#That's such an important element of how I physically characterize him
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RATTLING IN MY CAGE
Okay. Okay. Okay. So. I finished watching the Prison Escape Vod and BY GOD i have thoughts about cubito Pac e Mike
Let's dive in
(@spreens dragging ur ass to read this bc u asked for it)
GOD. FIRST THING. This stream just made it SO CLEAR how their love language is physical touch. How being close and touching each other or even just the reassurance they could leave their cells to be with each other is important to them. Before they were let out, Pac was panicking, emotions being all over the place and pouring out while Mike did the exact opposite, closed himself shut and waited (The exact opposite to what they are. Mike is the emotional bomb, while Pac has better handle of his intensity)
First thing they did when set free was to run and get close, walking pressed together side by side. The first time they sat with Walter Bob, they also sat side by side
And not only to each other they do this, but they extended it to Walter Bob as well. Mike's constant hugs and Pac walking rlly close or choosing to sit by Walter Bob's side even when it was impractical to do so. They know how isolating and scary it is to be in prison, to feel like you're alone and small, so they both made sure to always let Walter Bob know they were there for him
ALSO. Now to Pac and Mike characterization
Pac had his time to shine as the "Innocent" one once again. He loves to pretend he doesn't know what is going on or act way more scared as he truly is. He likes to pretend he's weak and can only lean on his words to get out of trouble. The thing with Pac is that he IS a good fighter, he was one of the front lines of the timer dungeon, he was ready to beat the shit out of the fake chayanne and tallulah in case they had ran after Richas, even if he was unsure if he should. He's quick on his feet and he's good analysing the situation he's in and how he can win. Which also means he knows damn well when he doesn't has the advantage, and in these cases he'd much rather not fight and instead talk his way out, even if it means being beaten up for a while (or lose a leg). His stealth and agility, plus being people smart, helped him to grab the keys from the backpack. The fact he wears his heart on his sleeve and a smile is quick to appear on his face also helped him get an easier time with the guards, getting better food and even being let alone to roam for a bit, which is when Fit found them. When Mike hit the guard, Pac first thing was to analyse the situation and then run to hit the guard as well, as he noticed they had a good chance of winning
Mike, as always, took the place as the "brains" of the whole thing. The thing with Mike is that he likes to pose as the threatening one, the most dangerous and angry. He yelled at guards and swore and talked shit about everything, which is what gave Pac space to be the 'good' inmate, when more often than not Mike is way more bark than he is bite. He isn't sure of his pvp abilities as of normal and much rather lean on his machines or on Pac to do the job. The prison escapade also put a light on how heartfelt Mike is. He hugged Walter Bob every chance he had, he was always outspoken about bringing Walter Bob with them, he yelled to the guards to defend his friends. Mike is the most serious liar and the one to come up with plans as he feels better planning everything ahead of him. Mike is explosive, which is why he was the one attacking the guard instead of Pac, the pvper. He is a man with anger and strength for a single, demolishing attack. He wanted to defend his best friend and Walter Bob, so he fucking jumped into action. In any other kind of fight, Mike wouldn't do that. He couldn't fight against the bull as he was caught out of surprise, he couldn't hold himself in the dungeon as he can't plan middle chaos, he was completely out of his element against the codes due to shock. But, jumping and immediately started attacking on impulse, a surprise attack? That Mike can do, and he did
Their relationship with Walter Bob is special since they already had a bond with him. He's their friend and they were ready to do anything to take Walter Bob with them. He was the missing piece to make all of this work, the outsider out of their bubble that helped them see things they wouldn't as they are linked together and often on the same line of thought. Pac e Mike wanted him to be happy and have a chance to be himself, they wanted him as part of the family
Losing Walter Bob was a hard hit to them. It made the whole escape turn into failure as he was already an extension of the duo, in a way. And Mike has the tendency of blame himself, always. He still blames himself for Richas' death and he blames himself for Walter Bob being taken, to the point of ignoring Pac and refusing his touch as he doesn't deemed himself of worthy of care. And Pac once again is by his side to pick up the pieces that have been broken, as he always does
This whole stream was. Such a MEAL for characterization. I didn't even go deep about the guards or about this new part of the Federation. Im reeling in cubito's feelings and I'M LOVING IT
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Can you talk about the differences b/w Game!Joel and Show!Joel in your own opinion?? Like the big things? I've never played the games, only watched the show, and I am super curious 🥺
Hi! Sure, I can try to articulate some of the differences between show and game canon. These are just things I noticed and noted, and anyone is welcome to jump in and add on or disagree/agree with me. (Also would like to add, I'm only really talking about part 1 of the game, since that's the only counterpart to the show so far and I haven't properly played part 2 so my judgment there isn't totally fair.)
For me, the most notable difference between game and show Joel is the approach to the emotional side of the character. Joel in the show, although guarded, is pretty open with his emotions (**comparatively speaking, I guess). He opens up to Tommy pretty quickly about his feelings of failure and about his care for Ellie. He opens up verbally and explicitly with Ellie eventually. We Do Not get this in the game. Joel in the game is very quick to shut down anything even approaching a conversation like the one he has with Tommy in the show. He shuts his brother down, pretty aggressively, and outright refuses to take a photograph Tommy tries to give him of him and Sarah together.
In the game we really don't get these overtly (maybe that's the wrong word but I can't find another way to describe it) emotional moments with Joel. You get it in much smaller doses and in much subtler ways. Joel is incredibly internal in the game. You get these tiny little glimpses into him that are just fascinating (he helps Marlene up when she collapses, he tells Ellie thank you for opening the first gate for him in Bill's Town, very early into the game when he shouldn't really care about her, indulges her questions pretty quickly, expresses understanding and remorse about what happened to Frank [in the game Frank is already dead] to Bill, and in a gentle kind of way, which he very much did not have to do).
The show also, and this might be kind of a controversial take, takes some of Joel's teeth away from him. They approached the show from a more "realistic" standpoint that eliminated a lot of the gameplay elements (understandable) that made Joel just a beast to deal with in the game. I think they played up the old man angle just a tad too much in the show. Don't get me wrong, he's still incredibly scary in the show, sure. But, they emphasized his age a lot. He's not nearly as physical, he's older. His hearing is a huge issue, but in the game Joel's hearing is literally what saves your life, gets you around a lot of the time.
I know we all love the unhinged knife scene in the show, but it really doesn't hold a candle to the type of terror he inspires in the game during the winter. I'm still not really over the brutality of the winter section of the game, for both Joel and Ellie. Like, it really showed so well why Tommy was afraid of Joel and what he can do/is willing to do. It's an important setup for the inevitable end of the season/part 1, and the very particular way Joel cares about people and what he'll do for/because of them.
He's so much harsher, but it really makes those moments where his softer side comes out shine all the more. When Ellie finally gives him the picture of him and Sarah comes to mind. He still doesn't say much but its incredibly clear how much his acceptance of the picture means to both of them without spelling it out.
Joel in the game is also. . .kinda funny? We don't really see this humorous + sarcastic side to him in the show that we get in the game. In the show, the grumpiness + sarcasm is more played up.
This doesn't have to do with game vs show really, but I wanted to mention it anyway, because that's probably what sparked this ask. I was looking for specifically game!Joel fics because I personally enjoy his game characterization more and find it much more interesting, but also, I think by virtue of Joel being played by Pedro Pascal in the show, there are a lot of tropes commonly associated with show!Joel in the fandom that are just not my cup of tea, and you just don't see game fics written in the same way. That's really neither here nor there, that's a me problem y'know, but I wanted to mention it anyway.
Please, please, please know that I very much love both versions of this character. I think they fit their respective mediums really well, show vs game. And, like I said, I do find game Joel more interesting, personally, and I think there's probably an underlying motive to Joel's characterization in the show that we'll see the fruits of later, which I can't really specify without spoiling the show or tlou part 2.
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i would love to hear how youd want to do a botw manga
YEAAAAAAHHHHH ok ok ok so. i would have the manga follow largely the same structure as the game, beginning with link waking up on the great plateau. he would go through the opening segment almost the same as the game, but with a little more emphasis on the physical toll that the shrine has taken on him (notably i'd frame the old man's baked apple as his realization that he's HUNGRY, that his body feels physically weak and untrained after 100 years of sleep.) i would also place a lot of emphasis on the eeriness of the plateau and the fact that link feels he SHOULD remember these locations but doesn't. the plateau segment would otherwise be very game-compliant, including the shrines, tower, temple of time, and the old man's cabin as spotlighted locations. the key difference here would be that instead of the gameplay mechanic where shrines give link something physical that makes the game easier for the player, they would instead be framed as training exercises which, while lacking material reward, would help him retrain his body and regain the strength he lost in the 100 years he was asleep.
after leaving the plateau the general structure of the game would be loosely followed, (impa > purah > divine beasts & memories > ganon) with a few key pieces of worldbuilding/side quests spotlighted along the way. the first major event after leaving the plateau for link would be his discovery of the dueling peaks stable, the first real indication of human society he's seen since waking up. this would be an important introduction to the society of hyrule post-calamity, and link would also get his first horse here, finding that he's strangely good with horses and perhaps getting a quick flash of a warm feeling, almost like an old friend :)
The memories would still be initially revealed to link via images within the sheikah slate, but unlike gameplay i wouldn't have link specifically seek out memories, instead i would have him stumble upon familiar locations while exploring, which i think is closer to the original intent of that feature. he would find each memory in order and they would play out very similarly if not exactly as they do in canon. the divine beasts and their quests would also play out largely like canon, with the exception of me retconning the transphobia out of the gerudo quest line. I also might like to spend a little more time on the legacies of each champion and how their losses are felt in their respective communities. they all have very strong characterization already and i would love to take the time to expand upon it a bit more!! the same goes for the NEW champions (sidon, teba, yunobo, and riju) i'd like to take some more time to expand upon their characters as well!
the sword-claim is the one thing that i don't fully know how to deal with. i think logically, it either has to come before all of the divine beasts, or after all of them. if i put it in before all of the beasts, it would require some gratuitous shrine training montages to convey how much work it takes link to get to the point where he's able to handle the master sword, which would break up the flow of the story and imo isn't very true to the gameplay which usually just has you explore shrines as you find them during your journey. the only other option, though, is to put it in AFTER the divine beasts, which may lessen the impact it has on the story if the only time he ever ends up using it is to defeat ganon. it sort of makes it into a deus ex machina instead of a pervasive element of the story in the way it is in the game. the way that i think i would deal with this is to have link hear about the master sword's legend from npcs as early as that first stable, and have him stumble into the lost woods BEFORE he has trained enough to be able to handle the sword. he finds it, learns what it is and that it's waiting for him, but he isn't able to claim it in his current state. this gives him a tangible goal to work towards for the rest of the story--a reason to continue entering shrines and growing stronger while he's doing divine beast quests. it also allows the master sword to remain present and active in the narrative without forcing link to get too strong too fast. THEN, when he's finished all the divine beasts, he can have a moment like, "i think i'm strong enough now. i'm prepared" and he can go BACK to the lost woods and successfully pull the sword and then go straight to ganon.
aside from the main quest line there are a few really good side quests i want to include as well, notably the kakariko yiga shrine quest and the hylian homeowner/tarrey town side quests. the former i just think is a very impactful storyline and nicely sets up the yiga as villains later on in the gerudo quest, and the latter is imo thematically important as a physical example of link rebuilding his life and watching hyrule continue to grow and heal despite the wreckage of the calamity. ideally this would be the last thing link does before facing the calamity; the wedding scene would end with link deciding the time has finally come for him to face ganon again, having found hope and community, knowing that no matter what happens hyrule will never be broken beyond repair.
the final battle would go similarly to canon, with callbacks to pieces of training link would have received earlier in the story--perfect parries, aerial archery, shield surfing, and all of the champion abilities would be highlighted during the battle, which would come to a triumphant end with ganon finally defeated and link and zelda reunited.
sooo yeah! largely canon-compliant but with certain aspects adjusted for readability. botw has such a strong narrative that it would actually be super easy to adapt imo but that might just be my opinion because i never think about anything else lol
#the same themes that we see in the game would be really prominent throughout this hypothetical manga obv#but in general i would just choose what to adapt and what to cut without changing too much actual story LOL#asks#OH I FORGOT TO PUT THIS IN THE POST BUT!!! link would be completely nonverbal for the plateau segment and would slowly regain speech#as the journey goes on. initiall he would assume this to be a side effect of the shrine of ressurrection but. well.#he'd learn the truth eventually
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okay but considering what you've gone off about with Lilith, Bump, and Gus and Willow, I GOTTA know what you think about Alador now???
Alador Blight was such a good highlight to this episode. Fan theory can spout off as much as they want about abusive elements, manipulation, arranged marriage, Alador/Darius, etc. A lot of those notions hit on the money, some are just speculation. In the end, I appreciate the journey. I wanna talk about his characterization and portrayal. I'd like to preface with that this is just me talking, no fact or fiction, just interpretation from a nerd.
In Escaping Expulsion, he stops Odalia because he recognizes Amity's growth. Her power and strength, and he notes that that type of drive is what the Emperor's Coven looks for. Because he thinks that's what she wants, and he sees the silver lining for both their sakes.
He looks back on his childhood with fondness, but also has a sense of pride/embarrassment at how openly in awe Amity is of his past. She states that she wants to be like him, and how she finds excitement in that. He downplays it for her sake because he wants better for her (or at the very least, in the way Odalia does). Thinking for as fun as it was, that's not what Amity---the Amity he knew as a child---would've wanted.
But the important takeaway in the end is that he's out of touch. He's realizing he doesn't know a thing about his kids. He feels confused. Like he wasn't sure how or when it all changed. His youngest daughter has a girlfriend, she's complaining about her hair colour and not wanting to join a coven anymore. But mainly? She's complaining that he doesn't know anything.
But he admits something he observed. Something he knows. For everything he doesn't know, for all that he's out of the loop in, he breaches a topic he knows for certain and it happens to be the very thing Amity can be glad about.
But when he goes for a hug and she responds with a boundary, he's disappointed. He respects it, but is disappointed and surprised. He's out of touch with his kids and the closest display of physical affection him---a father---is allowed to breach, is a handshake. And she says it's a start. Him confronting his wife, her mother, is a step closer to redemption in his daughter's eyes.
Stress, confusion, and doubt wracking his brain, he vents. He confesses to be overworked. That he's built off a life's work toward project like this, the very thing his family strived toward, but he still feels torn (heh bc the bag). His pride and joy was achieved, right? Yet he feels like nothing makes sense, nothing is right anymore.
But then when he hears King never met his dad, he realizes his substitution for his kids. Have they really met him? Has he really met them? In how long? How long have they spent "never really meeting" their dad despite his proximity? His absence created a rift between his true greatest creations and---
---he feels regret. So he declares a change. That he's gonna do something.
He confronts Odalia, he challenges her at every notion and every opportunity. (side note, it's cute that Amity gets her red angry face from her dad). And even stands against what Odalia thinks is best for the Blights, and resolutely destroy's his life's work. Without hesitation, he destroys his entire factory. Within seconds.
They're finished. Their "marriage", their "work relationship", their "co-parenting"---in every sense it's done. He stood up to her, even admitting how terrifying it was, for the sake of his daughters and son. He's done with being distracted. Done with being forced to be distracted. A new chapter, if you will. (Also this shot is so freaking cool).
Here, it's minor, but him openly stating something like this, it's just a neat way of showing he's paying attention. Setting aside what he knows is at stake and all the dangers, it's a way of showing he's valuing what his daughter sees important. It's not just that he can stop all the Abomatons at the head. But that he knows they're after "Hunter". He knows Amity's intentions, and all her friends' intentions, and states it. He's proclaiming a boundary, "You're going to do this. And I am aware of it. And I'm coming with you."
Knowing that in Reaching Out, the mere action of confronting Odalia outright or simply on her own stances is something Amity appreciates. So Alador makes a point to confront "Luz" outright and disregards whatever Odalia said (even though this is Hunter). As if to breach another boundary for Amity, that though he's been slow on catching up, he's willing to let Amity feel more comfortable and safe in her home. The sentiment is what matters here.
This is such a good telling of a father working out of---for the simplest of terms---a toxic relationship for the sake of his family. He recognizes his faults, the faults that led him to where he was, and the priorities of his kids. In the end, he's willing to throw it all down in one instant for their sake. Even if it's terrifying for him. Even if he doesn't know or understand everything. Even if he dedicated countless hours to build everything that brought them where they were today.
He does it for Amity, Edric, and Emira.
And that's all that matters.
(oh and I guess for the sake of the Isles because all Hell is about to break loose).
#ask bleh#anon asks#asks#toh#the owl house#toh spoilers#the owl house spoilers#escaping expulsion#reaching out#reaching out toh#clouds on the horizon#alador blight#lumity#amity blight#luz noceda#odalia blight#edric blight#emira blight#toh analysis#he's trying#and that's what matters
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top five season 2 episodes. or top five season 3 episodes. both iconic seasons for the myth arc but also full of really good motw eps
you're so right, they're both some of the best!! let's chat season 3
(some of this is derived from my newsletter)
1/ oubliette
#MYepisode. aside from paper hearts, this is my favorite episode of the series. it means so much to me. i love it so much. i love that they accidentally wrote a very poignant story of abuse and trauma reactions, from so many different sides.
oubliette opens on the abduction of 15-year-old amy jacobs from her bedroom, her nose beginning to bleed as her kidnapper whispers the words "nobody's gonna spoil us."
twenty miles across town, lucy householder is working her shift at a fast food chain when her nose begins to bleed, and she collapses, repeating the phrase "nobody's gonna spoil us" over and over again.
when mulder begins investigating, it is revealed that lucy had been kidnapped from her home 22 years ago at age eight, her abductor never found.
he becomes convinced that lucy is the connection to finding amy, as lucy continues to experience everything that amy experiences. every scratch on amy's face appears on lucy's. when amy is kept in the dark, lucy can't see.
"i feel like it's happening all over again," lucy whispers to mulder in her room at the halfway house where she lives, and this is a feeling that all trauma survivors are familiar with.
the supernatural element of this episode is a heightened version of the re-traumatization that lucy would be experiencing regardless, upon learning that her kidnapper had taken someone else.
the psychic connection between these two survivors, simply intensifies the implicit connection between them. they've never met, but they're tethered to each other. in experience, in understanding, in reaction and physical response.
lucy isn't the only one reliving the worst nights of their life, as mulder is once again walking into the childhood bedroom of a lost little girl.
years earlier, in conduit, he confessed to scully that he spent his childhood walking into his room with his eyes shut, feeling that maybe one day when he opened them, his sister would be there. "just lying in bed, like nothing ever happened."
in oubliette, he arrives at the jacobs' house alone, with scully's flight delayed in D.C. (later, when she says that she tried to call him, he tells her that he left "in a hurry," and forgot his cell phone).
it's hard not to feel a little pang in this scene, when he pauses to speak to amy's mother. tells her that he's sorry, that they're going to do everything they can to find her daughter, and she says "how could you really know how i feel?"
(i'll do another post sometime on mulder in this episode, there are a lot of angles to it that i'm not going to address here)
amy isn't the only person that lucy feels a connection to though, and i love the script page of this moment between her and mulder.
contrasted to mrs. jacobs’ reaction, lucy understands how sincere he truly is, even without knowing him. i love how purposeful the use of light and dark is in this story.
this is a really important episode for mulder's characterization, as the conflict builds to scully and the other investigators suspecting lucy as an accomplice in amy's kidnapping, due to her criminal history and traces of physical evidence.
mulder defends her from law enforcement fervently, leading to a confrontation with scully where she accuses him of "protecting her beyond the point of reason" and rationalizing a personal identification with her, because of her correspondence to his sister.
he responds that he's thought of that, and "not everything i do, say, think, and feel goes back to my sister," telling her that motivations are more complex than one singular childhood event.
this is something that elizabeth kubek touches on in the book deny all knowledge. kubek writes that the key women in oubliette, along with samantha mulder, are viewed as "simple equivalents."
and that the kidnapper of the first two girls, carl wade, "represents a symbolic logic of duplication," in the ways that he subjects both girls to the exact same experience and treatment, years apart.
this is amplified by the psychic connection between them, which furthers the degree to which they are, in many ways, the same person, having the same experience.
kubek goes on to note that mulder "resists" reading the girls as simple equivalents, instead viewing all three of them as individual people, leading individual lives.
in the end, when lucy gives her life for amy, the "logic of duplication" model would suggest that it's an even trade- that the girls are identical in their defining life event, and therefore exchangeable.
mulder relentlessly fights to save amy, then openly grieves lucy, weeping over her body outside of the home where she was held years ago.
in the final scene, it's mulder that suggests that maybe lucy's death was about more than saving amy. maybe it was about escape, and being her own person.
2/ pusher
along with beyond the sea, this might objectively be the best episode of this series, and i definitely view modell as the scariest villain.
even more than the gruesome monsters or the brutal serial killers, modell is impenetrable. he can pass through any security with one word written on a napkin. you can track him, you can seek him, but no one can stop you from lighting yourself on fire or pulling your car out into traffic when you find him.
he is the kind of killer who calls the police and confesses, because even if you get him to court, 5 bucks says he gets off.
this episode smoothly combines a truly well-executed MOTW with subtle character dynamics and standards.
mulder is any serial killer’s ideal adversary. scully is the disbeliever who trusts her partner more than she dismisses any phenomena.
these are themes that we’ve seen before, but they’re rarely as prevalent as in this episode.
the episode reaches its climax in one of the most intense sequences of the series, the russian roulette scene, which perfectly encapsulates so much of both what is scary about modell and what is steady about our agents.
mulder will put a gun to his head and pull the trigger with no hesitation, but he’ll shake and sweat and scream when it’s aimed at scully.
scully will cry with fear, but she won’t run, she won’t move, until she finds a solution that doesn’t involve leaving him there.
in the end, it’s not worth another minute of their time.
3/ grotesque
i love a good "maybe mulder's been possessed/bitten/infected, or maybe he's just like that" episode!
the moment that really sticks with me from grotesque is this one here; when scully, unable to find mulder, goes to his apartment, and discovers that it is completely wallpapered in the killer's drawings.
season 3 is heavy in characterization, more so than any other season, and grotesque is one of the more visual explorations of psyche and obsession, the effects of sanctity, of following someone who is constantly chasing something else.
grotesque follows a chain reaction of fixation and consumption, in line with its central statement, the advice that mulder's former mentor bill patterson lived by: "to know an artist, you have to look at his art...if you want to catch a monster, you have to become one yourself."
a mulder-centric story told largely through scully's eyes, the audience follows as patterson pursues the killer, mulder pursues patterson, and scully pursues mulder, each of them compulsively striving to understand the other.
undercutting the tension of this procession, is the entity that mostow claims possessed him to kill. with mostow in custody, the murders continue, and no one is sure who or what is carrying on the objective.
in the end, it's patterson himself who is responsible for the copycat killings, though it’s never clear if “possession” was literal or figurative.
mulder theorizes that after years of obsessing over mostow's murders, of studying his work, patterson sunk “deeper and deeper into that ugliness, as you taught us to do” until the violence he bore witness to, stayed alive inside of him.
this is something that mulder is quick to understand, and after all, he was once one of patterson’s students.
“you said it yourself, if you want to know the artist, look at the art. i’m finally agreeing with you.”
in a show, and character, that finds comfort in evil being found "out there": in space, in starlight, in underground creatures, grotesque posits evil as "something born in each of us."
something lying dormant, that can be seen or activated in examination and association.
4/ quagmire
like so many season 3 episodes before it, quagmire is a love letter to the core of who the characters are, except this episode ruminates on new revelations and quiet conversations rather than exemplifying the traits that we already see in them.
sitting on the rock discussing literature and family origins and earnest theses disguised in flippant remarks, the audience is let in on the same realization that scully has when she tilts her head.
that they are ahab and starbuck, and have been since childhood nicknames and “boyhood” fantasies. that they know exactly who they are, and what they’re doing, and where they’re headed, and they are never more than 3 feet from the shore.
they can get up and leave, but they don’t realize it, they’re sitting in the dark with each other.
this is a unique episode in that mulder is both right and wrong.
it might not have been the true culprit; but the creature is real, the hope is there, the belief is worthwhile. he’ll never know it.
scully knows it though, she knows it without ever seeing it, because she understands what belief truly represents. that people want to believe, that these stories will always endure.
ahab slew the white whale, and it wasn’t enough, but there’s still hope.
5/ jose chung's "from outer space"
i have a hard time writing about this episode because i literally have no reason for liking it this much except that it's funny. i don't even like the plot. it just made me laugh so hard that i had to keep rewinding it and laughing again, so it always makes my lists.
but we're just chatting so let's giggle over the top 5 jose chung's moments that make me laugh.
1/ blaine describing the ""men in black""
i swear to god this is what the transcript says:
"one of them was disguised as a woman, but wasn't pulling it off. like, her hair was red but it was a little too red, you know? and the other one…the tall, lanky one…his face was so blank and expressionless. he didn't even seem human. i think he was a mandroid...the only time he reacted was when he saw the dead body.
(mulder lets out a very girlie, high-pitched shriek)"
2/ the alien smoking a cigarette
not a day goes by that i don't think about this.
3/ roky's interaction with the men in black
MAN IN BLACK 1: no other planet has been misidentified as a flying saucer more than the planet venus...even the former leader of your united states of america, james earl carter jr., thought he saw a UFO once…but it's been proven he only saw the planet venus.
ROKY: i'm a republican.
4/ alex trebek
"mulder didn't say it WAS alex trebek. it was just someone that looked incredibly like him."
5/ agent diana lesky and "her partner, reynard muldrake, that ticking time bomb of insanity"
darin morgan, thank you for the implication that mulder gets off to the bigfoot tape. i treasure it.
#thank you for the ask!#sorry this is all over the place#love to everyone#txf#oubliette#pusher#grotesque#quagmire#jose chung's from outer space#asks#kae meta
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(Note: this is a twitter crosspost with a little bit of editing and extra links, so if you saw this as a thread on my twt, then there isn’t really anything new in this post, unless you never saw my Freshly Tatted Baby Waz art since the main thing I added was a link to it.)
One of my drafts, “Scars and Ink”, is about Irumyuui comparing her marked skin to Vueko and Belaf’s scars. The parallel that all three of them bear physical evidence of violence/abuse has always struck me as incredibly poignant and folding well into the parallel we were already invited to draw between Vueko and Belaf’s scars and how the two might regard these reminders of what they’ve lived through. Anyway, I wondered if it would belabor the story to add a smol moment with Wazukyan; they aren’t close, of course, and the focus of the story will remain on Irumyuui’s relationship with her parents, but it feels like a great opportunity to incorporate that Waz has tattoos, which i headcanon as rooted in trauma like Iru’s own tattoos.
Corollary: I struggle to pin down a precise estimate on how upset or resentful Vueko, Belaf, and Irumyuui as individuals ever actually were with *him* and the agency he had in the situation, but to me, canon hints strongly B and V far more blamed themselves. As for Iru….hmmm. Well. I wonder.
The entirety of Irumyuui’s character/feelings and how it’s handled by the narrative is very interesting. Some folks have said they found Irumyuui undercharacterized; while I respect where they’re coming from I disagree. Instead a lot of her characterization is presented indirectly, blanks we must fill in reading between the lines, versus her actual scenes and dialogue.
Wishes and desires made manifest is, of course, of central importance of the Ganja/village arc. And it was irumyuui’s wishes and feelings and their manifestations that were the most important of all — yet there is explicit textual mystery to the shape and extent of those wishes.
Vueko, Belaf, and Faputa all have their own necessarily partial and biased guesses on how she really felt, what she really wanted, and how that shaped the events that came to pass. Besides input from these characters, we can also glean information from the village’s function. Why did Irumyuui give what she gave to Belaf and then all the other Ganja (except Vueko)? What does that say about how she felt towards them? We are invited to answer for ourselves.
imho a crucial element of Faputa’s growth during the climactic events is that she reassesses her self conception in light of receiving new information on Irumyuui, because she reevaluated what Iru “really wanted” as well as accepting the incompleteness of her prior knowledge. To me this part is also the text itself engaging with the viewer and inviting us to draw conclusions on how Irumyuui really felt, what she wanted, whether she ever really wanted revenge or simply the end of her own suffering, whether she ever assigned blame at all.
I think of this sort of thing as characterizing through the use of negative space. Afaik this is not a real storytelling term, I made it up lol, but I’m getting at something a bit more specific than just “the story leaves something ambiguous” (also something different from “this isn’t even in the story so we can decide it ourselves”, which I’ve also been known to describe using the concept of negative space as a metaphor for...oops sorry!) That is, although it seems at first that some element is not clear or specified, upon a second look we find that the outlines which are around that white patch of canvas contain the shapes and clues that give you a pretty good idea of what is in it.
#Irumyuui#wazukyan#vueko#belaf#ebil writes#orphan hole tag#i’m specifically withholding putting this one in the main tag bc I feel like that’s just asking for a bunch of people to weigh in with#their own answers to questions I was not actually trying to ask for input on ... ... >__>#‘actually i think Vueko and Belaf probably HATED Wazukyan by the end’ ok#’actually Irumyuui probably loathed everyone except Vueko (up to and including Belaf)’ ok#obviously given what i wrote i encourage you all to have your own irupinions!!! BUT i’m just not wanting to get those takes in my inbox lol
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Psychosophy Descriptions — VLFE
A person like "Lenin" is a born leader and, as a rule, strives to fulfill the decisions made by 100%. He is ambitious, dreams of a good career, of his party or organization, goes ahead, he can handle the career of a tough and at the same time caring leader.
Internal setting: claim to primacy and power, dominance and total control. The material world is imperfect and needs endless transformation for comfort and convenience, and I know how to make it perfect; something is wrong with my health and appearance; the health of the family and children are the main values.
Features of the manifestation of the internal attitude: self-confidence, jealousy, ambition, selfishness, stubbornness, high self-esteem, arrogant behavior, deviation from social norms, hypocrisy, suspiciousness, cleanliness and disgust, cruelty and over-concern for loved ones.
In ordinary communication, a carrier of the type "Lenin" is an excellent interlocutor, a little emotional and at the same time bewitching. He is a good speaker and is interested in a variety of knowledge. He is very talkative. The speech is florid, of little content, ambiguous, with elements of a magical effect on the audience due to a powerful will and uncritical self-confidence. It is characterized by a subtle sense of humor, an original sense of beauty, an interest in complex and unusual art, folklore, oriental dances, and some spiritual practices.
A carrier of the “Lenin” type subtly feels the physical condition of friends and relatives and, as a rule, selflessly takes care of them. He himself has problems with his health, but he constantly takes care not only of himself, but also of those close to him, therefore he more often tends to a healthy lifestyle. He carefully hides his external physiological defects. He feels a split and uncertainty in relations with the world of material things - everything that relates to the body, appearance, fashion, nutrition, carnal pleasures. He fears more than other physical violence and beatings, but is prone to particular cruelty in a difficult situation. He equips his permanent and even temporary dwelling with joy and special meaning; he works in this connection to exhaustion, not knowing the measure.
Money is very important to him. If they are not enough, he tends to a minimum (if only it is guaranteed) and is content with little, dreaming of still earning a quality life for his family.
A bearer of the “Lenin” type positions himself as hard-to-reach, a hypocrite. He has a difficult sex life, because he can be both lascivious and selective and cowardly at the same time, unpredictable in physiological sensations, and at the same time risks changing sexual partners and preferences.
A person of the “Lenin” type is more often an emotionally relaxed person. His emotions are free and adequate to the moment of communication, and he always says what is needed. Sadness very rarely visits him, usually in moments of feeling his ordinary human weakness in front of objective difficulties generated by the surrounding material world (which is part of his plans to change), and also due to the feeling of being a “black sheep” among people.
Source: The16Types
#personality theory#personality types#typology#attitudinal psyche#psyche yoga#psychosophy#vlfe#entj#entp#estj
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Hi 🖤 this maybe a weird question but I just got into the fandom and I’ve been catching up on the Solangelo discourse and I haven’t read the newest book yet but I was wondering if you think it’s better on the ableism front or at least negated/addressed some of the concern from the ship antis?
Side note but as someone new to the (tumblr) fandom are there any blog/post/thinkpiece recommendations? I’m just starting to understand some of the discourse and discussions and I don’t want to miss any important stuff in fan discussions. Or anything you’d personally add?
honestly as an able-bodied person i wouldn’t say i’m the best person to judge whether or not the ableist undertones in the ship were properly addressed. i will say that a significant part of will’s arc in the book is about learning to put in more effort to understand nico and that the darker sides of him aren’t meant to be conquered or fixed, just lived with. however, that’s more about his underworld heritage than anything else. but it can also be applied to his ptsd, and you could easily see how it can also be made to be about physical disability. most of the complaints about the book that i’ve seen were about the plot or the continuity errors or the characterization, not ableism in particular. so based on what i’ve seen in the book and the reactions from my mutuals i at least believe the ableism isn’t any worse than before. nevertheless, take my perspective with a grain of salt.
as for blog recommendations, most of the people i reblog from regularly are good places to start (i don’t want to try tagging everybody because if i forget someone i’ll feel bad so mutuals feel free to promo yourselves lmao).
if you’re interested in analysis on the ableist undertones of early solangelo and the blatant ableism of solangelo shippers from an actual disabled person, @ursie is a great place to go. xe makes very good posts that actually opened my eyes to a lot of this stuff.
as for fan discussion posts there’s a really good post somewhere that covers nearly all of the problematic elements of rick’s writing when it comes to his minority characters, i’ll try my best to find it. if anybody has any good posts they’d like to share, feel free to leave them here.
as for what i’d add, all i will say is just do your best to listen. it can be hard to hear criticism of something you love, but don’t take it as a personal attack. actually take your time to process the information, and then think about what you can do to make this fandom a more safe and accepting space for disabled people, poc, and more. we’re all here because we love this world and these characters, but those things are far from perfect.
and have fun!! find people who have the same favorite characters as you and spend hours brainrotting about them and ignoring half of canon. it’s therapeutic
#this got a bit long#but hopefully there’s something useful in here#tsats spoilers#just in case#asks#anon#long post
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iwtv ep 3 messy thoughts under the readmore
i lovvvve what they have done with the plot around louis' family. can't help but wonder how him getting squeezed out of the azalea will impact grace & her children. bc her husband plays the man (and the son to louis' mom !) but in ep 2 grace says he doesn't have a mind for business... seems like they do depend quite a lot on the de pointe du lac estate, and on louis' occasional help on top. louis calling out to grace, and retreating when she shouts at him to go (after he destroyed the front door !) really says so much about their relationship, i.e how deep it is, and how one-sided it has become, with louis visiting when he remembers to (the way he remembers there's twins when jonah tells him there's a birthday today !!) and expecting things to remain frozen in time while he's absent.
in the script for episode one babette (a kind of early vampirism love interest -- but not quite --in the books) as levi freniere's sister has some of grace's line and i think it was a very very good choice to put it all on grace's account.
i also absolutely adore the characterization that when louis is pushed beyond his limits he goes BIG. it happening in the third episode, after we've seen all the ways he's undermined, attacked, etc. for being black, for being gay, for not being the right son it really does feel cathartic when he just goes ham on the alderman. he simmers until he blows up and i love that for him & pray for those vampires at the theatre who will find out the hard way :/
edit : and the race riots ! that was so hard to watch, and i didn't know about that piece of history at all, but apparently it's based on true events. a reflection of the way anne rice incorporated the fires of new orleans into her novel, but made much more current. sometimes it's a bit awkward and on the nose (in the sense that they really belabour some of the stuff -- esp. in ep 2 imo -- when they could simply show it) but i think the choice to make louis black is so so important...
we didn't get a lot of "present time" this episode & i wonder whether we're going to get more of a plot in the real time with further episodes. i have kind of a nebulous pet theory that we might go from iwtv straight into the queen of the damned plot, which is after all the book where daniel reappears. (what i actually mean is that i have a pet idea of louis being against appearances a kind of distinguished prisoner in the tower. as in rashid says he serves a god, but he doesn't say he serve louis, etc. etc. but i think there's textual elements disproving it & i am just ignoring them (￣m￣)
lestat using his mind powers until he has blood coming out of his ears... very nice to see a physical toll for those. i think so far we have seen flight (but only just kind of floating), telepathy (exploring the thoughts of mortals, but also intervampire communication, even between fledgling and sire if i understand the bar scene correctly), fire (louis :D), a certain amount of mind control (freezing time, putting asleep, marching people out)...
i talk more about louis but i would LOVE to dissect lestat under a microscope. he has anger issues he has abandonment issues he has ego issues he hates his dad he is his dad he's a jock he's a theater kid he does everything for louis and he won't listen to him...amazing
also the claudia show starts next sunday... i cannot wait for my most darling of all :0
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𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈𝐈. Sapphire, spiritual veins that connect souls of defunct and alive alike: on telepathy.
Amongst the many denominations and functions Irminsul has, its Ley Lines are also known as spiritual veins that carry the souls of the defunct in a physical manner, albeit their remain in this world in a spiritual way until a ritual is done to relieve the Ley Lines and with it, release the souls to the afterlife that corresponds them. These souls not only belong to those who have passed away, but to everyone who was registered by Irminsul as the way it has to reproduce memories via Ley Lines is to project something that matches with what they absorbed at the time, while at the same time they are no mere projections: they can interact with the environment within the memory in itself and with people from differing timespans.
While telepathy is reserved to the divine (two of which connected to Irminsul, one of them no longer in godhood) and it stands to reason that this couldn't be of any other way, there is a detail in the way that Wanderer uses telepathy that serves as key in order to make it happen: a connection. During 3.1 we see Haypasia excited over the fact that she thinks that she has achieved Paripurna Life, the epitome of true insight and allegedly the state of mind that can gather any knowledge, when in truth what she did was connect with Scaramouche at the time and she was able to see his memories and hear his thoughts and feelings.
This lets on the fact that there is a need for a link or a connection for individuals that weren't born divine while those who are can let their words be heard by those who they wish at will (Nahida and the mysterious female who talks to Traveler at the end of Wanderer's AQ), or communicate with others via dreams (once again, Nahida and Greater Lord Rhukkadevata before her, but also Zhongli). Back to Wanderer who achieved godhood earlier on in his life, one of the things that characterize him is his brief connection to Irminsul and the possibility to establish a telepathic connection with Traveler even by bypassing Nahida's supervision. It could be because of the manner his godhood was achieved, it could be because of his connection to Irminsul.
For Dain in specific, I want to focus on his connection to Irminsul to build a path to feasibility that he can establish telepathic communications too. Starting from the fact that Ley Lines permeate the entirety of the world, this would make for a good starter in order to find the soul of who he wants to communicate with. Nevertheless, it is not as simple given the fact that he is no god, thus while the possibility is there, it isn't without its restrictions. I want to stress on the importance of a connection. As in Scaramouche's case a good lead to connect with Traveler telepathically for the first time could've been Haypasia who connected to him first and was able to envision his memories and hear his thoughts and feelings, so does Dain need a lead in order to establish this communication.
This can happen via three methods: 1) to permeate beforehand the individual of desire in question with Ether, 2) to establish a thread of connection with someone who he gave an Inteyvat or 3) to make the individual imagine a specific landscape that Dain described to them previously.
In the first case, given how rare Ether as an element can be to find, were he feel something that isn't the Ley Lines or Irminsul that has Ether within them, it will make it easy for him to discern what that thing actually is, even more so if it is a living being.
The second case scenario can apply with the Inteyvat as they're rare flowers and only as many living people are in their possession— by connection to the Ley Lines of the very location said person is in, Dain will be able to know who is this person without reaching out to a different person by mistake, there will be no mistake in this.
In the last case, the landscape in question that has to be imagined is nothing less than the appearance of Dain's realm of consciousness: an enormous field of Inteyvats atop an ocean of stars, with the celestial dome cracked (like Fischl's dreamscape) and an infinite nocturne sky with glimmering stars and the moonlight shining through and, at the center, the Irminsul tree. The second method is more intimate, as it is not a mere telepathic communication but a communion of souls in Dain's realm of consciousness where they can see each other.
Suffice to say, in order for this to happen Dain must have a strong bond with the individual in question. When this happens his voice will suffer a distortion that makes it sound ethereal and otherworldly— seraphic, in tune with his roots as a celestial being. In the case of the latter case in which the individual is brought to his realm of consciousness, they may be sentient that something is amiss with Dain while it's still the same as he is, something amiss new to them or that they already felt from him before, but that this would serve as a confirmation. It will not be the same case scenario as Haypasia with Scaramouche when she was able to envision his memories and hear / feel his thoughts and feelings, but something far more muted yet still telling.
#◟༺✦༻◞ glimpses in the past of a shattered spirit ┊headcanon.┊#I had a vague idea about this#since a very lovely reply#that I plan to continue in a thread#but today talking with a friend#and a prompt#this gathered more strength#so I had to do something about it
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(Ariel anon again) You asked in some tags how I think Ariel should had been handled in the sequel...well, to be honest, I feel I would had rewritten the entire sequel because I don't like any bit of it lol, but if we go to Ariel's characterization, I always believed Ariel would had been the kind of mother who would had chose to "break the cycle" in regards of how she was raised, because in my opinion it's more consistent with her character. Following the LGBTQIA+ analogy you have brought up in your answers, Ariel would be the kind of mother that, based on her own experiences as a closeted teen, would be a loving, open-minded and supporting mother to her daughter so Melody would confide on her and come out to her in a loving, safe space. On the other hand, I think Ariel would never hide away her mermaid heritage from her daughter, but instead, would openly talk to her about the dangerous enemy (Morgana) who wants to harm her so Melody would had been informed and thus, not being as exposed and vulnerable as Ariel was with Ursula, and also would had worked with both Eric and Triton in a proactive way to hunt down Morgana in all corners of the sea and not stop until they would had found her (I hate how the sequel downplayed Ariel's fierceness of the original film. Being a mother doesn't means she lost her fire!). Maybe she would had asked Melody to no swim beyond certain points of the ocean, but I don't feel in character of her to forbid her daughter of something she loves and appreciates dearly and is a part of her, considering her own experience with her father and sisters.
Then again that would had been my personal approach on Ariel. When it comes to Melody I would had made her aware of her half-mermaid heritage from the beginning and maybe her arc should had been more about coming to terms with the two halves of her identity (half human, half mermaid). And Morgana wouldn't had existed either, I would had put another enemy, but again, my ideal TLM sequel would had been something like the new books: focusing on Ariel's life on land with Eric while keeping in contact with her family and friends in the sea instead of making a "Next Gen sequel", but those are my thoughts! SORRY for sending you so many asks but I have so many thoughts LOL and also I love your answers <3
No reason to apologize at all- you have so many wonderful thoughts and they're inspiring me to think of so many things that I've never been engaged to think of before. I definitely agree with you about Ariel not being so secretive with Melody. I think Ariel's strength in the first film was her willingness and desire to connect with others in a dialogue, as we see her often try to talk things out with her father. He's the one who prefers silence, and it's one of the things that irk Ariel most about him. She hates being shut down, she hates there being rules set in place that make no sense and not even being able to ask questions about why those rules are in place, she hates unresolved conflict and the "because I said so" mentality. Also, I think you hit on something important, which is that Ariel would allow Melody a space to be herself and come out and feel safe. Ariel never had that, so she sees the value in it...but also, the world's changed.
While Triton's "gay" too in the metaphor, and he's deeply closeted and homophobic as a result, the world he grew up in and is holding onto is a different one. He actually fears for Ariel's safety should she ever accept herself and his negative experiences are so deeply ingrained in him that he makes himself willfully blind to future progress. It's like, my family is very intolerant of gay people but that's also because they came from a European village where it was pretty much punishable by death. Gay people were outcasts, alienated, and on the outskirts of society, often in physical danger because of their identity. However, I grew up in America and, while there were definitely problematic elements surrounding the LGBTQIA+ community and "agenda" growing up, I still think it was much more normalized and gay marriage was even legalized when I was just out of high school. Obviously, due to these external factors, when I have kids one day, it'll just automatically be totally different than it would've been for me experiencing the upbringing I did with the people that were shaped by the environment and era they were shaped by. I think, Ariel's already of another generation, but she also helped impact society through saving Eric and, ultimately, marrying him. She's the first mermaid to become human (to our knowledge) and her bridging those two worlds impacts the society of the universe in a way that's impossible to overestimate. So, to think she would just mindlessly parrot the parenting styles of someone with all the differences she and Triton share not only doesn't make sense but undercuts everything Ariel did in the first film to make the changes to her world that she did?
I also think Melody being so interested in the ocean, first off, totally fits in line with Eric's interests. He opens the first film with a clear appreciation for the open seas so I don't think it'd be so shocking and something that Ariel and Eric wouldn't have planned for? Also, Ariel never had a relationship with her sisters due to her not trusting them and having to be closeted around them. So, once she goes on land, I don't see her continuing much of a relationship with her sisters because there was never much of one in the first place and, now, she's more different from them than ever. If anything, Melody wanting to be a mermaid would be a beautiful way to give Ariel a reason to develop something with her sisters. Imagine if she allowed Melody to go into the ocean, but since Morgana hadn't yet been found, she would entrust Attina or Aquata to keep a close watch on Melody and swim around with her and show her the sights of the undersea kingdom while keeping her safe from Morgana's grasp. There's just...so much lost opportunity.
#ask#anonymous#- message in a bottle <#i love your thoughts#they're so beautiful and eloquent#but also#i totally concur w your sentiment on hating how they make women who are mothers suddenly devoid of any fire or individuality#see: shrek franchise#like just because a woman has a kid doesn't make that her sole identity#just like a woman who's in a relationship doesn't center her personality entirely around her partner
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WEEK 1 SDL
WEEK 1: 3 Photographers
Research: What is self-portrait Photography?
Self-portrait photography is when the photographer takes a picture of themselves. It's not just about quick selfies; it's deeper. Self-portraits can tell stories, try new things, or even create alter egos. Artists like Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe used self-portraits to share their feelings and ideas. They explored topics like getting older, gender, and who they really were. So, self-portraiture is more than just a picture—it's a way to express yourself in a meaningful way.
JOEL ROBISON
Joel Robison, a portrait photographer and Photoshop artist, is renowned for his imaginative self-portraits. He brings fantastical scenarios to life, portraying himself as a giant or endowed with magical abilities. Joel's editing style enhances the dreamlike quality of his images. His self-portraits defy the laws of physics, featuring whimsical scenes like cycling in the air or flying with an umbrella, igniting viewers' imaginations.
Each of Joel's photographs is meticulously crafted, showcasing his talent and dedication. With imaginative compositions and vivid imagery, his work leaves a lasting impression on viewers. Beyond being visually striking, Joel's photographs convey clear messages, making them easily understood and appreciated.
Those 3 photos are about books. Joel loves using natural light in his photos. Books remind him to focus on storytelling.
Lizzy Gadd
Lizzy Gadd, a self-portrait photographer from Canada, combines portraiture with landscape photography to create captivating images. Her settings are dramatic, and her scenes are bold and textured. Lizzy utilizes landscapes to highlight herself as the model, often wearing costumes in vibrant colours like red or yellow, which contrast beautifully with the natural surroundings.
youtube
I researched Lizzy Gadd about the place where she usually takes photos and this video came out. She uses self-portrait photography to feel connected to nature and express her emotions. Whether she's feeling amazed or anxious, she reflects those feelings in her photos. In her presentations, Lizzy talks about how she takes her self-portraits. She explains things like why she picks certain places, what camera gear she uses, and how she makes creative choices. This helps people understand how she creates her beautiful and meaningful pictures.
I really love her photos, the landscapes in her photos are wonderful and the natural light attractive. Her photos make me feel inner peace and longing for a better life.
Ziqian Liu
Ziqian Liu is a Shanghai-based photographer renowned for her captivating self-portraits that seamlessly blend elements of minimalism, surrealism, and serenity. Her work is characterized by a rigorous minimalist style that emphasizes order and beauty, creating enchanting and almost surrealistic compositions.
With a keen eye for detail and a talent for conveying emotion through perspective, concealment, and mystery, Liu's photographs forge a strong connection with viewers. Despite the absence of overt human subjects, her self-portraits exude a serene quality that invites viewers to immerse themselves in the environment she creates.
Her images, characterized by their aesthetic purity and balanced compositions, often feature muted colour palettes and natural light, creating a tranquil atmosphere. Through meticulously arranged fragments of her own body and thoughtfully placed props, Liu creates abstract yet evocative narratives where symmetry and order take precedence. Ziqian Liu's work represents a prime example of contemporary self-portraiture, where the exploration of form, emotion, and environment converges to create images that are both subtle and captivating.
From Ziqian Liu's work, I can learn the power of simplicity and restraint in composition, as well as the art of storytelling through visual elements. By observing her meticulous arrangement of fragments and props, I understand the importance of attention to detail and intentionality in every aspect of a photograph. Additionally, her use of muted colour palettes and natural light demonstrates how to evoke emotion and create a tranquil atmosphere without relying on elaborate setups. Exploring Liu's work inspires me to experiment with minimalist styles, emphasizing order and beauty while still conveying profound narratives and emotions.
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Finished Adventures of Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty and... It is pretty obvious what they used as inspiration for The First Avenger, and I can imagine at least a little of why they changed it.
They couldn’t spend as much time on the reasoning for why someone would ask Steve for this experiment (because they wanted different but poorly defined ‘types’ of people to experiment on: intelligence, physical excellence, courage and calamity. These were also mixed in with racial stereotypes that were... problematic, at the least.) but having a lot of different candidates made sense. They skipped introducing those characters outside of Hodge to keep us from judging any of the other characters as possibly more worthy along with the uncomfortable stereotypes those characters were associated with. Hodge was... a weird cameo to keep though. He was a racist, sexist and homophobic asshole (and was expelled for making homophobic comments about one of the candidates who was discovered to be a hemophiliac and he didn’t know what the word meant, geeze) as well as a Nazi turncoat. The only reason I can imagine keeping him is to be a mirror to show Steve’s innate worthiness, a petty rival that was supposed to fit the stereotype. But then, why keep Hodge for that?
Another big difference was Cynthia/Peggy. They clearly chose Atwell because of her resemblance to Cynthia, not actual Peggy Carter. She was the only woman, effectively, in either story. Thus the only possible love interest and the only possible person to turn out to be a spy in a shocking twist. I don’t know the exact reason why they would change this. It was literally the only reason any women were included in the story at all. (The USO girls and random nurses don’t count- they aren’t actual characters. They are either there as set dressing or to prove that Steve is, indeed, attractive to women now). I can guess that it is a mix of the time period. Women In Refrigerators was a well known trope by this time, and cursing Captain America with such a criticism would have been bad, especially as PC was the only woman with any lines at all. I also doubt that, after killing Bucky Barnes (which was more inevitable than killing Cynthia Glass- his death is far more well known and is more important to Steve’s characterization. Though that does beg the question as to why the would use that version of his story instead of the Ultimates, where Bucky lives to old age, steals Steve’s pregnant girlfriend and is otherwise an ass. But NO ONE in Ultimates is likeable)
They went out of their way to avoid killing women on screen in that movie, which, well, I kinda get. But they couldn’t let a traitor live. So Cynthia lost her place and actions in the story, and was renamed Peggy Carter. What’s sad is that I like Cynthia better. She was a despicable person, being a Nazi spy. But- she grew. She changed over the course of a story. She learned and decided that she didn’t want to kill a good man, even if she could not fully reject her homeland.
Peggy Carter?
She did nothing.
Her only contribution was an echo of Cynthia, but while Cynthia actually was the person who could have gotten Steve and Bucky to Paris, Peggy was hardly the only person who could have gotten Howard to fly that plane. Howard was a known element. Steve could have asked him, Steve could have literally walked, knowing how fast and how strong he was (and arguably done better that way)
It makes me wonder what happened in earlier drafts. I’ve worked on collaborative efforts before, where people would have different ideas and then try and work them together into a cohesive whole. Often, what winds up happening is a mess. When you edit things, there are sometimes darlings you just can’t kill and they end up being artifacts that no longer make sense with the bigger picture. Cynthia Glass, I think, had been the character originally cast for with Atwell, and at some point they changed her into Peggy Carter because they either didn’t like the problematic element of her being a spy and dying, or because Atwell herself didn’t like it. But what it did do was eliminate any real reason for her being in the story at all. What did surprise me was difference in characterization. Atwell’s Carter is a straw Strong Female Character. She relies on masculine stereotypes, she’s a tsundere, and she runs around shooting a gun. She is explicitly written as being ‘not like the other girls’ despite perfect hair and makeup constantly. She’s a power fantasy of the perfect girl (both for male fans) as well as a self-insert fantasy for the type of woman who believes herself to not be like the other girls herself. Which is why I think she stayed so popular. (Her What If incarnation is the definition of Mary Sue. And I do NOT use that term lightly)
But yeah. I can see a lot of little, weird decisions and considerations piling up until Cynthia Class, a character who had a role in Steve Roger’s story, turned into the Peggy Carter we all... wonder at.
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Your Todoroki post though! Your tags! “Stop making him dense I think he would try so hard” thank you so much! I’m so happy someone else sees this! I get so tired of the fanon “oh Roki is airheaded and sheltered” like…he’s actually pretty observant??? Straight up told Iida that he had been watching him after hearing about his brother and worried because he understood that anger. He watches Deku all the time. I think Todoroki is just a lil shit with a dry sense of humor and he likes making people stare at him like “…is he serious?” Because he finds it funny. I think he’d observe the crap out of his partner! See their expressions when watching movies - did their eyes soften when the guy kissed the girl on the forehead and lingered? He’s not entirely sure but the next day when he sees you, he pulls you gently towards him and kisses your forehead, he feels you sink into him and sigh happily and he absolutely files that reaction away. He’s a good egg!
!!! okay i have a lot of thoughts on this and given the fact i never stfu about characterization, i want to say first like BIG agree.
i think todo fandom characterization boils down to 2 things - it’s either he’s completely dense or he’s this like.. sassy and sarcastic hard character but i kind of have beef with both of these characterizations for a lot of reasons.
1. i think there is a way to take todorokis trauma into consideration when writing his character. horikoshi, in my opinion, doesn’t do it enough. todoroki would be dense but not in a “oh im so silly i dont know how to have feelings way” but more in a sad kind of “i cannot physically understand that you love me kind of way” because he has no model for his healthier emotions and has spent so much of his life chasing specific expectations. just like dabi, really but i digress.
2. todorki is like.. in canon very observant of others just like you’ve said. he is both dense and observant they’re just in different ways and we get so much evidence of this. i think ppl just sorta pick one and roll with it but he’s such a varied character and only focusin on one element kind of erases a big part of what makes him so interesting.
i think the most important detail that it misses is how much todoroki is truly willing to try.
he, so genuinely, values the connection between himself and 1a. between him and bakugou and midoriya. his friendships. his schoolwork. his herosim - he’s been putting all of this effort. and i think writing him off as a character who is simply sassy or simply dense really misses the point of how tender he is despite what he’s experienced.
i think the biggest evidence of his kindness is how todoroki chose to forgive his mother because he realized that she too had been victim of his fathers abuse. he didn’t have to do that. regardless of what she had been experiencing, todorki was a child and he didn’t deserve what happened. shouto could’ve buried that grudge inside of him forever
but he didnt. he always is so kind to everyone. he is forgiving. he wants to understand people so much he is always willing to give them leeway.
even to that deadbeat he calls a father. he is so fucking patient and kind.
i love todoroki because he isn’t cold really at all. he’s not expressive but he’s loving and very forgiving and he cares very deeply about the people around him. he is such a complex person, genuinely.
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