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ethernetchord · 3 years

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i was posed some interesting prompts/questions by @waywardrebelhairdodeputy-blog about iwwv so here are my responses!

1. Why do you think James punched Oliver? (During the sword play practice and also in the beginning of the book Gwendolyn asked James to think of something that would make him wanna punch Oliver and after a minute his eyes became hard, what do you think he thought of then at the moment?

oh, this is a cool question. there are a couple of angles I'd like to take with this so please, bear with me. Firstly I thought about this from the Rio/Oliver narration perspective. So let me pull out some Oliver quotes (concerning James)

"James and I put each other through the kind of reckless passions Gwendolyn once talked about, joy and anger and desire and despair."

"but in the red glare of the fire, he no longer looked so angelic. Instead, he was handsome the way you think of the devil as handsome—forbiddingly so."

"You’re—I don’t know, this fragile, elusive thing, and I feel like if I could just catch you, I could crush you... I should hate you right now. And I want to—God, I want to —but that’s not enough"

“Oliver, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I want to hurt the whole world.” (James to Oliver)

Now, with all of this in mind, you'll come to realize that one of the most enticing and riveting things about these two is that their love and passion for each other is far from gentle or soft- contrasting greatly how many queer male relationships are represented. It's harsh, bright, sharp- it's ruthless but not uncaring. Oliver, highly repressed in himself becomes inwardly aggressive and violent- "I could crush you." "I should hate you... I want to" "Forbiddingly" - His affections towards James aren't entirely consensual on his own behalf, this makes him assaultive and frustrated. But only internally- he never acts on these feelings, he can't hurt James. James is the opposite of this- and you'd think with his gentle angelic, princely demeanor that he'd be equally repressive of his feelings and impulses but if the book has proven anything- it's that James is perfectly capable of causing physical harm. Rio presents them equally in their aggression but their approaches are foils of each other.

The next thing I'd propose- ultimately- is Meredith, and additionally, internalized homophobia. Now let's clarify: I don't think James had any doubts about his queer identity I just don't think he was entirely accepting of even himself. Because if we look at the one, explicit, instance in which James is murderously aggressive- Richard's murder- what two things does that event and his aggressions towards Oliver have in common? Meredith and homosexuality. Let me explain. Richard and Meredith, Meredick if you will, "She and Richard had been “together” in every typical sense of the word", it's nearly impossible to think of Richard without Meredith- and this might have been less significant if Meredith and Oliver didn't have the relationship they had and if Meredith had never propositioned James also. Her ties with all three of them is important. Now; homosexuality. Richard was acting explicitly homophobic- now whether this is true or not because I know that's been an argument itself- it has to stem from some reality for James. And with Oliver- well it's obvious there. So my point: James might have thought of Meredith and Oliver, of them together, of if she had propositioned Oliver in the same way. He might have thought of Oliver, of wanting to love him but not allowing himself, of Oliver slipping through his fingers, of Oliver hitting him for these very desires.

2. Also also also the part where James was drunk and blabbering like a fool out of guilt, he asked Wren to sleep with her so was he bisexual too? Or that was just a ruse to get away from Oliver at that moment, but there are parts where he was affectionate towards Wren (could be friendship, but he was twirling strands of hair at the nape of her neck and she was smiling so....)

I think different queer people might interpret this differently but this is my reading of it. I do think they were friendly- I think they were very close really. The situation with the photos in which James is playing with her hair while posing + plus the kiss (part of their performance) and finally him asking her to sleep with him- I don't think that it's impossible for him to be bisexual.

I've seen a lot of people say that he must be gay since he rejected Meredith but that's a very surface-level conclusion in my opinion. I think that his inability to be attracted to Mer had more to do with his genuine disliking towards her and that he just really didn't want to be another one of the boys she could play. I don't think it has to be concrete evidence of his complete homosexuality. I don't by any means think he was in love with Wren, however. The nature of James and Wren's relationship is nothing like Oliver and Meredith's. This is important. I think they were close, James loved her platonically enough and like you said, probably used her as a diversion for himself.

But- kinda in a different direction here, that it's not impossible that James and Wren was some form of straight-baiting for readers (and Oliver.) I don't know about other readers but I know that for most of the book I was convinced that the feelings between James and Oliver were unrequited on Oliver's behalf. I never suspected that James might harbor feelings back which leads me to this: Oliver might have over assumed the nature of their relationship due to his feelings of unrequitedness and incompatibility. As we're having to listen to Oliver's particular retelling of all this- it's easy to get lost in the lens he creates for us. After all, there are multiple versions of the truth.

But like I said- It's likely Wren was a similar distraction for James as Mer was for Oliver and It's also likely they genuinely had some form of relationship. Nothing's impossible.

The only just criticism for Iwwv I accept is that we never received a why for the way Richard was behaving (you could say he was always a dick and losing his main part made him more so) but all those violent tendencies toward everyone? Not justified, I would have liked more depth in his character and then there's the eating disorder of Caroline (Older sister) and how fickle and reckless Oliver was about it, he just didn't care (kinda sad to think about)

I TOTALLY agree with this. Some people might disagree with me when I say iwwv was actually a pretty short book- but between the amount that was Shakespeare extracts and due to the formatting, 400 pages really isn't a lot. I think Richard could have had more development- Hell most of the characters could have had more development but him specifically. His spiral into violence did feel really sudden and a little confusing. I mean as readers we were beginning to look for an antagonist, for someone to dislike because all the characters had pretty enjoyable personalities so when Richard begins to seem antagonistic we kind of follow it comfortably because it seems natural. However, thinking about it afterward you realize how little we truly know about Richard and his borderline insanity ykno? Even re-reading- Richard begins to become an uncomfortable character to readers very very early on. I was trying to find some foreshadowing or possible explanations and all I might be able to grasp at is the line:

"I didn't mean there are exactly fourteen," Richard said thinly. "I mean it would be impossible to isolate one that leads him to skewering himself." (page 57, when discussing Brutus.)

I know Richard doesn't play Brutus but I think this is still notable- It's kind of impossible to find the one thing that drew Richard into this downfall and it would have been a combination of many things, like with any human character. But I do agree Rio could have given us some more space to learn about all those factors for him. Reading from the perspective of Oliver makes this hard because well- He is an unreliable narrator and it's impossible to know how everything played out and why because of this. Especially since Oliver and Richard were never the most friendly. Additionally, I think the closest thing Rio really gives us is Oliver's delivery of the iconic "Actors are by nature volatile" line.

The same goes for the situation with Oliver's sister. I think we didn't hear much about her because Oliver didn't care enough. He was far too overwhelmed with anger and disappointment from being put second to his sister to really muster up the energy to care enough to expose more to readers. Unfortunately, she was simply a side character even in his life, too unnotable to him or his plot (as he's retelling the story). Much of the flaws of this book with the lack of development of other characters- particularly their motives and side plots boil down, essentially to the unreliable narration. This is why so many people do not like this book- and others like it. We are, to some degree, always kept in the dark about something. Because so is Oliver- as much as he (and in turn, we) could spectate about why things happened the way they did, he (we) could never really know. There is beauty and frustration in this simultaneously.

I could say so much more about all my thoughts on Richard but I'll save you that (for now) because I don't think I could explain him but I definitely have my theories.

#if we were villains #iwwv critism #oliver marks #iwwv

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blue-mint-winter · 5 years

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BSG 4x19 Daybreak rewatch

I cried. This is the end of this epic journey, this is a goodbye to those amazing characters.

It’s really hard to talk about it in a calm and analyzing fashion, but I believe that the resolutions we got were fitting and satisfying.

What really struck me is that in the finale finally we reach a real unity between Cylons and humans. They now fight side by side as comrades and it’s not just the skinjobs, but Centurions too. Even Adama crosses the line he thought he’d never cross - he allows for Sam to be hooked up to systems in CIC, becoming a Hybrid for Galactica.

This episode does this really neat trick of showing us the life of certain characters before the fall. We see how certain events and decisions they made, seemingly random and insignificant, led their fate to Galactica and now.

The whole mission to save Hera - I like how it’s shown as this crazy, for volunteers only, last stand of Galactica, the last battle. But this irrational mission is the key, the visions and prophecies came to fruition there and Kara finally fulfilled her purpose and found the way to Earth.

I love the moment in which Kara puts in the coordinates she got from her father’s song and they jump. Incredible scene.

Hoshi becomes Admiral of the remaining Fleet. So he followed in his boyfriend’s footsteps in a way.

Hera is rescued thanks to Boomer. Boomer’s fate is just really bittersweet. We get a flashback of her when Adama gave her the second chance instead of throwing her out for doing a bad job as a pilot and how she said she owed him one. Returning Hera is Boomer paying that debt. She can become that person she once was, before all the betrayals - one of Adama’s kids. Boomer’s final choice is to side with humanity, with Galactica. But she still pays for all her sins with death by Athena’s hand.

I don’t really know how to feel about Athena killing Boomer. On one hand who else would be more suitable to do it, on the other hand maybe suicide would have been a better option? As a callback to S1 when Boomer was unable to kill herself because of her programming, if she overcame that now... However, Athena killing Boomer is the closest it can get to a suicide. They share those memories from before the attack on the Colonies. Athena is who Boomer could have been.

Gaius deciding to stay on Galactica in the last minute makes sense. I wonder why Head Six told him to go, to use his new political power and influence thanks to his followers in the Fleet. Maybe reverse psychology? Maybe she was testing him. Because he had to stay for everything to unfold in the right way.

I love Gaius and Caprica reconciling. It’s not hard to see that he chose to stay because she was staying. And for once Gaius didn’t listen to his self-preservation instincts, because something was much stronger - his love for Caprica Six.

Gaius’ flashbacks to how he met Caprica Six were wonderful. She became a witness to an argument between Gaius and his father who stabbed a nurse and I love just how it must have affected her. She thinks of Cylons as humanity’s children and then she saw this example of a father and son being so completely at odds, unable to understand each other, fighting.

Caprica Six finding a nice retirement house for Gaius’ father where he could be happy may have been part of her scheme to get access to defense mainframe, but I believe it was more than that. I think she would’ve been able to seduce it out of Gaius without that. Caprica through this good deed won Gaius’ heart, she saw and reached the man under the arrogant scientist. And how funny it was him who first used the “L” word. Gaius Baltar talking about love, than quickly backpedaling to cover up that he was actually open about his feelings for once.

Gaius’ role in the finale is what he does best - talking. This time his words reach CAVIL, so that he gives them Hera.

Turns out that Roslin’s opera house vision had one purpose only - so she’d hide Hera from Centurions in that one critical moment on Galactica. If she never had that vision, she’d never go out of sickbay to look for Hera and the child would’ve never gotten to Gaius and Six and CIC and there would be no ceasefire between Cavil faction and human-Cylon alliance.

Final Five scene. Oh wow. So Tigh offers Cavil resurrection tech for Hera and all Five have to combine their knowledge, but it also lets them know everything else about each other. And that’s when the hour of reckoning comes to Tory.

I have to say that on one hand I love that Tyrol had that Cally flashback, how she was on his side from the start. He loved her, maybe not like Boomer, but they built a life together, a marriage, she stayed by his side through some very tough times. Their relationship meant a lot to him, otherwise he’d never have grieved like he did. And Tyrol attacking Tory when he saw her memories of Cally’s murder is significant of that. All in all, after this season did Cally so dirty, I like that the last thing we see of her is a positive memory Tyrol had of her. And her death is avenged.

Ironic that Tory’s downfall was exactly as foreshadowed. She kept this big terrible secret and when it came out, it destroyed her. Gaius did warn her about it once. The secret of her affair with him destroyed Tory’s friendship with Roslin and her last real tie to humanity. But she didn’t learn anything from it, she never came clean about murdering Cally and so she paid the price.

This situation is also interesting when we look at Tyrol’s perspective. After Boomer’s last betrayal he lost all trust in Eights. “They’re just machines,” he says to Helo. Tyrol was once able to forgive Cally for shooting Boomer, he even married her, the killer of his first love. But what Cally did was out of love for him. She was fiercely devoted to him. Tyrol couldn’t forgive Tory for killing Cally, but what Tory did was pure calculated murder. She did it for her own selfish reasons. And even with Cally out of the way, Tyrol was not interested in a relationship with Tory which is something she must have hoped for. In the end he kills Tory in rage and then he swears off all women and lives alone in highlands on some northern island, away from people.

What all of this says about Tyrol is that in my theory he never had a real, deep love with Tory and he compensated by creating Number Eight. Boomer was his perfect woman. Pygmalion and Galatea, anyone?

I can’t help but feel that Tory was so alone. As a human all she had was her job and Roslin. She and Gaius just used each other, it wasn’t meaningful. She easily let him go. It seems in the end she fled from her humanity into giving her all to be a Cylon, but even then she continued being alone. She didn’t really become close with her fellow Final Five and she had no other friends, human or Cylon. I liked that in finale Ellen had a few moments with Tory, giving her some friendship, but it was too little, too late. Tory lived and died alone.

Because of Tory’s death the secret of resurrection is lost. Chaos erupts on the bridge but Cavil’s side is going to lose, so he kills himself.

We finally learn what happened to the mutineers like Racetrack and Skulls - they were imprisoned, but now they got drafted for this suicide mission to attack the Colony and rescue Hera. These two get shot down early in the mission, but when they drift dead in space, in just the right moment Racetrack’s hand falls down and hits the missile button and the Colony is blown up. This is the true end to Cavil’s faction.

I love how the show isn’t afraid of showing this higher power influencing people and events according to its plan. The moment when Caprica Six and Gaius see Head Six and Head Gaius is still one of my favourites. The whole vision coming true and Kara putting in the coordinates she took from the song and Racetrack’s missiles shooting at just the right time all aren’t an accident.

So they found Earth, our Earth, and they decide to settle all over the planet and start over with a clean slate.

Kara’s goodbye with Sam was just so touching. The dogtags, I love you, “See you on the other side.” Sam took the Fleet into the sun. And when Kara disappeared we know she joined him.

I love how Sam’s flashback about his search for perfection ties with his ending. By becoming a Hybrid he gained access to that higher plane of mathematics and launching the Fleet into the sun was him achieving that “perfect throw” he was looking for. Through the flashback we saw the deeper side of Sam than the jock. It makes so much sense why he’s one of the Final Five.

Everyone’s settling on Earth, Agathons are back to being a happy family. Ellen finally gets to be with Tigh full-time. Adama and Roslin go off to find a place for their cabin by the lake.

I got so emotional when Gaius said “You know, I know about farming.” This is a beautiful ending to his arc. Not only the skeptic became a true believer, also the man who once despised his upbringing, who wanted to be something more and better than a farmer, now goes back to his roots and it’s important and useful skill to have. He’s no longer ashamed of coming from Aerilon.

Adama and Roslin slayed me. I cried when she died and he put the wedding ring on her finger like in her visions from The Hub. I cried again when he sat by her grave and said that the sunrise reminds him of her. Wow. That love.

Roslin’s flashbacks give us one important insight into her - she literally had no life before Galactica. She lost all her family and her life became empty. She tried to fill it - a date with Sean didn’t work, so she threw herself into politics and Adar’s campaign. Galactica and Adama became her real home. As bittersweet is that they couldn’t have a fairytale perfect ending, I appreciate that Roslin died loving him and being loved in return. She brought them all to Earth as the Dying Leader. It was her time to rest.

Speaking of Earth, it looks like D’Anna really stayed on the nuked old Earth because she never showed up after that episode :(((

Lee and Kara. Their love is really tragic because they could never really be together. The flashback of their first meeting when she was Zak’s girlfriend and they almost cheated puts into focus that they were doomed from the start. All they had were those stolen moments, but something always got in the way, sometimes because of their own doing. In my eyes, Lee and Kara had a complicated love, because they were so many different things to each other all at once. I guess in a way Zak’s ghost always stood between them.

So in the end Kara’s like that pigeon, she annoyed Lee to no end so he smashed a few things chasing her and then she flew away when she wanted to and left him alone.

Okay, so maybe to some people tying up BSG to current times, Hera as the mitochondrial Eve, is controversial, but I think it’s pretty brilliant. Showing how people make robots again in real life now is not really as much about robots as about every other issue BSG told us about. Because we have it all here, right now, happening - torture, terrorism, war, slave labour, corruption, everything. By tying the story to our reality the viewers can’t just close it like a book, “it’s just a scifi, it’s fictional, none of it is real, let’s forget every lesson this show imparted because it has nothing to do with reality.” Wrong! Yes, it’s not real, but it talks about things that happen in real life. It shows us that when we only see the same-faced enemy, we forget that they are only human just like us. To avoid the mutual annihilation, we should strive to better understand each other, to find common ground.

So that’s it. This is the end of line. Farewell, BSG, one of the best frakking shows ever made.

#bsg #bsg rewatch #4x19 daybreak

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 11 Review: Su’Kal

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This STAR TREK: DISCOVERY review contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 11

As the season finale looms on the horizon Star Trek: Discovery attempts to begin pulling together its disparate Season 3 plot threads into something like a cohesive story. “Su’Kal” brings the villainous Osyraa and her Emerald Chain back into the picture, investigates the mysterious Kelpien ship that sent the distress call a few episodes back, and finally gives us an answer to what likely caused the Burn in the first place.

If this all feels a bit crowded and overstuffed, that’s because the hour tries to do too much, cramming in a ton of primary exposition alongside its more action-oriented B plot. Plus, if you had “the Burn was somehow triggered by a radioactive Kelpien child who lives in the holodeck version of Plato’s cave” on your Discovery Season 3 bingo card, well – you’re a smarter viewer than I am.

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But, hey, at least Tilly gets to sit in the captain’s chair at last. (In the Prime universe, at any rate.) Take joy in the small things, folks.

The crew of the Discovery is surprised that there’s a life sign emanating from the abandoned Kelpien ship discovered in that mysterious nebula, but we shouldn’t be. This season has been extremely interested in interrogating whether Saru is the right leader for this brutal new future, and for weeks his arc has been foreshadowing a critical choice at a point when he clearly cares more about the needs of the one than the many. The moment of that test is upon him, and it may very well end up costing him his life, or the lives of his crew. (I suspect it will at the very least cost him his captain’s chair next season, but that’s just a shot in the dark.)

How Star Trek: Discovery’s BIG Twist Sets Up Section 31

By Ryan Britt

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 10 Easter Eggs & References

By Ryan Britt

There was never any real question of whether Saru would jump at the chance to rescue the child that’s still trapped in the wreckage of that Kelpien ship. And, naturally, Michael can’t resist the opportunity to find out the truth about the Burn she’s been obsessed with since she arrived in the 32nd century, since she blames that event for the downfall of the organizations she most loved. It makes a certain amount of sense for Hugh to tag along since he’s at least a medical professional, but this is another of those installments where it feels as though Discovery simply enjoys constantly putting him – and Stamets – in mortal peril, for no other reason than because it can.

As noted last week, we were always going to miss Philippa Georgiou’s presence on this show, but I didn’t think the weight of her absence would be felt so completely this quickly. Truly, this episode would have been vastly improved by the presence of anyone willing to argue the more difficult points of the situation: That Saru and Michael’s trip into the nebula was actually kind of a stupid plan to begin with and that the smartest decision they could have made once they recognized Su’Kal’s abilities would have been to kill or otherwise incapacitate him in the name of preventing countless more deaths.

This is Star Trek, of course, so that plan would have rightfully gone nowhere, but the fact that no one even mentions the hard truths to Michael or Saru now is kind of a problem. (Except for Tilly, a little bit, as she at least tries to leave Michael and jump Discovery to safety – just a minute too late.)

What emotional heft there is in this story comes from Doug Jones who, thanks to an oddity of the program that protects Su’Kal that cloaks all visitors in skins that will be familiar to him, is for once allowed to convey every moment of Saru’s emotional conflict on his own very human face. The lack of the prosthetics he normally wears allows for a degree of performative nuance that he is not always afforded, and Jones sells every second of Saru’s personal grief and devastation over the things he sees.

The child Su’Kal – now grown to a young man – exists in a world populated entirely by holograms and computer simulations. He’s never been outside the ship he was born on and doesn’t even really understand the idea of “outside” as anything beyond the vaguest of concepts. He seems to spend his life trying to avoid the literal manifestation of a monster from one of his childhood storybooks and is painfully excited to meet Burnham, who he believes to be something new in a world that became stale long ago.

He is also, apparently, the source of the Burn. Which, admittedly, is not the answer to this season long mystery that I was hoping for, particularly since the planet he is trapped on is essentially made of dilithium, a twist which pretty much solves everything that was interesting about this season’s space politics in one fell and largely dull swoop.

Thanks to the combination of extended exposure to subspace radiation and the nearby dilithium nursery that has transformed him into what is essentially Star Trek’s take on Dark Phoenix. (The episode was not tremendously clear on the explanation for any of this beyond Hugh’s insistence that life forms adapt when they have to, so hopefully more exposition is coming, both about what happened 125 years earlier and what Su’Kal is capable of doing now.)

As the final credits roll, Sa’Kul remains a threat that no one knows how to neutralize; Saru, Hugh and Adira are trapped and slowly dying of radiation poisoning; and Michael and Book are left watching Discovery disappear, her spore drive now in the possession of the Emerald Chain.

Now what? We’ve got two more episodes to find out.

Additional Thoughts

If I were going to take my ship into a radioactive death trap, I would definitely take my amazing cat off of it first, Book! Protect Queen Grudge at all costs!

The fact that the Discovery now canonicallyhas what is essentially a veterinarian on board is the best thing. (This must mean that more people have pets, yes?)

Michael Burnham lecturing literally anybody about allowing their emotions and desires to distract from the needs of the larger mission is r i c h.

That said, Michael’s pep talk to Tilly about sitting in the captain’s chair in Saru’s absence was the sort of ladies supporting ladies stuff I always want to see in this franchise.

Tilly’s threat to self-destruct the Discovery before allowing Osyraa to have the spore drive was hardcore. I hate that her determination was undercut by the Emerald Chain just…apparently transporting straight onto the ship with no problem?

Sorry about the mind control, Stamets. You truly have the worst luck.

The post Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 11 Review: Su’Kal appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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rambunctiousreader · 7 years

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Topics I just need to touch on from Lord of Shadows (MAJOR SPOILER ALERT)

Emma and Julian

- I’m really glad their friendship went back to normal after some time. The distance between them was unlike them at all and I hated it. I know it was necessary because they both had to process how things had changed between them, but that doesn’t mean I liked reading it.

- Okay so I think the curse is seriously coming into play here. Cassie never outwardly says that the curse is already occurring, but she drops multiple hints throughout the book. For one, all of a sudden, Emma and Julian can communicate telepathically. I don’t know but I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen. Also, um, they caught a STONE building on fire?! Stone? All-powerful runes? Ring a bell?????

- During the church scene and many, many other scenes, there’s so much sexual tension between Emma and Julian. Literally. I think there’s more in LOS than LM because at this point they’ve had sex and seen that intimate side of each other. At this point, they both have privately acknowledged that they are in love with the other. I think that plays a huge role in their relationship and how it has evolved since Lady Midnight.

- That huge fight that they had when they were staying at Malcolm’s cottage literally broke me. I was on the verge of crying while reading that. I’m just glad that it didn’t take long for them to make up.

- Their conversation about the Shadowhunter family mottos BAHAHAHAHA

- This is their second sex scene and honestly I loved it so much. It was so perfect. I almost burst into tears crying when Emma admitted to Julian that she’d been lying about her relationship with Mark.

- Emma still hasn’t told Julian that she loves him and I keep wondering if this is an important detail that will be used in QoAaD. Am I the only one who noticed this?

Diana Wrayburn

- It’s not like I hated Diana in Lady Midnight, I just didn’t know her very well and didn’t see the depth of her character. Once I read her backstory, I grew to love her. She is such a strong person and honestly I just want to be her best friend.

- Diana and Gwyn? Um, can you say hella cute couple?

- Once Cassie told us that there would be a transgender character reveal in Lord of Shadows, I knew from the start that it would be Diana. In Lady Midnight, it talks about how she has lots of secrets and a dark past. We knew that she’d been through a lot, so it wasn’t a huge surprise for me, but still a monumental moment in the book nonetheless.

- Summed up into four words, I can say “I love Diana Wrayburn!”

Kit Herondale

- From the moment we found out in Lady Midnight that Kit is the Lost Herondale, I knew that he would be an interesting character to read about. I was not disappointed.

- It’s truly heartwarming to watch Kit grow from a person who is denying himself as a Shadowhunter and the culture of the Shadowhunters to fully embracing it and finding a home with the Blackthorns. That scene where they’re fighting the Seven Riders and Ethna (or whatever her name is) is about to kill him and he’s all like “I’m Christopher Herondale.” I just loved that and I almost cried.

- At this point, I still don’t really know where his relationship with Ty will lead. I know for sure it will be either a romantic relationship or a parabatai relationship, and I’m perfectly fine with whichever. For me, it’s hard to tell right now. Cassie has a habit of pulling large plot twists on us, and I don’t know what to think. All I do know is that I like Kit and Ty as friend or lovers. I think they compliment each other very well and are so cute. (The Sherlock and Watson comparisons?! Cute af!)

Julian Blackthorn

- I’m honestly so scared for Julian and I have two main theories for him. Neither of them are happy. He’s either going to literally go off the deep end and go full evil and be really bad or he’s not going to survive to the end of the series. Like I said, I don’t really like either option.

- Julian’s hidden ruthlessness is touched upon several times in LOS like in LM. This is NOT coincidental and Cassie is foreshadowing. His ruthless nature and his undying will to protect those he loves will play a major role in the plot of QoAaD, I’m sure.

- I don’t even want to think about how Livvy’s death will affect his family, but especially Julian. He’d devoted his life, time, and heart to protecting his family and doing whatever it takes to keep them alive and safe. He’s failed to do that. Because of Livvy’s death, he will blame himself and I feel like it will really push him over the edge.

- There is this undeniable dark Julian that we all know exists. Few of us actually acknowledge that this is a part of Julian because we don’t want to imagine our baby Julian like that. Our baby Julian, who has been in love with Emma for god knows how long. Our baby Julian who ran an Institute when he was twelve, killed his own father, who became parabatai with Emma even when he knew he was in love with her because he didn’t want to lose her. Jules, Julian, who paints her in secret, who hides his feelings for her. He is an incredibly selfless person and I feel like that it could seriously be his downfall and weakness ironically.

- Basically, I think that tough times are in the forecast for Julian Blackthorn. :(

Five Main Character Deaths

- Jon Cartwright: I was really surprised about his death and didn’t see it coming. I was just a lil sad but overall it wasn’t that bad. I will miss him though. I hope Marisol will be okay.

- Arthur Blackthorn: I was also very surprised about this death. In Lady Midnight, Arthur is written as this insane, depressed, and sad individual. We don’t like him because he was supposed to run the Institute, not Julian. In the last few pages of his life, he was completely lucid and actively gave up his life to save the younger Blackthorns. I was very taken aback and thought it was very honorable. It instantly redeemed his character for me. I was sad to see him go.

- Malcolm Fade: I never really believed he was dead tbh. I actually laughed when he truly died. Literally, this dude spends 200+ years dedicating his life to bringing a girl back from the dead, and when he does she just kills him?!?! I died it was actually really funny. I realize how sick that sounds and I’m sorry but it was so funny.

- Robert Lightwood: Never did I think a character from another series would be killed off. I set myself up for sadness when I assumed that. I was very sad when Robert died; not only was he Emma and Julian’s only hope to fix things between them, but he was also just mending his relationship with his children and it broke my heart when Alec was calling for his dad. I can’t remember exactly, the last few pages of LOS were a blur of tears and emotions and words and I’m pretty sure I started crying when Alec was calling “Dad, please, dad.”

- Livvy Blackthorn: Oh my god. Oh my god. Livvy’s death caught me by complete surprise and it crushed me. Livvy had so much ahead of her. She’d found out that Julian had been the one that had taken care of all of the younger Blackthorns since the Dark War, and she’d wanted to be like him. She’d kissed Julian on the forehead. It was so cute and it warmed my heart. SHE NEVER GOT TO RUN AN INSTITUTE. All Livvy wanted was for her family to be together and when Helen and Mark finally came back and everyone was together, she died. She never got to see her family reunite, and I think that’s the saddest part. I truly will miss Livvy. And when the clock rang? Oh my god, I was a hot mess. There are dried tears on the last two pages of LOS. I cried myself to sleep that night when I finished it.

Side note on Livvy’s death: maybe this is a grieving me just searching for a way to bring Livvy back but there was a quote in either Lady Midnight or Lord of Shadows (I think its LOS) and one of the characters (I think a faerie or something) is like “Oh, how foolish of u to regard death as something so final.” Will this tie into Livvy’s death? WILL LIVVY COME BACK?

Characters I Literally Cannot Deal With

- Jaime Rosales (taking advantage of Dru like wtf)

- Annabel Blackthorn (she fucking killed Livvy and Robert ugh)

- Zara Dearborn (I don’t really need to explain this, do I?)

- The Cohort (see above)

Characters I Didn’t Pay Much Attention to Before but Now I Like Them

- Mark Blackthorn (sweet bby oml)

- Kieran (ur not as bad as I thought, pal)

- Diana Wrayburn (I explained above. Never hated her or anything, just didn’t know her)

- Gwyn ap Nudd (PROTECT THIS ACTUAL TEDDY BEAR OML)

- Dru Blackthorn (don’t make her babysit plz)

- Ty and Livvy (I have a twin and I wish he was like Ty lol)

Emma Carstairs

- hot mess of angst and emotions throughout the book (as expected)

- Julian Blackthorn Julian Blackthorn Julian Blackthorn Julian Blackthorn

- She slayed one of the Seven Riders like holy crap girl ur a legend

- She and Julian had sex again. Have I talked about this? Yes. It was amazing. I loved it. I enjoyed every second of it.

- I love how whenever someone does anything mean or says something bad about the Blackthorns, Emma freaking goes apeshit on them

- When Emma made Diego stand in the antpile.... OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS GIRL

- She’s so sassy and I love her sass. Did I mention I love her sass.

Further comments

- WHAT THE FUCK IS THE DEAL WITH CORTANA BREAKING THE MORTAL SWORD. WHAT THE FUCK. I NEED ANSWERS.

- will Emma and Julian seriously ever get rid of the parabatai bond

- how will Livvy’s death affect her family

- when will Mark, Cristina, and Kieran have their eventual threesome I need to know

- how the fuck is Bridget still alive

- ALL OF THE TID REFERENCES WHILE THEY WERE IN LONDON AHHHH MY HEART

- what is happening to the warlocks oh my god don’t touch my Tessa and don’t touch my Magnus

- is Ragnor alive or nah

- what is the history of the Black Volume

- Clary better not die or I fucking s2g

#the dark artifices #lady midnight #lord of shadows #rant #spoilers #cassie clare

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firelxrdazula · 7 years

Note

what makes Azula your favorite?

I’m just going to this as an opportunity to go in-depth about Azula’s character, in hopes that you will understand why I like her so much for her complexity and depth…

Okay, well, I’m just first going to establish her base personality.

Azula’s personality is all about control. She’s a great villain, and an even more dangerous leader at aged 14. That’s precisely because of her establishing control in every situation she’s in. She establishes her control in almost every situation, and we only see her lose control of the situation three times.

Namely in The Chase when she was cornered by Sokka, Katara, Aang, Toph, Zuko, and Uncle Iroh. And in this situation, she chose the bitch way out. Basically, she lost control of the situation and her first impulse was to escape this situation. Basically, her bitch way out was to attack one of them directly to distract the group so she can escape.

The next time we see her lose control was in Ba Sing Se, Crossroads of Destiny. Now, this is one of my favorite episodes. She was losing control of the situation when she was against Katara and Aang. Now, had Zuko not stepped in, she would have lost. Even after Zuko stepped in, she was still losing control with Katara. Katara had the upperhand again, had Zuko not stepped in she would have lost yet again.

The last time we lost her lose contol was of course, in Sozin’s Comet. She starts losing control of herself, not the situation. This whole losing control of herself took her whole character into a whole new route. It basically gave her so much depth, and because of that it caused people to question her whole character than answer it.

She establishes control and dominance in every situation she’s in. That much is visible in almost her every scene, but the most notable one for me would be when she was in Ba Sing Se taking it down. You see that when she got the opportunity to control the whole city, she took it. Long Feng and her are very similar. They both are less on the fighting, more on the manipulation but both are actually kick ass when it comes to fighting also. Basically, Long Feng starts out as a normal kid, growing in the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se who had to crawl his way into power, until he became the Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se in which he took control of the whole city. The whole city doesn’t even know about the war, and he has control over the Dai Li agents. So much can be said about Long Feng’s ability to control situations… However, Azula’s control was JUST so much more. Long Feng achieved everything in years and years whereas Azula took over the whole city in less than a week!Now, she established her control and dominance in her interactions with Long Feng at the throne room. Where she said “don’t flatter yourself, you were never even a player.”

Now, onto her friends, and how she establishes control over them. Basically, she uses fear and manipulation. Not much can be said about Mai because she doesn’t exactly suck up to Azula, and went with her just because she was bored. Now… As for Ty Lee, that’s where Azula’s manipulation and fear is really visible. She uses fear to manipulate Ty Lee into joining her, and Ty Lee is obviously scared of her and is always trying to get into her good side by always sucking up to her. Although her friendship with them was not fake, it was based on sheer manipulation.

The next thing about her control is her fire as I’ve discussed in another ask. But I’ll discuss it here briefly. Basically, she has so much control over her fire that she can control its intensity while still bending it like the normal yellow-orange fire.

Second, I’m going to compare her to Zuko. Since Zuko was first introduced, we already know much about him. We already know that all his life, he’s had to struggle and that Azula didn’t(totally not true, and ill discuss that issue later), and basically we start seeing from Zuko’s perspective because he talked about her, and basically gave us the idea of how she was a person.

“And Zuko is her brother, they basically grew up the same, right? So, then, how did two siblings grow up to be so different?” that question is what first intrigued me about Azula. I wanted to understand her as a character, as a person.Mainly in Book 2, we see her from his perspective. But we first saw her from his perspective in Siege of the North. In Zuko Alone, we saw the whole episode was about Zuko. We basically see that Azula as a child has always been kind of a bully of some sort to Zuko. She always lies, she always is mischievious. But then, we also see that Ursa didn’t treat them the same way. Ozai also didn’t treat them the same way. So, we kind of see how these two diverge from each other.

As for why I think Azula turned out that… I think it’s mainly because of Ozai and Ursa. She has severe issues with both her parents, but she only seems to acknowledge her issue with Ursa. It’s established that Ursa favored Zuko, Ozai favored Azula. And, that took a toll on both of them.

Keep in mind that as kids you look up to your parent of the same sex. So, for Azula not being accepted by her mother messed her up. The same thing happened to Zuko, it literally fucked him up. The way Ursa treated Azula messed her up so bad, and she was only able to get her father’s acceptance got her to act as the Fire Nation’s heir to the throne. Personally, I think that because of Ursa not treating her as the “fire nation princess,” descriminated her, picked favorites… Then it got instilled in Azula’s mind that “ALRIGHT I am going to BE the Fire Nation’s heir. I AM GOING TO OUTDO ZUKO”

Another cause for this would of course be her father, Ozai. Ozai was an abusive father to both of them. It’s definitely not true that because Azula was favored that she had it easier than Zuko. In fact, to some degree, she had it worse. Being Ozai’s favorite prevented her from being with her mom. It prevented her relationship with her mom so much, that’s mainly why Ursa didn’t agree with Azula all the time. It’s because of all the ideas that Ozai instilled in her head.

So, basically, it’s Ozai who’s more at fault about Azula’s traumatic childhood, although Ursa is still to blame. They both were very shitty parents, but Zuko and Azula had different versions of the same parents. However, when Ursa left, Zuko and Azula were left motherless but Zuko still had Iroh whereas Azula completely lost the good influence in her life. Even then, Ursa wasn’t even a good influence to Azula in the first place, but she could’ve done something for her. I believe that in The Search Ursa realizes that Ozai raised Azula not as a daughter but like.. A basic henchwoman who he could send out to do the things he didn’t want to do and he had complete control of because she was his daughter. Anyways, Ozai didn’t teach her the normal things at all, how to make friends, and how to react to things.

And basically, the biggest factor that caused her fall was Ty Lee and Mai’s “betrayal” which is really more like them realizing her faults more than “betrayal.” But I suppose that their friendship really was real, but as soon as Ozai really took control of Azula, that’s when their friendship changed. I guess it turned more into like Azula being more controlling and using them like soldiers where they had to be loyal to her or else. Basically, Azula treats them like tools she could use, and that’s what she learnt from her father because her father treats her the same way. But the real cause of her spiral was that she couldn’t exactly understand that there’s anything more powerful than fears. Azula has always manipulated them by playing on their fears, and it has worked so well. And since she’s never exactly been showed love, she couldn’t understand why Mai would do that so she couldn’t react properly. I mean, I said a few paragraphs ago that Ty Lee sucks up to Azula, but you can see that it’s genuine admiration, but Ty Lee at that moment kind of realizes that Azula isn’t being friend to her. So, this is such a big moment for Azula because she lost her control over both of them. Like, they’ve been her friends her whole life, and she couldn’t do anything about it. There was nothing more powerful than what they felt at that moment, and Azula couldn’t exactly understand that.

Then, there’s Zuko who’s getting more and more powerful, and he’s not backing down anymore. So I guess that’s when Azula started losing it more and more just because one thing went out of control.

Because yes, Azula does have a great ability to contol people, but she doesn’t know how to adapt to situations when she’s lost control because she lacks the other factors needed.

The factors she lacked were shown in The Beach. (I’ve already talked about this episode but I guess i’ll give an overview of my whole viewpoint of it)Anyways, in here, it’s given so much emphasis that she does not know how to be proper friends with people, she only knows how to manipulate them, how to control them. And you can see that she TRIES so hard, but it’s totally out of her control and she doesn’t know how to adapt to it at all. And that episode was not filler at all because you get the hint that there really is more there than Azula the villain when they’re all around the campfire, talking about their own issues. But Azula accidentally blurts out her own issues.. But shrugs it off, saying “oh but i dont really care lol” but she does. And I guess this is foreshadowing her downfall, wherein her mother’s hallucination kinda of pushed her more out of control because she doesn’t know how to deal with situations out of her control, so she went bonkers over it in the finale.

tl;dr her character kinda had the most realistic downfall of any other villain, and at age 14 she was a remarkable character with so much depth and complexity. her introduction was very very intriguing and so it kinda made me so interested in her that it made me ask complicated questions like “how did her and zuko turn out so differently”, “why was she like that” and many many other questions which i chose to answer as i was watching the whole show. Analyzing and reading her was the best experience. I could go on and on about her characteristic being so intelligent and militaristic and always being the better child blah blah but that would just drag this already really really long post

Anyways, thank you, anon for giving me a reason to discuss Azula’s character because everything about her makes her my favorite!

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hysyartmaskstudio · 7 years

Text

The Thing about The King

Now that Amon, too, has been dragged into the King game, I thought it was time to clarify a few things about the title of King and what it means and doesn’t mean, as well as how it fits thematically into the messages Tokyo Ghoul seems to be trying to convey.

Firstly, we have to remember what the One Eyed King is and is not. For all this argument over who is the “true” OEK, people seem to be losing sight of the fact that the OEK is not a prophecy that is waiting to be fulfilled, but a story that has been constructed. There is no divine decree that there shall be a one eyed ghoul that shall lead ghouls to freedom. No heavenly proclamation. Instead, we have a story Eto wrote.

(Someone wrote “re” on that capsule, too.)

Eto claims that one eyed ghouls have historically been a force for change, and the evidence she uses is a one eye from about a hundred years ago. She herself is acting to live up to that message - that idea that her one eye status means she can or must be a force for the change she wants to see.

The term “One Eyed King” is her creation. It’s a story she crafted. A narrative she is promoting. There is no “true One Eyed King” because the term applies to whoever fits the narrative.

In many ways, Eto has made this clear herself. The King in her novel is called “Nameless.” While she ultimately settled on Kaneki to fill the role, it was never his destiny, even in her eyes. When he was first brought to Aogiri, he was rejected. If anyone was infatuated with Kaneki as a chosen one, it was Kanou, not Eto. Even as Arima was molding Sasaki, Eto was making more OEGs and bending them to her whim. The King in the book, in the narrative, is nameless, remember.

Making it seem like a prophecy, as an inevitability, is exactly what Eto’s manipulations are intended to do. We even see her make comparisons between herself and god.

This perspective is important going forward - the OEK is a narrative and not a prophecy. Narratives gain their power through people believing in them more than any reality. Which clarifies what Eto meant when she told Kaneki it was his choice whether to destroy the throne or sit on it. It wasn’t really a choice at all. She had designed a narrative where Kaneki Ken was in the role of OEK, whether he claimed the title or not. It isn’t about what he is, but what he appears to be to others.

Which brings me to theme. The mindset of “might makes right” or “the right of the strong” has been in Tokyo Ghoul since chapter 5.

It’s been there since Touka uttered the words “If you want to blame something blame your own weakness.” It’s a phrase that reappears in the story when things are at their lowest, such as when Kaneki has lost himself and his sanity in Kanou’s lab and after Shiarzu’s death and Kaneki’s transformation (or reversion) to his depressed and suicidal self. It’s the mindset that Yamori used as his excuse. It’s an ideal that has led many characters to their death.

This mindset, and the cycle of violence it helps perpetuate, are the true enemies in Tokyo Ghoul. Which is why I have been so critical of Kaneki lately. Instead of fighting this ideal, he’s embraced it, to the point where he reinforces it in his dealings with Naki and uses it to manipulate Naki and his loyalties.

It’s why Kaya’s comments in the recent chapter, however well intentioned, feel more harmful than helpful. This idea of a King who is “The Strongest” is rooted in the toxic ideology the manga has repeatedly made out to be wrong.

And it isn’t just the OEK role. Every equivalent role is also one that is maintained and achieved through violence. Arima’s title of strongest investigator. The Washuu’s reign of the CCG. Donato was handed his Crown mask right after a moment of carnage. Even Yoshimura’s control of the 20th ward is built on gathering the strongest of the strong.

(There are exceptions to this rule, the best of which is Banjou. Banjou has never been a strong ghoul, and yet he continues to have followers. People who are loyal to him not out of fear or awe, but out of gratitude and friendship. Banjou is a shield, not a sword. A healer, not a fighter. His support comes from his genuine caring in a leadership role. It’s not that he’s immune to the message that strength is what matters, but he isn’t guided by it. He’s guided by kindness.

Another exception is Mirumo and his business empire, one that was maintained by gratitude and finance, rather than strength. But within his own household, Mirumo still, to an extent, espoused a strong power structure in which strength was a partial determining factor. Shuu certainly grew up thinking that might makes right. And their downfall also calls this into question. In the end, he called on his people to fight and die.)

So that’s the second point to keep in mind. Kingship has been associated with violence and domination, two things Tokyo Ghoul thematically casts in the negative.

This is true for every king we’ve seen. The difference though, is that in using violence, some of them seem to be aligning themselves with the idea that might makes right, and others against it. Arima used violence to secure his role as King, but his role as King was to be defeated. His violence was used to make him the enemy. And I think Furuta is the same. If nothing else, Furuta understands where violence stands in the narrative. That despite this prevalent philosophy, those who use violence to get their way are not the good guys. That ultimately, the rule of violence is the tool of the villains and not the heroes. Heroic violence is defensive and reactive - it’s done as little as possible and only when necessary. For Arima and Furuta, violence and how they wield it in their roles as King is about how violence is perceived. They aren’t justifying their actions with their strength, or using their violence as proof of their legitimacy.

That isn’t something that Kaneki seems to understand. Eto arranged it this way. Kaneki became OEK because he is now “the strongest ghoul.” His notion of his own kingly power comes entirely from his strength. Again, this is reinforced in his dealings with Naki. It’s interesting because that isn’t the reason some if not most of his team is following him.

Yomo believes, like Yoshimura before him, that Kaneki has what it takes to do the impossible - not because of his violence but because of his heart. Hirako and the squad zero kids are following him because Arima wanted them to. Banjou’s loyalty to Kaneki is because Kaneki risked his own life - is bravery - not because of Kaneki’s strength. In a sense, the same can be said for Koma and Irimi. For Hinami and Touka, its about supporting someone they care about. Ayato is there because the people he cares about are there. Takizawa is here for Akira. Kurona because they share a target.

And yet in Kaneki’s mind, his kingship does not come from these things, but rather from being the fucking strong. It’s the same mindset he had deep underground in Kanou’s lab. The same mindset that drove him to make a suicide run into the CCG’s forces. The same thing he has always clung to because its easier than admitting he’s scared of being alone.

So where does that leave Amon? @linkspooky wrote a fantastic set of posts [x] [x] back during the Rushima fight about how Amon’s problem is that he uses violence instead of words. That no matter how much he wants to talk, he will always fall back on violence. It’s the language he knows best. It’s what he’s most comfortable with. It’s the ideal he was raised on. Amon cannot get past his reliance on force, on strong near zealot anger, and his security in his physical strength. Even in his admittance that he’s not as strong as Takizawa as a ghoul, he still stands behind what strength he does have. He still thinks the answer is to fight.

We don’t know yet if his Kakuja is the natural result of his own RC cell mutation or if it’s because of cannibalism, but seeing as his understanding of Seidou as human is his main reason for coming to save him, it’s a near certainty that he hasn’t been eating humans. After the auction, we are even told that he left behind signs of cannibalism. But regardless of why he’s doing it, cannibalism in Tokyo Ghoul has been strongly associated both with violence and the notion of becoming stronger. It’s about literally eating those you defeat to gain their strength. In fact, as we learn in JAIL, cannibal ghouls tend to go right for the kakuhou.

Amon’s reliance on strength, on being strong is literally shown as something that overpowers him - turns him into a monster acting without the control of his reason.

(and what a lovely bit of foreshadowing this scene is for Urie’s own transformation.)

It’s also very telling that every single King uses violence in a way that is tied entirely to their freudian issues and their parental figures.

The violence of V, like Furuta’s violence, is systemic in nature. It exploits people through systems of power and through constructing narratives. It’s swift and gets things done. And its a kind of violence that Furuta clearly understood was manipulative and oppressive from a young age, even as V paid lipservice to it being for some noble cause. Furuta and Arima grew up in a world where the negative connotations of violence were unambiguous and obvious.

Kaneki grew up with violence as a primarily emotional force, something used to hurt and punish the weak. Be it his mother or his bullies or his aunt. His difficulties with violence, his hatred of it and it’s iron grip on his heart, are in part caused by the fact that violence and love were so twisted for him as a child. To realize violence is wrong means admitting the truth of his abuse to himself. Not just that it happened, but what it means about himself and his mother that it did. This isn’t an easy thing to do by any means and I could never fault him for not being able to untangle the love from the mistreatment. But it is important in understanding where Kaneki’s views of violence are now.

Should Amon now rise up to take the kingly mantle, it is already clear he will be following the same pattern. Amon’s childhood violence still confuses him deeply. He doesn’t know how he feels about the perpetrator, and thus he can’t figure out how he feels about violence. Like Kaneki, he cannot see violence for what it is because it’s been twisted up with caring.

This is true of Donato, but also of the CCG, the near-military force that took him in and raised him in their image.

If this manga, like most stories, is about growing and overcoming, than it should be clear where it stands on these Kings and their actions. These are the actions of people who haven’t grown. Both Kaneki and Furuta are frequently called children or childish. Amon has been repeatedly shown as boyish, rather than manly, with his love for sweets and intolerance for spicy things, as well as his discomfort around romance.

Freudianly, they are all children because they are all trapped and controlled by the legacy of their parents. Even Arima could not envision a life for himself outside of the role his birth assigned him. Boy Kings are never good rulers. And they are rarely the real power behind the throne.

The difference, again, is who is aware of this and who is not, and to what extent. Furuta and Arima, the garden children, had no delusions that the violence of their childhood, the violence they came to use and embody, was a force for good. Whatever love they received from their family was overshadowed by the violence inflicted upon them, allowing them to act and cast their roles accordingly. Kaneki and Amon are still wrestling with that - with reconciling love and violence.

So, will Amon be another King? It seems likely. He is the son of a Crown, after all, and there are already links between him and Eto’s Nameless King, appearance wise. But is that a good thing?

Remember, Kings are not the fulfillers of prophecy, but roles within a narrative. They are pieces on a chess board. Kings on a chess board are not in control. They are pieces just like every other piece, being moved by someone’s hand. The chess metaphors have always existed in Tokyo Ghoul, from the ubiquitous patterning to the explicit placement of a chess board mid game in Uta’s studio.

Kings are parts of the chess game, not the ones in control of it. Whatever kingly role he inherits will be one in a narrative someone crafted, thematically linked with violence and stagnation, rather than growth.

If the answer is love and revolution, if the answer is empathy, dialogue, understanding, and growth, then the role of King seems to be set up as more of a poison than a panacea.

#one eyed king #tg meta #amon koutarou #eto #kaneki ken #oek #furuta nimura #washuu furuta souta #arima kishou #theme #narrative #charade talking narrative what a fucking surprise #thoughts

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