#he likes being messiah being a figure good figure a hero
Text
I am having thoughts about Xavier wtf?
#i will real immortal X-Men xavier issue again#later#i love xaiver as a self hating mutant who cares more about looks than actions etc. etc. like#he likes being messiah being a figure good figure a hero#and he loves also mutants too he is not evil not intentionally but it always comes second or third#first is looks how humans sees them how public sees him#he want to still be respected and accepted he didn't even say puplic he is a mutant for years#he is egoist also i think#like he love having powers and good things being mutant brings and rehects hates avoids bad things it brings#mind reading is cool but he still need to be respected professor attending conferences getting applause#shit man#this is why i am not a cherik girlie#magneto is also flawed like i ilove uwufing him but he is deep complex etc. but his relationship and brotherly or loverly love for Xavier#just sad#this is why i love he is rejected him#i am really interested now in xaviers fall and i want him to be pathetic about him#xavier needed to be betrayer not moira tbh i want him to sell mutant kind for saving his looks#and by selling not being cartonishly villain but also wgile keeping his looks good for mutants that he cares too#kinda like leaving morlocks because he need acceptable mutants for his X-Men but also sending his acceptable child soldiers to save them#i am missing points probably definitely i am not good at getting things but i like thinking#and i like this version#long long tags
19 notes
·
View notes
Note
Would you say that the show itself doesn't respect/understand Katara's trauma?
Let's see:
The first voice we hear in the very begining of the show (not just in the first episode, but in EVERY SINGLE ONE that followed), is Katara's. The first character to explain the show's whole deal, HOPE, is her.
Right away she explains to us through narration the whole conflict of the story, and the series itself immediately shows us how it has affected her and her family personally, with the death of her mother, the departure of her father as he goes to fight in the war, her and her brother struggling to get food, the tribe having no defense.
She is the first person to interact with Aang, the protagonist - and we find out about HER life, HER trauma, and see a bit of HER personality before we even see Aang or find out his name. The show introduces us to KATARA as a character, while Aang and his backstory are still always a bit of mystery until episode 13. For fuck's sake, the reason Aang becomes so endearing so quickly is because he brings the fun of childhood back to Katara and HER village.
The idea of traveling to the Northern Water Tribe is introduced because KATARA wants to be a fighter. And even when it goes from a promise of adventure between two friends to an official mission, Aang is happy that they will learn TOGETHER. Hell, excluding the opening, Katara is the first character we see using any kind of bending on screen, in the actual story.
The death of Kya and how it has severely traumatized Katara is brought up three more times in the first season - when she's comforting Aang, and bonding with Jet and Haru.
The first situation is one of the many times the show will make clear parallel between Aang's anger/grief at what was done to his people and Katara's anger/grief at what was done to hers. She comforts him about Gyatso's death by mentioning the death of her mother, managing to make Aang come back for the Avatar state. In the start of season two, we hear her mention just how tough it is to watch someone she loves be in so much pain. She comforts him again when the Sandbenders take Appa. And then in the Southern Raiders, when Katara wants to murder her mother's killer, Aang EXPLICITLY recalls these moments to explain that he DOES understand what she's going through (same thing she said to him the very first time) and still thinks that this is not what she needs to heal - much like Katara telling him not to weaponize the Avatar State, aka his pain.
Katara's grief over her mother is explicitly shown as a reason why she wants to protect the innocent, to help anyone who needs her. In the Haru episode, she's explicitly shown as a figure that symbolizes hope in the darkest situations, just like Aang is too her. Once again, the show lets her have some time in the spotlight, even in a plot that could have easily been filled by Aang since the dude is basically a messiah. And in the Jet one, while she's being lied to, she IS trying to do something good - and Aang is there with her. Once again, Katara's hero journey, and all the grief that comes with it, is literally being written alongside Aang's.
The show also places great emphasis on her journey to become a poweful warrior, even openly challenging (and giving some trouble) to a master that is unfairly refusing to teach her solely because she is a girl. She gets to hold her own in a fight against Zuko in the season one finale. In season two, when she expresses the desire to be given the title of Sifu like Toph, Aang immediately accepts. Katara is constantly shown to be pretty badass - including in the Southern Raiders, where she looks the man that killed her mom straight in the face and says she's not a helpless little girl anymore, exposing one of, if not THE, main reason why she wanted to be a fighter so bad. To regain power, to protect herself and those she cared about.
And while the show DID highlight these moments of strength from Katara, it also let her be vulnerable. We see her crying after thinking she saw her mother in the swamp, and when she believes her friends see her more as a motherly figure than a kid because she was forced to grow up too fast after Kya's death - and then Toph comforts her because they DO see her as their friend, not just a replacement mom. There's also the beautiful scene of her and Hakoda, in which she is allowed to admit how badly it hurt to suddenly no longer have her dad around, even if it was necessary/for a good cause.
There's also little things like her being allowed to bond with Bato and reconnect a bit with her tribe's way of life after some time away from it, or the show explictly having her tell Hama that it would be an honor to be allowed to learn more about her culture and heritage, which the Fire Nation obviously has robbed her of as the tribe is struggling to just survive. She also is clearly overjoyed when Pakku says it's about time for the North to help rebuild the South.
And, of course, when she's face to face with the man that killed her mother, she is allowed to stay her compassionate self - while still not forgiving him because, surprise surprise, the writers knew what they were doing and did not want to force her to suddenly ignore all that trauma just to half-ass a lesson about forgiveness is ALWAYS the way to go.
Katara is allowed to be strong AND vulnerable. To help AND be helped by others. The show clearly demonstrates, repeatedly, that she isn't just struggling to deal with the death of a parent, but with having to sacrifice her own childhood, not having BOTH parents around, seeing her home be destroyed both literally and figuratively, the feeling of helplessness as this century old war is taking so much from her and others (both dear friends and strangers). The writting for her wasn't perfect, but it was clearly not an after-thought like part of the fandom claims.
Just because she didn't kill a guy and wasn't okay with using bloodbending unless 110% sure there was no other alternative, it does not mean the show didn't take her character and it's struggles seriously. And if this fandom cared about her half as much as they claim they do, they'd recognize that instead of complaining non-stop about how one of the kindest characters in the story didn't suddenly do a 180 turn and go "Murder is great actually"
102 notes
·
View notes
Text
Why is the ending of Code Geass perfect?
The ending of Code Geass is perfect, giving a satisfying end to the narrative arcs of our characters, with special emphasis on Lelouch and Suzaku. Suzaku finds the peace of mind he has been desperately seeking for ten years by bringing peace to the world. By rediscovering the value of the human will, Lelouch renounces control over the world and the will of people by returning them and, at the same time, becomes a hero by giving his life for the greater good and a martyr by dying for his ideals. "Only those who are willing to die should have the power to kill." A foreshadowing that the creators gave us in the first episode.
It's perfect because Lelouch cleanses the world's hatred with his death and founds a new era of peace and prosperity. Not only does he become the scapegoat for the blood shed during the war, he also becomes the messiah he claimed to be like Zero thanks to a lie.
It's perfect because Lelouch redeems himself from the Japanese Administrative Zone massacre that ruined Euphemia's reputation. They both die being what they are not. Euphemia, who was a generous and kind princess who had the best intentions of helping the Japanese people, dies a genocidal liar and manipulator. Lelouch dies as the ruthless and megalomaniacal Demon Emperor who declared war on the world, even though he is actually the hero who saved it. However, Lelouch gladly accepts the role of villain, considering it deserved.
It's perfect because it's a deliciously ironic twist. Suzaku who wanted to change the system from within destroys it as Zero (whom he hated) while Lelouch who wanted to destroy it reformed it as Emperor (whom he hated).
It's perfect because he builds a parallel with episode 4 of the first season creating a rounded closure. Zero appears for the first time in the unjust execution of an innocent man and for the last time he reappears in the unjust execution of some rebels who fought for freedom and justice. Both parades were led by Jeremiah. In this way, Zero becomes a symbol of justice.
It's perfect because Zero's murder of the Demon Emperor becomes an incredible metaphor. Justice destroys hate. Good defeats evil. Hope will always prevail.
It's perfect because the foreshadowing of episode five of the first season is fulfilled: the White Horse (Suzaku) defeats the Black King (Lelouch). In addition, it is in line with the series' stance that Lelouch and Suzaku can succeed in anything if they join forces.
It's perfect because it solves the program's mystery about whether the end justifies the means. The anime answers yes, but you have to pay a price. Lelouch gives his life for the end and Suzaku lives to preserve the means used.
It's perfect because the Zero Requiem constitutes a just punishment for Lelouch and Suzaku. Suzaku, who wanted to die to evade guilt and pain, has to live as a peace mediator assuming the identity of Zero, the figure he opposed. Meanwhile, Lelouch who wanted to live with his loved ones has to die so that they can enjoy the kind world that he dreamed of. Thus both atone for his sins.
It's perfect because the Zero Requiem was the means to achieve peace. Lelouch and Suzaku literally ended all wars for a long time.
The F.L.E.I.J.A., which was the most dangerous weapon ever conceived, was destroyed along with the Damocles.
There will be no more Knightmares. In the final battle, Lelouch blew up the mines on Mount Fuji that accounted for 70% of the world's supply of Sakuradite (the mineral that provided power to the Knightmares) and, at the same time, eliminated the reason for the powers to conquer Japan.
There are no armies anymore. The most powerful army in the Code Geass universe at that time is the Order of the Black Knights and is at the service of the United Nations Federation. The Black Knights can only act together through a vote and, in any case, they will be one of the forces that rebuild the new world. The other largest army was that of Britannia, however, it was mostly annihilated due to the final battle.
There will be no power vacuum. That is the purpose of FNU. Almost all nations are united under the FNU, but still retain their leadership. The FNU is a coalition of nations whose seventeenth provision states that all members must be demilitarized. It is similar to the UN with the difference that it is a more competent organization. By the end of the series, all of the superpowers (the Chinese Federation, the European Union, and Britannia) are members; in such a way that the FNU becomes the governing body of the world.
There are no armies anymore. The most powerful army in the Code Geass universe at that time is the Order of the Black Knights and is at the service of the United Nations Federation. The Black Knights can only act together through a vote and, in any case, they will be one of the forces that rebuild the new world. The other largest army was that of Britannia, however, it was mostly annihilated due to the final battle.
There will be no power vacuum. That is the purpose of FNU. Almost all nations are united under the UFN, but still retain their leadership. The UFN is a coalition of nations whose seventeenth provision states that all members must be demilitarized. It is similar to the UN with the difference that it is a more competent organization. By the end of the series, all of the superpowers (the Chinese Federation, the European Union, and Britannia) are members; in such a way that the UFN becomes the governing body of the world.
No one has the strength to continue fighting due to psychological trauma. The final battle pushed everyone beyond their limits causing great emotional toll. Not to mention that the world was already immersed in an uninterrupted global war for 20 years in a row. The Britannians themselves witnessed such horrors on their territory as Lelouch brought such suffering. People were fed up with pain, deaths and wars. They didn't want to experience the same thing again soon.
Additionally, this war gave rise to a kind of reset in the political landscape. Britannia lost all its power and the Chinese Federation and the European Union would no longer try to fill the void by becoming the new dominant superpower. That is why Lelouch set out to conquer the entire world. Britannia will become a much more democratic government, now that Nunnally is the empress. She will redirect the empire in the right direction. We see that the colonies will be able to become independent, if they wish. For me, the wedding between Ohgi and Villetta ends years of hatred between Britannia and Japan and celebrates a new beginning marked by togetherness, happiness and peace.
Neither Nunnally's government nor the new world will face threats. The nobility was abolished by Lelouch and many of them died when Schneizel fired the F.L.E.I.J.A. towards Pendragon. Any dissidents who might disturb the peace were hunted down by Jeremiah. Schneizel, who was the main danger and the most competent politician, is under Zero's orders, which means that he will no longer act on his ambitions, but will instead lend his skills and knowledge to the rightful ruler of Britannia, Nunnally, the weak link of the royal family becomes the most powerful person in an entire empire.
Of course, this is no guarantee of peace nor is it indicative that it will last forever. There is still resentment and anger. The UFN could be dissolved and all nations could once again turn against each other. Lelouch could have stayed in power to keep the peace. But he respected free will and believed that people were in the constant search for happiness, so Lelouch gave the world the opportunity. According to Kallen in the epilogue, all nations are pooling their efforts to address other problems such as hunger and poverty, proving that Lelouch was right about human nature. In the end, peace is a decision that the world makes. A peace created by the system and not imposed from outside (just as Suzaku wanted).
In short, the ending is perfect because the climax coincides with the closure of the story. That is, all problems are solved with a single (and very powerful) scene. It's a difficult feat to achieve in narrative. And yet, the creators did it.
#code geass: lelouch of the rebellion#code geass#code geass: hangyaku no lelouch#lelouch lamperouge#lelouch vi britannia#lelouch#suzaku kururugi
21 notes
·
View notes
Text
saw Dune 2 (2une?), and since I don't have my dune blog anymore I'll post here, since blah blah this is my place for posting about Dynastic Weirdos. This is long but NO MAJOR SPOILERS, except about like, small detail things that aren't plot things but whatever
Tbh it was disappointing. It had all the correct elements to be liked but one thing grated on me the whole time...the Bad Dialogue and lack of Elevated Speech! Why the hell were all these characters saying stuff like "these guys" "we're ok" and "literally" it took me out of the fantastical world sOOO bad. Super bummer because what I loved about Dune 1 (D-uno?) As someone who went into it before reading or knowing anything was how much it didn't explain, how it let the visuals and the world unfold before you, and how serious and somber it was in a way that gave it a sense of scale and time.
I can only wonder if WB saw all the complaints and tweets about people being like "we didn't understand the first movie!!! It wasn't funny and quippy!!!" And decided to simplify it down so characters just SAY things really obviously and inelegantly. The writing has some competence in moving the story forward but there's no poetry or rhythm to the way characters say things, it's serving "Rings of Power" scriptwriting to me lmao. And it's not like any of the actors are bad? I've seen them do well in the previous movie and in other things, so wtf was going on with the direction. I know people complained Abt Villeneuve saying that whole thing about being more into visuals than dialogue but maybe he was right...there needed to be LESS WORDS. bc much of the words we had were NOT GOOD.
Positivity: the middle and latter part was where the movie picked up for me. The Harkonnen Freak Villain behavior was everything I could have wanted! Finally instead of EXPLAINING everything obviously we got to see a LOT of character building, for Feyd specifically in a very short amount of time. I know a lot of us complained about Bald Feyd-Rautha but Mr Elvis did a very good job. And we got Madame Fenring and weird scifi femdomming finally, which is Essential for the Duniverse! Wonderful fantastic no notes.
Of course, getting back to our heroes, I anticipated this 2 years ago sadly and it was true...the Fremen were badass but SWAGLESS. More Learned ppl have already written about the frustration with the erasure of the Arabic/North African cultural presence so I won't reiterate that here since I'm not super knowledgeable about the specifics of that but even as a casual watcher there was a weird emptiness to the way I feel the society was portrayed. There were individual good character moments, such as fun bantering among the Fedaykin etc, but for Pacing or Whatever they cut out the community aspects that served to make them feel more like well, a People rather than just either Grizzled Soldiers/ Religious Fundamentalists aka Marks/Panicked refugees. I have to guess this was ppl were like "we can't show a culture too cool and colorful and the part with Harrah (Jamis' widow) would feel too ORIENTALIST!!! But the result is something sadly very dry. At least in more older orientalist works, the interest comes from when the ~exotic~ stereotypes figures are able to have charming personalities and personalities and be known as people despite the cliches sometimes but this sadly wasn't even like that....
Jamis' funeral is a good example of this; in the Book, it's a moment where you first get a good look of what rituals are like in this world, and how people relate to each other and to the dead. In the movie, the funeral is looks more foreign and even a little creepy as the water is extracted from the body. There's not really a Personal or community connection aspect to it at all.
The ending was pretty good as it satisfied all the Cool Dune Moments I think we all wanted to see, and also did literally the end of The Godfather Part 1 Framing which was hee hee heh. Anyways, Messiah is MY favorite book of the series personally so curious how they get to that.
Maybe I've been too spoiled by Cool Historical Fiction lately? I've been watching too much of The Devil's Crown where action happens mostly off screen but the dynastic drama is written and acted so compellingly, the historical mindset and setting so alien and yet so human and relatable, it's frustrating to see when works try to do the opposite? Idk??? Dune books themselves is fun in how action is mostly an "offscreen, offstage"' thing.
*if ANYONE in the Universe is a quippy Bastard, it should be Leto II esp in God Emperor where he literally has nothing to do all day but quip all day to terrified acolytes
16 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hey! So I'm from the Jaime/Lannister side of the fandom but wanted to ask your opinion on where you think GRRM is going with Dany. I don't mean spell out her endgame or anything, but what messages do you think he is trying to impart through her character? I see so much Dark!Dany! theory shaped by the show that has just never really resonated with how I read her in the books. I see her more as a figure who will try to be Queen of Westeros, but will ultimately end up abdicating or even sacrificing herself during the LN because finding "home" is more important to her than ruling... but that is not based on much other than gut feeling. What do you think?
yeah idrgaf about the show tbh. i think it fundamentally misunderstood key themes that the books were exploring. corrupted/mad dany feels so deeply cynical to me. people have been reiterating this: she is a subversive messiah figure & she is given a narrative that is so often reserved for the “male hero”. the gender commentary in that would fall flat on its face to me if she becomes mad fascist female ruler like bffr. yeah, she will get darker come winds, like everyone else she will have to make choices and will face moral dilemmas because she is resolved to continue combatting the institution of slavery. she knows she will not be able to do it without dirtying her hands in some way. i think grrm is gonna explore the concept of necessary force and the question of when it is more moral to take a stand and draw blood: is it justified to cut off and burn something at the root, especially if the alternative is allowing the cancer to exist and continue to spread? the institution of slavery is a wound that cannot just be covered up with a bandaid. like this is a very important aspect of abolition. the only way i can see the idea of “madness” be relevant is in a more subversive john brown paralleling way with how people thought that man was insane bc he wanted to end slavery lmfao. if terrible people think you are mad for attempting to make radical changes that harm them that is a good sign. also would hate her becoming an aerys parallel like in the show like that is cringe bio essentialism territory, again, antithetical to the themes prevalent in these books. d&d’s #subversive #dark #unexpected ending was unironically the equivalent of:
do not want her ‘idealism’ to be completely robbed from her at any point either really. im not opposed to tragedy but i dont think id vibe with it being too cynical in this instance. this series is about earned romanticism. its heroes are the dreamers yada yada. it is about a dream of spring. i always thought she represented hope in some way. she is gonna be the flame during TLN, literally and metaphorically imo. i do think there are thematic and more abstract aspects to lightbringer, like yeah humanity uniting over an ideal for a better future & it can be about hope or whatever, which is why multiple characters have some kind of flaming sword foreshadowing, but a main one is gonna be dany and her dragons. like on top of all the pretty overt foreshadowing, like let us think about the logistics here, what is gonna do more damage to the others?? three magic nukes or some convenient dues ex machina magical flaming toothpick we forge out of murdering a woman? i also do not want to instantly write her off as a doomed martyr either though. i see the appeal in the tragedy of the kind girl who wanted a home dying without ever getting to live in the one she created but still leaving it for millions upon millions of people present and future… but also idk i am just not crazy about martyrdom as a trope unless it is executed very well. i like when characters survive for a cause rather than die for it. dany always kept persevering, not just for herself, but others: her children and her people, so i like when altruism is framed in that way. also i might be a little bitter if she is the only one to die from the new generation or whatever like in the show
93 notes
·
View notes
Text
Okay, I'm not going to see Dune 2 for several reasons, but since there is Dune discourse going around right now, and as someone who has read both Dune and Dune Messiah, and knows what happens in Children of Dune even if I don't have plans to read it, and I am not saying anything new here:
Yes, Dune the book is a deconstruction of the white saviour and is critical of imperialism and colonialism - there is an explicit line about this in the book that the new film removed and replaced with an action scene, and there are no good colonizers in the book, unlike the same movie sanitizing the Atreides, especially Duke Leto, and the story is a very obvious allegory for Western colonization of the SWANA region for oil; Paul is not a hero, and both Herbert and Denis were inspired by Lawrence of Arabia (both the film and history), where a self-aggrandizing white British man elevated himself as some kind of saviour figure in the Arab struggle against the Ottoman Empire, only for the, not them be colonized by Western powers, which T. E. Lawrence was part of.
HOWEVER!
While it sounds like Dune 2 took things in a different (and possibly worse, by the sounds of it), the books do renege on Paul being wrong to turn his back on being a saviour and ultimately argue that he should needed to be even more of a saviour to save humanity's long term fate; there is also the fact that while yes, Herbert was deconstructing the saviour figure, he ends up failing at it bc the Fremen have zero agency, even if Paul doesn't actually save them as an outsider - the Fremen only believe he is a saviour bc of past outsider manipulation they were too stupid to question, and while Herbert probably intended for it to be a critique of white missionaries destroying non-Christian cultures, the fact that the Fremen all just believe it without question is bad; there is also the implication that without Paul's interference, the Fremen would have not succeeded at freeing themselves and not gone on to become violent jihadists, and aside from the obvious Orientalism there, that the Fremen couldn't even do bad shit as per a racist trope without the white guy enabling them is still a lack of agency.
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
Fire Force as a One Piece ending prediction?
During my "research" for the iceberg, I did read all of Fire Force and thought quite a lot about it - a lot of the thoughts connect to Soul Eater, so I leave them for the Iceberg - but this specifically is such a weird thing I noticed, that I had to write it down - guess spoilers for both One Piece and Fire Force
Before we really start, I wanna make clear this won't be one of these 2009 "wow this generic story is like this generic story images"
But some comparisions that are simmilar to that will be needed (while keeping in mind that they may be common tropes and or cultural ideas, picked up through osmosis - which may even count into the more "plausible" explanation in the end)
So anyways, the whole premise of Fireforce at the start is "hero kid who everybody sees as a devil and can't stop smiling" - and one can ofcourse make the whole "Pirates with Devil fruit that smile comparison"
You may ask why I chose those images to represent that - because they tie in with my next point - because at the beginning of both stories the smiles had quite different meaning - Shinra's anxiety forcing his face to contort seems kinda different to the whole "Will of D, facing ones death with a smile because you lived your fullest life and know that your will is gonna be carried on"
So what changed to make it not such a stretch - well this pun is what changed - the change from stretching gum, to stretching being a metaphor for imagination freeing reality, making one free - AKA the Gum gum fruit to Joy Boy retcon - aka, Luffy basically being a quasi reincarnation of a messiah figure, like somebody else...
One could say "well, Luffy rejects being called a hero" - but that still leaves the "unlikely person is the messiah" thing by instead of the one who looks like the devil being it, it's the one who doesn't care about it and wouldn't mind being called a devil.
But anyways, one could say, who cares, the "shonen hero becomes a japanese Jesus" thing is very common (one could write a whole essay on that) so what's the point, gonna pull in Naruto too? (enen thought there are some connections for Soul Eater with that, but I'll leave it for the iceberg)
The answer is the thing I mentioned about imagination - Fire Force basically ends with Shinra using imagination to recreat a quasi perfect world free of the vows of the current world (which was cartoonified already) - and what does Luffys new power do?
Turning everything more goofy and cartoony... Emphasis on more, because One Piece allways was cartoony... (We get more into what that could mean later) I would put some pictures, but its literally to common to point out, so I better leave some space for more relevant shit.
So both storys focus on the freeing aspect of using one's imagination anad dealing with death (i.e. the Will of D is realising in a way the imagined future to motivate the present to overcome the past) ((Maybe it literally means Will of Death instead of Dawn, Devil or Downloading pirated things is actually good))
One could say that is an coincidence too, but why then all the Sun God Symbolism? The sun as a symbol of hope, like the laughing sun of Soul Eater in contrast with the Mad Moon cackling in despair... And trust me, One Piece has enough of it's own Moon symbolism
So here we are - the era of the Moon as being the time of Madness and Oppresion, in both Fire Force and One Piece - yet the Sun is both despair and hope, destruction and creation - because that's what Shinra uses to get his stupid power scaler bait (like literally people on youtube see the ending and think "is he stronger than Goku", man if storys for 10 year olds are too complicated for you...) creation powers (his name literally meaning "Of All Creation") that let him in a blink destroy and recreat the world - while Luffy is also prophecied to destroy atleast an island, and probably the current "world" of artificial borders (probably creating the All Blue and shit but that doesn't matter at the moment)
But if still not convinved, lets talk about the other stuff that started matching up with Fire Force - a new super villian above all of the others that many think is a woman, while shrouded in shadow - is this the Evangelist or IMU? Devil fruits being revealed to be the dreams becoming real, like Adola being the collective unconsious, dreams and hopes. The Goverment is around something called "the mother flame" which is said to be both an amazing powersource and a nuke-like weapon - just as Ametarasu looks like a literal nuclear powerplant while also being a weapon that could explode and cause the literal cataclysm.
Also the whole point of an outsider force goverment ruling the world - especially with the early fire force hints of them being literal aliens, while there are alien hints in one piece too (and the real world metaphor of outsiders rulling your country, as many Japanese people may feel after losing WW2, but that is probably a controversial topic, even if certain weirdly nationalistic details in Fire Force make one have a double take...)
Anyways, there are too many circumstantial references to name and in the end one can just go "well they are just common tropes and cliche's" But if they are - that's kinda interesting in its own way - as outsiders, we look at these weird comics as if we get them, but if all these things are common enough to not be anything special, how clueless are we? Is so much interesting japanese discourse and thought lost to us? Maybe even some of the people considered "shizos" by the fanbase are actually on to something?
But so we have basically two possibilietes - either it is a very common idea in current japanese media (maybe influenced by Jungian stuff, or things like Devilman ((never read it)) or Berserk ((listened to some summary of it for 20 hours while drawing lol)) - or Ohkubo specifically picked up on all the hints, forshadowings etc and went "yeah I'm gonna do the same" - either because he got tired of waiting for the end of One Piece or because he wanted passive agressivly one up Oda maybe lol (he did say that he doesnt want his stuff go on forever like One Piece, so maybe its to show how to do it a lot quicker?)
Anyways, in the end its not really a theory one can falsify, and not even one that may be "literally" true - but just realising the connections, even if they just exist do to a common culture and "canon" of works, maybe even works not read by either author but absorbed by osmosis, seem to lead one to a deeper understanding for why certain choices are made.
And oh about the "more cartoony" world hint - well if fire foce was once the real world, and the bible exist in One Piece if really countries dont, what if that isn't the void century - the time when the world was like ours, or closer to it - basically all the sciefi stuff and metaphysical bullshit could lead to that - with the One Piece treasure being the literall One Piece manga (an old joke theory I had on some long banned throaway account, but people seem to keep now mention more and more...) - basically the guide of salvation, the power of imagination leading one beyond the fear of death and despair - maybe even why Ohkubo did the Soul Eater connection - he couldnt just copy One Piece one for one, so instead of the solution being the story itself, he went back to his own older story to get the same effect. But maybe thats too deranged even for my standards.
Anyways, I probably forgot a lot of stuff that would make it more convinving, like the out of nowhere "Flame Emperor Sabo" thing, and that the first candidate of the Messiah had a fire power with Sun themed attacks etc or that Luffys mom is unknown or that Ace was supposed to be killed in a simmilar way King Herod wanted to kill Jesus etc. Maybe this all just seems inchoherent, but Idk I had to dump it somewhere, maybe someone can work with this info and pull out something better, but if this all just feels like a waste of time:
Yeah... Sorry
#Fire force#one piece#thematic analysis#conspiracy#theory#analysis#atsushi ohkubo#explanation#coincidence#pseudo essay#idk it is what it is#spoiler
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Dune: Part Two
In my review of Dune: Part One three (!) years ago, I described it as a compelling and arresting “half” of a story. It’s an assessment that held up nicely on a recent revisit. But now that Part Two has arrived, how does Denis Villaneuve’s adaptation of this sci-fi cornerstone shake out? Dear reader, allow me to tell you.
Epic filmmaking comes along only rarely. James Cameron wants his Avatar films to feel this way, but they come across as technologically impressive and little else. Not since Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings have we seen a series of films that feels fully awe-inspiring and materially impactful in the way that Dune: Part Two often feels. But this is not an emotionally riveting drama, this is an intergalactic tragedy that serves as an epic-scale warning about the dangers of unbridled power and ambition, as well as the poison of religious manipulation and fervor.
The ending of Part One served as a fitting cliffhanger. It was half the tale, but it was the end of Paul Atreides (Timothee’ Chalamet). Forced into exile by the treachery of the Emperor (Christopher Walken) and the vengeful violence of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard), Paul was no longer intergalactic royalty. He is now, as Part Two opens, at the mercy of Arrakis’ Fremen, and thus begins the journey of Paul Maud’Dib.
But where Part One was a film composed largely of exposition, explanation and setup, Part Two is almost entirely payoff. If your lingering complaint with Part One was its somewhat passive tempo and lack of action, boy are you in luck. While I wouldn’t go so far as to describe the film as “action packed,” it’s a consistently thrilling ride as the insurrection unfolds. Villaneuve displays a mastery of scale and impact, delivering setpieces that recall moments like the Battle of Aqaba in Lawrence of Arabia (if T.E. Lawrence had stormed that city riding a titan-sized sandworm, of course). It is, at its core, as stark a battle of good versus evil as anything we’ve seen in a while on a scale like this.
But while there is a stark morality found in the core of the film’s values, its characters are often much more complex. With the Harkonnens having laid waste to House Atreides and taken over spice harvesting, Paul and his mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) are now at the mercy of the Fremen. But it isn’t long before he ingratiates himself into their tribe and proves himself a capable ally in the fight against Arrakis’ destructive new overlords. This happens in no small part due to the fanaticism of Fremen leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem), who fully believes the “prophecies” seeded millennia ago that point to a man like Paul arriving to become their messiah, the Lisan al Gaib. And while Paul himself considers such prophecies nonsense, he becomes more and more willing to play into them for his own aim of avenging the murder of his father and the slaughter of his House. This all culminates with events and a decision that are chilling and horrifying in equal measure.
And that’s what ultimately makes this now completed film so compelling. There are no real heroes in the story of Dune. There are no noble motives being pursued (by the major players, at least). There are only murderers, manipulators and those seeking raw vengeance at the expense of all else. And yet Villaneuve’s craftsmanship makes such sordid trappings feel engaging and even relatable. Paul’s descent into becoming a vengeful warrior and religious scion is, in its own way, heartbreaking, especially given the emotional toll it takes on Chani (Zendaya), the woman he comes to love. Their relationship is the emotional throughline of the whole story, and it’s anchored by the terrific performances from Chalamet and Zendaya. Chalamet becomes far more formidable as a leadership figure than I honestly thought he had in him when Part One began, but he more than capably sells the dramatic shifts Paul makes both internally and externally. Zendaya’s work is much more subdued at times, but her magnificently expressive face provides the necessary window. If nothing else, few in Hollywood have a better “mean eyes” expression than her.
The entire cast is as on-point, as they were in Part One. Those wishing Javier Bardem had more to do last time out ought to be beyond pleased as Stilgar becomes a dominant presence as his zealotry evolves from mildly comedic to spine-chilling. It’s a true sight to behold and Bardem fully sells the weight and intensity and genuine passion this character experiences. The true standout, though, is Austin Butler as Feyd, the psychotic nephew of Baron Harkonnen. He disappears under a pale sheath of facial prosthetics and weirdo vocal choices to deliver a truly unnerving and hateful villain.
Butler’s look and performance meshes perfectly with the stunning monochrome aesthetic of his homeworld, Giedi Prime. A stark, nearly sterile landscape overtaken by hauntingly smooth architecture that looks sort of like what you’d get if H.R. Giger tried to blend his work with the Art Deco style. It’s as memorable a sci-fi landscape as we’ve seen in ages. At minimum, you’ve never seen fireworks like these people fire off.
At the end of it all I was left in mild awe at what Villaneuve had accomplished. Dune, the novel, was a work that I had to force myself to get through. It always kept me at arm’s length, I felt. And yet somehow Villaneuve and company have managed to translate that into one of the most enrapturing and engaging epics that Hollywood has seen in its modern era. Some may be frustrated at the feeling that we are once again left on a cliffhanger (of sorts), but the point at which Dune: Part Two cuts to credits feels as natural an endpoint as Part One. This is the conclusion of yet another definitive chapter in Paul’s journey, even as it immediately begins a new one. I can’t wait to see how Villaneuve pushes it further.
#dune#dune part 2#timothee chalamet#zendaya#movie reviews#javier bardem#rebecca ferguson#josh brolin#austin butler
5 notes
·
View notes
Text
Season 3 Episode 11: Utopia/Episode 12: The Sound of Drums/ Episode 13: Last of the Time Lords
GOD MARTHA JONES YOU ARE SO COOL I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! ok so the 3 part finale was a bit unexpected, but i think it was done really well, ESPECIALLY with the twist of the people going to utopia being the little ball things. anyways i did NOT expect the professor to be the master, having escaped the time wars the same way the doctor hid himself from the family just episodes ago, that AND the doctors talks with jack while hes in the radiation chamber is so good, and like actually kinda tragic and sad, but jacks back!!! and hes as funny and cute as ever!! when watching the episode i thought it was a bit boring at the start but looking back at what all it sets up I don't mind at all, especially the reveal of the master, god what a twist!!! anyways part 2 is the best one, saxon which has been name dropped thru the whole season just as bad wolf in s1 and torchwood in s2, all for it to be the masters disguise, amazing!!! jack working for torchwood (I'll have to get to that spin off eventually) using the tardis keys as chameleon technology, martha going after her family only to see them being taken, the master being just a silly little genocidal guy, HIM AGING UP THE DOCTOR???????? it was so good!! martha running and traveling the world for a year, alone spreading the doctors word, literally making him a messiah figure among the remaining people, the master aging up the doctor EVEN MORE TURNING HIM FROM GANDALF TO GOLEM???? its so good!!!! martha jones is so cool!!!! the doctor fucking rising like jesus was cool!!! it even brought back the power of words from the second episode!!!the fact that he could only forgive the master even after all hes done because he doesn't want to be the last of his kind, yet the master winning by chosing the die rather than regenerate??????? martha realizing the doctor won't fall for her and leaving???? good for her????? but like i miss her????? but like fuck yeah???? AHHHHH!!!! this show really hits the season finales out of the park, and im so happy Martha had a great ending where she can be the hero and be with her family
4.5/5
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Procedurally Generated AI Cults, Situational Vulnerability, & Lower Decks
Dear reader, I'm not as caught up on Lower Decks as I should be. So I'm working on amending that. S3E8 "Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus" struck me as giving the game away. Lower Decks isn't just good parody, its good Star Trek. Of course I knew that, but this reinforces it so well.
So lets get into the meat of it.
Boimler and the gang are enjoying a shameless self insert holo novel about the Lower Decks team being cool action heroes and saving the Cerritos from a time traveling Romulan scheme. Brad is shaken when he finds out that this transporter clone on the Titan has died in a senseless accident.
No longer able to enjoy the cinematic adventure he's constructed, Brad strays from the main plot line causing the holodeck to improvise. Brad is captivated by a street preacher promising answers to the biggest questions such as the meaning of life. A street preacher he didn't directly program into the story, the holodeck just inserted the preacher into the background for flavor. He was supposed to be just another voice in a procedurally generated cacophony. What's more the street preacher is an obvious cliche.
Unless you're devastated and unmoored.
Suddenly the affectation of secret knowledge scans as real and compelling. What was once silly and easily dismissed is intoxicating.
Set and setting as Morpheus would say quoting Timothy Leary who was almost certainly paraphrasing earlier thinkers.
When Boimler starts taking the street preacher seriously, like any good TTRPG storyteller, the Holodeck computer has to start improvising frantically. At one point Mariner even points out that the way an AI character is behaving is transparently a stalling tactic while the holodeck generates the next story point. Brad is not deterred.
Boimler is not stupid. He's Starfleet. He's memorized procedure manuals that put Vulcans to sleep. He knows he's talking to a machine. That none of this is "real" but there is a broken part of him in this moment that is open to the idea that through a sort of chaos magic, something real will be revealed in the AI's kludging together of hollow symbols that represent significance but have no deeper meaning behind them beyond what Brad reads into it.
Later on, the procedurally generated cult even stumbles, fails to make progress on its quest for enlightenment and falls apart in recrimination and bickering. Sound familiar?
However, this is just a momentary lapse because Brad is still unmoored, still desperate to find meaning from something that is coded as a higher power, and the moment his large language model messiah returns, Brad is all in.
This episode was hysterical but it was also painful. I have a grandmother who is all in on reactionary conspiracy theories and its hard to find things to talk to her about that aren't landmines. Especially considering my day job is in education, so now I don't know how much I can actually talk about my work without having to disarm the groomer bomb.
But anyway this episode does such a great job of showcasing concepts that have been discussed in many places but I would argue that the most genuine and informed discussion has taken place on the Conspirituality podcast with an honorable mention to Behind the Bastards for their "AI is Coming for Your Children" two parter. I feel like this coincides nicely with Robert Evans' less sensationalist takes on AI in which yes, people can immerse themselves in their own alternate realities even more so, but with the greatest threat very plausibly not coming from the malignancy of elites but rather the willingness of unthinking machines to tell us what we want to hear and other cynical actors trying to figure out how to profit by creating the illusion of meaning at scale.
That isn't to say that the designers of the holodeck mean any harm but its clear that even with appropriate safeguards in place, situational vulnerability remains quite real even after Barclay's unfortunate experiences. We're all searching for validation and meaning, and when we're at our lowpoints is when our BS detectors are weakest.
#star trek#holodecks#brad boimler#QAnon#cults#situational vulnerability#Conspirituality#Behind the Bastards#AI#grief#Star Trek Lower Decks#Lower Decks s3e8#Lower Decks season 3#uss cerritos
4 notes
·
View notes
Note
playing off of alfred enjoying dune because of its cautionary themes my personal hc is that he'd enjoy the OG watchmen comic for similar reasons
THIS. You're so right anon because like, for me, there's a push and pull to Alfred's character– the "push" being what we see on the surface, which is the hero complex and worship of similar figures and themes in fiction. The "pull", then, is what he tries to suppress. He doesn't want to think too hard about what can or will go wrong, that's time wasted on not doing! He's very action oriented which gives off the impression that he doesn't think too far ahead. Alfred does though, but if he thinks too hard or plans too rigidly, he begins to think of sometimes borderline impossible worst-case scenarios. So cautionary tales about the dangers of The Hero or The Messiah figure (i.e. in Dune and Watchmen) hits home for him. He understands the dangers. He knows it's not good to base everything on ideals without reason and evidence... but he doesn't want to think too hard about it. Like I said, if you asked him why he likes them he'd just shrug you off, but the real reason is because he's quite pragmatic too, under all that idealism. People getting what they wished for and a story coming full circle and what not. Besides his subconscious reasons, he just enjoys a good, well rounded, even circular story :p he likes some ambiguity but he'd probably love-hate an open ending. Too much to think about!
9 notes
·
View notes
Text
Possible Cast Members for “Knives Out 3”?
Rian Johnson has done it again with Glass Onion, an excellent follow-up to the raucously enjoyable Knives Out. The consistency in the writing and the way both films award repeat viewings make them great comfort watches, and Daniel Craig seems to be having a wonderful time playing the over-the-top Southern drawling, eagle eyed dandy Benoit Blanc.
The success of the series so far has been not just the clever writing, but the casting, as each film utilises an ensemble of tremendous character actors who enjoy being outlandish and ridiculous. Unsurprisingly, Twitter quickly began asking who fans would love to see in the cast, and it prompted me to consider my own ideas. It won’t shock many to hear I quickly thought of many, but below are some of my ideas. The good thing is that Benoit Blanc has the potential to be the Columbo of feature films, appearing every few years in an ongoing franchise, so even if these don’t all appear in the third movie, there could always be the next one...
Brendan Fraser is currently in the midst of a career renaissance due to his performance in The Whale, where he has become a front runner for Best Actor prizes in his heartbreaking portrayal. But this kind hearted, beloved man first came to prominence with his self-deprecating manner in fan favourite cult classics such as George of the Jungle and one I particularly love, The Mummy. He’s shown his ability to balance comedy with pathos, so he’d be perfectly suited in this world.
Jon Hamm is man who looks like he is chiselled out of perfection, and yet surprised many with his comedic timing in 30 Rock and the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Hamm could work perfectly as the murder victim in a Benoit Blanc movie, his magnetism allowing him to be depicted positively before flashbacks reveal a darker edge, akin to his more dramatic roles.
Stephanie Hsu was the surprise break out from Everything Everywhere All At Once, demonstrating surprising pathos in her support role and impressively holding her own against Michelle Yeoh. A trope in the previous two movies of the series has been Blanc’s double act with a young female, firstly the Cuban-Spanish Ana De Armas, and then the non-binary African-American Janelle Monae, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they continue that method. Hsu could have a brilliant double act with Craig, so I think she’d be fantastic.
Hugh Jackman is handsome, can sing, is funny, an amazing dramatic actor, and reputedly one of the nicest human beings in Hollywood. Renowned for his classic portrayals of Wolverine, one of the few action heroes to challenge James Bond, I could see him portraying one of Benoit’s best friends, inviting both Blanc and Hugh Grant’s Phillip to a Broadway event (any excuse to see Jackman, Grant and Craig singing Broadway together).
Daniel Kaluuya is mostly known for his partnership with Jordan Peele, specifically in the excellent horror films Get Out and Nope, as well as his appearances in Steve McQueen’s Widows and his award winning performance in Judas and the Black Messiah. However, an often underrated element is his dry, deadpan line reading, epitomised by his performance in Nope especially. I could see Kaluuya in a similar role to LaKeith Stanfield from Knives Out as an exasperated detective working alongside Benoit Blanc.
Lupita Nyong’o may be better known for her dramatic roles in 12 Years A Slave, Jordan Peele’s Us, and even her role as Nakia in the Black Panther series, but it’s actually her role in the horror comedy Little Monsters that makes me think she would suit the series. Portraying a kindergarten teacher trying to protect her class from a zombie outbreak, her mix of sincere positivity and deadpan humour could make her a Toni Collette / Kathryn Hahn esque figure.
Sandra Oh finally got the lead role she deserved in her series Killing Eve, her role as Eve Polastri allowing her to demonstrate her tremendous range in comedy and drama. She mainly now features in voiceover roles, such as Turning Red or Invincible, but it would be great to see her bring her frazzled energy to a Benoit Blanc mystery.
Pedro Pascal is currently the lead in two of the biggest possible television shows, firstly playing the eponymous character in Disney’s The Mandalorian, and recently taking on the lead role of Joel in HBO’s The Last Of Us. Although these two roles means Pedro is likely going to be fully booked for the majority of his time, a role in a Benoit Blanc ensemble seems perfectly suited for him.
Florence Pugh is probably the least likely, considering she’s now a critical and commercial darling with upcoming roles in Dune: Part Two and ongoing performance as Yelena Belova in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, her comedic timing demonstrated in Fighting With My Family and as Yelena is an underrated element of her repertoire that deserves more attention. She would seemingly suit a similar role to Ana De Armas and Janelle Monae, but I’d love to see that expectation get turned on its head and reveal her to be more similar to Kate Hudson in Glass Onion, the reversal of “hidden depths”.
Those are just some that come to mind, but I’d love to hear others thoughts on who they would have join the Benoit Blanc Cinematic Universe?
#Sam#Preston#Sam Preston#BigBadaBruce#Benoit#Blanc#Daniel#Craig#Rian#Johnson#Knives#Out#Glass#Onion#Jon#Hamm#Brendan#Fraser#Stephanie#Hsu#Everything#Everywhere#All#At#Once#The#Mummy#Whale#Hugh#Jackman
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
Manga: The Savior Messiah : The Former Hero Who Saved Another World Beats The Real World Full Of Monsters
Trying to talk more about stories I read and watch here on my tumblr, let's see how this goes.
Read all 15 existing chapters of the manga Messiah: Isekai wo Sukutta Motoyuusha ga Mamono no Afureru Genjitsu Sekai wo Musou suru or the English title The Savior Messiah : The Former Hero Who Saved Another World Beats The Real World Full Of Monsters by the writer/artist duo Heisei Owari and Harada Eri.
The summary is quite generic, and the story is not breaking that much new ground, but here it is: Takeru Yamato was a bullied kid in the early 2000s or later 1990s and got isekaied into another world where he was received as the savior and messiah against the danger threatening the world but as this usually goes, after the job was done, that society turns against him and executes him, with only one person going against it.
The protag then wakes up back in his own world, but 40 years from when he left, in the body of another bullied teenager who had just attempted suicide and society has quite changed since it seems that after he died, magic entered the world and portals started randomly opening from where monsters poured out and now there are people using magic and special skills to fight them.
He, of course, still has his immense powers and skills and so far seems to be the strongest character we have seen, but he doesn't want to be in the spotlight ever again, after how disastrous it turned out last time, so he is happy just helping when he sees issues cropping up but to fly under the radar otherwise, which is of course not really feasible, since his strength kinda sticks out, and it is then about him navigating these waters.
As I said, there are quite a few stories with similar premises with the somewhat novel thing, at least to me, being the twist on the return to his old setting and that having become more magical and fantastic in his absence, while still retaining a lot of "normal" modern life.
I actually quite like the protag so far. A lot of isekai protags have an uphill battle to fight for me, unfortunately, because most of them rub me the wrong way, but it helped that there was no perving or fanservice-y stuff, nor was he an obnoxious or powerhungry asshole. And even though he was burned so badly and experienced abuse and betrayal, while he is wary of opening himself up, he isn't very bitter or negative, nor constantly swearing revenge or saying that humans are bad, which was a nice change of pace.
The magic seems fun enough so far, and while those who are cast in the antagonist roles, or really any characters, really, are above being generic, we are still in the first 20 chapters, so I have hopes that things will improve on that front. The main girl, who is one of the strongest in the world, is also cool enough so far, in that I liked that while she was of course concerned and worried about such a strong person appearing out of nowhere and wanted to check him out to figure out things, that she was quite respectful of his wishes and determined to honor them once she realized he was just some absurdly powerful guy who didn't want to stand out. That's something she shares with the spear guy who appears later on, and I have to say, quite like those two so far, and I am curious to see where this goes.
But of course, the problem with stories where the protag is so much more powerful than everyone else is the danger that the other characters just quite often fall behind and are simply unable to matter in the plot, and we'll see how this manga handles that. It's not even that every fight might become a curbstomp for the protag, you can do that, you just have to make sure that the side cast never becomes irrelevant, but as I said, still in the beginning stages.
The art is quite good, think a bit simple at times, but you can always tell what is going on. The character models are not exactly novel, though, cute and solid, but also very familiar.
Worth checking out, but not exactly a must-read.
#The Savior Messiah : The Former Hero Who Saved Another World Beats The Real World Full Of Monsters#manga
1 note
·
View note
Text
BNHA 319 - Thoughts
While I was hoping that we’ll get a glimpse of Shouto this chapter, I didn’t expect the TDBK BESTIES FEAST we got. So whatever else is going on - I feel alive and fed.
Tokoyami is the official TDBK third-wheeler and I’m living for it!
Anyways, Kacchan dramatically tearing up and exploding Deku’s stupid-ass letter (I can’t believe he ditched Kacchan and Shouto also in a letter....) in front of the class, them figuring out the Top3+AM’s “brilliant” plan to hide Deku in 2 seconds flat, while being an aggressive mother hen worrying about Deku (and not missing a single opportunity to say how he KNOWS HIM BEST)... And also pointing out how All Might is just as hopeless... lol... all this time on Team OFA - Kacchan really knows them.
So, I’ve been waiting for months now to see Shouto’s face and while seemingly we skipped through the all-so-important aftermath, I appreciate the art which shows us that he’s not fine. None of them are (look at Kirishima’s hair down and his roots showing!), but Shouto especially not. He looks like he hasn’t slept in a month and he looks so sad and hurt and let down. He’s one of the people who has been hit the hardest by the war and not only his father, but also his best friend pushed him away. But still he has friends now and it makes all the difference.
So the class is gathered worried about Deku and the Top 3 is not answering - and damn it, I’m so mad at them. Can we talk about how Hawks is ghosting Tokoyami who saved his life? Because I expect this shit from Endeavor by now, and BJ was never that great for Bakugou, but you too, Hawks? At least Kacchan is calling them Denim and Spoonbill and that’s hilarious. I love petty Kacchan. I love all shades of Kacchan in this chapter.
Anyways, if Shouto can’t get Endeavor to answer, at least Nezu can summon him as ex-alumni, which doesn’t even make sense, but whatever. Ochako gets to look determined and assertive, so yeah. We get the hilarious visual of Endeavor being scolded in the principal’s office by a super-intelligent mouse, and a class full of kids.
Look at TDBK!!! - “too close” Shouto can’t get close enough now and they are totally holding hands and Bakugou has Shouto’s “fuck you, dad”-face down to perfection, and Bakugou is wearing a tie!!!! - shit is happening.
Shouto finally lays into Endeavor in front of everyone for ignoring his calls, and ditching him from the team-up of tracking down Touya-nii, while letting Deku run off with All Might.
You go my boy!!! Endeavor totally deserves this. Also Shouto is calling Midoriya Deku for the first time ever is a sure sign of how pissed off he is!
OK, this is the point I’ve deceased and ascended - look at Bakugou putting that hand on Shouto’s shoulder - it’s supporting him, and reassuring him and telling him - let me take this, and they are so good together. Like I don’t even need to hear they are friends - they are so obviously friends.
Bakugou again tells Endeavor how he knows Deku best - and that letting him go with All Might is stupid. And yep, Endeavor to his credit listens to Bakugou (even if he doesn’t listen to Shouto). He looks totally defeated because Bakugou predicted every single bad thing that happened. So he does the thing with his phone - great save Sero!!! I hope this is not your shining moment HK sensei mentioned in that interview.
This entire page here - OMG - Shouto expressing frustration and disappointment and anger and sadness about Deku shutting him out and not trusting him, and I’m swearing there is a tear in his eye is everything I wanted. Iida is pointing out the fallacy of Deku trying to protect their smiles when how could they smile knowing he’s trying to do it all alone. Yes, to the class, he’s not the OFA-holder, but their friend.
Nezu cuts off Endeavor who tries to tell them they are kids - and Nezu is sus as fuck, as he’s ushering the whole class out and is also talking up the UA security barrier that La Brava was totally capable of hacking.... UA Traitor tingles anyone???
OK, so the entire class A is at Kamino, they are standing right in front of All Might’s I’m not here statue to scream “We are here”.
So Deku will be happy to see them, right? Right? RIGHT?
But of course not - Deku can’t even look them in the eye. He puts on his mask immediately, because it hurts so much. He’s so convinced that denying himself support is the only way to save everyone (fuck, All Might, this is your legacy too and I’m so glad Kacchan is calling it out for the BS it is.
Anyways, he’s not responding to Ochako’s worry and Bakugou then comes with some much-needed straight talk and dragging Deku off the pedestal and telling him to wake the fuck up.
I was screaming internally, you go, Kacchan! Because this is what I wanted someone to yell into Deku’s face for this entire arc. Of course, Kacchan doing the yelling, for Deku it may sound like Kacchan is doubting him again.
It’s so heartbreaking to watch him wobble to his feet and ready to push away everyone. Iida’s face watching him killed me.
But I think Bakugou anticipated his behaviour, because it definitely looks like Class A came with a plan and seeing Iida and Ochako flanking Bakugou ready to throw hands with Deku! OMG!!!
This is the line-up of the first DvK fight. But this time Deku’s first UA friends are standing with Kacchan, the whole class is standing with Kacchan, because they can’t watch without doing something as Deku destroys himself on the altar of his messiah complex.
Meddling is the sign of a true hero and class A decided to meddle. Bless them.
I’m very nervous of the apparent upcoming Class A vs Deku, because it can go so many ways, but what I want from it is an emotional catharsis of sorts. For BKDK to finally talk about their past, for Shouto to tell Deku how hurt he was and that OFA is his power, it’s his decision who to trust, for Iida and Ochako and the others to show Deku how hurt they are about how he hurts himself because they value him. Not OFA, but Midoriya.
I hope most of all that it will be about emotions, and to somehow show that together they are stronger and nobody is too powerful for support.
PS: Where the hell is Aizawa through all this????
#bnha meta#bnha 319#todobaku#bakugou katsuki#todoroki shouto#bnha manga spoilers#class1a reads bnha#we got a tdbk chapter
176 notes
·
View notes
Note
You mentioned in a post that you don’t believe it was Tom’s intention to run his torture-factory/dystopian academy. Why do you think it ended up that way? Did he simply lose the capacity to care about the children at that point?
Oh god.
Why do you people ask me things that require Tolstoy novel length explanations about Tom Riddle that will still make me sound crazy by the end of it?
Let’s get to it, I suppose.
My usual Tom Riddle analysis disclaimers: we have a lot of ground to cover and little time cover it in so I’m not going to expand on every single line I drop, I will undoubtedly offend somebody if I haven’t already and if you think that might be you then you should probably move along, we’re going to have to make a lot of assumptions.
Required reading material (yes, you have asked an ask that has goddamn required reading material):
Tom Riddle’s Goal Was to Destroy the Wizarding World
Tom Riddle’s Not Crazy
Tom Riddle is Depressed and Suicidal
Voldemort is an Idea, Not a Man
You read it? For realz? For really realz? Okay, then let’s move forward.
I think it’s a bit of both.
I think by the time we get to Tom Riddle in canon, let alone Deathly Hallows, he is buried in rage, depression, and nihilism. He cares about very little anymore, is probably in constant physical pain, life is a black pit of despair, and it’s only fitting that somewhere out there the children are suffering too.
Now that said, I do think he never intended for Hogwarts to become the way it did and did put in fairly reasonable efforts so that it would not. It did anyway. Why do I think that?
He left most of the staff, key staff members at that and known resistance members, untouched and in their posts
He put Severus Snape, of all Death Eaters, in charge of the school
He turned a blind eye to the active student rebellion of nearly half the school’s population
He did not remove the children of known resistance members from the castle and make them hostages
The battle of Hogwarts
The Staff
It’s very telling to me that there is little to no turnover of the staff. Yes, we get the Carrows for Defense Against the Dark Arts and Malfoy gets to be a hall monitor on steroids, but all the original faculty remains and most retain their full original positions.
Minerva McGonagall, who is a known Order member, is allowed to retain her position as Transfiguration professor even when she actively aids and engages in the student led rebellion at the school. Hell, she actively spies on Hogwarts’ inner workings and reports back to the Order, and Tom lets her get away with this.
Despite Tom’s destroying the sorting hat, which I actually fully agree with as I think that thing actively causes major rifts in wizarding society, he actually doesn’t want to rock the boat and in this wants education to continue in much the same manner as before he took power.
He Leaves Snape in Charge
Snape is by far the most level headed Death Eater and actually has experience as a professor, seems to handle children well enough, and has existing relationships with the Hogwarts faculty. If anyone was supposed to get Hogwarts working under the new regime and keep everything in check, then it’s this guy.
I imagine Tom thought Snape could easily handle this. Snape can’t handle this.
Unfortunately, Tom trusted Snape to be competent. Snape chose not to be competent, or rather, I’m sure he had no idea what the fuck Tom wanted from him. I think, for all Snape managed to evade detection, he really has no idea how Tom Riddle works, mostly because all he sees of the man is the ridiculous show that is Voldemort. Based on that, Tom Riddle expects the castle to be in ruins by the year’s end, and Snape delivers the best appearance of this he can while actively turning a blind eye to student rebellion.
In other words, Snape went with his best guess of chaos and despair, which was a good guess.
So Snape sits there as Headmaster, the faculty refuses to interact with him, the hired on Death Eater faculty don’t listen to him and he can’t quite tell them off for torturing the children, because he’s pretty sure that’s what Tom wants and the whole thing spirals out of control until the children are actually arming themselves and Tom Riddle has to actually invade Hogwarts.
He has to invade a school, cutting down children, because Snape could not do his job.
Tom Turned a Blind Eye to Student Rebellion
Remember Dumbledore’s Army and how quickly they were found out? These kids are not being at all secretive. They’re having meetings that both Snape and McGonagall are aware of (both doing their best to hide it), we know that eventually Draco the Hall Monitor finds out about it, and it’s clear that there are key active instigators in Hogwarts.
They then actually barricade themselves in a room and refuse to leave, arming themselves for “the rebellion”.
Tom does nothing.
Oh, sure, the people inside the castle do things but Tom never instructs them to stake out Hogsmeade (where they must be getting supplies), to start pulling out the big guns and threatening their specific families, or anything more.
I think this shows Tom was willing to let a lot go, he just couldn’t let go actual open rebellion or the reemergence of Harry Potter the messiah figure rallying the troops.
Where Are the Hostages?
Tom Riddle knows the entire Weasley family are very strong members of the Order of the Phoenix. He knows early in that Neville Longbottom is instigating rebellion within Hogwarts.
Ginny is not immediately taken from Hogwarts, she is, in fact, sent on her merry way and seems to do just fine for months even when her brothers are writing “U No Poo” on their store windows (and indeed, Fred and George suffer nothing for that either).
Neville, while he does eventually go into hiding, is able to act on his own for months as a known close friend of Harry Potter’s and is never taken hostage.
To me it seems very clear that Tom Riddle really does want to leave the kids alone and as undisturbed as he reasonably can given the circumstances.
The Battle of Hogwarts: The Timeout
Tom is eventually forced to invade Hogwarts. His enemies are school children and the teachers who think it’s a brilliant idea to send said school children into battle (it’s the Dumbledore way!)
It’s a slaughter house.
As Harry’s running around like a lunatic he glimpses children being murdered and grievously injured left and right. The Death Eaters are not suffering nealry as collosol damages.
And yet, despite this, Tom calls for a timeout.
He gives a very weird speech, in which he’s giving them an hour reprieve (HINT HINT, WINK WINK) in which they are to deliver him Harry Potter. At which point the battle will be over and they can all go home.
Tom had the advantage, had he cared nothing for the children or actively wanted to put them down, he could have easily done so and captured Harry Potter. Instead, he takes the world’s weirdest timeout, making a very loud announcement about his timeout, likely in the hopes that the children would take the hint and get the hell out of the castle.
No one gets the hint.
Instead, Harry Potter shows up ready to be murdered. Tom will take it, murders Harry, carries his corpse into Hogwarts saying, “YOUR HERO IS DEAD, DESPAIR, NOW PLEASE LEAVE SO I CAN STOP MURDERING ALL OF YOU.”
Harry then springs to life, “GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE! I’M NOT DEAD, YOU CAN CONTINUE MURDERING ALL OF US!”
Tom dies inside, then per my earlier post, runs into an arrow and dies for realz.
TL;DR Tom Riddle’s life is a joke in which he unintentionally ends up murdering the children
324 notes
·
View notes
Text
Kripke: Family (as a source of trauma)
Sam and Dean’s brotherhood and the dichotomy of loving your brother while also disagreeing with him on almost everything at a fundamental level.
Azazel fostering a group of special children to serve in his holy war, and John raising Sam and Dean as soldiers for his holy war.
Filial piety taken to the extreme where any agency is given up. Meg’s blind faith in Azazel and then Lucifer, and Michael’s blind faith in following through with God’s plan for the end.
John Winchester’s legacy of hate and revenge being passed down to his children, Sam and Dean.
Dean, Cas, and Micheal and the consequences of absentee fathers and their sons hopelessly trying to gain approval from them.
Found family that helps emotionally support each other with team free will Sam, Dean, Bobby, and Cas vs the toxicity of the family you are born to. Similar parallel to fate vs free will.
Gamble: Identity (roles we assume vs our authentic self)
Souls as the fundamental particle that establishes our internal compass, but also capable of being lost or weaponized.
Assuming a role at the cost of being authentic:
Dean and Lisa where Dean tries to be a better father to Ben than John was to him
Cas as God where Cas tries to be a better God than the father he never met
Sam as soulless where Sam tries to be a better hunter than John, Dean, or the Campbells ever had been
And Leviathan becoming better capitalists than humans (authentic chameleons that live their best life by assuming whatever form let’s them be the most effective predator)
Carver: Oppression (being a hero to some makes you a villain to everyone else & the only force strong enough to cure oppression is love or total annihilation of the oppressors)
Abuse of power at all levels: Hell, Heaven, Earth
Monsters are shown to be morally complex and an oppressed population
The MoL is a defunct organization of humans that oppressed monsters.
Sam and Dean as the inheritors of the MoL legacy of oppression. They are never redeemed and carry on killing monsters until the end of the series.
Cain saves his brother Abel from damnation, but the cost doomed millions. His only escape was conquering the mark because of the love of one woman.
Naomi overriding the free will of angels by reprogramming them to keep them kowtowed to her agenda for heaven. Cas is able to conquer Naomi’s reprogramming because of the love of one man.
Metatron ejects the angels of Heaven forcing them to live among the people heaven has oppressed in the name of God. The show frames Metatron as a hero and a villain because good and evil can be subjective.
Rowena as the narcissistic mother that sees Crowley as a failure because of her own failings, and attempts to emotionally manipulate and influence his role as king of hell. Eventually Rowena is redeemed by developing genuine love for her son and team free will.
Styne family as a dynasty of white supremacists trying to make a race of superior humans. Their reign of oppression ends with their annihilation by Dean.
Sam clings to faith and hope in a righteous God even though he has suffered his whole life. Sam’s relationship to faith is never resolved through the end of the series.
Light oppressing the Darkness. God’s only sister was kept entombed by her only brother. Love for each other was the only force strong enough to stop their suffering.
Dabb: Fuck if I know???? (Cw: racism, suicide ideation, rape, incest) Dabb era is the most racist era of a very racist show. Other eras were problematic, but at least they attempted to tell a story based on an interesting theme. I cannot, for the life of me, come up with a theme for Dabb that the season wide plots feed into (calling it plot is a misnomer because there really is none in s12-s15, that shit cannot be consumed serially).
Destiel is shamelessly queerbaited, because Dabb has found that the queer and queer ally portion of fandom responds favorably to these crumbs.
BMoL as oppressive but now also British, and a new bunch of white people are added to the cast, because in the Spn universe Britain is solely populated by white people.
Lucifer keeps appearing to antagonize the protagonists, even though his relevance as a legitimate antagonist ended 7+ seasons ago.
Lucifer rapes a woman by posing as her lover. This results in the birth of the Messiah and death of the woman. No one ever seeks justice for Kelly, instead they endlessly obsess over her fetus.
The actor cast as Jack, the Messiah, is yet another white person in a cast full of white people.
Alternate universes are found that are like the main universe but way more boring.
Crowley is killed because Dabb is out of ideas for the character.
Sam and Dean are only interested in finding a way back to the apocalypse universe because their mom got stuck there. They express no desire to find a way back to help the universe where humans are being exterminated. They have completely given up on altruism and are living it up as privileged white people in their bunker mansion.
Black archangel Michael is villainized and loses any of the moral complexity that white archangel Michael exhibits.
Kevin Tran (one of the few recurring PoC), reappears in the Apocalypse universe just to blow himself up as a suicide bomber.
Archangel Gabriel was being kept imprisoned by Colonel Sanders who moonlights as a prince of hell. Does any of this mini arc impact the overall narrative? No. Just more white men added to the story because Dabb can’t figure out where to take the franchise.
Mary Winchester is fridged, yet again, by another yellow eyed supernatural being, so a singular family member can go into a vindictive rage about it.
Canon bisexual God is villainized. I would say for plot reasons, but I have yet to discover anything in s15 resembling a plot.
Main universe Kevin Tran (who sacrificed everything to devote his short life to helping Sam and Dean) reveals that God sent him to Hell all those years ago. Kevin is then doomed to wander Earth as a ghost until he goes insane. At which point, white guy Sam is probably going to kill him sending him back to suffer for eternity in Hell.
Billie, a black woman, becomes Death, a primordial entity and a stronger force than God (will reap God in the end). She is villainized and killed by white men for being committed to keeping the universe in balance and adhering to the natural order. No one seeks justice for her.
W*ncest is shamelessly baited because Dabb has found the portion of fandom that prefers bros as soulmates responds favorably to these crumbs.
Romanticizing suicide in a meta attempt to inform viewers that this show has lived past its useful shelf life and keeping it alive is a punishment to be endured.
Spn Prequel: ??? Not to jinx the prequel but at least it should not be worse than Dabb era.
#Spn in a nutshell#eric kripke#sera gamble#jeremy carver#andrew dabb#bob singer#robbie thompson#jensen ackles#Spn prequel#anti andrew dabb
105 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
daac360
DAAC360
patheticaesthetic11
PatheticAesthetic11
katharinasophie
Katharina Sophie
to-my-saturday-girl
own by theo nott
1-800-sexy-maid
#1 lime business truther