#she's supposed to be the representation of justice and protection
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I always love shitting on regional TV shows in my country, but recently they've started doing enemies to lovers plotlines and ngl I'm loving them and I will be heartbroken if they fuck it up.
#rucha rambles#there's this one show where the rich hero falls in love with this girl from a slum area and she's a huge gold-digger but no-one knows#i don't even mean it in a misogynistic way she's genuinely two-timing this guy with another seemingly wealthy guy#she's supposed to be the character who represents wealth and prosperity#her younger sister is a mechanic who is a total badass and has her own gang#she's supposed to be the representation of justice and protection#and the hero and her do NOT get along it's very childish playground nonsense and she keeps having to save him from other thugs and creeps#it's become the best part of my day istg
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Part 2: The Alter Ego Of A Heroine And It’s Relationship To The Protagonist
You can’t have a good Love Square, if you don’t have likable protagonists.
It’s very easy that when emotions play a role, for hearts to be swayed one way or the other. So you have to have very concrete and powerful characters that you will not hate – even if they mess up.
If you don’t have them, much like any Love Triangle, you will begin to hate one of the options. Then, trying to insinuate, whoever is left of the couple as ending with this less-liked-character will just end up pissing everyone off. This delicate balance is even more imperative in the Love Square.
Therefore, we need not only a lovable protagonist, but one we really want to root for – and Marinette has been suffering in that department for quite a while now.
So, we have to talk about her. Unfortunately, despite her being central for the show to work, she’s probably the second most character that suffer from the terrible writing of this show (and we all know who’s the one who suffered the most).
So, to understand what went wrong with her character, we first need to clear the bases and talk about Alter Egos.
An alter ego is the “alternative version” of someone. The Superman to Clark Kent, the Spider-Man to Peter Parker, the Batman to Bruce Wayne. They represent the hero version, the other self, the better version if you will, of protagonist were supposed to root for.
In magical girls, these better versions are key to understanding our Main Character. While, yes, there’s many magical girl like Sugar Sugar Rune or Sakura Card Captor that don’t place emphasis on the Alter Ego, MLB definitely does.
You see, the Alter Ego is better. Brighter, happier, have a sense of justice and are able to confront the world. While our Main Character doesn’t have these characteristics, or at least not as external. The alter ego represents everything they wish to be, while the real them hides underneath.
And it’s this push and pull between two of them that becomes a core, of sorts, for the story. For two main reasons. One, it explains the character. And two, it represents the theme.
A very good example of this – is Madoka. What makes a magical girl, a magical girl, in this universe?
You make a wish. Something you want more than anything. And that wish is what fuels your hearts to fight against the ghosts of the peers that came before. And if you lose sight of what that wish originally was – your soul gem cracks.
When Ayaka realizes that saving everyone is useless, her soul gem cracks, because proving that Mami was right and Homura was wrong was what drove her to be a magical girl. She became a Magical Girl to prove Homura wrong, that she could be happy being selfless.
When Homura’s goal to save Madoka is over, and she despairs over how she didn’t save her (only doomed her to an eternity of fighting), her soul gem cracks. She becomes a demon. She became a Magical Girl to save Madoka, so it makes sense she would become something worse when it turns out she didn’t.
Magical girls, are just that. A wish. Usually fighting the “failed versions” of themselves. Rue, who couldn’t have Mythos heart. Utau who hid half of her personality to please others. Sara, who couldn’t find love.
Magical Girls are a wish. While they become magical girls to save the planet, there’s something behind it that they guard deeply and wish to protect even more. And conflicts with their “true” self.
Other examples, are…
Princess Tutu is the representation of Ahiru’s love for Mytho. Ahiru wanted to save him, so it only stands to reason that her Alter ego is one that collects his heart shards, desperate to make him whole again. That’s what she fights for - For Mytho's, and eventually her own, happiness.
Sailor Moon is the representation of Usagi’s past as Princess Serenity. It’s her bonds that transcend space, it’s her duty to protect the earth like she couldn’t protect the Moon Kingdom. While this doesn’t happen in the first seasons, by the end of the series, it’s her deep connections and love for the rest of the sailor scouts that drives her to bear the weight of saving the world. These connections and bonds to her past, are what make her step forward and become a ruler again, and the reason she keeps fighting for Earth. In the future, we even see that Usagi, becomes Princess Serenity – her past. By becoming the queen of Neo Tokyo.
Amulet Heart is the representation of Amu’s “I want to be” self. Her desire to be sporty and happy, easy to mix with people. She has many others and through them all she aims to find herself. Who she really is, and where she fits in a school that idolizes a fake version of herself. Because in truth, the “real” amu doesn’t have a personality. She constantly feels like she copies others, but never truly finds who “she” is. But her Shugo Charas help her do exactly that. Break out of her shell, become someone very uniquely her. To the point that she eventually (in the manga) develops entirely new shugo charas. Because her ”I want to be self” has changed, and by defector, her. She became a Magical Girl to finds herself.
Pink Pearl Voice is representation of Lucia’s duty as a princess. She has seen her people be in distress and knows the weight her actions have on her nation. Her purpose is to fight those who want to hurt her kingdom. To return peace to the seven seas. While her true self, Lucia, just wants to be happy, free. Fall in love with a human – even though its forbidden by her kin. So, who should she be? Fall in love, or follow her duty? Again, in the manga, she becomes Agua Regina, the ruler of the seven seas, pointing to the fact that falling in love and ruling, aren’t as opposed to each other as she once believed.
So, with all this as context, what exactly is ladybug’s purpose? What does she represent? Why did Marinette decide to become Ladybug?
Again, it’s not “Just to save the world” or “because they’re forced to”. And the ones whose premise is that, are the most dark and disturbing magical girls there are (princess tutu, madoka, and utena)
So, Marinette has something, right? Something she fights for? To protect her friends? Her country? Her school? Her family? Is it pressure from her parents? Or is it herself? Why pressure herself, and to this extend?
What exactly would have been her wish when she became Ladybug? Why would she have accepted a deal where herself is in jeorpardy, and continue to accept it as more and more burdens pile up on her?
What’s stopping (in season 1-3) from ditching everything and asking Master Fu to find a new ladybug? Realistically.
Aaaaand, you probably have an answer.
But here’s the thing.
It's either an answer that came post-season 4, which again it’s too damn late. Or, outright not an actual reason given by the show.
Because the reason a lot of Aus, fanfics, and fancomics work are because they answer this question. Reality is, canon really doesn’t have much of an answer – except a very vague “sense of justice” Marinette has. There’s no clear answer. According to previous actions, we can speculate why. But we don’t have a real reason.
Is it because she was bullied? Is it because she got made fun of? Or is it simply her good nature? When has she expressed this outright or even sat down to talk about it with anyone?
We don’t know what Ladybug represents.
We don’t know why she keeps fighting evil. Why she takes on this mantle that’s slowly eating her away. And without knowing this, we really don’t know Marinnette herself.
And this is a Marinette-exclusive problem, may I add.
In the case of Chat Noir, it’s easy to find his reason to fight, and very early on - Season 1 early on.
He wants to be free, wants to be able to escape his home that feels like a prison, but still craves a place that will welcome him as he is: a mischievous trickster who messes up sometimes. Represented by a cat with a bell, meaning a cat with a home. A mischievous person who craves a place to belong
And that place is Ladybug. She offers that, while Chat Noir lends him the means to show that “true self” he can’t allow to others. He would never give up his miraculous because it would mean losing all that.
But Marinette doesn’t have that.
The closes thing we get to a “ideal self” is the fact that as Ladybug she gets to be the leader and the confident girl she always wanted to be, because she’s clumsy…But I have to say, that doesn’t really make sense. Its implied, in the first season, when they run for president, that she’s a naturally born leader. And if it weren’t for Adrien making her nervous, she’d be much more capable that she is right now.
Which makes the Marinette we have as of now, an amalgamation of many different MC tropes all stitched together with the world’s flimsiest needle. It’s a poke away from entirely crumbling.
We have:
I have a crush on my idol classmate
I am clumsy and ditzy
You can’t bully people! That’s wrong and you’re a meanie!
But also I’m kind hearted and will offer a helping to hand to those ostracized by society
Except if they’re the villain or the villain’s minions, they’re bad
I am a natural born leader and inspire others
But also I have no self steem and constantly doubt myself
I am soo shyyy
But also I will be weird abt my crush
And while these definitely can work together and form something coherent. They didn’t. They tried, and a very big emphasis on TRIED here, to give some of these aspects a backstory – like the stupid Kim Backstory about obsessive behaviour – but again, too little too late.
And even if, big if, it never really gets explored beyond this surface level. Did she talk about it with Chat Noir? Did she talk about it with Adrien? Did she ever stop to think or reflect on it?
It seems to me more like an effort from the writers to shrug off Marinette’s creepy behaviour by trying to justify it via trauma, rather than confront it and have a serious conversation about what it might entail.
But probably the most frustrating part - is that it could absolutely still have worked. If anyone gave a crap about admitting they f-ed up and working to fix it.
*Sighs*
I liked the Marinette from the PV. She reminded me a lot of Ahiru. A kind and cheery girl, with a golden heart, who secretly crushes on her idol prince. Probably someone who would be kind to a fault, trying to brefriending even the ultimate boss.
But Marinette right now wouldn’t. Or at least I think she wouldn’t. I mean, she hates Chloe and Lila, and would never offer to help them. Never has opened up and has an antagonistic rship with them.
But she did help Ivan that first time. And we see her forgive people who aren’t explicitly villains.
But she WAS really nasty towards Kagami when they didn’t even know all that much about her.
And this is not a sailor moon/fish eye situation where Adrien and Marinette are dating, or a lost memory thing that happened in the first part of sailor moon R. She’s just – mean bcs this girl has a crush on the boy she likes.
“It makes her a complex character-!”
It makes her confusing. You can’t know how she’ll act, so you can’t understand her and her actions. It alienates her.
Not really Magical Girl, but a good example of an extremely weird girl, who we understand is Rozemyne from Ascendance of a Bookworm. She has wild and unpredictable reactions – but we understand her internal logic. We know she’ll offer help when she can, but draws a hard line between friends and acquaintances. She wouldn’t jeopardized her loved ones for people she barely knows.
Something like that is missing from Marinette.
Unfortunately, at this point we only have one defining characteristic of her.
The one thing you’re sure won’t change, the one thing you can trust her to be no matter the circumstances. Her defining characteristic:
Adrien
Her feelings for Adrien are the only true constant.
We can’t trust her to be kind, bcs maybe the girl is crushing on Adrien and we’ve seen how she treat those girls. We can’t trust her to put art before anything, bcs we rarely see her design. We can’t trust her to be smart, clumsy, a good leader, a crybaby or happy.
The only thing we can trust about her, is Adrien
Which could work. Many other magical girls base their character around their love interest. It’s not an automatic recipe for disaster. An MC with heavy focus on romance can work.
Ichigo Monomiya, for example, is someone whose crush is a big part of her character AND motivation. She wants to protect Earth (as in nature) because it means so much to Aoyama and her main conflict comes from how she doesn’t want him finding out about her being a Mew. Her story revolves around how much she wants to spend time with him - but is unable to.
And Ahiru’s entire wish is for Mytho to be happy at the cost of her own. For a while the only motivation she seemed to have was Mytho and we knew little abt her aside from that.
Marinette basing her entire identity around Adrien may not be a bad thing (writing wise) if the writers acknowledged that’s what they’re doing. If they allowed conflict to build upon it.
Maybe a explore who she is without Adrien, and how he affects the perception Marinette has on herself. Who does she become without him and more importantly,
Why can’t she get together with him?
Real, why can’t Marinette get Adrien?
Well, the show has told us many times why. Awful consequences, the end of the world, etc etc.
But what I’m asking is why Marinette can’t get closer to Adrien? Even as a friend?
What’s stopping her from confessing? Or giving the first step? Being ladybug? Her own nervousness?
There’s usually a reason why these things can’t progress. Nervousness, after four seasons, shouldn’t have been one.
I mean, it worked on the first few episodes and even seasons. But at some point, her nervousness just became unrealistic, and it falls to the point of annoyance and even blatant fetishization by Thomas’ part – for a girl obsessed over a boy.
Again, Ichigo took steps to get closer to Aoyama since day one. The only reason why she can’t confess, isn’t because she gets nervous or can’t seem to talk to him. It’s because she’s scared that when Aoyama finds out she’s half-cat, he’ll be grossed out and won’t want to date her.
And if we talk about shyness and clumsiness, Ahiru comes to mind. Someone who also messes up when her crush is involved.
However, Ahiru gets competent the more time she spends with Mytho. By the end of it, even if she’s scared or nervous, she jumps headfirst into danger to protect him. She’s able to have conversations with him, and even gets close to his friends. She breaks out of her crush so much, that she’s willing to accept that Mytho is not meant for her.
So, no. Shyness and clumsiness when writing a character, isn’t a good answer.
What about her being Ladybug and the responsibility it comes with it, impeding her from finding love?
Well THAT plot point doesn’t get explored. At least, not with Adrien.
It only ever gets explored until season 4 and with MAY I REMIND YOU Luka. That she’ll always be distant or unable to connect with someone because of how much she has to keep from him. And it’s also kinda weird, when you juxtapose Luka and Aoyama.
Aoyama is the main love interest in the anime Tokyo Mew Mew. He was often sad and disappointed that Ichigo couldn’t put priority on him.
In one particular episode, he asked her out to go to the movies and was waiting for Ichigo, but a fight broke out and she was unable to go meet him. Mid-fight she does try to contact him but a jealous alien breaks her phone, making her unable to tell him she’s going to be late.
The iconic scene where she comes late to her date, and Aoyama is still waiting in the rain, will always be ingrained in my mind. The music, the writing, it all builds up to this point. You can see how much they long to be together, but there’s this impossible barrier for them. Caused entirely by circumstance. If Ichigo were normal, if she weren’t a hero, if she were just like other girls, she would be with the man she loves.
But she can’t. So she has to hide. Hide parts of herself, and her life. Even as she confesses that she loves him, she’s hiding her tail and ears. Worried that he’ll hate her but still trying to reach out.
And Aoyama forgives her. He says “I love you too”
It truly showed how they can’t be 100% together. That there’s a gap they can never truly fill.
But Aoyama /tries/. He doesn’t break up with her, doesn’t get angry, he hears how truly sorry she is and sees how anxious she’s getting - and accepts it. He forgives her. Because there’s things, they still don’t know about each other, and neither are ready to share.
That’s why Luka’s reaction Is weird. Wanting the whole truth from your gf is strange. And yes, Marinette is an asshole for still crushing on Adrien - but Luka knew! And he still accepted her. But he draws the line at Marinette having a secret he won’t tell her 2-month boyfriend and not even her closest friends KNOW?? And, it gets even worse, when you know that the secret of her “being ladybug” is something he’s known for a long a time. (And so has Aoyama by the way)
So a fundamental part of Marinette’s struggles were shoved into a padded 30 min episode. Where the blame is placed entirely on her.
I know they’re trying to fix it in season 5, an attempt to make her more proactive and give her a backstory and the like.
But this is your protagonist.
You shouldn’t be trying to fix her five goddamned seasons in. This should have been something addressed in – at LATEST – the second season. The villains also have this problem, but this is much more saveable in their case. We’re not supposed to care much for them to begin with.
And as I said, both the protagonist Alter Ego, and the Theme of a story are extremely linked together. If anything, they should have been able to fall back on their theme. What were they trying to say?
If, say for the sake of argument, Ichigo is an unlikable protagonist, maybe by just leaning into the Nature and Ecology theme of the show, you can build a new personality.
This is what star vs did – they gave Star character development as they developed the theme of intergenerational conflict and colonization.
So, SURELY, if Marinnette is a bad protagonist with no real reason for her Alter ego –
The writers can fall back on their theme to write a cohesive protagonist for the overall story of theme they’re trying to talk about
Right?
Spoiler. No.
PREV << MASTERLIST >> NEXT
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Well, it’s the court date for Kamila Valieva finally. I hope justice is served & she gets a ban, however, she is still the victim, not the mastermind. Her coaches & any other adult in her life that allowed this to happen deserve to be punished, they deserve to lose their coaching licenses & should be criminally charged with child abuse & yet, there seems to be no push to do anything. The ones fully at fault are the ones getting away with it. It’s sickening & it speaks volumes to what a girl is worth, not only in Russian sport but in this world. Abuse them for your own gain & leave them to suffer the consequences of your actions. Kamila needs to be punished because she can’t go the rest of her life thinking what happened is okay but at the end of the day she was a 15 year old girl doped by her federation & the adults who are supposed to protect her for what is essentially just a game. Team Tutberidze & every other adult responsible deserves to suffer & lose everything. Not only for this case but for all the other girls who have been, are & will be abused if they do nothing. I have very little faith in justice being served since bribery runs thick but this matters for many reasons even outside of sport so I will continue to hope the right thing is done. I hope one day we see a healthy & fair Russian sport system, but until then, they do not deserve any form of representation in international sport at any level! & lastly, I hope we see Russia lose their “gold” in shame & we see a joyful medal ceremony for USA, Japan & Canada at Paris 2024.
#russian figure skating#kamila valieva#eteri tutberidze#fuck eteri#figure skating#beijing 2022#Olympics
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I hate young justice so much
they took beloved characters and ruined them
robin: he reminds me of the teen titans robin that just mashed all the robins together and said it’s dick. I did like his abuse of the English language but everything else just felt ooc. Make him happy. I don’t like how he is as nightwing either. It just seems like the creators are doing the bare minimum.
Wally: I really like Wally in the comics. He’s funny and goofy and super protective of his loved ones. It’s cute. I also like his friendship with dick. I didn’t like him in yj. Mostly because of his forced relationship with Artemis and his weird attitude in the later seasons.
Artemis: she’s so unlikable omg. She’s annoying and brash. She’s supposed to be half Asian but just isn’t. Also her relationship with Wally almost made me stop watching.
m’gann: eww. She was cute in the first season but now she’s manipulative and abusive. She is tricking kon and they continue to date. She’s possessive and keeps ‘killing’ people. I hate her.
kon: my boy deserved better. They took his beautiful leather jacket and sunglasses and replaced it with the most boring thing I’ve ever seen. He looks so square. Plus his relationship with mgann.
kaldur: i don’t have anything against his character. He’s cool. I wish we saw more of him though especially with wyynde. I love that he’s gay but I wish it was shown a bit more. Representation matters.
this show is just so flat and problematic. None of the main relationships are healthy. All of the characters hate each other. It’s exhausting
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I saw Wish! It was cute, and overall I think it was okay. It had some lovely callbacks, and was entirely original in its main plot, which is nice.
A lot of the issues people theorized it would have (pop-y songs, overdose on adorkability*, generic culture for the characters and outfits, imperfect casting in relation to character’s ethnicities, commercialization upon modern social justice interests such as reformation, and inability to commit to darkness) were there.
*man I usually love talking animals but like. Sidekicks are supposed to be comic relief and support, not distractions. Valentino wasn’t that bad, but still. Then again, I’m not the target audience. I do love that he was a baby goat. (As someone who has helped baby goats, unless they’re cold, they HATE clothes. When they’re cold, then they can just fall asleep in them, it’s very cute.)
But there were good points too (nods to Disney history without distracting the narrative, no romantic storyline* a genuine villain with a in-story further descent, desperate **betrayal spurred on by the societal structure the villain/government sought to preserve, themes of a right to self-determination and liberty vs. ‘protection’, how privilege warps you and makes you defensive, different body types and abilities, lovely animation, and so on).
*for the record, I love romance, and I know the last couple DP movies had no romances either. But idk how you could watch Raya and the Last Dragon and not even THINK about Rayaari lol.
*as soon as I saw the character, I thought ‘Oh he looks like Hans’ and I knew lmao
To comment specifically on Asha: her character creation definitely fell into the adorkability trap. But she’s very sweet, loving and capable, and I really enjoyed her relationship with her family. Making her a fairy (?) godmother at the end totally fit with her story. And her actress, Ariana DeBose, has a fantastic voice, and I can tell she totally gave it her all.
I’m glad her Mom isn’t dead (classic female protagonist issue) but I do have reservations that both Black princesses have dead Dads. I’m by no means the most qualified to speak on that, but I do know that it’s an issue often raised by Black fans on Black character’s backstories.
I do really, really love that Asha is mixed though. I know there’s a lot of issues of colorism* in Hollywood, both in live action and animated productions, but as a sister to a mixed Black boy, I know how much characters like Asha would have meant to my brother as a kid.
*interestingly enough, the movie didn’t fall into the trap of the lady half of the pairing being light than her male partner. Asha’s paternal family is white, and her Mom is Black.
My brother was never into Disney Princesses, but when Miles Morales (from Spider-verse) came out in 2018, right before my brother turned 13, and I think that was the first time he really connected to another kid character on screen. Miles is arguably mixed, often feels like a fish out of water, and grew up too damn fast, both physically* and emotionally. And I know that there has to be a bunch of little kids (and adults too!) who see Asha and feel seen. And I’m so glad for them.
*my brother was always tall, but he hit 6 feet by age 14, is 6’6 (183cm) now, and may still be growing, much to his chagrin.
Wish is not the magnum opus of Disney. Out of the two animated theatrical films Disney put out this year, I think Elemental is the better of the two*. But by no means do I think it’s terrible. It was genuinely fine.
Interestingly enough though, I do believe it to be an incredibly accurate representation of Disney’s modern output and behavior. Perhaps in that sense, it is a triumph.
*though I’m severely biased. I saw that movie 6 times in theatres and coincidentally rewatched it today. I cried each time.
Also for the record, I nearly finished* painting an Asha doll before I saw the movie today. I felt very pleased with myself. Here she is next to a Kida doll that I finished today.**
*I forgot her necklace and got her shoe color wrong, ugh. And I think I’ll try to make her side-braid’s more apparent. I will keep the flower though, just as a nod to both of her sidekicks and because I think it’s pretty lol
** Disney put out a line of mini Disney princess dolls that I … kind of became obsessed with. And have been painting to look like other Disney female Protagonists lol. Kida has an Aurora head (hence the unfortunately small nose) and a Moana body, while Asha has a Moana head (hair texture roughly matched) and a Elsa body (white and purple outfit from the sequel). If you’d like to see more, I have a post from a couple weeks ago about my work so far.
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Annotated Bibliography
Fiction / Historical Fiction
Title of Text (APA): Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451.
Short Summary of the Text: Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel set in a future society where books are banned, and "firemen" burn any that are found. The protagonist, Guy Montag, is a fireman who begins to question his role in the withholding of knowledge and the restriction of freedom of thought. He begins to meet people who open his eyes to the reality of the situation, challenging Montag’s beliefs and ultimately leading him to rebel against the oppressive government.
YA Universal Theme(s) text is aligned with: Identity, self-discovery, and the power of knowledge.
Appropriate for Grade(s): 7-12
Title of Text (APA): Brontë, C. (1847). Jane Eyre.
Short Summary of the Text: Jane Eyre is a coming-of-age novel that follows the life of Jane Eyre through her severe childhood experiences in an unjust boarding school to her time as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her employer, Mr. Rochester. Having never experienced a life free of constraint and expectations, she is faced with the harrowing decision of what it is she truly wants from life.
YA Universal Theme(s) text is aligned with: Identity, self-discovery, determination, and moral integrity.
Appropriate for Grade(s): 9-12
Title of Text (APA): Orwell, G. (1945). Animal Farm.
Short Summary of the Text: Animal Farm is a novel by George Orwell that tells the story of farm animals rebelling against their farmer, Mr. Jones, in search of a better life. The animals found their own society based on the values of equality and fellowship. As time goes on, the pigs increasingly become crooked and tyrannical, defying the original intent behind the rebellion. Through its symbolic representations, Animal Farm sheds light upon the evils of corruption and the abuse of power.
YA Universal Theme(s) text is aligned with: Power and corruption and social justice.
Appropriate for Grade(s): 9-12
Multicultural / Diversity
Title of Text (APA): Morrison, T. (1987). Beloved.
Short Summary of the Text: Beloved is a novel that focuses on Sethe, a former slave who fled to Ohio with her children in pursuit of freedom. Sethe and her daughter, Denver, live in a house that is disturbed by the spirit of Sethe's daughter, whom she killed to protect her from the horrors she would face in becoming a slave. The reader thus gains perspective of the harrowing experiences of being a mother through slavery.
YA Universal Theme(s) text is aligned with: Trauma, memory, and the effects on African Americans post-slavery.
Appropriate for Grade(s): 11-12
Title of Text (APA): Myers, W. (1999). Monster.
Short Summary of the Text: Monster is a novel structured as a screenplay that tells the story of Steve Harmon, a 16-year-old African American boy on trial for his supposed involvement in a murder case. The story is told through entries within Steve's journal and is set up as a screenplay for a film he envisions. Through Steve’s eyes, the reader begins to understand the realities of the corrupted justice system and its effect on people of color.
YA Universal Theme(s) text is aligned with: Justice, prejudice, and identity.
Appropriate for Grade(s): 9-12
Title of Text (APA): Ng, C. (2014). Everything I Never Told You.
Short Summary of the Text: Everything I Never Told You revolves around the Lee’s, an Asian-American family whose daughter, Lydia, has drowned in a nearby lake. As the family struggles with Lydia's unexpected death, secrets and conflicts within the family are exposed, allowing the reader to understand the importance of conversation, understanding, and acceptance.
YA Universal Theme(s) text is aligned with: Prejudice, identity, and societal pressures.
Appropriate for Grade(s): 9-12
Non-Fiction / Informational Text
Title of Text (APA): Beah, I. (2007). A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.
Short Summary of the Text: A Long Way Gone is a memoir by Ishmael Beah, recounting his experiences as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. Beah describes how he was forcibly enlisted into the army at the age of 13 and instructed to fight in a ruthless war that devastated his country. The memoir recounts his experiences through inhumane violence, loss, and endurance, and his journey to recovery. Through the eyes of Beah, readers gain insight into the impression war places upon young children, as well as the power of the human spirit.
YA Universal Theme(s) text is aligned with: Survival and resilience, the loss of innocence, the consequences of war.
Appropriate for Grade(s): 9-12
Title of Text (APA): Walls, J. (2005). The Glass Castle: A Memoir.
Short Summary of the Text: The Glass Castle is a memoir by Jeannette Walls, describing her unusual and chaotic childhood growing up in poverty with her eccentric and dysfunctional family. Walls describes her experiences of destitution, deprivation, and abandonment, but counters them with moments of resilience, love, and courage. This memoir records her journey from a wild and unpredictable upbringing to her ultimate achievement in securing a job within her dream career, presenting a reflection on family, resilience, and the pursuit of dreams.
YA Universal Theme(s) text is aligned with: Family dynamics and resilience and survival.
Appropriate for Grade(s): 9-12
Title of Text (APA): Douglass, F. (1845). Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.
Short Summary of the Text: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an autobiography that tells the story of Frederick Douglass: a man born into slavery in Maryland, who, after years of suffering and injustice, came to find freedom. Douglass explains the ruthless experiences in slavery, his journey to educating himself, and his success in obtaining liberty in the North.
YA Universal Theme(s) text is aligned with: Identity, race, oppression, and the journey to freedom.
Appropriate for Grade(s): 9-12
Social Issues
Title of Text (APA): Atwood, M. (2013). Oryx And Crake.
Short Summary of the Text: Oryx and Crake is a fictional novel set in a dystopian future where genetic engineering, corporate greed, and a loss of moral ethics have led to the destruction of human civilization. Snowman, the last survivor in a world occupied by genetically modified creatures, tells the story through his memories. Through his recollection of his time growing up in a society run by corporations and scientific experimentation, he comes to recognize the worth of humanity and morals.
YA Universal Theme(s) text is aligned with: Social inequality, environmental degradation, morality, and the cost of unrestricted scientific progress.
Appropriate for Grade(s): 9-12
Title of Text (APA): Keyes, D. (1966). Flowers for Algernon.
Short Summary of the Text: Flowers for Algernon is a novel that follows the story of Charlie Gordon, a mentally disabled man who follows through with a procedure that increases his intelligence. As Charlie's intelligence develops and flourishes, he is faced with unfamiliar sentiments, relationships, and is forced to relearn how to interact with the world around him. Throughout this journey, Charlie experiences isolation and solitude, leading him to recognize what matters most in life.
YA Universal Theme(s) text is aligned with: Empathy, intelligence, self-awareness, and acceptance.
Appropriate for Grade(s): 9-12
Title of Text (APA): Hosseini, K. (2007). A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Short Summary of the Text: A Thousand Splendid Suns is a novel by Khaled Hosseini that tells the tales of two Afghan women, Mariam and Laila, whose dissimilar lives become interwoven as they find themselves fighting similar battles midst the war and the unjust treatment of women and children in Afghanistan. As the two navigate the challenges brought upon them, their connection strengthens, begging the reader to consider the effects of love, hope, and self-reliance in the face of adversity.
YA Universal Theme(s) text is aligned with: Gender roles and women’s rights, and the impact of war and oppression.
Appropriate for Grade(s): 9-12
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the sun and venus! - headcanon meme sent by @quitethepirategal
THE SUN !
( 𝗌𝗒𝗆𝖻𝗈𝗅𝗂𝗓𝖾𝗌 : ego, basic personality, consciousness, vitality, staminia. )
how is your muse as a person ? do they think highly of themselves or are they pretty humble ? what’re they like when meeting someone for the first time ? are they an individual who you’d say is pretty aware of their surroundings and themself, and knows just what they want from life ? give us a peak through the veil of just who your muse is. only a peak !
Upon first meeting him, he gives off the aura of a silent, mysterious figure with an intimidating presence. This is not necessarily a facade. He truly is a frightening man when he wants to be.
Edward Teague is a prideful man with a quick temper who remains guarded even amongst friends. The expectation of those who have not met him is that his silence equates to callousness. This is not the case. Despite his profession, he holds a strong sense of justice. You can not claim he is a good man, by any means, but he's not a bad one either.
He is a hard man but not a cruel one. Having grown up in pirate society Teague has become accustomed to the most uncouth aspects of this life. He sees violence, pain, and death as necessities. It is a dog-eat-dog world and he's not a man who will allow himself to be eaten- not without a fight. He neither reflects nor feels guilt for the harm he has caused. Odds are if you're on the other side of his pistol you probably had it coming.
His steadfast personality makes him a natural leader, yet he lacks the interpersonal skills to immediately connect with others. Despite this, he has spent most of his life in leadership positions. Whether it's as captain or Keeper of the Code, Teague often finds himself taking up responsibilities that he has no interest in. But if not him then who? The question remains unanswered. A lifetime of responsibility has given him respect for even the lowest cogs in the machine. As a captain and Keeper of the Code, Teague is stern but fair.
His loyalty and natural inclination to protect others is a trait which I've found to stick out the most.
Teague is not a knight in shining armour. Heroism has never, and will never be his thing. But maybe in another life, it could have been.
I suppose the best way to put it is that he's resigned to his imperfections.
VENUS !
( 𝗌𝗒𝗆𝖻𝗈𝗅𝗂𝗓𝖾𝗌 : attraction, love, relationships, art, beauty, harmony. )
what is your muse ’ s opinion on love ? what are they like in a relationship ? both good and bad. what do the seek for in a relationship ? what type of people are they attracted to ? could be romantically, sexually, or even spiritually ? do they seek someone similar to themselves or someone vastly different ? what does beauty mean to them ? do they associate the word with appearances ? souls ? what does the word ‘ harmony ‘ mean to them ?
You'd think a cynical man such as Teague wouldn't believe in love but it's quite the opposite. I mean, his ship is named Troubadour and he plays love ballads in his spare time.
It should be noted that there have only been two ships on this blog. The first with Jack's mom, Maria, and the other being a completely non-canon ship with Cersei fookin' Lannister. These two ships are about as different as you can imagine, but I think they're a good representation of what Teague wants vs what he often gets. I'd also note that there only being two ships on this blog is indicative of the fact that Teague avoids relationships. FWB is rare and him dating is practically nonexistent.
His relationship with Maria was Teague hitting the jackpot. I wrote about this far more extensively here. To summarize: she was the yin this yang (or yang to his yin? I don't know). In the ultimate plot twist, their relationship, while not perfect, was healthy. The issues which did eventually drive Maria to leave him were technically fixable (if she hadn't died).
The ideal relationship for Teague is someone who is caring and patient (oh, so, so patient) but ultimately independent and willing to put their foot down. They should also probably enjoy travel otherwise they'll never see him.
Unfortunately what Teague NEEDS and CRAVES in a relationship doesn't appear to be what he often finds. This is where Cersei comes in because I think she's a good representation of where he'll most often find himself. I spoke about this here, but the relationship isn't particularly stable because, well, neither of them are stable people. They are, in fact, two of the most emotionally unavailable people you'll find. The relationship just burns itself out because they don't temper the other worst qualities. That is sort of the trend Teague would have in any romantic relationship. Finding someone who likely has that maternal touch he craves but is ultimately just as unhealthy as he is causing the entire thing to implode.
Despite his aversion to romance, Teague also craves it...or at least the connection romance provides.
[I didn't have anywhere else to put this but I wanted to add that Teague is monogamous. He prefers having that one person but is often forced to settle for fleeting connections because he's unwilling to put himself out there.]
Despite his cynical nature Teauge does have an appreciation for beautiful things. This obviously applies to what he finds aesthetically pleasing in people, but it also goes far beyond that. There are people who he considers beautiful simply for their kindness. I also have no good way of wording this but Teague enjoys travel because he finds beauty in different cultures (particularly the diversity in arts such as music and crafts).
As for harmony... I don’t think Teague would be able to define that well so I’ll leave it blank.
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Significance of “Madness” in anime
We’ve already established in other posts about significant emotions and concepts in anime or specific media before. The Significance of losing or the one of visuals and metaphors in Haikyuu!! are some of those I would love to mention here, but today we shall delve into a broader topic that goes more along the lines of Makii’s thrilling post about Danganronpa and the Significance of Despair.
Today, our topic of interest is madness.
To ease your mind, in this post we will be talking about the representation of insanity and madness in some anime characters and how that reflects on the story and ourselves as an audience.To make one thing clear, a lot of the times we see overexaggerated versions of unstable characteristics in anime that aren’t realistic.
This is in no way a discussion about actual mental illnesses and not a professional approach to analysing them to our real life standards, but maybe a start to an interesting discussion about how we portray and handle what one may colloquially call “craziness”.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s start!
Artists, and no matter for example if they write or draw, use their platforms to deliver messages in cryptic ways. As humans, we have the innate ability to look at something and consume the facts through entertainment which makes us crave new media to follow and analyse.
We love to question things instead of just taking them as they are, and that is why most writers out there will play around with the perception of their audience.
You may be familiar with the common question that ghosts through your head as you enjoy the latest episode of your favorite anime.
Why did he do that? Is she a traitor? What makes them think that way?
Although one might always do it consciously, we most definitely analyse whatever media we consume and decide for ourselves if it is important enough to keep in mind for future reference.
What the writer or founder of the anime ultimately wants from the reader is a reaction.
No matter what they intend to do with it, if they enjoy the viewer getting excited or traumatised is not of importance, but a reaction is evidently one of the goals.
And as strong emotions always evoke an even stronger reaction, anime characters are often very idealized and have ideologies that make them want to do one particular thing.
Be it save the world or destroy it, we focus and look at these characters and root for them if they give us a reason to do so.
Both sides of good and bad can have deeply rooted admiration drawn out of us, and it sometimes doesn’t even matter because the more interesting part is the lovely grey area in between.
We need a balance of good and bad to enjoy both.
Empathy makes us viewers want to relate to the characters, and if the author gives us the possibility to learn why someone does something, it gets harder and harder to dislike them. That’s why tragic backstories and flashbacks are such an overused tool in anime, because with the extreme behaviour some characters show they also need equal amounts of redemption.
We attach ourselves emotionally to characters depending on our personal tastes as well.
If someone likes and relates to a strong and independent protagonist who would drop anything for the sake of justice, you will find a lot of resembling characters in shounen for example.
On the other hand, if a darker or more obsessive character manages to take over a special place in a viewer’s heart, putting them on a pedestal gets more and more interesting, because you’re not supposed to.
Contrary to that, characters with insane or dark personality traits are often very popular, again tracing this back to human instinct of emphasising with wronged characters and curiously inspecting the fully deranged ones.
As this isn't something that should be put into vague concepts, we’re instead going to look at examples of characters and entities that are seen as ‘mad’ and how they’re interpreted.
It’s not just about villains being unreasonably immoral in this post, as we look into what madness entails and how it's shown, we also have some examples of corruption to look at.
So of course there are the typical evil-thinking evil-doing villains out there.
Some of them have an actual backstory to make them more realistic and believable, some others are just pure evil. While they are often called mad for their actions to achieve their goal, the reason why they are put into that light is the stark contrast between the protagonist and the villain.
If the protagonist loves to save people and always has a smile on his face, of course he will differ from his counterpart when he finds out that his methods are a bit more vicious.
The protagonist perceives the villain as insane most of the time, but what does the viewer think?
We seek to look not only at characters that are enjoyable to watch, but also try to find similarities between us and them or draw lines in their behavior to understand them better. As mentioned before, empathy plays a huge role here as well, since whatever happens in anime doesn't have actual repercussions, we can forgive characters more easily.
For example when they are taken by Insanity as a side effect rather than being insane due to trauma, we often get an 'ally turned traitor' trope through hypnosis or brainwashing, which is just as interesting to look at.
If a person did something horrible under the influence of something they had no control over, are they still to blame?
Does Insanity only involve a separate entity that comes from evil, or are we also looking at the gradual descent into darkness when life just isn't the same anymore?
Insane and with no fear: Soul Eater
A great example of how insanity plays with characters be they good or bad is Soul Eater.
With a premise that one needs a sound mind and body to inhibit a sound soul, we obviously know that people close to becoming Kishin-eggs will have a rotten soul drenched in bad deeds, but what about the good guys?
In this instance we have a lot of different types of madness and insanity that touches multiple characters at different times, and by far the most drastic would be the black blood.
The black blood being a synthesized weapon form of blood that can change form and harden into shape, is a weapon made by Medusa and introduced for the first time with Crona. He was melded together with Ragnarök as a weapon and used the black blood in his proficient fighting style.
Soul Eater as well as Maka and other characters later come into contact with the black blood, and the consequence of the immense strength that comes with it is debilitating madness.
As explained in the anime, the madness makes one deny the soul of oneself and others and takes away your fear. Now with no fear present, the person exhibits extremely erratic behavior and is not scared to hurt others or themselves.
This is an insanity that shows how essential a person's fear is, shown by Maka in one of the latest episodes when she fights Asura. The fact that she learned how to accept her own fear and realise that humans need it to survive is why insanity in Soul Eater is merely a concept to differentiate between what is human and what is Kishin.
A Kishin kills and murders with no fear of anything.
A human protects and masters one's own fear.
The power hungry insanity: Hunter x Hunter
In Hunter x Hunter we have a lot of characters that don't exactly fit the norm of human action.
With people like Chrollo, Illumi and even Chimera Ants there is enough crazy to go around.
Still, the character we shall delve into to look at a different kind of instability is none other than Hisoka Morow.
Yes, in comparison to black blood madness Hisoka is an actual human being with no known influence outside of his own intellect. The contrary to another weapon or entity making someone insane is being shown in this anime.
Hisoka is just insane.
We have no means to see if there is anything that might have caused Hisoka to be the way that he is, but what we do know is that his character is almost too nonchalant for his own good.
His goal is to accumulate power and fight others that he seems worthy, as that is what attracts him. No person is spared if he believes he found a worthy opponent he will make that clear to them and pursue them passionately.
We could rule that the clown is just eccentric, but with the given information from the anime he definitely had some sort of mental difference next to his peers. Harming himself holds no problem to him, and his behavior is deeply rooted only to suit himself. He has no self-preservation except for when he needs to accomplish something, and he even enters the spiders just to get close to Chrollo.
Now we see a single person carry themselves throughout a story only to achieve one thing: a good fight.
After having looked at these two examples of insanity in anime, let's look at how that insanity can be portrayed visually.
A famous way to show someone's psychosis is the “Kubrick stare”. A directorial technique that got named after the director Stanley Kubrick who used a forward tilt of the head with eyes locked onto the camera to show the actors of his movies at their peak of madness. It became a very popular stylistic device and is used still very often in modern movies.
The character is supposed to look menacing, evil-plotting and absolutely unhinged.
Such devices, if used often enough, automatically invoke the message to the viewer.
If you’ve seen the Kubrick stare once in a psychotic character, you will definitely associate it with the same derangement again.
In anime we have a similar thing, and you might be aware of this already.
Familiar with the ‘eye angle just before a character goes insane’ meme?
It’s a running gag that shows multiple characters such as Asura from Soul Eater, Pain from Naruto, Light from Deathnote and Jason from Tokyo Ghoul in a frame where you can only see their eyes and it somehow looks extremely grotesque as if they were looking into different directions with their eyes.
As much as it is a joke, it is a perfect example of something extremely similar to the Kubrick stare used in anime culture. It goes so far that if any anime watcher would see a new character look like in a frame, one would assume they were about to go crazy.
Even Oikawa Tooru from Haikyuu!! was shown with a Kubrick stare in the last moments of the second Seijoh vs. Karasuno game, when his desire to win overtook him with incredible force.
Without loss there naturally can’t be any wins, and without sadness there will be no joy in laughter.
We need the different depictions of what one might call madness, to fill our stories with nuance that relies on our reality.
Be it an unknown entity, hunger for power, lack of fear or the good old fashioned thrive for world domination.
Madness is just another part of what we call life, and to be honest in healthy doses and for effect why not enjoy it in anime?
Now, do you guys know any other characters or concepts in anime that would be worth mentioning? I would love to see them in the comments!
Until then, stay sane!
-Nissa
#nissakii#anime#manga#madness#insane#insanity#psychosis#mental illness#soul eater#maka#crona#medusa#asura#hxh#hunter x hunter#hisoka#chrollo#significance of madness in anime#crazy#kubrick stare
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POLICE BRUTALITY IN FRANCE
Video translation: My name is Aïssa Maïga. I am proud to be here, standing alongside Assa [Traoré] and all the families who have suffered police brutality in France. I am here in remembrance of all the people, too many of them to list, who endured this violence and paid the price of it with their lives.
I am a actress and a director. The fight we are leading in French cinema, television and theater is the same fight. It’s a fight for fair, positive and decent representation of French people of African descent, of Asian descent and of Arab descent.
We will not leave this alone. We will not leave French cinema alone. We will not leave the French justice system alone. We will not leave France alone. Not as long as there is injustice and not as long as our brothers, our sisters, our children risk dying at the hands of a police force that is supposed to protect them.
02/06/20 - 20,000 protesters gathered in Paris to demand justice for Adama Traoré, a young black man who died in police custody in 2016 after being pinned face down on the floor by the weight of three cops. The demonstration went ahead despite the chief of police waiving their right to march a few hours before the agreed upon start time. Protesters were later gassed and violently dispersed by the police.
The spotlight is on the US right now and obviously it’s vital for us to show our support, but it’s equally important to engage in the work that needs to be done at home. There is plenty.
Last night’s protest comes on the heels of mounting and widespread police brutality being used in repressing demonstrations against pension reform earlier this year, as well as heightened and disproportionate policing in black and brown neighbourhoods during the Covid-19 lockdown (link contains footage of violence).
The French Ombudsman has published several reports pointing to systematic racially discriminatory practices in the French police as well as its disproportionate use of force. He has also called for a ban on the use of rubber bullets and GLI-F4 grenades. France is the only country in the EU to allow for the use of these grenades and they are directly responsible for multiple people being permanently maimed in recent protests.
An internal affairs investigation was launched in January after a black officer reported his colleagues for insulting him in a whatsapp group, which later turned out to be full of cops bandying around racial, homophobic and antisemitic slurs, hate speech and conspiracy theories. I have listened to excerpts and cannot overstate how violent and disgusting the language and the content were.
In response to French cops regularly smashing phones being used to record them, Amal Bentounsi launched the Urgence Violences Policières app, which allows for footage of police misconduct to be directly uploaded to the cloud and sent to a collective monitoring police brutality in France. Now a draft bill is being put to Parliament aiming to limit our right to document police misconduct. People could face a €15,000 fine and 6 months in prison for sharing any footage of a police officer during the performance of their duties.
Last week, Camelia Jordana, a French singer, said on television that she, like thousands of French citizens, was afraid of a police force that routinely killed people because of the colour of their skin. Our Minister for Home Affairs immediately slammed her on twitter, calling her statement shameful and defamatory and then went on to say that he would “not let the Republic’s honour be sullied”.
All of this to say that our government is complicit, and our government as well as the media establishment and French police unions are finding it very easy to point fingers across the Atlantic while denying that the same violence is being perpetrated here.
If you’re French please sign the petition against the draft bill on police footage, sign the petition to legally ban unsafe forms of restraint used by the police, educate yourself further (x, x, x, x), contact your representatives, download the UVP app, and join the protests if you are able. Black lives matter the world over and now is the moment to push for change that’s been a long time coming.
Video courtesy of Taha Bouhafs on twitter
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Sweet Justice
Just a quick note: This is not a ship fic. This will be focused primarily on Marinette bringing about justice and recognizing feelings within herself and seeing the true feelings of others. There will be mentions of Adrien and Luka’s feelings for her, but the fic will not lean more towards one or the other. Just a heads up!
Chapter 1
There are a lot of things that could be said about Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She is caring, determined, talented, and all around a force to be reckoned with when she had her mind set on something. She even seemed to have her entire life figured out. She had connections, she had skill, and she was dependable. Sure, she seemed to have a bit of a problem showing up on time occasionally, but what did that matter when she always pulled through anyways? But even the most amazing, seemingly invincible people have their weak spots. Even people who seem to have their life together struggle. And for Marinette, her weakness was not what anyone would expect (or likely believe).
Marinette had a lot on her plate, more so than what most people thought. Yeah, she was class representative as well as the designer for not only Kitty Section, but occasionally Jagged Stone as well, but she was also one of the two saviors of Paris. School can be difficult enough on its own, but with the added responsibility and her lack of being able to say no, she often found herself burnt out. But Marinette, despite that, would never dream of complaining about it. Those responsibilities gave her a sense of purpose, showed her that she had the ability to do for those she cares about the most. She didn’t think anyone would be able to take that from her, or shake her from the happy life she had built for herself.
That was until Lila came along.
In all honesty, dealing with Lila shouldn’t have been that difficult. She should have been able to just ignore her and move on. But unlike most bullies, Lila didn’t stop when she was ignored. No, she only got worse. Worse and worse until Marinette felt like she was drowning in a sea of deceit and betrayal. Marinette felt like there was nothing she could do, no one she could turn to. She was so used to dealing with everything on her own that now she didn’t know how to ask for help. Not from anyone who could actually help her in her civilian life. The only one that Marinette had ever depended on to help her was Chat Noir. And she couldn’t very well ask Chat for help with such an unimportant matter like dealing with a manipulating bully.
No, Marinette had no idea how to even begin asking for help from anyone. Instead she decided to keep her mouth shut, and pray to the kwamis that eventually Lila would get bored and move on. But for all of her Ladybug luck, that didn’t work. No, if anything it made Lila attack her harder. The lies got more grandiose as Marinette became more isolated. And everything came to a head the moment she decided to get Marinette expelled. And despite Marinette’s clean school record, and everyone knowing that she would never do the things Lila claimed, she ended up being kicked out anyways. And when that happened Marinette felt like her world was crashing down around her. Lila had won.
But then Marinette was welcomed back because for some reason Lila told them that everything was a lie. Of course, Lila still somehow managed to make herself seem like the victim by blaming a fictitious disease, but regardless. Marinette was back and she wasn’t quite sure why. She also wasn’t sure why the day she came back, Adrien seemed oddly protective of her.
Marinette didn’t want to waste this second chance she had. She didn’t want to just ignore Lila and let her take her friends away from her one by one. No, Marinette decided she would try and make amends with Alya. While she might not be able to convince Alya of Lila’s manipulative nature just yet, she still cared for her and missed her best friend. And it was with that thought, that Marinette decided to put a small apology gift together.
Marinette looked down at the miniature box of macarons that she had put together. The same flavor macaron that her and Alya had split at the beginning of their friendship that seemed like so long ago. She smiled softly to herself, grateful for the words Alya had given her that had encouraged her to finally stand up to Chloe after years of torment. Alya’s friendship meant the world to Marinette, and she truly hoped that these macarons would be the first stitch of many to mend their friendship.
Carefully tying a bow around the box, she looked at the little red kwami that was floating beside her and chuckled nervously. Tikki gave her an encouraging nod, as well as a soft, “She’s going to love them, Marinette!” And with that, Marinette gently slid the small box into her purse and began making her way towards the school. Marinette used her lunch break to put everything together, and hoped she had enough time before class started again to find Alya and give her the apology present. Repeating encouraging mantras in her head, Marinette walked up the steps to her school and began her search for her best friend.
Her first thought was to look in the classroom, so she made her way up the steps. However, she heard Alya’s voice underneath the stairs and stopped in her tracks. Before she could descend the stairs, she realized that it wasn’t just Alya’s voice she heard. No, it was Alya and Lila. And the conversation was not a pleasant one. Lila was not-so-quietly sobbing and telling Alya that she--Marinette--had threatened Lila after the expulsion incident. Marinette expected Alya to at least try and defend her, to say that maybe Lila just misunderstood (even though that conversation never happened in the first place), but instead Alya insisted that she would have a word with Marinette. Alya had the same tone of defensiveness and aggression that she did when she first stood up for Marinette against Chloe.
Only now she was standing up for Lila.
Against Marinette.
Marinette felt her blood run cold, and without a second thought she ran out of the school, back to her house, and up to the safety of her room. Her head was spinning and her chest felt tight. Her body temperature couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be cold or blazing hot. Tears stung her eyes as she tried with all of her might to fight them back. It was too much. Everything was too much. What was Marinette supposed to do? How could she not figure it out? She was Ladybug for crying out loud! Ladybug could fight villains on a near weekly basis and yet Marinette couldn’t take down a single bully?
In the back of her mind she could faintly hear Tikki trying to calm her down. Words of positivity and encouragement that in the moment felt hollow and patronizing and not what she needed right now. Collapsing onto her chaise, Marinette curled into as tight of a ball as she could, as if by squeezing herself into a ball she could squeeze her slowly chipping pieces back together. Her fingers dug into her arms as her mouth opened and let out a heart wrenching sob.
Now to some, this might have seemed like an over reaction. But this was the drop of water that broke the dam of her backlogged emotions. The feather that broke the back of the camel that was carrying the weight of her feelings. It was the last straw.
Suddenly everything felt too tight. Her room too small. Filled with photos of her friends that would no doubt all abandon her one by one. She needed to escape, to flee, to run and run until her lungs burned and her legs ached. Marinette shot up, about to do just that, when Tikki flew in front of her face.
“Marinette, please! You need to calm down!” Tikki said softly, desperately flitting about in front of Marinette’s face. Marinette could only look at Tikki with wide, glossy eyes that were wet with tears. “If you get too worked up, you could get akumatized!” Marinette felt her breath hitch.
“Is that all you’re worried about Tikki?” Marinette’s voice was alarmingly calm. “Me being akumatized? Not the fact that I’m in pain? Not the fact that my life is falling apart and I have no one I can rely on. I can’t even call on Chat Noir because of the stupid miraculouses and the rules that go along with them!”
“Marinette getting upset won’t fix anything!” Tikki tried to reason, meaning well but not well versed in the ways of complex human emotions. Of course Tikki only wanted the best for Marinette, but Tikki wasn’t human. She was ancient and not human and it had never been something she truly needed to know before. And she wasn’t what Marinette needed right now.
“I’m leaving, Tikki,” Marinette said, taking her earrings off and setting them on her desk. She knew that Tikki wouldn’t follow her if it meant abandoning the earrings. “I’ll be back.”
Before Tikki could protest, Marinette was climbing down the ladder and exiting the bakery for a second time, only now walking in the opposite direction of the school. She walked until the school and bakery were both out of sight and then she broke out in a sprint. Not sure exactly where she was running, she could only weave around pedestrians walking along the sidewalk as she moved throughout the streets of Paris.
She only stopped when her body refused to run a second longer. She fell less than gracefully onto a bench, her chest heaving and heart pounding in her ears. Her muscles were aching but that did little to distract her from the ache in her heart. Even running to the point of collapse did nothing to quell the hurt and betrayal she felt. Forcing herself to sit up on the bench, she peeked into her purse and eyed the macarons with disdain. She was sure if she opened the box she would find the macarons inside crushed, a visual representation of the state of her friendship with Alya.
As Marinette spiraled, the tears threatening to spill from her eyes once again, she did not notice the little purple butterfly lazily fluttering towards her. It wasn’t until it landed on her purse gently-- it’s wings flapping twice before melting into her purse--and she heard the sickeningly caring voice of Hawkmoth in her head did Marinette realize what was about to happen. But despite her knowing better, she didn’t fight against it. What was the point, anyways? Nothing mattered right now. So when Hawkmoth said: “Princess Justice, so many people have hurt you. Hurt you in ways you didn’t deserve. Allow me to give you the power to bring them to their senses, yes?”
Marinette didn’t hesitate to agree.
Her world was covered in a dark purple for a brief moment, before once again everything had changed. She felt power thrumming throughout her, and a strange sense of calm that she hadn’t felt mere moments before. Looking at her reflection in a nearby window met her with an unfamiliar sight. A rococo styled dress, layered with blue and pink and white. Frilled sleeves and a miniature apron. She certainly looked like a princess, especially with her hair pulled up partially with a crown of what looked like frosting and strawberries. On her waist was a purse of sorts, and somehow she knew that it held macarons that would bring about peace. One of her eyes was covered with a mask, a mask that ironically allowed her to see through the masks other’s wore. In her hand she held a scepter that would let her lead an army.
“All I need you to do now is get me the Ladybug and Cat miraculouses,” Hawkmoth said through their mental link, but he got no response from Marinette--no, Princess Justice.
Princess Justice wasn’t worried about the miraculouses, and she wouldn’t be doing any favors for Hawkmoth. She wouldn’t be doing favors for anyone ever again. The only thing on her mind was bringing those who were unjust to their knees.
Including Hawkmoth.
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taglist: @fandom-trapped-03 , @justafanwarrior , @ultimatetornshipper
#bevvywrites#bevvy writes#my writing#fanfic#fanfiction#miraculous ladybug#miraculous ladybug fanfiction#akumatized marinette#akuma marinette#marinette dupain-cheng#princess justice
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do you have an analysis on sokka's repression?
basically my entire blog. akkakasja i have rbed this post and made these two however the ones that are mine are way too short for my taste so! here’s a bunch of mainly subtextual proof that sokka self-represses like a fun little kendoll in a box made of masculinity and eldest sibling disease:
sokka won’t talk about his emotional distress whether it’s anger, sadness, grief, anything willingly, (except when it comes to identity issues and self-worth) and if someone explicitly asks he will give a vague answer and talk around the actual issue. mostly when talking about grief and claiming sokka actively supressed his grief over his mother’s death, we must take yue’s death as a reference.
sokka’s reaction to yue’s passing is the direct textual representation of the manner in which sokka grieves. it is shown this way for a reason; this is how he grieved kya. it’s merely making a reading the subtext when realizing sokka doesn’t talk about yue’s death even when he “think(s) about her all the time” as he expresses so during the swamp, for example. it’s safe to assume this is a practiced copying mechanism. he does not talk about yue directly to anyone unless he’s under pressure (as seen thru suki during the journey to ba sing se) and even then the information he gives is incredibly vague. he wouldn’t talk about her mother at all if it wasn’t in order to help katara. (and claiming katara’s grief towards kya was bigger or more real than sokka is incredibly disingenuous and kinda dehumanizing to both of their characters By The Way). sokka feels incredibly guilty as the vision of yue in the swamp calls him out on it, particularly using the term “protect” (coming back to this fun little word later). sokka could not protect yue, so yue had to die. he sees this tragedy as his absolute and entire fault — once again comparing it to katara, who not once blames herself for the murder of her mother, the same way sokka never blames anyone, not zhao, not zuko, no one but himself for yue’s passing.
sokka doesn’t believe it’s his place to rely on other people. rather he must be the one everyone can rely on. sokka was raised as a protector of his sister as the last living bastion of their culture, he was left as the only warrior (man) in his village at thirteen, who was apparently expected to hunt and fight the fire nation soldiers and protect the rest of the village. he internalized this role of the protector and provider and the so-called “man” and while incredibly sexist, it did put a certain pressure on his shoulders that doesn’t allow him to express his emotions because he internalized he needed to be strong, and even though he gets over his fundamental sexism by the fourth episode there’s this unconsious belief in him that emotions (girls womanhood etc etc) are weak, and sokka cannot afford to be weak.
this is visible as through the many many times “protect” is a key word in certified sokka character & arc defining moments. sokka’s idea of masculinity is the idea of the warrior and the protector and part of the source of his insecurities that manifest more clearly during “sokka’s master” is (apart from feeling unspecial) that he feels unworthy because of his supposed lack of utility in certain specific matters that only benders like the three radioactive preteens he’s trying to keep alive can handle. in his head the way he can protect equals his utility in the group and therefore his duty being fulfilled.
for this, sokka has things to do, people to keep safe and focused, a man to become, and he cannot afford an emotional crisis like katara or zuko can go on a revenge murder mission or curse the universe at the top of a mountain weekly. he only stops and actually thinks about how miserable he is when he feels he’s slowing the group down at times when he’s in the middle of an identity crisis (which is also caused by his wretched self-image of the man protector etc etc it's an old story). when it comes to grief and loss he never demands justice, he never asserts his grief even though he does suffer for it, even though he is absolutely not indifferent.
now, sokka being miserable as he is can easily be seen whenever he’s alone, or without aang or katara or toph to keep a light atmosphere even though they are constantly on the verge of dying, by yelling at incompetent adults or making conversation with the universe, or simply making self-depreciating comments. most of his jokes are merely a copying mechanism for when he feels emotionally distressed and a method of distraction and therefore protection towards aang, toph, and katara, or a self-aware joke at his own expanse for his own personal amusement. his jokes ground the situation, acknowledge the ridiculousness of it and make it more manageable and palatable for everyone involved. instead of panicking or losing his mind, he makes plans, he makes jokes. he tries his absolute best to keep the situation afloat, like a good leader should.
sokka complains about trivial, petty shit more than any other character in the show, but when it comes down to it, sokka never actually copes with stuff. when he is genuinely torn up about a situation, when something truly moves something in him, it doesn’t get much verbal acknowledgement from anyone. let's make a list: when yue dies, sokka never truly opens up about it until suki zuko comes around and even then it’s kinda vague. sokka forgets how his mother looked like but paranoically remembers the details of the flag that invaded his home the day she died. when sokka remembers the day his father left, he doesn’t bring it up at all, and he quietly reflects on it by the campfire instead. there’s plenty of signs that his nonbender status is something that makes him insecure long before he ever actually comes out and says it in sokka’s master. showing this in visual media can be a complicated thing, but honestly to god believing sokka plain doesn’t have much emotional depth or worse, thinking he ��doesn’t care” is such a shallow and lazy analysis to make. so in conclusion # sokka antis dni
#sokka#analysis#asks#anon#3h#n#this is kinda all over the place lol but. i think it makes sense#the protector complex#sokka apologism#< sort of#there's also the entire ordeal of katara being a lil bit coddled & how sokka thinks of himself as unimportant by comparison#but i didn't find a place to put that part of the argument in this post 😣 sorry#grief like the fog
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I started this blog in 2014, as the first Caitlyn on tumblr, and obviously I’ve been through a lot of retcons and changes myself, not only adapting to Riot’s own public retcons (from the minor, like her aesthetics, to the major, like the removal of the Institute of War as an integral part of their lore) but also to my own. That’s the thing about playing a character as complex as this, is that you learn more as you go. In your interactions with others and the creation of backstory, history, and other bits of worldbuilding to better understand the world you’re in, a character goes from a handful of images and some in-game voicelines to a fully-fledged person with a complex narrative. Sometimes things change, and that’s fine. But there are some changes which... aren’t.
For all the fingerprints I’ve put on her, she is still not my character. But I care. Sunk-cost fallacy, maybe, but I care about this character I have been involved in and I care about the direction she has been taken. So, without further ado, I’d like to delve into:
The Recent Caitlyn Update In Piltover’s New Context
or, We Gotta Fetishise Police Violence, I Mean, Look At Her, She’s So Hot
Back in August 2015, I went, ‘Oh No, they’re going to try to turn Piltover into Gotham City, aren’t they?’, and lo and behold, suddenly we have Poison Ivy now. But I will get back to that, later. In this particular thread, I noted that many of the characters in Piltover seemed destined for a revamp that would rob them of what originally drew us to them in the first place, and that Piltover seemed destined for a rework that would wash out much of their character. Piltover and Zaun were always meant to be polar opposites, but suddenly we were seeing glimpses of Piltover being ‘not as good as everyone thinks’, which hinted that Piltover and Zaun were destined not to be polar opposites in the future, but indistinguishable from each other. It worried me that the only thing telling these two fascinating cities apart would be the sunlight.
So, when we have so much potential for a clash between Zaun and Piltover, between ‘Science No Matter The Cost’ and ‘We Must Advance The World With Care’, why change Piltover to some murky middleground, turning peace and security into wartime capitalism? A world where the people are shitty, where weapons and profit come first, and the only ones making a stand are the ones who are so embittered they have nothing better to do?
Because it has to be ‘interesting’. We’re going to lose bits that we like, that we’re familiar with. And that’s why I’m concerned.
This was before Piltover and Zaun were squished together in an ugly - and utterly ham-fisted - method of showing How Complex The Future Is. There’s layers, guys! Literal layers to this one single city! That means it’s deep! But when I say ‘bits that we like, that we’re familiar with’, I’m not clinging to a fanon interpretation. I’m saying the things that drew us to the world and to the characters to begin with. I could adapt from Caitlyn turning from brown-haired and brown-eyed to black-haired and blue-eyed, because even through I had been doing art, at that point, the change gave me an opportunity to express and discover more about her character (her eye colour being influenced by her mother’s magic, for one). But some of the more stark changes - to family, to job, to personality, to the city of Piltover itself - these result in a character changing completely. I was worried that the cool detective who literally made the world a better place would be chopped and changed into something unrecognisable. I even expounded on my concerns in November 2016, where I could see some of the ways the writers at Rito might make adjustments in the direction of their lore updates.
All this to say, I’ve been working on her for a while, and I was bracing for some bad news. This? This is kind of the worst.
Caitlyn has always been the Sheriff of Piltover, an authority figure, a representative of the law and order that Piltover is famous for. Piltover’s peace and financial prosperity has been directly linked to Caitlyn’s concerted effort to eradicate crime (not criminals, crime! Which, as I have mentioned particularly in this post from 2014, means she upended and reformed the justice system, from the legal process to the prisons to how people are treated as citizens). The city is safe, people have greater access to personal wealth and development, classism is erased, society is flourishing. Zaun, as Piltover’s polar opposite, is a corporate nightmare, with ‘do as thou wilt’, private bodyguards for the rich and powerful while the poor scramble to survive in a system that barely treats them as human. Vi, as a Zaunite, brings a lot of her ‘violence as a problem-solver’ methodology to Piltover’s law-enforcement, though she seems to have no intention of returning to Zaun and seems to have bonded with Caitlyn (‘teamwork!’) to Get Shit Done. And, apparently, there is still shit that needs to be done, though nowhere near as much as there had been in the Bad Old Days.
Vi was, at the time, the awkward-grit-teeth-grin-ha-ha-um-yeah representation of police violence. ‘Resist arrest’, she cries gleefully, as she beats people and breaks down buildings, and we are supposed to go ‘ha, isn’t that funny’ with varying degrees of sincerity. Of course Piltover is going to have problems: anywhere that has wealth and stability is going to be targeted by the envious and the needy. Peace needs to be protected. The problem lies in how that protection is enacted.
So now we have the recent Legends of Runeterra update to Caitlyn, an update which looked at the context of Piltover needing protection, as well as the modern context of Riot’s California location in the Years of Our Lord 2020-2021, and then decided ‘you know what we need? Police violence, everyone loves police violence’.
MAN I thought the stripper-cop skins were bad but here we go!
Her Yordle Snap-Traps (which I envisioned as from the Yordle Military, rather than a racially-profiling weapon as, y’know, they work on human-and-larger-sized people as well) have now been replaced by electroshock grenades, the intent gone from incapacitation and observation to outright paralysis and destruction. Her net-short is now apparently electro-conductive (admittedly, I have had one (1) single RP where that happened, but it came at both a cost to Caitlyn and to her weapon’s efficiency as a result, a last-resort against a dangerous opponent). Caitlyn’s cards in LoR take her from being a detective coordinating ideas and people and putting together a case to a SWAT team leader. This might be the biggest problem in working for a non-combat-oriented character in a MOBA, or in any fighting game: the game needs to find rationalisations for all of their characters being there, being combatants, being able to kill (even if, as Riot says, the lore is separate from the game). We have monsters and soldiers and ancient powers who of course they know how to spill blood and relish in doing so. But pacifists, like Karma or Bard? Explorers like Ezreal? And a sheriff, a peacekeeper, a law-keeper, someone mindful of responsibility and the importance of saving every life possible, like Caitlyn? They’re stripped of that depth and complexity in-game, but there was always the lore that backed them up. But they’ve done away with that completely. Caitlyn was never special operations. She was never military. But now she is, because she had to be changed to fit better into a fighting game. They had to make her violent, and as a result, they have undermined not only everything about the character that made her interesting to begin with - turning her now into a representative of police brutality, but with long hair, pouty lips, and a thigh gap - but they’re also re-writing the context of Piltover. It was bad enough to squish Piltover and Zaun together. But now, Caitlyn’s update is proof that Piltover has gone from a steampunk utopia to a violent, oppressive and cynical post-industrial world. The depiction of Caitlyn as a SWAT team leader (complete with special-forces beret, because hat! Caitlyn wears a hat! Nevermind the fact that she’s no longer wearing a distinctive tophat but instead a symbol of extreme state-sponsored force!) shows us that Piltover’s ‘army’ is not designed as a defence against outsiders, but as an offensive force against their own people. Caitlyn is supposed to be the representation of how peace and order is maintained in one of the largest factions in League of Legends, and if her method of maintaining order is straight-up police violence against their own citizens, then it’s not really peace and order. It’s authoritarianism at best, and facism at worst.
Piltover was different from every other nation in Runeterra because it didn’t have a military. It had defenders, and it had a powerful economy, and it had a democratic political system. But the Piltover update retconned Caitlyn’s hard work. The gangs were back - though now they’re big powerful families like Clan Ferros - and Caitlyn has been de-aged so that she’s still new to the force, that she hasn’t even had her chance to change anything. Her importance to Piltover is minimised... and why is Vi even there? (Oh boy I guess you’re going to have to watch Arcane to find out! Coming to a Netflix near you soon!) With a younger Caitlyn in a violent society, she has no choice but to be violent herself... even if that undermines everything previously established about Piltover and about Caitlyn. This update has made Piltover just as ugly and oppressive as Demacia, Noxus, and Zaun. It’s just another army equipped to do violence, but now that violence is turned inwards. This isn’t protection, it’s control. It’s fear. It’s oppression. Caitlyn is no longer a peacekeeper. She’s a monster. Chopped and changed, as I feared, into something completely unrecognisable from how she began in a world that no longer looks like what it had been... or should be.
It’s hard to tell what came first, the change to Piltover or the change to Caitlyn. Either way, the changes are inextricably linked. Caitlyn was integral to Piltover’s modern state, and Piltover is integral to Caitlyn as a character. Her (original) drive was to make the city and all its people better; Piltover was a utopia because of the effort of Caitlyn, and of people like her, people who wanted a better world. This new iteration of Piltover - full of fear and violence and hypocricy, layered over Zaun in such a way that makes ham-fisted commentary about the wealth/class divide - undermines the value of the individual. It removes agency. It removes hope, which had been integral to Piltover. Piltover is no longer the CIty of Progress... it’s the City of ‘you better be rich and pretty if you want to progress’. And Caitlyn is no longer a force for good or a representative of responsibility, because those things don’t exist in Piltover anymore. Legends of Runeterra has turned Caitlyn into a bitch, someone to hate. She has a marked lack of respect for people, as demonstrated in her new character traits of ‘casually-racist’ (her lines to Veigar), ‘condescending’ (her lines to Viktor), with some added pride in her violence (’here’s my calling card *shoots gun*’ and ‘I aim to win and my aim is excellent’). She is a representative of her city, and she is a terrible person now. Piltover is terrible. Piltover is ugly.
But Caitlyn avoids that last part. And she’ll get away with it, because she’s a hot twenty-something.
In 2015, I drew Caitlyn-as-Swain, as an AU for what might have been. The overwhelming response at the time was ‘aaa she’s so hot I’d follow that leader of Noxus’, prompting a good friend Swain RPer to comment that Swain - who was, at the time, the withered man in green and gold who needed a cane - was just as smart as Caitlyn if not more so, a proven capable leader, but when it comes down to it, sex-appeal will always trump characterisation and storytelling, and that’s disheartening for someone who puts so much work into stories, to context, to something deeper than ‘Just another MOBA’. And here I am, in 2021, looking at how Caitlyn has been stripped of her fascinating and complex characterisation while maintaining her long legs, long hair, and corsetted figure. Now, I do appreciate the fact they’ve given her a better costume than miniskirt and boobtube. She deserves so much better. I even commissioned back in 2015 for a Better Look for Caitlyn; Tom aka FaerieFountain went on to make her new look canon. But she’s supposed to be a detective. She’s supposed to be careful and methodical and mindful of her status and power. Instead, she’s been made gleefully violent, leaving a lot of depth behind in order to become just Hot Cop With Gun. (As an aside, was anyone else uncomfortable with Caitlyn’s high-school skin? Especially when the writer actually tweeted ‘step on me’? Hello? Ma’am? That is a high school student, that is a CHILD you are talking about? But Caitlyn is hot so it’s fine! Sexualise a child! it’s fine, she’s hot, it’s fine!) Almost everyone who has contacted me about Caitlyn’s LoR cards has been excited to see her. Good! She’s a great character! Or, she was. But the enthusiasm about her is tied to how she’s so violent, how she uses her power to abuse those who don’t conform. But she looks great, smoking hot, you know? And when she’s smoking hot, her dangerous and abusive behaviour and attitude are completely excused. An update to a character needs to take into account characterisation as well as the visuals. Her update, sadly, has focused on the all-too-prevalent problem of the viciousness of state-sponsored violence, rather than the complexity of detective work, of puzzle solving and intellectualism, but because she looks hot and speaks in that British accent, no-one’s going to care. Hot ladies can get away with so much, because legs and pouty lips, but I guess she’s also a cop or whatever.
And, as a momentary aside, why is an eco-terrorist suddenly Caitlyn’s longtime foe? It makes zero sense for Piltover and for Caitlyn that someone who plant-based powers is her biggest rival and the city’s biggest threat. Zero sense, until you take into account that Piltover has been stripped of its character and made into something more aligned with modern authoritarianism than the hopeful vibes of steampunk. Environmentalism? Not on my watch! Deploy the police (the good guys!) to silence the protesters (who are obviously the bad guys becase they’re protesting)! Because Piltover and Zaun are one city now, and therefore indistinguishable, we have a fucking Poison Ivy character causing enough trouble in Piltover to warrant entire fucking SWAT teams opening fire within the city limits and around peoples’ homes! Not Zaun, which is the environmental nightmare, but Piltover! With its fresh air and open skies! Yes, that’s a great place for an eco-terrorist to blame and/or try to fix! The whole thing is honestly so backwards! Like they’ve decided to make a cool character in the form of Corina and just shove her into the story, rather than finding a place in the narrative that suits her. The idea that Corina is C makes no sense. Caitlyn vs C is supposed to be Sherlock versus Moriarty, Ganimard versus Lupin, ACME versus Carmen Sandiego, world’s greatest detective against the world’s greatest thief. It focused on the intellectual battle, the need for self-improvement, and - most importantly! - that this was a fight that didn’t result in gunfire or people being put in bodybags. But we can’t have that in our fighting game! We can’t have people thinking, because that’s not the kind of game we have, it’s left-click-shoot out here on the Rift or in the cards. So now we have a woman with plant powers bombing Piltover, and a policewoman kicking down doors and opening fire. And she’s right there, in Caitlyn’s new splash art, within reaching distance of the sheriff!
She’s right there! In hot pink with a flower in her fucking hair! And Caitlyn doesn’t even notice? Looks like one of my major gripes about Caitlyn being updated - Incompetence - is rearing its ugly head. She cannot even see someone not five feet from her. Oooh, look out, Piltover, no-one can figure out why this single eco-terrorist is causing problems for years, but Caitlyn will figure it out! With her gun! Because she’s a cop with a gun, and cops with guns never cause more problems than they solve, right?
Look... I know. I know she’s not my character. I know that everything I’ve done is fan-interpretation. But I’ve worked for so long and hard and done so much research, and things I’ve done have even been seen by - and used by! - the company itself (not just in the ‘oh what a coincidence’ sense, either, I know my link on Hextech as a form of magic made it to several of the writers, some of whom later contacted me). I might be too jaded by all the disappointment to take it personally anymore, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still happen. We know Riot Games could be and should be better. So many people in this community - and people who have since moved on - put so much love and effort into the characters and the world, building up from scraps and guesswork and extrapolation. It wasn’t our world, but we enjoyed playing in it. We enjoyed struggling in it, because it pushed us to be thoughtful, creative, to be engaged and interested. Critical Theory doesn’t have to be negative... but this recent update to Caitlyn’s character and to Piltover as a whole is... it’s a step backwards. They’ve gone for the ‘ooh isn’t this gritty and dark’ approach, and swept away so much of what made the original so interesting, creative, engaging to begin with. They’d rather have controversy than people genuinely enjoying the thing that they’re opening their wallet for.
Caitlyn was a detective who focused on responsibility, intellectualism, and care. What she is now is not the same Caitlyn they started with, and expresses a set of values that I do not support. This blog will continue to be focusing on the old lore, on what Piltover has been and what it should be: a hopeful utopia, a place for people to grow and be responsible and thoughtful and mindful of their place on the world stage. It’s not going to be perfect, but there’s hope, and there’s people here who want the world, and everyone in it, to be better than it is. I hope you join me, no matter who you are.
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The Interesting Use of Christina in Episode 8
So, I’ve been marinading in my thoughts about this week’s episode, and boy was it a doozy.
Not to be like, one of those white people who only focuses on the white character in a show with a mostly black cast, but I am continually fascinated with the use of Christina/William as a character and what she consistently provides/represents within the narrative.
As a character she represents White Privilege, and it is something the character wields and is aware of. Something refreshing about her is that she does not play down or deny her privilege, she often weaponizes it. Sometimes she does this in the favour of the other characters. A literal White Knight, protecting Tic, Leti, and George in the pilot, then again being called to for protection THREE TIMES in episode 8. And then again in the trailer for episode 9.
Begging Christina for protection goes hand in hand with the source of fear and anxiety in this episode: the lynching of Emmett Till.
(I’m just now realizing the brilliance in the decision to make Christina a queer genderfluid character, because the dynamics of race, sex, and sexuality can all be addressed with just one character. Misha’s mind. Anyway.)
Tic asks for a protection spell trading what edge he had to Christina for it. Leti does the same, asking directly for protection for Tic, then accepting her own Mark of Cain instead. They give every magical advantage they have to the White Devil because they are fucking terrified for their lives and for the life of a black boy. Their son. (All while neglecting the very real and in-danger black girl they were supposed to be protecting, Dee.)
Tic and Leti are circling the same subject: Tic’s mortality, and the sense that he has a limited time to get his affairs in his order, or else cheat a predestined death--likely at the very hands of the woman he’s asking for help from. Emmett’s death is a memento mori that the cast are all trying to escape (or running towards) for the whole episode. Dee is hunted by demons after the death of her best friends, Montrose says he’s been waiting for death his whole life, Ji-Ah is a very angel of death herself.
Between Tic and Leti, Ruby went directly to Christina after Emmett’s open casket in need of comfort and safety. Safety openly provided when the neighbour starts harassing her. Safety she tries to put on with the potion, but has it literally stripped from her by what appears to be a combination of her own internal rejection, and William’s nails.
The need for protection comes up directly, after, in the conversation between Ruby and Christina. After bathing and changing clothes from their visceral sex scene, Ruby calls Christina out for feeling safe and removed from Emmett Till’s carnage. And, this is where the use of Christina as White Privilege personified comes up textually again.
When Christina says she does not care about Emmett Till, she is not only an honest representation of white apathy of black injustice, she’s a liberal one. Christina says, “I do not care about Emmett Till, or Roy Byrant, or JW Milam who will never be brought to justice.” There is no denial of the crime committed or attempt to victim blame. She acknowledges the act of evil done, just that it does not affect her. (Christina is Get Out evil, not Django Unchained evil)
This scene itself is profound and in a way, why Ruby and Christina are the more interesting pairing than Tic and Leti. (More interesting, not better or more wholesome, don’t come after me) Because it’s a conversation any couple with a power difference needs to have. You cannot understand my pain. Every difference that Christina has that gave her a higher understanding than being born a straight white man (being a queer woman) Ruby has in addition to being black. Christina can never understand what Ruby is going through. Instead, she’s honest, and she listens to what Ruby has to say. (Is the bar so low? Is this profound or immersion breaking levels of commentary? I have no idea, I’m just buying whatever it is Misha’s selling.)
So, after three black people come asking the white devil for protection, what does the white devil do? She removes her own protection and kills herself like Emmett Till. The narrative uses Christina the same way the characters do. Christina being lynched like Emmett forces the white viewers to witness the horror (and as horrific as this is, it’s still not as bad as what happened to that little boy) without subjecting a black actor, or a black audience to it.
I cannot understand your pain. But, I will try, because you asked. Because I love you.
I’ve seen people calling Christina a sociopath. I think that’s giving her too much and too little credit. Christina has feelings. She’s just white. All of the performative emoting stripped bare. White privilege on display. No crocodile tears. But, she does care about some things. If Ruby had asked her, “Do you care that I’m in pain?” Christina would have said, “Yes.”
This is why she pays some men to kill her like Emmett Till with no audience but her murderers. (In the podcast they bring up that it would have been a better instance of direct action if she’d paid black people to kill her similarly, and I think that would’ve just created more unnecessary trouble for the black community. No matter how cathartic.) To see what terror had Tic, Leti, and Ruby all running to her for help. And, because Ruby told her she wanted her to feel Ruby’s pain. Christina, who is the literal embodiment of White Privilege because not only is she a white person, but an invulnerable white wizard, takes a moment to feel vulnerability--and that’s part of what makes her so interesting. She says, earlier in the episode, that God is both Heaven and Hell. So, she tastes hell on her pursuit of divinity. She is the white devil, but better the devil you know, y’know? It’s not Lancaster they’re all lining up to ask for help.
She’s both a narrative tool for the black characters’ protection, and textually, a person they go to for help. And, with Lancaster eaten by the shoggoth, there’s no one else poised to be the Big Bad. It’s like if Gandalf was the final boss.
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An Analysis of Will's Moral Conflict
One of the key struggles for Will throughout the show concerns his reluctance to fully embrace his darkness. I completely acknowledge that this is a struggle that he deals with throughout, but the reasons for this struggle are more complicated than him simply having too strong of a good moral compass. When you actually look carefully at Will’s pattern of behavior, what you see is that Will’s moral struggle is really more about what he thinks he should feel or possibly even what he thinks he should want to feel. It is often argued that Will struggles with his internal conflict because he also wants justice or to stop Hannibal (and himself) from killing or hurting people. If Will is fighting his darker urges because he wants to protect people then that would be valid, but this is usually not the case when you actually look at his actions and the fallout. Will’s struggles don’t actually protect anyone (in fact his indecisiveness usually leads to tragic consequences) and when others do get hurt, he doesn’t actually react with genuine guilt or even make true changes to his behavior for the better.
In the beginning of the series, we do know that Will has a desire to be normal and because he isn’t he largely hides from social interaction. At first he is also not interested in socializing or even talking with Hannibal, but once Hannibal gets him to confess to enjoying killing Hobbs and then offers him acceptance at this confession, we see Will become much more comfortable having serious and personal conversations with him. Will enjoys the acceptance that Hannibal is offering him despite admitting to enjoying taking a life. Will is still very reluctant to admit this to anyone else; however, so he does recognize that it isn’t a normal feeling for him to have despite Hannibal’s lack of judgement (and even encouragement). He tells Abigail that killing her father was the “ugliest feeling in the world,” which we know is a lie and near the end of S1 he later confesses the truth about how he felt to her.
S2 is where we really get to see Will’s struggle begin though because it is during S2 that he is much more “awake” so to speak and he actually starts actively embracing more of his darker urges and recognizing them for what they are. He is angry at Hannibal because of Abigail’s death and the betrayal of lying about his illness and framing him, as well as the death of Beverly, which eventually leads to Will sending Matthew Brown to kill him. Will does not appear to feel any regret for this attempt at murder by proxy, or the fact that he was sending someone else off to potentially be sacrificed for this cause, and when Hannibal frees him from prison shortly afterwards, he also begins to understand some of Hannibal’s motivations for his S1 actions. However, he still starts off on a plan to get revenge and presumably attempt to bring Hannibal to justice. This brings us to the question of why is Will really doing all of this. Jack certainly seems to think it is for justice, but we eventually see that Will is lying throughout the “investigation.” Will was, for instance, supposed to manipulate Hannibal into trying to kill Mason but arrest him in the act. At least that is what Will tells Jack. However, Will also doesn’t tell Jack anything about his personal connection to the Mason Verger plot and what happened to Margot. He also manipulates Mason against Hannibal, but in the end he frees Hannibal allowing him to kill his way out of Muskrat Farm. He also just ends up watching Hannibal snap Mason’s neck and doesn’t tell Jack anything about what actually happened, which is why they have to resort to the planned entrapment dinner. Based on his actions and not just on what Jack believes are his intentions, there isn’t really any indication that Will’s motivations are anything but personal. He is upset by Hannibal’s actions in S1, but he is mostly still upset about what happened to Abigail. He brings her death up to Freddie twice and questions Hannibal directly about it. Even before the rest of the FBI closes in and Will is forced to make a choice, he burns Hannibal’s psychiatric notes about him. The file even contains the real clock that Will drew when he was ill. Will burns it willingly when he could have attempted to keep it. Hannibal doesn’t seem concerned at all that Will has it in his hands. Why does he destroy valuable evidence if he wants justice? In the end, Will disregards even Abigail’s death when he calls Hannibal to warn him. Even if Will wasn’t planning to run with Hannibal when he got to the house (though we know he at least wanted to based on his later confession to Jack) he wanted Hannibal to leave. He wanted him to go free. This wasn’t about justice. It was about what had personally happened between the two of them and he was apparently okay with Hannibal leaving and going to potentially kill other people somewhere else. Later when Will is in the hospital and Chilton tells him this is his best possible world, Will imagines if he had killed Jack with Hannibal that night, which shows us that Will’s regrets over Mizumono aren’t that he failed to stop Hannibal and bring him to justice but that he didn’t commit to Hannibal sooner and that they didn’t get to go through with killing Jack together.
When we get to S3, Will’s conflict eventually shifts away from being about what Hannibal has done to hurt him and more about Will’s so called morality. This is where Will starts to get a bit more difficult to follow in terms of motivation because Will is pretty hypocritical about all of it. At the beginning of the season, Will is mourning the loss of the family that he, Hannibal, and Abigail could have been together. He is worried that Hannibal may just be playing with him, but he also wants to go to Hannibal. This is explicitly stated more than once when he talks to “Abigail” who is really just a representation of his own thoughts. At the end of the episode, he forgives Hannibal, and I think this is where we start to get a bit of a shift in Will’s conflict. Will goes to Hannibal’s childhood home, which is where he encounters Chiyoh. Will now sees someone Hannibal has “tested” and seemingly has left behind. Will was already worried in Primavera that Hannibal was simply playing with him, but now he sees someone that Hannibal was able to walk away from and he likely becomes concerned that Hannibal sees him the same way. Afterall, Hannibal gutted him and walked away and Will only has the broken heart as a sign that Hannibal hasn’t just moved on. What if Hannibal was just mocking him? Will’s insecurities are somewhat understandable here. What is telling though is how Will treats what he should logically see as another of Hannibal’s “victims.” He treats Chiyoh in a very Hannibal-like manner. He tests her to see if she will kill and she does in self-defense. While he does take the prisoner away from the castle initially, when Chiyoh screams, we get a shot of Will off in the woods. His reaction is stone cold and there is no surprise at all on his face, so he must have expected the prisoner to come back after her. Chiyoh also makes sure to call him out on his real intentions. Later when they are riding the train together, he still shows no remorse for what he did to her, and instead rather coldly questions her about taking a life. He asks her if she sees herself killing the prisoner over and over and she replies no that she sees him and his response is just to grin at her as if he enjoys the thought of what he has made her do. Later in the same episode, she states that he feels like he needs to kill Hannibal or he will become him and Will says yes. It is here that the story somewhat shifts from Will possibly wanting to go be with Hannibal again to feeling like now he needs to kill Hannibal in order to “save himself” from Becoming like him. What changed? I think Chiyoh and thinking Hannibal just saw her as disposable is part of it, but I think the fact that he was able to really forgive Hannibal for what happened between them before and Abigail is also apart of it. If Will can forgive Hannibal for killing their daughter and gutting him and still wants to go to him, what does that say about Will himself and the type of person he is? This isn’t the way normal people love. I think this realization, combined with the fear that Hannibal doesn’t really care about him, causes Will to get a bit spooked and regress in his own self-acceptance a bit. Seeing Bedelia and realizing she took his place also helped solidify this belief on his part.
However, lets look a little more closely at Will’s apparent motivation and the belief he needs to kill Hannibal for this reason. Is it to bring him to justice? Is it to stop Hannibal from killing others? No, it is all about Will and his attempts to possibly control his own thoughts, feelings, and actions. Keep in mind that at this point, Hannibal has left Will alone for eight months. He did leave the broken heart, but Will had to travel across the ocean to see that. Will is going after Hannibal; Hannibal is not going to Will. The idea that Will must kill Hannibal to stop his own dark desires is pretty illogical on Will’s part, and Chiyoh tries to point out to him that there are flaws in his thinking because she follows up by telling him there are means of influence other than violence, but this is also where Will really starts twisting himself up in knots to lie to himself. (For the record, I do think there is more to Will’s motivations than just wanting to kill Hannibal just like there was much more to Hannibal’s attempt at the head sawing. For one, I think they are both afraid of being the vulnerable one in the relationship because at this point in their relationship, there is a lot of violence, physical and emotional, between them. I also doubt Will would have gone through with it. He pulled a tiny knife in the middle of a public street and Will has never before or after this, been able to actually go through with killing Hannibal or letting anyone else do it, but I digress.) It should also be noted that Will didn’t go to Italy in the first place to attempt to bring Hannibal to justice. He goes to Italy to deal with his feelings for Hannibal just like he “resumed therapy” to deal with his feelings for Hannibal. We can see proof of this in his interaction with Pazzi who wants his help as an officer of the law to find Hannibal, and Will not only isn’t interested in really helping him, he starts to deliberately act creepy around him including taunting him by asking him if he knows whose side he is really on. When Will meets up with Jack later, even though he goes with him to the apartment where they find Bedelia, Will also slips out by himself and doesn’t tell Jack he knows where to find Hannibal, so again he sees finding Hannibal as something personal and not a matter of law enforcement.
Then we arrive at the Digestivo break up. Will is clearly exhausted during this episode. He does bite Cordell’s cheek and look to Hannibal for approval and help talk Alana into freeing them, but you can tell he is tired. This is when he tells Hannibal to leave and he doesn’t want to know where he is. Let’s break this action down. There are two valid interpretations to this: Will deliberately manipulated Hannibal into surrendering (which he later claims) or Will thought Hannibal would really leave and was surprised that Hannibal turned himself in. If Will did deliberately manipulate Hannibal into turning himself in, we can say from his later actions that he was essentially keeping Hannibal on the hook until Will was ready to return to him. Will is giving himself a break from the drama that is their relationship and giving himself some space (even though Will was the one to seek out Hannibal again and not the other way around). If Will didn’t manipulate him on purpose then Will once again is apparently fine with Hannibal leaving and killing other people. The implication then is that it would apparently be okay as long as Hannibal wasn’t killing people he knew and Will wasn’t tempted to give in to his own dark urges by being around Hannibal. Hannibal killing only seems to be an issue for Will when he is personally connected to it, and even then only to a point. The only one of Hannibal’s victims he really seems to care about is Abigail (who he forgave Hannibal for) and Beverly for a short period of time before he seemingly forgot about her entirely (and this is arguably Will being angry at Hannibal taking something else away from him. Will tends to get upset when he believes this is what Hannibal is doing. We see it with Abigail, Margot’s baby, and later when he accuses Hannibal of this concerning Molly and Walter during his conversation with Bedelia.) We can also see the way Will treats one of Hannibal’s surviving victims, Alana. Alana is manipulated by Hannibal, and unlike Will himself, is considered disposable. Alana actually does try to stop Hannibal by pulling the trigger and attempting to shoot him, but she fails. She is a victim of Hannibal’s manipulations and suffers a serious injury and almost dies because of Hannibal. And how does Will treat her? He doesn’t even want her around him. He would rather pine for Hannibal and Abigail in Hannibal’s kitchen than even talk to her. They could have come together to bond over their trauma, but instead he rejects her entirely and tells her to leave him alone. He doesn’t even have a logical reason to be so put off by her in their scene in the kitchen.
We then arrive at the Red Dragon arc where Will’s “moral conflict” reaches its most hypocritical levels. First, we have how he treats Bedelia. Will is blatantly jealous, but even setting aside his hatred of her as a potential rival, his attitude towards her is outrageously hypocritical. He was upset no one would believe him about Hannibal in the first half of S2, but he never even gives her story the benefit of the doubt for a second (even openly mocking her with his “I don’t believe you.”) He also tells her she would deserve to be eaten by Hannibal and later threatens her again in TWOTL. This is the man who tried to shoot someone in cold blood, mutilated a corpse, set someone up to kill and mutilated another corpse, and tried to help Hannibal escape at least once. Will has done more criminal acts and gotten away with them than Bedelia is even capable of doing in the first place. Remember when Will was going to be arrested for killing and mutilating Randall Tier? Apparently Will just got away with that completely once the FBI was distracted by Hannibal being the real Ripper. Bedelia has nothing on Will.
We also have Will’s family, which is often used as an example of Will trying to be a good man and resist his darkness, but let’s look at how this is presented. Parallels are actually drawn between Will choosing his family and how Dolarhyde chooses his victims. Hannibal points out that Dolarhyde is like Will and “needs a family to escape what is inside of him.” When Hannibal tells him he picked a readymade family “to serve his needs” because he knows better than to breed, Will is called out for basically having a beard family (in more than one way). It is worth noting that Will does not even try to argue with Hannibal about this, which is basically accepting the truth of the statement. Will doesn’t have a problem with calling Hannibal out when he feels he deserves it. What we are shown of Will’s relationship with Molly is also quite shallow. We have no reason to believe he has been honest about himself with her. She believes he is motivated by wanting to save lives, but as we have seen he is fine putting people in danger and doesn’t seem to care about Hannibal killing people he doesn’t care about. She also jokes about his criminal mind and he shuts the conversation down. There has been discussion about whether or not Will was purposely putting Molly and Walter in danger. I don’t think he did this consciously, but I do believe he was very selfish to use them for a “normal” life while he is essentially keeping Hannibal waiting in prison. It is also very odd that Will is supposed to be so good at reading killers, but he “doesn’t” pick up on the obvious hints Hannibal gives him about Dolarhyde coming after Molly and Walter next. By involving them, and not being honest with them, he at least was pulling them into a world they weren’t prepared for. We also never see them again after they are attacked. Will mainly seems upset that Hannibal tried to take something away from him again since that has been an issue for Will throughout their relationship and even in the scene where he confronts Hannibal about it he doesn’t even stay angry for the entire scene. (Also, the accusation that Hannibal gave Will three years to build a family just so he could take them away is pretty bizarre logic as well. Hannibal didn’t know what Will was going to do while he was in prison.) If Will actually wanted to be with them though, it is odd that this was enough to destroy the relationship. As if he wanted to live in an illusion and once the illusion is shattered he has no need for it. Some argue that Will’s motivations are to protect Molly and Walter in the finale, but if that is the case why do we never see them again? Molly is only brought up in the finale as a way for Will to try and hurt Hannibal. If Will truly cared beyond the destruction of his attempt at a normal life, then why do we not get more of a real moment between Will and Molly after the hospital scene? Instead, Will is back to focusing on the personal conflict of he and Hannibal’s relationship and the new confirmation that Hannibal is in love with him and what he feels in return and what he is going to do about it. In fact, Will was the one who decided to involve Hannibal in the case before it was even necessary. If Will believes Hannibal is so dangerous for himself and the world at large, why doesn’t he leave Hannibal to rot alone in his cell until it is absolutely necessary to interact with him? Bedelia calls him out for just missing Hannibal and wanting to see him, but you also have to wonder if Will wants to give Hannibal the chance to act in some way and get involved. Hannibal didn’t even need to know Will had a family at all for the purposes of this case, so Will agreeing with Bedelia that Hannibal was going to let Will have something knowing he could take it away is odd. The whole situation is another example of Will coming to Hannibal instead of Hannibal coming to Will. Will had to want Hannibal involved.
We then come to Chilton and Will’s role in what happens to him. Will does appear upset at seeing what happened to Chilton in the FBI office, but when we cut to him with Bedelia, the one he can be more honest with, we see a very different side of him, and when she asks if he wants to talk about it he responds with “the divine punishment of a sinner mirrors the sin being punished” and “Damned if I’ll feel.” When she asks if he has to wonder if he put Chilton at risk he says no and with a cocky eyebrow raise, he responds to her asking if she expected this to happen to Chilton by saying “I can’t say I’m surprised.” We aren’t seeing any real remorse here and after imagining himself lighting the match that burned Chilton, he easily lies to Jack in the next scene and blames it all on Hannibal, which is a deliberate attempt on his part to deflect the blame he was just taking responsibility for with Bedelia.
Will’s actions in The Wrath of the Lamb are ambiguous to a point, and there are multiple interpretations of what his intentions were. What we can say for certain is that Will lies to Jack and acts like he didn’t know Dolarhyde was alive until after the rest of them learn that news as well. He never reveals that he has already put a plot into motion involving Dolarhyde. So what is Will’s motivation? There are different options. None of them actually make Will look good or heroic at all. One interpretation is that Will has decided that too many lines have been crossed by himself and he needs to put an end to it, so he is going to have Dolarhyde kill Hannibal. If this is Will’s motivation, then it means that Will is essentially blaming giving in to his own darkness on Hannibal simply existing. Hannibal is in a cell and while he did find a way to be something of a danger thanks to Dolarhyde, that avenue is now cut off to him. It doesn’t make logical sense for Will to decide to use another serial killer to kill Hannibal because Will has given into his darkness enough to now be willing to do things like set up Chilton and not feel bad about it. If this is Will’s genuine plan, it also means he is willing to lie to Jack and the others and put many people in danger for his own personal issues. The officers escorting them are killed, and it can be easily assumed that Will helped Dolarhyde know where they would be (how else did he find out?) so that it would just be Will and Hannibal against Dolarhyde alone, which was not Jack’s plan at all. Even if Will didn’t intend for the police officers to die, he was deliberately endangering others with his plan and they die because of his manipulations. Will also shows no remorse over this (he even steals a gun off of a corpse) even though it is a much worse act than killing a family annihilator with Hannibal. If Will’s moral conflict doesn’t include caring about the lives of innocent officers, what exactly is he trying to stop himself from Becoming and how will Hannibal being dead help? The most “heroic” take on Will’s plan is that he wanted to put an end to Dolarhyde and Hannibal (and possibly himself) to end all the evil and maybe stop himself from becoming a killer. However, Will’s plan involves lying to Jack, manipulating people, and getting innocent bystanders killed. This isn’t logical and if this was Will’s conscious plan he is a hypocrite who is more concerned with saving a perception of himself that he believes should exist than actually being a hero. If Will really wanted to put an end to things, he could also have helped Jack find Dolarhyde and then turn himself in for his own crimes or had himself committed to protect others from himself. Will instead picks the most reckless and dangerous plan he could. Even his attempt at ending both he and Hannibal isn’t a full commitment to the act. There was still a gun available. He could have put a bullet in Hannibal’s brain when he was vulnerable and then ended himself. Instead, Will pushes them off a cliff that Hannibal already told him had an eroding bluff. He is leaving it up to chance, likely because he doesn’t really want to die, but he believes dying is what he should want to do. Keep in mind, this last push isn’t motivated by the fact that his plotting led to the death of several innocent people. He is motivated to do this because of how Good and Right it feels killing with Hannibal.
For the record, I believe that Will really wanted to free Hannibal and kill with him. I do think it is very possible that Will told himself his motivations were what I outlined above, but because those motivations are so illogical, I believe this was just his excuse to create a situation where he and Hannibal had to fight and kill Dolarhyde alone together because what he really wanted was that experience (after all, he tells Bedelia his plan and threatens her with Hannibal coming after her, which doesn’t make sense if he really plans for them to all be dead). However, if the above were his motivations, and Will truly wanted to let Dolarhyde kill Hannibal for him right up until the moment he couldn’t actually let it happen, then Will is someone who is willing to blame someone else for his own actions, unnecessarily endanger bystanders to “save” himself, and then attempt to use someone else for murder by proxy (again). None of that is heroic and none of that demonstrates that Will is driven by a genuine attempt to be moral. It is a surface level morality that doesn’t add up to much at all.
Even the narrative tends to tell Will that his fight to preserve his “morality” is dangerous to others. The more Will fights, the more indecisiveness he shows, the more he gets other people hurt. His insistence that he just kept lying to Hannibal (as he tells himself in Primavera) helped lead to the tragedy of Mizumono. While Hannibal is responsible for his own actions, Will is also responsible for the part he plays and his inability to pick a side until it was too late (and even then in a way ambiguous enough that Hannibal did not seem to get the message.) When Will is unsure of himself and gives into his impulses without being sure of what he wants, we end up with situations like Chilton and the unnecessary deaths in TWOTL. Will’s moral conflict never actually leads to anything good in the show, and a lot of the negative consequences are caused by Will’s inability to seemingly be honest even with himself. Will’s moral conflict is something he does struggle with, but ultimately it does not lead to him actually changing for the better or showing genuine remorse for his actions. His conflict only leads to him being more reckless and endangering even more people. It is a false conflict that is based on Will believing he should be a certain way because of society’s expectations (and it is in this that the closeted subtext makes the most sense) rather than real guilt or a desire to be good for its own sake. I do hope and believe that surviving the Fall was what Will needed to finally let go of these issues so that he can finally be happy with himself and Hannibal.
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In response to JK Rowling and Joss Whedon, my (former) idols
I really didn’t want to have to do this.
So in addition to…=gestures vaguely=…all of that, the last few months have been kind of sucky when it comes to learning some really unpleasant things about artists that I looked up to, admired, and was in fact inspired by. I’ve already spoken about the Speaking Out movement revealing a lot of ugly behavior from various wrestlers, some of which I was big fans of, and then later we got Chris Jericho being a full-on MAGA. Yeah, that all sucked. But those were just performers whose work I enjoyed watching. The one that really hurt were writers who I deeply admired, whose stories I love, and who I was heavily influenced by.
The first, of course, was finding out that JK Rowling, the author of perhaps the single biggest YA fantasy series of all time Harry Potter, is a TERF. This really sucked for a number of reasons. Firstly, I really like Harry Potter! I mean, I’m not a super fan or anything. I came into it when things were kind of dying down, like the whole book series had already been released and there were only a few movies left, but I still really enjoyed it, have all the books and movies and a fair amount of merchandise swag, including a nifty wand I got at Universal Studios. Shit, I got two replicas of the Sword of Griffyindor, thanks to them screwing up my order in my favor and sending me a duplicate! They’re on my wall right across from me as I type this!
But in addition to writing a book series I really liked, JK Rowling was supposed to be one the good guys. She’s been vocally progressive, often openly comes down on British right-wing nonsense, has supported various persecuted minorities, and is on record as being one of the few self-made billionaires to actually stop being a billionaire for a time because she donated so much money to charity. And while we mock it now, her revealing Dumbledore as gay was a huge deal at the time. Plus, she cultivated this reputation as Auntie Jo, that cool, supportive aunt we all wanted.
But for a while her stock has been dropping. Her preference for confirming “representation” via tweets instead of explicitly putting it in the text of her stories has raised the question of queer-baiting, especially with a whole-ass movie with a young Dumbledore and Grindelwald to make their relationship explicit but failing to do so. The whole Nagini thing from the latest Fantastic Beasts movie was pretty gross. And re-examination of various problematic elements from the original novels has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Now, none of these really looked to be intentionally malicious, of course. Just about everyone’s early work will have problematic elements; that’s just how people work. And the later stuff smacked more of ignorance than anything. But after all this time, it’s like, c’mon. You should know better by now.
But the biggie came when her transphobic views finally came to light. Now, this one had been brewing for a while, due to some questionable likes and statements on her twitter. But then she decided to just go public and published what essentially amounts to a TERF manifesto, one with a very “love the sinner, hate the sin” condescending attitude and had a real persecution complex air to it.
Now, I’m not going to go into detail about what the manifesto was about, what the circumstances surrounding it were, or how wrong it was. It’s already been raked over the coals, dissected, answered, and debunked in detail by people far more qualified than me, so odds are, you’re already well aware of its contents and the subsequent rebuttals. But the gist of it comes down to her basically believing that transwomen are actually cis men claiming to be trans so as to infiltrate and invade female-only spaces.
Yeah.
Okay, that’s gross, but…why? Why is someone so noted for being progressive and wanting to foster an inclusive environment making this the hill of exclusion that she wants to die on?
Well, that’s where things get tricky. She mentions that prior to Harry Potter, her first marriage was highly physically and sexually abusive, and when she escaped from that, she had no place to go, leading her to be homeless for a time.
Oh.
Well, that makes sense. Someone goes through a highly traumatic experience with a member of the opposite sex, has no support structure when she escapes it, is left to fend for herself, only to suddenly get rocketed into fame, fortune, and influence, which in turn leads to a Never Again mentality. She was hurt, no one was there to help her, and now she’s afraid of men invading women-only spaces to victimize others like she was victimized. So…literally transphobic. Literally a Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist.
Guys, this is so fucked up. Like, how do you even approach something like this? She’s a victim in every sense of the word, so of course she’s going to have physiological damage and a warped view of things. I mean, if I found out that a close friend of mine went through the same thing and had the same prejudices, I would be nothing but sympathetic! I mean, I’d still do what I can to convince her to overcome those prejudices, but I’d still show sympathy and support for what she went through.
Abuse warps people. There’s a reason why so many abusers are abuse survivors themselves. It makes you terrified of being hurt again and often causes people to adopt toxic behaviors, beliefs, and reactions to protect themselves. I’ve already talked about it at length while discussing She-Ra and its own handling of the cycle of abuse, which included franks discussions of Catra’s horrible behavior, why she was the way she was, while never losing sympathy for her and rooting for her to overcome it. So if JK Rowling is an abuse survivor, is it really right to come down on her for having warped views because of that abuse?
But that’s the problem. See, she isn’t your troubled friend that you’re trying to help. She isn’t your cousin Leslie who’s a really sweet person but unfortunately adopted some bad ideals due to trauma suffered. She JK freakin’ ROWLING, one of the most famous, wealthy, and influential women in the world. She has a platform of millions, if not billions, which means her voice lends credibility to her bigoted beliefs. Alt-righters and other TERFs have already swooped upon this for giving validation to their awful beliefs, which puts trans people even more at risk. And as horrible as Rowling’s experiences might have been, the trans community is often the victim of far worse, and they don’t have a mountain of money and an army of defenders to protect them like she does. I’ve said it time and time again: just because you’re a victim, that doesn’t give you the right to victimize others! And bringing things back to Catra, as much as I loved her redemption in the final season, she was still a TERRIBLE PERSON for a huge chunk of the show, one that needed to be stood up to and stopped.
So yeah. That’s the messiness that is JK Rowling.
Now, let’s talk about the one that really hurts. Let’s talk about Joss Whedon.
I’ve made no secret of what a huge Whedon fan I am. Unlike Rowling, I was a HUUUUUGE superfan. Seeing Serenity for the first time in theaters was akin to a religious awakening to me as a storyteller, making it one of my top three movies of all time. Firefly is my favorite show ever. And I adored Buffy, Angel, and Dollhouse as well. I love Cabin in the Woods and The Avengers. The very first fanfic I ever wrote was a Firefly fanfic that disappeared along with my old laptop. I know his style isn’t for everyone, but I cannot understate how much of a personal inspiration he is to me as a writer.
And like Rowling, Joss was supposed to be one of the good guys! Buffy was monumental in pushing the needle when it came to female empowerment. Will and Tara were groundbreaking as a gay couple. He’s been outspoken for years about his feminist views and beliefs and was seen as one of the most prominent and influential feminist voices in Hollywood!
And then things started to go bad.
One day he was on top of the world, the mastermind behind the first two Avenger movies. And the next, it seemed like he was in freefall. It’s hard to really pinpoint exactly when the change took place. Some would say him being brought in as a last-minute substitute for Zack Snyder to take over on Justice League after Snyder had to leave due to family tragedy, and the subsequent awful critical reception to that film tarnishing his image, even if those were very unique circumstances that couldn’t really be blamed on him. Others might point to Age of Ultron’s less than stellar reception, as well as criticism of some questionable jokes and certain creative decisions regarding the character of Black Widow, which then led to a more critical examination of how Whedon continues to write female characters, as while his work might have been revolutionary in the 90’s, his failure to evolve with the times had meant that many of his portrayals are now woefully outdated and problematic, with his vision for a Batgirl movie getting hit with a lot of backlash as a result.
Again, I’m not going to go into too much detail, as this is all public knowledge and can be easily looked up, but overall it seemed that Whedon entered into a period where he was getting criticized more than he was celebrated, and his image of a guaranteed hit maker was now in doubt.
But all of this wasn’t the big problem. All creators go through rises and slumps, and everyone hits points where they get hit with a barrage of criticism; that’s just part of being a public creative figure, especially a progressive one. And had nothing happened after, it would have probably faded, got forgotten, and Whedon would have moved onto the next project with no fuss.
But as it turned out, it wasn’t just a minor slump in his career. Instead, it was the priming of the pump.
In 2016, Whedon divorced his wife of sixteen years, Kai Cole, and in an open letter, Kai Cole accused him of being a serial cheater, who would have affairs with a great many women, from co-workers, to actresses, to friends, to even his fans. And in addition to raising questions of him possibly abusing his position as showrunner to elicit sex from those working on his projects, there also is the ugly question of how could someone who speaks so highly of women then go and backstab the person who was supposed to be the most important woman in his life, as well as lying to her and denying her the autonomy of deciding whether or not she even wanted to continue to have a relationship with him?
Furthermore, Whedon himself has not explicitly denied these accusations, and comments made by him seem only to confirm them.
Now if you’ll recall, I reacted publicly to this news, and despite my admiration of Whedon’s work, I came down on Kai Cole’s side, and stated that while things like marriage issues and infidelity were no one’s business but that of the couple’s, it did raise a lot of uncomfortable questions about how Whedon treated the women in his life and he really needed to get his shit in order.
But hey, a messy private life and a guy falling into temptation isn’t that big of a deal, right? Plenty of creators also go through multiple marriages and have problems staying faithful and still continue making great art. We’re all human, it’s a stressful job, and this shit just happens, right? Sure, it’s gross and a shitty thing to do, but ain’t no business of ours, right?
In late 2020, actor Ray Fisher, who played the role of Cyborg in Justice League, openly accused Joss Whedon of fostering a hostile work environment, claiming that the director’s behavior was abusive and unprofessional, and that Whedon in turn was protected by DC executives.
DC and Warner Bros. came down against Fisher, claiming they had done an internal investigation that turned up no evidence of wrongdoing (yeah, sure they did), and soon Fisher was out as Cyborg, apparently for rocking the boat.
But then Charisma Carpenter, noted for her important role as Cordelia Chase in both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, then spoke up, claiming to be inspired by Fisher in doing so. She described Whedon did indeed foster a hostile work environment on his projects, that his often acted in a toxic manner, from asking incredibly invasive and inappropriate questions regarding her pregnancy to insulting her on set. She said that she made excuses for him for years, but after undergoing a lot of therapy and reading what Ray Fisher had to say, she felt compelled to speak out.
And this just open the floodgates. Other actors and actresses also came forward, some with stories of their own, others to offer support. Even Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar, confirmed Carpenter’s stories and said that she no longer wanted to be associated with Whedon. Michelle Trachtenberg, who played the character of Dawn, stated that she also experienced toxic treatment from Whedon despite her being a minor at the time, and says that the set had a rule that Whedon wasn’t allowed to be alone with her again, which really raises some sickening questions of what happened the first time. Even male stars have spoken out, from words of support and apologies for not speaking up earlier from Anthony Stewart Head and David Boreanaz, to an earlier interview with James Marsters, in which he described being terrified of Whedon, mainly due to an instance when Whedon was frustrated with the popularity of Marsters’s character of Spike messing with his plans and physically and verbally taking it out on the actor. There have been many corroborating stories of Whedon being casually cruel on set, on seemingly taking delight in making his fellow show writers cry, and even the man himself admitting to enjoying fostering a hostile work environment during his director commentary of the Avengers. We’ve joked about Whedon’s supposed sadism for years, but that was in regards to how he treated the characters in his stories, not the people helping him make them!
So yeah. That’s the problem with Joss Whedon.
So, do I think that Joss Whedon is somehow some kind of sociopath who lied about his feminist principles and deliberately put on a progressive façade specifically to get into a position of power so he could torment people? No, of course not. I think he was sincere about his beliefs, and I do think he didn’t realize the wrongness of his behavior. But that’s kind of the problem. See, it’s one thing to have kind of a trollishness to your nature, a sort of sadistic side. No one can help that. But when someone with that quality gets put into a position of power in which they are protected by both the higher-ups and their legions of fans, they are allowed to mistreat and continue to mistreat people. And by never suffering any consequences, that sort of toxic behavior becomes internalized, becomes a habit, becomes their moda operandi. And when you’re constantly getting praised as a creative genius and a wonderful feminist voice, any self-criticism just gets wiped away, and you think yourself above reproach, leading to what Joss Whedon became and went on being.
And you know what scares me the most about this particular issue? It’s not that I am a fan of his stories. It’s that I can so easily see myself turning out the same way.
Look, I’ll be upfront about it: I’m kind of a sadist myself. You’ve seen it in my stories, you’ve seen me gloating after a particularly dark plot twist makes my readers freak out. That sort of stuff is fun to me. There’s a reason why I have a much easier time in the dark and violent scenes, because I’m channeling something ugly within me. We all have a dark side, and this is mine.
But UNLIKE Whedon, that doesn’t carry over to how I treat people in real life (unless Monopoly or Mario Party are involved, then it’s fair game). Maybe it’s because I wasn’t given the sort of power and praise he did so early, and I was always taught to be considerate of other people’s feelings, but if I ever find out that I hurt another person or went too fair, I feel TERRIBLE, and it just throws me off all day until I apologize. Even if I don’t notice right away that what I said or did wasn’t cool (autistic, remember?), when it’s pointed out to me and I have some time to think on it, yeah, the guilt is on and I make a point to apologize to whoever I’ve hurt. I’ve even made a point to apologize to members of my family for inconsiderate stuff I said years ago as a little punk kid because it wouldn’t stop bugging me.
So maybe Whedon got too big, too fast. Maybe putting people on these sorts of pedestals, especially progressive ones, is ultimately a bad thing.
So where does this leave us? How are we to treat JK Rowling and Joss Whedon, one who developed a lot of transphobia due to abuse suffered while the other became a toxic individual due to unchecked control and a lack of consequences? Can we still enjoy their stories despite them now being colored by their creators’ falls from grace? Can we separate the art from the artist, or do we have to do a clean split?
Honestly, I feel that has to come down to the individual. I can’t remove the influence Rowling and Whedon have had on me as a storyteller, and I still highly respect both of their talents despite taking major issue with their problems as people. And I’m not going go throw away all of my Harry Potter or Firefly stuff. Because that’s my stuff. It has value to me, it doesn’t represent the issues with their creators, and a lot of it was gifts from people who are dear to me. Though I do think it’ll be a long time before I return to either of their work, as I just don’t have the stomach for it now.
But I will be avoiding any projects they have in the future. I don’t want to put money in their pockets that might go on to support their toxic beliefs or behavior. And as for royalties for their past work that would also support the cast and crew of the Harry Potter films or those who worked on Whedon’s shows who do not deserve to lose money because we don’t want any of that money going to the creators? Er, that question is a little above my paygrade. I don’t know. You’ll have to all decide for yourselves. As for me, I still have a lot of thinking to do.
Regardless though, if I or anyone else is still able to enjoy their work, then it’s important to not divorce what these people said or did from the art they created, even if it makes enjoying that art less fun. It’s important to be critical about what we enjoy, to acknowledge the bad aspects along with the good, and open up discussion of those elements, because that’s what mature adults are supposed to do.
And as for JK Rowling and Joss Whedon, whose stories I love, whose talent I admire, and whose past good work I’ll happily acknowledge, I do hope they both experience some sort of realization and enter into a period of self-examination that leads to them getting help for their issues, for Rowling to get help in coming to terms with her trauma and realizing that she’s wrong about the trans community and a full apology, and for Whedon to also come to terms with his toxic behavior and how he treats people, for him to make no excuse for what he did and sincerely apologize to those he hurt and work on bettering himself, as well as them both examining some of the more problematic tropes still present in their works. Because despite everything, I do feel that they can still be a creative force of good, and it would be a shame if they let themselves self-destruct.
But if not, then if it comes down to choosing between Rowling and the protecting the trans community, if it comes down between choosing between letting Whedon continue to make shows and protecting actors and writers from his abusive behavior, then I know who I’m siding with, and it ain’t the two individuals this whole essay is about. No story, no matter how good, no matter how creative, is worth letting sacrificing vulnerable people in order for it to be made.
#jk rowling#joss whedon#harry potter#Buffy The Vampire Slayer#angel#firefly#justice league#ray fisher#charisma carpenter#kai cole#transphobia tw#abuse tw#toxicity tw#TERF tw#rant#TERFs don't interact I do not want to talk to you#same for abuse apologists
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Characters that I think will make a return in Dragon Age 4
Okay, So lets get the first two out of the way and the reasons why I think they are bound to return.
Dorian Pavus: Pretty much a given, he’s already in Tevinter. He’s got big plans for the city and he’s a fan favourite. it would be a crime if he didnt come back.
Fenris: Will the Blue Wraith release I can’t help but wonder if that’s setting up Fenris’s arc and how it’ll pertain to DA4. How this wonderful character will tie into the shitstorm that’s about to occur in the next installment. When you hear Tevinter, chances are a couple of things will come to mind. Mages, blood-magic, Dorian, Slavery and Fenris. His whole character is linked to this setting. Hes a character who's got the biggest reasons to be there so he better be there. either as the leader of a slave rebellion or possibly an agent of Fen’harel. Also, given how vocal the fandom has been about him coming back, I think Bioware will deliver. I just hope he’s intertwined witht the plot like Varric was, and not given a crappy cameo like Zevran was in dragon age 2. And even if you did (You fucking monster) Give him back to Danarius, then he’ll be in Tevinter too. Or if you killed him like a fucking moron, well Bioware have brought back characters from the dead before. Leliana I'm looking at you
And ngl, I really want a FenHawke moment
Now, these next ones are the “Realistic” few who I think will make a return based on theories and evidence but I’m also making a section of characters who I want to see come back even if it’s not likely:
Sten: I find it very likely we will see this guy again. There conflict between Tevinter and Seheron should be one of the focuses in dragon age 4 and given that our actions in dragon age 2 he becomes the Arishok and if memory serves; he’s in Seheron. More Sten? More likely than you think if I’m right.
Talis: Another one who should make an appearance given her allegiance to the Qunari. Talis was a really good character and criminally underused in Mark of the Assasins and dragon age 2 as a whole. I think she’ll make a cameo, doing her thing as a skilled assassin for the Qunari.
Krem: It would be interesting for this character to make a return, perhaps he could not stand to see what is happening in his home country and makes a return. Given how important Krem is for representation, him being from Tevinter and how popular he was, I think he will also be making a return.
Verania: A small cameo. But I think if you stopped Fenris from killing her, then his sister Verania will be making a return. Which could offer an interesting scene if Fenris also makes a return. She does return to Tevinter, and given that her master was killed (Hopefully) it would be a curious thing to see how she ended up.
Varric: The reason why I think Varric will come back is because of the Red Idol. Varric has history with that thing, it was him and his brother who made the expedition to recover it from the Deep Roads and given how obvious it is that the Red Idol will play a major role in DA4 I think Varric will feel compelled to try and get it back or destroy it. He hates red lyrium and he hates that idol and he knows exactly what it is capable of, so the thought of it ending up in the wrong hands must unsettle him. He felt at fault for the red lyrium and Corypheus, hence why he stayed with the Inquisition to try and sort it all out. I think it will be the same for the red idol, he feels a responsibility to stop it because he thinks it’s his fault it’s out there in the first place.
Scout Harding: A potential LI maybe??? I think she’ll play a vital role whether or not the inquisition was kept or discarded in Tresspasser. I hope she gets a more important role than a simple quest giver.
Isabela: With the recent concept art I am seeing A LOT of Pirates and I couldn’t help but think of Isabela. And that one concept art seems to confirm Isabela is coming back and I'm so excited.
Leliana & Cassandra: It sounds to me like Leliana and Cassandra will come back as advisors of sorts, I’m not sure what role they’ll play exactly in the grand scheme of things in the next game but I do think they will both come back in some capacity, because of their words and cameo in the ending to Tresspasser.
Abelas: maybe only a cameo if you killed him, but Solas essentially recruits Abelas and if hes alive I think Abelas could make a return.
Unrealistically, but why I think they should:
Zevran: He’s has somehow been mentioned or appeared in every game since origins and I don’t want that streak to be ruined. I think there’s definitely a role for him given how much he adventures and explores, his wit and his tendencies to get into trouble, and how he is a fan favourite.
Oghren: Honestly? Just because we haven’t heard from him a long time.
Cullen: I highly doubt he will come back. Why? Because I feel like the option to romance him in Inquisition on top of his sort of redemption arc in that game is his...end. Like, he got closure, he got the focus he needed regarding all the shit he went through in the past two games and I honestly do believe that is where Cullen’s story ends. But...I could be wrong, they might want to keep the pattern of him appearing in every game and maybe they have something else planned for him since they strangely liked this character because he went from this minor dude in Origins to Meredith’s lackey in dragon age 2 to a fully fledged main cast member in dragon age 3.
Meredith: Speaking of Meredith, I think it would be so neat for her to make a return as a boss fight. Because fighting her in dragon age 2 was so much fun and I think with the return of the Red Lyrium Idol, having her come back somehow would be appropriate. Maybe the statue she turns into merely keeps her in hibernation? So under whatever the hell material the red lyrium used to ‘kill’ her, it actually didn’t snuff out her life but rather preserved it. She’s still alive and fiddling with the Idol brings her back. Edit: turns out shes super dead but I'm leaving it here in case I can somehow rationalise how this scary lady could come back
Orsino: I can totally imagine the theory that Varric lied about Orsino’s death in order to protect him so Cassandra and the Templars wouldn’t go after him. Even the devs said his death was a mistake, so this could be a great way to rectify how shitty a card he was dealt in DA2 and give him a better storyline and role in the next game. Orsino is just a really good character who would do well with more time and focus spent on him.
Bodahn & Sandal: because I need answers about what the fuck Sandal is and I miss Bodahn. And given Sandal's massive fucking foreshadowing to Solas and the magic of the elves I think HE HAS TO COME BACK but also...idk what they would really do with him, if hed really play a role other than what he did in the first and second game. An enigmatic dwarf for comedic effect and also creepiness.
Anders: if hes alive, and if you didnt romance him. I want a cameo, since he was originally supposed to appear in Inquisition as a hermit in a cave. I'd like that concept to return in the area near Tevinter/Antiva. Because I think it would be tragic, if hes borderline insane and a wandering nomad hiding his identity. Maybe Justice has taken over, maybe we have to free him of Justice to recruit Anders. Maybe we need him to enter the Fade somehow? Maybe when the veil is broken Justice takes over completely that way? I just want an Anders cameo, see a tragic ending to a tragic character with the potential of redemption? Potential chance at happiness through helping the player fight Solas? And maybe, if Isabela or Varric come back...theyd have something to say? They might beg the player to help him? Mourn their friend or fret over him? Varric and Anders hug?
Spirit of Wynne: my girl Wynee gets no fucking love or mention from what I've seen and I will not stand for it. I'm sure she died, even by DAII's timeline. But if the veil is torn? Maybe her spirit will pay us a visit, give us words of encourage or wise lessons??? I miss Wynne so much.
Morrigan: I do think something is being set up with her character and Kieran. And with her being so woven with the whole Mythal thing, I wouldn't be shocked if Morrigan wanted to get involved, since Mythal wanted to live on through Morrigan. Maybe Morrigan has a bone to pick, maybe shes mad that Solas killed her mother.
#dragon age#dragon age 4#dragon age 2#dragon age 3#dragon age inquistion#dragon age origins#Zevran#Fenris#Dorian#DA4#da3#da2#Morrigan#Orsino#Talis#Varric tethras#Dorian Pavus#Verania#Meredith#wynne#Sten#Arishok#isabela rivaini#isabela#Sandal#Bodahn and Sandal#Anders#cullen#cullen rutherford#Abelas
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