#THOSE ARE INHERENTLY CONTRADICTING STATEMENTS FUCKING PICK ONE
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It is often said that chivalry is dead, but why is that so and who is mourning? A recent article lamenting the rarity of the gentleman within the millennial male populace would seem to provide something of an answer to that question. The author of the piece, Hope Rodriguez, contends that millennial men are severely lacking in gentlemanly traits, and explains to us why they should “man up” and correct these errors.
1. Elevator etiquette
I don’t care how big of a hurry you’re in, or how slow she may walk, if there is a female or five on the elevator with you, you hold your arm in the door and let them off first.
2. R-E-S-P-E-C-T (sing it to the tune of Aretha Franklin)
If a female walks past you, for God’s sake, do not turn your head and stare at her behind. If she is talking to you, don’t stare down her shirt. If you’re driving down the road, don’t honk or yell “hey sexy!!!!” Gross. Undressing a girl with your eyes is one of the most disgusting and degrading things you could possibly do to her. Don’t worry about getting a date, you’ve already ruined it by being a pig.
3. Give up your seat.
Whether she is old, young, pregnant, active, fat, skinny, whatever; if the bus, classroom, etc. is full, get up from your chair and offer your seat to a female who is standing. If you chose to stay in your seat and force ladies to remain standing, make sure you remember to take off your maxi pad on the way out. (oops, did I just say that?!)
4. Pay attention to the fact that the world is more threatening for females
We are automatic targets everywhere we go, especially at night. I don’t need to get into the subject of rape. Walk your female coworkers to their cars at night. Just watch out for the women around you, they’ll definitely appreciate it.
5. Be polite.
Compliment a lady today. They aren’t going to automatically assume that you want to have babies with them just because you said they look nice today. You would be surprised by what can make a woman smile. Little things, men. Little things.
6. Hold the door.
If we are pretty far behind, we don’t expect you to hold the door open for us. It makes us feel like we need to hurry to the door. However, if there is a woman walking behind you or relatively close behind you, do NOT let a door shut on her.
7. Driveway etiquette
My son will know that he will NOT drive up to a female’s house and honk the horn or shoot her a text that says “I’m here, come get in the car.” If a guy comes to pick my future daughter up for a date, and he honks the horn or texts her to pick her up, I’m going to walk outside and tell him to go home. Walk up to the door, knock on the door, and then walk her to your car. At the end of the night, walk her back to her door. I don’t care if you’re just friends or you’re married. It’s what you’re supposed to do.
Guys: man up. Bring back gentlemanly behaviors. It would definitely be appreciated.
Unfortunately for this author, her requests are simply incompatible with the notions of gender equality that our society has embraced wholeheartedly and integrated aggressively into its legal and social order.
For example, the modern man on an elevator with women has been raised and conditioned to respect those women as his equals. Equals do not receive special consideration over other equals on the basis of gender or any other marker. Equals are treated… equally. Providing the benefit of this etiquette to women simply because they are women would fundamentally contradict notions of equality that we’re heavily invested in as a society. A man who truly believes in equality and all of the values that it represents is going to practice that elevator etiquette with everyone he meets regardless of gender. He will be polite to everyone. He will respect everyone. He will practice driveway etiquette with everyone, and he will hold the door or give up a seat for anyone who actually needs it. He will not engage in these behaviors selectively on the basis of gender because he has been taught not to discriminate in that way.
A few of Ms. Rodriguez’s other statements betray outright ignorance, naiveté or both. Take these, for example:
…Walk your female coworkers to their cars at night…
… Compliment a lady today. They aren’t going to automatically assume that you want to have babies with them just because you said they look nice today…
The first statement sounds like an excellent way to invite a sexual harassment suit or attract potential discipline for violations of workplace conduct. Your typical corporate millennial females are unlikely to tolerate this unsolicited “escort” on the part of their male coworkers, much less appreciate it. Unless they have already been deemed attractive by these females (most men won’t be in this category), the men attempting to provide this escort will be labeled “creepy” at best, and accused of stalking at worst. No good can come of this.
The second just sounds naive: any man who has interacted with modern millennial females for any period of time will understand that many of them will jump to precisely that conclusion, and will also sometimes react negatively upon doing so. Hope Rodriguez is not a man and so could possibly be forgiven for not understanding these things at the outset, but she needs to change that if she hopes to have any advice she writes for men taken seriously.
That brings me to my next point: Ms. Rodriguez seems not to grasp the true nature of the chivalrous ideals she yearns for or the environment in which she currently lives. The concept of chivalry required men to be perfect gentlemen in their conduct, but said behavior was not intended for every female they met. It was more specifically designed to govern male conduct with ladies. Chivalrous codes of conduct required a gentleman to execute them, and a lady to receive them..
Ladies had their own rules to follow, and it was only through the adherence to those rules that they could qualify for the receipt of chivalry from a gentleman. Chivalric codes of conduct traveled on a two way street: the gentleman cannot exist without the lady, and vice-versa. Both genders were required to adhere to certain standards in order to engage in the chivalric exchange. The gentleman and the lady are like the yin and the yang.
Ms. Rodriguez is probably right to note that an ideal chivalrous gentleman would be more measured and restrained in his observation of an attractive female that he had not yet been acquainted with. He probably wouldn’t be too forward with her to begin with, and would remain exceedingly polite during his first interactions with her while avoiding overt sexualization.
In order to get that treatment, however, a woman would need to be the ideal lady. Ladies in the age of chivalry were modest in their conduct. They were not particularly sexually suggestive in their speech, dress or dance, and this made it relatively easy for a gentleman to approach and engage them in a more polite, less overtly sexual manner.
Most modern millennial women do not adhere to the codes of conduct inherent to the lady. Their dress is often highly sexually suggestive, designed to invite overtly sexual approaches and draw the very suggestive gazes that Ms. Rodriguez scolds millennial men for wielding. Their dance is often even more sexually suggestive, roughly approximating the act of intercourse itself.
Modern millenial females express their sexuality more openly and freely than any lady of a bygone age would have been expected to. A lady expecting to keep that label and thus benefit from the chivalrous conduct of a gentleman could not engage freely and openly in casual sexual relationships with multiple men while unmarried. She could not engage in simulated sex on dance floors with men she didn’t even know well (or even men she did know somewhat well). She could not walk around in clothing designed specifically to expose and draw attention to the more sexually alluring portions of her body. The modern woman can do all of this, however, and very often does. Why?
Because she wants to, and that’s alright. Women have spent generations fighting for the ability to remove social limitations on their sexuality, and they now enjoy the fruits of that effort. Don’t get anything twisted here: I have no problem with this and neither do most millennial men. Women are free to dress as they like, dance as they like and fuck as they like. I’m certainly not going to stop them, but there’s a price to pay for all of this.
As noted before, the gentleman and the lady come together. One cannot exist without the other—the code of chivalry was designed with this understanding in mind, and it dealt with that understanding by creating standards of conduct for each gender seeking to participate in the chivalric exchange. When we freed women from the obligation to adhere to those standards of conduct, we necessarily freed men as well.
How can we change this and bring back the missing gentleman Ms. Rodriguez so desperately desires to interact with? Well, gentlemen require ladies. If you want more gentlemen in the traditional sense, you’ll need to create more ladies in the traditional sense, and that would require a re-imposition of the same social and legal restrictions on female sexuality and expression that women have fought so hard to eliminate during the last few generations. There would need to be a rescission of the legal progress females in our society have made toward true equality.
To further illustrate just why this is, consider the way in Ms. Rodriguez’s suggestion that men give up seats and hold doors (among other preferential and somewhat deferential things) specifically for women solely because they are women. Such behavior was once common, but why was this?
Because women were seen as the weaker sex. This notion of the inherently “weak” female governed the discriminatory legal and social landscape in which the code of chivalry was born and practiced. Men did all they did for women because of the implicit understanding in society that women, by virtue of their being women, were not equal to them. They were weaker and needed assistance and men, by virtue of their being men, were stronger and therefore obligated to provide that assistance.
Men are no longer behaving this way because they have been raised to understand that their female counterparts are not weak, but strong. They’re not dependent, but independent. They’re not inferiors, they’re equals. Our modern legal system takes these statements as fundamental, unassailable truths and uses the force of law to ensure that they are treated accordingly. This will, in turn, prevent men from doing many of the things Ms. Rodriguez would like them to, as they have become increasingly unable to see women as their true inferiors.
If Ms. Rodriguez wants the chivalric code to make its way back into the mainstream, she’ll need to bring back the old view on gender relations that gave rise to it. Modern notions of gender equality will need to go out the window.
That is unlikely to happen, however. For all of her yearning for the “chivalry” of yesteryear, I doubt that Hope Rodriguez or any other modern woman would like to see the return of the social mores necessary to sustain it. Millennial women live in what is undoubtedly the best time to be a female in the history of humanity. At no point in human history have women been as wealthy, as free, as respected and as influential as they are today. The return of te social norms necessary to sustain chivalry in the traditional sense could only inhibit their enjoyment of all that, and they know it. Women have made their voices heard loudly and clearly: they will not tolerate this.
Hope Rodriguez seems like a nice girl and I’m sure she’ll find a man to treat her well sometime soon (if she hasn’t already), but she’ll not succeed in bringing back the ways of a bygone age. Chivalry is dead and, at the end of the day, that’s just the way that most millennial women want it.
https://www.returnofkings.com/28660/the-concept-of-chivalry-has-been-distorted-to-create-subservient-men
From Wikipedia:
Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is the traditional code of conduct associated with the medieval institution of knighthood… It was originally conceived of as an aristocratic warrior code… involving gallantry, individual training, and service to others. Over time its meaning has been refined to emphasise more ideals such as the knightly virtues of honour, courtly love, courtesy, and less martial aspects of the tradition.
The term “martial” here, of course, means relating to war: the code was originally meant to guide medieval warriors– not peasants, aristocrats, or even lords. And certainly not modern day men, living in the world we do today.
This fact alone sheds light on why the code has changed over time. Warriors slashing each other with swords simply don’t exist today. Yet chivalry has stuck around. So has its meaning been refined? Or completely distorted? Let’s take a look at its conception.
The first noted support for chivalric vocation, or the establishment of knightly class to ensure the sanctity and legitimacy of Christianity was written in 930 by Odo, abbot of Cluny in the Vita of St. Gerald of Aurillac.
This passage sheds more light on its intended purpose. The knights, and their chivalric code were meant “to ensure the sanctity and legitimacy of Christianity.” Take fearless warriors like these knights, put them in wartime scenarios, and what do you get? Things like rape and pillaging come to mind, and are commonplace in wars even to this day. Chivalry was meant to ensure that the Christian values that these knights were supposedly fighting for were observed, even in battle.
But as time went on, the application of this code began to encompass more areas of a warrior’s life. Below are the three fronts that chivalry embodied as the middle ages went on:
1. Duties to countrymen and fellow Christians: this contains virtues such as mercy, courage, valor, fairness, protection of the weak and the poor, and in the servant-hood of the knight to his lord.
2. Duties to God: this would contain being faithful to God, protecting the innocent, being faithful to the church, being the champion of good against evil, being generous and obeying God above the feudal lord.
3. Duties to women: this would contain what is often called courtly love, the idea that the knight is to serve a lady, and after her all other ladies.
The first two areas mentioned here represent the origins of the code. Knights were to uphold the Christian values of mercy, courage, protection of the weak, and service to god as they carried out their battles and crusades. The third point, however, is what we are most familiar with today.
This is the expansion of the code into court life where the knights were expected to respect and serve women. But not all women 0nly to Christian ladies of the court, i.e. noble women. The same way these courageous warriors were to protect the weak, they were meant to protect and serve women. In addition to their primary wartime purposes, of course.
Today
What does chivalry mean today? Apparently, now that we don’t have a defined knightly class to battle with swords and protect Christianity, it has expanded to mean that all men should follow it. But not the whole thing. Just the part about serving women.
And there’s nothing wrong with this. A manly man opening the car door or carrying a heavy load to help a feminine women out is a great and attractive thing. This at least resembles the traditional dynamic of a knight protecting and serving a medieval lady. But when you remove some key aspects of this dynamic, does it still apply?
If you take a bratty, drunk girl who’s whining and complaining to her man, does it still apply? What about a girl who is so committed to being on her own and free of dependency on any man that she always tries to order them around and flip the script? When a poor beta man rushes ahead of her to open the door, is that chivalry?
I think not. I think she just made him her bitch.
So is chivalry alive today? In the modern sense of a man protecting and serving women it certainly can be. The strong, confident alpha male who takes it upon himself to treat women as medieval ladies and take care of the manly tasks like carrying heavy bags or walking on the outside of the sidewalk to protect her is a shining example of chivalry in its true sense.
Unfortunately many modern men aren’t like this. They are weak and timid. When you combine this with a women who’s susceptible to taking advantage of such a man and the idea of chivalry, you have the makings of a disaster. A man like this going out of his way to serve all women is only going to further damage his sense of self worth. Rather than being her “knight in shining armour” he becomes something that more closely resembles a servant or a slave.
In the end, it all depends on the context. Chivalry only applied to the knightly class in medieval times. Today, it’s become something that all men are encouraged to follow, whether alpha or beta. While it certainly is an attractive and acceptable behaviour of the alpha, it only serves to further emasculate the beta.
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Fine Line
Chapter 4: Take me back to the light.
“Easy there, tough guy, have some coffee with your sugar,” Derek teases, grabbing a mug.
“I need something to wake me up.”
“Same. I feel like I’ve slept for five years,” I joke.
“You had brain surgery a couple of weeks ago, it is normal to be tired.” I sigh, rolling my eyes as my phone vibrates against my ass.
“Back pocket,” I groan as Derek pulls my phone out of my pocket. “It’s probably more get well soon wishes.”
“Oooh, you had a late night?” Derek asks, handing me my phone before going back to make coffee.
“Very.”
“My man.” Oooh, it was probably with Grant, too. Oooh. I slowly type, trying to remember how to spell certain words.
“Not that kind of late night.”
“Really? I was rooting for you,” I groan as Derek chuckles.
“Okay, so tell me, what does keep young Dr Reid awake at night? Wait, let me guess. Memorising some obscure textbook. No, no, no, no,” Derek teases. “Working on cold fusion. No, I got it. I got it. I got it. Watching Ster Trek...and laughing at the physics mistakes.”
“Actually, there aren’t that many scientific errors in Star Trek, especially considering how long ago it was made.”
“Did his face just fall?” I ask with a big smile on my face.
“There are certain improbabilities, but not that many outright errors.”
“Right.” I laugh lightly as Derek walks away awkwardly, holding my head in my hand.
“Hey, Morgan?” Spencer asks, following him. I grip my crutches and turn myself, slowly following along. “Uh, do you ever have dreams?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I guess nightmares would be a more accurate description.”
“Is that what’s keeping you up?”
“I used to get them occasionally, but lately it’s like I have them every night.”
“What are they about?”
“This. What we do. Do you have nightmares?”
“When don’t I?” I remark.
“Reid, I’m not sure I’m the right person for you tot alk to about this.”
“Why not?”
“It’s just, uh...did you ask Gideon about it?”
“No.”
“You should. Both of you.”
“Hey, Hotch wants everyone in the round table room.”
“Derek, carry me. I’m not getting anywhere with these things,” I retort as Elle walks away from us.
“Nuh-uh, little buddy. You gotta do it yourself. I ain’t gonna be around to carry you everywhere.”
“Fuck...I take forever!” I groan, stumbling towards the staircase.
“Something up with you three?” Elle asks.
“No.”
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“McAllister,” JJ says as we head in. “Western slope of Massanutten Mountain in Virginia. Two bodies discovered in the woods, both with apparent bult trauma to the head.”
“Skeletons?”
“Skellingtons?” I ask, approaching the table and looking at the picture in Spencer’s hand.
“One of them. The second victim was just killed this morning.”
“How do we know there’s a connection?” Elle asks.
“Found about seventy-five feet apart with nearly identical head wounds.”
“Where’s the rest of the case file?”
“There isn’t one. The sheriffs are on the scene waiting for us.”
“Their location is only half an hour away by plane.”
“What’s the rush?”
“Well, there was evidence on the scene that could cause a bit of public uproar.”
“Satanic cult.”
“But...killer satanic cults...those don’t exist…”
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“JJ, we obviously need to keep this out of the press for as long as possible.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
“Why is that so important?”
“There was a nationwide scare in the 1980s involving Satanic ritual killings and abuse. The Satanic panic, it was called. It began after the publication of a book about repressed memories being recovered through hypnotherapy. Memories of growing up with devil worshippers who use children in their rituals and ceremonies.”
“Most of the claims were later found to be false or just impossible.”
“Still, numerous therapists accepted the assertions as true and began searching for similar signs in their own patients. After one year, thousands of people reported the exact same repressed memories.”
“But the bureau conducted an investigation and concluded that most of the ritual killings or abuse were more urban legend than anything else.”
“You’re saying that there’s no such thing as Devil worshipping?”
“Not at all. But most of the Satanism we’ve seen is juveniles damaging property, descerating churches, cemeteries. To my knowledge, there’s never been a proven case of a satanic ritual killing in the United States,” Uncle Jason says.
“Well, maybe there is now.”
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“Morning. John Bridges,” the sheriff greets us.
“Yeah, we spoke on the phone,” JJ shakes his hand. “I’m Agent Jareau, this is Agent Gideon, Dr Reid, and our intern James Rossi with the FBI’s Behavioural Analysis Unit,” JJ introduces us.
“What’s with your intern?”
“Concussion. Can’t walk on my own yet. Hi.”
“Thanks for coming out so fast, all of you.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“There was an in-service in Charlottesville last year, said if we ran into any unusual homicides, we were supposed to call you folks soonertather then later.”
“They were right.”
“So is this unusual enough?”
“It’s certainly interesting. Is that blood or red paint?” I ask, nodding my head towards the carving in the tree.
“You guys must get a lot of this, huh? Satanic stuff?”
“Not really,” Uncle Jason answers. “Who found the body?”
“Hikers found the first one at the trail, my deputies located this one while searching for evidence. Don’t even know if it’s a man or a woman.”
“It’s a man. The male pelvis is more narrow, and the opening at the bottom is heart-shaped, as opposed to oval,” Spencer rambles. “Melted wax?”
“Candle wax?” JJ asks.
“Candles are used in rituals.”
“Also used on birthday cakes,” Uncle Jason says, watching my feet carefully.
“Actually, they were orginially used to protect the birthday celebrant from demons for the coming year. As a matter of fact, down to the fourth century, Christianity rejected the birthday celebration as a pagan ritual.”
‘What kind of doctor are you?”
“One that knows everything,” I quietly comment.
“Does LOD mean anything to you?”
“I don’t know of any significance in Satanism, either.”
“Well, I’d have Garcia research this LOD thing, if I could get a call out.”
“Not much of a chance of that out here.”
“Are there any cults in the area that you know about? Secret groups? People you see you don’t know much about? People who stay to themselves mostly?”
“This is a very religious area. Church on Sundays, fellowship on Wednesday, bible classes. If there was a secret group, I’d probably know about it.”
“That’s an inherent contradiction,” Spencer chuckles.
“Excuse me?”
“Spencer,” I hiss, picking up the tip of my crutch and stomping his foot with it.
“Ow…”
“He means if there was a group being secretive, you probably wouldn’t know.”
“Look, people out here just want a quiet place to raise their kids. What I know is that none of them are capable of doing this.”
“Rethink that statement,” I comment.
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“Here you go,” Jason says, setting me back down on the ground after carrying me back up the road.
“Thanks, Uncle Jason.”
“It’s no problem, Jamie.”
“Find anything interesting down there?” Aaron asks.
“Yeah, it does look like some kind of ritual site,” Uncle Jason answers.
“Have any of you ever heard of LOD or the acronym L-O-D?” Spencer asks as Elle helps Spencer up onto the road.
“Not me.”
“Cherish? Cherish? Sheriff Bridges!” A woman yells, being blocked off by an officer behind the yellow tape.
“It’s okay, Harris. Let her in.”
“Was Adam Lloyd killed out here?” She asks, marching up towards us.
“Who told you that?”
“Was he? My daughter was with him. They were out running together this morning. Oh my god, and I can’t find her. Cherish is missing. Cherish is missing! Help me, please.” She starts to cry.
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“Take her home.”
“I will.”
“Who are we looking for?” I ask as we head back to the team.
“Someone who can overpower our victim, abduct a girl from a traveled path without being seen.”
“A local would know their way around here,” I add.
“It certainly fits with the cult theory. More than one unsub to control multiple victims.”
“But if the attack were ferocious enough...a single unsub could do it too. Kill Adam and grab the girl while she’s still in shock.”
“This is some rough country. I don’t think Jamie could do it right now,” Elle comments, walking back to us with Derek. “We only went a quarter of a mile, and we almost got lost.”
“Jamie was right. The unsub is a local. You don’t just stumble onto a place like this.”
“JJ, where’d the sheriff go?”
“He’s setting up a search party.”
“Tell him I want him to use volunteers from the area.”
“Do you want him to know why?”
“No, not yet.”
“Is it wise to alienate him?”
“Well, he thinks we’re looking for a monster. If we tell him we’re looking for volunteers so we can profile who shows up, he might call the whole thing off.”
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“State won’t be here for over an hour. We’re not gonna wait. I want you to gather everyone up, and I’m going to assign grid locations.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You have a moment, sheriff?” JJ asks.
“I’ve got a missing girl, a hundred square miles of woods, not enough men, and in a couple of hours, it’s gonna be dark.”
“Have you considered using the people that live in the area?”
“I’m not gonna have civilians messing up the crime scene.”
“We can instruct them not to touch anything until a member of Law Enforcement arrives.”
“What if they get lost, too?”
“We can have them sign into a volunteer sheet and keep track of what grid square they’re in. Look...I grew up in a small town. You have the state police coming in?”
“Yeah.”
“Your locals can do a better job of finding this girl than any statie. Especially in these woods,” I cut in. “You know that.”
“You’ll keep track of them?”
“She’s coordinated searches across the country.” The sheriff nods, and we head towards the vehicles.
“Let’s go. Harris, I’m going downtown. Don’t do anything until I get back.”
“Hey! Can I come with you guys?” Spencer calls out, catching up to us and nearly knocking me over.
“Spencer, I will hit you again,” I threaten.
“Sorry. I need to call Quantico and have them research that whole LOD thing,” he says, stumbling after us.
“Yeah, sure. Hop in.” JJ helps me carefully climb into the back of the truck, and Spencer hops in after me, holding my crutches.
“No bickering, you two,” JJ scolds us both from the shotgun seat. “Sorry, they get along like cats and dogs sometimes.”
“I wanna be the dog,” I whine. “Spencer can be the cat.”
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JJ helps lift me out of the truck, and I grab my crutches from Spencer.
“What’s happened, John?” A man asks, stopping them and giving me a moment to catch up to them.
“Reverend Paul Burke, this is...I’m sorry, I forgot your names.”
“I’m Agent Jareau, this is Dr Reid and our intern James.”
“They’re with the FBI.”
“FBI? It’s true, then? Adam’s dead?”
“Cherish Hanson’s missing, too.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Actually, yes,” the sheriff answers. “We’re putting together a search party. Could you call the congregation?”
“Of course. I’ll go make some calls.”
“Thanks, Reverend. This way.” We follow sheriff Bridges into the station. “You can use any phone you want, Dr Reid, just dial 9 to get an outside line. I’ve got an emergency phone list back here in my office.” I see Spencer wander off to the corkboard, and so I redirect myself to follow.
“Why is there a football?” I ask.
“Did you play ball?” A boy asks, coming up to us, donning a letterman jacket.
“No,” Spencer scoffs.
“You hold that thing right, or I swear to God-” I reach for the football.
“Yeah, I probably wouldn’t have either, if not for my father. I’m Cory.”
“Spencer Reid. This is Jamie, he played.”
“You’re talking about me like I’m dead. I would play, if it wasn’t for these crutches and my three month ban from sports. Who’s that, Nietzsche?” I ask.
“Thus Spake Zarathustra is rather antagonistic of the Judeo-Christian world view for this town, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think too many people here would’ve bothered to read it. If they had, they wouldn’t understand it. Might as well be a Hawking essay on quark theory.”
“People don’t typically read Nietzsche.” I look to Spencer, who laughs to himself.
“Hey, nobody ever got that reference before. Is my father around? The sheriff?”
“He’s in his office with another agent.”
Agent? Hey, uh, Jamie. Why don’t you sit down? You should give that leg a rest,” Cory says, pulling out the closest chair.
“Leg? Am I…” I look down at my legs. “I’m limping again, aren’t I?”
“I didn’t notice. We’re with the FBI, the Behavioural Analysis Unit.”
“Profilers?” We both nod. “This is mad cool. I got, like a hundred questions I go...wait. Why would FBI profilers be here in McAllister?”
“There was a murder outside of town on the mountain,” Spencer explains.
“A murder?”
“And a girl’s missing.”
“It’s Cherish, son.”
“Cherish Hanson?”
“We’re putting together a search party. I need you to get the rest of the team together and meet us out at the trail about half a mile south of the point.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Spencer, can you get me my drink out of my bag, please? Thank you.” Spencer hands me a bottle of Mountain Dew, and I screw open the bottle and gulp it down.
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“Man, this is one Peyton place of a town.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask.
“Most everyone lives well above the median income of the country. You have doctors, lawyers...one guy owns a bunch of shoe stores up and down the Eastern seaboard.”
“Is he married?”
“Yep. Story of my life, sunshine. Reverend Paul Burke, looks like he became born again in prison.”
“Love that. What was he in for?” I ask.
“Yeah. Two years as a guest of the state of Ohio for embezzlement.”
“JJ, what’s embezzlement?” I ask.
“It’s when people steal money from their jobs.”
“I’m seeing a lot of tax sheltering and various hanky-panky here, but I’m not sure what would suggest potential Satanic cult members. Hold on.”
“You got something?”
“Yeah. I got a guy with a ton of debts, spotty work history, his house is in foreclosure. He’s got a record, too. Assault with a deadly weapon three years ago.”
“Wait, does it say what the weapon was?” JJ asks.
“Baseball bat.”
“Our unsub used a blunt object.”
“Bats are blunt, aren’t they?” I ask.
“What’s this guy’s name?”
“Dent. Henry Dent.”
“Apt name.”
“Jamie, where is he on the list?”
I look over the list of names, quickly finding it. “Grid B-5. That puts him with...Elle. JJ? Should we let her know?”
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Spencer yawns. “Tired?” Aaron asks.
“I’m fine.”
“We all get them sometimes.”
“Get what?”
“Nightmares.”
Spencer looks straight at me. “I didn’t say anything,” I recount.
“It’s not that bad.”
“If you want to talk about it, you know where I am.” We watch Aaron walk away from us.
“Uh, they’re ready,” JJ says.
“Okay.” I look to the crowd gathering near one end of the station. Wait, when did they start showing up? What?
“When did they show up?”
“Why don’t you catch another nap, we have to deliver the profile.”
“Hell no, I’m not napping right now.”
“Contrary to popular belief,” Aaron begins, “there has never been a proven case of Satanic ritual killing. Never a verified human sacrifice. Having said that, there have been isolated cases of animal sacrifice…and many, many cases of vandalism in the name of Satan.”
“Now, that doesn’t mean that ritual satanism is impossible,” Derek adds. “More importantly, for our purposes, there have been cults that killed, just not in ritual fashion.”
“The Reverend Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple...his followers killed a US congressman and three people before committing mass suicide, leaving over nine hundred people dead.”
“This also happened with the Order of the Solar Temple and Heaven’s Gate, and perhaps the most notorious of the killer cults, the Manson family, they, uh, killed nine people in a four day period in an attempt to initiate a race war,” I cut in, getting up from my chair and onto my crutches.
“Killer cults do exist, and they all have one thing in common. Invariably, they’re headed by charismatic megalomaniacs.”
“You’re looking for that leader. He’s who will stand out. He’ll be memorable to somebody, people who aren’t in his group will see him as strange, weird, scary.”
“Since we’re dealing with professed Satanists, which is often practiced by younger males, we may be looking for teenagers. Heavy metal music is often associated with satanism, and these kids and their leader may reflect that in their look.”
“Most likely, there’ll be sex, drugs, and alcohol. Now, the leader, he’ll be older. It’s part of his charm.”
“And he is from this area. He’s definitely local. These woods are too thick and confusing for a visitor to get around in.”
“You think one of our own people is doing this?” An officer asks.
“I believe that anything is possible,” I simply answer.
“I would know if someone was capable of doing -”
“Dad. I know somebody like that,” Cory says.
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“His name’s Mike Zizzo. He graduated about five years ago. He’s in his twenties, but he still hangs out with high school kids. He’s got a group of them. They follow him everywhere. They all get high and listen to heavy metal. He calls them the Lords of Destruction.”
“LOD,” Spencer and I say in unison before staring at each other.
“How do you know this, Cory?” Silence. “It’s alright, son.”
“I’ve been there, where they hang out drinking beers. He talks about Satan all the time. Says he’s the one true God.”
“Where is this place?” Uncle Jason asks.
“On the other side of the mountain. The old Jenson house.”
“It’s out of my jurisdiction.”
“Not ours. We’re federal.” I look up to see Spencer, Jason, and Aaron get ready to leave.
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
“It’s okay to let loose once in a while, Cory,” I say.
“It’s alright, son,” the reverend says, and I walk myself out of the office and station, seeing the team load up into the SUVs. Uncle Jason stands outside of one, and I head over as fast as I can.
“What’s going on?” I ask, turning to where Uncle Jason is looking, a girl stands on the other side of the road, staring at us. She watches the SUVs drive off, lights blaring, and I turn my attention back to find Uncle Jason crossing the road to get to her. God, what is with you people? Move slower, all of you! Fucking assholes.
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I look around and inwardly groan at the fact that I had followed Jason into a church. Of all the fucking places? A church? He unwraps his scarf from around his neck and sits in the front pew, next to a silent girl. Ignore the pain, ignore the pain.
“Do you believe in God?” She asks, I stop next to the pew behind them, gulping and ignoring the sharp pains in my chest.
“Excuse me?”
“Do you believe in God?” She asks again.
“Yes.”
“How about the Devil?” I look away, taking in how red the interior of the church is. Why is it so red in here? “You’re one of the FBI agents, aren’t you?”
“Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Do you think God is vengeful?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t think he punishes us?” Well, I have a lot of reasons to be punished, if that was the case.
“After Hurricane Katrina, I read some essays by religious scholars. One writer said God was punishing America for its immorality. New Orleans was a wicked city, like Sodom and Gomorrah. Another one, a priest from New Orleans, he thought the hurricane was proof of God’s love.” Sure, show them you love them by killing them. Nothing like sending a fucking hurricane to prove your undying love. “Those levees didn’t break until after the storm was over. If they’d broken sooner, thousands would’ve died. So...I guess the answer to your question depends on whether or not you think you have something to be punished for.” Uncle Jason looks past her and right at me. I hate you so much.
“My friend Cherish...she’s missing. And it’s my fault. The skeleton under the tree, he died a year ago. He fell off the trail, cracked his head open. He was just some tourist or something.”
“How do you know that?”
“We went to see the body all the time. We watched it decompose.”
“Who did?”
“We did. Everybody, the whole group. At first, we were just curious, you know? We’d go, a couple of us at a time, show each other. None of us had ever seen a dead body before. And then it kind of became our thing.” Uncle Jason nods along. “Something we had that our parents didn’t know about. It was ours.”
“This was a human being.”
“I told you that we’re being punished.”
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“I’ve been with Brandi Dreifort. Do you know her?”
“Yeah. She’s a friend of my son’s.”
“She’s a friend of Cherish’s, too.”
“And?”
“They all knew about that skeleton,” I cut in.
“Who did?” Sheriff Bridges asks.
“The kids. Football team, cheerleaders, everyone. They all watched him decompose...like a game…”
“What?” Elle aks.
“Far as I can tell, the only kids in the area who didn’t know were Mike Zizzo and the LOD.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Sounds impossible, it’s unbelievable, but she told Jason all about it. Guy was a...a hiker. He’s probably listed, missing person somewhere…”
“How do you know the LOD wasn’t involved?”
“She said the pentagram and the candles, they weren’t there a few months ago.”
“Which means?”
“Someone’s framing the LOD. Somebody wanted us to believe there were Satanists here.” I answer.
“Jamie, you should sit down. You’ve been up a while-”
“No, no, no, I got more. Unsubs like to...insert themselves into investigations. Who gave us the LOD? Who gave us Zizzo?”
“You’re talking about Cory?”
“Con...con...convin...convien…”
“It was convienent, wasn’t it? Lucky we had a kid right in the room who could tell us where the LOD was. A group of fringe kids nobody in the town would like.”
“But-”
“You called us here to advise you. My advice would be to get in front of this before yourson hurts himself or anybody else. You know where he is, Sheriff?”
“He went up to the Jenson house to see if your guys found anything on Cherish.”
“Morgan and Reid are out there right now.”
“Hey, Sheriff. DId you open the gun locker?” An officer asks.
“No.”
“Someone did. There’s a revolver missing.”
“Cory,” I solemnly answer.
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I stare at Spencer, who just zones off at the wall behind me. “Stop staring at me, Spencer,” I whine. “I can’t exactly go anywhere without the damn crutches.”
“Reid,” Uncle Jason says, bringing the beanpole’s attention back to reality. “Deborah Louise Addison. Her husband Tim. The kids are Amber and Kieth. Eight and six. In 1985, Deborah Louise was walking home from school. She was abducted. She was thirteen. We profiled the unsub, and we were able to locate her before he harmed her. She writes a letter to the BAU every year. She updates us on her life.”
“It’s nice, but -”
“We all have bad dreams. Everyone on the plane. Even Jamie. Jamie, do you remember that one recurring dream where Hotch’s neighbour killed you and your dog?”
“No?”
“Who wouldn’t have nightmares? We hunt the worst of humanity, we see the depths of depravity, we dream of monsters…”
“Inmy dream, there’s a baby in the middle fo a circle and there’s someone on the other side. And I can’t get to her before…”
“Every night I look at Deborah, helps me go to sleep thinking of the victims we’ve saved. We don’t always beat the monsters to the babies, but we do enough to make the job worth it, keep the nightmares bearable. Jamie, you should catch some sleep before we land. I’ll take you straight home to your dad.” I nod and lay my head down in his lap, staring at blurry pictures of my friends from the last play we were in.
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“Your show sounds lovely. I’m sure if you tell Jordan how much you want to be in the show, then he’ll find a way for you to be in it,” Jason advises as he pulls into my dad’s mansion driveway, driving me up to the front door.
“Jason? What if nothing ever goes back to the way it was?” I ask. “What if I’m stuck on these stupid crutches forever? I’d have to rethink everything-”
“We’ll take it a day at a time, remember?” He cuts me off immediately. “I’ve known you all your life. You have tendencies to over worry about things. It’s going to work out okay.”
“Will it? I can’t go back into school until next semester, I lost my hair again, I lost all of my activities. I can’t even watch music videos without getting a massive headache. All I want to do is everything I’m not allowed to do! It’s so fuck-”
“Don’t. Your fracture is still healing.”
“I can’t even get my anger out, cause I’m not allowed to box or wrestle! Fuck this!”
“Jamie, Jamie. I need you to look at me right now.” Jason rotates my head towards him. “You’re allowed to be mad about this. You are a fighter. You overcame a cancer scare, numerous spinal injuries and concussions. Your conditions don’t hold you back. Just because you’re going through a set back doesn’t mean it’s time to give up. Come on, I’ll walk you in and put you to bed if you want.” Jason climbs out of the drivers’ seat and rounds the front to help me onto my feet and position my crutches so I can use them. “I think you worked yourself too hard, and you should rest some more.” I groan in pain, wincing at the throbbing in my head.
“Headache?” I nod weakly.
“Here, I can carry you in,” Uncle Jason offers, swinging an arm under my knees and sweeping me into his arms with a groan. “You’re getting too big for me to carry you.”
“Mio bel ragazzo,” I hear Dad exclaim from up ahead.
“Dad,” I quietly answer back with a smile.
“He tired himself out. Headache right now, Spencer almost tripped him a few times.” I hear Dad groan as a door closes, and dogs start barking. “Oscar, Mudgie, down,” Dad commands. “Go put him in bed, I’ll get his medication ready.” I nuzzle my head into Jason’s warm chest and whine, scrunching my face as the throbbing gets worse.
“I know, I know. You’ll be in bed soon.” It feels like a lifetime before I feel my mattress dipping under me, my soft covers enveloping me. “There. Your dad’s gonna be up soon.” I hear a dog whine as I bury my head into the bed. “Here you go, Oscar. Cuddle up nice and tight, will you? Here’s your blankie and your turtle.” I make my grabbie hands as the items are handed to me, Jason wraps me in my favourite bright green blanket and puts my turtle into my arms. I nestle my head into the crook of the turtle’s neck, squeezing it tightly against my chest. Rough fingers run gently through my hair as I feel a small dog walking up and starting to lick my neck.
“Oscar…” I whine. Jason chuckles as my pup moves to lay on my stomach.
“Goodnight, Jamie. Your dad’s here now.”
“Daddy…” I mumble, pouting my chapped lip.
“Here, it’s time for your meds,” Dad whispers, gently helping make sure I don’t choke on pills or water. “There you go. That’s my boy.” I smile, breathing deeply and gently opening my eyes as Dad plays with my hair. “You must have tired yourself out, huh?”
“Daddy...stay…” I reach out, grabbing his rough yet gentle hand.
“Of course. Anything for you, ragazzo.” My other hand rests on Oscar’s soft curly hair, my thumb gently cascading the soft, gentle skin. “Sssh, it’s okay. You can sleep now. I won’t go.”
“Hol...hol...hol me…” I murmur.
“You want me in bed with you?”
I gently nod.
“Okay. I’ll be right back, I just have to get ready for bed. Don’t wait up for me, okay? Ti amo.”
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Will you write anything related to Bloodline? In the Metas, I mean. Because while I think that Kylo's fight with the dark voice in his head (aka Snoke) has apparently been longer than initially expected, I think the fact that he learnt about his connection to DV rather violently if Leia's ominous reaction tells us smtg, with learning that his family had been keeping smtg that important from him... Must have been hard. Any thoughts? (I love your meta)
Sooo many thoughts @luciemiddleford, but I’m almost positive my response isn’tgoing to answer your question in any kind of satisfactory manner whatsoever.
My reaction to Bloodline, while mostly positive, is a bit ofmixed bag, and that’s due entirely to inconsistencies about The Family™ betweenthis book and the information we were given in TFA. Aaaaand how Bloodlinemesses with the timeline we more-or-less had previously established (more onthis later) and how this new set just feels wrongto me. In order for me to get across just how I feel in regards to him findingout about Vader in this manner, its necessary for me to discuss why I don’tfeel confident whatsoever about what little info we did get about the Organa-Solo Family Dynamic. Like, at all. I don’ttrust relying on the glimpses we got in Bloodline, including Ben finding outabout Vader in such a jarring manner.
I haven’t gone through the tags on here so idk if otherpeople have broken down some of the inconsistencies and issues with continuitythat Bloodline through into the mix, or if anyone has noticed them at all. Justto start off: I loved the novel. Fucking loved it. One of the best Star Warsnovels ever, in my opinion. I’m a sucker for politics/undercover/conspiracystories, so this was right up my ally. Basically everything related to Leia,the New Republic, the First Order already working within the Senate, anythingthat set up the political outlook for TFA had me overjoyed and I found itincredibly well-grounded in that regard.
It was just those few throwaway lines (I read the wholething twice and I think there are only like six or seven references) about Ben+ Luke that threw everything off. I was expecting this book to give us piecesof the puzzle to put together about HOW exactly everything went down, or atleast glimpses into how the Organa-Solo family life was pre-academy training.Instead it just made me scratch my head and question the canon-ocity of ClaudiaGray’s work. And there’s honestly good reason to question it??? Gray clearlystated that she had not seen/read the script for TFA prior to writing the book,she was clearly Surprised when she saw TFA and it didn’t outright contradictwhat she wrote in regards to the Fam, and beyond that any information shewould’ve been given about The Family™ in order to make Leia’s relationship tothem seem believable would’ve been pretty cut-and-dry (as in: they have a kid,here’s his name, he and Luke are busy doing ~something~). Rereading it justseems like they told her to name drop Ben and Luke a couple times just to makeit clear that she keeps them in her thoughts. They didn’t give her anymore towork with because obviously they’re saving that stuff for TLJ and didn’t wantto spoil it. When Gray was going through the details with Pablo Hidalgo andRian Johnson on what to center the novel around, the only information shereceived for how to make this a setup for TFA was concentrated solely aroundThe New Republic government, the Vader Scandal, hints of the First Order, andthe forming of the Resistance. Just another reason I don’t feel confident withany of the information that isn’t strictly political in nature. The familyaspect just feels like a fill-in-the-blank game (minus what we got with Han,that was all very believable).
Two of the prime problems I have, inconsistency/generalproblem-wise, are in regard to Ben’s age and in how he found out about Dear OldGranddad.
For starters, it was established pre-Bloodline that Ben leftfor training when he was 10 (still canon). It was also the prevailing andaccepted idea pre-Bloodline that Ben fell to Snoke and did-whatever-deed-he-didat the Jedi Academy when he was 15 (I believe I even saw a source at one pointthat confirmed everything went down at 15 but idk where it would be hiding,someone link me if you find one). Makes sense. HOWEVER. According to Gray’sbook, Ben is still with Luke at the age of 23 and hasn’t gone all Dark Sideyet. Here’s the inconsistency: according to the TFA script, when Kylo takes offhis helmet, “Han is JOLTED, seeing the face of his son for the first time as aman”. So Han hasn’t seen his kid since early adolescence, probably. That iscanon. Unfortunate and heartbreaking, but canon nonetheless. I imagine, butcan’t firmly say, it’s been the same amount of time for when Leia last saw Benas well.
This Bloodline continuity hogwash actually creates a majorproblem for Han and Leia’s characters. If we go pre-Bloodline assumption thathe turned at 15, then it means that, at most, Han/Leia went 5 years withoutseeing their son, in person or holo-vid (that assumption is pushing it btw, theystill could have visited him in early teens). We don’t know how busy they were,don’t know where Luke’s Academy was, don’t know if there were any rulesattempting to limit disturbances in the kids’ training. The only thing we canglean is that the Academy, wherever it was, was fairly isolated and hard toreach. So 5 years (again, pushing it) sucks, but is understandable under the rightconditions. BUT. If we adhere to Gray’s timeline, then it means that they went13 years without seeing their kid. It goes from sucky-but-understandable tofucked up in a big way. It is canonically established that Han hasn’t seen hisboy since he was an adolescent, but 23 is an adult. If Han hadn’t seen his kidin that many years, and was able to with him presumably just chilling with Lukeand not off doing dark deeds, then it makes Han and Leia look bad for notputting in any effort to see Ben (or Luke for that matter #rude). It reflectsbadly on Leia and Han. It was already canonically established that Han and Leiaweren’t there enough to guide him—this makes the setup for his upbringingunfortunate, heartbreaking, sorta-kinda understandable. But going 13 yearswithout seeing your kid when you have the means is not understandable andmakes one a shitty parent. This is why I don’t like it one bit. At the previouslyaccepted 15-year age mark, everything flowed together naturally and made sense.At the “new” 23-year age mark it just makes everyone seem like an asshole. It’sjust pushes things a little too far to be believable imo.
In addition to this, Leia states, “I never should’ve senthim away. That’s when I lost him”. This strongly implies that what happenedwith Ben happened relatively quickly (and that there was probably minimalcontact), as in FIVE years, not THIRTEEN. Thirteen years is a long time to sitback, think, and pinpoint exactly when you lost your son without actively doinganything about it. Which is not in Leia’s character. And Han says, “There wasnothing we could’ve done”, which also implies to me a relatively SHORT periodof time between when they actually had personal contact with him and when Bensplit for the Baddies™. Someone who has had repeated personal contact, evenfavorable/positive with their child (messages or otherwise) over a period ofthirteen years after training began would not be making such absolutiststatements. Again, five years makes a certain amount of sense, thirteen has mewtf-ing. Also??? Both Leia and Han’s statements sound like ones to familiar topeople who have had years upon years to come to term with things (as in, 15years ago, not a measly 6).
Onto my other major problem: how Ben found out about Vader.I have a really, reallllllllyyyyyy hard time imagining that Ben found out abouthim out of the blue. I can see where Gray is coming from, but actually thinkingabout it in terms of how Kylo is portrayed in TFA makes no sense with theBloodline timeline. Just for starters: as a descendant of the Chosen One, Benis ridiculously Force sensitive?? So despite the fact that Leia and Han keptthe Grandpa Bomb from him (I imagine Luke would’ve wanted to tell him the truthbut had to adhere to Ben’s actual parents), I don’t see how he would’ve gonehis entire upbringing not picking up on, at the very least, that they werekeeping something huge from. When Han says that there was too much Vader inhim, it implies there were many signs from him as a kid that made his parentsuncomfortable/nervous. For a Force-sensitive who can sense emotions and readthoughts, he would’ve at least picked up on that kind of ~vibe~ they sometimesgot around him and been curious about it. I even have a hard time believingthat, after a while, he might not have “pried” a little bit by trying to readthe thoughts of his “weaker” parent (Han) without detection. He wouldn’t havemeant anything inherently malicious about it, just a curiosity/desire foranswers for why some things made his parents ~share a look~ if you get mydrift. Kids pick up on things. Not to mention he might’ve picked up a vibe fromLuke himself. While I don’t doubt that Luke would’ve agreed to let Leia/Hanreveal things on their own terms, I still think it would’ve been difficult forhim to maintain the façade of “Vader was the enemy and I hate him to this day,glad I killed the bloke”. Ben would’ve been raised on stories of his family’saccomplishments, especially of Luke’s vanquishing of two Sith Lords, so I thinkhe would notice when they either tried to avoid discussing such things or thatmaybe his uncles retelling just didn’t feel right.
The other problem with the “he found out about Vader out ofthe blue” is the fact that that doesn’t organically coincide with hisdedication to Vaders cause that we see in TFA. For Ben to have gone 23 yearsclueless ala Bloodline, his unnerving conviction to finish what Vader startedfeels out of place. Six years is a little short to go from clueless to the “Iwill do everything in my power to finish what you started” idolization we havegoing on. FIFTEEN years on the other hand…well, you get my point. There’s alsothe issue of Snoke. Snoke was in this kids head from the beginning, so I can’timagine that he wouldn’t have used Vader’s identity as an additional tool toget Ben to mistrust his family as early as was feasible/useful. I already madethis whole post about how Vader’s identity/”ghost” was one of the integraltools Snoke was using to secure Ben’s loyalty, so there’s that as well.
While Bloodline is “technically” canon, it is still dubiouscanon at best, prone to changes and mistakes. There are only three “officialofficial” sources of canon (more or less indisputable), and those are the films,the scripts, and the official novelizations of said films. Any othernovels/comics/etc that doesn’t accompany one of the actual movies is canon only until/unless details within it areproven false or clash with Official Canon. And there’s enough weird informationin Bloodline regarding everyone’s favorite Family™, combined with the fact thatGray never even saw the script for TFA, that has me questioning just howin-universe I can take it.
It’s not that I have a problem reorienting myself intobelieving that he made his dark turn as an adult (I do actually), it is just afar less organic and natural string of events compared to him turning at 15. Samewith how he found out about Vader. Bloodline-timeline requires a suspension ofdisbelief. And it affects the narratives of other people around him as well, ina mostly negative way.
Maybe it’s just me that this really bothers. But theinformation Claudia Gray gave us (again, dubious canon at best) just fills liketrying to fit a square peg in a round hole and it throws me off thinking aboutit. I’m just gonna wait for TLJ to confirm/deny anything regarding the Family.
#star wars#tlj#bloodline#kylo ren#Skywalker family#ben organa solo#snoke#han solo#leia organa#darth vader#anakin skywalker#mine#meta#asks
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My problem is I see a lot of hate on Jaune and much of it is stupid or takes his flaws and makes them worse. Then there is the whole Pyrrha thing where its a series where Magic is made real we know Ozpin cheated death and we havent even got started learning the rules and people just go no she is dead period and I am like wut? Dont even get me started on the whole Jaune disrespected Pyrrha thing its like no one had ever heard of taking up another's sword before.
There most definitely is senseless Jaune hate.
People who say Jaune should just die are haters who engage in pointless vitriol and aren’t really suggesting a good solution to what a is very real characterization and pacing issue.
Jaune is here to stay because his is the story of the underdog who has glaring flaws and has made a dishonest action but also has the potential and drive to make things right.
He’s the deuteragonist, meaning that his story is pivotal to the overall narrative, but is second in priority to the story of Team RWBY, the title characters.
However, that doesn’t mean a very good job has been done with his characterization in the first few volumes, nor did he have an appropriate amount of focus in Volume 4.
Jaune’s a genuinely good guy. He really is. He’s my boi. My son. I’m rooting for him.
I just don’t like how his progress and growth is being handled.
(Incoming RWDE, beware.)
See the BRNZ vs JNPR fight, where his leadership is reduced to a joke just to have a gag about team uncoordination, or how he shouts vague orders rather than be given serious delivery about his strategy-building when RNJR fought the Geist Grimm. Or how he told Ruby, Ren, and Nora to go in a circle when they were already doing that.
In the first two cases, it’s not like there can’t be funny moments during a fight. But comedy shouldn’t come at the expense of a character’s development. Specially when said development is such a profound sign of progress. In the third case, that’s just a plain writing inconsistency. It’s one you might miss, for sure. But it shows that very little attention was put into it.
For more on that, I’d like to refer you to this post, where I explore the unwarranted amount of dialogue delivered by Jaune or centered around Jaune.
I’d like to talk about Pyrrha dying and Ozpin’s ability to wander around without a body.
Ozpin’s spiritual being is something that is probably inherent to his powers, whichever those may be. Many, such as myself, believe that Ozpin received the powers of the Wizard, much like the powers of the Maidens are transferred from woman to woman.
Obviously, that raises a lot of questions. One such being, “If the Wizard’s consciousness can transfer to the newest receiver of the Wizard’s power, can the same happen with Maidens?”
Back to the matter at hand, however, you have a point in saying that if Magic is a thing in Remnant, how is it less likely for Pyrrha to survive than Ozpin?
Well, you could argue that a power unique to Ozpin enabled his survival, and because Pyrrha does not possess it, her death is certain, or rather her return in any other form is unlikely.
We’re still very early in the show’s timeline, however. That could be proven wrong down the line. Who knows?
The issue is that it is very difficult to bring back a character from such a fate without it feeling like a cop-out.
No doubt it can be done, but… it can only be done in a handful of ways, since you could end up contradicting rules you had previously established. Or you could disregard the poetic and thematic gravity of a moment. Character deaths are meant to be heavy and meaningful. If a character just comes back without the proper foreshadowing or a significant change in their personality, the return of said character fails to be genuine.
But I’m sure you know that, Anon. I just needed to make that statement for argument’s sake.
Again, I’m not saying it can’t happen. It absolutely can. It just wouldn’t feel right if not done properly.
But that’s something that’s way down the line. When it comes to RWBY, a lot of things can only be dealt with a wait-and-see approach. That’s why speculating can feel a bit pointless.
But hey. It’s fun. We all do all sorts of things simply because it’s really fucking cool.
As far as that goes, I don’t disagree with you on that, Anon. But because I’ve deviated from my initial position, I’m kind of on the fence until I can collect more evidence and pick up on more and more foreshadowing.
If said foreshadowing comes.
I’m just the kind of person who’s gotta work on concrete evidence when it comes to stuff like this.
Now, about Jaune taking Pyrrha’s metal and using it for upgrades… It is disrespectful. Not just to Pyrrha, but to her family. As far as we know, she only has a mom, but she’d still want to know how her daughter’s doing. She probably don’t even know Pyrrha’s dead.
And Jaune just… thinks it’s a good idea to keep what’s left of Pyrrha to bury to himself rather than look for her mom so she can have closure about Pyrrha’s fate? So she can decide what happens to Pyrrha’s former belongings? Pyrrha’s mom should get to decide whether those things should be part of the only burial Pyrrha might ever get or if Jaune should inherit them as a memento of his partner and the person who saved his life countless times.
Pyrrha being mostly only relevant to Jaune is yet another tiring and frustrating iteration of the “Girl-Exists-For-Boy-and-Only-For-Boy” trope that has crushed the agency of countless female characters since time immemorial. Pyrrha shouldn’t just exist for Jaune. Pyrrha should get to be her own person separate from Jaune. With other relationships that get to be explored in the show.
That’s why Ruby’s reaction to Pyrrha’s death felt so… forced. Because there hadn’t been any true meaningful interactions between her and Pyrrha. Every single heart-to-heart conversation Pyrrha’s ever had has been with Jaune. Who’s Pyrrha to Ruby? Just this nice girl she’s hanged out with a few times and fought with that one time.
“Well, they probably had a very close friendship off-screen!” you might say. And that’s a very flimsy argument, to be honest. Because that’s just pure conjecture that can’t be proved unless it is mentioned or shown in canon that such moments really did happen.
In a show about strong female characters, you’d think you’d see other female characters bonding, other than the titular characters. Nora is the kind of person who’d adore Pyrrha and spend time with her and have fun. But we don’t get that.
I’ve also been meaning to write meta about how there was a missed opportunity with Pyrrha and Weiss bonding over their foiling circumstances of privilege and solitude. Pyrrha in Weiss have so much in common. It’s absurd how similar they are. That could have been a great relationship.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s good stuff about Jaune and Pyrrha. I’m absolute trash for Arkos. But Pyrrha’s character shouldn’t revolve around Jaune as much as it has.
Volume 3 was refreshing because Pyrrha finally got a story arc of her own that was pivotal to the overall story. It was hers and hers alone. Jaune was a small part of that. It was much more different than Pyrrha being a big part of Jaune.
Those are my thoughts on that matter, Anon. I made it as thorough as I could. Feel free to add anything else.
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Analysis of an analysis
The main plot of The Room is very simple and God I wish I lived in the universe in which it weren’t, just to see, what it would’ve been like if the director were allowed to go fucking ham on the script. It reads like something I’d have written when I was like 9, only to go back and remove the more blatantly unrealistic elements (pirates) and insert in a lot of what my 9 year old idea of Adult Drama would be.
Jesus fucking Christ okay gimme an exacto knife and I’ll slice these boxes there is already way too much to unpack.
Why am I drawn to convolution? Why does it matter to me if the director had total creative freedom? Why would my nine year old self write a misogynistic story about betrayal culminating in a suicide and why would that be my nine year old idea of adult drama? Why did I specify I liked pirates when I was nine? Does that matter?
It’s about a woman (Lisa) who cheats on her fiance (Johnny) with his best friend (Mark), because she’s fallen out of love with him, and the inaction of everyone involved as well as the transgression itself drives Johnny to commit suicide.
Did Tommy Wiseau intend for everyone else to betray Johnny through their inaction, or was that just my understanding of it at the time? I rewatched the film yesterday and actually, a LOT of characters try their best to mitigate the damage and stop it in its tracks. So why did I say they were inactive?
I kinda wanna make a shittily edited montage with scenes of Mark and Johnny to Even In Death or My Immortal or something like that by Amy Lee but I don’t know how to edit video, so that’s out, for now.
Why do I want to do this? It’s not a competent film, but why do I want to mock it? Also, I like Amy Lee, so why do I want to mock it through that specific medium? And why do I want to focus it on Mark and Johnny? What’s the relevance of that? Why did I choose those two songs specifically as well? Both of which focus on grieving and being haunted by the memory of a dead loved one.
There are a few unresolved subplots as well which I’ll get to later.
The film introduces the two main characters, Johnny and Lisa, by Johnny giving Lisa a red dress as a gift. If a man got me a sexy red dress as a gift I’d kill him. Fucking dresses and flowers and petals he’s just PERFORMING romance. He performs EVERYTHING with symbolic shorthand “oh, how do people act, men play catch I think? Eeeerrrrr then I will have my men play catch. In SUITS. Yeah this is humanity I fuckin’ nailed it.”
Why do I feel the need to specify that I wouldn’t appreciate a sexy red dress from a man as a gift? It makes sense for a man to gift his fiance a sexy red dress. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that. Why did I specify that I wouldn’t appreciate it, when my personal distaste has nothing to do with it. Nobody reading this needs to know. I don’t need to tell them that.
Why so critical about Johnny’s performance of human concepts like male friendship and romance? Why did I mock it? What is wrong about it?
There’s a running thread throughout this movie, wherein Johnny’s primary mode of affection is incredibly materialistic, and his friends value him primarily for what he can do for them on a financial/material scale. #Crapitalism. Similarly Lisa is only ever valued by other people for her external appearance cuz all the men are thotty creeps.
Is this assertion even accurate? Johnny provides emotional support to his friends throughout the movie. It might be more accurate to say that Johnny values *himself* for what he can provide. But this isn’t about that. Why did I discard his emotional support? Why did I assert that his affection is materialistic only? Why did I say his friends only value him based on that?
I don’t think I’m wrong about what Lisa is valued for. But why did I pick up on that in the first place?
Blaa blaa fucking blaa dichotomy between realism crossing into surrealism Tommy Wiseau’s a misogynist and I can and will fucking make Lisa an interesting character blaa blaa fucking blaa nobody’s going to read this fuck you.
Why did I mock my own analysis in this paragraph and only very disparagingly allude to the realism -> surrealism? Is it because it’s kind of fucking pretentious? It IS. But why do I give a shit. And why do I simply just not shut the fuck up and not say it at all? Why do I say it? Am I trying to communicate I know it’s inherently kind of ridiculous? Why? For who? What am I hoping to maintain?
Why did I gravitate so strongly to Lisa’s defense despite knowing she has very few, if ANY, redeeming personality traits. I know if she were a real person I wouldn’t like her. Why do I feel the need to impose depth on a character that wasn’t intended to have any? Defiance in response to the inherently misogynic portrayal of women? Why do I feel the need to defy Tommy Wiseau’s original intentions? What am I expecting to accomplish?
If I posit that I have no audience, who is this for? And WHY do I posit that I have no audience? Why is that important? What purpose does pointing it out serve?
Lisa is the surreal element- every other character is pretty fuckin’ preoccupied in their social status and place in their society and maintaining it, bitch gets what she wants she ain’t about that conformity. I mean she’s also an adulterer but fucking hell I have to impose depth art is interpretive blaa blaa fucking blaa why did I delete my blog I don’t remember anyone’s URL LMAO.
Here I equate surrealism with anti-conformity. Which is kind of strange, because it implies that I think conforming to society, accepting your social status, and maintaining it is realistic. The tone of this paragraph when talking about Lisa’s “surrealism” is pretty positive toward her. Which would also imply that I think realism is bad.
Why do I HAVE to impose depth and my own ideas onto Lisa specifically? Why do I keep justifying myself with “art is interpretive”?
I then proceed to dip the fuck out and mock my impulsiveness as if trying to remind an audience (that I supposedly do not have) that I’m self aware of my own pretentious and inherently kind of stupid shortcomings. But if there’s no audience, as I said earlier, who is that directed toward?
Anyway I guess there’s something to be said for Johnny destroying all his possessions at the climax of the movie. Once he loses his trophy woman to his best friend he has nothing left, does he? He really has nothing going for him. I mean he has his job still but when he loses his already pretty flimsy social life all he has left are his materialistic possessions and they can’t exactly do therapy at him. But his entire life is his job and what he can possess. Destroying the only things he has left is self destruction. SHE TORE HIM APART.
Why would I claim that he has nothing but his material possessions left? I don’t think this is supported by the movie. He has his other friends. He has Denny. I’m contradicting the source material to impose a certain idea onto Johnny. Why?
Why did I reference a line in the movie to mock his act of self destruction?
Ripping Lisa’s red dress at the end is a symbolic murder– because I don’t believe he ever saw Lisa as her own person. He saw her as another thing he could possess. A symbol of status he could dress up. A material. Lisa may as well have been a bit of red fabric. After all the momentum of the film often halts just to have characters comment on her hotness. Supporting this statement is the fact that, although she was lying about physical abuse, he does get pretty physical with her soon after. Foreshadowing? Fuck if I know, this movie wasn’t made competently. Was I written competently? Am I going to spiral before I die? Questions questions! All of them edgy!
I don’t know that I’m correct when I say that Lisa was his trophy, and a status symbol. He killed himself over her unfaithfulness. He stated a few times that she was clever. So why do I assert that she’s no different than any other possession he had?
Does the momentum of the film REALLY come to a halt to have characters remark on her appearance? Why do I take notice of that? Why is it important to me to say that?
I support that the tearing of the red dress is symbolic of murder by stating that Lisa’s lies about being physically abused are foreshadowing of that event. Maybe that’s a stretch in the context of the FILM, but I’ve also asserted that joking about having a heart attack was foreshadowing for my heart attack, so even though it’s a stretch when you apply that to the FILM, it’s not a stretch when you apply that to REALITY. Why is foreshadowing important to me in that way?
I immediately state I don’t know, and that the movie wasn’t made competently, but we all knew it wasn’t. I immediately focus back on real life implications. Was my attempt at comprehending the narrative of The Room an attempt to comprehend the narrative of real life? If so, why did I pick THE ROOM, of all movies? If you’re self deprecating on a blog with no followers and nobody reads your post, does it make a meaning?
I wonder if there are any shitty fanfics written about Tommy Wiseau on wattpad. I’m not looking. But I fucking wonder.
Why the change in topic? Why wattpad, a fiction site known for mostly hosting kids fictions? Why am I drawn to haphazardly made fiction?
Nevermind I looked and there’s “Trapped On An Island With Tommy Wiseau”. Fucking. Glorious. Why didn’t I pick THAT to over analyse? Holy fucking shit it’s amazing. I want to know where THAT story is going.
Whatever.
Why did I change my mind and look? I immediately contradict myself. Why DIDN’T I analyse that fiction over this one? Why did I like it so much? Why did I want to know where that was going? Why “whatever”? Is not saying something just as important as saying it? Bring up an idea only to dismiss it immediately after.
So anyway, people repeat themselves when they talk sometimes, and they do it in the movie as well. That’s cool. That’s good. That adds some naturalism to it. That makes it seem like real people talking and not actors. Yeah.
The tone of this paragraph is different to all the other paragraphs. Why? What was I thinking?
EXCEPT IT DIVES ASS OVER TEAKETTLE INTO SURREALISM! When those people repeat themselves in ways that don’t make sense as a shorthand way to progress the scene. It’s just a single step removed from [INSERT SOMETHING TO CHANGE THE SCENE HERE]. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
What’s the purpose of pointing this out? I remember saying this and wondering if I’ve ever heard or said any artificial, fake sounding excuses to progress a plot or scene. Why did I pick “I don’t want to talk about it” as my cited quote over all the other choices? Do I just not want to talk about it anymore? If I didn’t- I wouldn’t. Does the AUTHOR not want me to talk about it? That is after all the same reason Lisa reuses that quote over and over. She wouldn’t bring it up if she didn’t want to. Tommy Wiseau is the one who wants her to stop talking about it. Why can I not focus too hard on this?
It’s something isn’t it. Damn. Yep. I’m chewing gum with the paper still on it just to see what happens. Hope it’s not poisoooooooon.
I unceremoniously change the subject to totally irrelevant bullshit, highlighting my own stupidity, as if to remind somebody of it. What audience? Then the subject of poison. Why?
Aw hell I had to talk about the subplots. Iuno. INSERT SUBPLOT BLATHERING HERE. Danny took drugs. That was something. Amazingly the movie treats drugs and alcohol as bigger sins than attempted murder and assault! The characters do! Everyone does! Fucking glorious. IT’S NOT WHAT THE ILLICIT SUBSTANCES MAKE YOU DO UNDER THE INFLUENCE, IT’S THAT YA TOOK EM AT ALL! I forget what it means.
I hastily talk about the subplots, only really focusing on the alcohol and drugs/attempted murder and assault, for the purpose of mocking the condemnation of both over murder/domestic abuse. Why so hastily and haphazard, though? “I forget what it means” but I still bring it up? Why?
YOU ARE TEARING ME APART, NOCTURNE-DOLCE!!!
Why this joke? Is there significance to putting Nocturne in the role of Lisa? The placement of this joke is odd, too. Why here? Why now? Why out of nowhere? What am I mocking? Why am I mocking it? It’s a total non-sequitur.
Yeah. I wonder if I could construct a shitty emo poem using only lines of dialogue from The Room.
Why?
Don’t leave
I need you, I love you
Everything is going wrong
You don’t want to talk to me
They trick me
They didn’t keep their promise
They betray me, and I don’t care anymore
You are TEARING ME APART
I don’t care
Everything is not okay
Don’t worry about it
It’s definitely shitty.
Why did I pick these specific lines of dialogue? Why did I do this at all? Who benefits from it? What’s it even saying?
The more I think on it the more I realize that Lisa is literally the only character that develops as the movie goes on. I mean her development is basically “HOT ADULTERER IS EVIL WOMAN BITCH” but, yknow, at least she’s not like poor dumb Mark who has sex with her countless times and still manages to be stunned when she proposistions him for sex.
Why did I pick up on this? What significance does it have?
Arguably she’s also the only character that shows any kind of agency; all the other characters seem to have their patterns. Mark asks her “why are you doing this to me” as if he’s a totally passive, blameless bystander, each scene with Claudette is exactly the same as the last, etc. The only character that really advances the plot is Lisa.
Are there blameless bystanders in our reality? Who have no agency? Are we some of them? Are we Lisa, or are we Mark? Is agency indicative of immorality in the context of this movie and our lives?
Lisa: agent of chaos and change. I unironically adore the PISS out of her dialogue. Check it the fuck out:
If so what does my admiration say about me? She is unquestionably the villain of the film? Why do I choose her as the favorite?
You know, I really loved Johnny at first. Everything’s changed. I need more from life than what Johnny can give me. Suddenly my eyes are wide open and I can see everything so clearly. I want it all.
If he can’t give me what I want, somebody else will.
You have to take as much as you can. You have to live, live, live.
I don’t see what the big deal is. Doesn’t everybody look out for number one? Don’t I deserve the best?
There is no baby. I told him that to make it interesting. We’re probably going to have a baby eventually anyway.
I am not responsible for Johnny. I’m through with that. I’m changing. I have the right, don’t I? People are changing all the time. I have to think about my future. What’s it to you?
Do I identify with Lisa? If so, why? Is it because she’s supposed to be representative of all woman and I’m compelled to argue against the really sexist idea of that while still obeying the framework of the movie? Or is it foreshadowing of future villainy? Foreshadowing is after all significant? Is my pursuit of personal agency evil?
Hot take: Lisa and Lola are the same character except one is a fish from Shark Tale and the other is Lisa from The Room.
This is ominous.
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