#and does it Matter what the incident was???????? when we see the result???? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bones4thecats · 3 months

Text

What If Their S/O Was The Vice Of Ignihyde?

Type of Writing: #2 - Poll Result Characters: Jade Leech, Floyd Leech, Kalim Al-Asim, and Jamil Viper Name: What If Their S/O Was The Vice Of Ignihyde? Original Poll Link: Here

A/N: I'm dying while writing this🥲

✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅

🍄 He was interested in you from the start of your first year together

🍄 You were just so shy and reserved, it sprouted a new form of entertainment for him, and he'd be lying if he said your reactions to his teasing weren't enjoyable!

🍄 The first time he met you was because of when he needed to grab something for Azul and he walked inside the board-game club's room and found you messing around with Idia and laughing at Azul's concentration face

🍄 His heart fluttered unnaturally and he put on a plastered smile, while internally he was wondering what that feeling was, and he found out fast

🍄 When Jade asked you out, he chuckled as you tried hiding your face within your over-sized jacket

🍄 As you guys aged upon and into your second-year, he would joke around about how you really were made for one another, with you and him being far more extroverted than your housewardens, and how you both were the vices of your opposing dorms

🍄 Jade loves to walk into Ignihyde, prompting your fellow members to hide himself away from the intimidating eel-mer as you just hide yourself away as he carries you away

🍄 He calls you if there is an incident and they need some information on a certain person, and he uses his stance as your boyfriend to his advantage, and he also uses a few secrets that you guys have shared together against you

🍄 He's a pro-blackmailer like you are, and it makes Azul and Idia nervous, just how much do you guys have on them exactly?

✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄��⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅

🎭 Floyd, much like Jade, was interested in you from the very beginning of your time at Night Raven College

🎭 He met you because of a deal Azul wanted to propose to you, that being you would lend him some of your assistance with Mostro Lounge's mechanics while he gives you a form discount

🎭 This tweel was the one Azul sent to grab you, while he initially wanted Jade to, the fancy male stated how he needed to grab a few things of mushroom from the science room, claiming it might become a air-infesting poison if not taken out for an hour or so

🎭 So, unfortunately, he ordered Floyd to grab you, in which your future boyfriend giggled and began his peppy trip to Ignihyde, where you lead as the vice-housewarden

🎭 Many did not expect to see you guys hanging around one another afterwards, because of how introverted you were compared to his shameless and outgoing-self

🎭 But, when everyone in the college found out you both were an item, they freaked the hell out, especially Idia

🎭 Your housewarden was not fond of the tweels at all, they freaked him out more than crowded areas, and we all know how much those make him shiver...

🎭 Anyways, Floyd loves to kick down the mirror-gateway to your dorm when he's trying to hide from Azul and his work, and, because he knows his boss is going to go looking in his room, he goes to yours

🎭 And your room is being constantly monitored from cameras, in which you can make a small security system make the men chasing Floyd give up as soon as it comes out

🎭 Loves how cute you are when you blush, it's like a thing for Floyd, he just likes seeing you squeak and hide away as he tries pinching and pocking your tomato-colored cheeks while teases fly out of his mouth

☀️ Oh my, how much does this guy love you? It's beyond any kind of scale's listing, no matter the size of strength!

☀️ Kalim first met you because one of your fellow Ignihyde students were requested to help with setting up a mechanical device in Scarabia for a party Kalim was throwing

☀️ And, when that member got sick and couldn't leave his dorm, he sent Jamil a text, recommending you to replace him as he heals from his illness

☀️ Seeing you walk through the hot dorm with a heavy jacket on, despite the heat, he got interested and began to hop around you and ask you questions

" So, what's your name? Where are you from? What's it like helping Idia with managing that really cool dorm? Is it super cold in Ignihyde, and is that why you always wear that jacket? What do you want to do after graduation? How did you get to be so pretty-looking? "

☀️ Kalim did make you very nervous at first, but, after a few pep-talks with his good friend, Jamil, he got to understand exactly why you were so hidden with him

☀️ When you guys got together, it was basically the relationship troupe of opposite-attract, or in other words, the sun and the moon dynamic

☀️ Everybody in Scarabia adores watching you hide in your hoodie as Kalim compliments you, and Jamil likes how you're able to teach Kalim some things that even he deems complicated, like the makeup of a computer

🐍 A reserved man with a reserved S/O, what a great mix

🐍 When you first were announced to be the vice-housewarden of Ignihyde, Jamil literally just though you were going to be as camera-shy as your housewarden was

🐍 When in reality, you were far more reserved and had a larger habit of isolating yourself from larger groups than anything else

🐍 He had to appreciate you after you joined forces with your newest friend, Yuu, and the Octavinelle Trio to help break him out of his overblot at the start of the year

🐍 Your knowledge is something that makes your boyfriend proud of you, he's not any easy person to lose in a conversation, yet, you somehow manage to do it when you bring technology into the mix

🐍 Jamil rarely ever smiles with genuine affection, but, when you start rambling about how amazing something that you made or found was, he found himself suppressing laughs as you glared at the piece of machinery you were working on

🐍 Due to his role as Kalim's overseer, Jamil rarely ever gets a break, but, when you noticed how is eyebags were just as bad as your housewarden's, Idia's, were, you jumped into action

🐍 You had made a small model of robots from a story that Kalim loved as a child, and still loves, into small figurines that he could literally wind up and watch the story go by

🐍 When he walked in and watched as Kalim sat silently and enjoyed the show, you just hugged him and said Kalim would be ready for bed in a few minutes, and you just nudged for him to clean the kitchen with your help before going to rest

🐍 Whenever your housewardens have something to do in a meeting, you both help them carry out their roles, so, you guys may get busy from time-to-time with that, but, you guys always make time for one another

546 notes · View notes

the-writer-arrived · 4 months

Text

Wedding Bells Underwater

Synopsis: after things have finally settled down in fontaine, wriothesley can finally fulfill the promise he made to avice and faissolle. watching their dream come true makes the duke think about his own future, one with you, he hopes.

Character: wriothesley.

Warnings: gn!reader; established relationship; spoilers for wriothesley's story quest.

A/N: i got so happy that they were included as a nice easter egg on wrio's birthday art 🥺

"...I'm sorry, you want me to do WHAT?"

"Help me organize Avice and Faissolle's wedding."

You stare dumbly at Wriothesley, the faint music coming from the gramophone the only sound in his office while you try to gather your thoughts. Has the workload finally taking its toll on him? Surely he knows that you have zero experience in organizing a wedding???

"It's nothing too complex like you're thinking. I just want you to act as a 'bridge' between the couple and me, since I have other matters regarding the Fortress and can't focus solely on them."

You make a 'ohhhh' expression, now understanding what is expected of you.

"Why didn't you say so from the very beggining?"

"Because I wanted to see what kind of face you'd make. And I must say, you never disappoint sweetheart."

Like the mature adult that you are, you decide to not say the snarky remark you thought and simply leave his office to look for the said couple.

(It's a lie, you stick out your tongue childishly and rushed out of the room before your lover considers cuffing you for disrespecting authority. Not that you would mind it that much).

----------

For someone who knew basically nothing about planning a wedding, you got into it pretty quickly... Maybe a bit too into it, if you were being honest.

The decorations, the location, the order of the events, the dress! Blame it on your perfectionist side, but really, after everything Avice and Faissolle went through in the Beret Society incident, they deserved a perfect wedding.

Even if it wasn't going to be a large scale event, due to all the limitations that comes with choosing the Fortress of Meropide as the venue and the couple's own wish for keeping it simple, there still was a lot of work to do. Knowing that, Wriothesley announced that those who help with the preparations would be awarded with double Credit Cupons. Suffice to say that you got all the workforce needed pretty quickly for the preparations to go smoothly.

After many meetings, headaches and shipment delays, you can now admire the results of yours, Wriothesley's and all the volunteers' hard work.

"Didn't know you had a secret talent for this. Ever considered changing careers?" The man beside you asks quietly while the bride and groom are giving their speech.

"Archons forbid! Do you have any idea how stressful that was? I have a newfound respect for professional wedding planners." You whisper back, remembering the way you basically passed out in bed the day before, all the stress and sleepless nights knocking you out.

Before he could say anything else, the spotlight shines above him and all the guests turn to look at your table.

"Your Grace, words are not enough to properly thank you for everything you've done for us. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be standing here and be able to call Avice my wife." Faissolle's words falter, him and his bride trying hard to control the tears. Wriothesley smiles at them, raising his glass in appreciation for their words.

"Of course, we can't forget the one responsable for turning our ideas into reality." The spotlight is now shining on you as well and you feel your face warming at the sudden attention. "Thank you so much for creating such an incredible wedding for us, we'll never forget this day."

Everyone raises their glasses in a toast for the newlyweds, cheers running through the crowd of guests when the couple finishes their speech.

----------

"...A penny for your thoughts, Your Grace? Or does it require Credit Cupons as well?"

You nudge your lover's arm to get his attention, seeing his faraway look.

"Oh yes, at least 500 Credit Cupons for such information." He chuckles when you roll your eyes. A beat of silence falls and you wait patiently for him to continue, if he wishes to do so. "I was just thinking that, in all the years I've been in the Fortress, I've never imagined I'd one day have it decorated for a wedding, of all things."

Wriothesley's eyes run along the tables of guests, the other former members of the Beret Society and others who became friends with Faissolle and Avice, all smiling happily and having a good time. A peculiar sight to see when you remember this merry ceremony is taking place inside a prison.

His attention returns to you at the feeling of your hand slipping into his, fingers entwining themselves with his easily like two puzzle pieces.

"That means all of your hard work is bearing fruit. The Fortress of Meropide can also be a place of good memories and new beginnings. The proof of that is right in front of you."

The Duke knows you must have meant the event, but, to him, his good memories and new beginning are you, always have and hopefully always will be.

Throughout the process of organizing the wedding, Wriothesley had wondered what kind of ceremony you would wish for. A big and impressive one? Or maybe a more low-key one, with just your close friends and family? What kind of attire would you like to wear? From Chioriya Boutique, of course, nothing but the best for his darling in their special day.

"Everyone! I'm going to throw the bouquet now!" The bride announces, causing a buzz among the excited guests.

"So? Should we go too?" Your boyfriend asks with a smirk and a playful glint in his eyes.

"Why not? Since we're here, we might as well have the full experience!"

There's already a crowd gathered in front of Avice when you and Wriothesley decide to join them. You both don't really mind though, choosing to stay at the back and observe the enthusiasm of others.

One could think it's funny how excited someone could be at the chance of getting the bride's bouquet, a chance of getting married in the future. Or maybe, it's not about marriage at all, but actually for the idea of having a better future after their sentence time is fulfilled.

Or maybe it's all just a projection of the Duke's own feelings about this.

...Who knew a celebration like this would make him think about things he's never considered before?

He shakes his head to clear his mind. You both weren't there to try and catch the bouquet for real, so there's no need to think too deeply about it.

Unbeknownst to him, fate had other plans.

It all happens too fast. At one moment, you watch Avice throw the flowers high into the air; at the next, you feel someone bump into you from behind, causing you to stumble forward. Thanks to Wriothesley's quick reflexes, he manages to prevent your fall by wrapping a strong arm around your waist. And then, you find yourself staring at the bouquet that had landed right into your arms.

What in the world?!

"Ohhhh they caught it!"

"Man, I wanted that bouquet..."

"Does that mean we're going to hear news about the Duke's wedding soon?!"

"It's about time for His Grace to tie the knot!"

The comments, cheers and the sheer craziness of this unexpected twist makes you laugh, both in embarrasment and disbelief.

In amidst of all the excitement around you both, Wriothesley can't help but think that that must have been Celestia's sign for him to stop wasting time and go after the bright future that awaits him.

Now, what would be the best ring to buy for his future spouse?

thanks for reading <3 likes, reblogs and comments are very appreciated <3

heart divider made by @/cafekitsune

pink wriothesley banner (fluff) made by @/the-writer-arrived aka yours truly ;)

#blue.writes: genshin impact #blue.writes: wriothesley #blue.writes: fluff #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #wriothesley x reader

264 notes · View notes

descendant-of-truth · 1 year

Text

I've been wondering if I should make this post for a while, but I'm just gonna come out and say it: the Sonic movies are not pro-military just because Tom is a police officer. I'd argue that the movies are pretty anti-military, actually.

So, let's talk about Tom first, since he's kind of the elephant in the room with this discussion. Tom is the sheriff to a small town where he rarely has to deal with any real crimes; he usually deals with more trivial problems like people's cars breaking down, and we see him help a family of ducks cross the street.

He's an officer partly out of a sense of obligation (reportedly his family has held this position in some way for over 50 years), and partly because he wants to be in a position where he can protect people in serious situations. His goal at the start of the first movie is to start working in a bigger city where he can be more helpful.

I won't say that Tom isn't something of an idealized vision of a cop, and that in the wrong hands, he could easily be used as a form of military promotion. But I think Tom is like this for a different, more specific reason: to be used as a sharp contrast to literally every other government official we see.

Question: who exactly is the villain in the first Sonic movie? Robotnik, yes, but who is he? What does he represent?

Well, he's pretty much the face of the military.

Robotnik is under direct orders from the government to look into the power outage incident, and that turns into a mission to capture (and experiment on) Sonic - and regardless if Robotnik was authorized to use lethal force, he does so anyway.

And the thing is, all of the higher-ups know he's unhinged and dangerous, but he keeps his job because he gets results regardless of his methods. Heck, the first thing we see him do is lie to Tom about who he is and what he's there for so he can get inside his house to search it. Not exactly the most flattering portrayal of military investigations.

(He even gets punched by Tom after forcing his way into the house anyway)

Tom then proceeds to spend the rest of the movie on the run from the government, going out of his way to protect Sonic (who is quite literally an illegal alien) at the risk of his own livelihood. Clearly, adhering to his job description is not something the movie views as morally correct here.

Second question: who's the villain of the second movie? Still Robotnik, but he's not employed by the government anymore, so he can't really represent them anymore, right?

No, but considering Sonic's adopted family was actively manipulated by a government spy, who was meant to marry his new aunt in order to target him, and Sonic proceeds to get tased and thrown into a cage along with Tails by the other military personnel present at the fake wedding... I think it's safe to say that they are, once again, a central antagonistic force in this series.

(Yeah they do a funny where the spy turns out to have fallen in love for real, but I think we can all agree that was done for the sake of keeping a whimsical tone and not to endorse what was actually happening with the government there)

Which brings us to the third movie, which is still unreleased at the time of writing this. And one final question: how exactly do you think they're planning to write an adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2?

They've already set GUN up as the villains. That alone is central to Shadow's backstory, and the writers have clearly done their homework on Sonic lore. And even if they've somehow wildly missed the messaging of the franchise they've made two successful movies off of, the fact of the matter is that there is no adapting SA2 without anti-military sentiments. Like, they would have to work pretty hard and completely butcher both the game and their own movies up to this point for that to come out being pro-military.

This part's more in speculation territory, but here's a thought: what do you think Tom is going to do when he finds out what happened to Shadow?

Remember, Tom is an idealized small town sheriff who has this job out of obligation. He hasn't had to deal with the darker side of all this stuff until he started protecting Sonic, which - just as a reminder - has led to his house being searched, his car being cut in half, Sonic almost getting killed at least twice, his sister-in-law being manipulated, Sonic and Tails getting locked in cages... I'm probably even missing a few things.

Once everything that happened 50 years ago comes to light (especially if the theorists are right about Tom's family having been involved in it), I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he just. quit being a police officer. or got into activism. or both.

But even if we limit the analysis to just the two movies that are out right now, I struggle to see how "Tom shirks his duties to protect an alien child from being experimented on by the government" is in any way a pro-military sentiment.

In conclusion: basically every problem in the Sonic movies is the fault of the government in some way, so can we please stop talking about the series as if Tom is singlehandedly making them pro-military, now. Thanks

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic movie #sonic movie 2 #sonic movie 3 #tom wachowski #dr robotnik #movie robotnik #analysis #meta #This is mostly constructive but I am. just a bit annoyed XD

715 notes · View notes

daresplaining · 4 months

Note

hi! long time admirer of your blog! is there any particular reason why matt (specifically) pretends he's dead when something goes fucked up in his life? is it as a result of trauma or a past experience 'cause i have yet to figure it out myself. thanks in advance! hope you're having a wonderful day!

Hi, and thank you!

That's a really interesting question. To my memory, Matt has never psychoanalyzed himself on-panel about this, so I suppose it's up to us.

The short answer is that each faked death tends to be tied to the specific circumstances that surround it, as well as Matt's state of mind at the time, but there are noticeable patterns. (I'll do a quick run-through of The Deaths of Matt Murdock, but here's a more comprehensive (though not quite up-to-date) overview for anyone unfamiliar.)

His earliest faked deaths were more about pragmatism than anything, and had to do with protecting-- or simplifying-- his secret identity. His very first, of course, was "killing" Mike, which he presented as just being a matter of convenience. The Mike identity, while fun, had outlived its purpose and was starting to cause Matt trouble in his relationships with Karen and Foggy, in addition to just being a tiring logistical nightmare. (Also, Mike was cooler than Matt and that just wouldn't do.) There wasn't much forethought to his decision, he just encountered a situation in which Daredevil (Mike) would be in danger and suddenly thought, "Hey, what if he died?"

Matt (thinking): I just thought of something! ...The nuttiest idea I've ever had! But, if I can pull it off...it'll end my triple-identity bit...forever!" Daredevil vol. 1 #41 by Stan Lee, Gene Colan, John Tartaglione, and Sam Rosen

Matt's second faked death came about when supervillain Starr Saxon discovered his secret identity. This threat to his double life brought out feelings of resentment that Matt had been harboring toward his civilian identity since issue 1. In these early years, in an effort to hide his powers and superheroics, Matt turned his mild-mannered alter ego into an exaggerated caricature of a blind person, played at being helpless, prevented himself from acting on his feelings toward Karen Page, and dialed down his personality. He believed that this was necessary, but he also hated it and found it stifling. Added to this was his overall bitterness toward the ableism he had experienced since his accident, and the sense that the world around him viewed him as helpless (Matt mentions in an issue shortly afterward that his least favorite sentiment is pity). Thus, at this point, he saw the Matt Murdock identity as a prison, and the Daredevil identity as liberation, and so he grasped at the idea of faking his (Matt Murdock's) death not just as a way to counter Starr Saxon's threats, but also as an opportunity to finally rid himself of an identity that he actively disliked.

Matt: "My problem isn't Daredevil--and never was! It was always Matt--the blind lawyer--the hapless, helpless invalid! He's been my plague...since the day I first donned a costume! Then, let Matt Murdock no longer exist!!" Daredevil vol. 1 #53 by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gene Colin, George Klein, and Artie Simek

Fortunately, Matt largely got over this resentment after he stopped putting his different identities into such rigid boxes. He does occasionally give up one or the other of his identities from time to time, but we don't see him actively killing an identity out of hatred again. Which is...certainly a positive sign in regards to Matt's overall mental health.

Instead, in the decades since the Starr Saxon incident, Matt's faked deaths have tended to revolve around two vital needs: the need to escape from something horrible in his life, and the need to protect his loved ones. Sometimes it's more of one, sometimes it's more of the other. In the Nocenti/JRJR run, Matt screws up real bad by cheating on Karen Page (at this point still recovering from her drug addiction and very fragile) with Mary Walker. Matt gets nearly killed by Typhoid Mary, wakes up in the hospital and learns that Karen has discovered his treachery. He finds himself at a crossroads, hating himself for the betrayal, hating the violence in his life and the seeming futility of everything he does, and feeling unable to cope, he abandons his civilian identity, vanishes from the lives of the people who know him, holds a symbolic "funeral" for Matt Murdock, and runs off upstate.

In the Chichester/McDaniel run, Matt ends up with a convenient body double in the wake of a major secret identity scare and decides that it would be best to fake his death in order to protect his loved ones. The only person who knows he's still alive is Maggie, his mother, because Matt goes to her for name suggestions for his new civilian alter ego (she ends up suggesting "Jack").

Maggie: "Oh, Matt, thank god you're alive!" Matt: "No 'Matt', Maggie. Not anymore. That's become a dangerous name for anyone too near to me." Daredevil vol. 1 #325 by D.G. Chichester, Scott McDaniel, and Christie Scheele

After becoming a full-on supervillain in Shadowland, Matt again decides that it's "for the best" if his loved ones think he's dead, and he vanishes off to New Mexico. In this case, the only people he allows to know the truth are Elektra and Ben Urich. Then there's Matt's memorable, utterly bonkers deal with the Kingpin in the second volume of the Waid/Samnee run after his, Foggy's, and Kirsten's lives have been ravaged by one supervillain attack after another:

Matt: "My offer is this: You guarantee the safety of my people, and the identity bell gets unrung. Think of it as a perverse twist on witness protection. Everyone--Foggy, Kirsten, everyone--will be told I'm dead. Meanwhile, you'll give me a new name and identity known only to you. You'll get back the secret you paid for. You'll oversee the plastic surgery so that only you recognize the face. Hell, even I won't see it. Hell, graft the mask to my skin. I won't care." Fisk: "But you'll still be Daredevil." Matt: "That way, you'll always know where I am. How to use me even when I don't think I'm being used. And how to, at any time, take anyone or anything away from me that you don't want me to have." Daredevil vol. 4 #16 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Caramagna

And then, of course, we have our most recent example, in which Matt coped with the chaos of his recent life and the violent death of his brother by using Mike's corpse as a body double and fleeing the city to go fight ninjas with Elektra.

What's interesting about these faked deaths is the gap between the reasoning that Matt offers himself versus the actual reality of what he is doing. Each time, Matt is convinced that his loved ones will be better off, safer, even happier if they think he is dead. And of course, this is not based on nothing. Matt has suffered tremendous loss, and has brought great pain into the lives of the people in his orbit. He lost his father. He accidentally got Elektra's father killed, and then later had Elektra herself die in his arms. He contributed to the circumstances that led to Heather's suicide. One of his villains killed Glori. Another killed Karen Page, and nearly killed his mother. Yet another put Milla in a psychiatric hospital, possibly permanently. His brother just literally died in his place. Foggy's life has been in danger more times than I can list. Matt's story has a towering body count, and he carries that grief with him at all times--particularly in circumstances when his life is in shambles, when enemies are closing in, and when those around him are in the crosshairs or have just survived being there. Of course Matt would think that everyone would be "better off" without him around. In the purest, most practical sense, he's probably not wrong. And so, when he lets his loved ones think he is dead and tells himself it's for their own good, I do think he genuinely believes it.

But of course, that also isn't entirely true or realistic. Sending the people who care about him into mourning again and again is not protecting them. And when you really look closely, it's obvious that Matt's most frequent reason for faking his death is the same reason he clings so strongly to the Daredevil identity despite the pain it has caused him: escape. When Matt feels stressed, under pressure, unable to think, or powerless, he can always put on that suit and hop out the window. And when Matt's world is falling apart and he cannot cope at all and doesn't know what else to do, he abandons his life. He escapes into a different identity. He leaves. In his head it's for the people he loves, but it's clearly also for himself. And as frustrating as this coping mechanism can be as a long-term Daredevil reader, I also love it for how incredibly human it is.

With all of this said, though, I think the funniest answer is that Matt inherited some kind of when-in-doubt-fake-your-death gene from his mom.

#Long post #briefcasejuice #Daredevil #Matt Murdock #Asks #Commentary #Adventures in Continuity #ID in alt text #I adore this question. Thank you for sending it!

69 notes · View notes

girlfriendsofthegalaxy · 11 days

Text

tuesday again 4/23/22

three months unemployed YAY. also wherein i get SUPER pressed about star wars lore

listening

funeral by tele novella. popped open tiktok to see something my best friend sent me and this was there, the first thing on the for you page. let's yoink a description of their previous album from an interview i'm going to quote at length in a bit: "The result was “exactly what we wanted it to be,” a perfumed mist of jingling, jangling, lilting, off-center pop—a strange little snowglobe gathering dust at the back of the shelf."

youtube

the lyrics did hit me like a train bc i often find myself mourning places and situations that were not necessarily good for me but were familiar.

Oh, you're not tied up Here comes the train The tracks feel safe because you know 'em

if you had told me this was made in about 2007-2009ish i would have believed you. very spare production in the way folksier songs of the time were spare. a bit raspy and direct in her delivery. there's a bandcamp interview wherein i found out this is the side project of a vintage/antiques dealer and she has a fascinating perspective on her own music:

Her passion for the craft is evident—in our conversation as much as in listening to the band—but music, for her, is a means to an end, a way to transmit stories. “As a musician, I’m mediocre at best,” Ribbons says matter-of-factly. “I think that my talent lies in my storytelling ability. I think that I’m a good storyteller.” It’s something instilled in her by her grandparents, “voracious readers” who were always buying her books and secretly wanted Ribbons to be a writer, she suspects.

i really adored this whole album as a cohesive work. "vampire cowgirl" is another standout for obvious reasons.

youtube

You came barrelin' down Rabid with some talk Of a gal who rides at night Picking off the stock

remarkably good at reproducing the general vibe of the midcentury cowboy western album, when tv cowboys were sweeping the nation

reading

T. Kingfisher's Nettle & Bone. enjoyed it, but not quite as much as her other stuff. whereas her other series are almost always comical and often stray into farce, this one was a bit grim. even with the addition of a demonic chicken. had to stop and really think about if my own experience with funerals and funerary rites (too many, too often) was coloring this for me but i think it is simply not as funny or interested in being funny as her other works. not a ding against it, but not what i was really expecting or in the mood for. image from tor, let's yoink the description from macmillan

This isn't the kind of fairy tale where the princess marries a prince. It's the one where she kills him. Marra — a shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter — is relieved not to be married off for the sake of her parents’ throne. Her older sister wasn’t so fortunate though, and her royal husband is as abusive as he is powerful. From the safety of the convent, Marra wonders who will come to her sister’s rescue and put a stop to this. But after years of watching their families and kingdoms pretend all is well, Marra realizes if any hero is coming, it will have to be Marra herself. If Marra can complete three impossible tasks, a witch will grant her the tools she needs. But, as is the way in stories of princes and the impossible, these tasks are only the beginning of Marra’s strange and enchanting journey to save her sister and topple a throne.

paywalled article, sorry, but i personally have a bone to pick with fanduel due to [REDACTED INCIDENTS] from [PREVIOUS JOB] so it does not surprise me in the slightest that they don't really seem to be doing a single fucking thing about money-laundering. allegedly.

watching

the bad batch, or the 13/16 episodes of the third and final season that are out. all these images are from comicbookreview bc i watched this on my actual television

one of the plots i hate most is the trying to get someone back plot. for example, i think finding nemo does this really well bc it's also a coming of age/parenting movie. i do not think the second finding nemo movie does this well bc as soon as one person is reunited with the group, through a wacky series of coincidences they lose another member. plus that movie is part of the downturn of modern pixar where they forgot how to tell interesting stories but that's neither here nor there. the bad batch falls into the finding nemo 2 category. it's simply frustrating to watch. it turns into a desperate floundering after whoever happens to be missing instead of using a The Searchers style plot to say something about the act of the search itself. i realize i am once again saying "what if star wars was good" but like. come on.

the bad batch s3 is surprisingly focused on retroactively filling in the backstory of how and why palpatine got cloned with his force powers intact, which is apparently a difficult technical problem. i would have cared about this if this show came out before the last movie and we had a cool breadcrumb style approach leading up to the movie. unfortunately that movie (and the sequel trilogy more broadly) killed a lot of my interest in modern star wars. anyway, this cloning problem leads to a lot of very technical conversations in a children's' show that are interesting to me, a grownup, bc no star wars media has ever successfully explained 1) what midichlorians actually are and 2) the biological processes by which they operate but refuse to be cloned? which is extremely funny to me bc midicholrians aren't supposed to be real. qui-gon has that whole little speech and blood test in the phantom menace but the series had So scrupulously stayed away from explaining how the force works before that. they still fail to explain it but they at least attempt to break two inches of new ground. side note this show gives us TWO canon trans girl clones and i really wish they were in a better show.

it's annoying that i'm annoyed about a children's show meant to sell toys. some fun things: the pyke syndicate shows up, a slew of my favorite bounty hunters show up, this show is much better at painterly backgrounds and has an overall more concept-art feel than the clone wars proper or rebels. i think it would be cool if they stopped whitewashing the clones. i'm going to finish out the season but i don't exactly have a lot going on in my life right now. i am not terribly sad that this is the final season but BOY do they have a lot of loose ends to wrap up in three episodes.

playing

new genshin update on uhhh thursday and it's kind of exciting bc i THINK it will finally fill in this hole on the map and the associated shorelines of three different countries!

i thought i had long since found all the chests in liyue (the second area released) but in the process of doing a recently released character quest set in liyue i found another chest. this game is very good at hidden objectives and little secrets but i wish it was better at letting you know when you have Actually cleared an area completely of all the little hidden stuff. anyway i have been holding back the last character hangout (ningguang, my best beloved ruthless girlboss business high femme) for a terrible day and that day came! unfortunately hanging out with the fake pretend video game lesbian did make me feel better!

also unfortunately i fucked up and cannot count so the gacha pity system (every 90 pulls you're guaranteed a 5-star character) gave me Neuvillette. who i don't hate but i wasn't really planning on pulling for. i do like his questline and his voice actor, he simply doesn't fit in super well with a mono-electro team bc i play this game like an insane woman.

the real bitch of the thing keeping me from upgrading him is going out in the overworld and collecting enough sea stars. why can't he need flowers or little gears or anything else i have a thousand of.

anyway this gal will be dropping sometime in the next six weeks and i AM extremely excited to pull for her. she has some cool abilities (GUN) and is part of a popular pair with the steampunk lolita character i love and leads my other main team. i hope their abilities play well off each other but she has such a cool storyline and design i don't super care if she fits in with my playstyle. i will adapt for her in a way i am not willing to do with neuvilette

making

i am once again obsessed with gallery walls, bc a friend has asked me to find the correct gigantic size frames to put some comics on his wall, and that has given me an excuse to go to thrift stores again.

unfortunately i have mostly found frames for me, and the projects i have been working on have kind of a long tail of when they will actually be on my walls. i picked up four 16x20 frames for $2.50 each (solid wood! remarkably detailed!) bc i eventually want to put up these fallout maps in the style of national parks maps up on the map wall in my office. i suppose this means i should join @ruffledringdove and actually play '76, bc that's the one modern game i haven't played. these are getting scuff sanded with 120 and painted with a eggshell paint sample in a bright white u all know the drill at this point. ive painted a lot of frames in the past few weeks.

left is one of the painted 16x20 map frames, right i have also finally sanded and painted both 12x16 deckle-edged wood frames i picked up off the side of the road in MA. and found glass + backs for them! eventually i will procure fancy mats and print + frame my grandmothers' portraits. they will eventually go on the living room wall, which is a neutrals and blue-greens wall of slightly disdainful women. this will help me swap the three maps in there to the office map wall.

i have also acquired this gigantic plaster-over-wood mirror for $15. i am using leftover rub n buff bc i don't have a great spot to spraypaint here without sheeting my entire front porch, and rub n buff is way less susceptible to 80% humidity than spray paint. also i would have to buy spray paint. i am looking up suspiciously bc i thought there was a bug. not sure what mackie was looking at.

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem

28 notes · View notes

archivalofsins · 4 months

Text

So, this is what I've gathered from the information that came out from Deep Cover and this is what I definitively believe happened.

There’s an article that Kotoko was reading in the middle of Deep Cover that has been translated. The contents of the article explain that Kotoko was taken to court after the incident in the warehouse. Kotoko testified that what she had done was self-defense. That her and the perpetrator of the kidnapping got into a scuffle as she was trying to rescue the girl and he died as a result of that.

This conflicts with what we are shown in Harrow.

In Harrow we see that Kotoko does not intervene while witnessing the girl being abducted. Instead deciding to come back to the location later after changing her attire.

This already conflicts with Kotoko's testimony that she ended up fighting the victim as she caught him red-handed as he tried to abduct another victim.

According to the female university student, she claimed that she had no other choice but to kill the victim in order to stop the jostling between the two when she caught the victim, who was a child kidnapper, red-handed.

Red-handed means in the middle of the act by definition.

She just did not fucking do that. It's illustrated to us that she did not do that in Harrow. So we already know her testimony is a lie off of this alone.

Yet, we are further shown that her plea of self-defense is baseless from Harrow as well. Since we are shown Kotoko surprise attacking the perpetrator.

Furthermore her first music video blatantly shows us her attempting to track down the victim. As we see her paying others for information on the matter. Along with her very obvious wall of baddies to hunt down. Where she has the victim circled before even encountering him.

Making her actions premeditated as well.

This makes it clear to the Milgram audience (who have access to this information unlike the court) that Kotoko had no intention of letting the perpetrator live to begin with regardless of what he was doing.

Just like the wall implies with her other victims in Deep Cover-

"Everytime death comes. The soul moves forward." "It’s a tie after saying sorry? What are you hoping for? Shall we replace the poor soul, and the miserable delusion. “I didn’t mean to offend”, “I won’t do it again” How many wins in a row?" - "Who don’t we want? Give me the verdicts of GUILTY." "I want a reason for judgment execution, I want it. Give me the next target."

22/08/05 (Kazui’s Birthday) Kotoko: ……Mukuhara Kazui. Thanks to you, I wasn’t able to properly serve justice to those who did something unforgivable. I’m currently acting as an agent for our prison guard Es. Don’t get in my way next time. Kazui: Oi oi, don’t be silly, Yuzuriha-chan. There’s no way I could just look away from your outrageous display of violence. Anyway, even disregarding the fact violence against those voted guilty isn’t a part of Milgram’s system, what you’re doing is just acting recklessly based on a broad interpretation. As long as I’m free myself, I’ll stop you. Kotoko: ……what a pointless argument. Hmph. Since Es forgives you, I have no choice but to forgive you myself too. If you to keep to your words, then you’d best do what you can to keep being forgiven. If you’re not, then next time you’ll be one of my targets. Kazui: Oh, how scary. That girl truly is frightening. ……well then, I wonder what the guard will decide to do with me. That’s the one thing I really can’t make out. Honestly……

Kotoko had no intention of letting anyone on that wall live. That wasn't an investigation it was a hit list. She just happened to conveniently find that guy in the middle of commiting a crime. Unlike the other guy she found living his everyday life and just chased into a side alley and jumped. This is more than likely why she didn't initially intervene when she saw the child being abducted in broad daylight.

Because if she did the chances of her being seen by someone else were more likely. If she waited until they were inside and changed her attire to better conceal her identity the likelihood of others intervening would be slimmer. If she only ever wanted to save that girl she could have did so right then and there when she did in fact catch him red-handed abducting her.

Yet, it was never about that. It was always about killing him and continuing on her personal crusade for justice.

The article then goes onto discuss how the elementary school age victim testified corroborating Kotoko’s story of self-defense. Stating that with her testimony and Kotoko's the defense stated that a case of genuine self-defense was established. Mr.Kaneshiro the newspaper president and father of the victim in this case later held a press conference discussing the barbaric nature of Kotoko’s actions. This seems to have taken place after Kotoko had been acquitted of any wrong doing.

The jury ruling this as a legitimate case of self-defense. During the press conference he stated that an independent investigation of events had been done. During which another autopsy had been conducted and established that there were injuries on the victim that could have only been caused by an excessive use of force. Additionally he announced that the school student who had testified corroborating Kotoko’s statement as saying that she had saved her recanted their testimony.

He speculated that Kotoko had threatened or coerced the girl into giving the testimony to begin with. Given Kotoko’s history with law.

Q.07 What did you study at university? Kotoko: Technically, I’m studying law. I’m on a break right now because there’s something else I want to do, though.

It is more than likely that Kotoko coached/groomed the elementary schooler to lie on the stand to better strengthen her case. If two witnesses are corroborating the same story and one of them is the elementary aged victim as jury is more likely to believe them than a dead child abductor.

The article even mentions that Kotoko goes to a famous university. Given that we know Kotoko was studying law and the school she was going to is famous/prestiguous or well renowned we can now track it down. The University she was more than likely going to could very well be-

Keio Law School in Tokyo, Japan

Or some play on it. It's so famous in fact that just googling famous law school Tokyo results in this.

So, that's another university down. (I say this tentatively because I didn't do that deep of a search into this or much of a search at all. Again this is the first school to come up searching the information provided to us. Honestly this post isn't about how finacially well off Kotoko is and whatever expensive illustrious college she goes too.)

Though I wonder how a prestigious or famous school would feel about one of it's students being involved in such a case. Was she really taking a break or did whatever school she was going to no longer wish to affiliate with her due to the accusations. Scandals like this aren't that good for schools of that caliber. Plus, even though the article doesn't mention the school by name just looking into Kotoko herself would show her ties to it.

This is an article on a press conference featuring concerning the death of wealthy business owners son. Someone who very well could have ties to the school Kotoko is attending. That's enough to well I don't ruin all her life plans honestly. People have been expelled for less and this guy now has pretty good standing to say that you're a brutish menace to society who shouldn't even be allowed on the street let alone studying and practicing law.

Who wants a murderer for a lawyer are these the sort of students this place takes in. Students who use excessive violence and coerce and threaten minors?! That'd certainly be a big scandal wouldn't it? The only thing that could make this worse is well if the father of the man she killed was the president of a news paper-

Kaneshiro Isamu’s (68) President of Senkou Newspaper loses only son in display of excessive force by student from xxxxx University.

Now that's a headline and he can run it as many times as he wants. I mean he's the president of the newspaper after all. He's a grieving father after all even if his son did have problems. Having someone like that have an issue with your school or you well that would be bad.

Back to what the audience in shown in Harrow. We know that Kotoko got the jump on her victim in an enclosed space with wooden flooring in contrast to the open space of the warehouse where the victim died later.

Giiven Kotoko's connection and knowledge of law among these other factors I believe this is the most likely timeline of the warehouse incident-

Kotoko takes the victim by surprise attacking him in the enclosed space.

The victim grabs the hammer near his feet and attempts to fight Kotoko off.

As we've been over previously, despite what the victim's shadow alludes to he is shown physically swinging the hammer ahead of him and facing forward not to the side.

The victim flees the enclosed space trying to put distance between himself and his assailant. Possibly even trying to flee the scene entirely.

Kotoko chases the victim down into the larger area of the warehouse. The part with concrete flooring. Catching him and finishing the man off.

Punching and stomping him out with an excessive use of force after already getting him to the ground.

After the incident Kotoko groomed/coached this child to lie in court for her. What Kotoko did is blatantly illustrated to be grooming.

Ove the course of the Deep Cover mv the young girl begins to mimic Kotoko’s behavior.

First through getting a hat of her own to be more like Kotoko,

Then on the street she is shown to be imitating how Kotoko walks and glares,

Before spotting Kotoko and trying to speak to her.

Taking advantage of this clearly traumatized child who she again left to suffer through this situation longer by choosing to not intervene when she saw her being taken to begin with.

Someone who more than likely looked up to her as her hero. The person who saved her from that. What is an elementary schooler going to do when someone who saved their life, the person who got them out of such a harrowing situation tells them that they may be punished for it. That they might go to jail for just trying to rescue them and the only way they can avoid that is by saying that the excessive use of force that this child more than likely witnessed was self-defense.

Their rolemodel, their hero, no their savior couldn't be wrong. This couldn't have been-

"Is this selfish? This isn’t too much is it?"

This wasn't excessive it needed to be done for you to be safe. Besides-

"I've never asked for your understanding!"

Kotoko even incentivises and goads this idolization from the girl in the lyrics of Deep Cover stating,

“Come on, rely on me, go on.”

Kotoko attempts to implement the same tactics we see her use here within Milgram on Es. Over the course of her first and second voice drama. However, it is made more apparent in her second voice drama than in her first.

Kotoko Voice Drama 1, Kotoko Voice Drama 2.

After the girl recanted her statement possibly because of what she saw Kotoko do later on the street in Deep Cover (or maybe even at the behest of her parents who have every right to be suspicious of this type of person hanging around their young daughter but that’s a bit too speculative) Kotoko meets up with her in the park. As she is reading the article discussing the recanting of the girl's statement during this scene she more than likely is meeting with the girl to discuss it.

This meeting may be an attempt to persuade the girl into retestifying on her behalf or coming out with a statement of her own in defense of Kotoko. This is more speculative but it would not be hard for Kotoko to frame it as though Mr.Kaneshiro had threatened the girl into recanting the testimony. Becuase he is a very wealthy and powerful individual it would not be difficult for people to believe that during this independent investigation he coerced the girl into withdrawing her statements to strengthen his own case.

Many can probably guess how that conversation turned out from her second trial glitched voice line.

“From the beginning I've never asked for your understanding! My actions, one by one, are bringing earth closer to peace. Useless weaklings should just shut up and let me protect them!”

It is likely that the girl refused to retestify. She may have even told Kotoko that she chose to recant her statement of her own volition. Not liking the behavior, she saw later. At this point it is highly likely that at the refusal to retestify on her behalf Kotoko came up with another plan. It would be incredibly easy to kill the girl herself then claim that she planned to retestify.

That she had come crying to her about how she'd been threatened into recanting her statement and she was too scared to say anything by herself, but someone must have seen. They were in public after all and then this happened. Better to that than to risk having the girl not only recant her testimony but possibly tell others about what she had seen her do recently as well.

Especially while the police were still seeking the assailant in the incident of the man in the back alley. Right now, they thought it was a man but if the girl told then it would be all over for her. The girl simply knows too much. Plus, with the news already framing her as a violent barbarian it'd be easy for people to believe she'd assaulted the other man as well.

While we don’t have solid confirmation of the girl’s death yet. The fact of the matter is most of the music videos of trial two have been focused on the victim’s side of things. The fact that Kotoko’s mv isn’t from the perspective of/highlights the child abductor or the man she jumped in the alley later is incredibly telling. Her glitched voice line in the second trial voice trailer being,

“From the beginning I've never asked for your understanding! My actions, one by one, are bringing earth closer to peace. Useless weaklings should just shut up and let me protect them!”

Is very telling as well. Since the statement implies that she is addressing a useless weakling, someone that cannot protect themselves, someone who needs her, someone that looks up to her. Someone that's outlived their usefulness to Kotoko because they refuse to defend/support her behavior anymore. All the things this child is shown to do throughout Deep Cover.

Making it increasingly more likely that Kotoko did not just kill the child abductor but the child as well. Because from the beginning Kotoko has said-

"If it damaged someone’s dream to the point of stopping it- I’ll gouge you out with my fangs."

It doesn't matter to her whether the person getting in the way of her dream is an adult or child.

20/06/18 Amane: Thank you very much for teaching me. ……but, though I realise it’s strange me saying this after I asked you, I must admit it’s kind of unexpected. You give off the impression of someone who wouldn’t want to get involved in things like this. Kotoko: ……well, you’re not wrong. I’m surrounded by people who could all be murderers, so I don’t plan on going out of my way to talk and make friends. I can’t let my guard down. But I like ambitious people like you. If you want to study more, then I’m happy to teach. Amane: I see…… You look scary at first impression, but I quite like the way you treat everyone equally regardless of whether they’re older or younger than you. You don’t just treat me like a child or anything like that. Kotoko: Treat you like a child? Hah, you’ve got to be kidding. Back when I was your age, I was already the person I am today. I don’t have any plans to let you get away with something just “because you’re a child.” ……remember that. There, I’ve finished marking. 83%. How do I put it… Even though you act like this, it’s not like you’re super brilliant at studying or anything, huh.

If her dream if all she ever wanted was a target. Someone to execute that whom she could feel justified in executing then anyone will do. It doesn't matter how small or large the offense. Evil is evil. Even if that evil is as simple as disagreeing with her actions or recanting a statement.

Even worse voting her Innocent just to vote her guilty later is a lot like recanting a statement isn't it. Man those Haruka and Kotoko parrallels keep growing. Didn't he say that if we got close we wouldn't like him, didn't he just argue about how unfair it is to say he's good and then change our mind later during his second voice drama.

"Tell me why you tell me, “Stop”. Don’t you dare stop now."/"Tell me why? Please don’t change."

Just a really interesting thing going on there.

Kotoko even apologizes to Es for not being able to properly deliver punishment to Amane Momose and Mikoto Kayano at the beginning of her second voice drama. Finding it laughable that Es expected that she would not deliver punishment to Amane just because she was a child. Reiterating that she in fact planned to jump the girl as she did Mahiru and Futa as well. However, she was deterred not only by how much time she spent fighting Mikoto but by Kazui as well who intervened once she reached Futa.

So, she has no qualms with killing or severely injuring minors or manipulating them in order to get away with her own actions. At the end of the day-

This is Milgram.

People can vote whichever way they want for any bias under the sun. They can turn away from whatever information they dislike and prop up whatever best fits the narrative they want to see. They can be just as self-centered, coniving, and dishonest as the prisoners themselves. Because when you like someone, when you admire them, you'd do anything to make sure they're doing okay even lie in court or withold information from the police.

Because you believe deep down they're good and if you just give them the opportunity to be that then they will. If you're just sympathetic and try to talk to them about it certainly they'll understand.

"Say that sympathy is useless."

Kotoko's shown us exactly where thinking like that gets you with her- Does anyone feel lucky enough to test that again?

#milgram #yuzuriha kotoko #kotoko yuzuriha #tw grooming

44 notes · View notes

ichodyssey · 1 month

Text

Why Batman is a Unique Character

Who doesn't know Batman? Batman, is a character from the American superhero comic strip that created for DC Comics by the writer Bill Finger and the illustrator Bob Kane. First appeared in May 1939 in Detective Comics no. 27, Batman since then has appeared in various comics and graphic novels.

Many people do not know the origin of Batman. Doctor Thomas Wayne, his wife Martha, and son Bruce were robbed one night which resulted in Thomas and Martha being killed and witnessed by their terrified son. After the incident Bruce dedicated his life to avenging the death of his parents by spending his life fighting against all criminals.

Today there are many typical superheroes that we see who uphold justice and goodness. They are often portrayed as peacekeepers who have a black and white understanding of right and wrong - but Batman's motives are much more personal than that.

The motives that drive Bruce began when he witnessed first-hand the brutality of the world in his youth. In his youth, Bruce witnessed his parents being murdered in cold blood. This experience was the starting point for Bruce's ideas of justice and morality.

Batman's ultimate goal is to rid the world of blind immorality and prevent anyone from experiencing the depraved world he faced at such a young age. This personally-driven motive is typical of an antihero, but combining this trope with the superhero theme adds a deeper dimension to Batman's character.

Batman's moral code is also strongly emphasized by his refusal to kill anyone, as he believes that any form of killing would defy elements of the cause of evil and his moral code. No matter how much destruction or death a villain causes, he refuses to be like his enemy.

For Batman, death is not justice. This is depicted in Batman comics when the Joker repeatedly taunts Batman to kill him. Unlike other superheroes, Batman does not subscribe to the idea of sacrificing life, no matter how evil the enemy, for the greater good. It's not something that is considered easy to do, but Batman is nothing if not dedicated to his life with his moral compass. Here, Batman embodies an antihero who blurs the line between protagonist and antagonist.

One of Batman's most exclusive characteristics that makes him different from other superheroes is that he has no actual superpowers. This is one of the factors for Batman having a deeper connection with the readers. In reality, there is no difference between Batman and Bruce Wayne beyond the bat costume.

Batman provides a different vision - that it doesn't take radioactive spiders or alien technology to be a hero. Batman lets the human being himself be extraordinary. His 'powers' are something that is truly within the realm of possibility - physical discipline, mixed martial arts, swordsmanship, and intelligence are just a few of the skills that Bruce uses to combat his enemies.

Another reason why Batman connects with readers on a much more human level than others is because he is deeply flawed, like all antiheroes. There is a unique sense of humanity that surrounds Batman because of his nuanced character, and he has as many flaws as he does strengths. Bruce Wayne is portrayed as distrustful, cynical, vindictive, and arrogant - but he is also intelligent, tenacious, passionate, and determined.

What makes Batman a perfectly acceptable superhero is that he is complicated, just like all of humanity. Instead of being a superhero to admire, Batman is an inspiring superhero because he teaches readers that it doesn't take a perfect person to do good things.

#batman #dc comics #dc #bruce wayne #gotham #the batman #dark knight #the dark knight #batman beyond #batman begins #batman lore #batman history

34 notes · View notes

the-eeveekins · 5 months

Text

The 17th Day of G-Witch: Cycle of Sin

Here it is, the one minute scene that spawned the 2nd most popular ship in G-Witch! It's a real shame Nika was horribly underutilized in S2 and basically just locked away in a room half the season like they didn't know what to do with her. I would have liked to see her have to confront the naivety of her worldview with the reality of the world.

I love this moment. I think it's the only time in the series we see Miorine drop her guard around someone other than Suletta and genuinely smile. I think this is the moment she accepts that she has real friends in Earth House.

God, look at that longing on Suletta's face. She's so in love with Miorine and missed her so much it drives me insane.

They broke out the horror vibes for this scene. Eri and the coven are more than a little terrifying, especially that little smile on Eri's face as she casually cooks Elan's brain.

Here's the greenhouse conversation. There's already a lot of great analysis surrounding all the symbolism in this scene, from the tomatoes to their distance within the design of the greenhouse itself. One thing that has always bothered me was the idea pushed after the next few episodes that Miorine didn't talk to Suletta enough before executing her plan. And yeah, logically you would say that she should have tried a few more times, but Miorine very clearly picks up on the fact that talking to Suletta will not turn her against her mother's manipulations in just this one conversation. She very clearly notices how uncomfortable Suletta is during this exchange, but even with that discomfort, when push comes to shove, she'll listen to Prospera, even if it means giving up on her dreams or killing someone.

You can see that Miorine was about to push this further, and I personally think she was about to ask that armor piercing question of "Would you hurt me if your mom told you to?" But when Suletta mentions that she even sees their relationship as a result of her mother's actions, and that everything good in her life is because she listens to her mother, I think it breaks her resolve and her heart. You can just see the pain on her face as she realizes that no amount of words are going to get through to Suletta and break her idolization and worship of her mother. So she goes and does the only thing she can think of next...

...which is to immediately go and confront the person responsible, Prospera! I know Miorine is shown repeatedly to be out of her depth when dealing with Prospera, but I just love her in this scene. She loves Suletta so much that when she realizes her fiancee is practically brainwashed, she immediately goes to the source of the problem and tries to confront it head on to help Suletta.

I am a little sad that at no point does Miorine seem to clock the discrepancy between what Prospera tells her about them surviving the Vanadis Incident 21 years ago and Suletta only being 17. I know it's a heated moment and she's not thinking logically at the time, but I feel like it should have given her pause later on to realize something else is going on.

This whole scene is great, Mamiko Noto and Lynn gave an absolute amazing performance, especially Prospera's chilling lines while whispering into Miorine's ear.

I do dislike how at the very end of the series it tried to say Prospera had given up on vengeance entirely for Eri's sake long ago, when it very clearly plays a role in her actions with Miorine over the next 4 episodes. At the very best, she does need Miorine to win the presidential race and stain her hands with blood in the process for her plans for Eri. On the other hand, later events make it look like none of this matters and she was just dragging Miorine through hell for no reason other than petty vengeance against Delling's daughter. (More on that in a later episode though!)

#25 days of g witch #g witch #the witch from mercury #gundam #g witch spoilers

36 notes · View notes

workersolidarity · 10 months

Text

Anti-Communism is something bred into Americans from the time we are children. We are taught how anything related to Stalin is automatically bad and anything involving the Soviet Union is inherently secretive and authoritarian.

This bias is so deeply ingrained, that, having finally after years of Marxist and Geopolitical study, I've finally reached a point where those little anti-Communist tropes and sound bites inserted into our political conversations catch my attention automatically.

Now this took a really long time to reach. Anti-Communism is so deeply ingrained in our society, so embedded in our information space, and this completely by design, that we don't notice it in our everyday lives. We're not meant to. We're meant to internalize these stereotypes until it affects every aspect of our political thinking.

And I'll give you an example of how even the most obscure media consumption can result in our exposure to anti-Communist propaganda.

So I'm watching one of these obscure science channels on YouTube, being interested in the science behind nuclear criticality. So in the first video, which is about a famous incident in which a Russian scientist was exposed to a particle beam in an accelerator that resulted in serious injury but he survived. And at the end of the video, they start talking about how he really suffered under that awful Soviet Bureaucracy when he was denied his free government healthcare in 1997. 🙄

I seriously face palmed on that one.

But then I'm watching an entirely different science video on an entirely different nuclear accident. This one the only fatal Nuclear reactor accident in American history.

So I get to the end of this video, they've done a great job at really helping you understand the science behind what triggered the accident, and I'm really satisfied with the video, and then, right at the end they throw this little tidbit of information out as though it too were a statement of fact:

[Speaking factually about the fatal design flaw responsible for the US accident in 1961 that was also present in the design of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986]

"When we don't learn from history (deeply accusing stare at the Soviets) it tends to repeat itself"

Ugh!!!!!!!

🤯

Okay, so basically he has to throw in the insinuation that somehow the Communists are even more deeply responsible for Chernobyl than the Americans were for SL-1, the destroyed US nuclear reactor from 1961.

Now on its face, most people aren't going to think twice about such a statement. It is meant to evoke a response inside you of "ugh those Communists were just terrible to see our mistakes and repeat them anyway!" without ever giving any kind of critical nudge at the thought whatsoever. After all, we Americans all know how evil and awful Communists, and especially Russian Communists were.

And that's supposed to be the end of that. Two science videos, both ending with throw away lines of anti-Communist propaganda, both meant to leave me feeling superior as an American and especially an American Capitalist!

But the reality exposes the absurdity of American anti-Communist propaganda!

How would the Soviets have known about the US design flaw years earlier?

Am I just mistaken and it was common practice from the 1960's to the 1980's to share our nuclear trade secrets with our greatest adversary??? To share nuclear designs with the great evil empire the USSR at the height of the Cold War?

Please. How the fuck could the Soviets have known the details of the SL-1 design flaws?

But that's not even really the point, because in the end, it does not matter how ridiculous or absurd or counter factual US propaganda becomes because the public is just so deeply propagandized, so well trained, and so peppered with this kind of subliminal propaganda all day every day.

And it truly took years for me, not just to be able to recognize propaganda anyone can do that, but to really begin to understand the depth and nature of which we are being saturated in this constant stream of pro-Imperialist, pro-Capitalist, often conflicting narratives that are intended to make us accept without ever critically analyzing what "approved" sources tell us.

I cannot stress enough the importance and personal responsibility of every worker to educate yourself on the nature of advertising and propaganda and their relationship to Capitalism and Imperialism.

It is so important that we understand how Wall Street, the Big Banks, Big Investors and Big Corporate bosses, how they use the tools of the media and internet to control and maintain the information available to us and how they use that control to maintain the myths of Capitalism, Neoliberalism and an Imperialist Foreign Policy, as well as maintain the myths of "authoritarianism " and "human rights violations" maintained around US Adversaries like the Soviet Union and now Russia, Iran, Cuba, DPRK, Vietnam, China and on and on and on.

79 notes · View notes

goldenbloodytears · 26 days

Note

Got me thinking after the last (one of??) question you've answered. How do you picture the day Danny killed the senior Johnson and the aftermath of it?

Good question. I don’t have the entire thing sketched out in my head but here’s a rough outline of the ideas I’ve had banging around inside my skull for a while.

The tome does all but outright say that Danny killed his old man on a wild impulse… so following along with that, I think it was an “accident” too.

I put the rest under a read more since I think it got a little long haha

I think Danny had long prior developed a fantasy where he would kill his dad, one where he thought out all the little minute details based on his dad’s habits. I don’t know if he would have physically written anything down plan-wise, but I view it as the originating behaviour of his later impulse and style of stalking, he just became more organized about it once he knew he would be purposefully hunting people later.

I think the situation leading up to the event was something like this. The old man tells Danny they’re going on a hunting/camping trip, whatever plans Danny has made previous to this does not matter—he is expected to drop them. They take a long drive out to the middle of nowhere, and it’s tense and awkward. They get where they’re going, setup everything…. And eventually they get into an argument. Possibly one which elevates into a physical altercation and Danny ends up pulling his knife.

I had the particularly unhinged thought last night of whether his old man would be proud of Danny attacking him or at least suddenly try to comfort him “it’s okay son it’s an accident” while he’s bleeding the fuck out in the middle of nowhere… this is admittedly where my ideas start to break down and get fuzzy.

The next part I’m not sure about, but I can see Danny trying to rig the scene afterwards… despite the fact it’s an accident. This is assuming he doesn’t just go into shock for a bit. I don’t think he would know what to do here, nor am I super sure either. Would he leave to try to flag down the cops or attempted medical help if his dad wasn’t quite dead yet? Idk.

There’s an entire alternate scenario in which Danny just buries his dad in the woods and then fucks off to new life, but that feels a little too… I’m not sure if it’s easy, but it feels rather fanciful? I kinda feel like it’s the story he would tell to make himself sound badass.

So I feel like either way he probably got caught that first time. Maybe his dad had invited some old friends of his for the thing but they only show up later to a dissociated bloody Danny and his dead dad a couple feet away.

I should probably note that I’ve been considering this incident as happening while Danny is an older teen or young adult. Within the 17-21 range. Mostly because I think part of their argument would be related to Danny’s plans for the future and his dad wanting him to follow in his footsteps.

If we do go with the outcome where he gets charged, then he ends up calling his mom to bail him out—he’s pretty understandably freaking out at this point as the reality sets in. She flys out and immediately takes over in being the mom he hasn’t had for years; she’s the one who takes care of his legal fees and finding him a really good defence lawyer. I think I’ve said it already but his mom feels massively guilty about the situation.

There’s a couple potential outcomes to the situation here, and also some things to note.

I think the resulting legal trial would be Danny’s first taste of the media’s interest in bad news on a personal level, deeper than the “oh look more bad news” when you’re watching the local news at six kinda deal. I don’t picture it gaining much more than local publicity however.

Then you have where he might get charged with a lesser count like manslaughter, rather than homicide (this is related to my thoughts about him writing out his fantasies earlier… a good prosecutor would be able to argue he had criminal intent if his writings were found, whereas a lack of prior documentation heavily pushes the legal narrative more towards voluntary manslaughter by way of emotional distress)…. regardless of what he gets charged with, I’m a little stumped as to whether he could get a full acquittal or not.

The outcome I like is where he does get an acquittal (or extremely lenient sentencing), but his mom still has Danny move in with her and the family she’s got going, and there’s a brief period where he’s going to therapy or taking self-help classes (once again paid for by mommy dearest). Everything looks normal for a bit (I think the sudden “normalcy” drives him a little crazy tbh) and he gets his first journalism job at a paper… only to end up having the epiphany that the best way for him to get anywhere in the news world is to create the news himself.

He makes the conscious decision to go forward with what he’s doing at this point, after all, isn’t he hunting humans like his old man wanted him to do?

The only contention I have is that a criminal record could make things complicated, but at the same time explains some of his idiosyncrasies—like why is his background entry for dbd so obsessed with him not leaving any dna?? Well, maybe because he already has finger prints saved in a local law agency somewhere. Why does he use fake identities? Because he has a crime associated with his legal one, and because it provided more “protection” for what he’s doing.

At the same time, I think having a near brush with the law, one where he was lucky enough to escape without a criminal record, is enough to also explain the same things.

As a final thought, he definitely carries guilt about his dad’s death, like… his lore is pretty clear that he feels like his old man deserved a “better design” which makes me wonder if the original plan he had was a lot more… peaceful for Johnson senior to experience, or whether that’s just the reflection of “wow that really sucked” and not living up to the idealized fantasy he built in his head.

Also random trivia bit but I think he calls his mom on her birthday every year and tells her about how his life is “going” (probably making it sound way better than it is). She’s always chiding him to come visit and to call more often bc she loves and misses him.

#danny johnson #dbd ghostface #ghostface #dead by daylight #danny jed olsen johnson #dbd lore #dbd headcanons #dbd

16 notes · View notes

randomfoggytiger · 9 months

Text

Elegy: A Lie Between Two Truths

Elegy is an important bridge-work episode: tying the threads from Mulder and Scully’s handling of her past deathbeds and building illness with their warring beliefs (and disbeliefs) concerning her cancer. Even more than that: it’s an episode that hits them square in the face with brass knuckles right after the relieving clean bill of health that Zero Sum gave them. It’s fascinating to see how their easy camaraderie spins its wheels in the sand trap of death omens and unreliable science… and how much Scully does and doesn't listen to her gut, despite what she tells herself and Mulder.

**Note**: Thanks for @frogsmulder for the suggestion! This post is dedicated to you~.

Scully Didn’t Know She Was Dying Pre-Elegy

To sum up the cancer arc thus far: Scully had given up in Memento Mori after her imaging test post Leonard Betts. She spent the episode in despair, not wanting to face her mortality; but grabbed at a lifeline Penny threw her way via Dr. Scanlon. While in the throws of her radiation treatment, Scully came to terms with how much her defeatism was holding her back; and refused to give up and give in for the same reason she decided to fight in her coma: the strength of Mulder’s beliefs. Memento Mori was important because it was the first time she took Mulder's faith and made it her own: “I won’t let this thing beat me” was her battle cry for self-belief and courage in the face of the unknown. Mulder was adoringly proud her; and he embraced and blessed her with a (forehead) kiss.

The rest of the episodes passed without incident or comment-- Scully will beat this, it’s only a matter of time; therefore, both didn’t need to focus on her cancer (hence why they never did.) Her treatments continued; though, according to Dr. Zuckerman, Scully decided to step out on a limb by using unconventional therapies (immunotherapy) instead of work-inhibiting chemotherapy-- shoutout to @settle-down-frohike for backing up my suspicions with this post-- which means Scully determined to beat her cancer through unconventional methods, medicine or the files, so she wouldn't have to slow down 'the work' with Mulder (for Mulder and herself.)

…But then Zero Sum happened; and her imaging tests were causing concern. Mulder poured his nervous energy into headhunting Skinner while Scully stayed in the hospital for further tests. We’re never told the results, but they are crucial to how Elegy begins and plays out.

So, what were the results of Scully’s Zero Sum tests, and how did that knowledge bleed into Elegy?

Simply put: There was no change. We know this because of Scully and Mulder’s behavior in their first scene in Elegy.

Scully is light-hearted during her and Mulder’s investigation in the bowling alley. While skeptical of the owner’s claims, she slides around the floor with Mulder, scoots up close like normal (not withdrawing to protect herself emotionally), and banters uninhibitedly with him. Her mind is not distracted, nor is she seeking to distract it: Scully is having a good time and nothing else.

In the ensuing scenes, they’re hip-to-hip like usual, their normal routine firmly in place with no shadow of death haunting it.… until her nose begins to bleed.

Scully’s escape to the restroom-- and seeing her first elegy-- is when the episode shifts. She leaves the case temporarily to “get this checked out”, forestalling Mulder’s worries by trying to play off her concerns as naturally as possible. During her next round of tests, we see how much this new development is eating away at her courage; and during her therapy session she reels with much she’s letting Mulder down, the very person who depends on her good health more than herself. It’s part of her Starbuck complex to overly rely on Mulder (as she realizes with her therapist); but it’s also in his nature to overly rely on her.

And Scully is keenly aware how much her cancer affects Mulder. Memento Mori did a number on her poor partner; and during her Zero Sum hospitalization he jumped immediately into work to distract himself (as he does in Gethsemane). She may not have been there to see him nearly rip at the seams in front of Skinner (who is horrified on both his agents’ behalf) but she would have been present to see his intensely profound relief at her good results. Not only that, but she is very aware he wobbles when her nose bleeds again in Elegy. Scully knows that Mulder isn’t holding up under the strain well at all; and the fear of letting him down is killing her as much as the cancer. Scully vowed she won’t let this disease beat her, and the tests-- even the newest round in Elegy-- back her up… but then why is she ‘dying’? That question haunts her as much as the woman in the bathroom.

(Important note: There’s a quote from one of writers that Scully keeps up a front during her cancer because she knows how terribly Mulder is taking her decline; but until I can find it-- and trust me, I looked-- this claim can't be backed up. Help me if you can~.)

These concerns keep building and building: even though the Elegy tests come back “clear” once again, they don’t explain the visitations; and Scully can’t shake the corrosive misgivings eating away at her peace. Science keeps assuring her she’s “fine”; but her gut is grimly insisting that she’s not-- that she’s dying, failing.

Mulder barges in on these swirling thoughts with his newest theory-- that the dying can see the dead-- and this, like Boggs’ channeling of her father in Beyond the Sea, confirms her worst supernatural suspicions. Scully’s belief in science is no longer so fixed or rigid (see post here about her speech in Herrenvolk) that she can easily discredit her natural leanings towards the paranormal or unnatural (which her college thesis and various cases involving supernatural miracles, voodoo, or demons prove); and this further shakes her grasping insistence that nothing is wrong and that she is fine.

Scully’s “fine” is crucial to this mindset: she’s not denying her symptoms to Mulder-- she’s denying them to herself (sidenote: which is why Mulder was so worried later in En Ami: she was so clearly over her head, and she knew it; and he knew that she knew.)

All of these doubts lend her strength to gallivant with Mulder after a long day at the hospital-- she has to know, she has to. It’s not-- like Mulder thinks, see below-- to “prove him wrong” (which Lyda accuses her of in HTGSC, see post here), it’s to prove her fears wrong, to prove her gut wrong, to prove her science right.

And she fails.

Elegy Confrontation

After Scully subdues the murderer (to Mulder’s surprise and gathering suspicions), she relays the series of events and her tenuous theory of the nurse’s behavior.

“Yeah, but why did you even suspect her?” Mulder asks, following the scent of something not clicking into place. He doesn’t know what it is yet; and Scully is oblivious as she rattles on about motives and murder.

“‘She is me,” Mulder contradicts; and Scully acknowledges this unresolved clue with a sighing “I don’t know.”

The ‘She is me’ is a tricky, unresolved puzzle that I will dive into some time in future, relating to either the girls, the nurse, Scully, or all of them. (All that can be proven is that Scully cannot be involved because Harold also ticks all the boxes that ties her to this case, and he would have been referred to as ‘He is me’, too, if that were the case-- unless they anticipated Scully’s involvement on the case before she even arrived, which would be impossible because Elegy is not about predictions or premonitions, only warnings and reflections.)

At Scully’s concession, she falls back-- literally and figuratively-- asking what Mulder knows: “Have they found Harold?”

“Yeah--” he confirms, “--they found him in an alley a few blocks from here face down in the pavement.”

Scully comes to a full stop, horrified. It’s yet another proof of someone falling ill, collapsing-- and dying-- connected with this case… with her.

As Mulder expounds how the paramedics “worked on him twenty minutes but he couldn’t be revived”, Scully is listening to her own potential end from the very mouth of the man who will likely be around to witness it.

“But if what you’re saying is true-- that Harold stopped taking his medication-- then that could have been a factor in his death… at least in the visions he was seeing.”

Mulder is handing Scully a win: he is excessively proud of her detective work and combat skills (his voice light, his eyes sparkling, his posture impressed); and is explaining the case in a way to give her a greater victory-- hallucinations without medication-- while also still fitting into his supernatural explanation (as evidenced by his side-to expression while contemplating how these two theories will coalesce in his final report.) It’s the same arm shake of victory he extended her in Leonard Betts (“You did a good job, Scully. You should be proud”)-- the same one he’s been giving Scully in all their cases post Never Again (which is why I place it before Leonard Betts as the writers and Gillian Anderson intended, post here.) Mulder learned in Never Again how important praise and commendation are to his partner; and he has been giving them freely to Scully ever since.

Scully, however, is not proud or even pleased. Tears begin to gather as she rails against the injustice of her and Harold's twin situations.

“Well, Harold Speuller wasn’t dying, Mulder-- he was killed as, as a result of what that woman took away from him.”

Spooky Mulder’s senses activate, clueing him in to her unspoken cues: this is what his mind was scrambling to place. “Is that your medical opinion?” he asks, alertly focused on Scully’s shifting eyes and hedging behavior.

Scully pauses; then looks to the side as she contemplates her reaction. The conversation with her therapist clearly plays through her mind-- those words and this context suddenly click into place: she is projecting her fears and feelings onto something, someone solvable instead of taking the time to tune in honestly with her own emotions. Scully decides to put into effect what she’d learned with Dr. Karen, trying to be more open to see if she and Mulder can handle it.

It turns out rather badly (but in a good way.)

“I saw something, Mulder.”

“What?” Mulder asks.

“The fourth victim-- I saw her in the bathroom before you came to tell me.” (The strain of this candid admittance pulls at Scully’s face: her abnormally high eyebrows scrunch her forehead into stress wrinkles and pull her eyes into a wider, more open gaze.)

Scully's admittance now flips Mulder's curiosity into anger.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he demands, eyes flashing and mouth drawn.

“Because I didn’t want to believe it. Because I don’t want to believe it,” Scully replies, shaking her head at herself. She’s doing confession before the whole world instead of in a reclusive box to her priest: I, Dana Scully, might believe the supernatural element in this case. And further: I, Dana Scully, was too afraid before to admit my self-denial and weaknesses to you, Mulder, the only man who gives me strength. It’s an almost step to her awakening in All Things; and probably could have gone further now if this conversation didn’t take a couple left turns.

Mulder nods, not at all happy. He looks away not because of what Scully has admitted to him but because of what she has not admitted to herself. (I, Dana Scully, may sign onto the supernatural explanation to this case; but I also don’t want to believe it. And not wanting to believe the truth when her health at stake is not something Mulder will tolerate.)

“Is that why you came down here-- to prove that it wasn’t true?” he asks, wounded that she’d left him out of the loop.

Scully is cutting herself open and giving Mulder her heart; but he doesn’t want self-sacrifice if it’s born from misinterpretation. Just as Scully will cut away the lies he clings to in his search for the truth, Mulder will cut away the self-delusions and contradictions of her beliefs.

“No,” Scully says, drawing out more of her deeper emotions as painfully as an intubation tube.” “I came down here because you asked me, too,” she beams, a bit of heartfelt levity over how much she relies on his reliance on her, in sickness and in health.

Mulder shoots down the good mood and redirects her back to the point: “Why can’t you be honest with me?” Translation: What is it about me that you don’t trust when I trust you with everything?

Scully is hurt, thinking Mulder is focusing on the wrong thing: twisting her confessions into admittance of guilt through the lens of his paranoia. Further, she feels her hard-fought honesty is being denied and thrown back in her face.

“What do you want me to say?? “ She pivots sarcastically. “That-that you’re right, that I believe it even if I don’t? I mean, is that what you want?”

Mulder jumps into the foray, figuratively grabbing her face so she can’t turn away from the point: “Is that what you think I want to hear?”

Scully is lost. She had been honest with her partner, more honest about her cancer and beliefs and fears than (possibly) ever before-- but in one quiet “No”, she understands that her confession was all wrong. I, Dana Scully, admit to the supernatural in this case; but I, Dana Scully, refuse to believe it; and because of that, I, Dana Scully, have turned my determination to beat cancer into denial. Scully carried her resolutions from Memento Mori faithfully; and that faith was bolstered by her twice good bills of health… but it’s in direct contradiction to what was shown to her. So, I Dana Scully, came to prove Mulder wrong-- but really, to prove what I knew to be true wrong.

For the first time, she sees her actions as clearly as Mulder sees them; and it horrifies her truthful nature how much she had twisted her intent to justify her delusional skepticism (you can hide a lie, after all, "between two truths.")

Mulder sharply, painfully inhales before volleying on at lightning speed. “You can believe what you want to believe, Scully, but you can’t hide the truth from me because if you do then you’re working against me. And yourself.” (The echoes of Mulder’s experiences in One Breath and Zero Sum echo through his words and bounce around the hallway.)

Scully silently absorbs this assertion bordering on accusation. It’s not an attack-- Mulder too gentle with her to ever outright berate her-- but her shoulders slip with the realization that she can’t let go of that self-preserving denial. She fears failing Mulder because she relies on him relying on her: if there was no one to bear up under, to protect from her burdens, to steel herself in service for, then she is left with raw deals and broken promises and death. Scully will only now acknowledge her belief in these supernatural visions because she still has a fallback: comforting medical science, which assures-- lies-- that her health hasn’t degraded (she will butt up against this lie versus belief dichotomy with Mulder again in Gethsemane.) The day she loses even this is a day of reckoning (and it’s coming in Redux II.)

“I know what you’re afraid of,” Mulder assures; and, finally, he cracks his chest open a little to equally share his pain: “I’m afraid of the same thing.”

“The doctor said I was fine,” she tries to assure, throwing in an uncharacteristic nod (something more Mulder’s style than hers)-- and not believing it at all.

Scully is by nature a Starbuck: she denies, denies, denies because to admit is to lose her place at the helm by Ahab, to let him down, to let herself down. And she cannot lose that, too, when she is slowly losing her security in her medical prognosis.

“I hope that’s the truth,” he responds, voice small.

Before now it was the truth-- they had time to banter and bowl. Now elegies have cast everything into morbid confirmation. Science can’t give them the truth-- so all Scully can hand her partner and herself is failure. She stares at him a long time before giving in to defeat in a teary, quiet, “I’m going home.”

Mulder returns her stare as Scully-- with nothing left to say or do or give-- walks away. He had hoped that Scully was holding something back, that there was something she hadn’t admitted because she hadn’t believed in it… and realized that there was nothing-- that, though she won’t give up fighting, there is no other alternative left. Their last reliance is snatched away.

He leans against the wall, opening his mouth in an attempt to gulp in more air. Mulder hasn’t been defeated or given up-- only more grimly resolved-- but the realization that there is nothing to catch Scully from the final fall almost takes his knees out (as it will in Redux II.)

Scully meanwhile makes it to the car before the heavy load of the case, her health, her strides with personal growth, and her “failure” of her partner crush a few tears out of her.

The noise of the ambulance and the sight of a recently deceased Harold Speuller distract her temporarily from her turbulence; but the blooming horror brings all of her emotions more sharply into focus.

She can no longer deny that her health is deteriorating, hallucination or elegy of Harold regardless.

What Happens After Elegy?

It’s no surprise that Mulder would want to reclaim control over his life by thrusting his own health aside to pursue answers for Samantha in Demons; and their hopeless situation fuels his unusually heightened bad behaviors. Desperation then drives him to near suicide, with Scully barely pulling him back from the edge. And when he can’t find answers in his past, well… he concludes he can find answers in his present. Thus, he pursues credible proof of alien life in Gethsemane.

But what about Scully? Did she give up in Elegy by resigning herself to her death?

No, firmly not-- at least in Demons. In Gethsemane it’s a tricky balance: Scully has been told her cancer metastasized; but she only tells Maggie (who blabs to Bill), not Mulder; and makes a purposed comment about his side quest not being her “last dying wish.” However, when new opportunities for salvation crop up, she thrusts herself into work, causing Bill to figure out and mock her intentions: “You think you can cure yourself, don’t you?” Because she does: Scully does think she can cure herself, just as Mulder thinks his truth (in her) will save them. She refuses to give up until every last stone has been unturned; then finally falls apart in the face of death, clinging to Mulder’s hand and her rosary. It’s not until she’s given up completely in Redux II that Scully finally learns the lessons thrust upon her in the cancer arc (as All Things finally teaches her the lessons she’d stumbled over in Never Again and Milagro.)

To conclude: Scully did not lose hope until Gethsemane, with her mortality diagnosis undeniably in her hands; but she doesn’t give up until Redux II when all last resorts have been exhausted.

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

#txf #In-Depth #analysis #xf meta #xfiles #x-files #the x files #Mulder #Scully #Elegy #S4

72 notes · View notes

thewitchqueenofharrenhal · 1 year

Note

Evan confirmed that the only one who loves Aemond unconditionally is Vhagar. So basically he confirmed that he is a parentified child. Alicent only is close to him or showing him more of her love than she does to Aegon because Aemond doesn't cause her any troubles. He obeys. He is dutiful. So basically Alicent taught Aemond that as long as he behaves in particular way, she will support him. We all see how he is all about duty. 1) because Aegon hates the word duty so Aemond felt the urge to somehow fit in those shoes 2) because he mimics Alicent and by mimicking her in such way he is closer to her than Aegon who does as he pleases which is unbelievable to Alicent who is all about duty and she knows nothing of her own needs. Aemond knows following duty means having Alicent's approval. But what no one seem to notice, Aemond mimicking Alicent, being dutiful and so on ended on episode 10. He threw them all to war. Mark my words, Alicent's so called love for him (I view it as expectations which he met until episode 10 thus he was given her "love" in return) will end and he will be truly alone with only Vhagar. Especially after B&C.

I agree and disagree with you anon and I genuinely hope you don't take it personal as I like to foster a setting where many different perspectives can be heard. I think it would be extremely unfair to say Alicent does not love her children. I think she loves them all beyond belief. With that being said I don't disagree with most of your assertions, Aemond is definitely a child who has experienced parentification to a degree but I don't think it's all necessary Alicent's fault.

The parentification you speak of especially showcased itself to me when he is maimed by his cousins and no one cares. He watches his mother who we have seen in episodes before show him a fair amount of love at least more than Viserys for that matter- degrade herself in front of many of the most powerful people in the realm chief of all his own father. His father who has not a single word of love or care to give him when he is being given medical care. Alicent is openly sobbing and begging her husband, his father to care about him and he instead gets his older sister requesting he be tortured and his father threatening his mother with violence - Stating he will maim her if she continues.

Alicent is still at this point erratic and alone and Aemond a child sees all this, sees it plain as day that his mother, his siblings and himself do not matter to Viserys nor to Rhaenyra. We watch a literal child eats his pain up and tell his mother "it is okay - I'll be fine" because his father will not be consoling his mother or taking care of her nor himself. I think seeing that would be extremely traumatic for a child and I think it was for Aemond because when he meets Luke again and demands his eye he says he will make a gift of it to Alicent. He saw how much it hurt his mother and now that he is older he wants to prove himself to her. To prove to her that she has a champion, that she has someone will stand by her - Funny enough I think Aemond models himself heavily on Criston Cole, damage and all. To get back to your statements though - I'm sure Alicent tried to push the idea of duty and honor on Aemond and sure I do think her love and the love she has shown her children may not be the best but I think that's also colored by the fact she was a child bride and all her children are the result of martial r*pe. I also thinks it's incredibly unfair to say Alicent knows nothing of her own needs - When she was never allowed too. This was a privilege she was not afforded.

Will things change after the incident at Storms Ends absolutely - Aemond made a deadly mistake and I do think Alicent will be extremely disappointed in Aemond and perhaps even as you say cold - but that's because things have gone further than maimings, now someone has lost their life and war is afoot. I do think she will still love him after all we saw her stand in front of a dragon for Aegon and we all know what a scumbag he is.

B&C will change everything for everyone in the war. It may sound unbelievable but I think after Lucerys things could have still been okay - Aemond could have been sent to the wall as punishment along with Aegon. B&C involved people who had nothing to do with the war and made it so neither side could ever find peace again.

#anon #pro alicent hightower #aemond targaryen

170 notes · View notes

time-is-restored · 1 year

Text

fellas that last ted lasso episode. hmm.

listen i'll be real no matter what im gonna be out here gushing abt trent crimm cause he's my special little guy and im obsessed with him, but considering the Literal Paragraphs ive been writing abt all the shit i LIKED about the show, i didn't know how else to process these Less Good emotions than by blurting it all out over like two hours (instead of doing the dishes, lmao).

tldr; s3e2 was such an emotional high point for me, since i really felt like it had something concrete + specific to say about physical violence + social/emotional violence, and how they're BOTH highly valued as masculine ideals. but the episodes since then...

it kind of feels like im watching the result of a long and bloody fight between different writers? writers who, apparently, wanted Very different things from this last season, so now we're getting this. bizarro world mish-mash of two hypothetical shows, where tone + content + themes vary WILDLY and inconsistently from episode to episode - and even scene to scene!

[cw: discussions of sexism + racism, in a doylist context, also s3e5 spoilers]

specifically, i feel really disappointed and hurt that they went that direction with shandy's arc. i understand that we're only half way through the season, and obviously anything could happen between now and then but... really? like, is there some kind of budgeting issue here? we can't afford for there to be more than three (complex, not sexy lamps) women in any given episode? is that why the second jack appears, barbara loses any depth (what happened to that lovely moment of connection with the snow globes????????), and THEN the second SHANDY goes off her head it's. jack time? apparently???? like. this would feel a lot better as a viewer if at this point the show hadn't PRIMED me for jack doing something insanely stupid + cruel for no reason except 'haha Keeley Bad At Her Job'.

like. the first thing we see of shandy fine is her pride in keeley, and genuine appreciation of her hard work and skill. she's CLEARLY not stupid, otherwise why would the rest of her introductory scene be her helping keeley out with filmmaking advice (the extras thing) AND random, life experience shit (knowing how to deal with goat shit)?? she knows her way around a set, and she doesn't make any of the footballers feel judged, even when she's clearly thrown by the clips they're providing her.

so why in the space of like, barely a few weeks, does ALL of that get thrown out the window? 'condoms for balls'??? why are we supposed to just take for granted that she's stupid + overly ambitious (other than the Fucking Obvious!) when the show put NO effort into actually setting that up???? like, if her first scene was her monstrously fucking UP the shoot for keeley, and keeley hired her on pure sympathy then like. sure. whatever. no room for bleeding hearts in business. but that ALSO sucks as a story line for ted lasso, a show that (according to its OWN press releases!) is supposed to be about kindness and human connection and breaking cycles!

it just. it hurts? in a way where its like, i don't believe even a little bit that this was what the writers were aiming for with those scenes, and it frightens me that there could be such a wide gulf between intent and result. especially when bonding about The Shandy Incident is what got keeley and jack together (which i am trying... So hard to feel positive about, because explicitly confirming keeley's bisexuality is amazing, least of all bc it makes her jokes with rebecca feel a lot less mean-spirited on the writers' parts, retroactively)... like how am i supposed to be enjoying their moments together when i feel like the show's whole premise has been betrayed???

and really? the one moment nate gets to feel good in this WHOLE season, it's bc the server at the restaurant who previously could not care if he dropped dead right in front of him showed him some affection + validation?????

like, sure, i GUESS im happy that this random excuse for an arc has lead to a slightly more sympathetic female character existing at least in the PERIPHERY of the show's main storyline, except no im fucking not? i don't care about this fucking restaurant, and even though ive been DESPERATELY trying not to hate jade (even though the writers themselves can't seem to decide if she's Literally Racist or just a depressed service worker) NATE shouldn't care about jade! the ONLY way i can see this being an actually interesting arc for nathan is if its another exploration of his inability to leave behind the things + people that have hurt him, combined with years of conditioning where he's never allowed to express being annoyed/upset at anyone (which richmond!!! contributed to!!!!!! 'if you're mad, count to ten. if that doesn't work, count again'??? cool speedrun tips for resentment ted!). like, an arc where we see that distance away from richmond hasn't helped nate as much as it's removed some of the worst triggers, so a taste of athens ends up in the same awful pit of resentment + loathing as ted did. which nate clearly hates! he doesn't LIKE being that person! he apologised to a PAINTED DOLL of ted!!!! but when he doesn't have the framework or tools or SUPPORT to do anything else...

like. where is his team? obviously im not expecting the show to start being about a bunch of football players that AREN'T from richmond but? even just a small moment of appreciation? or hell! maybe they hate him! if we could see LITERALLY ANYTHING abt the sport which nathan has dedicated his life to, and how his Actual Coaching style is positively or negatively impacted by the lessons he learned at richmond? this is a show ABOUT football!!!!!

i just. a taste of athens? again? a-fucking-gain?????

and honestly, the worst part is that i REALLY liked the little monologue that nate got to give about how important the restaurant was to him! as much as it showed that nate is still just as passionate + earnestly defensive of the things he loves, it ALSO shows that he 1. spends that energy explaining his passion to people who don't deserve it/won't care, and 2. gets attached to things that really fucking hurt him! and like. i am on my hands and KNEES for that to be the 'point' of this arc but at this point i feel like that's me being naive! but if fucking JADE from fucking ATHENS is the civilising white gf who FINALLY talks nate down from him ~ ignorant, vengeful crusade ~ against the absolute ~ matyrs ~ of goodness at afc richmond, i just. like. what are we even DOING here gang?

i don't know. it hurts that sam's gone from being an almost principal character in s2 to only getting passing lines in s3. it hurts that rebecca's off in her own world, talking to strangers, having life-changing revelations on her own, surrounded by sets we're never going to see again, where every scene she DOES get to spend w one of the richmond members feels hasty and rushed, like the episode wants to get a few characters obligatory appearances out of the way asap. it hurts that all the chekov's guns around zava's arc (jamie's resentment, ted's lack of guidance, dani being 'demoted' + colin being benched) were apparently all just blanks, to be hastily plastered over with one big long speech about... ted wanting everyone to have higher self esteem, or something?

and listen, more the fool me if another episode comes out next week that i completely adore, and i spend like five days singing its praises. im mostly writing this so i can go INTO the next ep without feeling resentful + upset! i'll be STOKED if i was wrong and all of those little details ARE actually important, and these arcs have more to them than this! but for now im just sad and annoyed :(

#ted lasso spoilers #ted lasso critical #<- this tag has like five posts in it total so i sincerely doubt anyone here needs it but i also Definitely don't want it showing up in the #main tag so??? fr pls lmk if anyone needs a specific tag for this #also. i swear im gonna stop malding and go to bed any minute now but #would rlly love if we got more than one episode dedicated to keeley doing her job. would love if we got more than one episode of ANY of #these characters doing their jobs?? hey what the fuck it just hit me there's been no training scenes since ep 1 #(not counting jamie + roy since that's JUST jamie and roy - not all the coaches and not all the team)#like . remember how that's how ted won over the players to begin with? his coaching style? and how energetic + involved + earnest he was?#the way he ran laps WITH the team and then made a joke out of how they all beat him?#its just. lots of telling and not showing this season which im really hoping changes soon

61 notes · View notes