Emperor embodies honoring and respecting.

Key Symbols

King: The king’s long white beard suggests he’s seen much in life and understands what it really means to be a man. Masculinity is bravery and determination, personal investment in the well-being of the community, honesty and accountability, emotional intelligence and openness, courtesy and self-control, encouraging others to grow, using privilege to advocate for marginalized people, kindness and generosity, sound judgement, and preserving the dignity of others. Yet, these traits are not merely associated with being manly - much more importantly, they are humane.

Throne: We'd see this man very differently if he was sitting on a battered old stool, but this ornate throne elevates him to a position above the mundane. Rather than winning the genetic lottery of royalty, this king earned his throne by taking great pride in everything he does which naturally led to success. Self-esteem is a divine right, but he is too wise to be arrogant.

Royal Regalia: Aside from the obvious crown, he holds an ankh and a golden sphere. The globe (“globus cruciger”) has traditionally been held alongside a scepter by rulers in Europe as early as the Roman Empire, and the Romans often depicted the god Jupiter (aka Zeus) holding a globe to represent dominion over the earth. The ankh symbolized "eternal life" in ancient Egypt, and both pharaohs and deities were commonly depicted holding the ankh. Anubis and Isis would place the ankh against the lips of parted souls to revitalize them in the afterlife. The ankh is similar in design to the symbol of Venus (aka Aphrodite), and both represent unity and perfect balance of the masculine/feminine and material/spirit.

Ram Heads: Decorating the throne is the astrological sign of Aries, representing the ram’s driving force and virility. The element associated with Aries is fire - enthusiastic, energizing, and enterprising. In esoteric astrology, the Aries sign represents human consciousness and existence itself. Aries is described as "a point of light in the mind of God" - the first spark of creation, the original thought that manifested "something from nothing".

Robe & Armor: Continuing with the theme of Aries, the color red and the element of iron are both associated with that astrological sign. The king is also combining kingship with the role of knighthood, because he would never suggest, "Do as I say, not as I do." The entire reason chivalry was established within knighthood was actually to prevent wars. Rather than warriors slaughtering each other over every little offense, they decided the true show of strength would be humility and being "big enough" to forgive. Their ethical code was “faith, hope, charity, justice, strength, moderation, and loyalty”.

Background: The rocky mountains represent grit and the ambition to reach greater heights. Because the mountains may appear looming, barren, and impenetrable, it's easy to overlook the river flowing at the base. Water has been viewed by countless cultures as purifying, protecting, gentle, and healing. When you're standing on the correct side of all that monumental strength, it's not hard to reach.

Waite-Smith Fun Fact

The word “arcana” means “secrets” or “mysteries”. The major arcana usually indicate a prominent message while the minor arcana are less pivotal. Tarot has inspired popular movies, such as The Red Violin (1998), which was also based on true historical events regarding the Stradivarius violin nicknamed the "Red Mendelssohn". In the movie, a legendary violin maker in 1681 paints his greatest crafted instrument with his dead wife’s blood to keep her memory alive. Over the centuries, the violin changes hands over four different countries, profoundly impacting all those who own it. Throughout the film, there are flashbacks where a woman gives a tarot reading to the wife before she dies. The tarot reading predicts the events surrounding the surviving violin, leading the wife to believe the reading is inaccurate.

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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REVIEW: US Release of Lupin the 3rd: THE FIRST Is a Vintage Treasure

Just over a year ago, Lupin the 3rd: THE FIRST stole its way into Japanese cinemas. The film marks the first 3DCG animated outing for the gentleman thief, who debuted in 1967 in a manga penned by the late Kazuhiko Katō (better known to us as Monkey Punch). We brought you a fresh review right when the film first came out; but now that it's making its way to home video courtesy of GKIDS, we're taking another look — this time not only at THE FIRST itself, but also at its North American release.

All images via GKIDS

You'll be able to unlock the secrets of the Bresson Diary for yourself this month, but join us now for a look at the state-side release of the hotly-anticipated movie!

The Story

Lupin the 3rd tends to move with the times, updating the anime antihero to our modern life. But THE FIRST does the exact opposite. Set contemporary to the premiere of the manga, it reminds us of the whole point of the title: This is the grandson of literary thief Arsène Lupin we're following. And The First looms large throughout this film, not only in the title, but through the story itself.

Lupin is looking to get his hands on the one thing his renowned grandfather failed to steal: the Bresson Diary (a throwback to a character in Maurice Leblanc's Arsène Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes). Locked in a puzzle box, the diary promises a great treasure to anyone who can open it. Also chasing after the treasure is Laetitia, a passionate archaeologist turned rookie thief. Oh, and the Third Reich is there, too: in typical post-War fashion, a few stragglers of the especially occult kind believe the Diary will lead them to a magical superweapon. And since this is Lupin the 3rd, they're probably not wrong.

The truth of the Bresson Diary and the original Lupin's involvement is a bit more convoluted than first laid out. But as we move into the final act, it's full Indiana Jones energy: deadly science-magic traps, betrayals, Rule of Cool action, and the literal fate of the world hanging in the balance. Even Zenigata is willing to call a truce and take up his honorary role as fifth Lupin Gang member once again.

A Classic Lupin Gang Heist

When it comes to Lupin the 3rd, rocking the boat has risks and rewards. Series like Lupin the 3rd Part 5 and The Woman Called Fujiko Mine tested the decades-long franchise's tropes, and did so in a way that was both successful and fan-pleasing. Other films and specials haven't hit the mark quite as well. The safest course of action is to toe the line, and that's what THE FIRST does. If you're expecting director Takashi Yamazaki to reinvent the wheel with the screen time he's given, you'll be disappointed. But that's largely because that was never the aim.

More than anything, this film strives to be as classic Lupin as possible. Every music cue short of "Fire Treasure" (which post-dates the setting, anyway) is present somewhere, courtesy of series mainstays Yuji Ohno and You & Explosion Band. We get a car chase with the reliable little Fiat 500. We get Lupin ziplining down a laser corridor while his theme music plays. Goemon slices no fewer than two very large passenger-carrying vehicles, Jigen is at his sharp-shootiest, and Fujiko breaks hearts and necks in quick succession. It may not be game-changing, but it's so right — possibly the rightest the series has been in a while — that trying to get fancy would feel wrong.

Of special note are each character's nuanced expression and movement. We've watched the core five for decades, albeit in 2D animation, and by now we know them like old friends. As we've seen in Stand by Me Doraemon, Yamazaki goes for broke making his CG stars as emotive as possible. These depictions hit the nail on the head in terms of body language, to the point that a keen eye might even catch when a background character is actually Lupin in disguise.

Coming to America

In recent years, the Lupin the 3rd TV series and films have been getting increasingly better treatment in North America. This is in large part due to the dream team of Tony Oliver (Lupin) and Richard Epcar (Jigen) — industry voice acting veterans — leading a stellar ensemble cast. Lex Lang (Goemon), Michelle Ruff (Fujiko), and Doug Erholtz (Zenigata) are all as on point as ever, and that's no surprise.

The dub's guest cast is equally strong. Laurie Hymes shines as Laetitia, with excellent villainy from J. David Brimmer as the megalomaniacal Lambert and Paul Guyet as Third Reich straggler Gerard.

THE FIRST presents an uncommon challenge in the Lupin the 3rd series: rather than the typical anime lip flap, the writers and voice actors have to match (or at least approximate) much more specific enunciation. Well ... it's less that they have to and more that they went for it. It was a good call, and the localization is all the better and flows all the more naturally for it.

The Score

Since its premiere, Lupin the 3rd: THE FIRST has been for American fans much like the Bresson Diary was for Lupin himself: shiny, enticing, and always just out of reach. Having it in hand, it lives up to expectations. And if this all sounds like a love letter to the movie, that's not inappropriate — since the movie is a love letter to Lupin.

THE FIRST is a deliberate throwback in every sense. Rooted firmly in both its own history and that of the books that inspired it, it's a reminder of where this long-lived anime classic began. It's a standard story, exactly the sort we've come to expect, but that doesn't stop it from being a fantastic experience.

Get Lupin the 3rd: THE FIRST on digital, Blu-ray, and steelbook

By: Kara Dennison

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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sunnykeysmash · 4 years

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A look at: AP BIO S3EP6, “That That That”

So this post is going to be sort of an... in-depth analysis for this episode. I hope people enjoy reading this! It’s a long one, so I apologize in advance. I hope it doesn’t feel rambly.

So the episode opens up with the janitor talking with some rats.

We are treated to a shot from their point of view, as the man talks about the rats’ plead about how they’re “going to change”, and how they say they’re not “going anywhere”. Through this simple quick scene, the episode sets up the entire premise, both on a literal level, with the use of rat poison later on, and on a thematical level, introducing us to what’s going to become, by the end of the episode, Jack’s own point of view. Putting it like this, it’s like already the show is drawing a parallel, making us further empathize with Jack as he slowly starts feeling like a rat stuck in a maze himself.

As we’re introduced to Jack, he talks about preparing a recorded lecture for the University of Wisconsin on trascendentalism.

Jack feels sure that what he wants is to get away from the school he’s in, that he won’t miss anything. He thinks this job is what he wants.

Now, trascendentalism is a philosophical movement that values the importance of subjective intuition, not reached through logic but through imagination. It preaches that people deep down already know what’s right for them, that the individual’s potential is limitless, and that the ego is not your true self. All themes that are slowly woven into the episode as Jack works through his subconscious while high off rat poison to come to the conclusion that he already knew deep down was right, and that he started feeling right at the start when people started questioning him.

As this process begins, he goes to talk to Lynette, his girlfriend. He brings up said lecture that he’s recording, it almost feels like he’s seeking her reassurance.

After that, we see him in the teacher lounge, kind of minding his business.

The scene starts out with the three teachers talking. In the frame, catching my eye immediately, is that fourth empty chair. It underlines that someone’s missing, someone that could be a part of what’s happening.

Eventually we cut back to Jack being in frame, except not really, because he starts out of focus, in the backgroung, listening in to the three teachers, framed like an outsider. This is to show us how he feels in the environment.

Then, as he enters the conversation, he gets into focus.

And we then cut back to the three of them.

There is a purposeful distance felt between the two parties, and it’s one that Jack is establishing by keeping himself to the side. This calls back to the themes of the episode right before this, Mr. Pistachio. They’re inviting him in, there is a place for him, but he feels like he doesn’t belong, he stays distant.

As the girls start talking to each other again, Jack is once again kept out of focus, but still clearly in the middle of the shot, which tells us we should still be paying attention to him.

And pay attention to the visual hierarchy, as well. With Jack pushed to the background, he appears small in comparison to the other figures who are big and overpowering. The full body shot, as he resists getting closer to them, almost feels revealing. Emotionally, what this communicates to us, to me personally, is a deep sense of vulnerability that Jack is feeling.

As he subconsciously starts to doubt where he truly wants to be, he feels exposed and out of place.

After this scene, Jack goes to talk to Durbin, and this is where we’re introduced to yet another small subplot that serves to reinforce the themes of the main one at hand.

Durbin is presented with an issue. He wants to tell his brother that he loves him, he has struggled with it in the past, and this is the week he is gaining the courage to do it. This plot will ultimately end up reflecting Jack’s own epiphany, but we’ll get there.

So finally, it’s late evening, school’s empty, and Jack has prepared the set up to record the lecture.

Visually we’re introduced to this duality of Jack on the screen of the ipad versus the real Jack trying to give a lecture. The perfect competent appearance that actually masks his doubts and hesitation.

Screens being often used in media to show something perfect, fake and unachievable, and this is no exception.

Jack starts its lecture:

“To achieve its perfect form, a caterpillar must withdraw and complete itself alone, in its cocoon. Likewise, for us to achieve spiritual perfection, in the view of trascendentalists like Henry David Thoreau, it is necessary to retreat from the mindless and negative influences of society.”

This ends up being exactly what Jack does, as the rat poison induced trip lasts him an entire week, stuck alone in school, with nothing but his delusional and hallucinatory thoughts, he is forced to confront himself in complete solitude to come to the conclusion that was inside him.

He then commits a mistake, right at the end, calling Henry David Thoreau “Justin Thoreau”, the same way Mary, the teacher, did before. In a way, the school and the people in it are rubbing off on him, their presence in his mind manifests through this lapsus, effectively keeping him from completing the lecture correctly. Keeping him here.

He starts stumbling. He starts doubting himself.

“Is that right?”

He asks, the question resonating bigger than just about his current speech, feeling more like about his path in life and his actions.

A shot quickly zooms in on the camera lens, the frantic pace communicating anxiousness, but this shot in particular serves to fully immerse us in Jack’s shoes.

Feeling watched, feeling judged, scrutinized. Having to directly face his shortcomings, unable to blame anyone but himself, and having to ask himself why. The camera almost literally backing us - therefore, Jack - into a corner by coming this uncomfortably close to us.

He attempts to hype himself up and tries again. The whole thing accompanied by a background music that’s basically nothing if not ticking (like a clock) and percussion. It feels quiet and tense.

We then get another shot that’s a clean transition from the screen to the real Jack. In the screen, he appears confident, but as soon as the camera focuses on the real Jack, he loses tracks of what he was saying and once again struggles. Quietly, he turns to look at the background.

He slowly, tentatively reorganizes a single book, then positions himself back, only to turn again towards the bookshelf, still dissatisfied.

Without a single line of dialogue, this shows us precisely what he’s feeling and lets us understand his slow descent into madness. He feels that there’s something wrong, out of place, something that must not be right, but he’s not yet looking at himself to fix this problem, instead he’s looking at his surroundings, trying to gather back the control that he feels he’s rapidly losing by attempting to control what’s around him.

And so he deeply cleans the entire office, reorganizes and color codes the books behind him.

Being introduced to his struggle before the rat poison even starts to affect him lets the transition between reality and hallucination feel seamless, so much so that during a first viewing we start to doubt what’s real and what’s fake, and when.

The overall eerie tone of the episode makes it feel like a take on psychological horror, as the slow loss of control is accentuated by increasingly bizarre events that go completely unquestioned.

Attempt after attempt, we feel as though we are entering a loop with no chance of escaping. Which is exactly what Jack feels.

We then get this.

Jack is fixating on his issue, without much success in resolving it. He’s facing and confronting it over and over. Visually, it’s made bigger than himself by its oppressive presence in the frame.

The only soundtrack accompanying this is a kind of vibration, a deep and hard to hear sound that just looms in the background. This episode in general is very quiet, which helps the atmosphere feel lonely and tense.

He screams, but there’s no one who can hear him. It’s just himself.

He sees this mouse pad and once again the picture visually reinforces this sense of looping, of feeling stuck and trapped in a repeating endless cycle.

He tries to rip it in half. But he can’t.

Just as he can’t overcome what he’s struggling with, his own cycle that he’s stuck in. He wants to break free, but he’s not sure from what. Is his prison this school he says he hates so much, or is his prison his own ego, trapping him into feeling like an outcast, into isolation, into never opening up or being vulnerable.

This is actually a theme in the entire season, Jack slowly learning to open up and be vulnerable. But this episode in particular feels like a turning point for his character, a moment of realization, of personal intuition. Trascendence. Beyond his limits, beyond his own walls. Through a trascendent experience, the hallucinations.

He falls asleep on the floor, visually representing his rock bottom.

He’s then woken up, there’s faint wind chimes sounds, and he’s surrounded by darkness in a way that feels ethereal. As he exits the room to check the source of the smell that’s almost calling to him, we see nothing but him entering light.

He’s barely visible, surrounded by fog, he can’t see where he’s going very well.

He sees a figure, and asks this:

“Are you in a caterpillar costume?”

When the figure turns to face him, Jack is frightened and runs away.

This immediate association between the very subject he was talking about, and him fleeing in terror, serves to illustrate his true feelings towards what he’s doing by recording this lecture. He’s scared of it, and he’s running away from it.

He wakes up again in the same room as he was before, only this time the light is almost blinding.

Here, Helen appears. This dialogue follows:

Jack: “Jesus, Helen, what are you doing here?” Helen: “Oh, you know I can’t stay away from Whitlock long.”

We quickly find out that this is a dream sequence that Jack is having. Thanks to this knowledge, we know that all the dialogue Jack entertains with the rest of the school workers, all his friends, is nothing more than his internal dialogue manifesting to him through them.

He’s asking himself why he’s at this highschool. The other voice, Helen, replies that it’s because they can’t stay away. They like being here.

But this realization comes with horror and shock to Jack, and so it quickly turns into a graphic, horrid description.

He once again escapes it, going immediately to try recording his lecture again, but Helen bursts into the room kicking the door. All these terrifying thoughts are tormenting him.

He runs away, camera in his hands. Gets interrupted once again.

In this attempt, we are completely unable to see him through the screen because of how out of focus he is to us in there. His attempt at a perfect facade is proving completely infructuous, all we can see is the real Jack, deeply struggling.

He gets interrupted by the three teachers again, and this dialogue happens.

Michelle: “Jack, you’re here! We thought that that video would be done by now.” Jack: “Uh, yeah, unfortunately... it’s not.”

Once again doubt seeps in as he worries about what’s taking him so long, it’s also interesting to notice how the girls use “that that” with no problem whatsoever.

They invite him to join them in playing a game, and he finds himself going along with them at first, before stopping himself, panicked.

Jack: “I don’t have time for your dumb, fun games! I gotta do this video!”

This dialogue sets an intense contrast with the scene with them at the start, in reality.

In that scene, he calls their games “terrible”, then looks at them with fondness.

Here, instead, he’s stressing that he doesn’t have time for it. He wants to participate, as is shown, but he can’t because of his own self imposed obligation.

In other words, this is exposing to him, though still through an horror lense, his realization that he’s gonna miss all these chances to hang out with his friends if he goes through with it.

He keeps running away, and ends up in his class.

His reflection in the screen appears now deeply warped.

The writing on the whiteboard is upside down, something is deeply wrong.

He’s alone, then all of a sudden he’s not, as the camera twists to the side and gets closer.

We are treated to some dutch angles.

He tries again, but the words aren’t even his. He asks if he sounds like Marcus, and the students all nod while creaking sounds can be heard as they do.

Day 2. He’s still eating the same spaghetti as before, and he accidentally gets sauce on his shirt. A stain that just won’t go away. A visible imperfection. He snaps, he covers himself in them, then puts on some makeup powder, helplessly trying to cover it all up. Of course, that does nothing. He’s trying to bury a problem that has become impossible to conceal.

Getting in front of the camera again, he says this:

Jack: “I want this job. I’m so overqualified.”

It’s like he’s trying to convince himself, since he’s not really talking to anyone but a camera lens. Then there’s the part about being overqualified. The thing is, he’s right, and he know he’s right. On a qualification and competence standpoint, he should be able to ace this, no problem. So why is he struggling? Does he want this job?

In comes Durbin.

Durbin: “Jack! ...you’re still here. Working on your video.” Jack: “Yeah uh- but everybody keeps stopping me...” Durbin: “Let’s get you back on the right track. What’s the problem?” Jack: “I got sketty on my shirt...” Durbin: “I’ve got what you need right here. Everything you need is always right in front of you, Jack. Always check the lost and found.”

Lots to unpack here. Everytime Jack encounters someone again, they always comment on how he’s still at school, he hasn’t left. He keeps getting stopped, his subconscious keeps stopping him, since we know this is all a hallucination. He’s going down the wrong path, and Durbin in this situation represents what’s right for Jack, the truth in his subconscious. “Everything you need is in front of you”.

Additionally, the way he explains the problem, speaking like a sad child, makes you feel just how lost he is, just how small he feels. Him feeling small, lost, vulnerable and scared is a huge theme in the entire episode, as you can see.

So he tries again, and this is where we first experience the transition. As Jack is enthusiastic to put on the suit Durbin gives him, we then see that his appearance in the screen is quite different. He looks ridiculous. But in his reality, as his real self, he looks spotless, happy. This is him starting to accept the concept that what he needed was always in front of him. Because whereas the screen just shows us what he wants to present himself as, his facade, the real him shows us his true feelings, how he feels towards this highschool and all his friends and the life he lives here.

By accepting his life as it is, his job at Whitlock, he knows he might end up looking ridiculous and his image may suffer, but inside he feels better, he feels good, happy, realized.

The expression he makes as he sees this suit, is the expression of a man that has found what he was looking for. This is why it emerging from a “lost ad found” box is very significant symbolically.

It’s not just himself that changes inbetween “reality” and “screen”, however, it’s the entire location. His background, everything.

He finally finishes his speech, successfully this time. But Helen comes to take the camera and tripod away.

Jack accuses her of “sabotaging him”, but we as the audience will soon come to realize that he’s sabotaging himself.

He runs after her, and as he does, the lights around him start malfunctioning once again.

He opens a door and sees his mother with a young Durbin. He’s understandably unsettled. His mom having always been something close to his heart, we can even see her as a representation of his most intense emotions and of love. He’s struggling to fully come to terms with admitting that he loves being at this school.

He gets away, only to come closer once again once he hears more noises. He opens the door.

He gets in, softly asks for his ipad, and as he walks closer we get an overview of what’s happening. Jack, on his desk, being dissected by his students, completely torn open.

Once again, this visual serves to show Jack’s sense of uncomfortableness with being open and totally vulnerable.

He’s being scrutinized and studied and analyzed all the way to his deepest insides. It’s scary, it’s uncomfortable and it hurts. “I think I found the heart.” “Girl, that’s his bladder.”, he’s being judged mercilessly. That’s how he feels.

“How would we know? We never learned biology.

There’s a sense of guilt for never doing what he should’ve from the very beginning. He regrets not being there for his students, teaching, he’s scared that he’ll never get the chance now that he knows he wants to. This is manifesting though Sarika.

Jack: “I have to go... why are you keeping me from leaving?” Marcus: “We’re not keeping you from anything, Mr Griffin. You’re doing all of this. Your mind has created an entire world of distractions to keep you from doing that video.” Dan: “You know, it’s almost like you don’t want to leave.” Jack: “Yes I do? ...I think I do...”

In this moment, his most open one, he’s finally confronted with his desire to stay.

And this is when he wakes up.

Now back in reality, his appearance in fact resembles the way he looked like in the screen in his mind. So to reiterate, the real him in his mind was simply how he felt, while the screen was the way people see Jack in real life. At this point in the episode, subconsciously, he has come to fully accept it.

He does try to fix up the room, but it’s too much of a mess by now.

We cut to all of his friends discussing together. In comes Helen, with her nose bandage, and she says this.

Helen: “Oh, I’m so glad to see you guys!” Mary: “Helen, what happened?” Helen: “Well, I’m starting to think that the relationship I have with that animal is not what I thought it was.”

This dialogue is meant to reflect Jack’s situation, as do all the subplots in the episode.

The dialogue continues when Helen asks Durbin how it went with his brother.

Helen: “Did you tell your brother that you loved him?” Durbin: “Oh, well, I... kinda sorta chocked on saying that exact phrase, so...” Michelle: “That’s okay Ralph, it’s hard to be vulnerable.” Stef: “Yeah, and you have to respect the fact that he may not be there yet.” Durbin: “Yeah, I just feel kinda bad because a bunch of times he said “I love you” and I said “Yeah, good good good good good”...” Helen: “Well I’m sure he knows how you feel.” Durbin: “Well, at one point he said “Do you love me? Because I can’t tell.” and I said “I don’t know” and I got into a lift and went to the airport, just full choke.”

This all reflects Jack’s own feelings. He’s not quite at a point where he can openly admit to loving his friends and Whitlock, but at the same time this dialogue shows us that they are understanding of it, they know that being vulnerable and open can be very hard, and they’re patient. They do know that Jack loves them.

Enter Dave, in a wheelchair, injured from head to toe.

Dave: “You know who else choked? Maybe the hardest of all?” Everyone: “JACK!!!”

Enters Jack. Everyone cheers his arrival.

Of course, the dialogue just quoted is a joking way to point out how Jack failed in making that recorded lecture.

He shares a cute moment with his girlfriend, and softly says:

Jack: “You were thinking about me...”

It’s like it comes as a surprise to him, that he’s loved, that other people genuinely like him and want him to stay.

He continues.

Jack: “Um, hey, I should talk to you about something. Uh, in fact, I actually have to tell all of you about something important that I realized while you were gone. I realized that-”

He’s interrupted but the janitor which he had previously punched. The guy who was doing the rat disinfestation.

In other words, he chokes, as well.

Mary: “So Jack, what did you learn?” Jack: “Uh... well, I, uh... I invented a new game.”

Instead he chooses to bring that game he hallucinated into reality, making time for it. Being enthusiastic for it.

He enters his classroom.

Jack: “Alright, everybody, shut your precious beautiful mouths. You know after spending an entire week alone in this empty school... I realized that I can’t survive without community. And I came to appreciate... all of you.”

This reflects the trascendalistic philosophical approach of Thoreau, who retreated alone in nature to find true purpose in life.

He goes to write on the whiteboard.

All his previous writing wiped but still visible. He did do all of that, but it’s gone now, it’s no longer present. It’s solved.

Jack: “And I decided that I wanted each of you to finish this year knowing more biology than any student ever has...” Sarika: “Mr Griffin? I know we’ve had our differences in the past...” Jack: “Uh, yeah, hold that thought, Sarika, because the biggest thing that I learned is that prolonged exposure to rodent killing gas causes hallucinations and irrational ideation. And all these things that I thought I learned? Well... chemically induced illusions... caused by a dying brain”

He draws an X on top of the words “community”, “you” and “biology”.

Jack: But! Now... I got my thinker back in the pink. Everything’s back to normal...”

He takes out a bunch of spaghetti and a box of rat poison, sprinkles them heavily with it, and takes a bite like it’s the most normal thing.

So what does it mean, is he rejecting all that he learned? No. He’s keeping up his facade, as being vulnerable is hard, but inside he’s embracing what he learned. This is communicated to us through him ingesting the poisoned spaghetti, going back into his mind, accepting the embarassment and weirdness and going back to that scary feeling of vulnerability for more. He might say that it’s all back to normal, but we clearly see it’s not, and we clearly know that he’s glad to be back and stay back, we see it through his actions.

Ultimately this is a sort of turning point for Jack Griffin, while he might not yet be able to express his feelings, while still going back to a place of denial using the rat poison as the excuse for everything that happened in his brain, this is his first step towards accepting what his subconscious has known all along, his first step to “trascend from a caterpillar into a butterfly”.

This is... trascendentalism, as construed by AP Bio.

#ap bio #glenn howerton #jack griffin #analysis #that that that #ap bio season 3 #ap bio season 3 episode 6 #yall i cannot believe i just wrote 16 pages of analysis in a single sitting from 3am to 8am #i am literally insane i think #but i hope whoever reads this takes something out of it #glenn howerton if you are reading this i love you buddy youre very talented but please make macdennis canon or i will have to unstan #just kidding im not going anywhere but please bud #does this count as a review #or is this just the ramblings of a crazy person.............#I think I'm right personally #at least somewhat #jack griffin bisexual legend #ok im done i think #when u follow a sunny account for sunny content and then BOOM 16 pages of ap bio analysis #that relatable moment when..........#dont yell at me i know im a mad person but i HAD TO OK

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notthatiwilleverwriteit · 4 years

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Hiya. I've been noticing a large inequality in the amount of attention each 19 Days couple has been getting, specifically how the fandom seems to favour Tianshan over Zhanyi. I was wondering why you think this is, especially since Zhanyi is the more romantic couple and have been around a lot longer. Do you think there is any reason behind it in the narrative or do you think this speaks more to the fandom's nature?

Good afternoon, dear anon-san!

I feel like I’m starting every answer with this lately but I’m sorry it took me a while to get to your question. Thank you for your patience! One of the reasons why I took my time answering this is that your question was a bit different from what I usually get. I feel like whenever one talks about Fandom Discourse™, it requires a different kind of thinking hat than analyzing the story and characters themselves.

Also, before I get into this further I think I should remind you that all of this is coming from someone who’s OTP is Tianshan. I always try to include objectivity and keep my biases in check in my answers, but Tianshan is my personal disposition. Just something to keep in mind when it comes to my thoughts regarding hot potato topics like this one.

The fandom rhetoric and discourse of Tianshan vs. Zhanyi

I think a good place to start is to take a step back and look at the overall rhetoric and discourse of this conversation. The way we talk about something and the kinds of words we use play an essential role in how the topic, in general, is seen. Words carry our attitudes and have the power to tint the nature and tone of the conversation.

Your ask is a good example. Words like “inequality”, “favor X over Y”, “more romantic”, and “been around a lot longer” carry on the discourse - a way of talking about something - that I have seen around quite a lot. That it’s unfair Zhanyi doesn’t get at least an equal amount of attention compared to Tianshan. That they are the first couple - the main couple - but now they have been taking the backseat for quite a while both in the fandom and comic itself. They’re also the more “romantic” couple which usually translates into “healthier”, so surely they should be more popular.

Now, I don’t know if you chose to put things in that way because it reflects your personal thoughts on the matter or for some other reason. And I suppose it doesn’t really matter. This part isn’t meant to point fingers at anyone - yourself included, dear anon-san - but rather discuss the nature of the conversation in general.

I want to address this aspect because I think this kind of rhetoric carries some misconceptions and counterproductive attitudes. There is no rule anywhere that says the first couple A)is entitled to the most love and appreciation of the fans or B)is the only main couple/focus the story can have. This isn’t about unfairness, inequality, or readers somehow owing anything to the first couple. I think we have passed the point of thinking 19 Days only has one main couple a long time ago.

Also, when it comes to Tianshan vs. Zhanyi, people are quick to be evaluative. In other words, to think one is somehow better than the other based on their own personal tastes and, in Tianshan’s case, morality. Just because Zhanyi is more “romantic” doesn’t mean it should appeal to the readers more than Tianshan. They are two completely different dynamics that appeal to people differently. And just because the one deemed more controversial is also the popular one doesn’t have to mean the fandom is somehow problematic.

All that being said, though, I don’t blame the Zhanyi fans. I understand their frustration and where it stems from. As a Tianshan shipper, it’s easy for me to get on my high horse and just tell them to deal with the shift in focus in the comic and that the Zhanyi tag is quite dry compared to Tianshan. I get all of that and I feel for you guys. I just really don’t agree with the usual arguments about fairness, being there first, and owing something. I understand those are probably the most convenient arguments to grasp and take your frustration out on. But they’re not based on some truths or principles of fiction like some people seem to think they are.

Is Tianshan more popular among the fans than Zhanyi? If so, why?

It’s difficult to say which ship has the most fans. There aren’t any records of such things, and I believe many of us are fans of both. But based on my experience, I think it’s safe to say Tianshan is at least more active. Many content creators and readers love both Tianshan and Zhanyi but are just more active with Tianshan for some reason. And active content creators and consumers feed new creators and attract even more consumers. For example, whenever both of the couples are featured in a chapter, a lot more Tianshan art based on it flows through my feed than Zhanyi. (Even if I check the tags.) So yes, I think it’s not completely baseless to assume Tianshan is the more popular one out of the two.

As to why that is, I can only speak for myself and draw some very tentative general conclusions based on that.

I think it mostly comes down to Tianshan being the kind of dynamic and MGS and HT being the kinds of characters that often appeal to people and attract their interest. A pushy seme who is devilishly mischevious but also has a dangerous mental switch that - when turned on - excites the readers. Under the seemingly carefree surface, he hides a traumatic past which he doesn’t want to reveal to anyone because it makes him vulnerable. The only exception who is trusted to get close enough to the seme emotionally is a reluctant blushing tsundere uke who loudly claims not to care but who occasionally shows affection in unexpected ways. And the uke’s misunderstood delinquent background combined with his responsible nature and devotion to his family invites us to feel protective of him. Both characters are quite heavy on the “hard exterior, soft/vulnerable interior” type. I think many of those tropes are often featured and very popular in boys love (BL) stories one way or another.

I also feel like Tianshan as a relationship is more active and dynamic which inspires its content creators and sparks discussions. Both HT and MGS are developing as their relationship keeps developing. And in return, the development of their relationship drives their character development, and round and round it goes. Of course, the same can be said about Zhanyi, but it’s just... less, you know? Smaller in scale and big parts of it are already done.

Compared to that, Zhanyi is more static. Admittedly, they have had less “screentime” than Tianshan, but I’m somewhat struggling to see drastic changes in ZZX and JY’s characters in the future. As a couple and respective characters, ZZX and JY are lightyears ahead of Tianshan (and HT and MGS). But that also means they have already gone through some of the significant emotional turning points. It seems JY’s pending kidnapping is the biggest ever-looming plot point for them for now. But then again we already know they seem to pick up where they left off even after that, so... Is their endgame comfortable domestic bliss and ZZX getting more and more used to their relationship? Whereas Tianshan will probably always carry the theme of right vs. wrong and what it’s like to learn to trust and open up?

I’m not saying either storyline is inherently better than the other because it comes down to everyone’s personal taste and interests. But I could see why Tianshan could attract more readers.

Personally, as much as I adore and root for Zhanyi, I’m more pulled towards Tianshan’s dynamic and MGS’s character. They’re more to my taste and where my interests usually tend to lie. As a content creator, they inspire me more. I feel like Tianshan, MGS, and HT have more complex layers for me to explore. But I’m also sure many Zhanyi shippers would argue otherwise.

So, the narrative of the story or the nature of the fandom? I think it’s a combination of both. And on top of that, it’s different for everyone, so one should be careful about making broad assumptions. One thing is for sure, though: it’s not somehow wrong to have preferences. You don’t have to feel obligated to like something or guilty about liking what you like. It’s unfortunate there’s been a lull in the Zhanyi story and neck of the fandom, but it’s not fair to take it out on the Tianshan fans. 19 Days’ fandom doesn’t have the burden of big ship wars, so please, let’s not create them for nothing. Both Tianshan and Zhanyi are obviously the endgame relationships, so there’s no reason to worry either of is going to be left behind.

Thank you for your very interesting question, dear anon-san! I’ve been wanting to talk about this, actually, so I’m glad you gave me this nudge.

Also, I want to take this opportunity to wish a happy, healthy, safe, and successful new year to you dear anon-san, all my followers, and anyone reading this post!

#19 days #tianshan #zhanyi #answered ask

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