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mdhwrites · 1 month

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thoughts on camila?

So I've talked about how she is just as a character before. I think as a character, she's as sweet as a saint and I like her in isolation. However, and this is what I want to focus on more because of an element I'll get to, she's a bad character in the context of The Owl House for the same reason King and Eda are: What is she doing in this story? How does she add to it?

Camila makes Luz look a fucking terrible as a human being. Almost EVERYTHING we see in the human frankly makes Luz like a terrible human being because that's the genre that The Owl House is a part of: Modern Isekai. Like most Modern Isekai, it's a story about a nerdy person who has no real prospects in real life and would rather live in their fantasies getting to go do that. Luz has a power that no one else has, gets to be with the prettiest, most popular, richest girl in the new world. She gets to stand up to a corrupt system but it never actually bothers her so she can just have fun shenanigans for the vast majority of the run time. She even fights an Evil Emperor which is almost as generic as a Demonic Lord as far as fantasy villains go. Honestly, TOH being isekai is probably a large part of why it was green lit (and frankly, same goes for Amphibia) since while it's not critically acclaimed, isekai is still one of the most popular genres of anime out there and the popular ones have made money hand over fist.

For most stories in this genre, they A: stay in the fantasy realm, TOH isn't fucking special people but also B: have a terrible home life in part to justify that desire and decision. There's also elements of wish fulfillment to its target demographic which is actually kind of important here. That your life sucks so you deserve to escape from it, just like this person. That terrible homelife in turn turns into a payoff for the audience because it can be used to highlight just how much better this world is and how much better off for everyone the MC is in this new world.

Camila doesn't really work for that though, does she? Something the show itself acknowledges with Yesterday's Lie. "You had it good." Hell, in that episode we have Camila wanting Vee to keep Luz's stuff because she knows those things are important to her daughter. Even in the first episode, Camila just wants Luz to make friends. She could fail to learn ANY life skills and stay just as weird at the camp (which she presumably needed to go to to not be EXPELLED for what she did) and Camila would happy if she was in a new Discord group with some friends. That is how low the fucking bar is for Camila's expectations of Luz and somehow THAT was too much. That was, as Camila will apologize for, multiple times, pushing her daughter away or repressing her.

That doesn't function for a Modern Isekai story... It functions for an old school isekai like Amphibia is. Old school isekai after all featured a lot more character growth, a lot more of the other world being an abstraction of problems the person was facing in the real world and had to learn how to deal with. As such, they usually ended with the main character going home a better person and putting their fantasies behind them. Not admonishing them but recognizing that staying there isn't what's best for them.

Camila's character for one of those is AMAZING. Like it could genuinely have led to one of the best deconstructions of the modern isekai protagonist. It's like the ass hat protag from Far Cry 3 (not saying this is handled well btw in that) who still wants to be bigger and more cool and seen as strong by those around him while he already has a smoking hot fiance, lives his life doing dangerous stunts, is really attractive himself and could just coast for the rest of his life. It doesn't fulfill his image and fantasy of what a 'man' is so fuck all of that, I need to go kill people and take over this native tribe! Which hurk, again, it's not done well, but it was trying to deconstruct this sort of fantasy. This sort of escapism that says the image in your mind is ALWAYS more important than those actually around you.

It could have highlighted how things are never as bad as they seem and wanting to escape always hurts someone and always is selfish... But for that, the show would have had to be willing to say one needs to learn to respect reality over fantasy. This could either be done by Luz learning that treating everything like one of japanese animu is a bad thing or they could do it through doubling down and showcasing after Yesterday's Lie that Luz is a genuinely terrible, selfish person who only views the promise she made to her mom as requiring her to give up the world she likes, not the damage she did to her mom.

Which I phrase because they literally did that. They changed the ending promise scene of Yesterday's Lie from being about their complex relationship to just being a summary of the stakes. "Come home, never come back." It's a narrative cheat to welcome anyone back from the mid season hiatus and that is frankly the BEST way to read it for Luz's character because otherwise she changed a conflict mostly about the pain she inflicted on her mom purely to the consequences and that's not really a thing a good person does.

But then the series ends with her having both worlds, getting to literally be Azura finally, quoting the damn book and just ENTIRELY admitting that it's not an OC, it's her replacing Azura, and it's all just fucking awful. In part because, like with the Liar Reveal stuff I talked about with TOH, it's a subversion without a new payoff. They try VERY HARD to give a new payoff but it's not earned. People adore the "I just want to be understood" moment but it ONLY functions in that moment from a meta perspective of it being a neurodivergent girl seeking understanding because who, especially of the people Luz cares about, hasn't shown her understanding in the past SEASON? SHE HAS A GIRLFRIEND WHO IS WAY BETTER AT IT THEN HER!

And so Camila is just this contradictory sore spot that goes right back around to "Man, our target audience would really love it if their parents would tell them explicitly that they don't need to grow as people or even try to understand others or how they may hurt them, literally but instead that their comfort is all that matters." It goes right back to being all about modern isekai's worst element: Wish fulfillment. Bland, obvious, pandering wish fulfillment.

And I COULD end the blog right there... But I said I had a reason to wanted to answer it like this. Admittedly, it expanded from what I expected so sorry for the long blog but here's the real tragedy: The moment of Luz recontextualizing Yesterday's Lie's promise should have been AMAZING to me. After all... It's the part of Luz I loved writing the most.

Yep, more of that celebrating ten years of writing stuff to talk about one of the elements of my TOH writing that I genuinely am very proud of: Luz being a scared, anxious teenager who doesn't read the world correctly. One who is held back because she thinks if she isn't scared, she'll be hurt or, more importantly, hurt others.

I know a lot of people will tell me that TOH didn't do that and like... gestures at everything above and SO many other elements like how Luz has two token moments implying she's been traumatized from bullying that doesn't read with how she was for the entirety of the first season, or up to those points in the second for that matter, AT ALL. She doesn't actually have that sort of fear or anxiety. She's too selfish and self serving for it. Her needs always come above others and that's not the compelling part of this to me, nor is the self protection element.

No, it comes from the fact that you have to actually care what others think for it to torture you, like most teenagers do. That disappointing someone would be essentially the same as stabbing them. In The Power of Love, I got a lot of people to go from "This is cute" to "Okay, you have my attention" with chapter 3: Ru-Luz (which reading back... Some of my transition lines are not working there. Why did I think they did? Brain moving too fast I suspect like usual or trying too hard). Despite the pun, it's not a fun chapter. It ends with her listed rules that are actually nice, like telling her to be herself, but a final rule that, so as to keep the voices in her head, the things others have told her, quiet she must follow. "Treat Amity like anyone else, even if that means breaking other rules." And one of those voices is said to be Camila's.

I don't leave it there though. Through complications, it's very explicitly revealed that, well... Luz is a teen. Everything is world ending for her. That she's taken small comments or momentary frustrations, or just straight up misread things, so as to have them attack her and form her view of how others perceive her (along with having been genuinely bullied). That her mom does adore her and would accept any part of her but she can't believe that, not with how she is now. And that leads to really highlighting an element of Lumischa that I've always loved: Boscha as Amity and Luz's rock. Someone who is honest enough that neither worry about if she's holding back on her opinion. And you know what happens?

Luz and Boscha get multiple chapters of Boscha providing the wake up call she needs. Of her chipping away at those fears that others may be secretly hating her because here is bad bitch Boscha telling her to shut up because she's better than she thinks she is. It's blunt enough to actually make an impact, harsh enough that it still addresses the fuck up, and is something no else would do. Not even Amity because Amity is her own ball of anxieties who's worried about the wrong move upsetting people. I would have ADORED this element actually being a thing for Luz and you know, maybe leading to a Power of Friendship moment with all of them backing her up and giving her the confidence she needs for something. Instead we get her ignoring what she's claiming to be worried about (making mistakes) and then getting a power up when her mom tells her that she should have quite literally never criticized anything about her daughter which is not what a good parent does. Even my Boscha will still call out that Luz did make a mistake if she did, just then also point that she's being over dramatic about it because no one hates her because of it.

I also want to give a shout out to this essentially being an element of my Luz for Ruff Secret as well (original version too) as an essentially tragic element to the majority of the story. Camila clearly accepts parts of her daughter in that story that their wider community doesn't but Camila is also critically still a part of that community which is Christian. She's very devout even, going every week to church. There is nothing except coming out to Camila that will ever make Luz not just assume that being gay will not get her disowned because of the fears in her head and because of those same fears, she'll never come out of the closet. She has clearly never even been willing to approach the topic with her mom about it. It does payoff in the end though with Camila freaking out WAY harder about Amity being a werewolf and the danger that puts her daughter in than of Luz being gay because why would you judge something as incredible as love?

It's not new, I've seen some other things take similar approaches, but it uses the age of the character and society to actually amplify the emotions and make the angst more justified. Make what normally just be "I can't confess, what if she says no?" more dramatic while also managing to tie the two romantic leads together in their conflicts since Amity is dealing with something she sees as a curse, as a primal sin that could only ever hurt others, just like Luz is. And just like Luz, it's actually in repressing and rejecting that side of her that Amity does end up hurting someone but that someone is herself.

All while still managing to be one of the funniest stories I've ever written. I ADORE Ruff Secrets. Crises Girlfriends may be my most personal story but I still think Ruff Secrets is my best story. Period. Which is frankly a miracle since it was a snap start based on a joke a someone made.

So yeah, I like Camila conceptually. I think there was a lot you could do with her. Any direction though would have required TOH to be at least as grounded as Amphibia, let alone ANYWHERE near as grounded as the fandom thinks it is. As is, she's a subversion that doesn't add anything and actively hurts what is a very normal fantasy story.

As such, she's a bad character because what you add to a narrative does matter to that metric unless you are actively ignoring that part of a character's purpose for existing. That's just less useful to a writer though because it means you add a tool to your toolbox without understanding how to use that tool which is always dangerous as any professional mechanic or engineer may tell you.

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I will admit that I fidget at praising myself so much like this. I know I've used my own works as examples in the past but it always makes me feel awkward. It especially never helps that it likely comes across as, justifiably, saying I could have done X better. There's a big difference though between "In this context I DID X better" and "If I had made X, I WOULD have done it better." Situation, context, and just the creative process can always muddie things and doesn't even mean the same writer will always tackle the same subjects as well every time. It's just a part of the process.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house #luz noceda #camila noceda

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hephaestuscrew · 8 months

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I want to talk about this moment between Lovelace and Minkowski immediately after Cutter dies:

Lovelace GASPS in relief. Both women COLLAPSE, wounded, at the end of their ropes. LOVELACE Nice... shot. MINKOWSKI Couldn't... have done it... without you, Captain. You all right? LOVELACE No. You? MINKOWSKI No, I... I... yeah... LOVELACE Stay with me, Minkowski. MINKOWSKI Yeah... We're almost through this. We just... need to... get Eiffel... And off of their attempts to hold onto consciousness, we -

Firstly, the acting of this scene is incredible. (The timestamp is 1:42:26 if you want to listen back.) I'm in awe of the way Emma Sherr-Ziarko and Ceilia Lynn-Jacobs convey the sense of pain and exhaustion and relief and trying to hold onto consciousness. The kind of damage they've undergone has been very different - Minkowski bleeding out from her gunshot wound, Lovelace recovering from the external control that caused her to inflict that gunshot wound. But the way these experiences manifest in their breathless pained voices is pretty similar. There's almost a kind of unity in that.

I love that the first thing Minkowski and Lovelace do after Cutter dies, even as they are struggling to speak, is to acknowledge each other's contribution to this moment.

"Nice shot" feels like a comment more suited to congratulating someone on doing well at a shooting range than as a response to a friend successfully harpooning their evil boss. There's a casualness to it as a phrase that feels almost humourous in this context, but it also reflects the fact that there isn't really an established thing to say in a situation like this. (More below the cut)

Minkowski could have just taken full credit here - after all she's the one who fired the killing shot - but she doesn't. It reflects the ethos of this show that neither Cutter nor Pryce, the major antagonists, is defeated by a single protagonist alone, and that the protagonists themselves are aware of that.

This scene is an example of a kind of exchange we get a few times throughout the show, where a character asks another character if they are okay and the answer is a clear no. There's an conversation like this between Eiffel and Minkowski in Ep12 (EIFFEL: You okay, Commander? / MINKOWSKI : No, Eiffel. My second in command just betrayed me and tried really, really hard to murder both us. I’m pretty damn far from “okay.”), and between Hera and Minkowski in Ep29 (HERA: Commander? Are you okay? / MINKOWSKI: No. You? / HERA: No. But I will be.), and between Eiffel and Hera in Ep41 (EIFFEL: Are you okay now? / HERA: No, Officer Eiffel. I'm not. But... I'm going to be.) I think I've said this before in tags on a post, but there's something about that type of exchange that fits the tone of this show so well to me. Of course none of these characters are all right, not with what they've been through. But the asking is still important, because of the care these characters have for each other. And the honest answer is still important, because this is a show partly about communication and because sometimes the awful things need to be acknowledged.

I should probably also say that there are also plenty of instances in Wolf 359 where people falsely claim to be fine in response to questions like this. There's an awful lot of emotional repression and compartmentalising on that space station. Which makes it more significant when characters are honest about not being okay.

In this scene, Minkowski and Lovelace don't need to waste words on saying why they aren't all right. I picture them both looking down at Minkowski's wound as she speaks here. And they laugh, or as well as they can do in their current condition, at how absurdly obvious it is that they aren't okay. Maybe that attempt at laughter is a way to keep going. And they are both so determined to keep going.

Lovelace tells Minkowski "stay with me", even though Lovelace is struggling to remain conscious herself. There's something so tender about that to me, and it's particularly heart-wrenching given that Lovelace was forced against her will to fire the bullet that wounded Minkowski.

When Minkowski says "We're almost through this", it feels like a call back to her conversation with Eiffel earlier in this episode, when he said "We're almost through. Just one more day, and then we're done." The "this" in "almost through this" somehow holds everything that they've been through on the Hephaestus. The repeated sense that this is the last confrontation that they will face on that station is perfect for a finale. But there's also something very emotionally heavy about that finality, especially when spoken by a woman who is bleeding out from a gunshot wound. And yet through her exhaustion and her pain, Minkowski expresses hope that they will get "through this", that they are "almost" on the other side of the whole nightmare.

Neither Minkowski nor Lovelace even consider the option of not going to look for Eiffel (and Hera). It would have been perfectly reasonable for them to have gone back to the Urania to try to patch Minkowski up and to wait to see if Eiffel and Hera were able to join them. But these characters would never do that.

They go to look for Eiffel even though Minkowski has been shot and Lovelace has been subject to horrific external control. They go to look for Eiffel even though both of them are "at the end of their ropes" and struggling to hold onto consciousness. They go to look for Eiffel even though waiting on the Urania was the plan they'd agreed upon with Hera. They go to look for Eiffel even though, for all they know, Eiffel and Hera might have the situation completely handled, or might even already be safely on the Urania. They go to look for Eiffel (and Hera) because only once they are all together can they consider themselves "through this".

#It's surprising that I've barely talked about this scene #given that it is definitely one of the finale scenes that lives in my head rent free #I put Hera in brackets in that last point because they don't explicitly mention her #and the location aspect of 'looking for Hera' isn't quite the same #but I know that they wouldn't have left without her either #Also characters telling an injured/sick loved one 'Stay with me' is one of those tropes that really gets me #It's a way of saying 'don't die' without saying it (cos they don't want to say it)#It's a way of saying 'don't die' that disguises itself as says just 'stay conscious'#It's a way of saying 'don't die' that also says 'don't leave me. I need you here with me'#wolf 359 #w359 #wolf 359 spoilers #w359 spoilers #the empty man posteth #renee minkowski #renée minkowski #isabel lovelace

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ghostflowerhotpotch · 9 months

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Clinging too much to the Mask

Or Miles' is neglecting his civilian life for his hero one.

Something I love about Across the Spider-verse, is that no one is truly evil, but that doesn't justify their actions. Likewise, the heroes aren't perfect, in some cases they actively need to work to own their mistakes, and in others, they need to learn a more simple lesson.

I think this last one can apply to Miles. Because while he is doing his best, I feel the story tries to point out that despite "balancing" his double life, he may be prioritizing one over the other.

We get to see this before we properly get to see Miles, who instead of being in this meeting-

He is going around the city.

Not gonna lie, in my first viewing, I felt Rio and Jeff needed to cut Miles some slack; like sure they were being kind of harsh because they didn't know what was going on, but Miles was truly trying hard!

However, the more I rewatched the movie, and the more I keep looking at certain things, the more I realized that Miles' parents are being WAY nicer about all of this than other parents I had seen, and also, that even if you have the context he is not handling this very well.

Let's start with this scene, shall we?

So, Rio and Jeff want to talk about university opportunities and scholarships, which I feel is a bit early for a fifteen-year-old, but if he wants to get into the best Physics program in the nation, I guess it makes sense needing to start early. I am assuming Miles had at least mention wanting to do big things; which is of course what his parents want because they know what he is capable of; so I wouldn't be surprised if they arranged this meeting SPECIFICALLY because Miles set his future on this.

But regardless if it was Miles's idea or his parents, the fact on the matter is this: he should be here.

Because let's remember, he isn't skipping this meeting because the Spot or a villain with a bigger profile was causing a ruckus, we saw him slinging around the city as if he was strolling, and when he goes to get the Spot, he first does this:

I know Spider-man is known for witty remarks and Miles is definitely not an anomaly on that front, but you cannot tell me he didn't explicitly want a patty and it just so happens to have a bad guy in the place; he may have not grabbed himself hasn't the Spot not being there but I bet he would have gone to this shop ruckus or not.

Even if that wasn't the case, he is already late for the meeting; but he still took his time to patrol the city for, as far as we can tell, no real reason besides just checking around.

I get that he is Spider-man and has responsibilities with the city, but when Miles has an important meeting to be in, and he decides just swinging across the city is more important than being there; we have to admit that this is a problem.

And the longer we spend in 1610 the more that shows.

This monologue feels like it can be unrelated, at first.

Miles doing the Spider-man presentation makes sense; it has been established in this franchise as a device to present the characters, so having him update on his spidey-situation while following the trope presentation they had done before it's perfect to match the tone of the first movie.

But I am also a firm defender of "weaponize tropes to press further the message of the story" and I think having Miles do this presentation can support how much emphasis he puts on his hero life.

Last time during the first movie, he did his own spidey-presentation at the end, but he also talked about finishing his essay, and doing art with his dad. In this one, we only get mentions of things related to being Spider-man, you can argue that including his uncle on the recap may also be involved because he died just in the time he was becoming Spider-man.

(This is also to remind the audience of this plot point for the ending but shhh we are focussing on other things here.)

This is nothing new for Spidey-people, Gwen the more repressed she is the more she clings to her duty, which only makes her repress more and makes the cycle continue. Peter B was okay with the idea of staying behind even if it meant dying, and let's be real here, part of the reason he was okay with it was that dying as a spider-man is an idea he made peace with years ago, but confronting MJ about what happened was scarier.

This also happened in the first movie.

This is before they know they may die if they stay, however, you have to admit is a tad unsettling that after being told "You will need to destroy your only way to get home," everyone IMMEDIATELY says they will do it.

Forget being superheroes, no one has any doubts? Any fears of how long it would take to go back home, if at all?

Peni and Gwen worry me especially because I know why those two may just prefer to ditch their home dimensions for a good while (Gwen because she already lost her Peter, was in a flaky relationship with her dad, and probably was neglecting other people too. Peni if you had read some of her comics is not that surprising, heck I want to get her out of that dimension myself.)

I could go on, because I don't think we had seen a Spidey person in this franchise who isn't putting way too much emphasis on their hero identity; but you get the idea. This is a common problem.

And Miles is no different.

When we go to the Party for his dad (something his mom reminded him of before he bolted out to capture the Spot,) we see that the Party is in full swing. Music is in, people had already started digging in the food, and kids are playing.

Look, growing up my family had parties like this, fairly often growing up. This one is to celebrate Captain Morales obviously, but I had been at family reunions that are easily this size.

Considering the size and for who is the Party, I am surprised they didn't call him non-stop when he didn't show up to help put everything up (because I am having a hard time believing he wouldn't be expected to help to put everything,) it was already late when the first person showed up, so by this point, this is beyond lateness.

And where he is at?

JUST NOW he is picking up the cake, AS SPIDERMAN.

Miles, mijo ¿Qué estás haciendo? Para este punto de la partida yo ya estaría haciendo mi testamento.

(Trans: Miles, son, what are you doing? By this point I would be doing my will.)

Ok jokes aside, I don't know what's more unbelievable, that he is just now getting the cake, or that he is doing it in the Spidey costume.

This tells us EXACTLY what he was doing before coming up to pick this cake.

Last time we see him, he told his dad he didn't believe The Spot would come back, which means he didn't exactly think there was any danger. Nothing in the movie shows or tells us there was another big emergency he didn't need to attend to, either; and it has CLEARLY been a few hours since that moment since the lightning has changed.

Don't tell me he came in with his Spidey suit to get a better deal or something, the woman clearly doesn't care about it; and even then, at any moment he seems to find a way to change just so he can move around the city more easily.

Not to mention that while he was trying to come to the Party, this happened.

In case you need to make sure what's happening, since this moment happens in a few seconds during Jeff speech; because someone was stealing shoes (with a guard who is clearly not giving a shit,) he sent a web to stop him.

And rather than just, going on with his day, he stops to sign some autographs and pics, to the point someone else thinks the taxi is waiting for a new client, which the guy obviously accepts.

Honestly, once this moment clicked for me I feel a little dumb to not realize that this is actually a thing Miles needs to confront about himself and not just the natural back and forth that is expected with this life.

And you can see it in other things too.

Miles isn't a loner, or at least he wasn't one in Into the Spider-verse.

I remember that when I saw the movie the contrast surprised me, like many other people, I had grown up with plenty Peter Parker adaptations, where he is most of the time, a nerd that deals with bullying to some degree. Even with Miles being his own character, I was surprised that at least in his old school and neighborhood, he not only has friends, he is basically a popular kid.

Now in ATSV? That seems to have gone away.

Is such a small detail in both movies, but it still shocks me every time I think about it hard enough.

Miles had tons of friends, or at least people he definitely got along with; people who said that miss him and such. Even if we never hear a name from him; look at the people greeting him at the beginning at ITSV, go to see the movie and see how much Miles scrolls on his contact list; there is no way in hell he wasn't close to some of these people.

But all of them seem to have gone away by this movie, not only did neither of his parents think of asking about anyone in the neighborhood, Miles himself only scratches the names of his spidey-friends. This either means Rio and Jeff know enough of the people in the neighborhood to be aware Miles is not going out with any of them; or the relationships had deteriorated enough that neither party even thinks of the possibility of being with any of them.

That's...that's a lot.

Look, I am not going to say Miles changing school wouldn't affect his previous friendships, I know exactly how that works.

But in ITSV, Miles said it himself, he still lives here, none of them look like they live too far to be impossible to hang out with; and despite that, the only friend he seems to have is Genki; who aside from being his rommie, is the only person he has that knows his secret.

Which is probably, the only reason they are close enough for Miles's parents to know about him.

To top it all off, this shows that Miles isn't exactly shy, he may have not been fitting too well with his classmates at first but it has been over a year, and he should have been able to make more friends. If he wanted to.

And is not the only thing suffering.

I am not sure if the joke is that Miles is trying to soften the blow and the teacher is telling on him, or, that he legit forgot the number of classes. Considering it was obvious the woman was going to know and had no incentive in hiding this from his parents; I am inclined to believe Miles actually forgot how many classes he lost.

Considering how spidey emergencies work, 6 classes isn't that big of a thing, assuming this is the only class he has lost classes on. Knowing how the hero gig works you could expect more, but for my own sanity I will pretend it has been only these.

There is a big chance he missed those classes for really, bad situations where he needed to be there. However, we aren't actually sure; and considering the direction this movie is going, it is very feasible he may be messing around a few times.

And look, Miles grades are freaking amazing; seriously I was doing a lot worse in school without any hero business involved. But even if he obviously puts some level of priority in his studies, you can see that this is a struggling battle.

Not to mention the elephant in the room, that is the fact that the reason we know he is working so hard to have good grades, is because he wants to go to Princeton University.

Miles can't give the exact reason as to why in this scene, but this is really all we need to hear:

I really don't need to explain myself further, but because I already had the image at hand from something else, here it is.

The only not related to Spider-man is that he is somewhat prioritizing, and has to do more to see the other Spiders than his actual future.

I think this becomes more obvious when you remember that as smart as he is with Physics, in the first movie he wasn't really interested; despite what he knew he was trying to fumble that class like the rest of them, trying to quit. The only thing he seemed passionate about was his art, which is the other class that he is doing amazingly.

I had seen people argue Miles' dream will probably be related to art, if it wasn't because seeing the other spiders has become even more important than that, deciding to try to get into the best Physics Program in the country just to see if he has a chance to meet them again. That's a lot of time, effort, and work; and is not even about him or what he wants to do for the rest of his life.

In a way, this movie comes to a conclusion about it, but I think I want to talk more about that when we focus on Miles' parents.

Thank you for reading, hope this gives you guys some perspective about Miles; I feel I don't see a lot of people picking up on this, which is a shame since I feel the story with his family gains a deeper layer by having both parties struggling in their own areas.

#miles morales #atsv #across the spiderverse #rio morales #jeff morales #atsv files #spiderman across the spiderverse

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samwisethewitch · 6 months

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REVIEW: Old Style Conjure by Starr Casas

There's some controversy around this book, mostly because Starr Casas is a white woman writing about hoodoo. (Or at least white passing -- Casas does not disclose her ancestry in this book, and I never want to assume based on appearances. Some of the memoir content in this book makes me think she may be from a mixed family.) I avoided this book for a long time because of that controversy, so I want to address it before I move into pros and cons.

When people accuse Casas of cultural appropriation, if they're not talking about her appearance they'll typically bring up this line from a FAQ section in this book: "Q. Can white folks do conjure work? Yes, they can, as long as they honor the ancestors of this work. Those ancestors are the folks who were kidnapped and sold into slavery. They brought this work here and deserve to be honored. And who better to honor them than the white folks who at one time enslaved them?"

I think this line is phrased poorly in a way that makes it easy to take it out of context as giving blanket permission for cultural appropriation. But after reading the entire book, I feel confident that wasn't what Casas was trying to communicate here. Casas is very aware of the legacy of slavery in the South, and she seems to believe very firmly that white folks need to reckon with the atrocity of the slave trade. It's our responsibility to do what we can to make amends for the evils of our ancestors. It's basically the same message other authors, like Aaron Oberon, have phrased better and been praised for.

It is also important to note that Casas isn't claiming to speak for all hoodoo practitioners -- this book is about her family's folk magic tradition, which is influenced by African American practices. She's very clear that other practitioners may do things a different way. She's also very clear about the importance of acknowledging and honoring the African roots of many Southern folk practices, something I personally agree with. The reality is, you'd be hard pressed to find a folk magic tradition in the South with NO African influences, and I appreciate what Casas is trying to do here by explicitly honoring those influences.

(On personal note, struggling to navigate the legacy of white supremacy while honoring Black and indigenous ancestors is something I personally relate to as a white person from a mixed-race family. There are no easy answers here.)

This book, its tone, and the language it uses reminds me a lot of my grandparents. They mean well, and they're remarkably antiracist for older folks in the rural south, but they aren't familiar with all the language and terminology activists use today. They're imperfect in their allyship, but they ARE trying to be allies. It's up to you whether that's a deal breaker for you.

Anyways, with that out of the way, here are my thoughts on the actual book and its content:

Pros:

This is definitely "old style conjure." Everything here feels very authentic and traditional.

I liked the emphasis on using what you have and working with what is available to you. This is not a book that will have you running out to buy that one specific crystal you just have to have for a spell.

I also liked the emphasis on doing things yourself, including making your own oils and powders instead of buying from someone else. This DIY spirit is a big part of southern folk magic as I was taught.

Casas gives very clear, easily followed instructions and does her best to explain the "why" behind what's included in a work.

Great section on throwing bones!

The most comprehensive breakdown of the uses of dirt of any book I've found so far.

This book genuinely contains information I had learned from oral traditions but had not seen written down anywhere.

This book reminded me so much of the women who have taught me what I know of a Southern folk magic. It took me back to sitting at the kitchen table, watching my mentor do an egg cleanse for someone with holy water she had blessed herself.

Cons:

Like I said, reading this book is a lot like a conversation with a Southern grandparent. That wasn't off-putting for me, but I can see how it might bother some readers.

I think Casas is from a slightly warmer climate than where I currently live. Some of the ingredients she uses in works, like olive leaves, are much harder to find in Southern Appalachia. Again, not a huge issue, but just know you'll have to make substitutions if you're not from a very warm climate.

Casas's practice is very heavily focused on working with ancestors and saints, which is not true for every Southern folk magic practitioner. I think she does sometimes give the impression that everyone has to work as closely with ancestors and saints as she does. You don't.

There's definitely a generational difference here with regards to how things like race, class, gender, etc. are discussed. I'm a younger millenial/elder Gen Z, and some of the language used in this book made me cringe a bit. Nothing as bad as slurs or open racism, but more like using outdated language that is considered poor manners but not quite offensive by younger generations.

Overall Rating: 3/5 stars

Would I recommend it?

Despite everything, yes I would. I think there really is some excellent information here, including things that are in danger of being lost. Casas says she wrote this book as a response to the rise of Internet witchcraft and that her goal is to preserve old style folk practices, and she absolutely accomplishes that goal.

This is definitely one I'd recommend checking out from the library before you decide whether to spend money on it, and it isn't without its flaws, but books about pure Southern folk magic with no New Age or neopagan influences are hard to find, so I wanted to spotlight this one. I got this from the library and am glad I did.

(And of course, if you're interested in African American folk magic, you should read books by African American authors. Luisah Teish and Stephanie Rose Bird are two of my personal favs.)

#book review #southern folk magic #southern folk witchcraft #folk magic #conjure #books #witchy books #witch #witchblr #starr casas

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muffinrecord · 5 months

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I think a really key point here would be

Oriko really struggles between what is the right thing to do and how she views herself. She WANTS to be good. She WANTS to save the world.

Sometimes stories will make villains who don't mind getting their hands dirty or doing evil actions as long as they accomplish good things. They know that they are doing wrong, but they think it's okay because the ends justify the means. Oriko... she's like that, but she also isn't. She doesn't WANT to be a monster. Killing Madoka is not a sin because it is the only way to save the planet-- so that means that every horrible thing to accomplish that is righteous.

I think it's telling that the nightmares Oriko has in the manga isn't of the things she needs to do, but of what she herself becomes.

(note: I edited this to be left to right)

That cold uncaring face-- that's her. That's what she is now.

It's very much a "want to have your cake and eat it too" kinda situation. She wants to do these horrible things and be right about them AND keep her soul unblemished AND still be seen as righteous.

In the manga (I don't have a screencap on hand), she has this whole little speech about how she's going to save the world while she lets Kirika's witch familiars run rampant all over the place, killing and chowing down on people. Like... we can all admit how delusional that is, right? She wants people to see her as a savior without them knowing the context of what she's doing. She's literally killing them and viewing them as disposable in her goals and she has to believe that she's doing the right thing.

Oriko wants to save the world and she wants to be a hero and she wants to be important. This is what she was made to do. But she doesn't want to be that person. She doesn't want to be the person she is becoming. It scares her. It scared her father, and she hated that too.

Kirika's death... if Kirika dies without Oriko accomplishing anything, it just means that she never got to achieve her goal, which means she can't become a good person after all. All of her sins were for nothing. She became a monster for absolutely no reason. There is no redemption. There is no path forward.

And she dragged Kirika along with her into that sinking abyss of worthlessness. I think I understand it now.

Kirika becoming a witch to die is one thing-- it's "okay" because Kirika's death is pure, in that it was to do a good thing. But Kirika dying to protect an Oriko who couldn't accomplish her goal? That's just Kirika dying. Dying for nothing, after Oriko made Kirika hurt people.

#Magia Record #Muffin Liveblog #My Only Salvation Liveblog #Oriko Mikuni

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bbygirl-aemond · 1 year

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alicent comes across like a massive hypocrite in how she handles dyanna. like i do understand she herself has been a victim but that just makes it worse. like the second she's greeted with another victim she just gaslights her and literally does not hold aegon accountable?

sa tw

okay i COMPLETELY understand why you feel this way. as a survivor of sa myself, that scene was really uncomfortable to watch. i'm sure i'm not the only person who noticed the parallels to rich white boys having their parents pay off their victims and continuing about their lives irl. that being said, the more i tried to think about how i wished alicent had handled things, the more i realized i couldn't think of another response that would have been better. i think this is unfortunately one of those cases where there IS no right thing to do, and you simply have to choose the lesser of two evils no matter how sick it makes you feel. there are two hugely important pieces of context to alicent's actions here:

alicent is not the person with the ultimate authority here. as episode 9 makes clear, otto and the council have more power than she does.

at this point in time, alicent thinks that the lives of ALL of her children- not just aegon- rely on her successfully using aegon to usurp rhaenyra. see my meta here for the justification of this.

so with this in mind, let's imagine what would happen if alicent wanted to hold aegon accountable.

let's say she takes dyanna's side publicly, and accuses aegon of forcing himself upon her. what happens?

remember, at this point in time, viserys is on his deathbed and is completely unable to rule. and as mentioned above, alicent isn't the one truly in power in his stead- otto is. he's the one who has the council in his pocket and who works with them behind alicent's back. so now otto's the one handling the investigation and the punishments. and do you know what otto does? he accuses dyanna of lying, possibly of being paid off by rhaenyra to slander aegon's name. here are the possible outcomes otto would demand after that point:

dyanna is executed for crimes against the royal family

dyanna is tortured as part of the investigation to get the "truth" of what happened. she is either deliberately killed or forced into a false confession and then killed

dyanna is threatened and forced to withdraw the accusations, resign, and move far away. otto would either threaten her life or her family to do this.

alicent might TRY to stop this from happening, but as episode 9 makes clear, at the end of the day she is still a woman, and otto will always have more power than her even if by title alone he should not.

but bella, you might say, why doesn't alicent have larys spirit aegon away somewhere or kill him? here's where we get into the second piece of context. aegon is THE only real alternative to rhaenyra that alicent has. she's spent over a decade, in conjunction with otto, laying the foundation for aegon in particular to become king one day, long before there's any canon evidence of him being a rapist. there are resources that have been irrevocably invested in aegon in particular: helaena, the twins, and maelor. aegon is the only one on team green with a targaryen wife and two male heirs.

because of this, aemond or daeron simply cannot hold up to the credibility presented by rhaenyra, who has a targaryen husband and many male heirs. all of team green's eggs are in one basket, aegon's, by necessity since there was only one of helaena. even if alicent remarried aemond to helaena, it would take years for them to produce heirs of their own, and that's time alicent simply does not have because at this point in time, viserys is clearly on his deathbed.

remember, alicent was an end-of-life caretaker for jaehaerys. she knows how to recognize the signs. she knows they're running out of time. if she tries to switch tracks to aemond or daeron right now, right when viserys is about to die and they need their claim to be at its strongest, it will doom team green's attempt to usurp rhaenyra, and therefore (in alicent's mind) sentence all of her children to death.

should a survivor of sexual assault sentence a fellow survivor to inevitable torture, intimidation, and/or execution? no. should a mother sentence her two youngest sons and her grandsons to death for a crime they had no part in? also no.

i don't have a good or satisfying answer here for what alicent should have done. i think that's kind of the point: she didn't either. she did what she could for dyanna, without condemning dyanna or her children to death. alicent is the ONLY explicit sa victim in hotd; and she does for dyanna what no one did for her. she hugs her, she tells her she believes her, she ensures dyanna won't have to carry and birth the rape babies alicent was forced to, she gives her a way to escape her abusive situation the way alicent was never able to. within the power that she does have, she chooses to be kind, and she chooses to spare dyanna the fate she herself suffered.

it's an awful situation, and i think it goes to illustrate just how trapped and desperate alicent is. she doesn't like aegon. she doesn't want him to be king. she can barely stand to look at him, knowing what he's done. and yet she has to push down her morals and put him on the throne anyways because her other children's lives depend on it.

unfortunately, there's a recurring theme in this fandom where people would rather hate a woman for her actions at face value, without comprehending that the real villain here is the system that has created these awful, inescapable situations. the conversation between alicent and rhaenys in episode 9, which i've talked about here, is another example of the point just flying over most people's heads. but i hold for all hotd women (yes, including rhaenyra, for all the people who assume defending alicent means i must hate rhaenyra because clearly you can't like two women at once) that the true villain behind all of their morally grey actions is pretty much always the patriarchy.

#hotd #house of the dragon #meta #hotd meta #alicent hightower #aegon targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #aegon #aegon ii #aegon the elder #hotd episode 9

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nitw · 2 years

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did you guys know that i really, REALLY love both of the pilot episodes for mp100 seasons 1 and 2 because theyre fucking perfect. i'm gonna talk about them. shut up

S1E1:

literally the first thing you see is a distorted mob fighting evil spirits in a wasteland while his bgm plays. no dialogue, no context, no explanations; just batshit visuals and music to make sure you're awake for what's to come

introduces reigen in the funniest ways possible and immediately gets you familiar with his Vibe, yet leaves you with even more questions like "is this the main character? am i supposed to root for this asshole????"

whoops here comes a little boy! whoops he's extremely powerful! and doesn't that music sound familiar??

"THIS IS SHIGEO KAGEYAMA, ALSO KNOWN AS MOB- ... THE PROTAGONIST OF THIS STORY" incredible.

in contrast to All That we then see mob and reigen's ridiculous dynamic, followed by mob's daily life at school. whatever expectations you had about either of these characters 9 minutes ago were wrong (OR WERE THEY????)

now that you know the duo and their main characteristics a little better it's time to really watch them in action. the haunted tunnel does such a good job of showing what mob and reigen actually do at work, how they play off on each other's quirks, setting the tone for the overall supernatural plot, and of course the animation is just gorgeous too

ESTABLISHES THAT REIGEN ACTUALLY DOES LOOK OUT FOR MOB, AND WORRIES FOR HIS SAFETY, EVEN WHEN HE (REALISTICALLY) DOESN'T NEED TO. i can't stress how important this is to show from the beginning, i've seen so many people gloss over that detail and continue to act like he doesn't care about him?? wtf

ALSO ESTABLISHES MOB'S UNCONDITIONAL KINDNESS AND FORGIVENESS. very good

that final scene of mob just.. staring at a group of teens hanging out and talking together while he waits for reigen at the station, who then takes him out for ramen. it adds even more to the genuinity of their friendship, but also hints at mob's struggle to connect with others and figure out what to do in his spare time. all of that, that single episode is just like, the whole show. this is all you need to know

S2E1:

same old reigen with his same old schemes, but it's a nice detail that he didn't wamt to take money from the poor farmer guy and instead asked for a cut of his harvest (who said he doesn't even do fieldwork for a living anyway). reigen's refusal to accept unfair payment comes up a lot in this show and i think that's neat

same(?) old(?) mob goes "shishou for the love of god i have a life outside of this job yknow"

when the wriggle spirit captures reigen first and threatens to kill him if mob persists, mob actually lets his guard down. 1) he learned from last time 2) possibly foreshadowing how mob will be the one to save reigen in more ways than one this season

mob realizes that the spirit isn't directly possessing the plants, but rather sending out a signal that forces them to obey it, which is technically still a form of "control". COUGH minegishi COUGH COUGH toichiro

also mob basically learns plant magic! ~this action will have consequences~

🅱️ROCCOLI

lots of arcs that started in s1 are immediately continued! ichi and the psycho helmet cult, shinji stepping down from the student council, ritsu supporting his brother, etc. and just seeing how many friends mob has now that want him to succeed is amazing

the fact that mob even agrees to ichi's plan about the election and takes it so seriously is proof of how much more determined/confident he's become

mob gets asked out for the first time in his life, and even though it turns out he rejected emi, he's so cool about everything and still wants to hang out and get to know her - early s1 mob probably couldn't have handled it this well

"do you even have feelings, or your own opinions?" "i decided to consider my feelings more" THOSE ARE THE MAGIC WORDS FOR SEASON 2'S OVERALL THEMES AND PLOT BABEY!!!!

the floating paper scene. i don't even need to say anything just take it in

OHO? TSUBOMI? SCHEMING? LURKING? could this be the beginning of the rumored "character depth" i've heard so much about???

n e way. season 3 soon. explodes

#leo.txt #mp100 #mob psycho 100

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the5n00k · 1 year

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Scratch in Scratch the Surface vs I Wanna Dance With Some-Ollie

[[[spoilers for season 2]]]

Long post sorry

I've been comparing these two episodes a lot, especially after the song Ghosts Aren't the Enemy from Book Marks the Sprite reminding me SO much of Lose-Lose from season 1. The conflicts are pretty similar, Molly has to keep someone from finding out about Scratch because of real and disastrous consequences, although instead of the flow of failed phantoms, this season it's the ghost chaser Chens. They aren't directly comparable since the contexts are different (Libby is a close friend and Ollie is a romantic interest) ((I'M SPEAKING CANONICALLY DON'T KILL ME SHIPPERS)) and the plot of Some-Ollie isn't really "hide Scratch" it's more focused on Molly and Ollie's relationship and how Scratch is reacting to it. Speaking of which:

Scratch's reaction to Molly's concerns about Libby is very dismissive. He doesn't really care about her and he's not super invested in Molly's personal problems either. The only times he's helped her out (at this point in the series) is when it personally affects him or he feels familiar pity for her. (First Day Frights and The Best Concert Ever are good examples of this) He's not completely won over by her antics yet. And while he is concerned for her wellbeing at this point, it's more like the sort of concern and worry you feel when you see somebody who's clearly not gonna be able to make the entire 5k run. Like you're worried but it's better if you just don't get involved. Baseline empathy, really

He does start cracking when Molly asks if she can tell Libby because she's misinterpreting the situation. Even during this, Molly doesn't break Scratch's trust and doesn't outright tell her without asking first. Knowing what we know about Scratch now, I think he's always had a soft spot for friendships and hates seeing them end, even subconsciously. He smiles as Molly runs away to catch up with Libby but he's still not happy about it. Yeah he warms up to Libby but telling anyone about him is a potential danger, especially if they feel the need to tell anyone else.

And in Friend-Off, he didn't really have a justifiable reason to be a jerk to Libby other than Molly's scavenger hunt they were both forced to do. Everything he said (both of them said really) was out of a place of pure jealousy. He even admits that at the end of the episode.

What's important to point out is this entire episode he's only thinking about himself (not an uncommon trend for this character) and is only willing to sacrifice when pushed to do so. Not saying he's necessarily written badly in this episode, far from it, but it is quite a contrast between that and his actions in the season 2 episode 5a segment I Wanna Dance With Some-Ollie.

I'd like to preface this with one of the scrapped titles for this ep was "Molly's Choice" and I think that will haunt me till I die that's such an evil title

I Wanna Dance With Some-Ollie is a VERY compelling episode. While the set up for it and Scratch the Surface is similar, this one feels like it has more stakes involved. Molly has a crush on Oliver Chen, a ghost hunter, and you can see how that could immediately cause issues. Scratch is even more dismissive towards Molly at points because of this, even colder and snappier than some of season 1a in my opinion. (For good reason obviously) and while Scratch's concerns here are mostly fear for his own safety, it's also jealousy. If he was so worried about Ollie catching him, he wouldn't be around him at all, let alone trying to sabotage the dance.

Molly doesn't take the threat the Chens pose very seriously and dismisses most of Scratch's concerns. (Not that she's a bad friend for this, she just thinks they're silly YouTubers and wants to enjoy a middle school dance) Scratch eventually blows up on her and they get into a rather brutal argument for an episode 5 of a DTVA show. It's presented in the usual silly way but they both say some rather insensitive things to each other in the heat of the moment.

We've NEVER seen them disagree this hard on anything. They've had differing opinions before but neither of them is budging on this one. They split off and you can see what Molly said to him hurt. She seemingly chose what was more important to her. He seemed to look back as if he was debating on going back in to apologize to her for what he said and did too because she just wants to have a good time and he was trying to ruin that. But he decides he's the last thing she needs right now and starts to go home, only to get caught in a spectral snare.

Here's the REALLY important part I need y'all to listen closely:

He had every right to an "I told you so". He had every right to tell her never to see Ollie again and to even consider moving just to save his metaphorical skin. But he doesn't. She apologizes first and he interjects with his own apology for trying to ruin her night. Her happiness is what's most important to him now. That priority shift happened since Out of House and Home, maybe arguably even sooner. He doesn't tell her never to see him again, in fact he IMPLIES that she should be able to do what she wants and he wouldn't interfere anymore. It was Molly's choice to cut it off with Ollie after seeing Scratch in that much danger.

He's still a self centered jerk with possessive tendencies and separation anxiety but it's important to point out that he recognizes Molly as her own person and he shouldn't interfere with her happiness. I think season 1a Scratch wouldn't have even LET her go to the dance with a ghost hunter as her co-chair to begin with. I know I don't need to defend Scratch's actions since most people are on his side in this episode (a weird change of pace) but I needed to get my thoughts out about him and his development so far. My boy has come so far, they feel like good, real friends. Also I'm just gonna reiterate Molly wasn't completely at fault here because she just wanted to enjoy the dance and both her and Scratch had equal fault in this scenario, that's called ✨good writing✨, you don't have to pick a side. THE WORLD ISN'T BLACK AND WHITE, OLLIE

I hope they address Scratch's jealous nature in a future episode, especially since they're hinting towards an Ollie redemption. After the ghost hunting fear is gone, that jealousy is gonna still be there, I'm kind of hoping after that talk outside of the school where Scratch resigned himself to whatever Molly wanted to do, he wouldn't be too jealous of him and we won't have a Friend-Off 2 or something. (Although if he decides to be a little petty and messes with Ollie a little, I welcome that. That sounds really funny honestly)

I feel like halfway through this I just started rambling, I hope my point made it across clearly LOL tldr; scratch is a well written character and he means so much to me and if I see any Molly/Ollie/Mollie slander on my account I will be throwing hands <3

#the ghost and molly mcgee #tgamm #tgamm spoilers #tgamm season 2 #long reads #character analysis #scratch mcgee #and i care them so much #the besties ever #im so excited for this season #i think about 5a a lot if you cant tell #i have many thoughts and hate seeing this ep misrepresented #which i see often #thank you for reading

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2econdlaw · 4 months

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INFO. RE: UNPREDICTABILITY, EXPECTATIONS, AND THE PLOTTING PROBLEM OF A MORALLY GREY CHAOTIC CHARACTER .

By both nature and necessity, Charlotte is a wholly and persistently unpredictable character. She always has been in almost all aspects of her characterization; from the fact that she does not have any conscious control over the distortions to reality, memories, and perceptions that occur in her presence to the fact that she rarely has any political, moral, or personal stakes in any given conflict, Char's unpredictability is, ironically, perhaps, one of the few constant things about her.

However, because it isn't easy to predict how she will behave or react to certain people, situations, etc., I get that this might make it hard to plot with her as well as create a coherent picture of her. ( Of course, some of that ambiguity is deliberate and it's not the goal of this post to do away with that ambiguity, but only to clarify a little bit about how said ambiguity works. ) I've spoken about this in various contexts during plotting, but figured it'd be helpful to have in one post for everybody's reference since we should be on the same page about why Char is a headache.

SO, HERE ARE A FEW NOTES ON WHAT YOU CAN AND CANNOT EXPECT FROM CHARLOTTE IS MOST SITUATIONS, IN TERMS OF WHETHER YOU ARE TRYING TO DECIDE IF SHE IS A FRIEND, FOE, OR SIMPLY A FIEND.

As stated above, Charlotte will rarely have any political, moral, or personal stakes in any given situation that might arise and/or involves your muse. This means that if you want to gauge where she might stand in a conflict, how far you can trust her, where her loyalties ( if any ) would lie, etc., you may have to rely on what you know about the conflict itself, the players involved, and who ( if anyone ) Char is answering to. Obviously, this isn't a foolproof method and it is very possible that Char could be planning to betray people, working for an unknown party, or looking to make some trouble on her own terms. Therefore, in this case, you cannot predict with a reliable degree of certainty whether Char is "on your side" or not.

Charlotte does have standards. It may be hard to believe and even harder to predict, but she will draw the line at certain actions and behaviours. I don't want to attach any morality-talk to these standards, however, because Charlotte herself doesn't see her standards as markers of her "goodness" or "evilness;" they're simply the limits of what she is and is not willing to do as a person, and are, unfortunately, also subject to adjustment if she feels the need to cross certain lines for whatever reason. It's important to remember that Char is extremely goal-orientated and will not let go of a "victory" easily. Therefore, these "lines" she draws can be unpredictable themselves.

That being said, you can trust that Char will never personally perpetuate acts of animal cruelty, infanticide, the willful abuse/avoidable traumatizing of children, extremely cruel and unusual punishments or torture methods, egregious or needless violations of another person's bodily autonomy, or emotionally-driven acts of sadism, maiming, or homicide.

In short, while Charlotte is willing to go to great lengths to achieve her objective and will engage in a wide assortment of extreme and criminal methods of manipulation to do so, she is not an inherently cruel or sadistic person. She is capable of cruelty and sadism, but she also knows when enough is enough and finds little personal gratification in going beyond what she considers "fair" or "fun" in a given situation. This means that she won't likely go out of her way to torture, maim, or kill someone if it no longer serves her goal; it means that she is much less likely to inflict egregious pain or confusion on someone she believes cannot, in any sense, "fight back." Her actions and choices, like everything else about her, aim to push events, people, and reality itself towards her nearer criminal objectives as well as her greater, more general objective of catalyzing chaos. Once she has done enough to "feed" these plans and processes, Char backs off considerably in terms of her hostility. What sustains her unpredictability in this case, however, is how you can never know when Charlotte will decide if enough is enough or if there is more chaos to be squeezed out of a certain person and/or situation. . .

Therefore, the best way to parse Charlotte's unpredictability is to consider the immovable neutrality of chaos and, by extension, Char herself as a vessel of the primordial void and old Khaos itself. It is crucial to remember that, more often than not, to the point of near certainty, none of what Char does is ever personal. It is all for chaos. It is paramount, where Char is concerned, to never mistaken her friendly and even caring actions for any actual care on her part for your muse. ( There are, of course a handful of exceptions to this, but that's an entirely different story ). I cannot emphasize this enough: Char may take actions to care for your muse, such as feeding them, checking in on them, buying them gifts, housing them, etc., but she does not actually care about your muse in any of these cases. At all. Not beyond what they can do for her in terms of her objectives. As such, you cannot expect any sentimentality or loyalty from Char in almost any situation ever.

The flip-side of this objective and cold neutrality is that you also do not have to worry about Char ever developing feelings of personal resentment, hatred, or vindictiveness against your muse. No matter what has gone down between Char and another person or organization, she will more likely than not continue to view the other with indifference... maybe mingled with some wariness, curiosity, or even mild fondness. This is to say, you can expect her to leave your home, loved ones, overall safety, and livelihood alone as long as you do not become a person of interest for her again. It is only important to remember that this "peace" is conditional, and you cannot predict when she will, in fact, turn around and decide maybe she does want to use you, mess with you, or need something from you again.

So, it seems like there is very little you can count on when it comes to Charlotte, and this is as expected. However, amidst all this unpredictability, there are a few other points on which you can trust will transpire when it comes to Charlotte. The first and most widely applicable is her resolve, determination, and objectivity when it comes to getting a job done. Before all else, Char is a chaos agent with a singular purpose; this kind of mindset has translated seamlessly to her career as a master criminal. She does not like to lose and believes half the fun is the dedication with which she throws herself into a job. The fact that she is not in control of the effects she has on reality and is herself subject to these distortions and the unpredictability she fosters, and yet has trained herself to use these distortions in such a way that not only makes it seem like she's in control but to great yet improbable success, should, alone, testify to the power of her resolve.

Second, you can usually count on the fact that Char does not operate from a place of emotion, and is rather cerebral and logical. This means that, if your muse is up to the challenge and has the capability to do so, you can expect Charlotte to respond to reasonable arguments and negotiations. In short, Char can be reasoned with; it's just not an easy thing to do as she usually has her own logic already in place behind a plan, but she won't ever shut you down outright for voicing your own reasoning. You can expect her to respond best to logical arguments, analytical or scientific evidence, and when you can show why you're championing a particular line of thinking.

Lastly, and this is not even close to being widely applicable, but in the case where your muse has earned Char's genuine friendship, love, and/or loyalty, you can expect her to show up for you consistently and unconditionally. Though extremely hard-earned, Char's loyalty is the real thing. She will be there the moment you call. She will side with you and do almost anything you ask of her, even if she disagrees, because it was you who asked. She will never leave you to face a challenge alone and will persistently look out for you. Perhaps a little unexpectedly, this is the only case ( hence its immense rarity ) where Char will set aside her own objectives ( to considerable consequences ) and turn her dedication to someone else's goals and success. That being said, this should not be translated as Char becoming "good." She may be good to you, but her choices and actions will still reflect her morally chaotic mindset. This means that the ways in which she will support, defend, and show up for you will still run towards unpredictability because you will never be able to know 100% what she has planned and how far she is willing to go for you.

#CHARACTER.

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newgenog · 10 months

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REVENGE

Notes: STILL NOT ready to share part one of chapter six (and am not totally sure that's happening this time around). So, this is another teaser from chapter six.

If you're just stumbling across this, and haven't already done so, please stop and start by reading part one of chapter one.

This #Batwoman AU is based on the ABC tv series #Revenge. Ryan Wilder had just about everything taken from her when we met her, and she was doing her best to get it back. In this version of the story, that means taking some people down along the way. And, she's definitely no hero.

I won't keep you. I'm 35% done w/ this chapter, and have a goal to post it to Ao3 by the last Friday of the month. So, I gotta focus on my focus, and ask for y'all to send me all the positive vibes. Until then, here's another out of sequence and context peek at chapter six.

I appreciate you!

CHAPTER SIX SNEAK PEEK 3

Before retrieving the file they were sent to pick up from Catherine's home office, Evan stops in the kitchen to grab a bottle of Pellegrino for the road. They find Jonathan Cartwright sitting in Tommy's lap, and Beth propped on the table, leaning towards them both.

Jonathan is playing in Tommy's hair, and Evan feels like they walked in on an intimate moment between the three of them, which is emphasized by the audible gasp heard in reaction to the discovery. Beth, Jonathan, and Tommy had gone out after brunch the day before, and Evan didn't think much of it but passed on joining, with the work week resuming the next day. Apparently, they were still going strong. Not knowing what else to do, Evan quickly turns and walks back out of the room. They want to get what they came for, and to banish all other thoughts from their mind. But, they're stopped by someone tugging their arm.

Tommy: "Why did you rush off?"

Evan: "I'm in a hurry."

Tommy: "Because of that…?"

Evan: "Look, I know I'm pretty fluid, but poly just isn't my thing. To each their own, but I personally feel like there's plenty of me to go around and prefer someone who sees me as enough."

Tommy: "Babe, I'm all yours. You don't have to worry about that."

Evan: "Being pretty doesn't make me dumb."

Tommy gets close, so he can speak in Evan's ear.

Tommy: "Of course not. I find your big brain very attractive, but you are also very pretty."

Evan doesn't pull away, but that doesn't mean things are okay.

Evan: "I'm also not easily manipulated. Whatever you're trying to pull on all of them, count me out. I want no parts of it."

Tommy: "I would never-"

Evan: "Wouldn't you though? I find it interesting that you're so suspicious of Robyn, considering. Maybe you've always just been projecting."

Tommy: "Look, I've been honest with you. And I'll continue to be, but neither of us is going to get anywhere if we don't take advantage of our opportunities. I need you to trust me. My success will be yours too. We're in this together, right?"

Evan doesn't know what to say. Kate is important to them, and so is Mary, and Robyn too for that matter. But they can't say they feel an allegiance to the elder Hamilton Kanes, or the evil twin. Moreover, this was only supposed to be a stepping stone, and maybe Tommy was right to remind Evan of that. They might have different tactics for their pursuits, but their goals weren't entirely dissimilar.

Evan: "I don't trust her…"

Evan nods in the direction of the kitchen, indicating Beth.

Tommy: "I'm not asking you to, but she likes to talk, and she doesn't like her parents very much. I'm learning a lot that I can leverage. Proximity to her is advantageous."

Evan sighs, and Tommy places a quick kiss on their cheek as a form of appreciation for the forgiveness.

Evan: "I do have to go. Just remember what I said. And maybe take a shower? I can name every bar you traipsed through last night by how you smell."

And with that, still not totally thrilled, Evan leaves Tommy to whatever he was plotting and orchestrating before they arrived.

~~~~~

To be continued...

I've got two Fridays to finish this chapter. I believe I can do it. Do you? Lie to me if not. LOL!

Hopefully you've been following the Writer and Actor strikes. If not, now's the time to get informed. I support the people that gave us these characters and this story. They deserve to afford to eat and have health insurance while many of them are still in between jobs since they cancelled our show. #PayWriters #PayActors #StopCancellingDiverseShows

#batwoman #wildmoore #ryan x sophie #wildmoore week #ryan wilder #sophie moore #save batwoman #fanfic #lgbtq #wmw23

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whenthechickencry · 2 months

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The Witches' Tanabata Isn't Sweet

This was released between Episodes 4 and 5 for context by the way, assuming the wiki is accurate, It's so sad how the other children can make childish, silly wishes meanwhile Maria is stuck just wishing for what everyone else takes for granted....

Haha, it's cute to see how Maria mixes her weird mythologies with the common myths everyone else believes, Beatrice is Maria's "Guardian Angel".

This is so sad. Maria deserved so much more.

Maria wakes up, is happy that her wish was granted if even just for a dream, and vows to use the power of magic in order to make it a reality, ie by trying to get closer to Rosa. It is cute, too, how magic made her want to do good things for her mother, but also heartbreaking in how it reveals an underlying belief that the reason her mother doesn't come home often enough is her own fault for not being the best daughter...

Meanwhile....

Bernkastel points out that if they created that wish by their own will, witches don't need to be involved at all. Beato and Lambda condescendingly make fun of Bernkastel for not understanding that people's will getting granted by their willpower is how magic works. This is a bit of a teaching moment on what magic IS. Lambdadelta can just see it as magic not existing, sure, but another interpretation is that magic gave Maria the willpower to try to change her fate. We go a little bit into what Lambdadelta considers wishes worth granting, and you can certainly understand why she'd take a shine for Beatrice's endless games to reach her goal

Lambdadelta points out that, to her, it isn't cruel that she doesn't guarantee what kind of effort they will need, because just giving them that guarantee makes their goals more achievable, and how having anyone else grant those wishes would sully them, anyways.

And we get the direct confirmation of Takano as someone Lambda sponsored/Miyo as a part of Lambdadelta...

We got some riffing between Beato and Lambda about how Bernkastel never grants miracles since miracles are miracles since they don't happen, and that she should at least grant someone a wish that day.

There's a lot of interesting juxtaposition here between the perception of the witches as cruel and how happy they are to grant witches here, and narration seems to kind of chide us for thinking these are 2 different things beings instead of one, full being.

Meanwhile, Ange wishes for her family to come home, and Bernkastel will grant it if she follows her instructions every day, Meanwhile, we see how Eva really was trying at first, several episodes before EP8. This is really huge for the time this released.

And Ange's wish for a miracle let her not accept the miracle she already had, to the point that the miracle eventually darkened and turned into a nightmare....

Of course, I really don't think Ange is evil for this or whatever. Children feel like this after just a breakup or whatever, I can't possibly imagine how it feels to a child that lost everyone one night. I am going to fucking cry.

Jesus christ Bernkastel.

Of course, these are just Ange's grief-ridden thoughts, given the form of the witch of miracles...

This is what ended up happening anyways, but certainly not in the way Bernkastel is thinking right now.

Bernkastel talks a bit more about how she hates Beato.

Man, this one was really good and important. Crazy reveals for the time this was released too. Kind of a shame there's basically no way to read it at the correct time it would have the most impact on you, but still, definitely recommend this one.

#umineko #UmiTsubasa

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yngai · 7 months

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SEPERATE WAYS (2023) INITIAL THOUGHTS - PART ONE :

while i think i set my expectations a little too high regarding this DLC & there are areas where i was left disappointed, aspects of the original story that begged for expansion which are either ignored or just as obtuse, i do enjoy the new additions & scenarios unique to her campaign ( resulting from it being given proper development time, when the original was always an afterthought, a quickfire rendition of the main scenario whose actual story is relegated to direct exposition from ada in between chapters + the attached guidebook offering context on her actions & allegiances ) . ada's characterization falls very much in line with how i've portrayed her . while capcom always delivers on engaging gameplay ( RE4R's combat is the franchise's best & ada's unique move-set sets this DLC apart ), characters & story can often take a backseat to the breakneck pacing of the action, to atmosphere & overall world, monster & sound design .

i wish this wasn't a consistent issue but having been a resident evil fan for at least half a decade now this is what i should've expected, there are some excellent moments hampered by wasted potential & while these are faults i am happy to see ada wong being given a chance to shine . separate ways was always setting up ada's own solo outing that was later backtracked & her narrative role reused for damnation, only somewhat realized with RE6 as ada's campaign carries the most story relevance as we learn the motivations & background of the game's villains, with ada confronting her own manufactured persona plastered onto another woman . this DLC feels like that promise fulfilled, ada unchained from her narrative dependance on leon as we relive the events of RE4R from her perspective . whereas for leon it's a horror, for ada it's just another day clocking in to work . everyone was left wanting for more & thinking ada robbed of her story relevance by luis, but even in the original her campaign is what cements her role in the narrative & it is the same here .

i don't tie my blog's canon exclusively to the remakes & as i've detailed here there will be a lot carried over from the original moving forward with my portrayal, especially in how resident evil 4 (2005) is a self-aware take on the american action movie, where ada plays & subverts the role of the femme fatale very plainly . this is something important to how i perceive & portray ada, because i think an issue regarding most analysis of her character is that despite her duplicitous, calculated nature, people take her & her words at face value . in this remake much like in her every appearance, there is a disconnect between her actions & the information she relies to other characters, it's what makes her interesting to me ( & why i've written her for as long as i've been a ressie fan ) . we've known since RE3 that ada wong is a cover, a mask worn by a woman that thrives on lies & deceit, & the weight of it, her existence in a world on the brink of self-destruction is what gives her life meaning .

separate ways (2023) doesn't truly pick up until after luis' death, sadly, i don't think her infection is given much proper development, but her relationship with luis going beyond one file & one cutscene is a welcome addition to her story & the interplay with luis' arc & theme of redemption adds a lot of context to ada's scenes in leon's campaign . the build up is a little middling but the payoff is worth it .

this isn't going to be an in-depth analysis post, i still need to gather my thoughts, think of this more as a rather long list of observations :

first off, i love that ada's introduction & approach to rescuing luis shows her undercover . this is the first time in the franchise we see ada, a spy, sneak into a situation not donning her signature raven black hair matching her usual red/black color scheme . while the leather gloves are a dead giveaway to eagle eyed viewers, it's a nice change of pace for a character we are told is a spy though we rarely see do proper espionage ( she is more akin to a gentleman thief ) . does make me wonder where she procured the outfit since the inhabitants of the castle are on high alert, & what she thinks of all the dead hitchhikers she walked past on her way down .

i also enjoy that ada humors luis by giving the chance to finish off his private dance number & that from her expression alone there's instant regret, an eye roll, placing a cigarette in his mouth to shut him up, later turning her head away to create distance as luis leans in, before her demeanor with him grows openly hostile as he continues testing her patience . i will say though, this scene does feel like it belongs later in the campaign, it makes little sense for ada's route throughout valdelobos to be castle -> village -> castle ( luis even mocks it, asking ada if she ever thought she'd come back to the castle later . seems like a cheeky nod from the developers hinting at the strangeness of the circling ), & it always felt like their cliffside chat was supposed to be their first meeting . in fact, this is hinted at by the code phrase used, one luis asks leon upon their introduction & later ada, stressed in the e-mails exchanged . which is absent here as i think originally the trouble luis got himself into that leon hears of in the prince charming radio call was getting recaptured . this is a writing decision made specifically for the DLC that, in my opinion, does conflict a little with the main scenario, but i can live with it .

i guess it's nice of ada to pick up a pack of cigarettes on the way to valdelobos, i just wish she smoked one or two in a cutscene, maybe they're not her brand .

some insights into ada's arms dealing background given from the descriptions of her springfield armory xd ( blacktail ac ), customed made for ada's personal use, she must know some excellent gunsmiths . interesting as well that her knife 'has meant the difference between life & death on more than a few missions', she is shown to be rather proficient with knives in later cutscenes too . really makes her expression when leon essentially mansplains the usefulness of knives in close quarters all the more understandable . she thinks it very funny, because she never initiated the fight with the intention to harm ( finger off the trigger, playful lilt to her voice, in the remake leon has openings ada doesn't exploit, leon is her distraction against los iluminados why would she harm him at all ) . in both renditions it's a part of her game to judge his training, how it has changed him & in the remake she does get caught off guard by how seriously leon takes the encounter, the build up of resentment of a six year old death & betrayal ( deserving, of course, a consequence for ada's actions in raccoon city that leaves little room for whatever lingering sentiment people misinterpret in their interactions ) only regaining her foothold when he tries to talk down to her . then she mocks what he's become .

after learning of ada's infection i first speculated it would coincide with her own capture by méndez's forces after rescuing leon at his home, sedated as in the original & injected with her own plaga instead of becoming a sacrifice . instead her infection happens first thing, resulting from a fairly surface level cut on her right arm that heals & vanishes ( along the damage to her sweater ) within minutes . while we are told that pesanta possess a unique form of plaga infection specific to her victims ( fitting with her name drawing from catalan folklore as a creature that causes breathing problems & nightmares by perching atop a person's chest ), plaga infections happen through the injection or forceful swallowing of a parasite into a host . in the remake the parasites survived incased in amber, preserved like the insects they are, in the original they became petrified & their spores infected miners hired by the salazar family, & now i guess an organic spike cutting someone slightly is enough for a parasite to start growing in your body . but hey, infection through a wound sustained on your forearm from a black-clad monster pursuing you throughout your mission, ada/jill parallels anyone ?

it's just a shame pesanta isn't a stalker enemy that irregularly pursues ada throughout the castle & village, an active threat that looms over the horizon . she is encountered three times, always alone ( sans illusions, which i suppose is a nice nod the hookman version of RE3.5 ) & the third time is the reimagined U3 boss fight, where ada is freed of her infection . this is told to us, & ada even comments on the usefulness of the information, in a file found in the display room, but it's almost kind of a copout as to end the infection plotline as soon as possible .

for leon it lingers until the very end, he goes to such great lengths to cure himself & ashley, ada vomits her parasite & brushes it off like it never happened, & it's such a shame because pesanta's ability to control her victims through waking nightmares would've been such a great chance to introduce some more horror to ada's journey, insight into her character by the nature her nightmares take, imagery & symbolism, maybe an even more overt series of hallucinations in the castle as a full on callback to RE3.5, something beyond her nightmares being a boss mechanic ( not asking for anything beyond a 5-10 minute sequence is a 3-4 hour long DLC ) . this is why i'm currently on the fence about retaining it as part of my canon, i guess until we see the story relevance of the blood sample wesker takes in their first encounter .

ada, to me, is a character that always struggles with her lingering humanity that gets in the way of her own selfish whims & her employers' desires . she finds herself getting invested & distracted by the people she comes across during her missions, by a moral line she is unwilling to cross no matter how beneficial it would be in the long run, which is bolstered here as she affirms luis' promise & need for redemption . while i won't bore you with the notion that her greatest flaw is that she cares too much or anything ( she doesn't ), it is an aspect of her character that makes her a more realized person but dampens her life of espionage . it's an operational failure, but not a personal one, something i would've loved to see reflected in her struggle against the plaga, her humanity succumbing to a power she can't truly comprehend . one that might be useful in her betrayal of wesker, a man who thinks himself as having surpassed humankind . a notion considered but ultimately discarded as she is self-assured enough to think she can stand against wesker on her own terms .

pleasantly surprised to see ada's glasses return in a superior form, one i'm definitely keeping, as the I.R.I.S. system is a gameplay feature & a fun little spy gadget that makes far too much sense as a tool in ada's arsenal . not just explaining her prowess with her grappling hook but scanning the environment for footprints & fingerprints, a gameplay feature i hope to see return in any prospective future instalment featuring ada . she is noted in a character blurb from the original RE2 to be an investigator, an information retrieval specialist, as both the g-virus & the dominant plaga are referred to as evidence that ada is tasked with collecting, rather than research material ( the former makes a lot more sense once you consider that ada's golgotha sample never resurfaces after RE2, while the g-virus itself does in dead aim, degeneration & RE6, it's always through other avenues, namely, HUNK's sample landing in the hands of umbrella europe's facilities in france, frederic downing escaping raccoon city with his own sample & carla radames extracting the lingering golgotha in sherry's system - the latter kept by ada for undisclosed purposes, the same file mentioning she has no desire being part of wesker's apocalyptic designs ) .

when i first played the demo for RE4R i immediately locked onto the game's present though underdeveloped stealth mechanics . i remember testing its limits seeing how far i could sneak into the village before initiating combat ( it wasn't very far ), & it set my mind ablaze with the possibility that separate ways would expand on its stealth system, making ada a more covert operative . while there's certainly opportunities for stealth, more than the base game, it would've been very neat to see the I.R.I.S. system implemented in such a way as to allow ada to scurry by undetected . enemy sightlines & alert levels, a ping system allowing you to see enemy movements behind walls, i'm just dreaming about an ada wong metal gear solid game .

does make me wonder though if this is just an ace in ada's deck that wesker is otherwise unaware of, as he could very easily tap into her eye to see her activities in real time, though i doubt it's in any way connected to any network ( los illuminados also has the facilities to interrupt any radio communication ) . ada keeps wesker updated to her progress via her radio & never removes the I.R.I.S. like she discards her sunglasses, i'm unsure yet if it is a contact lens or a permanent implant .

an incredibly goofy line but i think as ada's report unveils, ada isn't necessarily the most creative woman when it comes to word choice ( she leans too heavily on obvious metaphor & cliché even in her speech patterns ), i don't think this topples her equating umbrella's collapse with an umbrella folding & brining all of spencer's shadowy conspirators ( wesker included ) out into the light & their wretchedness into full view, their battle of light & darkness as they seek to erect a new umbrella, that's still my favorite ada wong-ism . i think her quips in this DLC make her out to be even more of a dweeb than ever before & believe me she thinks she is so clever .

very brief for an introductory monologue but i do like that RE4R's primary theme of change is carried over to ada's narrative through the lens of how raccoon city changed her, kind of been a long running aspect of my portrayal, the complete shift of the ada wong persona & the ideals of the woman underneath after a night that almost undid everything she was . this in tandem with the reputation garnered from her survival & the opportunities it presented her as a corporate spy is what molded ada into a much more efficient, smarter operative willing to reopen old wounds as to form scar tissue . her questioning wesker's designs with the amber here, as well as telling luis earlier she has yet to decide what to do with the amber, is also a very nice callback to death's door where ada's single thought following her discussion with wesker at the apple inn is the possibility of a g-virus outbreak on the scale of raccoon city ( 'if the t-virus did this, what would happen if the g-virus got out ?' ) .

she probably blessed whatever higher power she doesn't believe in that no such outbreak has ever occurred, a BSAA file on golgotha specifically states this fact & the disastrous consequences should one ever occur & as i've mentioned previously, her sample never amounted to much . this does tie into a point i will make once we reach the post credits scene, it's something that makes me very happy .

i don't think ada was ever fully prepared for raccoon city, even prior to the outbreak itself the darkness of the umbrella corporation was of an evil she had yet to encounter ( if you subscribe to her presence in arklay & stay in raccoon city up until the outbreak as i do, rather than being sent into RC on two separate occasions ) . while there was plenty of dread & deceit in her life, death & betrayal, petty crime & arms dealing that made her the perfect candidate to be a corporate spy on behalf of one of umbrella's rivals, the eugenics driven research into the t-virus which would eventually lead to the development of bioweapons for the us military was a revelation not easily stomached . she was in over her head with no out but to continue her mission until she found herself in a living nightmare with no real plan & no backup, a desperate woman donning lies trying & failing to manipulate her way to her mission's success . the desperation of her half-constructed lies that only a rookie like leon would believe ( & even he quickly formed doubts ) is what really cements RE2R as one of my favorite characterizations of ada, she lost control & paid for her failure with the life of her persona, only for that name to become her moniker once she managed to drag herself out of raccoon city's wreckage, one of the few survivors .

ada takes on a very cheeky matter-of-fact tone in this radio conversation, combined with the fact she must've already known about the kidnapping of ashley graham before going into valedobos, might be a hint towards ada herself having tipped off the us government towards ashley's location specifically to rile up the cult as a distraction ( 'couldn't have picked a worse time' ) . this does fall in line with a file from the original game, where the cult suggest a similar theory that i think ada's report on leon confirms outright, as she plans for his involvement in a starring role while she works in the background, mentioning how simple the structuring of the operation was prior to los iluminados capturing the us president's daughter . the kind of thing that tends to complicate matters, thanks krauser .

OH MY GOD HE SAID THE LINE !!!

#* file // : OOC — ( 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐄 . )#* file // : 005 — ( 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀 . )#* file // : 004 — ( 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍 . )#congratulations to whoever reads all of this you are a champ i will personally give you a trophy just DM me your address #can't FUCKING believe i have to do it parts #my uncompressed steam screenshot folder is 2.5GB with a majority of it being separate ways + some baldur's gate 3 #just so you know what you're in for #capcom refurbished ada wong content on a silver platter and you bet i am going ballistic

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brw · 1 year

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I saw your post about Charles Xavier, and I loved it. I hate when Charles is written by as villainous or seen that way by fans; because of his visible disability and one the fact that he's one of the most prominent disabled characters in comics that is being portrayed/seen as evil.

Also, could you tell me about your thoughts on Charles please.

ooooo yeah i do think writers have given charles a VERY short end of the stick... which is weird because a lot of writers after will continue to write him as a kindly old man figure despite the moral transgressions which i think is where most people's frustration comes from. but i do think he's held to a higher standard? like i keep saying it but emma's name is literally white queen + she once stole & used ororo's body against her will + hellfire trading company is very clearly inspired by the east india trading company, but she's a fan favourite. this isn't to say he isn't an awful person at times but for xmen that means kind of nothing to me. anyway, for me personally i just get frustrated because i think there is a good potential narrative here but because writers aren't disabled & don't understand our experiences this context is always missing.

"charles is a spineless liberal" is funny to say but it makes more sense once you think about him as a disabled man who for most of his life was not disabled. disabled people HAVE to make themselves digestible & acceptable for neurotypical society, so we can get the accessibility & accomodations we desperately need. it makes SENSE from that perspective charles would be more about acceptance & assimilation, because from his experience as a disabled man that's what he needs. it makes sense that erik, as a jewish survivor, knows that you can't make peace with some people & it is much better to be independent, to have the ability to defend yourself & to take out the people who literally want you dead, but those aren't necessarily the same goals as the disabled community, at least not for Charles. Him & Erik are a very interesting potential narrative about how different communities have different goals and different needs, but because few writers who touch Charles have disabilities that nuance is often lost & he becomes the spineless liberal we joke about.

Charles also works as a very good discussion on internalised ableism, were people to take him in that direction. Like I said, Charles wasn't always disabled & for much of his early adult life he was able bodied, & he grew up in an ableist society. It makes sense he would then internalise that & project that onto his own students & the way he approaches mutants. because he's so uncomfortable with himself & the way he looks, he's become uncomfortable with the way visible mutants look too because he struggles to separate the two. that would explain in part why all the mutants he chooses to represent the xmen or to go out for press conferences or whatever are all human passing, because of his internal sense of shame that he's projected onto children who don't deserve that.

& that's one of the biggest let downs of the modern era is that Charles automatically chooses to be walking.Yes, for some people that's empowering, but Charles will always be the first name people think of when they think of wheelchair users in comics, aside from Barbara. That recognisability in my opinion is more important, & I just can't help but feel like it would be important to have Charles be with Karma in a character that has accepted their disability & is not interested in changing themselves. Yes, that isn't everyone's experience & I do think it's important for some people who want those stories to have a voice, but Charles has a pop culture iconography that in my opinion is more important than a justification to erase his disability.

Charles is a very flawed person, & I think he should stay being flawed & imperfect & often ignoring other people's needs & opinions that are based around their experiences that he doesn't share, but I think he also does have a lot of potential as a disabled character & I'm very frustrated at the x-office opting to just erase that aspect rather than try and include those narratives. Like Krakoa still doesn't look wheelchair accessible. We could have an interesting discussion about how even in leftist utopias disabled people are still often forgotten about or ignored & erased out of the discussion, but because nobody sees the inaccessibility that discussion just isn't there. It's disappointing & just another item in the long list of how the X-Men team fail to tackle minority politics accurately or at all.

#asks #itsblueberry13-blog #charles xavier #krakoa #i just feel like theres a lot of potential nuance & story in a character like charles #but again it just feels like the xmen office are just incapable of understanding them #& i love wiz-kid & his story hes great i dont want people to think im ignoring him #but as ive said if you ask the average person to name a fictional wheelchair user charles is one of the first names you will hear #his most iconic iteration is as a wheelchair user! that status in pop culture is important! it shouldnt be erased or ignored!!#just bothers me #professor x

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spongebobafettywap · 5 months

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gotta love how much contempt X-men writers have for Margali

You're on point. The writer for the new origins really doesn't respect her at all because he found the stupidest way to involve her here in this new origins plot

Apparently Margali now didn't find Nightcrawler through cheer stroke of luck/miracle or through Azazel (someone she knew for a longtime through their interest in magic) who directly guided him to her/guided her to him

But through Destiny herself, who tipped her to where Nightcrawler was left behind by Mystique when she went back inside the castle Destiny was still at to check up on her

I'm not making this up

We don't get anymore context than Destiny saying "I didn't want to let him go... D-didn't want to tell that old witch Szardos where to find him, b-but... Oh god... It was the only way...". Just casually dropping this info on our laps and moving on instead of answering the important questions like. Why tf would Margali listen to Destiny, someone she's never shown to know about/ever mentioned before ? How did they met in the first place ? Why was Margali interested in doing this for her ? Do they have history together ? When ?? (That quote also casually making it seem like Margali is a bad pick from the get-go thank you)

Same with Azazel.

Because Destiny also tipped him on where Mystique was before the affair to kick start the whole thing... Even tho Azazel has known the Baron for far longer than Mystique has been masquerading as his human wife since he was a business colleague of his.

Like why would either Margali or Azazel even listen to Destiny of all people instead of being suspicious of her at all when she'd first show up before them

And how did Mystique not notice any of this ??

Its so funny how they keep trying to give Destiny more importance in these stories than she really needs. Like oh yeah now she needs to be the one to contact Margali, instead of you know her loverboy Azazel. The other funny part is that Azazel already told his own version of this tale so now we have Mystique a known liar telling us this origin story vs Azazel who whilst evil seems more reliable when he is talking about things. Deceptive Evil vs Outwardly Evil.

Also I have started to see people say this retcon is a win and this was Claremont's original idea which you know its not really is it, it really wasn't Claremont's idea for Kurt to have like 4 Biological parents was it? I also see these fans misunderstanding the comic and quickly going to rewrite wikipedia pages and the marvel wiki saying "Azazel isn't actually his father" and "Presumed Genetic Father" using X-men Origins Blue: 1 as the source. The source itself disagrees with you geniuses lmao.

#Maz answers #Nightcrawler #Azazel

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amalthiaph · 6 months

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top 10 favourite star wars characters?

TYSM for the Ask! <3

1. Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

I love him, like the entire journey; from the small boy in Tatooine to the evil dark lord who slays on dark hallways (both literally and figuratively). The thing about him is I can't really decide whether he's good or bad, he really is in the gray area. While I don't support genocide, I understand his choices (like Tech said, understanding doesn't mean supporting) because he was just 22, faced with fatherhood on a secret marriage, if I were on his place, I would try to go with what I think is the only option.

2. Obi-Wan Kenobi

Need I say more?

3. Luke Skywalker

Because I think it's a cardinal sin to hate him. That and the fact that he will always see the good in people do things to my little heart. And Mark Hamill is handsome.

4. Alexsandr Kallus

I started off despising this man. I think he's too arrogant for someone on mutton chops. But thanks to The Honorable Ones until Zero Hour, he immediately skipped the ranks and jumped to my number 4 spot. And for so long I've wondered why I like him so much and it was until recently that I realized that we kinda had the same story.

I, too, once supported a government that was brutal, dishonest, corrupt and overall unpleasant. I was fooled with the promise of "change" which I discovered was just a false promise to carry out aforementioned atrocities. It was until I had a talk with someone who showed me the truth, and from then on, I switched sides, because once your eyes had witnessed the truth, it'd be a sin to look away.

And I became part of the opposition party; we rallied for a better future, fueled with hope, like all rebellions are.

5. Hera Syndulla

Aside from the fact that I wanna be a Twi'lek, Hera is an excellent pilot. And the fact that she accomplished all that while NOT being force sensitive is the cherry on top.

6. Leia Organa

Somebody has to save their skins. And it was this princess, whose first response is telling someone they're too short for a Stormtrooper. I love how she slayed that gold bikini and how she slayed IN THAT bikini. I understand that it was an attempt to reduce her to an eye candy, but this is THE Princess Leia, we're not having that here.

7. Ahsoka Tano

Okay, so first of all, I really love her design. There's something about those lekku, especially the ones in Rebels, that just gets to me. I kinda see her as a counterpart to Anakin, only that she is not as intense (in THAT context). Her being 'not a Jedi' for me is helpful to her character, that she can do what she thinks is right without being bound by centuries-old lessons or rules that are not really that nice.

8. The Bad Batch and Omega

So I'm gonna cheat on this one because I see them as JUST ONE UNIT. Like teams in League of Legends, they're incomplete without the other so for this list, I'm considering them as one.

I love their dynamic and design so much, and as I had mentioned, every single member is just as important as the other. They're interactive. And their individual journeys as they parted ways is what made them (and the series) interesting. I know there had been a divide in the fandom where one part hate one character and the other part hate the other character but I don't do that. The thing is I understand the writers. So, I understand that in the sense of needing to make a story interesting, there HAD TO be differences in choices. Basically, their choices, though I don't agree but understand the other, are necessary to keep the story going.

And as characters, I like them because as much as they're correlated or dependent, they're still their own person.

9. Chopper

He's got a higher body count than Darth Vader himself.

10. Chewbacca

He's such a cinnamon roll. Because if he isn't, there'd be a long line of people with their arms ripped off and Star Wars would be Rated M and not available to a general audience. So we should thank him for being so nice.

#star wars #tysm for the ask!#and ilyasm

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