Hey, do you remember that really homoerotic scene from Skyfall? No? That's okay, here's a Vettonso version of it :)
- explanation & w/o text:
Hi hello, finally my weird psychosexual relationship with Casino Royale has come to fruition. Yeah this is directly based off a scene from Skyfall, but I def envision the vibe as being more like Casino Royale hehe. I can't believe I made that inspo board for this AU almost 4 weeks ago, and then ended up drawing a four panel "comic" about it. Ahhhh proud of myself, a bit, a tad. I think this took 20+ hours across the span of a week? God. Anyways I digress! The AU!!
First of all, their Bond song would be "My Way of Life" by Frank Sinatra. It's so toxic, codependent and obsessive, I'm in love with it. And it really suits Fernando and his motivations and outlook in this AU. Basically, MI6(in the context of James Bond) in this AU is an analog for Ferrari. It picks theses guys up, tells them that they're Ferrari MI6's most special boy, chews them up, and then spits them out when they're finished extracting all their talent and skill and life force.
Much like with Ferrari, Seb in this AU replaces Fernando after Fernando loses favor and becomes undesirable. Now Seb is the new golden boy, and Fernando has turned to a life of crime! Fernando resents Seb for this of course, but also becomes obsessed with him and the idea of him , and how they are connected. It's weird to watch someone else basically go down your exact same path and unknowingly make all the same mistakes(buying into the mysticism of it all too much, being overly cocky, having naive beliefs and goals, etc.) He is caught between wanting to doom Seb even more but also wanting to "save" him, by corrupting him and convincing him to work together.
Basically: He's both a Bond girl and Bond villain.
Fernando is in such a weird place in this AU. I think he's just very dramatic. Seb is just casually living his best 007(005?) life, and Nando is watching him with binoculars, whispering to himself: "DOESN'T HE UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE NARRATIVE FOILS!?" Yeah he hates Seb, but like the song lyrics say, their lives and dreams are inherently tied up together. He would feel lost without Seb, because Seb basically, unknowingly, destroyed and then took over his life. Maybe he'll feel satisifed if he manipulates Seb into going down the exact same path a bit better.
About the drawings themselves. Still can't believe this scene is a real thing that actually happened, insane to me. But in this AU, after the events of these drawings, Fernando definitely kicked all his henchman out of the room, and fucked Seb in the chair. And then against the wall. And then on the floor. Hey man, Seb is already looking mighty delicious with his unbuttoned attire and being tied up.
I think the general plot would be that Fernando keeps trying to seduce him to the dark side, and Seb keeps making him think it worked, only to escape at the end of the encounter. Leading Fernando to just come up with increasingly more violent and kinky traps. Seb goes along with it(read: enjoys it), leaving Fernando satisifed, only to somehow escape and wink and make kissy faces at Fernando in the process. (Fernando smoking cigarette in bed: "How do I make him stay. Sigh.")
I like to think though that Fernando does win in the end, by realizing, ah wait shit I do need to actually explain my motivations to Seb. And Seb is so worn down by his job, not Fernando, and how he's being treated, that he listens, really actually listens, and realizes Fernando does really have valid reasons. And then they become evil crime husbands yayyyy. Wow you thought this was a espionage AU? Well it is, but just not the outcome you'd expect.
54 notes
·
View notes
thoughts on the racism in DGS (specifically van zieks)
i want to preface this by saying that 1) i’m a chinese person from a western country, and 2) i really like van zieks (outside of his racism of course). but basically, i don’t claim to understand how japanese fans in japan view him, and i also understand that van zieks may be an unforgiveable character for japanese fans who live in the west because his attacks are rather personal. i’m not trying to change anyone’s mind with this... as you’ll see later, i don’t even think his redemption is written well (me liking van zieks is solely based on the other aspects of his character). i’m just thinking out loud
this post contains major DGS2 spoilers.
what does van zieks' racism add to DGS?
i think there are two main reasons van zieks was written as racist towards japanese people in the game. the first logic seems to be that since the game takes place in the 1900s, him being racist is part of the period theme and shows how british people used to be very racist towards japanese people and foreigners. i guess due to cultural differences and looking down on them for not being as ‘technologically advanced’.
however, the thing is that van zieks’ racism doesn’t stem from that. he does talk about it awful lot, but his cultural differences/’lack of advancement’ itself isn’t the reason he hates japanese people. his racism just stems from him being affected by a personal incident where his brother happened to be killed by a japanese guy. the story of “van zieks overcoming his racism” doesn’t have anything to do with the theme of the victorian period, it’s just his own problem. he was perfectly accepting and respectful of japanese people before the incident.
thus to me it’s so weird how his redemption is done by seeing how ryunosuke believes in him/defend him. cool, so he now recognizes that japanese people can be smart and full of heart... even though that’s what he originally believed 10 years ago??? so again, because his racism doesn’t stem from innate/learned bigotry but just that one incident, i don’t think his redemption arc really means anything, if that makes sense! it’s not commentary on victorian england or english/japanese relationships. it’s not a man learning to undo racism he grew up with. like i said before, it’s literally just his own problem, and it’s a problem i think is unnecessary to this game. it would be exactly the same if they made him a regular asshole instead of a racist asshole.
the other reason i believe racism was included in DGS was to serve as a mystery for the player/ryunosuke to wonder why van zieks despises japanese people so much. however, it doesn’t work as a mystery. because the player is just like “? he hates japanese people because he’s a british man from the 1800s” it really doesn’t feel that deep. we figure it’s solved already, it doesn’t matter! so it should’ve been excluded to begin with.
how was his in-game redemption handled?
like i said before, i really think that his ‘redemption’ was not written well and it did make me feel unsatisfied, speaking as an asian in the west. i felt frustrated that it seemed like there was no proper scene where he’s truly sorry for the shit he spouted for so long, and there was no scene where either ryunosuke or asogi address it fully either. (i might be missing something since i can’t look up a transcript ATM, but i feel like i would remember it if there was a scene like that)
the part i dislike the most is when his backstory comes out. ryunosuke, who has spent all this time being verbally abused by van zieks, is just like “oh, well if your brother was killed by a japanese person then i understand why you’d hate us”. like what!?! that’s no excuse to hate japanese people for a decade??? i couldn’t believe i saw that coming from the main character, because i believe that the main character (at least in a game like this) should reflect the values of the author, and this logic of “it’s understandable to hate a race based on one person” is extremely bad IRL.
(also i hate how he was like “just as japanese people are the bane of my existence... i am the bane of asogi’s” dude it really is not comparable to say you hate a whole ethnicity to asogi just hating you. and he only knew you existed a month ago)
one thing i noticed about DGS2-5 was that characters were open about not forgiving each other. i was really surprised by that, because it felt unusual to see characters like vigil and asogi be so direct about refusing to forgive those who wronged them. i know asogi had that big scene at the end of the trial, but i also wish either he or ryunosuke had taken the time to address van ziek’s past racism too. i felt like a direct confrontation saying that what van zieks did was wrong was what was missing. something along the lines of “i won’t forgive you for what you said and did in the past, but i respect that you’re trying to get better and we can work together from now on”. like just acknowledge that it IS bad to be racist even if you have a ‘reason’ for it! or better yet, don’t make him racist to begin with!!!
how would i rewrite him?
obviously, i don’t want barok van zieks to be racist because everything else about him is perfect to me and it’s just this one aspect of his character that pisses me off like crazy.
the first way i’d go about it is to make him hate all people who work in law/law enforcement (since genshin was aiming to be a detective). then the mystery would actually work; the player would wonder why such a revered prosecutor despised other lawyers and police so much. it’s just a way better mystery than wondering why a white man in the victorian period hates foreigners. plus, it would be humorous to see van zieks constantly hating on lawyers despite being one.
the second way is to make him hate the asogi family specifically and not other japanese people too. this option would add to the game in multiple ways. for example, isn’t it such a crazy coincidence that he reaper of the bailey just happened to start his prosecuting career again as soon as ryunosuke arrived in london? it would make sense with this one simple fix!
have the reaper find out that the exchange student asogi was due to come to london that day, and have that be the reason he starts prosecuting again. when he arrives at court and finds that ryunosuke is in his place, ryunosuke should be explicit about knowing asogi personally. and there we go, a reason for van zieks to hate ryunsouke/sustato without it being race-based! (of course, replace his awful remarks about japan with remarks about how obviously friends of asogi are all stupid/cruel/whatnot)
the direct jeers against ryunosuke for being asogi’s associate would then serve as a good mystery for the player to wonder why he hates this ‘dead’ defense attorney so much. isn’t asogi just our friend from university? is there something more to his past, that he shares with a prosecutor on the other side of the world...?
(i’d personally go with the lawyer hater one though since it’s funnier + strays further from specifically targeting the japanese characters in the game)
on another note:
the racism in general in DGS is very odd... i suppose it might add to the victorian theme to have these british people talk about cultural differences all the time. but it’s especially odd to me because like, every white character is casually racist out of ignorance while van zieks is racist for plot-induced reasons??? and his racism ‘gets resolved’ while the others are never commented upon. idk it’s tonally weird though i do still like the rest of the cast a lot.
and in conclusion:
i love van zieks and i think he’s intended to be a good and likeable character/person by the end of the story. however to me, the writing never redeems him well and i wish he was written so that he wasn’t racist to begin with. but i’m not the game’s target audience, so i don’t believe i’ll ever have the cultural context to view him in the way a japanese person in japan would see him. he’s still the 2nd most popular DGS character in japan though. i don’t know if that means they accepted his redemption or if they simply think he’s very sexy (he is)
anyway i’ve been thinking about van zieks so much lately and rewrote him enough in my brain to the point where i now self insert ship myself with him so nothing i say is valid
82 notes
·
View notes
wip wednesday
got tagged by @wanderingaldecaldo :3
been.. well not exactly procrastinating on the longfic. some of what i've been doing is working on some sequel scenes so I can anchor where everyone is going to end up and make sure I haven't forgotten to add any threads I'm going to want to use later. so with the knowledge that this scene will almost certainly not survive in its current form when I get there...
---
V returned with the woman who had met her at the ofrenda– his interface confirmed what he already knew– it was Guadalupe Alejandra Welles herself. She was smaller than he had expected, but it would be a mistake to underestimate her, he was certain. A woman who had suffered the loss of her son in an assault on Arasaka and was bold enough to then track him down and demand that loss be honored was not someone to to be taken lightly. He rose to his feet to greet them.
“Mamá,” V said, speaking Spanish in a low, soft tone he’d never heard from her before. “This is Takemura.”
“Escorted you personally?” Guadalupe regarded him with restrained disapproval. “What a gentleman.”
“A perfect gentleman,” V said, a faint smile forming on her lips.
“It is good to meet you,” Goro said, with a polite bow.
Guadalupe made a dismissive gesture, switching to English. “There’s only one thing I need to know: were you the one that killed my son?” She held his gaze without flinching.
“No,” he said. “We did not meet.”
“Good.” She relaxed, and in so doing gave him a glimpse of the exhausted and grieving woman underneath her steely composure. V looked mortified and miserable with guilt, and she added more gently, “Sit down, mije.”
V looked to Goro and he moved instinctively, gently guiding her to sit down at the bench he had just vacated. Her hand on his wrist lingered, the barest pressure pulling him down along beside her: gravity which he did not want to escape. She leaned in and pressed her forehead against his, jaw clamped together so tightly he heard her teeth creaking. He wanted to reassure her that she did not have to hide her tears, but did not trust his voice.
“Jesucristo. You’re as big a fool as Jackie. Bigger.”
7 notes
·
View notes