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#meta analysis
follows-the-bees · 17 hours
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I wanted to expand on @o-wild-west-wind post (read it here!) but felt like it was too long to just add on.
Ed and strangulation of/after father-figures threatening him
The first two times we see Ed actually evoking physical violence on someone in S1 it's no coincidence it's to his father (-like figures) that are actively threatening him and his loved ones.
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And then when we see him strangle someone else, it's a British officer (and this is again right after another father-like figure, Pop-Pop, brings up all of Ed's father issues) and when Ed disassociates at seeing the blown up ships and possibly Stede and his family dead. It is also framed the same as when Ed kills his father, he is behind the officer and using another item as the catalyst.
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It is also interesting how he "escalates" the violence. First, he uses the British officers own catalyst for violence against him — the musket. A perfect nod to what Stede does with Ned, using his instrument of torture, the violin, as a means to his death).
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Ed then uses his own hand to kill the officers that are reading his love letter from Stede. One of Ed's hands holds love and acceptance and the other provokes violence that is only used to protect said love and acceptance.
The other violence evoked in S1 (and S2 - not including shooting the already dying man in ep1) is to Izzy: the toe cutting. Mentioned first by Calico Jack as "fun" about Hornigold, the violent father-figure who trained Blackbeard in how to be a pirate and a pirate captain.
Next, we have Ed in the gravy basket, and the multiple increasingly funny ways of killing Hornighost. But that first one is, you guessed it, strangulation. Right after Hornighost brings up Ed's deepest secret, strangling his own father. But unlike with his father, Ed is facing Hornigold.
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Ed's violence on this show is very specific and calculated. That's because Ed is not a violent person at his core. He is forced into violence to protect himself and his loved ones. He only provokes violence on the older white, father-figures after being threatened. His motivation is the same, protection, but the target expands from personal father-figures to the whole industry of the British officers/white colonization.
At the end of S2, Ed learns to embrace all sides of himself, the Kraken, Blackbeard, Ed. The soft and loving, and the having to use violence to protect for love that he has tried to separate like a different identity. Instead he learns to embrace all of it, all of himself. All for love and acceptance, both from others and himself.
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hollowingearth · 2 days
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I'm sorry but the more I think about the Rebirth ending the more I love it actually like. The whole trilogy has been a meta commentary of sorts and, specially, Aerith's death is at the epicenter of it. She both dies and doesn't die exactly because us, as an audience, want both things to happen.
People have been clamoring to be able to save Aerith since 1997, there were fake hidden hacks, AU fictions, retellings, everything. Everyone has been at Squeenix's doorsteps begging them to let us save her. Like, it's at a point where the "Square will let us save Aerith if you pay for the DLC" joke is much more than a decade old.
On the other side, there's this very expressive unwant for any change whatsoever from the source material. It's not a feeling that is exclusive to FF7 either, there's this very clear pushback against any new remake/adaptation that deviates, even slightly, from it's original. People don't want new content, they want the old one they experienced when they were younger, but prettier, they want to both feel the nostalgia and experience everything as if for the first time again.
From that camp, I think the most prominent argument is that FF7 is about loss, right? And they're not wrong. Aerith's death is the crux of the story, it's the very thing that made FF7 as known as it is, there would be no actual weight to what it's trying to tell if the heroine doesn't die in the middle of it, an unexpected, hurtful, avoidable death. What's the point of a narrative about grief if you can just... avoid losing someone? Avoid having it be cruelly taken from you?
And yet, you see, if want someone to die, if you want something to be taken from you, are you really losing it? In the original, part of the impact was that no one could see it coming, it was a straight representation about how death is sudden and takes away opportunity from you. Aerith doesn't go into the sleeping forest willing to make a sacrifice for the greater good, she has barely started her adventure, she makes a promise to go on the highwind, the group is one location away from finding out more about her ancestry and her family.
That's not true for the remake, tho. Everyone knows about her fate, about what is going to happen to her. That's probably the most spoiled moment in video game history. I personally knew about her death before I truly understood what Final Fantasy even was. So now we have an audience that is extremely aware of what, when and how her death is going to happen. That's why the Confluence of Worlds is put at that moment, because it's the single most expected moment in the entire triology, it's the one moment that made the narrative resonate so well.
The impact is impossible to recreate now, even for newer fans of the series. People want a 1:1 retranslation but such a thing would always be a gimmicky shadow of it's original. It's why the focus shifts, now the most emotionally impactful scene is not the killing of her but of her goodbye, in the church after the dream date. "Thank you," Aerith echoes "It's been fun", a callback to her conclusion on Remake where she says "I'm grateful for all the words we shared. All the moments and the memories. You've made me more happy than you know."
So she dies and she doesn't, both at the same time. Effectively in limbo now, narratively explained by lifestream shenaningans. We put her there ourselves, by refusing to move on, refusing to accept her death but also refusing to change, allowing a different outcome. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, at least, Aerith's words sound like the very sincere feelings of the developers, who are grateful for all the love we all have powered into their work all these years.
I just love it so much, I could spend hours talking about it.
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featherstorm2004 · 18 hours
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A villain's hero
chapter 418 analysis
Ok so I really liked this chapter and how it further expands on Tenko/Shigaraki's character, which are things we already new or at least speculated on but it's nice to be confirmed. One of these big things being Tenko's feelings on his quirk and how if not to be a villain what reason dose he have for decay to be his quirk, which is a fun parallel on how AFO felt about his own quirk and situation. But that shouldn't be a big surprise considering it was likely AFO himself who help to foster these thoughts that where left inside Tenko after the death of his family.
Speaking of which AFO he returns!
A surprise to no one as it was heavily hinted at in earlier chapters but nice anyways as his first death, whilst appropriate for the attention seeker he is felt a little anti climatic. But I do like how he was used in this chapter in regards to Tenko, even if I'm unsure how to feel about him and Kotaro being on friendly terms, that being said I do enjoy that with his first proper reappearance it's to assert Shigaraki's lack of control and his supposed role as a puppet. However, the reason I enjoy this is not because I agree with the statement, far from it in fact but I like how it further shows us AFO's own short-sightedness on the matter.
To elaborate, I believe that whilst Shigaraki dose have a degree of helplessness in his situation with AFO (with it almost being confirmed that he gave Tenko decay) it is made abundantly clear that Shigaraki has managed to retain his sense of self throughout his journey and has not been fully hollowed out as AFO would like to think.
One key example of this was seen in this chapter where Tenko/Shigaraki say they have to be a hero to the other Villains, which perfectly shows what he is fighting for. While yes he is angry at hero society, that is not the thing that drives him and instead it is the dreams of his comrades and friends are his fuel. Which has been perfectly displayed throughout his ark, first with him opening up to the league after Overall, to him finding his resolve to fight for his comrades dreams after the ReDestro arc and now in the current war arc with his friends being what that brought him out of AFO's grasp.
Tenko and by extension Shigaraki has always wanted to be a hero that helps others, and he has always been drawn to people who are ignored by others, just like his first friends. That is a core part of him that couldn't be removed no matter how hard Kotaro and then AFO tried, and it is that very nature that allowed him to get as far as he did with the league. Because unlike AFO, who had every ally abandon him, Shigaraki fostered a proper bond with the league which lead to them sticking by his side till the end.
And it makes perfect sense why someone like AFO wouldn't catch on to that fact as he cannot comprehend a world where one dose not live for oneself, which is the same mistake he made with Yoichi (one of Shigaraki's main parallels). And so, in a fitting manner he is going to lose Shigaraki, the same way he lost his brother, to a hero who selflessly reaches out their hand and refuses to let go.
But yeah those are my early thoughts on the leaks, might make more when the full chapter is out or I notice something else.
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thelockedtome · 3 days
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Prince Ianthe Naberious experiences gender and body dismorphia
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ineffablelunatics · 3 months
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Crowley chose to make a statement with his outfit when he goes to investigate Heaven. Crowley has always cared about what he looks like. He always tries to fit in with the humans that he is around. There are times when he misses the mark like in Rome. But in Heaven, all of the changes he makes have a purpose. It’s a drastic difference to his normal clothes. Almost all of it changes. He changes his hair. He paints his nails gold even adds a gold tooth. His snake tattoo, a symbol that defines who he is, he covers with a sticker. All of the changes are telling a story to any angel who dares to look closely at the demon in midst
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The most basic of changes tell the angels what he thinks about them. He makes his normal outfit light in color to blend in. His hair is no longer styled, but pushed out of his face. He’s wearing white flip-flops. He makes it look like he’s the CEO who’s pissed off that he had to come in on his vacation. The entire outfit is lounge wear. He’s telling them what he thinks about them. Even though, they are supposed to be good and fighting evil, they really aren’t. They are never shown making a good difference to the world, besides Azirphale, who Crowley has always separated from the heavenly bureaucracy. A golden tooth is seen as a symbol of wealth, but it also is a symbol of status. There are places where healthy teeth have been shaven down to cover a heathy tooth to show wealth and status. Almost like angels who cared were wore away to nothing to their status. Worn down to only care about their status.
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The Serpent of Eden... Crowley’s tattoo always makes itself known. If his sideburns are longer, the snake moves out from under them. When he goes into Heaven, he covers it with an identical, but gold sticker. It seems as though Crowley can’t change the tattoo or just miracle it away. The snake refuses to be hidden or changed. Crowley refuses to be hidden or changed. He uses the glasses in the same way. Dark glasses in Heaven would be suspicious since they avoid any dark colors in their outfits since the demons do the opposite. He could have tried contacts, but he chose rose-colored glasses. Dark enough to slightly cover his eyes upon a quick glance. “When you look at some through rose-colored glasses all the red flags just look like flags.” (Bojack Horseman) Instead of making his glasses opaque and hiding the snake somehow, Crowley lets the angels know who he is. He makes sure that any angel who walks by and looks through his rose colored glasses will notice that his eye have slits. If they just pay attention, they’ll notice that the serpent of Eden is in Heaven and he’s doing what he always does: asking questions. He shows them that there is a murder hornet in their hive. Because there’s one thing that Crowley will never be again, can never be again, doesn’t even want to be again, and that’s another bee. 
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But what does that have to do with the watch? The watch is the one thing that he doesn’t change at all. That is the one thing that didn’t change in the Fall. He never lost his connection to time. He never lost that ability. It was the one major part of who he was that was the same as the angel he was before. A serpent who still knew how to manipulate them. So he doesn’t change the watch, because that ability, manipulating the sands of time that was so vital in creating the stars, was not taken away him when the rest of his divinity was.
So when Crowley waltzes back into Heaven, he tells them. He shows everything off. He tells them exactly who he is, if only they’d get over their own hypocrisy to look close enough. He wears clothes that look like theirs except its ‘lounge’ wear to show that he thinks they’re lazy. He wears his glasses but he makes them sheer enough so that an angel could still see his eyes. He puts a golden identical snake sticker over his tattoo so that would know that he was there still. He leaves his watch black. The one part of him that is truly his that he never questioned. That part of him that was a birthright that was not taken away and that Hell could never say they owned. The one piece of himself that was never manipulated. Even when he goes back into the place that abandoned him, he refuses to let himself, even if it’s just a disguise, be truly changed.
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highball66 · 8 months
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Death Island pushing that Leon is the government’s bitch so hard makes me hopeful that we’ll actually get some development on the “he was kidnapped and threatened into government service and has been mistreated by the government ever since” narrative. Up until this year, it had only been mentioned twice in the entirety of the franchise-- once in the interrogation scene from Darkside Chronicles and once in the original RE3′s epilogue-- so 2023 really going ham with it makes me hopeful that we’ll see some development, especially with Leon becoming less and less loose-lipped about his disdain for the government.
If you look carefully at the intro for the movie, Leon’s face is the only one on screen when “pawn” pops up on the computer, and while Dylan labels them all pawns, he seemingly knows that Leon is aware of his position. The marking for the movie repeatedly named Leon as “the government’s best weapon against bio-terrorism,” and note the phrasing there-- not best solider, not best agent, best weapon. An object. Leon is just an object, a pawn for them to send into battles left and right.  Furthermore, during the whole conversation where Dylan calls out the hypocrisy with the DSO and how the government is causing the problems they force Leon to solve, Leon doesn’t disagree. Instead, he snarks “Yeah, well, at least it makes a living.” Dylan also comments on how Leon’s “all burnt out” as a result and, again, Leon doesn’t disagree. That’s building on what we saw in Vendetta-- Leon’s seemingly no longer drinking on the job and is generally more up beat than he was, but the root of Leon’s issues are that he’s trapped in an endless cycle of bullshit with the government, and that hasn’t changed.
I’ve seen a lot of people theorize that Leon could’ve left the government a while ago since Sherry is well over 18 and both Simmons and Benford are dead, but Leon’s deal with the government was about more than just Sherry. Sherry was the main reason Leon agreed, but she wasn’t the only part of the deal. Leon is one of the few people who survived Raccoon City and thus knows the truth about what happened, specifically the government’s involvement, and the government needed to keep that quiet. In addition to protecting Sherry, Leon “knew too much” so it was very much a deal where if he didn’t agree to join them, they would kill him. And now that they know that Leon is useful, and he knows even more state secrets, I doubt they’d just let him walk away from that. If he’s their “best weapon,” I don’t see them letting him quit his “job”.
I’m not sure what direction this will end up going, especially since he don’t know the full details of Leon’s situation nor if the other characters are aware of what happened to him, and considering we only know what happens to Leon up until 2015, this could go anywhere.
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autisticrosewilson · 13 days
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Every time I see a story, be it canon or fanfic, where Jason is like "wow my morals are kind of fucked up I should never kill again" I have to put it down, close the tab, ect. Because HE WOULD NOT FUCKING DO THAT. We're talking about Bruce's number one fan turned antagonist.
Do you not think he's maybe already considered such a thing?
The thing about Jason is that he's as devoted to his views and sense of justice as Bruce is, maybe with a little more flexibility (i.e. he's willing to temporarily stop killing if it's necessary for his overall goals where Bruce wouldn't be able to kill even if it would benefit everyone in the long run) and any run or story where he completely disregards his own moral compass and personal experience to follow Bruce's rules is just a disservice to his character.
His whole thing is that Batman's methods are ineffective and his unwillingness to either do what needs to be done or let someone else do so is a clear sign that he's not the hero Gotham needs. Jason genuinely believes everything he says about the system, and Bruce's ineffectiveness.
His crime lord era wasn't just a silly little thing he did to fuck with Bruce with the final confrontation as the REAL point of Under the Red Hood, he became a crime lord because he believed it was the best way he could help. The point of Red Hood is protecting Gotham, fucking with Bruce was just a bonus. Like the confrontation wasn't even initially planned, Jason haphazardly threw that at the end of his to-do list after he realized he couldn't just blow up the Batmobile.
Stop reducing Jason's motivations to "get Bruce's attention/make Bruce kill".
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valictini · 10 months
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I was watching a video analysing how the Yiga clan were handled in botw and how the person analysing it lamented the fact that Kohga was a joke character who totally destroyed the much more threatening image the yiga clan had all throughout the game. Although I do understand the sentiment (I felt that way for a long time) I’ve come to realise that we might not be viewing it in the right perspective. I ended up writing a comment under that video explaining how I saw things, and realised that maybe it could interest people here too? So here is the fleshed out version of it:
I think part of why they made Kohga extremely goofy compared to a way less goofy clan of literal assassins is to emphasise how even though the clan originally held some understandable beliefs, it has become a cult of personality over the years, and like most cults, the leader is way less charismatic than his followers make him out to be. Indeed, from the outside, it seems absurd how anyone could take Kohga seriously, let alone kill under his command, but from the inside, Kohga is the Beloved Leader That Guides Them Towards Victory, and anyone threatening him deserves to die.
In a way, yiga clan members feel like vulnerable, impressionable people who were enrolled into a cult and given a Big Family and a purpose (and a lethal weapon) by their lovable Master Kohga who wants the best for them… Except if you want to get out, then you’re a filthy traitor who also deserves to die. It’s especially visible when you beat him and they all get personally mad at you for killing him. They didn’t care about Ganon, they didn’t seem to actually understand the bigger picture, they only cared about Kohga.
It also shows how, like the rest of Hyrule, the Yigas are very much disconnected from their own history, seemingly holding on the grudge their ancestors held more as an excuse to continue to enact violence and perpetuate the cult of personality than fighting for a “noble” cause. Only Kohga seems to actually care about Calamity Ganon, and the rest of the yigas seem to be just tools to him. Wether or not he’s actually conscious of what he’s doing is unclear. Is he a fully aware con artist, or is he purely another product of Yiga indoctrination?
So yeah, to me it feels like a parody/critic/mockery of cult dynamics. It shows that this gang of assassins are indeed a real menace, but for seemingly no reason other than “that one lunatic they admire told them to” and “if they go away they get killed”. The reason why the clan was originally created becomes almost anecdotal. Under the current leader, no one is required to actually know what they’re doing, they just need to follow orders.
In the end, I think it is the intention the developers had because cults are a rampant problem in Japan. At the very least, even if it’s not a actually conscious critic, it’s a concept that is much more present in their cultural landscape than ours and that almost certainly influenced how they handled the Yiga clan. Basically, cults are not cool and can even be dangerous both for the public and their members. Cult leaders especially are not cool and often are con artists. Therefore, Kohga couldn’t be badass, he had to be a doofus getting beaten in the most unexceptional way possible.
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GUYS CAN WE **PLEASE** TALK ABOUT THIS
DO YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT DAMIAN GAVE TO EACH OF HIS FELLOW BAT SIBLINGS??? Because these are all real established items in DC canon!!
I’m going to work my way back from Dick, because, OMG. 
Damian gave Dick the Sword of Sin. If that sounded vaguely familiar to you, you might be an Azrael fan because that is his preferred blade to use. What is so special about this sword??? It’s ability:  The Sword of Sin can be ignited with the mind of the wielder, if the person is powerful enough. The sword has the ability to conjure in the mind of its victims all of the sins for which they are guilty or have not atoned for.       Golly gee, I wonder who this might be super effective against. You know. Giant bat guy with a guilt complex bigger than Texas. You can bet your butt Dick is going to send Bruce through a series of ‘Nam war flashbacks before this series is over. I can absolutely see why Damian would give Dick this weapon here, as he’s known Bruce the longest. I can easily see what part in this story Dick is going to be playing as he clearly has the most directly effective weapon against Batman. Damian’s favoritism here is both sweet and a little cruel if you think about the context much. 
Now let’s talk about Stephanie’s weapon, and yes she very much is Damian’s older sibling even if she isn’t a Wayne. Damian gave her the Coup-Stick of Black Bison (A DC Super Villain.) What can this staff do???   The mystical power of the coup-stick can animate material objects and in so doing, command these objects to do its bidding. This power cannot affect living biological material, but can affect non-living organic tissue. Black Bison once used the coup-stick to re-animate the stuffed remains of a white stallion (as well as other animals). Black Bison has also used the coup-stick to control the weather, such as summoning a strong wind to deflect attackers.      Guys Damian gave Stephanie a weapon that will allow her to call on back-up, and COMMAND her own creations, a weapon that allows her to be a leader!! Something she has wanted for a long time??? Also, it sounds like it has the power to control the weather??? Damian really said #girlboss and how much he loves her without actually saying it. I cannot stress enough how well DC could do her justice in this series if they at least tried.
Now, wow. Damian really straight up gave Jason’s dramatic ass the actual Trident of Poseidon, which is an unbreakable weapon that that serves as an extension of the wielder’s own power. Damian really gave Jason not only a King’s weapon, but a godly weapon. What other powers it has might not be relevant to whatever power it might awaken with Jason as its wielder.       Damian really cut out the middle man and just said, “Look, you are stupidly strong. I’m going to give you a stupidly strong weapon. Have at ye!” And you know Jason is going to wield that thing like he’s Poseidon, rightful ruler of the sea. I literally cannot wait to see Jason just absolutely power-housing his way through whatever gets in his way.  
Lastly, but not least in the slightest, Damian gave Tim the Cloak of Cagliostro! Which I want to acknowledge right off the bat, 🎶one of these things is not like the others~🎶 And thank Rao for that, because:  The Cloak of Cagliostro is a magical item which allows the wearer to teleport, and to become intangible, and invisible.      That is the *cutest* Easter Egg ever! Gotham Knights acknowledgement of Tim’s teleporting anyone????? Tim was the only one Damian gave a defensive weapon, and not an offensive weapon to. And that makes sense, because Tim is a defensive fighter! Tim never has to be the strongest person in the room. He just needs to be clever enough to use what he knows to win. Instead of giving him a weapon to swing around, Damian gave him something that Tim could use to protect himself, and actively use to make ALL of his skillsets stronger, not just his fighting power!!! This! Is! NOT! Damian looking down on Tim or considering him weaker. He’s playing to Tim’s strengths! He literally gave his big brother a cloak that straight up is like a cheat-code of meta-powers that would suit Tim SO WELL, because he knows Tim will be able to use those abilities to bullshit levels of effectiveness!! 
It genuinely looks like thought went into what weapons each of the Robins were given. I know fanon likes to bash on Damian or bash on his relationship to his siblings, or vice-versa, but in canon it has been clear for some time now that Damian considers all former and current Robins his family. (Including Tim. He refers to Tim as Timothy nowadays, and calls him his brother, that’s not fanon) No matter if Damian is not himself right now, he’s genuinely looking out for all of their best interests, and is ensuring that each one of them is as well-equipped as possible. 
Regardless, genuinely curious to see how each of these weapons will be used by their respective Robins, and how this will all end up. Hopefully, it ends with a giant group hug that will break the internet. (Also, ngl, I hope if Tim gets a new superhero identity soon his new suit will play off of Gotham Knight’s Tim’s abilities or be based off this cloak. Just think that would be neat ✨)
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tamtamho · 11 months
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[spoiler] About Rocket's body
Just watched GOTG 1's interview and here's what Gunn said about Rocket's design:
"What if they broke his sternum and streched it out? Because raccoon doesn't really have a chest (like human's)"
And it makes me think about what HE did to Raccoon's bone structure.
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Raccoon shoulders are curved to their chest so they can walk quadrupedally, but rocket walking on his two legs require his shoulders to be straightened out (hence the metals). They need to change his C-shaped spine into S-shape like humans, change the length of his arms... and deconstruct his pelvis entirely. Like. Entirely.
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Because there's no way that raccoon pelvis can make him walk like a human. Also look at that body. My man looks like a gymnast with narrow waist and everything. While regular raccoons are just. A ball of floof.
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Not to mention the brain surgeries he needs to go through.
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With him able to lift big ass firearms with tiny hands, they must've replace his bones or muscles into something stronger.
Whatever HE did, feels less like trying to make "something perfect" and more like a child assembling and reassembling his toys because he can.
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heart-of-a-rebel16 · 5 months
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I think about it a lot, how the name of Spectres is incredibly fitting for the rebels of Lothal. Each is a ghost, and each is haunted by one, or many.
The ghost of the Jedi Order haunts Kanan Jarrus. He is one of their last relics: a symbol of a forgotten creed and age. He tries his best to pass his teachings on to his own padawan, but deep down he knows that the traditions of the Order will die with him. He tried not to let it bother him. Sometimes in the corner of his eye, he will see a tall woman in brown robes, smiling gently at him.
The ghost of her mother, Eleni, haunts Hera Syndulla. To look at herself in the mirror is to look at the face of her beloved ryma. Hera possesses the fire and iron will of Eleni, the very will that followed her to her end. Sometimes, when Cham Syndulla reads the headlines of Imperial newspapers, decrying a new terrorist cell known as the Spectres, he will think of the woman he loved, and how she lives strong in their daughter.
The old C1-10P unit known as Chopper is the ghost of the Republic; not the Jedi, nor the Sith, but the everyday soldier who took up arms for their galaxy, soldiers who could not know the full breadth of evil that threatened them. Chopper does not sleep, but on occasion, his memory core will play back a scene of a burning ship, and the scream of the pilot behind him. 
The ghost of his people haunts Garazeb Orrelios. He is the last of his kind, completely alone in a galaxy of quadrillions. His people follow him in the words no one understands but him, in the weapon he wields that has been passed down through generations, in the small traditions only he observes, if only to remind himself that he is still a Lasat. In the golden light of a star cluster, some of those ghosts are put to a much deserved rest; the rest follow onwards in quiet reverence.
The ghost of her family haunts Sabine Wren. To her clan she is dead, and to her, her family is dead as well. Though the mere thought of them makes her chest ache with want, she stands strong in her solitude. Mandalore still throbs within her in every shot from a blaster, in every stroke of a paintbrush, in every explosion that paints the night sky with fire. When she is alone, though, the face of her beloved brother, the voice of her father, the warm touch of her mother will keep her company. 
The ghost of Mira and Ephraim Bridger, and the planet they call home haunt their son, Ezra. As he grows old in a distant galaxy, Ezra Bridger has no trouble remembering his fathers face, for it had become his. In every step, in every breath, he radiates the howling of wolves, the chitter of cats, the towering spires of rock, the natural music of Lothal. He is driven by his ghosts; two of them are laid to gentle sleep in the fluttering fury of fyrnocks wings, the other in the pulsing glow of purrgils.
The ghosts of his brothers, even those who did not die in battle, follow former trooper CT-7567, better known as Rex. He sees them in the weathered faces of those who did survive, in a cloudy handprint on a wall, in the clocks as they strike five, in the symbol of the republic he fought and failed to protect. He is both a paragon of the endless cruelty of the fallen republic, and the gentle humanity of the long gone Jedi.
The ghost of a unit of boys on Onderon, barely old enough to know they had been sent to die, follow Alexsandr Kallus. He is the whisper of misplaced, frantic hope that things could become better if he only tried hard enough, if he only pushed himself further. His ghosts only appear to him in his dreams, beyond the veil of smoke and fire and screams, where he is not strong enough to push them aside.
In each there is a ghost, and in each a ghost follows them, shaping their world, driving their choices, changing their fate.
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follows-the-bees · 3 months
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Thinking about how Stede mainly touches Ed's elbow or cups the back of the head — never his face. How Ed reacts poorly to people touching his face, especially without consent. (Face touching has been used as a form of aggression and control on him in the past.) Stede touches where he knows Ed feels safe and comfortable.
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The two times we see Stede touch Ed's face he asks first - the snake scene and Ed leans into it - and the bathtub scene where Stede touches Ed's shoulder and Ed is the one to lean in and touch his face to the back of Stede's hand.
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So With Spider-Punk: Arms Race #2 right around the corner: .......I'm gonna say it
Hobie's New Design is Bad.
Incredibly bad. Like 'leave it in the drafts homie' bad. Fuck it, I'm about to start using words I ain't even know I knew - this shit is EGREGIOUS.
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It ain't cute.
It's bad. It's ugly, bro. His hair is serving Coral Reef And I'm tired of pretending it's not.
And it feels SO subtly anti-black.
[A very SHORT essay where I basically say: Oh hell naw]
For one I feel like they're stripping Hobie's black features. Or toning them down a LOT.
Even if we aren't counting the blue eyes they gave in him in Issue One.
Now, over time Hobie's looked many different ways - but throughout his runs his features were 100% supposed to be interpreted as black.
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And while his newer comic runs tone that down a bit, it still looks natural.
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And his hair has ALWAYS been natural. So much so that it's one of the defining features of movie Hobie as well.
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This.... Isn't that. Not only has his natural hair been shaved and died, but it was done into a style made to DIRECTLY ripoff an already popular WHITE character - Gwen Stacy.
And once again, BLUE EYES???
And it's so bizarre!!!! Cause his design hasn't changed, but it REALLY HAS!! LIKE LOOK-
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This is supposed to be the same guy, making the same expression. This is not the same fucking guy.
They have the same brow shape and lip shape and nose, but that's not the same fucking guy and I can't articulate why.
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Looking at his profile highlights this way more, especially when putting him next to Movie Hobie.
Notice how ALL of Comic!Hobie's features are RAZOR sharp?
Whereas, Movie!Hobie's features, his features are actually fairly soft.
His nose and lips are curved and soft - even his pronounced brow bone is still curved, DESPITE him having a sharper face shape than Comic!Hobie.
That's because Movie Hobie has Black People Features.
Comic Hobie DOESN'T.
I wish I was joking when I say -
I feel like they're genuinely using Johnny Storms model and coloring it brown.
It's just... too bad not too be.
This redesign is atrocious. It's worse than the Attack on Titan manga.
And from what we can tell - this is a HOBIE SPECIFIC problem. Riri Williams - IronHeart - looks FINE.
Not to be dramatic, but this is very much a disappointment. It's honestly impressive how they managed to fumble the design bag SO EASILY.
Marvel Comics only leases Hobie Brown character to Sony. Hobie is still their IP - they can plunder his SONY design as much as they like, so long as it looks reasonably Not Identical.
And still they decided to do a 180, tone down his black features, unnatural his hair, and give him blue eyes.
Marvel. Pack it up. You're chopped.
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hannigramslecter · 1 year
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On the parallelism between Hannibal's greatest flaw and Franklyn
Throughout the story, Franklyn is obsessed with Hannibal. He's desperate for his attention and friendship, which Hannibal brushes off with calm indifference. It's clear from the beginning that Hannibal just does not like him, and we assume it's because he's snivelly and interrupts Hannibal's Personal Bubble Of Clean with his snotty tissues. However, we see that it's more than just dirty tissues - Hannibal sees Franklyn as a mirror of the flaws within himself.
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All his life Hannibal has been in control. His person suit has been tailored to perfection, every aspect of his personality carefully crafted, allowing him to control his life and culminate relationships as he sees fit. He's still alone, but he's learned to live with it.
But then Will comes along, throwing his entire world upside down. Will presents the opportunity for true understanding, acceptance, and Hannibal becomes obsessed with this ("'I'm curious about him,' 'obsessively'",). He spends much of his time ingratiating himself into Will's life, chasing that opportunity ("You're fostering codependency...You don't want me to have anything that's not you,").
That's where we begin to see his flaw: His desperation to be seen by Will is so immense and consuming that it tears apart the threads of control he's sewn his person suit so carefully with. Hannibal's aware of it too, and purposely let's it consume him ("I let you know me, see me. I gave you a rare gift,").
But despite all that, Will is yet to realize his own feelings, and instead regards Hannibal with the very same indifference he showed Franklyn. Hannibal is quick to realize both his obsession with Will and Will's "just keep it professional" attitude towards him. However this realization comes with another: that he and Franklyn are more alike than he thought - they are parallels of eachother. We see it in these two images, which I love as they portray the concept quite well: Franklyn, desperate for Hannibal's friendship, leaning towards Hannibal's closed-off posture. Hannibal, his near-identical posture and in the same seat as Franklyn, leaning towards Will's indifferent posture.
He knows that his obsession with Will is his greatest flaw, and he sees it reflected back to him through Franklyn.
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sapphire-weapon · 4 months
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I would've not been so upset about the whole Leon simping over Ada issue on RE6 if Capcom had given us at least some resolution to their decade-long cat and mouse game. If you're gonna center the narrative on Aeon, give us *something* new. But we got nothing. Like what was the point. Same old vague bullshit and Ada leaving and Leon being all aDaAA 😣 exhausting
I swear to god, sometimes I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
It was resolved.
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At this point in the game, Leon is legally dead. Helena gives him the opportunity here to finally escape his hellhole of a life and disappear with Ada.
And he says no. He says no because he realizes, in that moment, that he never really knew Ada at all.
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For the entire series, Leon's taken Ada's help and presence for granted, but RE6 makes him realize that he never took the time to wonder why she did that. He assumed it was because they had some kind of special connection, but Simmons is proof that Ada creates "special connections" with whoever's most useful to her at the time.
In the past, her "special connection" was with Wesker, and OG Leon knows this. Now it's Simmons. And he's standing here, at the end of RE6, wondering why she works for those guys and strings them along, only to then turn around and help him when the rubber hits the road.
He asks the question, realizing he doesn't have an answer. He doesn't have an answer, because he doesn't know her.
And Ada has no interest in giving him the answer or being pursued by him, either.
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So, in the one singular moment in this entire franchise where Leon and Ada have the chance to finally run away together and be together, they both look at each other and say "no."
That was the point.
The will they/won't they question was answered, and the answer is: they won't.
At the end of the day, their relationship is a professional one. The pretenses of love between them are gone. Their shared arc has reached a conclusion.
That
was the point.
And that is why Ada's been absent from ID, Vendetta, and DI -- and why she was originally planned to be in RE8. Her story with Leon is over. The two of them are now free to pursue independent storylines, even if they do still wind up running into each other again in the future -- they won't be beholden to each other the same way.
And that was the point.
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phatcatphergus · 4 months
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I was thinking about how Tubbo keeps his rose in his backpack versus how he always kept his funeral flower in his offhand. I wasn't sure why he wouldn't want to keep the flower that Fred gave him in his offhand because surely that one would mean more, right?
I actually think it's a symbol of Tubbo's depression and how he hides it. When he had the funeral flower in his hand, he was sad and didn't really try to hide it. He didn't shower, he was incredibly reckless, and purposefully hurt himself multiple times. That flower was out where others could see, much like his emotions and mental state at the time.
The rose is different. The rose is hidden away and kept safe. Tubbo is seemingly better, he's "showered", started being more mindful of his actions/surroundings, and isn't purposefully hurting himself. But he's still hurting and in a poor mental state that many of the eggs have called him out for. He is still experiencing depression but it's well hidden.
Tubbo kept the funeral flower out because he felt like he had a reason to display his mental state. he figured that if anyone asked and saw how badly he was doing, he had a reason to feel the way he did.
On the other hand, Tubbo doesn't really have a reason to keep feeling like he does after Fred returns. Fred isn't dead, so what is there to be upset about? He hides the rose. He doesn't want people to ask because he doesn't have a reason (in his mind) to still feel the way he does.
Both flowers directly represent how he handles and shows his mental health to others on the island. The funeral flower was out for everyone to see and the rose is only known to exist by a select few people.
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