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ninthprime · 8 months

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mildly arbitrary rating of every gundam i have watched so far

in order of me starting them

witch from mercury: 7.5/10. we’re never gonna get confirmation of people’s various theories that this show was originally planned for 50 episodes and i’ve also heard that the showrunner’s series tend to be kind of just Like This, but gwitch has a lot of missed potential mostly focused on 1. its seemingly incomplete worldbuilding and 2. the fact that the arcs of much of its secondary cast (guel, nika, shaddiq) appear to jump over a few steps or just are missing something. on the other hand, the arcs of its primary cast (particularly suletta) are great, suletta herself is a top-tier protagonist, the tertiary cast is one of the best i’ve seen in gundam (i love earth house), and sulemio is probably objectively the best gundam romance even if i’m pretty sure it’s not my personal favorite.

gundam 0079: 9.5/10. the GOAT. you know how it is. every single person who got into gundam via gwitch like i did but still hasn’t gone back to watch 0079 is doing themself a total disservice. you watch this show and both everything about mecha and everything about modern anime in general suddenly clicks completely in your brain. everyone who has been obsessed with char aznable and amuro ray for the last 40+ years has been completely right. i think its only big flaws are some of its treatment of women (though later shows like ZZ have way more glaring issues there) and its shortened length, but frankly if you hadn’t told me it got cut short seven episodes early i would not have noticed, because its finale may be one of my all time favorite television finales ever. just go watch it. i’m sitting you down right now

zeta gundam: 8.5/10. a really ideal sequel in a lot of ways that are remarkable considering the gap of time between it and 0079. focuses on new characters who reflect on the last show while still being their own things, and brings back the cast of the last show in ways that feel like they make sense while still being unexpected and making you look at things in a new light. deeply iconic and atmospheric in ways that are a little overwhelming at times; it is a dour show. has way more glaring flaws for me than a lot of the fandom brings up though, mostly in its pacing and its villains. this show has an entire middle section i barely remember and do we need both the four and rosamia storylines? and frankly i do not care about the titans that much (other than sarah).

zz gundam: 8.5/10. zz defender crop is here. please ignore everyone who tells you that you can skip zz. zeta’s other half in ways that aren’t just “it started two weeks after zeta in real life”- it also fixes zeta’s pacing, provides a welcome counterpoint to its dire tone, and its villains are literally just improved versions of zeta’s (glemy is better scirocco! haman is a top tier gundam villain in general!). i think the middle section of this show- the entire time they are on earth- is my favorite section of UC gundam, or at least tied with 0079’s ramba ral and finale arcs. i do think the dip in quality people say it has in the last arc is true. also probably has the largest Woman Problem in any gundam i’ve seen so far (i have a threshold for bad women writing so high it is practically antifeminist but unfortunately emary breaks that threshold, what the hell is up with everything about emary) even though i love some of those women very much. secretly has the boldest and most thematically interesting gundam finale so far. ple forever

char’s counterattack: 8/10. as i’ve said before: a gorgeous film about two men being so divorced that thousands of people die. genuinely iconic and also very bold but i often find myself torn as to whether i want tomino to be more explicit about what he’s saying here. we could have saved ourselves years of “was char right??” debates but then again, it’s the spirit of cca to claim that only you have the right take about cca. beyond the time is a good song

gundam unicorn: 7.5/10. politics here are often confusing and messy, and i think it suffers from its core characters (banagher and mineva) and their relationship not getting the time they need. on the other hand, i’m interested in what it says about the worldbuilding of UC (even if i think it didn’t execute it that well) and its secondary cast is great; i did nearly cry about marida and zinnerman so that sure works. full frontal does not bug me nearly as much as he bothers most people although i think he has the same “needs more time to cook” issue banagher and mineva have. i even kind of like what they do with riddhe and i usually dislike that archetype. in other words: i would have been nuts for the forty episode (and properly paced) version of this show. marida forever

gundam hathaway: 7/10?? hard to tell here without having the next two movies. was a bit hard to get invested in the conflict near the end as we met many characters who are not developed yet. but the relationship between the core trio here is intriguing and i like hathaway as a protagonist a lot.

the rest of my “gundams i am most interested in list” is victory -> turn a -> 00 -> iron blooded orphans so that’s the next four shows. after…who can say

#gundam personal tag #hot takes post. watch out. weeoo weeoo

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over-the-time-flow · 9 months

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Rakan checks in with one of the guards, asking for the current whereabouts of the Excellence trio. Puzzlingly, they've been holed up in the library all day, combing through old newspapers. Rakan finds it weird, but more importantly, that Excellence machine they brought along is several years ahead of Anaheim and Nergal both. It's to be repaired and sent to Glemy alongside Amuro and Tiffa, stat.

If only they could figure out where it was built, Rakan muses. Perhaps some secret military organization...? Too bad they're all so tight-lipped.

Raul complains about the pain. Seems like the interrogators roughed him up a little, but Raj will hear none of it; being the first to wake up, he went through the worst of it.

It's more than a little unfair... even if they told them the truth, it's not like they'd believe it. Even thinking about it now, it's hard to accept that they've time traveled.

Thinking of their predicament, it's natural to try and recall what the landscape of things were in the time they've landed in, but Raul and Raj were all the way out in the space boonies studying Timeflow Particles. To make matters worse, Mizuho was never the type to be all that well-informed about politics. Regardless, she does her best to try and lay out what she does know.

Right now, Dekim's coup hasn't happened yet, so we should still be under the total pacifist regime of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. Neo Zeon is already a thing, but a woman by the name of Haman is in charge, not Char. Rakan is the de facto leader here, and he's made reference to his superior being called Haman, making this place a Neo Zeon base, or at least a place associated with them. Oh brother.

On top of that, it should be sometime around now that the Earth was getting invaded left and right. Boazans, Campbellians, Gaizok... There's also invading forces that don't come from space. The Mycenae Empire, the Dinosaur Empire... and Dekim's winding up for his coup right about now. Talk about a loaded roster. They couldn't have picked a worse time period to land in.

Their thoughts turn to what caused this. Sure enough, it's gotta be the Timeflow Engine running berserk, probably something to do with the simultaneous nuclear explosion, and the ensuing reaction must have dragged both Excellences along. Speaking of, how is the Excellence holding up? With everything that happened back to back, Raul didn't even think of that until now.

Well, the backup machine that had the Striker loadout is... repairable. But Raul's Cosmodriver was beyond saving. Somehow, however, Raj notes that the backup Timeflow Engine DID survive the trip.

Raul is sad that they've gone from all the frames they had to just the Striker, but that may have just saved them; it means that the Neo Zeon military need the trio's help if they want to repair it, and there's no way they'll pass up technology so advanced it could be from half a decade into the future. In other words, the trio is needed alive... for now.

Raul can't help but worry a bit, though. Obviously Raj and Mizuho are needed, since they have the actual know-how, but he's just a pilot. It's not exactly comforting, but Raj reasons that at the very least, they'll want him alive too, if only as a hostage to make sure Raj and Mizuho will work for them. Of course, Mizuho reminds them, that's only until the Excellence is done being repaired.

A cloud of worry and uncertainty hangs over them...

#srw r #super robot wars r #lets-play #translation

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teatime-scans · 4 years

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Chapter 42 Text Translations

Hey guys, here’s the text translation as promised! We are still working on the backlog (and it’s getting done slowly but surely), but we decided to start working on newer chapters so you guys would have something to read while waiting for the older chapters! So enjoy this chapter about cute doggos!

TL/TLC: Eri, Holmes and Manaphy

Page 1

TIME.42: They look different.

Arai Takahiro - Draft Supervision: Aoyama Gosho

Side text: Surrounded by dogs, there, cheese! In today’s chapter, this man’s capawbilities are put to the test…?

Detective Conan Exceeding 2.2 Million copies in total! The highly-praised volumes 1-4 are currently on sale! Official twitter is => [@zerotea_file] Zero’s Tea Time

Page 2

Side text: Stories about animals are very lively.

Tsuruyama: Awww, Taii-chan is so cuuute! ♡ Tsuruyama: It really makes me feel appeased... Azusa: That’s right!

Azusa: I feel happy just from looking at the pictures!

Azusa: Do you also own a pet, Granny Tsuruyama? Tsuruyama: He’s not my pet, but recently I’ve been feeding a black doggie… Tsuruyama: He doesn’t have a collar, so I wonder if he’s a stray…?

Tsuruyama: To be honest, I know I shouldn’t be doing this, but I feel so bad for him… Tsuruyama: When he stops by my house occasionally, he gets in by sneaking through the garden… Azusa: Oh, my… Tsuruyama: Perhaps it would be better to contact the police or the public office once…

Azusa: Ah, Azusa: That little girl again… Amuro: ?

Azusa: Lately she often comes in front of Poirot, Azusa: And looks up at the Detective Agency on the second floor…

Page 3

Girl: Excuse me… SFX: Clang clang

Girl: Have you seen this dog by any chance? Flyer: Searching for him!

Tsuruyama: What a beautiful doggie… Tsuruyama: I’m sorry, I don’t know… Tsuruyama: Did this doggie go missing? Tsuruyama: Should we try to go out and ask a police officer together?

Girl: Thank you very much… SFX: Clang clang

Page 4

Box: The next day- Flyer: Searching for him! - Missing dog

Amuro: Sticking posters up like that may end up becoming a violation of regulations…

Girl: The young man from Poirot…

Girl: That’s a bad thing to do? Amuro: Both power poles and walls are someone else’s property, after all…Amuro: What if I suddenly put a sticker on your backpack...

Girl: I’d hate that… Amuro: Right! Amuro: Instead of doing that, could I assist you with something else?

Girl: ?

Girl: Eh!? Girl: You’re a disciple of Mr. Mouri!? Amuro: Although I’m still in training... Amuro: Instead of Mouri-sensei, let’s look for him together!

Page 5

Amuro: He’s an old English sheepdog, huh... Amuro: A large-sized, clever and gentle breed... Girl: You know a lot about dogs! Flyer: [Searching for him!]

Girl: And it looks like you love them...

Girl: His name is Chibi*... Girl: Although he's big, he's very fearful... [Searching for him!] Girl: I was walking him when he was startled by the loud noise coming from a construction site and started running away... Sign: [Under Construction] SFX: Rumble rumble [* TN: Literally, "small and cute".]

Girl: And after that he hasn't come back for several days... Girl: This is the towel that Chibi always used... SFX: sniff sniff

SFX: sniff sniff

Amuro: He might be following the scent... Amuro: Let's try to go after him. SFX: push push

Page 6

[Searching for him!]

Girl: This is near the place I went to for a walk last time!

SFX: bark bark

Girl: What's the matter? Amuro: Looks like he’s found something! SFX: frush frush

Girl: Ah!

Page 7

Girl: It's Chibi's collar!

Girl: It's torn off... Girl: Why is it here...?

Girl: Don't tell me he was swept away by the river...

SFX: plop plop

Amuro: The rain has gotten heavier... Amuro: Leave the rest to me, and... Girl: I'll look for him a bit more!

Amuro: Wait! Amuro: There's a quagmire over there...! Girl: Chibi! Girl: Chibi!

Page 8

SFX: thud

Amuro: Are you alright? Girl: Yeah...

Girl: My white shoes have become pitch black...

Girl: What's this...? Girl: I've never seen one... Amuro: These are the pappuses of a dandelion!

Girl: Huuuh?! Amuro: The pappuses get soaked by the rain and shrivel… Amuro: ...and they look completely different!

Amuro: ... Amuro: They look different...

Page 9

Amuro: White shoes becoming pitch black… Pappuses shriveling because of the rain… Amuro: They look completely different….

Azusa: Geez, it’s raining again…

SFX: Bip Bip Amuro: Let me check the map one second… Amuro: .... Amuro: Could it be that… Amuro: Could you please follow me?

Page 10

Name plate: Tsuruyama

SFX: Rattle rattle

Flyer: Searching for him!

Page 11

Flyer: Searching for him! - Missing dog

Page 12

Amuro: The old English sheepdog’s characteristically fluffy and white fur... Amuro: ...had gotten all sticky because of the mud and the dirt, and on top of that his collar had come off as well… Amuro: It’s no wonder we couldn’t tell him apart… Amuro: After crossing the bridge he got lost on the other side, Amuro: and he wasn’t able to return… Azusa: Now that you mention it, Taii also looks completely different when he takes a bath!

Azusa: As expected of Amuro-san! Azusa: Good job noticing that… Amuro: It’s thanks to you, Azusa-san!

Amuro: You told me before that, on rainy days, your hair gets frizzy and it's very troublesome... Azusa: Yes! I look like an entirely different person… Midori: You too, Azusa-chan?

Midori: It’s been raining a lot lately, right? Midori: Mine gets all stiff, it’s such a hassle!

Ballon: Yeah…!

The woman from the ramen shop: At work I’m always wrapping it in a hand towel, so it gets flattened right away....

Balloon: Right! Balloon: Really?

Tsuruyama: For hair distress, japanese food is the way to go, you know? Tsuruyama: You know the saying, “Mago wa Yasashii”*? [* TN : "Mago wa yasashii" (まごわやさしい) is a Japanese saying made from the initial symbols of ingredients supposed to be good for the body. Respectively: mame (bean), goma (sesame seed), wakame (one kind of seaweed), yasai (vegetables), sakana (fish), shiitake (a type of mushroom) and imo (potato).)]Balloon: Heeh.... Amuro: Women have a hard time, huh?

Side Text: He’s being left behind… Next issue, a new Conan case begins!

#ztt #zero's tea time #text translation #ch.42 #doggos #amuro tooru #enomoto azusa #granny tsuruyama #kuriyama midori #translations

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sherryaptx4869 · 4 years

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Put a Ring on It

A gift for @jackel-gull happy holidays! 😊

Prompt: Coffee shop AU

(Also on ao3)

---

“Excuse me Ma’am, a muffin from that handsome gentleman over there,” the female staff interrupted Shiho as she is very busy typing at her laptop.

She looked over to the direction the staff is pointing to. She is in a rush because her laboratory report is due in just a few minutes. She needs to proofread everything before passing her output to her very strict professor, thus every minute counts. She’s a bit irritated that her momentum is ruined by the ‘gentleman’ the staff is pertaining to.

When she turned to look, the man waved at her. She merely nodded and proceeded to hunch over her laptop. She likes to do her academic papers at Poirot Café because 1) she gets the space she needs, 2) they really have delicious bread and pastries plus their drinks are top-tier, 3) they also have strong wifi connection. 4) It’s also a ten-minute walk from the university she is attending. Very convenient.

Five minutes before the deadline, she breathed a sigh of relief when she hit the send button with her report as an attachment to an email she sent to her professor. She massaged her temples and briefly closed her eyes keeping the impending headache at bay. She only has fifteen minutes before her next class starts. She allowed herself to relax for a bit when she sensed another presence at the table she is currently occupying.

She smelled him before she saw him. She smelled a faint, subtle smell that is not overpowering. Her trained observation skills as a scientist approves of his choice of perfume.

She opened her eyes, removed her earphones and eyed him. Up close, the guy looked just about her age- probably in his 4th year of college too. She noticed his lean body, and his calves are well-defined. She noticed a tan line in his arm when he waved earlier. He’s probably into sports.

She raised her eyebrow and regarded the stranger.

“Hi, I’m Kudo Shinichi and you are?” he said, flashing her a smile as he held out his hand for a handshake.

“And I was just leaving,” she said as she gathered her laptop, her papers and her books, stacked them all in her backpack and leaving not even sparing a backward glance.

---

“Wow, that girl is something.” Heiji teased Shinichi for the nth time.

“I wish I was there to see it when your ego was deflated and brought you back to earth,” Heiji continued. “I mean man, she rejected Kudo Shinichi, the great detective of the East!” Heiji is now clutching his stomach from laughing too hard, tears at the corner of his eyes.

Shinichi glared at him but that did not stop Heiji from laughing.

“Should I wait for you to finish laughing or are we doing detective work on her?” he asked Heiji.

“Huh, what work?” That caught Heiji’s attention.

“Returning this to its rightful owner,” Shinichi said as he fished a card from his pocket.

So Miyano Shiho is the name of the beautiful, auburn-haired woman.

---

In her rush to gather her things earlier, Shiho did not notice her library card slipped and fell to the floor of the café. Now, she stood at the heavenly doors of the library but not quite entering because her library card is missing. She meant to return the books and browse for other titles. Without her card, she couldn’t really enter, but what’s more important is that she can’t loan out books.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Upon checking, she saw she got an email from an unlisted account.

“Hello Miyano-san, I got your email address from the library card you dropped at Poirot Café earlier today. If you want, I can go to your university and return it there. – Kudo Shinichi, Detective of the East”, she noticed he’s studying at another top university in Japan from his email address. So he is the famous detective of the east.

“If it’s not too much to ask, I can meet you back at Poirot Café in thirty minutes. I just need to finish some stuff here and I’ll go over there,” she replied.

“Okay, I’ll see you then,” is his instant reply.

---

Shiho debated on meeting the stranger. Even if he is Kudo Shinchi, strangers are not to be trusted. And he’s definitely a stranger.

Dang it, her loaned books would have to be returned three days from now and if she doesn’t return them on time, she will accumulate penalties for her overdue books. She won’t be able to borrow more books on top of that.

She really has to meet with the stranger if she wanted her library card back. It will take a week for the library to process lost ID cards. And she needed hers asap.

She made up her mind, she’s meeting him and get it over with.

---

It’s 6:30pm. Upon her entrance at the Poirot Café for the second time that day, she immediately looked around and searched for some dark brown-haired guy. There were a few college students openly ogling the very handsome barista, Amuro-san. She spotted Shinichi at the back of the café. She approached him.

“Kudo-kun,” she tentatively called out to get his attention.

“Oh hi, Miyano-san.” He said as he got up to his feet and pulled the chair for her to sit.

“Thank you.”, she said.

“About earlier, I’m sorry if I came on as an arrogant guy. I was just being friendly with people who have the same interests as I do.” he offered an explanation.

She gave her a questioning look.

“Well, I saw you carrying Arthur Conan Doyle’s book and I got a bit excited to see a fellow Sherlockian fan,” he continued.

“I see. I was in a hurry myself earlier and I just don’t like dealing with strangers especially when I’m in a hurry. I didn’t want to be late for class,” she said without more ado.

“I also enjoy reading mystery novels, it’s just that I need my library card to borrow books from the lib.” She offered.

He handed her lib card and as his fingers skimmed over her hands, she felt a zap from the point of contact. Apparently, he felt it too.

To ease the sudden awkwardness of the situation, he said “Why don’t we start over? I’m Kudo Shinichi”

“I’m Miyano Shiho,” she said and shook hands with him.

“Shiho,” he repeated testing the roll of her name on his tongue.

The sparks from their hands touching is undeniably there. They quickly let go of each other’s hands and pretended to go over the menu. Shiho felt the blood rushing to her cheeks and she felt warm. Shinichi on the other hand felt his face flush. This beautiful woman elicited such a boyish response from him is something he could not rationalize.

They found out more about each other as the night deepens. From the café, they went to take a walk at the park. When it is apparent that they need to get some rest, Kudo offered to walk her home in her dorm.

The night has a certain chill to it, “It’s really nice talking to you Kudo-kun”, Shiho said as she’s getting ready to enter the building.

“We should do this again sometime, if it’s not too much to ask, Shiho” Shinichi replied.

“It’s too much given my schedule, but I’d like that,” Shiho said. She smiled before darting inside.

As Shinichi walked back to his own dorm, he mused over the evening. He got a big smile on his face even when Heiji kept one pestering him to share what happened with Shiho.

---

They fell in the same routine, meeting at the café, going on a trip together and having conversations about deep things, shallow things, whatever comes their way. They went out for a year. By then, Shiho graduated and is already working as a university researcher and Shinichi is on his first year of taking criminal law while still extending assistance to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

On Christmas day, they are at their favourite café where they first encountered each other.

“Do you remember the first time you rejected me here?” Shinichi asked Shiho.

“I may have remembered a little bit of that,” Shiho smirked.

“Heiji kept on rubbing it in my face how pitiful I looked back then,” Shinichi relayed.

“You need that to keep you grounded before your inflated ego take you away,” Shiho said before drinking her coffee.

“Heiji said that too. You’re in cahoots with that guy?” Shinichi pouted.

Shiho merely laughed. Her laugh is music to his ears. Not to be cliché but it just is. He never thought that this wonderful woman is willing to spend time with him. He hoped she still feels the same way for the rest of their lives.

Before his thoughts strayed any further, he gave her his Christmas present and planted a kiss on her mouth. It’s a bath bomb designed for aromatherapy. Her job at the research laboratory seemed to take a toll on her lately, she also catches colds easily.

Back at her apartment, she decided to use the bath bomb Shinichi gave her. She took a book by Agatha Christie to read while she soaked in the tub with the bath bomb still fizzing. She is basking at the sweet, floral scent from the lavender essential oil when her curiosity is piqued by a floating material. There were no fun additives for aesthetics such as glitter and flower petals in Shinichi’s present so why is there a floating thing at the tub? She grabbed the thing and a smile made its way on her face. Hmmn, she might play a little prank on Kudo-kun tomorrow when they see each other.

---

The following day when they met each other to eat lunch at the Kudo residence,

“How was your sleep?” Shinichi inquired when they were settled on his car on the way to the Kudo mansion.

“It’s good. Thanks for the special oils in the bath bomb, they really cleared my thoughts.” She purposefully avoided mentioning the ring embedded in the bath bomb.

“Did you find anything to your liking?” Shinichi pressed on.

‘He’s not his usual blunt, confident self,’ Shiho noted. ‘He’s skirting around the ring topic.’

“Well, I liked the lavender scent. I’d like to try the one with eucalyptus too, it clears the sinus,” she still did not give the answer he clearly wanted to hear.

He merely nodded. After that, he stopped speaking. Shiho made it look like she busied herself on her phone.

He’s clearly upset that Shiho did not find his surprise. It’s written all over his face, from his grip to the steering wheel.

They stopped by at a flower shop to buy flowers for Yukiko, Shinichi’s mom. While they are waiting for the store clerk to wrap the flowers,

“Shin, your phone pinged several times already,” Shiho informed Shinichi.

He checked and is a bit taken aback when his notification box is about to explode from congratulatory messages and best wishes. He clicked to see that Shiho tagged him in a post. His jaw nearly touched the floor when he turned to look at a smirking Shiho who put up her ten fingers on the air flexing his claim on her.

In her post where Shinichi is tagged, she uploaded a picture of her left hand wearing the exquisite ring with the caption, “Does this ring make me look engaged?”

Shinichi captured her in an embrace and kissed her hand.

“Yes, you look engaged and you look amazing with the ring too, future Mrs. Kudo” he whispered in her ear before fully capturing her lips with a kiss that is the promise of a lifetime together.

#coaiss2019 #coai #secret santa #@coai #shinshi #kudo shinichi #miyano shiho #coffee shop au #@jackel-gull

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pass-the-bechdel · 5 years

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Stargate SG1 s09e12 ‘Collateral Damage’

Does it pass the Bechdel Test?

No.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Two (18.18% of cast).

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Nine.

Positive Content Rating:

Three, but a queasy one. If I gave half-points, this’d be a 2.5.

General Episode Quality:

Good emotional exploration, but a troubling choice of inciting incident.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) UNDER THE CUT:

Passing the Bechdel:

Reya and Carter don’t discuss.

Female characters:

Reya Varrick.

Samantha Carter.

Male characters:

Cameron Mitchell.

Daniel Jackson.

Hank Landry.

Teal’c.

Marrell.

Amuro.

Frank Mitchell.

Walter Harriman.

Davidson.

OTHER NOTES:

The Emissary (who is kinda-weirdly never named) showed up late at night, unexpectedly, at Reya’s house; at the beginning of the memory we see her putting on her robe, clearly uncomfortable about being around him wearing whatever she’s got on under the robe (bedclothes of some description, presumably); the Emissary then creepily fiddles with her sleeve while declaring that they “expect great things” from her, and Reya backs up and crosses her arms, clearly more uncomfortable again. It’s...part of a tapestry.

Daniel is a huge hypocrite about other planets developing advanced tech “which could artificially accelerate their technological development!”, like, hello, what do you think you’ve been doing for the last nine years? I don’t know why they even bothered to include these lines, they’re that moronic.

Reya asks Mitchell to walk her home, because, she says, she doesn’t like to do so alone at night, for fear of ‘crime’. While we know she legitimately wants him to come home with her and is using this as an excuse to invite him, it’s also, obviously, a real concern. It’s part of a tapestry.

“you wouldn’t have come here if you didn’t want to [have sex]”, Reya says when Mitchell suggests they “shouldn’t do this”. That’s not how enthusiastic ongoing consent works, Reya. This is not part of the intentional tapestry, and it’s particularly egregious in that context. Someone should have thought that line through better, because it’s a red flag they really didn’t want to throw up.

...because some time after that, Reya gets violently beaten to death. The tapestry is about violence against women, with a special emphasis on sexually-motivated misogyny! Hooray!

You know what isn’t about violence against women, with a special emphasis on sexually-motivated misogyny? The rest of the episode.

“local Allied intelligence” dropped the ball and got those refugees killed, because God forbid we even let the audience THINK it could be the fault of ‘MURICA.

Reya was murdered by her ex-husband in a jealous rage after he saw her go home with another man, however, the fact that the husband also stunned Mitchell and then gave him the memory of having committed the murder exposes this as premeditated, not an irrational bout of murderous anger (which still wouldn’t make it ok, but anyway); the nature of the motivation (or its ridiculousness and inconsistency) isn’t challenged or questioned in any way, everyone just goes with it like ‘of course, that makes sense’, and the episode treats it as a quick and easy shorthand that ties up neatly. And then of course, the government covers the whole mess up so that the husband can keep on doing his top-secret research instead of going to jail, paralleling the whole debacle with Mitchell’s dead refugees in order to earn that ‘Collateral Damage’ title. What?

Well. It’s really unfortunate that this episode bungled its themes so badly, because the individual pieces are well-wrapped and consistent within themselves; they just absolutely don’t play well together. The episode really has no intention of considering any kind of story about gendered violence, and the set-up in which it signals that idea (culminating in the actual violence of Reya’s murder) is essentially a smokescreen; we the audience know that Mitchell didn’t kill Reya in some kind of ‘lovers quarrel’, we don’t need to see the Emissary as jilted in order to suspect him of the crime since the episode supplies an alternate, professional motivation for him and never investigates any other possibility, and since the story never implies that Reya was afraid of Marrell the fact of his violence is separated from the other fears the episode indulges in the lead-up to Reya’s death. Thus, the episode constructs that tapestry early on but ultimately does nothing with it, it’s just really, really unfortunate detail, just a woman being made to feel uncomfortable with her companions and endangered in her own body for no actual reason.

The fact that the episode then segues into an awkward excuse to explore the emotional reasons that Mitchell joined the Air Force and became a pilot, etc, and the personal difficulties he’s faced, kinda adds insult to injury; nevermind the dead woman, this is about Man’s Feelings. As I said, it’s unfortunate because the exploration of Mitchell’s psyche is, on its own, good stuff, and the way they tie that in to the idea of collateral damage is solid. However, because the context of the episode has been something wildly different, that exploration is tainted, and Mitchell’s guilt over the refugees feels like a false note, too convenient, and not emotionally truthful or relevant: they claim that the memory of killing the refugees and the memory of Reya’s murder have the same emotional resonance, but that seems ridiculous since one of them was a violent attack and the other was a mistake; both might inspire the same sense of guilt after the fact, but the emotion of the acts themselves is poles apart. The incidents make poor companion pieces in-story, as well as awkward, unrelated concepts dragging the content of the episode in different directions.

Ultimately, the episode is a bad combo of two distinct ideas: it should either have been about Mitchell seeking justice for Reya’s death (with Marrell’s responsibility exposed early on and the rest of the episode being about the fallout for the diplomatic relations between Earth and Galar), or it should have been about Mitchell’s personal and professional history, in which no women are senselessly murdered for manpain-y reasons. Sometimes you get characters/episodes/story arcs that you appreciate way more after viewing them critically, and sometimes, you don’t. I have typically enjoyed this episode in the past, but this time around I have been forced to admit that it’s really a Goddamn mess.

#Stargate SG1 #Stargate SG1 season nine #Collateral Damage #Bechdel Test #female representation

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silverbulletofthefbi · 7 years

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((Some thoughts about the Rum arc under the cut. (Mary, Kohji’s connections to the Akai/Sera family, Wakasa, and the possibility of either as Asaka for now).))

First, where the everloving HELL did Kohji hear the name “Rum”? During the attack? Some time before then? Who said it (or wrote it)? How did it come up?

Mary

Mary’s dialogue about the demon in the dark is a red herring and there’s no way for her to be Rum. Rum’s in good standing with the Org. and being an APTX victim is instantly the mark of an enemy of the Org. It means an attempted murder victim or an attempt at suicide and needing to flee the Org. (The Org. still doesn’t know about the shrinking effect, just Vermouth and a few defectors.)

She also doesn’t meet the “lacking an eye” description associated with Rum, having perfectly functional eyes, not even getting into the alcohol codename pattern...

Kohji’s family situation

Kohji is stated to be something ambiguous in relation to Shuukichi. According to the translators, the term Shuukichi uses means either brother-in-law or step-brother. However, we have a bit of a timeline that makes things a bit clearer. The case happened 17 years prior, when Kohji was 21 or so. Shuichi is currently 31 or 32, according to Aoyama. 17 years ago, he would have been 14 or 15. I mention this because a sibling-in-law is either your sibling’s spouse or the sibling of your spouse. This can’t be the case, because Shuichi and Shuukichi are too young to marry at that point and they haven’t married yet (though not for lack of trying on Shuukichi’s part). Kohji cannot be a brother-in-law to them.

As for step-siblings, that gets a bit murky, since a step-sibling is the child from a previous relationship of one of the parents brought into the newer family. Kohji having another surname from the rest could imply that, though it would raise the question of if he was Tsutomu’s or Mary’s son alone. If the former, that would mean Kohji took on his mother’s surname. If the latter, he took his father’s surname. (Mary didn’t change her name when marrying, as shown in Shuukichi’s marriage forms.)

As for the idea of him being adopted, I wouldn’t entirely rule it out just yet. Were he alive, he would be 38 at the time of the series. And, given the math I did on Mary’s likely age at the time of the incident (see below), she’d be 51-57 years old now, ignoring her current poisoning. She would have to have been 13-19 when Kohji was born. We do not know Tsutomu’s age, so he could be Tsutomu’s child brought over from a previous relationship. Or else Kohji was adopted when he was a bit older. Or Mary’s timeline stuff would be on the higher end of her possible ages, where she had Kohji at 18-19, Shuichi at 25 or so, and is 56 or 57 currently.

Someone else over on one of the forums commented at one point the theory that Tsutomu was Kohji’s body double and murdered, due to the prominent cheekbones. Aside from that making no sense timeline-wise, I think a more likely explanation is that Kohji is Tsutomu’s son. (Gosho draws families as having some similar traits, such as unique eye patterns or facial features.)

Regardless, I am curious of Kohji’s citizenship status, since that would help clear up some jurisdiction questions and could help narrow down which agency Tsutomu worked for. A murder in the US would fall under US jurisdiction, unless involving a non-US citizen, if I recall.

Wakasa

Wakasa’s unlikely to be Rum. Aside from how Rum fits the male alcohol codename pattern and the consistent description of him being a man, some of the details don’t quite add up. The Organization is incredibly careful about the appearance of the name Asaca, and her fake name is literally a few letters away from Kohji’s message- Asaka Rum. They would never, ever, EVER have the agent connected with that case do something like that. Especially not their second in command when his screw-up there is something from 17 years ago that they still go out of their way to hide and hunt down any possibility of Asaca.

The idea I’ve seen floating around, that Wakasa is Vermouth, is unlikely in my opinion. For Wakasa, the idea of prosthetics and intentionally blinding someone is very personal and makes her react incredibly badly, things likely connected to Kohji’s murder/Rum. Vermouth, meanwhile, is very flippant and mostly relaxed during the Asaca concert hall case, offering to help Amuro, and the reason for her showing up seems to be to make sure Conan and Ran are safe and that Amuro won’t target them in some way. (She is unaware of him being PSB and thinks he’s a loyal Org. member.)

On top of that, Wakasa’s clearly observing Kudo. Vermouth already knows that he’s a great detective and knows who he is and what happened to him. Wakasa seems, instead, intent on testing him and figuring out his skills. Vermouth also lacks the quick detective-like thinking that Wakasa appears to have.

Asaka

As for who is Asaka, I think both Mary and Wakasa are likely candidates:

1. Both are good at close-quarters fighting. However, their styles are a bit different. Mary fights normally, while Wakasa often feigns clumsiness and accidents to do what needs to be done, be it fighting or giving hints. 2. Both are linked to the case from 17 years ago with Kohji. Mary through a family relationship, Wakasa marking herself as such with her pseudonym. 3. One’s using a clear pseudonym and the other’s in near-total hiding.

Now here’s where things get murky...

Mary’s caution is more like Subaru’s assessment of Asaka- avoids being seen, disappearing without a trace, CAUTIOUS as hell.

(However, this comes across as a red herring for Mary to be seen as suspicious by the audience. Especially since Conan’s idea that Asaka is Rum is also a few chapters near that dialogue chronologically, if I recall.)

Wakasa, on the other hand, is a bit more mixed in terms of caution. Her pseudonym is clearly attention-getting when talking about the Org., yet she reacts like she didn’t want to be photographed or mentioned in the papers at all.

Their links to the case are different. In the case of Mary, she would have been either his step-mother, mother, or adoptive mother. In the case of Wakasa, Kuroda speculates either a girlfriend or sister, since the intentional pseudonyms make it unclear.

Mary is bored by the soul detective’s reasoning for Asaca being a woman- the use of a mirror. Makes sense, since anyone would find a mirror useful if they were looking behind them. However, with her likely background, she probably just knows this as a general thing, not necessarily her having been there.

The one picture we have of Asaka shows the person having dark, longer hair, which points more toward either Wakasa or Iori, not Mary.

Wakasa, assuming her age is correct, would have been about 20 during the time of the Kohji’s murder. Mary’s age is ambiguous, but given Gosho’s general trends, she would’ve had Shuichi at 20-25. Fourteen to fifteen years later (when Kohji’s murder occurred), she would be anywhere from 34-40. Depending on location/organization/etc., bodyguards must be at least 18-21, but many prefer bodyguards who are over 25.

If Mary is Asaka, that raises questions about what Tsutomu knew of the case beforehand (since it could easily be their child whom she failed to protect), what Mary knew of Rum, or if she knew the details of Kohji’s murder directly. Also, how would that conversation work out with them, since Amanda offered Kohji her bodyguard Asaka, only for it to be his mom/stepmom? (That’d be hilarious, I’ll admit.)

If Wakasa is Asaka, this raises questions about her use of such a pseudonym. It’s too blatantly an allusion to Asaca and Rum, while Asaca’s remained hidden so far, unless bringing up that case from the past made her come forward now to get some resolution?

What’s also interesting is that Wakita and Wakasa both start getting close to Kogoro and Conan so soon after the Soul Detective arc. This mirrors Mary’s warning that the Org. will come around once they hear the name Kohji Haneda drudged up.

However, I am not saying with certainty that either one could be Asaka. They could both just be very close to Kohji on a personal level and that could throw things off. We are also operating on incomplete information.

A final note, comparing and contrasting the two, Mary and Wakasa are different in their approaches when it comes to their contact with Conan. Mary is careful, has an intermediary (Masumi), and wants him to come to her. However, she later seems to shut down this idea due to his actions when dealing with her. She’s very slow to trust, that much is apparent.

Meanwhile, Wakasa’s directly approaching Conan on different pretenses. It’s hard to tell what’s going on with her, but she’s using various excuses to try to get him alone to talk with him, such as spilling paint on the tiger and later saying how she wants to drop the kids off one by one.

#ooc #rum arc #mary sera #wakasa rumi #detective conan #this is really long just so you know

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