#it's just that now he has literally no choice but to conform and be with her all while knowing it's not what his heart truly wants
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Can we talk about how Jonathan might've been able to clock Mike simply because of what happened with him and Nancy in season two?
This will be a long post, so you might want to strap in or save it for later.
In Will and Mike's case, it would obviously be much different from Jonathan and Nancy's situation, given that you know, they're gay. But we still have Jonathan arguably going through a similar experience as Will, while Mike is going through a similar experience as Nancy.
In s2, we see Nancy confront Jonathan about how she waited for him before getting back with Steve, which is a revelation to him. Then they're at Murray's and she's struggling to say she loves Steve, after a handful of moments between them that felt like she might return Jonathan’s feelings. And you can clearly see it in his eyes, listening to Murray imply that they have feelings for each other, with him looking back and forth sort of in awe of what's happening, like he's starting to question if she might actually like him back.
Will doesn't have that same affordance as Jonathan to really hope, at least not anymore. Which is why these relationships in s2 and s4 end differently for these two brothers.
Based on all the signs he was seeing that Nancy felt the same, Jonathan decided to take the plunge to admit to Nancy how he felt, and at that same moment Nancy had the courage to show how she felt. In Will and Mike's case, Will wasn't ready to take the plunge to admit to Mike how he felt, at the same moment Mike didn't have the courage to show how he felt.
What's so painfully hilarious to me about all of this though, is that Jonathan arguably starts the season in the same shoes as most of the audience, where from his perspective, it's becoming obvious to him now that Will like's Mike, but that Mike does not feel the same way.
First at Rink-O-Mania, Mike appears a little uncomfortable upon hugging Will. Then as the happy couple continues on their adventure into Rink-O-Mania, he watches Will lagging behind moping. And then unfortunately he's out of commission for the rest of the evening...
But once he's sober and back to being an attentive brother the following morning, we see him watching them at breakfast, with Mike barely sparing Will a glance, all while Will is blatantly staring, almost like he's waiting for Mike to look back, only for Mike to get up and walk away.
All of these instances gotta be SCREAMING unrequited gay love to Jonathan. He's already gotten signs for years that Will is gay, these are now just the signs that are instilling his suspicions that Will has feelings for Mike. He could have easily interpreted their relationship in the early seasons as young best friends, with Will seeming to have a crush on Mike, and with them growing up and that potentially including Will's straight friend distancing himself from him because he doesn't feel the same. It's not the most unexpected thing in the world considering.
But then there's a shift.
Suddenly he's creeping up on them talking in his room. And we know he was listening in on the conversation because he brings up Owens when he sits down. As he's eavesdropping, he's probably thinking something innocent like Aww they're making up! And like, hey! Even if Mike doesn't feel the same, which is okay and entirely expected honestly, at least he still cares about Will enough to make things right after acting so out of character. Still, I'm not gonna lie, that sounded a lot like flirting to me--
Then he's knocking on Will's door like 30 minutes or less later only to find Mike and Will back on their bullshit. Mike suddenly isn't going out of his way to ignore or put Will on the back burner. In fact, he's on his bed and they're talking, again! The door is even closed this time, which is interesting. This has gotta be a good sign in Jon's eyes. Nothing to worry about! Right? Right...?
But then suddenly this shift continues, going in a direction he probably didn't expect.
I mean, this is literally an identical jancy parallel we have here with byler on the hood of the car, with Jonathan right there to witness it. Despite him maybe only now subconsciously picking up on the similarities between Will and Mike to him and Nancy here, he's at least taking note (I mean he's even got his gay map out and everything).
It isn't until the van scene happens, that I think Jonathan starts to genuinely consider his suspicions, which is that Mike might actually like Will back.
EVERY time we get a shot of Jonathan looking back at Will and Mike in the van, followed by a shot of his POV from the rearview mirror, we're faced with Mike looking at Will while Will is looking away.
As Jonathan is hearing Will confirm his suspicions about his feelings for Mike, he's simultaneously witnessing Mike not looking at Will with disgust, but something more akin to reverence. All of those moments in the van that we witnessed, including all the ways Mike looked at Will and everything that was said, Jonathan was right there.
And what's even more insane about this scene, is that it circles back to Jonathan as a character himself.
I remember when people were talking about how odd it was that we never saw Jonathan with a camera in s4. After 3 seasons in a row of making his passion for photography a big part of his identity, that part of him was apparently absent entirely this time around... But was it really?
This is the same guy that said, "Sometimes, people don't really say what they're really thinking. But you capture the right moment, it says more."
Jonathan might not have had his camera in s4, but this was without a doubt one of those moments where he captured something more.
Something that I also think get's highly overlooked about this scene, especially when it comes to Jonathan looking back at them, being followed by a shot of Mike staring at Will, is that he could see both of their reactions the whole time, from beginning to end. Will nor the audience had the affordance of knowing because Will was facing the other way at the end, while we on the other-hand were blurred from even having the chance, despite Mike literally being in the frame. But not Jonathan. He even lets us see what he sees, a few times, but not at the very end, which would have been nice after they didn't let us see Mike's reaction seconds before this.
Let's just stop right there for a second though and circle back to what I consider to be the first time Jonathan really picked up on Will's feelings for Mike, which was at the end of s3, in a sequence that is a little too relevant to the van scene if you ask me, given that they are almost direct parallels.
While these parallels are pretty spot on visually, they are also near spot on narratively when it comes to the evolution each of these characters are experiencing.
For Will in the first scene, it's sadness that he's moving away from his friends in Hawkins and also feeling like he's losing Mike, after what looks like him and El making up, which makes him scared he'll distance himself again. For Jonathan, it's sympathy for his brother who appears to have some very deep feelings for his friend, feelings he can't quite grasp yet but soon enough will.
For Will in the second scene, it's heartbreak that he has to accept that Mike will never feel the same, knowing that supporting his relationship with El (encouraging it honestly) will likely turn out just as it did last time, with him losing Mike all over again, for the last time. For Jonathan it's sympathy for his brother who has now confirmed his suspicions that the feelings he has for Mike are more than just that of a friend.
Given that this parallel reinforces the same feelings Will and Jonathan had in s3 to now, why would this not also reinforce those same feelings that Mike had in s3 to now?
In the first scene, Mike was visibly distraught, with dialogue from Hopper in the background applying a little too perfectly with what he was feeling in that moment, which was scared. He’s apparently back together with El now, despite them doing just fine as friends for the last 3 months, as well as him and Will just having finally gone back to them being on good terms again. But now, it’s like he’s right back where he started at the beginning of s3, feeling obligated to be the perfect boyfriend to El, and as a result, having no choice in his eyes but to distance himself from Will. Mike then walks into his house looking like a zombie, almost emotionless stepping into his mother's embrace.
Now, I say almost emotionless because it looks like Mike was trying to hold back showing how he truly felt in this moment. He's not crying like he did in s1 when he lost Will that first time. Time has passed and things have changed (he doesn't want things to change). And he's trying his best to keep it together. But the in-focus close-ups make it clear that he is definitely not okay.
What's so impactful about these parallels is that it presents the inner struggle both of these characters are having, both queer and experiencing doubts, but in different ways and for different reasons.
Will is the one who covers it all up with lies, hiding the tears in his eyes, because boys don't cry.
Mike is the one who has never cried to them, just to his soul (RUN AWAY! TURN AWAY! RUN AWAY! TURN AWAY! RUN AWAY!!!).
If you actually try to get a gage on Mike's in-focus emotions in that first scene vs. his out-of-focus emotions in that second scene, well they're not that far off from each other.
We go from Mike smiling vibrantly at Will, to him now slowly turning away to look back down at the painting, with whatever the hell emotion this is...
It's near impossible to catch because of how out-of-focus it is, but looking a lot closer, it honestly appears like Mike is feeling something akin to sadness that he's trying to mask. For a moment it even looks like he turns his head to wince emotionally, only to correct himself.
And call me crazy, but these shots also low-key parallel each other. Mike looking down trying to keep his emotions in check and failing miserably, only to look up and meet eyes with someone whose witnessing it.
With each shot before this of Jonathan observing Mike looking at Will, with him showing all the emotions Will never got to see and everything else in between, I wonder what Jon saw this time? Probably another thing he didn't expect.
Can you just try to imagine the silence in this van, accompanied by Will's muffled sobs, and then try to imagine Mike turning to look down at the painting, only to sneak a glance, and then go right back to looking at the painting, IN SILENCE, and then try to tell me how the assumption that Mike didn’t notice Will crying makes any sense, like realistically?
Yeah me and Jonathan are confused too.
Right now, Jonathan's probably wondering why Mike was acting a little fruity and repressed during the painting reveal. And that although he may have a penchant for being able to 'capture the right moment', Mike is sticking with his story (despite all the stalling and doubt). He is 100% straight!
And so maybe this is where Jonathan tries to accept what is being presented to him as the truth, despite the contradictions in front of him. It's likely that despite the way Mike looks at Will and acts around him, in ways he would have assumed coming from Nancy in s2 would've been evidence that she felt the same, it probably doesn't apply to Mike.
Maybe Jonathan's ready to accept that it's a lot more likely Will is experiencing unrequited love as a gay kid growing up in a small town, the most predictable experience a gay kid could go through, and in contrast Mike just feels too bad to let Will down easy.
Or who knows, maybe Mike could still be a little bit gay too...
But it doesn't matter anyways. Mike seems to be adamant about this and so there's really nothing else Jonathan can he do besides tell his brother he'll be there for him no matter what. And so he does just that.
But then Mike just has to surprise him one last time.
For those that don't know, the line Mike gives here in his monologue was in part pulled from Will's monologue in the van. Most don't know this because this line didn't make the final cut for the van scene, but in the official script the writers posted, what we find is an almost a direct parallel.
Which makes the reaction shots of Will and Jonathan directly after Mike says this all the more epic.
From Will's end he was probably hearing Mike say this and just thinking 'Damn. Well, that's what you get for using your feelings to inspire Mike to profess his love to El.'
But from Jonathan's end, I don't think his outside POV of these events overlapping was nearly as naive as his brothers understanding of the events. Because why the fuck would Mike need to use Will's feelings to inspire him to profess his love to El in the first place? Is this what Mike has been struggling with? Really? Why before every moment Mike takes action in this scene, is Will's hand literally pushing him into it? Why is Mike being so dramatic about saying I love you, stuttering and rambling about her being a superhero, not saying nearly as meaningful of things as what Will said in the van?
And then it hits him.
Mike is reminding him a little too much of another Wheeler right now...
Nancy Wheeler, who was afraid of what would happen if she accepted herself for who she really was, leading her to retreat back to the safety of Steve. Because Nancy liked Steve, but she didn't love Steve.
And now here is Mike Wheeler, who has went from being incredibly distant with Will after reuniting with El, something that is very unlike the Mike he knew in previous seasons, to something more himself again after they make up, with him looking at Will with adoration after hearing his words in the van, only to turn away and look heartbroken. Mike who is now struggling to simply tell El he loves her with Will right behind him literally yelling at him to do it.
And now it's like all those little moments are starting to add up to Jonathan.
Suddenly all those signs he picked up on from Will when he was younger are now blending in with moments Will shared with Mike. It was Mike who jumped in after him and his mom's speech to Will in the shed in s2, with tears in his eyes recalling the day that they met (without being asked, let alone pushed to). And it's Mike who is now looking like he's at war with himself as he attempts to give encouragement to El, just like he did with Will in s2, but this time he needs someone to push him to do it, and that person just so happens to be Will. After just finding out about Will's feelings and also while assuming El wants him to love her that way still, Mike is stuck.
I don't think it's takes a genius to consider Jonathan is capable of realizing how fucked they all are in this situation.
As much as Mike isn't ready for a sleuth of reasons, Will isn't ready either.
This provides a huge contrast between the bylers ², because while Jonathan and Nancy went through a similar experience to Will and Mike, them being ready to accept it and act on it didn't involve nearly as many factors and risks. Will and Mike also have the added barrier that is homophobia.
Will's internalized homophobia lies in part with assuming Mike could never feel the same based on some of the words he said in their last two fights, with parts being painfully reminiscent of the things his dad and bullies used to say about him. These are also words that contradict Mike's own words and actions from the previous seasons, things that did once give Will hope. The shame and guilt that comes with falling for your best friend, who you now know will never feel the same after being foolish enough to believe it not too long ago, and who might not even want to be your friend anymore upon finding out the truth, is understandable. He can't have hope like Jonathan can. It's just not the same.
Mike's internalized homophobia lies with assuming El wants him to love her, along with their relationship being expected and socially acceptable from everyone around him. Though unfortunately for her he feels abundantly more in love in the moments he shares with Will. Despite trying to make it work with El as hard as he could, because she's amazing and all any guy could hope for in a girlfriend, he can't ignore the fact that the feelings he has for these two people are different. The shame and guilt that comes with you, a boy, falling for your best friend, who is also a boy, and who is starting to show that he feels the same, all while you can't muster up the courage to break up with your girlfriend, nor can you muster up the courage to tell her that you love her, not when she's begging you, dying or even just simply at the end of a letter, is pretty understandable too. He can't have hope like Nancy can. It's just not the same.
Spoiler: They were not ready.
PS: I'm still not over the fact that they low-key confirmed these events elsewhere in the story...
#byler#st analysis#pocketgate#lettergate#i'm aware this is a hot (big brain) take#but i'm like 76% sure mike understood will in the van scene#also why mike is gonna finally be dealing with some personal business in s5...#just want to add that this makes the scene at Nina hit harder#also#mike trying and failing to tell el he loves her or break up with her at surfer boy and stalling because he just can't fucking do either?#mike's face when will pushes him to profess his love to el right in front of him???#honestly i dont think mike would've gone through with his monologue if he didn't think this is what el wanted in large part#i think he thought that if he did break up with her she wouldn't need him at all anymore#or more specifically if told her the truth she might hate him for it and just not want to be in his life in the aftermath of that#this is why he struggled so much with being honest#it was either lie and suffer but get to keep her in his life most likely or tell her the truth and potentially lose her and still suffer#it's just that now he has literally no choice but to conform and be with her all while knowing it's not what his heart truly wants#the heart not being true to himself jumpstarted the apocalypse#everyone act surprised#byler getting jonathan’d in s5 can be something so personal#no but imagine jon getting even more signals mike feels the same 😭#and he tries to talk to will about it but will just gets upset like pls stop why are you saying this?#or imagine him talking about it subtly with Nancy and her being like no way#only to see it for herself#maybe then Nancy would try to talk to Mike about how he’s feeling#idk I could genuinely see byler just getting byler’d individually#but it’s clear at this point Jonathan is extremely suspicious#honestly all I think it would take is him having intel about their previous fights#if he found out mike defended his behavior by insisting that they’re friends…#jonathan would just be like… oh shit.. the first lie…
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Mike and Will's outfits/aesthetics (s4-s5) in relation to their character arcs
Now that I have semi-recovered from the initial shock and bliss (lmao) of seeing Mike and Will in their fantastic s5 looks, I've been trying to figure out what it is specifically about their styling for this season that pleases me so much as both a Mike stan and a Will stan. And I think it comes down to what these looks reveal about the directions that both of their characters will be taking in the final season, but more specifically, the fact that these looks both stand in stark contrast to Mike and Will's season 4 looks, signifying a huge turning point and leap in progress for both Mike and Will in terms of character development in season 5. Even more so, though, I think these s5 looks are meant to visually represent in their totality what Mike's character has been all about across the series as well as what Will's character has been all about across the entire series.
Mike's s4 looks all center around the ideas of self-discovery, self-acceptance, exploration, and his feelings for Will (with the exception of his airport look, which he wears to conceal and deny what he is actually experiencing and thinking). The hellfire shirt he proudly wears at school signifies that he is growing comfortable with the idea of being a social outcast and being rejected by society at large. He has grown his hair out longer, and he is generally dressing slightly edgier and more casual than he did in s3 (bless s3 Mike Wheeler's heart lmao what an awkward concoction of awkwardness and forced cisheteronormativity 😭💀). Not to mention the infamous arrow breast pocket that literally points to Will for like the entire season and is fashioned right over Mike's heart lmao. All of these outfit choices make sense in connection with where Mike's character is at in s4. It's the first season in which he is truly understanding his queer identity and coming to terms with it. He knows and fully realizes that he is in love with Will, and while he doesn't believe that anything will ultimately come of his queerness let alone his love for Will, I don't think either of these things are something he is necessarily ashamed of, as he uses his style and outfits as a vehicle through which to express his queerness, however limited he may feel in doing so. And I think that fact in and of itself is a great representation of the territory that Mike is venturing into in s4: quiet but bold experimentation and expression in the face of society's opposition. It's one reason why s4 Mike seems so different from other iterations of Mike. He may have had feelings for Will for quite some time now, but up until this point, it's been subconscious or repressed. In s4, it comes to the forefront, and Mike understands and is embracing his queerness as much as he is able to without being seen for who he truly is, because he is terrified of being seen for who he truly is. That's because unlike Will, he's never fully been seen for who he truly is (aka he has an invisible queer experience). He will dress just queer *enough* to feel queer without being seen as queer.
What's so kind of fascinating and maybe even tragic, then, about this look for s5 Mike is what it represents when contrasted to Mike's s4 look. If s4 was, for Mike, about coming to terms with his queerness as much as he feels he is able to, then this look signifies to me that s5 will see Mike being pushed back into a place of conformity, repression, and invisibility. The ironic thing is that this is where Mike feels most comfortable: in his conformity, pleasing his friends and family by being the straight boy they think he is and staying with El, with his queerness remaining swept under the rug and totally invisible to those around him. However sad it may be, he's comfortable with this set of circumstances because it's all he's ever known. Unlike Will, he has only ever experienced homophobia secondhand, in conjunction with his relationship with Will. He is used to being invisible and ignored, and his short hair and kind of preppy boyish look here is kind of meant to symbolize the overall tragedy of Mike Wheeler's character struggle, which is taking comfort and solace in one's own oppression in exchange for larger acceptance but at the expense of personal happiness.
Will's transition from his s4-s5 look signifies something entirely different and even opposite from what Mike is experiencing between the two seasons. Will doesn't exhibit a significant change in aesthetics between the first three seasons and s4. He is still rocking the infamous bowlcut lmao, he still dresses quite softly and boyishly, and the way in which he presents himself makes no obvious effort to deviate from what he's always been doing this whole time. That's because unlike Mike's journey, Will's journey isn't really about self-discovery or figuring out how he wants to present himself to the world. He has known that he is gay his entire life, and he has never had much of a choice regarding how he gets to present himself, since his very personality, mannerisms, and essence seem to betray the fact that he is queer to everyone around him. Season 4 is just him doing more of the same--being queer, being himself, and being in love with Mike--albeit with a bit more confidence than he may have had before, as he painted a picture for Mike and was even planning on giving it to him. Will knows who he is and accepts who he is. He just doesn't want to do that at the expense of others, since he's so selfless. He's willing to be queer and be in love with Mike as much as he is able to without coming between Mike and El or inconveniencing those around him.
But whereas Mike's s5 look indicates invisibility and being drawn back into conformity, Will's s5 look indicates the exact opposite. While Mike may be growing more and more invisible and less comfortable with his queerness come s5, Will is fully blossoming into it and accepting it and wearing it as a badge of honor. This is a true "coming-of-age" look for Will. He is not exchanging who he is for some more macho or masculine version of himself, but he is also refusing to carry around the "weak" and "childish" attributes that people have always ascribed to him just because of his queerness. He is quite literally shedding his childishness and figuring out not what it means to be a visibly queer man, because he's always understood that, but what it means to be HIMSELF as an ADULT. What it means to be a Will Byers who is no longer a frightened, traumatized child but a Will Byers who is fully grown, capable, and confident. And this makes perfect sense as a representation of what the character of Will Byers is all about, which is queer overcoming, queer triumph, and queer victory.
These looks for Mike and Will are so perfect because of what they represent both for what Mike and Will are going to experience in s5 as well as what themes their characters are exploring overall throughout the entire series. Mike Wheeler is an exploration of what it means to be a queer man whose experience gets overlooked and ignored; someone who is expected to perfectly uphold the status quo simply because of how they present themselves externally. Will Byers is an exploration of what it means to know yourself and embrace yourself as a queer person who has been ostracized since childhood; of what it means to grown into a proud queer adult.
#byler#byler is endgame#byler analysis#mike wheeler#will byers#mike wheeler is gay#gay mike wheeler#mike wheeler is a boykisser#mike wheeler is in love with will byers#byler is canon#byler angst#byler brainrot#byler headcanons#stranger things#st5#st5 speculation#st5 analysis#mike wheeler analysis#will byers analysis
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why you already have your “desires” ♡
non dualism means there’s no duality in your world. theres no other force at play here. it is just you. everything that manifest into your reality is as real as you let it become. your fingernails being painted vs not painted is up to the observer; you.
you cannot keep letting your senses dictate what you have. not now not ever not even when it seems like they align exact with what you want. these senses are always misleading. i have money but its not physically touching my hand. does this mean i dont have it?
for example. more than half of you are manifesting a relationship (which is 100% OKAY. never let anybody make you feel bad for it). however, since you know about non dualism, you know that everything is consciousness meaning everything is you. this includes your sp.
when ppl say your relationship always reflects how you feel about yourself THIS IS TRUE because it is just you. everything is you. my boyfriend and how he treats me is a reflection of how i view myself. ill give you an example:
when i first met him i wanted someone who would always be there for me and always want to take care of me. and he showed me that. but due to my ptsd, i used to have episodes where id push him away and believe he didnt rlly like me or want me. we spoke less and he gave me my space and it used to upset me and id be confused until one day he did smth nice for me and when i said thank u he thanked me for “letting him love me”. this was months ago so i didnt think ab it much at the time but i literally was not letting him.
he had no choice but to follow my rules. he had no choice but to present the way i assumed he would and he directly told me this what does this have to do with non dualism? like i said, everything is me. theres no outside force doing something to me, it is just me.
and there is no separation involved. there’s no imagination that has to reflect to the real world theres no 3d conforming to the 4d and there. is. no. waiting. this has nothing to do with time. time is a concept the ego (you) created to better comprehend your senses (also you)
so when i tell u whatever u “desire” is yours, IS YOURS. the little voice in the back of your head telling you to think logical tell them to shut up because logic is another ego-centered term. the ego (who is you!) was created to protect your body. but you are not just your body.
you are pure consciousness. you are everything even what it is you desire. desiring doesnt exist when you are already everything you desire. you want that man? then hes yours babes. you want a fat paycheck? then its yours
“but i say that and then i check my bank account and-“ aht aht. what did i just tell you? stop leading your understanding with misleading senses. there is no separation from what you want and want you dont want because everything is inherently neutral in the first place.
theres no différence between the number in your bank account and the number “in your head”. the bank account and number arent even real in the first place so why do you care? be fucking free from anything you have once deemed “physical” therefore real. cuz none of it is babygirl
if you ever find yourself not believing bc you dont “see it” then remind yourself that you’re still looking at it from a point of duality which is wasting your time because you are one ☝️
© itgomyway
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from baby to brutal: coriolanus snow's hair transformation throughout the ballad of songbirds and snakes
something that i find so interesting as a physical marker of coriolanus' change into snow is his hair.
the progression we see him go through, from those nice soft curls, to the buzzcut, to the platinum bleach and tone really remind me -- and walk with me here -- of when babies/little kids get their first haircut and how the new growth changes their hair.
for instance, when a family member of mine was really young, they had super soft, thin, and curly hair; we were all convinced they would just have curly hair forever. but them, they got their first hair cut (cut down really short), and from that moment on, the hair grew in much thicker and noticeably straight. baby hair is always so soft and fine, and it's when they start to grow up that it begins to change, especially when the first cut snips all of the baby hair away. it's a marker of change, of growing up (and, i suppose to be a bit cynical, losing the innocence of youth).
okay so, back to coryo. we first see him with the golden, loose curls.
this is when he's more naive to the realities of the world, when he still has not become the hardened man we know later on. still innocent i suppose you could say -- well, as relatively innocent as coriolanus snow can be. [more below the cut]
even when he's a child, the hair is loose and similar to the way he wears it when he's older. almost as if it's showing us that he's sort of stuck in this perpetual state of paranoia, fear, and the single-minded sort of thinking common in children, but exacerbated a million times in adult coryo.
next we get the buzzcut. and there is much to be said about this.
so, first of all, we're seeing a cutting off of the baby hair, representing him letting go of his old life, his childhood, that last bit of good he had going for him. he takes a turn for the worst. this is when he starts to experience life outside the capitol and everything goes awry.
the idea of a haircut in general is supposed to be a renewal, a starting over, an embrace of change. but obviously that's not really what this is for him because he does not choose to cut his hair. a forced haircut -- and it is; there's a scene in the movie where he's getting sheared and he has this sort of glassy look in his eyes that just screams 'i do not want this so maybe if i tune it out it'll stop happening' -- is essentially the exact opposite of all the things a haircut is supposed to be. it's taking choice entirely out of the hands of the person. no more is it about a new beginning and a change made by the self, it is a forced change inflicted on someone: effectively a 'this is how it is now, deal with it'. really having something as personal and vital to your autonomy as hair being forcefully changed (or removed) is a completely violation of the self, both outer and inner.
plus, in this specific context, it's a military cut. it's meant to symbolize conformity and the putting aside of your own self to become part of something bigger than the individual. (and really, i don't think i need to explain why that is something coryo is not happy about). for someone so set on his great exceptions and bright future as an individual with power and status ("coriolanus snow, future president of panem" tbosas, 11), becoming a faceless grunt doing menial labour is not fulfilling the expectations both he and others have for him. this haircut is about conformity, making coriolanus into someone completely anonymous and without power.
the power loss is both literal, but also more metaphorical in it's ties to the hair loss, because crassus had that same white hair as him, so cutting it off, down to the bare bones of it, takes away that connection and identification that he had with his father and the larger snow reputation in general.
okay, last thing about this buzzcut. obviously, when sejanus shows up on the train -- or in the barracks like in the book -- he too has his hair buzzed, so you could assume that he's experiencing the same sort of identity crisis and helplessness as coriolanus, but i'd actually argue otherwise. of course, we can't actually know because coryo's narration is heavily biased so we couldn't ever hope to actually know sej's true thoughts, but i think for sejanus it actually might function as a sense of freedom. he's joined the peacekeepers, he's out of the capitol, he can make a difference. it's about his freedom to become someone anonymous (not tied to the plinth name), whereas coryo's is the exact opposite; a loss of freedom and the snow name. it's a punishment for coryo to become no one, but a relief for sejanus. and while the haircut is required regardless of personal feelings on peacekeeping, sejanus' haircut would've been much less of a violation because he signed up for it. it's not something he's being held in place and forced to do. he can shear his hair and shed the capitol life, and embracing anonymity, becoming a piece in something bigger than himself, whereas for coryo, this isn't something he chooses. a choice for sejanus and a punishment for coriolanus.
[and isn't that sort of the piece of their contrasting characters? one desperately seeking to distance himself from the capitol and his family name, and one clawing and fighting and killing to get back to that very same thing...]
now, finally on to coryo's final evolution in the movie: salon-fresh bleached and toned haircut.
to get back to the baby hair metaphor: the baby hair has been shorn, and the adult hair has grown back differently (or it is styles purposefully differently). this symbolizes a loss of that innocence and childhood that he was clinging to, represented by the curls. but we are also past the violation of the buzzcut, where he was deeply uncertain and off kilter -- an identity crisis. now, his hair has grown back, and this is pretty much the style we see in all the way up to thg trilogy and donald sutherland's snow.
it is pushed away from the face (very unlike the baby curls we see, which constantly are in/over his face), showing us that he is not clouded by those same childish things that he was before. it is more structures and carefully styled, displaying discipline and order.
i'd be curious to know if he straightens it in these early years post-lucy gray as a staunch refusal to even slightly be similar to how he was before. because president snow as we see him has some of that wave back. this is a super "plate of corn" moment, of course, but it is something i was thinking about.
also, this new hair is obviously meant to be a nod to crassus' hairstyle: emulating the man he wants to be. the hair is more straight, pushed back away from the face, very structured, for both crasus and snow.
the change is very clearly marked and meant to be very obvious, showing us coriolanus' transformation and his descent into villainy. it's done so masterfully, both obvious and subtle at the same time. the movie did such a spectacular job giving us insight into coriolanus' transformation in so many ways, particularly with the costume choices / colours, etc. and obviously none of this would mean anything without suzanne collins' phenomenal writing in the first place.
subtle visual representations of character transformations you are so special to me <3
#so much rambling but much to be said#this could've be even longer#i just like to talk i think#coriolanus snow#coryo snow#crassus snow#tbosas#the ballad of songbirds and snakes#suzanne collins#tbosas meta#coriolanus snow meta#president snow#snow lands on top#tbosas costuming#the ballad of sonbirds and snakes meta#mine
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Interview with the Vampire first draft trivia
I've been meaning to make this post for a while now so I'm doing it. The Vampire Companion is a reference book for the Vampire Chronicles made in collaboration with Anne Rice. It is basically the VC wiki in book form from the 90s but with analysis of lots of themes and symbolism (there's entries for literally anything got even a passing mention in the series, and example of entries on one page chose at random are " adventure, Aegean sea, aesthetic choice" with multiple paragraphs each I shit you not like the "Aegean sea" entry explains it is basically just mentioned in passing it is COMPREHENSIVE. It also famously has an entry for penis/phallus (none for vagina or vulva tho booo). This book features a lot of analysis of VC and it's themes and it is legit some of the worst analysis I've ever seen. A lot of it is in the Freudian mindset/style which *Kubrick stares in psychology student*. It also just reflects a lot of the opinions Anne Rice had about her characters she had in the 90s, the entry on Louis really shows she hates him.
HOWEVER The Vampire Companion has one really cool feature and that is that it mentions things that were in the first draft of IWTV which was later removed. I love this kind of trivia, I love reading the IMDB trivia for these kinds of facts, so I'm collecting them all here in this post:
Lestat was supposed to die in the fire at Rue Royale. When he comes back from the swamp it was originally his last appearance and even then when they meet the Nosferatu/zombie-like vampires of Eastern Europe Louis concludes that the murder attempt left Lestat like those vampires, literally an animated corpse when he came back from the swamp and to Louis, whether Lestat survived the fire or not, Lestat is dead
Lestat's original backstory in IWTV is that Lestat was a poet as a boy. I'm just transcribing this part bc I love it so much: "....it was his poetry full of dreams and longings, that endeared Louis to him. When Louis tries to get Lestat to talk about his poetry, Lestat curtly dismisses it, as if he views it as an idealistic boy's worthless fancies." T_T I think about this part a lot and I kind of wish this part had not been removed but given that Lestat was originally based on Anne's husband Stan who was a poet, she probably removed it for personal reasons.
Rice had originally planned for Louis's tone in IWTV to be similar to that of Oscar Wilde but it changed when she changed from the POV of Daniel (1st draft) to Louis (final version). As annoying as the constant quotation marks are in IWTV, I think nonstop "the vampire said___" would have been worse
The reporter says that Louis looks to be around 35 instead of the final 25
When in Paris Louis and Claudia both accidently run into a random vampire and he runs away scared, Louis and Claudia then make themselves more obvious as vampires to attract the others to them
One evening they come home and a whole bunch of vampires are in their flat, and they take them to a rotting mansion with older human servants who are hoping to be turned into vampires. There they finally meet Armand
The vampires then get together in a room and recite Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs du Mal" and then a blonde woman is brought in, begging for her life, and she is passed around as they drink from her. Louis is horrified but drinks from her, and then Armand takes Louis to his bedroom where a woman is asleep on the bed and Louis crawls into the bed and drinks from her, killing her in her sleep
The group of vampires have more strict rules than the theater ones seem to described as loving conformity, abhor wasted opportunities, and constantly provoking each other into dares and challenges (vampire Jackass). Louis doesn't like the vampires but Claudia joins them, dressing in all black, dies her hair white, and befriends 3 brothers and has fun tormenting priests
In the original version of IWTV Claudia goes off with three vampire brothers she meets in Paris and does not die (I think Claudia leaving and meeting Bruce in the AMC show might have been an allusion to this). However AR claims she experienced "psychological difficulties" (the book's phrasing not mine) until she rewrote the ending where Claudia dies. Having Louis grieve Claudia was cathartic for her
When the vampires learn that Claudia killed Lestat they think his death was just and no punishment is required XD
Louis finally leaves not fitting in and Armand chases after him, asking why he left and then leaves the others for Louis. He also tells Louis his backstory (which is never revealed in IWTV)
In the original draft of IWTV Claudia is described as 3 or 4 instead of 5
Anne Rice did not originally realize that Claudia, the 5 year old who can never die, was a projection of her own desire for her daughter who died at 5. She originally saw Claudia as a way to talk about how women can be infantilized or considered inferior to men, by making the way women can be treated (not intelligent, not strong, not rational) physical in the form of a child
AR did use Michelle's (her daughter's) physical appearance, blond hair and blue eyes for describing Claudia, but again, denies that she was aware of a deeper significance at the time, but says it made a lot of sense later. However Claudia's personality is not based on Michelle (which makes sense bc we mostly see an adult Claudia in the book and movie and Michelle died at 5)
AR originally planned for Armand to be a central figure and villain in Queen of the Damned but decided he wasn't evil enough (I think this is cute)
Armand was completely different. He is described as innocent and angelic and in his twenties (However the final version of IWTV simply describes him as young, being 17 was added later and I personally always see him as early 20s bc of how I pictured him reading IWTV)
Armand was originally only from Venice, not Kiev, son of a guilder and later living with his maker for over a century (similar to what we learn in TVL and TVA but not nearly as dark, no sex trafficking or pedophilia)
Louis and Armand originally genuinely have a good relationship, traveling the world together after leaving Paris, and at one point Louis convinces him finally that vampires are inherently evil, he offers to go into the sun with Louis T_T However Louis cannot bring himself to do that so he adopts Armand's morals
Armand shows Louis a way to humanely kill and drink, by identifying "Those Who Want To Die" and Louis describes going to a cemetery and finding the mother of a child who had passed doesn't want to live anymore and Armand gently kills her. However Louis decides he simply likes it better when is victims fight back
The original ending of IWTV is Louis mentions that he hates going back to New Orleans because it was where he met his mortal love, but he never elaborates on who this was. (??? Anne???) As the interview ends around there Daniel notices the sun coming up and starts backing out of the room while Louis keeps talking because he was still afraid of Louis eating him. XD Louis finally realizes what was going on when Daniel makes it all the way to his car XD and is angry with him and asks for the tapes back. Armand arrives and says Daniel should have the tapes, that what Louis really wants is the tale to be public. Louis and Armand get in a cab and ride off into the night together (I also wonder if the end of s1 being Louis and Armand holding hands in front of Daniel is an allusion to this)
AR also points out that the book has large tonal differences, she wondered if it was an issue but then decided she liked it, saying Louis is a cynical cold person who warms up and then grows cold again throughout the novel. This character arc was never intentional though
Anne Rice says two main inspirations for IWTV are Richard Matheson's "Dress of White Silk" which is from the POV of a child vampire, and the movie "Dracula's Daughter" which had a tragic and sensual vampire.
The original IWTV short story (which you can still read) is very different, the vampire is not like Louis but based on Oscar Wilde, she intended the tone to be ironic and witty. The vampire enjoys killing and tells the reporter that, and like in the books says "the room the interview is in is just a room" but at the end reveals he is waiting for the occupant to come home so he can kill him, and the reporter runs away frightened. Lestat does not really exist other than as a nameless maker and Claudia and Armand also do not exist
The Vampire Companion does not really have "first draft" comments on any of the other books (only the first 4 had been out when it was published). I imagine it is because an author's first book is usually subjected to more edits and rewrites while they are struggling to get it published, but once the foot is in the door you don't have to do that as much (and AR took this a step further with firing her editor after becoming a NYT bestseller!).
However there were a few things about characters who appear later which I found interesting:
In the Daniel entry she says she wanted to explore Armand and Daniel's relationship more in future books, which we know she never does :(
Gabrielle was deliberately based on AR's own mother. Her mother was a feminist activist, often making AR feel like her mother paid more attention to her activism than to her, which mirrors Lestat wishing Gabrielle would teach him to read so he can enjoy the escapism. However both Gabrielle and AR's mother were unhappy in their domestic motherly roles, which is reflected in Gabrielle. AR's mother was also an alcoholic and died when AR was young of complications due to alcoholism. AR deliberately wrote Lestat saving his mother from death by making her a vampire, and Gabrielle being freed from the expectations of her gender as a wish she could have done the same with her mother T_T
David is also meant to be her father, he was dying due to some heart disease at the time she wrote TOTBT (he was not actually dead yet but I think was by the time she published or shortly after) and David is described as dying due to similar causes. So she wrote once again one of her parents not dying but becoming immortal. TOTBT is also much darker compared to TVL and QOTD, the previous two Lestat narrated books, and her grief helps explain why (but also "AR pls go to therapy" challenge)
I also find this excerpt on Anne Rice projecting onto Lestat interesting bc this is VERY similar to what Gabrielle says to Lestat: "As a writer I put myself into Lestat much more deeply than I had put myself into Louis because I was dealing with aggression in Lestat, and dealing with my own repressions. Lestat was my male hero who could do what I couldn't. I wanted to get out of the mindset of the passive grieving person [from when she was writing IWTV]." :/
#vc#vampire chronicles#interview with the vampire#the vampire lestat#queen of the damned#tale of the body thief#louis de pointe du lac#lestat de lioncourt#the vampire claudia#the vampire armand#daniel molloy#gabrielle de lioncourt#david talbot#amc interview with the vampire#iwtv#amc iwtv#tvl#qotd#the vampire companion
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I think adding August as the next potential heir to the throne was literally the best stake they could have added to the whole Wilhelm Abdicating vs Wilhelm Continuing as Crown Prince discussion.
Up until August is summoned to the palace and informed of this change in the line of succession, Wilhelm is very much stuck in a limbo with his position as the Crown Prince- he has to conform to his duties, it doesn't matter(to the Royal Court) if he does it from an angry state of mind or otherwise. He has no choice, it's very much evident since we see him as the Crown Prince after Erik's death. Even if he would have accepted his position with grace, it would be just a less conflict-ridden way to conforming to the same, overriding fate of being the head of an institution he doesn't agree with.
But after adding August to the line of succession, Wilhelm has a choice. Yes, August is probably the worst person to inherit a position of power, but if we see it from Wilhelm's perspective, he can still technically give away the throne to August- he's atleast an eligible candidate in the eyes of the Royal Court. He will take his role more "seriously", he's actually willing and cooperating to their wishes and (it makes me angry though) by confirming that he's heterosexual, they assured themselves that there will not be any crisis in terms of future heirs from August. Wilhelm knows he doesn't fit into these criterias, and the only reason the Royal Court isn't willing to pursue August head on as the Crown Prince is that Wilhelm is still more directly related to the Crown- he's the son of the current monarch. And now he has a choice. He can be free- as he told Simon- to be with him, to live freely without any pressures.
And the best part? He still chooses being the Crown Prince despite everything. He knows that giving it all away to August when he has seen his power-hungry tactics will be unfair. Not only because what he did to him and Simon but just how awful and selfish of a person he is in general. You can see the gears moving inside Wilhelm's brain when August calls him to negotiate- he sees that how wrong it would be to give away the throne to a person who has no sense of morality besides for himself.
When Wilhelm's anxiety gets the best of him during the Jubilee speech, he sees Simon, Simon's "I really hate August" echoing in his mind, and he takes the podium away from August despite his crushing anxiety. August can never muster such grace and humility.
And that's why I'm really excited to see Wilhelm as a Crown Prince further because despite the overwhelming pressure that entails it all- it's his choice now. It's his narrative now. And also him being an openly queer royal is just the cherry on top.
#tldr i support wille continuing as Crown Prince agenda and the story also seems to be going in the same direction#look I'm not against abdication it will be a happier choice for Wilhelm but it still doesn't sit right with me for some reason#young royals#prince wilhelm#simon eriksson#august young royals
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FSR Rambles 14 mental illnesses-
Cutting from Dark's tantrum, it becomes evidently obvious Dark isn't angry at Shadow in the way he's seen people show anger.
Smth to consider:
Everyone who's angry so far has been...Explosive. (Vio is like, the only one who's just been steadily annoyed.)
Blue and Shadow both get pretty explosive when they're mad, Vaati too. So...Dark doesn't have much to go off of in the way of nuance in showing he's angry/mad at someone.
Literally zero to one hundred.
Dark even outright asks Shadow Link "Am I mad at you" likely because he's just...kind of mad Shadow and Vio are close and he's jealous but Dark's understanding of his OWN emotions are basically none.
He's even "Embarrassed" and thinks he should have looked at Blue's memories to get a better grasp on anger.
Don't do it Dark-
Dark's flip flopping between his attempts to show anger and his natural mellow personality is night and day.
Switching to having sharp teeth again to reflect Shadow Link.
1st panel is pretty evident: He's just saying shit that Blue has been feeling lmao.
Dark again speaks in the 3rd person here. Twice now it's been used to try and speak about himself from someone else's perspective.
Vio's afraid of him, but the previous time he did it, his "Yay Dark Link" line if you remember was smth he WANTED Vaati to feel about him.
Shadow is rightly confused as HELL about what Dark is even talking about. Dark not so casually does conform though he was the one who was messing with Vio earlier.
The three panels of Dark's face are some of my favorites because it shows just how little this conversation matters to him from a serious angle.
His act of being pissed breaks immediately with his inability to hold back a grin at how silly he feels he's acting at the moment.
Dude's having a fun time but Shadow's patience has run dry and he snaps at Dark to "just answer me!"
While the Triforce of power glows.
This makes Dark stop what he's doing and freeze up.
I'm sure this page confused people. Because it's kinda. Weird.
Dark stops talking and is just frozen up.
Shadow doesn't just ask him a question, but an outright demand while his Triforce glows.
Dark starts screaming with a terrified look on his face and elaborates plainly what he's doing there, he covers his own mouth quickly after.
Shadow's disturbed by this interaction and looks down at the Triforce on his hand.
So basically if you were wondering:
Shadow made Dark talk here, albeit on accident using the power of the Triforce.
Which is why Dark started screaming and twitching because he had no choice but to respond.
With his autonomy ripped away from him Dark is rightfully terrified of Shadow Link.
His fear is so strong he holds his hat close to himself for comfort and hides his face, apologizing his loyalties lie with Vaati and not Shadow Link.
Shadow tries in vain to clear up the identity confusion.
Okay but from Dark's perspective "Gannon's" just being a lying weirdo. X'D
Dark knows "The truth" and he can't really comprehend why "Gannon" is still keeping up the lie that he's a different person asking plainly if Shadow's afraid Dark wont' like him.
Shadow's obviously very fed up, reminding the audience and Dark that he has no fucking clue who Dark even is at this point.
Fun thing about the panel where Dark mimics Shadow's face, the panel of annoyed Shadow and the panel proceeding it both share some line art. X'D
Dark was "mimicing" again but goes right back to his actual feelings.
He doesn't actually care about Shadow's identity crisis at all when it comes to not telling anyone else about it. Stuttering while he talks.
He's confused why Shadow gets to "Lie" in this instance but Vio's lies were bad and deserving of anger.
Keep Dark's confusion over lying in mind.
2nd to last panel talk:
Shadow just, has no idea how to deal with this dude.
Like it's evident Shadow has a hard time keeping up with Dark's nonsense but it's REALLY evident there.
"Wtf is he talking about?" face is pretty funny.
Dark being shocked they might hate Shadow more for lying than being Gannon is a fun assumption on Dark's part, leading Shadow to ask outright
"Are you trying to give me advice???"
From Shadow's perspective, it sure does seem like Dark is trying to give him advice. X'D When Dark is just saying how he feels.
Fun questions from Dark...
If Shadow can "Switch around what you are" ...a phrase that's very up for debate wtf he actually meant by that statement,
Can Dark do it too?
Shadow seems to take it as Dark asking if he could be a good guy too, and says "yeah sure why not".
Whatever Dark DID mean by that, he seems to take Shadow's reply well and laughs to himself about it with a very pleased expression on his face.
Keep that, in mind.
Dark sits back down and asks Shadow a pretty...weird question.
"Do you think Vio will still want your kisses if he knows who you are, King Shadow Link?"
Again showing Dark's focus is on really random things that pertain to his interests. Because he doesn't ask Shadow if Vio will TRUST HIM, or still LOVE HIM, or even if he'll still want to be his friend.
He asks if Vio will still kiss him.
Which is like, super specific.
When Shadow's like "idk"
he gets giddy and resounds Shadow FOR SURE should tell him the truth.
Why?
Well that face really says it all.
Dark in some way thinks Shadow would be an obsticle to Vio's affection...
HUh.
Wonder where he got that from...
Cough cough BLUE-
This line is the nail in the coffin for Shadow as he's full blown pissed off now.
Dark's perpetual jabs at Vio have finally made him crack.
There's for sure a hint of jealousy in Shadow's actions too.
Dark exhaling pollen as he sighs is probs only amusing to me.
His SASS in the words "...Is FIGHTING all you two know how to do?"
Clearly referencing Vaati in this statement, clear annoyance in his face.
Dark is already fed up with both Shadow and Vaati's quickness to fight at the drop of the hat.
Dark does take up his gigantic sword and gets ready to fight.
His lines are pretty telling about how he feels this is an obligation to make Shadow Link "have fun".
"...If you have fun, at least that'll make one of us...right?" - Dark finds fights boring and meaningless and really doesn't wanna do this, but since it'll make Shadow "have fun" he's up for playing along.
The eye on his chest looks distinctly bored with this as well.
his next line is kinda, weird.
"If we win, we get to celebrate...so there's that...yay..."
This line is meant to be in reference to Vio and Green's fight, and how afterwards Shadow and Vio celebrated.
His little "...I'm trying to get excited about it" explains his little "yay" to hype himself up.
Dark focuses on defense in this fight for the most part, blocking Shadow's attacks.
"Are you having fun yet? Can we stop soon?"
Dark's really not feeling this fight and just wants it to be over.
He takes another page out of Vio's book an tries to make his opponent unable to fight.
In this case, he disarms Shadow by parrying his sword out of his hands.
Dark's murderous expression paired with Shadow's face reflecting in his blade is a pants crapping image if you were in Shadow's shoes I'm sure but for the audience it's cool as hell.
Dark, again, had the chance to hurt someone majorly and chose not too.
Which really reflects the kind of person he actually is I feel.
Dark chooses to give mercy to people.
He just lets Shadow fall onto his ass.
Though, don't get Dark's question mixed up. X'D
He did not ask Shadow "Did that hurt?" out of kindness or concern. He asked it out of genuine curiosity.
Shadow has a second of hesitation before slamming that sword full force into Dark.
Ouch.
Dark had a hard time with that swing.
His continuous mumbling about how he really doesn't want to fight are just kinda sad.
The visual of Dark swinging this huge ass sword around, and trying to balance again once he got Shadow off him is so oddly cute.
Shadow reflects on how he's filling the role as the "bad guy" here because of Dark's behavior as well get into with the next page.
I mean. He's right.
Dark's just defending himself against Shadow's attacks. He's not trying to hurt Shadow.
Not actually attacking or retreating is gonna wind up in Dark getting hurt, so Shadow wonders if this is the right choice, considering his options.
If Dark was fighting back, this would be an easier moral fight. But Dark isn't. He's just defending himself or disarming Shadow so Shadow can't try to hurt him.
Dark being a moral mess to deal with is a continuous theme...
As Dark's behavior leads him to be very hard to deal with as an enemy or an alley.
Shadow decides that he IS gonna fight Dark still but gets rudely interrupted by a flashbang.
Ouch. Not the eyes.
Dark covering his chest eyeball. Ouch.
Shadow cowering in the Shadows lmfao. Poor dude.
Poor dark has 3 eyes that got hurt in that nonsense. Vaati's team spirit just ain't there.
It's a sad thing to consider Dark has gotten almost nothing but pain in his short time existing as a conscious individual.
Vaati very rudely grabs Dark's face in a very possessive manor. Because he sucks. XD He lumps in Shadow Link with Link in how the curse functions... which Dark tries to interject with...Something, but Vaati tells him to "Stfu"
Their interaction through this whole thing is just...This: X'D
Vaati is very sick of Dark speaking, at all. So just tells Dark to be quiet.
The repeated idea of Dark not liking lies/people misinterpreting things is just a thing to note.
Vaati thinks he can get hooked up with 2 evil Links.
Little does he know-
Ya know we'll get back to that...
I just wanna point out to the audience:
Shadow is a huge dick here.
In trying to insult Vaati and built himself up he just tore Dark down which clearly hurt Dark's feelings.
There was no need to say that Shadow. 😭
Oh but there was...
To show the audience Shadow's still a bit of a douche bag...
Dark mimicking Vaati's pissed off expression is so funny to me and only me.
I know like, NONE of yall read the pillowfort excusive comic.
But it's cannon Dark's ears are ticklish so that's why he laughed when Vaati whispered to him.
He gets more serious when he realizes Vaati's sayin' smth important and whispers back.
What Vaati and Dark are implied to have said I'll get into in the next page.
Shadow ain't a fan of the secrecy.
Turns out Dark just told Vaati what he saw.
Which was smooching and hugging lmfao.
Vaati proceeds to laugh his ass off about affection he'll never receive.
Dark is utterly confused about being patted on the head.
Dark just sits there thinking to himself over what Vaati's saying + Vaati's action.
Welp. Vaati's being a dick.
Dark plays with Vaati's hair idly while he talks shit.
And we get to a very hilarious panel imo. Dark hugging Vaati and Vaati being utterly disgusted with the action.
Thoughts:
Why did Dark hug Vaati?
Well there's a few reasons he could have
He could have KNOWN it made Shadow jealous.
He took Dark rubbing his head as clearance they can touch each other just fine.
He just likes Vaati and wants to touch him.
Shadow's blatant jealousy isn't missed by Vaati either.
Just gonna point out, the background hue keeps shifting to match emotions.
Purple for fear, red for anger and the green for jealousy.
Vaati's an asshole so he rubs Dark's head in an attempt to make Shadow jealous further.
Vaati is nothing if not an emotional manipulator.
Dark appreciates the head scritches at least.
Again Vaati seems to get smth wrong, and Dark tries to correct him and gets cut off.
For shoving his finger in Dark's face Dark unceremoniously licks it.
Which is funny as hell to me, especially how one of Vaati's eyes glares at him for this but he's too busy trying to be manipulative to tell Dark off. X'D
The smug look on Dark's face would lead one to think he knows it pissed Vaati off that he did that. XD
Vaati's persuasion is shit, so Shadow sees right through it.
Huh...Funny Shadow only seems to humanize Dark slightly when Vaati's abuse tactics used on Shadow are thrown back into his face on full display.
FuNNY HOW THAT WORKS.
Also Shadow's dialogue's important so I'll expand on it.
Him admitting he did shit wrong. Yay character growth. UwU
He can relate to being trapped. Bro was trapped in Link's shadow and SUFFERED so...it's safe to say he knows how Vaati's imprisonment feels.
Shadow dropping the "Family" muhahaha. He loves his dumbass boys. UwU
Vaati continues to suck.
The sudden gripping on Dark's shoulder makes Dark wince. Ouch.
Omf. That line hurts.
Vaati and Shadow's relationship is one sided pain and hurt with the promise of love that never comes.
Shadow broke out of that cycle by breaking the mirror but still has to put up with Vaati's crap.
Dark views this with expectant eyes.
Vaati's monologue here just reflects his time after the events of the minish cap manga.
Shadow's response, my boy grew up lots.
He clearly feels bad Vaati went through that but say it with me
IT AIN'T HIS PROBLEM.
Haha oh Shadow's words are very telling about how he feels about the past.
"Vio means it this time...right?"
His wants now are just stuff like "I wanna have a bed!"
reminder from the flashback he DIDN'T HAVE ONE.
He wants to spend time with Zelda and Link in a meaningful way.
visual references to BOTW Link and Tetra because muhahaha.
Shadow's words about "Failure" is kinda telling.
Being a villian in a Zelda story means you fail. The hero will virtually always defeat you and you'll be left with nothing but pain.
Shadow wants no part of that shit...
But his reasons is kinda...selfish?
He doesn't say "being bad is bad because you're bad!" he says "Fuck I don't wanna fail anymore."
He settles on a life he finds obtainable because Gannon and Vaati's dreams are INSANLY UNOBTAINABLE not because he doesn't want those things too.
Because let's be real if there were no consequences...Shadow would do whatever the fuck he wanted. XD
Vaati's not the only one who can project! SHADOW CAN DO IT TOO.
Failing at the hands of the hero over and over is smth Shadow feels Gannon's emotions on. Dude is so sick of it.
Fun chameo from our favorite hero ever.
Navi.
Jk. Hero of Time...I'm sure he'll never be relevant ever again.
Shadow's acceptance of a lowkey life pisses Vaati off.
The perpetual failures being slung in his face was just one too many.
Vaati's reached his limits of anger at both Dark and Shadow Link.
Oh.
He didn't squeeze him like a squeaky toy this time...
If you're wondering "Why didn't Dark dodge?"
Last time Vaati carried Dark off and when he DID try to hurt Dark he tried to slam him into the ground, not CRUSH HIM.
Dark didn't perceive being held alone by Vaati as a danger so didn't bother trying to escape.
Shadow's terror at this action like, really makes it sink in Vaati means business.
Vaati's sick of everyone at this point omf. Dark just stays limp as hell which sucks for him.
Shadow channaling the power of the Triforce of power decides to fuck Vaati's shit up.
This was 100% inspired by the Guardian/Blight lasers lmfao because that's FUNNY.
It really sucks to me we don't really see what the Triforce of Power's abilities...ARE.
So I'm just going with "Shit Gannon can do in other incarnations" because that's all I have to go off of. 🤷
"Turning the wieldier into a pig monster" was smth I saw but that only really happens to Gannon with the explanation that he's losing control over his piece and himself? So...Shadow switching to pig mode here wouldn't make much sense. X'D
And YAAAAY DARK LINK IS SAVED.
Due to pure selfishness on Shadow's part-
Okay look I'm not gonna sugar coat it.
Shadow didn't save Dark because he cares about who Dark is. He saved him because how Vaati treated HIM was being put onto Dark. Shadow's projecting to hell onto Dark due to the abuse he faced and ONLY helped him due to that reason.
Round about say to say: He doesn't pity Dark here, he pities himself.
"That's not what matters right now." - Shadow said like a liar.
This wasn't a logical choice in the slightest and Shadow has no justification for his outburst in this regards because it was 100% anger at his own past abuse being slung in his face and has nothing to do with Dark the person being abused.
Shadow just as an afterthought asking if Dark is alright kinda sements that.
IMAGE LIMITS ARE SATAN'S MISTRESSES.
So I guess I'll pick this back up later.
#four swords returns#four swords adventures#four swords manga#four swords returns au#four swords#loz fsr au#loz#shadow link#dark link#fsr rambles
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Followed your blog a few years back even though it wasn't active because I absolutely love it and have gone through it more than once. It was an awesome surprise to see you posting again! In celebration I now have a personal breeding story to tell you.
Some background is that when I got back into horses in 2019 turns out I made the wrong choice on who to go to, but I fell in love with a horse there and now can't leave her, so to cope I like to tell anyone who might be interested about the shit show I am experiencing.
The owner/trainer of the barn was given a horse that had originated from some hunter/jumper barn where they had ridden her over huge jumps at 4 years old and very clearly handled her harshly. When she didn't stay sound and developed behavioral problems they dumped her at a YMCA camp and some people who work there then gave her to the trainer. She tried to put her back in work but she was eventually deemed "unridable". She has behavior problems both in and out of saddle, she would be very difficult to lead, and just bomb through gates and in and out of stalls, she will also be fine for a long time then one day suddenly bite very hard. I'm absolutely sure most of this is due to pain or past pain. Besides having been ridden hard as a youngster she also has a tragic back end. I'm hoping I'm describing this correctly but she basically has no croup. Her topline is just flat from the end of her withers to her tail. Because of this she almost always cross canters behind.
So, my trainer has a youngish, unridable, horse with big movement but problematic conformation, behavioral problems, and some kind of pain that prevents her from being truly sound. So what does she decide to do? Breed her of course!
For you see, although she has no paperwork, she *supposedly* has warmblood in her! Actual warmblood, perhaps holsteiner or something similar. She apparently is registered with the "american warmblood association" which I know you know means nothing. The horse I ride could also be called an """american warmblood"" and I love her with all my heart but she is literally just a draft cross. So this means she must be a great sperm receptacle, because that's all mares are right? They aren't literally half the DNA of the foal right?
Luckily the first year she tried it didn't take, if only the story ended there.
Now, this was something that my trainer "always wanted to do" and I am relatively understanding to someone who in their whole horse career wants to have one home bred foal, the market is insane and it is a unique experience and sometimes they are very attached to the mare etc etc. Not something I encourage but I don't think you are the absolute worst if you do this. This is not actuall what my trainers ambition wound up being though.
Fast forward to 2022 and the trainer's friend has decided she wants to breed her completely average thoroughbred mare, with no accomplishments to speak of, and picks out a different stallion than the one my trainer had already tried. He is a Westphalian stallion and he is Cremello! Because she wants a buckskin! So trainer's horse and friend's horse get sent down to this guy.
In the meantime, trainer's riding horse, an OTTB, is having training problems (doesn't like jumping down into water, which is required in the higher eventing levels) and is not staying sound. So what does she decide to do with her? Breed her as well! Because soundness issues can never be genetic.
So this person who has never worked with baby horses has decided to have two for their very first time.
AI doesn't take with OTTB so she gets sent down to the Westphalian too. All three horses do get successfully pregnant.
Keep in mind this is a small barn that is already wildly overcrowded, with generally unsafe conditions and no proper unused area for babies and moms to live.
Fast forward again almost a year and babies are born a couple months apart, trainer goes out of town both times literally as the mares are about to pop. "Warmblood" mare waits until she gets back but OTTB gives birth literally the day she goes out of the country for two weeks with a tween watching her farm. I also happened to be there when she gave birth which was a very cool experience but still ridiculous.
"Warmblood" mare is a good mother, but as you may remember is not actually that easy to handle, which can make it also difficult to handle the baby. OTTB is good with people but aggressive towards the baby especially around food. (Just of a side note both came out Palamino)
So since, completely unpredictably, they are having trouble working with the "Warmblood"'s baby because of the mom they decide to wean him at THREE MONTHS. Even the industry standard of 4-6 months has come into question lately because of the evidence of how bad it is for horses. OTTB weans at between 4-5 months because of the aggression towards the baby.
"Warmblood" gets sent back to the same stallion almost as soon as the foal is weaned, and OTTB is given AI while the foal is still with her because apparently we have decided we are a breeder now and need to have foals every year! Luckily, neither of them take ( and we get to hear about "Wasted money" ) probably partially because the mares aren't in amazing condition, as they have not been getting unlimited food and even often run out of water because the owner and the kids feeding just forget to fill up buckets. 😊
Now Westphalian is not as strict as other warmblood registries, but they are an actual breed and they do have one, which means inspection. Somehow, it winds up actually being hosted at our barn. When I tell you how ridiculously embarrassing it is to have someone come all the way from Germany to this absolute hole of a barn.
When the "Warmblood" mare gets inspected they mention her unfortunate hip anatomy, and also ask why the hell the foal was weaned already. Everyone passes though, not the highest grade but still registered and the foals get their brands and everyone gets their DNA tested. While this is happening the American from the registry actually says something to my trainer about how the "Warmblood's" conformation is going to be a problem in future breeding.
After they have left trainer asks "Wait were they saying not to breed "warmblood"? But why if her foal was fine?" First yes, yes that is exactly what they were saying, second it is only by pure chance her foal didn't inherit that butt, you can't pick a choose what the foal gets no matter how fancy of sperm you buy. They proceed to say they were a little snobby even though they were way nicer than they needed to be. Also they wouldn't brand the wood in the barn which I thought was hilarious. Trainer decides AFTER the inspection to finally actually get "warmblood"'s papers?
So now both mare's are just sitting and foals go out together with one halflinger in a tiny mud pit. "Warmblood's" foal has started showing some behavioral problems. I haven't had trouble, he basically just has a constant grumpy face, but he has bitten and tried kicking other people. This obviously could never have been predicted when you knew his mother had problems and then weaned him incredibly early emotionally stunting him! He's going to be a big fucker too. OTTB's foal is an angel but loose with those back legs lol. There is someone who really wants her who used to ride at this barn and rode her mother, then moved to a better barn and I hope she gets to have her because she will spoil her and give her a good life.
They both have big ole worm bellies too! Because the manure management is non existent in the pastures and they didn't get wormed at all until this week (maybe). I'm attaching pictures of the "warmblood" mare so you can see what I mean about her hind end. I actually like her a lot and wish I could help her.
I hope you "enjoyed" this story, it has been painful for me to live through. I just thought it exemplified so many things this blog is all about.
Good to see you back and I hope you're doing well!!!
Oh I was not prepared for the pictures. That's... not good. Thank you for being sensible and reporting back from hell on earth.
#roach back#so much sympathy for those poor germans#something freaky going on with her hip too i'm not surprised her back end movement is weird#toplines so bad they're arguably deformities. this should be a pasture pet absolutely not breeding stock
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*rattles the bars of my cage*
Mike Wheeler's emotional/moral ambiguity actually makes him one of the more fascinating younger characters in this show. Why?
Because he isn't following the same simple linear narrative line that Will and El are because of their supernatural interactions, but rather existing as a special, third thing that often exists in contrast to the villains in the story, where he gets to be messy and confused and insecure—and where he has spent entire seasons moving in the direction of what has always been the true enemy of characters in Stranger Things: conformity—and STILL CHOOSE WHATS RIGHT. Y'all are just so used to caricatures in television / thinking that "heroes "& "villains" exist in two entirely separate, non-overlapping camps (rather than existing in shades of gray) that you over-simplfy him...and miss the forest for the trees.
Mike being the one who struggles most with conformity and wanting other people to fill the gaps of insecurity are why all those goddamn Brenner parallels exist. It's why Vecna, who is paralleled to El in many ways, said something to El when she was tied to that door about a "mediocre man looking for power in someone else great" and it applies as much to Mike calling her a Superhero 2 seconds later as it does Brenner trying to use her powers. It's why the tension between him trying to "act normal" / date El (who exists on a pedestal for him) and him being the kind/loyal nerd who exists in "being human" with Will does—that love triangle exists to showcase his flux between his two sides, the one that embraces himself and the one that follows the path of the things he's always been told to want (like S1 Jonathan/Nancy/Steve).
Its why Mike is such a confusing mix of heroic energy and an immature chaos—why his insecurities have pushed him into some oddly toxic mindsets even at a young age...like thinking "a girl" will solve all his insecurity problems which sounds a hell of a lot like beginning of modern incel thought processes if you want to get into it, but he was 12 so we'll let that go and why he seems so wishy-washy now. Mike is just now aware enough of how his desires compete within him (and how they affect the people around him) to start making a choice about how he will respond to them...but we had to present all the sides he was conflicted by first, because for him, those conflicts almost always come at him in the form of relationship, like it does in most of our own lives.
Mike is not "under-characterized." He is not "poorly written." He is written human in a space (and two people) steeped in the supernatural, and is learning to accept himself for who he is in the midst of that. He is messy and morally ambiguous at times just like his mother and sister—and more interesting for it, because he isn't so easy to pin down as an "everyman central protagonist" that way.
If anything, Mike as a character is harder to follow because he exists as an entirely relational character in a show that often allows you to easily put all its other characters into caricatures (aka the superhero (El), the gay kid (Will), the final girl (Nancy), the POC kid (Lucas), the Guy in the Chair (Dustin), etc) and why, as the character that required four entire seasons to be fleshed out, he will probably be as central in the final season as the first. Mike has always needed external action to move through character growth...and Vecna, the being literally designed to push people to their limits, is the way he will probably go through that.
By S5, he will have to face his ongoing confusions and fears (aka major insecurity) and come into himself...for the sake of himself, his party and the one he truly loves. Mike's ability to make mistakes over the course of five seasons and still make a difference to defeating the ultimate evil in real life (and not just in the games he played as a kid) is what will give him the courage to self-actualize, admit that he is important even surrounded by people "more special" than he is, and come into his own—while embracing what makes him different.
You don't have to like him. You don't have to relate to him or even enjoy what The Duffers have done with him as a character (or any character tbh). But damn if you're gonna roll up and act like he doesn't even have a character because he's not Will or Eleven LMAO
Sidebar: to all the people mad m*leven went romantic...Mike would have never been able to realize that a girl wouldn't solve his problems...without having ever been in a (however poorly executed) romantic relationship with one. As a character motivated to learn through interaction with other characters, Mike needed to experience for himself that El—or any girl, really—wasn’t ever going to fill the hole of his internal insecurities. If he never got the thing he thought would solve his problem, he would have either never grown...or fallen into resentment while in the closet even longer, like men do about that in literal real life. Just saying.
#mike wheeler#mike wheeler core#Mike is written like he's for a different show sometimes#but HE HAS A CHARACTER#I PROMISE YOU HE DOES#SOMETIMES I DONT EVEN LIKE HIM BUT THAT DOESNT MEAN I DONT SEE WHO HE IS LMAO#please stop denying it because you're so focused on love triangles#I can appreciate him being a mess. you should learn to too!#like...lmao damn#my st commentary
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The Point of Love Triangles
It's en vogue to hate on love triangles right now, and while a good deal of the criticism is deserved, I think people are missing the point of what a love triangle is meant for. A love triangle when used correctly is an extremely useful tool to show a character's growth, personality, and values.
The most important thing you can understand: a love triangle is the physical manifestation of a metaphysical crossroads and the focal character must make the choice. A question has been asked, and it must be answered. The focal character (the one everyone wants) can't go back to their old life, and now they're forced to make a decision on who they want to be going forward. The paths they can take (and the consequences of those paths) are shown by their love interests.
I'm going to illustrate with the classic love triangle: the new girl, the bad boy, and the good boy. Of course, it doesn't matter the genders of the characters or how many potential love interests there are, but this makes it easier to explain.
The New Girl (focal character) is thrown into a new world. The "New World" spectrum goes from literal (space travel/teleportation/pulled through time) to the figurative (new job/growing up/new school/rebuilding a broken life) with plenty of grey area in between (hidden secret society/new country/war). The New Girl is out of her depth and confused in this new world, and she's faced with dilemmas and decisions she'd never faced before. In a more life-focused world, this might mean choosing whether or not to play the power games everyone else in the office plays, choosing to leave a friend group she doesn't like or confront the others about what she doesn't like, choosing whether or not to go to parties where there are drugs and alcohol, choosing whether or not to stick up to a bully who is targeting her or someone else, choosing whether to follow her passion for the arts or the safe route of a stable job, etc. In a more action-oriented world, this might mean choosing whether or not she's willing to kill and for what, choosing to fight when she could choose to be safe, choosing forgiveness over revenge, choosing whether or not to use morally corrupt means to get power for what she thinks is a good cause, etc.
The two love interests should have contrasting answers to that question. This is why she can't choose between them: it's not that she isn't sure whose abs she likes more. She can't decide between them because she can't decide which answer is the right one. This does not mean that one of the love interests has to be evil/abusive.
The Bad Boy represents power. He doesn't follow the rules he doesn't want to, he's intense, he's persecuted by society, and he doesn't cave to social pressure. He wears his moral code on his sleeve, whether that's good or bad: he'll threaten violence on a bully, disrespect authority figures he thinks are wrong, and confidently advocate for what he wants. He puts his money where his mouth is and is willing to suffer for what he thinks is right, detention, write ups, physical pain. He wasn't just born this way: his strength comes from deep wounds and old hurt. He was weak once, and he knows the suffering that causes, and now he wants to keep anyone else from suffering the same way again. He doesn't just protect the New Girl, he empowers her. If the New Girl is being bullied, mistreated by an authority figure, forced to conform by her parents, wants to pursue a riskier life path, wants to protect people, or wants revenge, this attitude can look very attractive. Long term, though, this kind of personality can lead to difficulty getting/keeping a job, unnecessary trouble with authority figures, stubborn refusal to compromise/not realizing the other person feels railroaded, etc.
The Good Boy represents safety. He follows the regulations of society, he's laid back, he's diplomatic, and he's better attuned to how other people feel. Being law abiding doesn't mean he would follow bad rules, but he buttons his shirt, straightens his tie, and walks on the crosswalk only when the light says he can. He cares what people think and feel, and he tries to be something that they like. He can be susceptible to peer pressure, participating in activities he doesn't really like because he wants to make people happy, and bending the truth to avoid ruffling feathers. He also picks up on little things people like and remembers: he found out when New Girl's birthday is and brings her favorite coffee (he read her order on a receipt she dropped) and a cake pop (strawberry, to match the earrings she wears), he runs ahead to open doors for everyone (not just women/New Girl), he stays after a party to help clean up, and he's good at picking on things that bother people and steering the conversation away from those things. He's kind, stable, and sticks to what he knows works. If the New Girl struggles with anger issues or impulsivity, comes from a chaotic home life, wants peace and a steady life after the conflict, needs to learn forgiveness, or needs to learn to overcome a prejudice, the Good Boy shows what she could learn to be. He comes with downsides too, though: he avoids conflict, he can struggle to take a firm side because he can see both sides, he might value societal acceptance over defending the New Girl in a questionable decision, and his long-term goals might mean the main character would have to give up her wilder side.
Who the New Girl chooses isn't just her choosing a partner. It's her choosing a life and a set of values. This is why it's very important that she makes a choice. If you don't want her to end up with a love interest, keep in mind that rejecting both suitors will seem to the reader like she's rejecting both paths. Maybe she is rejecting both paths and forging her own path, but it will be hard to have her choose one of the two paths and but also reject the love interest who represents that path without undermining your message and her character arc.
Framing the whole love triangle around the moral ideals the characters represent makes plotting the whole story easier.
You know your New Girl needs to have a reason to like the Bad Boy, so she's persistently targeted by a bully and he not only defends her but builds her confidence and skill so she can defend herself.
You know your New Girl needs a reason to like the Good Boy, so he talks her out of trouble with an authority she offended and gives her a few tips on how to use tact and charm to her advantage.
You know you need a sweet scene with both, so you have Good Boy notice that she's been upset all day when no one else did, ask her about it when they're alone, let her be vulnerable, and comfort her.
For Bad Boy's sweet scene, she patches him up after he jumps into a fight to protect her, and when she says that she's not worth it and he shouldn't have gotten hurt just because she was too weak, he tells her that she is worth it and that she's stronger than she knows.
You need to show how both the love interests change her and how she changes them too.
New Girl in the beginning might harshly judge someone for their religion, social class, personality, or background because she's been mistreated by that person or by people like them before or because her side is in conflict with that side. After learning the value of gentleness and kindness from Good Boy, New Girl changes her mind and is kind/merciful to someone she previously disliked. After learning the value of protecting others, she defends that person from someone else.
New Girl might confront Bad Boy about how he hides his pain and feelings behind a mask of strength, which prompts him to share with her something he's never shared with anyone before: a secret passion like painting or music, fears he's always tried to hide, scars with a tragic background, etc.
New Girl might confront Good Boy when he chooses not to get involved in an argument she needs his backup in. He justifies himself by saying that he can do more good by staying in the good graces of the person she was arguing with, but she calls it cowardice. He takes this to heart and apologizes, and later does defend her in another confrontation.
If you want her to date both love interests before making a decision, you have her head a little ways down one path before coming to another crossroad and needing to decide whether to continue down that path or change her mind and go the other way.
For instance, she dates Good Boy, but when she goes to a high society party with him, she's disgusted by how fake everyone is and by the mask he puts on to blend in with them. New Girl has to decide if she values the connections and power that these social games can bring her or if she values living authentically at all times more.
Maybe she dates Bad Boy, but his rules don't apply to me attitude gets them both arrested and nearly charged with a crime. Worse, he doesn't seem to regret anything other than getting caught and starts planning to try the same thing again. New Girl has to decide if she wants to be someone who lives a truly high-risk life with the real consequences that could bring or if she wants to play things safer.
Maybe she dates both, breaks up with both, and then one or both of them makes a choice too. Remember, the focal character is a crossroads for the love interest too. Both of the love interests should change as people, not because "she can change him <3" but because they are dynamic characters just as capable of moral reflection and development as she is. Will the Bad Boy learn to deal with painful emotions with trying to hide behind anger? Will the Good Boy choose New Girl and the boldness she represents to him over social status with fake people?
You can also:
Add more love interests so long as those love interests also represent their own moral choice
Replace either love interest with a friend (make the New Girl choose between one friend or another, make her choose between a love interest or a friend group, etc.)
Replace either love interest with a job
Replace either love interest with a parent (make the New Girl choose between the values/culture of her family and the values/culture of a love interest)
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Jaune vs Rwby
Yang: Guys it’s Jaune. We have nothing to fear.
Jaune: No.
Yang: What?
Jaune: Run it.
Yang: What?
Jaune: Run me my fade.
Ruby: Wait really? You really want to fight us?
Jaune: ABSOLUTELY!
Ruby: Why?
Jaune: Why?! Oh little bitch. I had to kill Penny. Endanger millions of people. Almost got blown up. Now, I’m trapped on island. Alone. No teammates. All because I was loyal to your dumb ass.
Blake: Jaune, I understand-
Jaune: Cat bitch, you best shut the F*** up, you first on my list.
Blake: Whoa why you mad at-
Jaune: After everything you been through. After confronting and coming with terms with your past. Why- please tell me WHY would you repeat the one thing that caused you a lot of problems? Which was associating with criminals!
Weiss: Well if wasn’t for those ‘criminals’ we wouldn’t have been able sneak in Atlas bases and be able to launch Amity Arena.
Jaune: True. But what happened after the launch? Did anyone show up? Did anyone come to help?
Weiss: … …
Ruby: Well it was more made to warn other kingdoms about Salem. They needed to be prepared.
Jaune: You do know that once everyone starts asking for conformation about Salem and learn about the fall of Atlas, which was known to be the most ADVANCED kingdom in the world, could cause panic. You know that right?
Yang: Well at least we were putting some effort.
Jaune: Goldy Locks your ass is all talk. You haven’t done shit. Even on my team, you was barely useful. Ren, Oscar and myself were carrying you the whole time.
Yang: … …
Jaune: Weiss, you had f***** dust in the chamber. Why did you not use that to repair the walls?
Weiss: I mean I-
Jaune: I have semblance to increase your performance, we could have done something.
Weiss: Well I proved my father cheated-
Jaune: Your father was just business man who we wanted no business with. In all honesty neither him nor Robyn were the best choice for council members. Plus the council barely did anything.
Weiss: … ….
Jaune: So again, run me my fade.
Yang: Okay fine. This will be easy anyways.
Ruby: Yeah. Jaune can’t beat us.
Me: oh its not about whether he can beat you or not.
Ruby: Huh.
Me: It’s about whether can he give you that work.
Ruby: Well-
Me: Ruby, you do know Jaune was almost able to react to Tyrian’s speed right?
Ruby: Well my semblance-
Me: Mercury was able to knock you out of it. Plus, I don’t know if that was fluke but Jaune was fast enough to defend Oscar out of nowhere. Neo didn’t even see him coming. In fact, neither did Cinder.
Yang: My semblance-
Me: How much power can store in your body take?
Yang: Um.
Me: Remember Jaune can amplify you and you will eventually have to release your semblance because it could build up to where you can’t contain it.
Yang: So.
Me: Meaning just like Izuku with One for All,if your body can’t handle the output of your power, then you could end up breaking a few bones.
Yang: Oh dear god.
Blake: Don’t worry Yang, Jaune can’t handle-
Me: Make sure you plenty of dust in chamber.
Blake: Why? I don’t want to hurt Jaune.
Me: Amplification effect the semblance. Remember Ren semblance was unable to cover thousands of people. Jaune helped with that.
Blake: And?
Me: Your semblance literally leaves a past version of yourself for one second. Imagen what could happen if Jaune grabs that clone and amplifies it to stay longer.
Blake He’s just grabbing a- oh my gosh.
Me: Yeah if something happens to your past self wouldn’t it affect you in the present?
Blake: Oh shit and I’m out of dust.
Weiss: Then it’s up to me.
Me: Name one time your summons were useful.
Weiss: Jaune not fast plus it’s four against one.
Me: True you right. But let me add on a special detail in a form a question. Has ever used his grand sword mode?
Ruby: No.
Me: Did Pietro ever removed it?
Ruby: We don’t know.
Me: Not only that doesn’t Jaune have hard light dust and gravity dust?
RWBY: … …
Me: And if I’m correct Jaune uses gravity dust to create waves right?
Ruby: *nervously* And?
Me: Hmm so wouldn’t using it offensive basically be equivalent of using a Gestuga Tensho or Excalibur.
Weiss: Oh my goodness! Give us a break!
Me: Also, fun fact, hard light dust can burn you skin. I wonder how would it affect metal.
Yang: OH COME ON!
Me: Good luck ladies.
RWBY and Jaune fan: … … …
Me: What?
RWBY fan: You do know everything say is not canon and is only a theory.
Me: I mean, yeah, duh, I’m no fool. But if everything I said could be true, then ya’ll would hate him and RT even more.
Jaune fan: How come?
Me: If what I said is to be true, then why didn’t Jaune try none those methods on any of his enemies.
RWBY and Jaune fan: … … …
Jaune fan: My god man.
RWBY fan: The plot damn it.
(Hello. It’s been a while since I lasted posted anything. I’m not died though so please hear me out. I’ve been working on a few projects to get used to process that I really want to learn. I will show you shortly. Also I will release some artwork.)
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Okay I'm having more thoughts about Izzy with anxiety because it's such a huge factor in his characterization unless I'm just projecting lmao.
There have been some good posts about Izzy adhering to a rigid set of rules, which is a coping mechanism a lot of people with anxiety use. If you have strict rules that you have to follow in every situation, you don't have to deal with as much uncertainty--even if those rules are totally arbitrary, maladaptive, and unknown to everyone else. That's why he complains about the ambush being unprofessional; Stede broke the rules. He accepts his loss in the duel instead of just killing Stede because that would break the rules. He's such a dick to the crew, and he's so surprised that they don't like it, because he's just following the rules for how authority figures are supposed to act, which ostensibly used to work for him. When the rules are working everything seems fine on the surface, but once a situation comes up that the rules don't function in everything breaks down.
Ed had already been violating some of Izzy's unspoken rules before the show started, as evidenced by Izzy's resignation speech in episode four, but during the show Ed goes totally off the rails that Izzy thought they were on together, culminating in him literally maiming Izzy in his sleep. By the end of the season, Izzy has completely lost the false sense of stability he got from his rules and even though things are superficially back to the way they were, he's clearly not okay. In season two, I imagine we're going to see him doubling down and trying to make the world conform to the way he expects it to work (and then hopefully eventually learn to live without his rules).
I thought I was going to have more to say here, but a lot of the rest of it really comes down to Con's microexpressions and other subtle acting choices. Maybe someday I'll get a bunch of screenshots and go over them but for now I'll just say that Izzy really seems like he has anxiety.
#in conclusion somebody get this man some zoloft asap#our flag means death#ofmd#izzy hands#ofmd meta
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I’ve been inquiring into Orthodoxy for a few months (coming from protestantism) and I don’t know for certain yet if I will choose to convert, I guess because I have a few hangups. I attended Divine Liturgy at my local parish for the first time last week and intend to continue worshipping with them and talking to the priests there, but I figured I would bring my questions to you as well.
I’ve been watching interviews and talks from Dr. Jeannie Constantinou, who seems absolutely brilliant and I love her. I’ve heard her explain at least 5 different times now this notion of “phronema,” basically the mind of the Church (the mind of the Apostles, as taught by Christ) and how the Eastern phronema is so different from the West because of the West’s emphasis on human reasoning. I appreciate mystery; mysticism and apophatic theology is what attracted me to Orthodoxy in the first place. But while denouncing Western appeals to reason and emphasizing appeals to Tradition and the mysteries therein, two examples she brought up were same-sex marriage and universalism, basically saying that no matter how reasonable an argument one might make, it’s not Tradition and therefore invalid.
While I’m honestly not sure what to believe about homosexuality (I have pro-LGBT leanings personally but am unconvinced either way I guess), I believe in a “Biblical Universalism,” the idea that Hell is temporary and ultimately corrective rather than punitive, like a furnace to purify gold of any dross. It makes the most philosophical sense to me, I see it in the Scriptures, and (most importantly in this context) I see it as historical.
I’ve read a summary of the points brought up in the book “Universalism, The Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church During Its First Five Hundred Years” by John Wesley Hanson and found them to be very compelling. It seems to show that universalism ought to have been preserved in Tradition, but for many reasons did not, and instead the idea of eternal torment in Hell has solidified.
Now we’re in a spot where the likes of the brilliant Dr. Constantinou is saying that, no matter how reasonable a stance like this might seem, we cannot rely on our own reasoning, as she appeals to the Apostolic Tradition. Truly, I don’t want to be prideful or arrogant, and I wish to conform my thinking in all ways to Christ. But it seems that such a stance should have been Tradition all along.
Please, how can I reconcile this? I think I want to participate in the Orthodox life. I like your worship, your prayers, your fasting, your asceticism, your mysticism, and (the bulk of) your theology. I think Orthodoxy is likely the closest to ancient Christianity. But must I take your tradition as wholly infallible? Is this an issue I need to humble myself on and conform to, or can I truly be welcomed if this is my view?
Tradition isn't "wholly infallible" because, for the most part, it was created by man. In general Orthodoxy teaches that, although we do have all we need for Salvation, some things we do not know for sure and that sometimes we must rexamine said tradition for new truths. Homosexuality wasn't really explored by the early fathers because homosexuality as we know it didn't exist. I think people see the Bible (and the words of the Church Fathers) as too black and white rather than something nebulous and deep. A common belief in the Orthodoxy of the people is something called "Hopeful Universalism" wherein those who believe it (myself included) argue that because God is infinitely loving and good then he would likely wish to reconcile all sinners to him but that we cannot know for sure and that free choice presupposes that there must be an option for those who might never choose to reconcile. You'll find that Orthodoxy has a lot of variation in belief, just ask about our infinite arguments over if Toll Houses are literal, a metaphor or heresy! I think you're a lot like me my sibling in Christ and I'm still here! Keep at it my friend.
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There’s a lot going on and like... while I don’t particularly enjoy “feminised” Luke interpretations (which is to say they are exactly the opposite of what I like, they feel ooc), some of the language going around feels very, very nasty towards gender non-conforming men and amab people. There is nothing inherently wrong with gender non-conformity and we should all know this by now. Even if that interpretation displeases you, it’s not right to veer hard into the opposite direction. I imagine some men and amab individuals who choose to present in a more feminine manner might be quite hurt by this discourse, especially if they choose to project this presentation onto their favourite character. We’re all guilty of blorboism, otherwise we wouldn’t be in fandom.
It seems to me that these tropes people dislike are genuine flanderisations of the character traits Luke and Din do present in canon. Luke has always been an anomaly in fiction as a male hero who does carry a lot of traits traditionally ascribed to female characters (kindness, redemption of the enemy through love), and this kindness probably contributes a lot to these exaggerations of parts of his character. Din, on the other hand, is absolutely a protective character in canon, and that can push people into presenting him as possessive (which he isn’t, the choice to let Grogu go is testament to that).
I also feel like a lot of people are forgetting Mandalorians, including Din, are warriors. They are a culture that is founded on warmongering and galactic imperialism. By the time of Din a lot less so, but he is still a man who has murdered multiple people on-screen and resorts to violence quite often. One of his weapons for half the series literally vaporised people. We’re forgetting just how much Grogu has changed him and made him softer, and nevertheless we still see him cut a man in two and carry his decapitated head in a bag for work.
Tl;dr: both Luke and Din are capable of great violence and great softness, and those are important parts of their characters.
Also I think more people need to watch/rewatch the Original Trilogy. Just for fun and also for Luke.
#dinluke#this is all i'm going to say on the matter#i'm tired#only a sith deals in absolutes#i don't want to get involved i just want to make these characters kiss#and hug their green son
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y'all wanna hear the comparisons I drew between Generation Loss and The Truman Show? No? TOO BAD.
Massive spoilers for both Generation Loss and The Truman Show ahead.
[slams table] SO.
The Truman Show is a movie filmed in 1998 about a man whose whole life is filmed 24/7 and broadcast live, and the basic plot is the producers trying to regain control of the show and of Truman (man whose life is being filmed, only unscripted person in a city full of actors) after things start falling apart.
Generation Loss is a livestreamed horror project following Ranboo, the protagonist, as he is put in situations where his actions and the situations themselves are controlled by the audience. These situations are assumed to be put in place by a media company for entertainment purposes. This project also has aspects of the audience/company losing control of their protagonist.
Now, the obvious parallel between them is their main themes: control, the lack thereof, and what happens when control starts to slip. However, this control takes very different forms between the two pieces of media.
The Truman Show focuses a lot on implicit control. One of the main selling points of the in-universe Truman Show is its focus on the freedom that the protagonist has: none of the protagonist's actions are scripted. However, there are various forms of control put into place, such as scenarios that are meant to keep Truman in the town, such as an instilled fear of deep water, and the removal of anyone who might break the secret. There is also a factor of peer pressure behind it: Truman will want to subconsciously act like the people around him, conforming, even though those people are actors.
Generation Loss, on the other hand, is very, very, explicit control. In Generation Loss, the protagonist is practically told what to do by outside forces. We see this quite notably in the moments of indecision, such as those in the first episode, where Ranboo does not make a choice until the poll has finished. It is still peer pressure in a way, though the peers are outside of the main media and it's not so much pressure as forcing...okay it's not like peer pressure at all forget I said that.
Anyways, there is another major difference between the two media in the reaction of the protagonist. Truman actually reacts when the show starts falling apart (literally, a spotlight fell from the ceiling). He gets more and more suspicious as more things are revealed and the show producers desperately try to get things under control, eventually leading to Truman facing his fears just to try and get out. Ranboo, on the other hand, does not. 15 minutes from the end of the second episode, he's barely reacting to the massive mess of fucked up that is happening around him. Basically, he's acting like an NPC. It's not until the control is broken that Ranboo actually starts reacting to the shit of the past hours.
And there's that word again: control. Control is what made the in-universe shows happen, and the lack of that expected control is what caused the shows to fall apart.
What does this ultimately mean? Well...I honestly don't know, I literally saw a connection and yoinked it down a rabbit hole. I'll let you figure out what it means.
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Mike’s S3 Arc
AKA, the most misunderstood arc in all of television history (JK, probably not but it feels like it and this is coming from someone who was very much in the general audience during my first watch of S3)
Mike’s arc in S3 gets me in my feels every time I think about it. After going through everything with Will in season 2, he ends up at the snowball where he’s coming to realizations and having to make heartbreaking decisions. He watches his friends slowly leave him until he’s completely alone. From Mike’s perspective, he’s being left behind as his friends seemingly conform easily. Lucas goes off with Max, Will leaves him to dance with some random girl, and Dustin leaves to go find a girl as well. Mike is left alone at the table, and he faces a decision - conform or be left behind. El, who is literally paralleled to Superman, walks in and Mike does what is expected of him. He packs up his true feelings and desires and makes the same decision his mother made. He chooses the person that society has been telling he should. It doesn’t matter what he truly wants. It probably doesn’t feel like much of a choice though when he’s operating under the belief that the only alternative will lead to him being abandoned by those he loves.
In S3, Mike fully throws himself into his relationship with El because this is his chance to be normal, and if he can’t make it work with a literal superhero, then what does that say about him? El also saved his and his friends lives so he probably feels like he owes it to her as well. It doesn’t come naturally to him at all though, and no matter how hard he tries to be “normal,” he can’t change who he is. He starts hiding out of fear that his friends will see through his facade. He pulls away from the group, and Will in particular, opting to hide away at the cabin with El where he doesn’t have to do as much pretending. He can pull her hands off of him without being questioned and he doesn’t have to be scared that someone will notice the way he looks at and gravitates towards Will.
It’s heartbreaking though, because not only is he depriving himself of time with his friends and the boy he really loves, but El doesn’t even like Mike when he’s being himself. He gets shut down, like when he tried to sing with her. So Mike can only really be himself in dark places like the movie theatre where no one else is paying attention and him and Will can sit close together and look at each other without fear that someone will notice.
It gets progressively harder for Mike to keep pretending though when Will gets a little too close to the truth during their fight in the garage. He gets scared and ends up projecting onto Will, not realizing just how much his words would hurt him. At this point his girlfriend, his safety net, has left him, and he just lost the person that means the most to him. This time it wasn’t because of some outside force either, but rather from his own actions. So now Mike is alone again, despite trying his hardest to be “normal.” He did what he thought was expected of him and everything came crumbling down anyway. By the end of season 3, Mike is finding his way back to Will and seemingly hasn’t tried to get back together with El. He has a sweet moment with Will in the kitchen where he feels like maybe he hasn’t fully lost him after all. He then walks into Will’s room in a good mood, only to have El throw him the biggest curve ball ever as she tells him, out of the blue, “I love you too”. It’s fitting that he’s framed in front of a closet because he was thrown so far back into it that he may as well be in Narnia. After all that, he then has to say goodbye to Will, his best friend of almost a decade, who he still feels like he hasn’t fully repaired his relationship with, hence why Mike is focused on during Hopper’s voiceover. As implied through the voiceover, Mike has felt Will pulling away from him since their fight and it scares him. He realizes that all the changes that he’s made in order to be “normal” aren’t what he wants. Rejecting who he was didn’t make him happy and he almost lost Will as a result. It’s all a little too late though as he stands in the Byer’s driveway, watching Will leave to move across the country.
Like damn :(
Kinda unrelated, but sometimes I wonder if what happened during the time jump was a parallel to Jonathan and Nancy in S2. Nancy tells him that she waited before getting back together with Steve, to which Jonathan says “like only a month.” Like Nancy, did Mike maybe wait for Will, and when he didn’t hear from him, threw himself back into his relationship with El? Just a thought.
Anyways, all of this has been said before but I just enjoy putting it together into a stream of consciousness 🌚
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