#he seemed like a way too important character to just die off screen after a couple scenes | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

animentality · 2 months

Note

Now I need to know what you think is missing from Wyll, Karlach, and Gale’s character arcs. For Wyll and Karlach, the emotional character moments to not feel as important as they should be. Karlach’s goal of killing Gortash doesn’t doesn’t relate to her current issue with Zariel and Wyll kind of has a flat character arc from hero for Baldur’s gate to hero for the sword coast and then hero for Avernus or back to Baldur’s gate. Gale’s is a bit harder for me to point out the major issue but I think it’s that the consequences of his choices happen off screen after all the conflict.

Thanks for answering so many of my asks!

Yeah no worries, I enjoy thinking about Baldur's Gate, the same way a mental patient dreams of violent neurosis.

Anyway, here's my suggestion.

As it is, right now, it does NOT make sense for Zariel to want Karlach? She literally has armies of pit fiends and orthons for the Blood War. The fuck does she need some random tiefling for? And one who needs an Infernal Engine for a heart just to...barely keep up with real devils?

Why even use an Infernal Engine like that, anyway? You telling me you couldn't use that shit for something way more useful than making some random girl able to fight the devils that you already have at your disposal?

What makes wayyyyy more sense is...let's give Karlach a disability. She has a heart murmur, or some kind of heart abnormality. Let's say that in that day and age, such a thing could kill her.

Now Gortash is a thief. Let's say he STOLE an Infernal Engine, and he's dying to test it out. See how it works. Let's say he wants to test it out on a live subject, because he's a tinkerer. He tells Karlach he can fix her heart. And she's desperate, because she think she might have a heart attack, and die. So she agrees.

But instead of fixing her heart, he replaces it with an Infernal Engine. And she's furious, because, they find out, it's unstable and it has to return to Avernus.

And Gortash, being the prick he is, just shrugs and condemns her to the hells, because he has what he wants. He now knows how the Infernal Engine works. He's "nice" enough to send Karlach to the hells, though. Let's say he might have soooome connect, who can at least direct Karlach to Zariel.

So Zariel, being a little more sympathetic than most, takes Karlach in. Gives her a home. Teaches her how to fight, and recruits her for her cause, mostly out of pity. But then Karlach gets tired of fighting in the Blood War. She betrays Zariel, by running away, and that's when she gets tadpoled.

And it'd be a slap in the face for Zariel, because she took that girl in, when no one else would've! So she's hurt and betrayed, and that's why she's hunting Karlach. She hates traitors.

So that's re-framing Karlach! It makes more sense to me this way, because as it is, Zariel has no reason to want Karlach, OR to hunt for her. And also, Gortash's relationship with Karlach is still preserved, just shifted, to make more sense.

And her ending arc could be...force Gortash to fix her heart, after he's learned enough about Infernal Engines to now know how to do that. And confront Zariel.

Let's say Mizora too, or at least Mizora.

You could have a great boss fight somewhere interesting, maybe go to the hells...whatever.

And her entire character arc could go from "sad golden retriever who gets kicked and then DIES" to:

"I was betrayed by someone I used to care about, who used me for his own benefits. I am 'stronger' now than I was before, but at a cost. I was taken in by someone kind...and then I betrayed them. And now, I'm on the run because of that decision...but I did get dealt a pretty shit hand in life. I must now confront the man who hurt me, and apologize to the woman I then hurt as a result of my past trauma."

At the very least, we could see her evolving. She seems innocent and sweet at first...and then you find out, she did some horrible things during the Blood War. She has PTSD. She's grizzled and disillusioned. And maybe she has a hard time trusting people, after being betrayed AND betraying someone who was kind to her. But with the help of Tav/Durge, she learns to stop running from her trauma. To face her old demons head on. Maybe she even drops her "cheerful" act and becomes colder. But in the end, when she's either killed Gortash and had Zariel fix her engine, OR had Gortash fix her engine, and then confronted Zariel, she could return to her happier self, just more honest this time about how she really feels.

Also, she wouldn't have to fucking die.

She'd have a proper working heart, and can live her life.

Now as for Wyll...

Sighing, because his arc is botched.

In the EA, I know he was originally more sleazy?

He like...was called the "fraud" of the Sword Coast. He was meant to be a more morally gray guy, who seems like a hero, but who actually made a deal with a devil for his powers. I didn't play EA, but from what I understand, you could confront him more for being fake?

I would like it if they'd kept this complexity. Have Wyll be putting on "airs" but also be more willing to hurt innocents in the guise of being a hero?

Have him be a little amoral.

But Tav/Durge can either push him to greater immorality...or end up making him a proper hero in the end. Someone his father could be proud of...or maybe. Confront the damage his father did to him, growing up, maybe trying to make him something he was not.

And basically, becoming a hero, but on his own terms, and rejecting his father's idea of what a hero is.

That could be an interesting thing to do with him. Have Mizora be that evil devil on his shoulder...and Karlach be the good angel, because she would basically be like, well...I don't want Mizora to come after me on behalf of Zariel, so...come on, bud.

As for Gale...

Well.

I don't know.

I haven't played through Gale's arc as much, but from what I understand, his biggest issue is that he doesn't get much of a quest in the end. Just the Sorcerous Sundries stuff, which is whatever. You get to decide if he picks the bad Gale ending, where his ambition destroys him, and he becomes just another asshole god, or if he chooses happiness, and becomes a teacher.

Just give him an actual ending quest. Let him fight either a representation of Mystra or Elminster!

Let him reject both of them.

I honestly hesitate to suggest ways to fix Gale, only because I don't know enough about him. To me, a character choosing happiness over ambition is a pretty solid arc.

I just think the execution at the END could've been better.

Also, not just exclusive to Gale...

one of the biggest issues with BG3 is the fact that they chose to split their time doing the dumb, play as an origin thing, rather than prioritizing letting the whole cast intermingle. They could've developed more chances for Tavs/ Durges to influence the party, together and individually, have their decisions matter throughout the entire story.

Instead, they gave us the backstories, and then we just decide literally in Act 3, are they gonna be good or evil.

You only get to see character development if you are ROMANCING them, which is just, terrible, because it limits you to only seeing one character truly develop. Also, even if you are romancing someone, then it's still not really showing you that development.

Like, for Astarion, right, let's say you're trying to convince him not to be Cazador 2.0...you just choose that.

Let him Ascend, or don't.

But your relationship with him doesn't have THAT much of an effect on him?

It would've been far more interesting if your actions in Act 1 and 2 decide what happens there, and there is NO going back by that point. Oh, you forced him to drink from Araj?

He's going to become Ascended, and you can't stop him.

Oh, you chose to encourage Gale's ambition in Act 1? He's becoming a god, good job.

Your Durge was nasty to everyone, and killed so many innocent people in Act 2?

Everyone should fucking leave your ass then. ESPECIALLY if you become the chosen of Bhaal.

That's my issue with the general character development of Baldur's Gate. It's left entirely to, pick dialogue option 1 or 2.

There's not an actual reason to get a character's approval up unless you want to have a sex scene with them.

There's only ONE thing that'll make characters leave, otherwise, they just smile on and don't care that you just killed Isobel for no reason.

And going back to the romance being used as the linchpin for character development...sure, Astarion must learn to trust you and be honest and stop trying to manipulate you. But you don't actually get to reprimand him for that sort of behavior. To challenge him. To force him to see how he's hurting himself, and others?

Like Astarion is a big asshole!! He's a racist, he's mean to kids, he approves of you being horrible.

But then at the end...he just...is good now?

Because you chose to be good, and he's just going along with you...but that's lazy writing.

You had to SHOW us. You had to make us REALIZE he's getting softer. And not just to you, but to everyone.

It makes no sense to me in the epilogue how Astarion just, is a hero now, for no reason. If you don't romance him, I mean, it defaults him to "hero."

And I just don't get that.

So anyway.

Too long of a post, but....

that's my big issue.

Karlach, Wyll, they get no character arcs, and have no depth. Their endings are unsatisfying and uninteresting.

And...BG3 needed to actually show the characters evolving. But they didn't have time to do that, because they chose instead to just, reveal the trauma of their backstory from Act 1...forget the characters have backstories in Act 2...and then decide if they want to be good or evil in Act 3.

And that's...really...boring. And they feel like cardboard cut outs by that point, and not people.

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3

37 notes · View notes

dalekofchaos · 3 months

Text

I think if I had any issues with GOW:Ragnarok is 5 things.

No mention that Thor killed his mother. In GOW 2018, Mimir tells the tale of Fjörgyn, Thor's mother and one of Odin's great loves. It is implied that Thor killed her. It would give depth to why Odin is abusive towards Thor, his hatred of Atreus, self-loathing(aside from failing his sons) and explain why Faye went nuclear against Thor. Also? This would give context to why Thor is the way he is.

Odin doesn't use Kratos actions of murdering his family in turning Atreus against Kratos. I'm sure Kratos tells Atreus off screen, but does he? You'd think he would've told Atreus in the last game's ending or somewhere in Ragnarok. As far as we know all he told Atreus is killing Zeus and "I've killed many who were deserving and many who were not" implied, but never said. Kratos telling Freya was an important moment for them to understand each other. I don't think Kratos told him and considering how much of an abusive manipulative gaslighting prick that Odin is, it just felt like a missed opportunity not to have Odin use that to turn Atreus against his father and also a missed opportunity to have Kratos struggle to tell Atreus from his perspective on what he did.

Atreus darker personality never returned. I had this theory that Atreus "We're gods, we can do anything we want" phase would return as his Loki personality. Atreus quest to prevent Kratos' death would lead him down a dark path and lead his Loki personality to return. He would play both sides only to let Asgard burn in Ragnarok. There would be a boss battle between Atreus and his Loki side and Atreus personality would win and remain dominant. What we got was great, but I feel like Atreus' darker personality returning was a missed opportunity.

Kratos and Thor's final fight seemed tame. When I envisioned Kratos and Thor's final battle. I imagined this bombastic battle that would realm shift throughout the Nine Realms and would be the climax of Ragnarok. What we got was great. but I strongly feel like their final fight was underwhelming and it could've been more. I get the game was trying to show Thor is more than what the lore of the Norse saga and Ragnarok as a whole is showing us, but Kratos and Thor's final fight SHOULD HAVE been more.

Killing off Thor and Odin too soon. To me it's unsatisfying that Odin and Thor are killed off so soon. Thor has this great character arc and Odin was built up as this master manipulator and schemer and they die in the second game in this trilogy. Imagine how unsatisfying it would be if Luke Skywalker killed Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back and the Rebels killed the Emperor in the second act of the trilogy. Yeah that would've been so disappointing, wouldn't it? The story they told was great and I trust SMS. But it still feels like to me that they should have done a sort of cliffhanger ending. After Brok is killed, Kratos follows Odin, Thor and Odin kills Kratos. Kratos is sent into the realm into the tear, basically the realm where the dead gods go who cannot come back. He'd see Magni and Modi and Baulder and finally Faye and Faye sends Kratos back. Then it ends with Kratos pledging to lead Ragnarok and burn Asgard. For more in depth to this idea, watch the video down below. Point is I strongly feel like it was a mistake to kill off Odin and Thor in the second act of the Norse trilogy.

youtube

Bonus 1:Atreus not even looking into the tear with the mask was just bad. All they had to do was Atreus sees into the void, one minute later he takes the mask off, breaks it and tosses it into the void

Bonus 2. Odin's design. Thor's design is perfect, but part of me feels like he should have had armor

Compared to the stories Mimir told, I imagined Odin looking something like this down below. The story for Odin is great, but imo the final fight should have been more. Like, King of the Aesir should have been more. The contrast between him and Zeus is he is the master manipulator, but Odin in Norse Mythology is the strongest of the gods and this game didn't show it. He had powerful magic to display but it didn't feel like this grand final boss of the Norse saga, like Thor it could have been more.

Bonus 3. The Ragnarok itself is disappointing. Ragnarok was so built up to, but it honestly felt like the mission to actually get Surtr on-side was longer than the mission for Ragnarok. We saw nothing of the actual battle, Fenrir wasn’t there, and we didn’t even see the Army of the Dead! We could've gotten the Elves, army of the dead, the Dwarves lead by Sindri & Durlin, Vanir and even an army of Vikings/Raiders to represent Midgard. But we didn't. Plus in myth, Ragnarok was largely a battle between the Gods and the Jotnar - and yet the latter weren’t even present. I was fully expecting after heading to Muspel that Atreus would tell Kratos about the secret giants with Angrboda; that would have been an element of surprise that Odin didn’t know about! I’d been hoping to fight Thor on the back of Jormungandr or something, and for Fenrir to be involved in fighting Odin. So yeah. The Ragnarok in the game called God Of War:Ragnarok is disappointing.

#God Of War #God Of War Ragnarok #Kratos #Atreus #Odin #Odin Allfather #Thor #Thor Odinson #GOW Thor #GOW Odin #Youtube

40 notes · View notes

writingforatwistedworld · 2 years

Note

Yahoo the inbox is open! May I ask for a Savanaclaw members reacting to finding out the player already has an so. Like the ones you did for the Octavinelle dorm. Thank you. 💖 also ahhh I just really love your stuff here!! It amazing!!

You ask and you shall receive. Also thanks for the compliment! It means a lot to me! :D

Self-aware au

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from!

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, violence, blood, beheading, obsession, possessiveness, murder, death

Leona Kingscholar/Ruggie Bucchi/Jack Howl-Player already has a significant other

I bet with you that Ruggie sharpens his nails. Why that is important? You will see...

So, Leona was just on the home screen, enjoying the sight of you, expecting to see your face once more...

And then there is them

Sitting just across the room, asking who “the heck is that weird looking character on the screen?”

Insult him, and you get a warning. Insult the Overseers hobbies and preferences and you will end up headless

You see where I was going with that sharpened nail thingy?

But knowing that you have a partner burns really bad

Leona is aware that he is everything else but that prince on the white horse

Heck, the horse would rather run away from him than let him ride on it

But he had hope

After all, the Overseer sees everyone equally and when you put him on the home screen on that day he thought that maybe he had caught your fancy somehow

And now he is watching how some stranger is embracing you, being way too close to you

They can be happy that you are in the room

He just wants to be somewhat decent for you

Otherwise he would have just ripped them to shreds, worlds apart or not

One word: laughing

No joke, when... they were seen by him for the first time he couldn't help but to laugh

He is just in complete denial

You see, Ruggie had always looked up to you

The kind, otherworldly being who made sure that even the despised hyenas had a chance

He even thought that you two could get along, you being free of prejudices about the lower class and all of that

When he saw them being closed to you than a normal friend would usually be he finally snaps out of denial

You two are in a relationship... oh Overseer, you are too cruel!

He really thought that what you two had was special after you placed him on the home screen

And all of the sayings, with you being equal and all of that, seemed true as well!

And then he finds out that he had no chance anyways

He just wants to use his special magic on them, make them fall down some stairs

Ruggie wants to see them bleed, cry, beg for forgiveness even if they don't know for what

He had to live such a difficult life and knew nothing else

He even looked after his family unlike so many young people in the slums who only cared about themselves

So please indulge him just for once, even if that means finding your special one in an accident which left them bloody and in a coma

Oh goodness! This is a harsh one...

From the second he spots them for the first time besides you he is agressive

It's almost like Jack threatens your significant other for just existing

Now, luckily he can't act upon the instinct to go for their jugular

You two are still separated by worlds after all

So what does he do? Huh? Let his anger out in a healthy, non-dangerous way?

Good job but no, he is extremely aggressive and dangerous during spell drive training

He has already send three freshmen into the nurse's office

Leona even had to take him off the team with how dangerous he has become

So now that this way of getting rid of anger is gone what is he supposed to do? Stand still and do nothing??!

Oh no no no. He would rather die

So suddenly the usually calm and collected student is gone, replaced with an aggressive copy of himself

All I'm saying is, is that there are more than enough students in Savannaclaw searching for trouble and who is he to deny them that?

Everyone knows that you recently visited when they see a new face in the nurses office

Jack had never been so alone, avoided by everyone

But then again, who cares if they are not you? And if someone dares to come close enough then they surely offer themselves as a punching bag, right?

314 notes · View notes

stargalaxyshooter · 8 months

Text

Since it's probably coming up in this cour?? Or maybe in the next, but I will always be salty with how dirty Kubo did Ukitake throughout the whole manga - but especially in tybw. Not really utilizing him the way you utilized Shunsui was one thing, but not even giving him a fight before you take him out was dirty 😭

And don't even get me started on how his death was - from what I remember - ultimately pointless, he was giving up his life for the soul king only for Ywach to absorb him anyways. Maybe that did sorta help, idk my memory of it is kinda foggy, but it forreal felt like a "oh damn this guys still a thing gotta give him this random thing to do and then kill him off".

I appreciate that because he's gone, there was a vacancy in the 13 division but Kubo could've given ukitake a battle in tybw and maybe have him either die from said battle or survive it & choose to retire afterwards due to the injuries he sustained from it (like his body was already frail, so maybe he pushed himself too far after using his bankai WHICH WE NEVER SAW). Which then leads to canon with rukia being captain.

There's sooooooo many sternritter's that are introduced and instead of giving some of them to other characters - or have them group together if you don't want too many individual fights - we instead get the same characters have multiple fights with diff opponents or have some of the sternritter's off screened.

For example, we get characters like Kenpachi or Hitsugaya who are given multiple fights in this arc (not necessarily complaining I do like them), while Rukia, who is the second most important character in this show gets one actual good fight where we finally see her bankai. And is then not really utilized after that. That's wild imagine if Sasuke, who is also a deuteragonist, was only given one fight in the 4th war and then fades into the background while naruto/others go fight madara. Side tangent, but I'm just pointing out how weirdly characters were used from the main cast to side characters.

And it's not like it's just Ukitake, kubo also seemed to not like the visored (vizard?) either. Goddamn were they heavily underutilized, got introduced in the story as being one of the major new factions + given a backstory that gave them a connection to both the seireitei & aizen but were ultimatley cast aside for no reason.

Even their inclusion in tybw was pathetic, had them taken out anytime they tried to do something like what was the point Kubo what do you have against these characters?? At least chose to either have them fade into the background after only serving their purpose during the arrancar saga or have some die a meaningful death. (Not that killing characters off when they "serve" no more purpose = good writing. It just would've been something to actually chew on than what we actually got)

Idk something other than that half assed shit, as someone who likes the visored it was painful to watch. There's so many frustrating things about Bleach when I think about it, you have all these cool characters/designs who have interesting personalities, purpose, backstory and then they never get to do anything other than serve as "characters who get offed or beaten up to make the ones who save them look good", which sucks.

Hopefully, in the second cour, or third, some of these things change? I don't expect Kubo to care about ukitake or the visored now but maybe some other side characters like hisagi or yumichika who can finally complete his character arc of never using his shikai in front of others, he was about to use it but got taken out by a zombie. Oh, and also! Ikakku, similarly to yumichika, he also didn't get to have his character arc come full circle. We never got to see him use his bankai again, it seemed he was about to but got taken out by the same zombie - so maybe next cour...? Fingers crossed 🤞 that at some point both him & yumichika can show their concealed powers without fear of one not being accepted and the other not being allowed in the squad anymore. Especially when we know that at the end of the manga, ikkaku replaces yachiru as lieutenant

#Bleach #tybw #bleach tybw #tybw spoilers #Ukitake Jushiro #Visored #Kuchiki Rukia #Vizard #Ayasegawa Yumichika #Madarame Ikkaku #my ramblings #my frustrations back when reading the tybw arc and now having it finally air reminded me how #dirty kubo did a lot of his charactets especially when they were introduced as being some new important force in the world #deutragonist gets like one actual fight and then doesn't get to do anything else?#And i love kenpachi but this is what I mean by the same set of characters get #the same fights while other characters are staring off in the background providing commentary or getting beat up #Also! dont let this rukia layout fool you this isnt coming from a biased place #i love her but shes not my number one nor the reason for this rant #this was just something i've always been bothered about

20 notes · View notes

woodsfae · 1 year

Text

Babylon 5: Season 1 Wrap-Up

s01 Table of Contents • previous episode: s01e22

OK, so I was mildly spoiled. When I was watching the end of s01's two parter, I looked up Michael O'Hare to see how tall he was and saw that he left B5 at the end of S01 and realized I'd heard of this before, roughly at the time JMS announced O'Hare's mental health struggles after his death. Just didn't lock it into the ole memory storage because B5 wasn't really on my radar in 2012.

This has kinda overshadowed my other thoughts about S01, because I am extremely sad that Jeffrey Sinclair won't continue to be the Commander. I am so so sad. I will have to manufacture my own frothing now! No more unbearably affectionate looks between Delenn and Sinclair! Augh. Maybe my heart will be overfilled during his guest appearances. RIP Michael o'Hare, I look forward to seeing you again in S02 and S03.

Other thoughts! There's a hole in Jeffrey Sinclair's mind and I am very excited to see how any of that shakes out.

The Minbari continue to be my favorite culture that I want to know the most about. Every character that appears, I love. I am still hoping to see more of Shaal Mayan, and don't know that I'll forgive the writers for having characters say she was coming back and then not show her! I still want to hear a poem by her. I don't really have any hopes of seeing more of Draal. It seems like they've locked him into the planet for good, and he didn't give Delenn a visitor's pass that I'm aware of. I do want to see more of the warrior Minbari, and have enjoyed the glimpses I got so far!

I have many questions. How long do Minbari live? Will Londo really die with his hands around G'Kar's throat? What are the aims of the Grey Council, or are there many aims? When does Delenn grow some hair? Why does Delenn grow some hair? Is she going to pop out of her chrysalis fully changed into later-stage Delenn? Is Susan Ivanova a telepath? Is Talia Winters telekinetic? Will Susan and Talia ever be on screen together again?! (I am dyyyyying) Will Jason Ironheart pop back up? (god I hope so, just for the CGI floating incorporeality) How often does G'Kar cook animals whole and then bite their snoots off? Will we ever see a drunk Lennier? Will we get to know any of the militant Minbari? I believe we've only spent significant time with Minbari from the religious caste so far.

Overall I am excited for the plotty goodness I've been promised. Character development! I want it.

S01 brought up healing and panaceas repeatedly. Will we see a return of the theme, and if so, will it be Big Plot important? Is Laura going to pop back up? How's Dr Franklin/Janice doing? There was no follow-up!

S01 was also heavily about social issues, particularly the slow-to-rapid march of facism taking over a society and government. I expect those themes to continue as well!

BESTER MY GUY. I need more PsiCorps dirt and plot, and thankfully I have been reassured that Walter Koenig will be back.

Talia. I want to see more of Talia. And a little less whump. She was s01's emotional punching bag! She had no happy episodes that I can recall! Just PsiTrauma after PsiTrauma with a few little sides of neutral episodes.

Garibaldi was very eeeeeuuuughhhhh my dude, go to therapy. Hopefully they address his police brutality. He did way too much assaulting civilians and overuse of force during arrests, like WAY too much. He is currently only a leeeeetle likeable. Like, barely more than Londo and that's 100% due to how gross I find Londo's *waves hands* you know. Everything sleazy.

Londo and G'Kar I'm fine with learning more about at the rate we have been already. Vir, I don't really care about. I am much more interested in G'Kar's aide, Na'Toth. (had to check real quick if she was Na'Toth or Ko D'ath and was startled to see that apparently Ko D'ath died and I either missed it or forgot) It'll be interesting to see if there's more Narn and Centauri intrigue! So far we've been set up to see human/Minbari intrigue as the leading plotlines.

I absolutely loved all the little moments when aliens were getting human things extremely wrong. Off the top of my head - the Hokey Pokey being humanity’s lullaby of choice, and Londo and Vir deciding that cats are the earth animals with beaks and webbed feet. “It’s like being nibbled to death by cats!”

Londo + G’Kar interactions have ever and always been a delight. I also loved Sinclair + Ivanova and Sinclair + Delenn with equal but very different passions. Susan/Talia - duh. I’m obsessed. Lennier + absolutely anyone was always precious, and I hope for more of those.

Worldbuilding has been utterly intriguing and I want more of that. Every bit I get makes me theorize and wonder. For example, I ranked the powers present on B5 with considerations taken for: military might; soft power; technological advancement. - Minbari (they get the top spot due to soft power) - Vorlon (they clearly have the technological edge over the Minbari but have zero soft power) - Centauri (idk why it seems like they have more likeability to in-universe folks since I like the Narns SO SO much more, but there ya have it.) - Narn (I like them SO much more than the Centauri, but considering their diplomatic stand-off with the aforementioned and history of being nerfed by them, I narrowly put them closer to the bottom. Plus they don’t have any telepaths/telekinetics which would have to make a difference.) - Humans (I assumed the Top Powers were more or less being polite to humans by being relatively chill on their space station, but after Morden That Fucking Fae Asshole destroyed the Narnuan outpost and G’Kar listed humans as one of the races who could have done it, I am really wondering how accurate my perception is.) - the League (they don’t even get their own ambassador with equal powers to the top four so they’re clearly at the bottom of the pecking order).

I do want to know what happens with the future war, but I feel like it must be connected to Morden (ugh) and the powerful beings he’s associated with. And since I dislike him so, I hope the shadows n such can have some plot without him involved.

My top 5 episodes are (in chronological order) s01e01: Midnight on the Firing Line - this episode did a wonderful job setting things up, making me interested in the show, and set my queer heart fucking ablaze with Susan/Talia. I am particularly impressed with it, since I was both extremely high on a pain med it has later turned out I actually metabolize very weirdly so I was WAY high on it and I still managed to follow it and be into the show. and b.) didn’t have my favorite character from the Gathering in it but still made me love her replacement.

s01e06: Mind War - Fascinating eldritch beings, more Catherine, G’Kar showing he has many facets to his character, Water Koenig, PsiCorps dirt, and the absolute gloriousness that was the CGI portraying Jason Ironheart ascending to another state of being. What’s not to love?

s01e13: By Any Means Necessary - I LOVED THIS EPISODE. It had prime Londo/G’Kar bickering, while minimal Londo sleaziness. It had Union power, Ms Connelly, Susan Ivanova out-bellowing a room full of people, and some of Sinclair’s best use of his superpower: SuperPedantry. Also had the most satisfying-to-hate villain, that union-buster, who I hope shows up again just long enough for Neeoma Connelly to kick his balls in.

s01e21: Legacies - I really enjoyed seeing a bit of Narnuan and Minbari culture through Alisa’s eyes. I absolutely adored Talia and Susan flirt-fighting throughout. Delenn manipulating her way through this episode was fantastic (we’ve seen a lot of her scheming, but mostly in little drips and drabs on the way to the finale! Loved seeing some of her work from start to finish). I was delighted by Na’Toth popping in and out. This was an episode I didn’t want to end.

s01e22: Chrysalis - Gotta be honest, I struggled with whether to put this or The War Prayer or the Sky Full of Stars. Chrysalis won out, because I realized I was comparing it against each of the other two, and not the other two against each other. Those were both excellent episodes and you can consider them to be runners-up to my favorites list! Chrysalis did a phenomenal job of ramping the tension up throughout the episode. I was legitimately furious that I was too tired to click through and watch s02e01. I was entranced and gripped the entire way through. Too much went on for me to feel like I can adequately summarize my favorite points, and it’s also the only episode I want to re-watch before I finish the entire show.

To be clear, these are my personal favorites based solely on how much I recall having enjoyed watching them, and I was post-op and heavily drugged and/or about to fall asleep for quite a bit of - if not most of - season 1. I leave arguments about artistic merits and enduring cultural impact to others!

I will leave you with these B5 S01 articles of clothing I coveted. It's not quite enough to make an outfit, and consists mostly of tops. May S02 bring many cool trousers.

next episode: s02e01

#babylon 5 #laura rosen #susan ivanova #woodsfae gif #woodsfae b5

28 notes · View notes

paperstorm · 1 year

Note

I want to preface this by saying that I love TK/Carlos equally. They both have character flaws, but it just makes them more lovable and relatable. That being said it annoys me to no end the way they got back together after the big break up. It feels like Carlos was robbed of the chance to really be angry at TK the way he deserved to be. It feels like everyone expected him to just forgive TK for what happened with minimal thoughts for Carlos' feelings. They got back together way too easily and that makes it harder to appreciate where they are now.

Yeah I can see that. Carlos definitely got to feel his angry feelings, we saw it in the hospital, but he didn’t do it when TK was awake. I guess you can infer that he wasn’t angry anymore after TK woke up, which would be valid. Watching TK almost die right in front of him and then getting him back might make any lingering anger over a misunderstanding seem unimportant.

We really just didn’t see any of it, it all happens off screen. If you just go by what happened literally in the scenes I would say it goes in the other direction too; there are definitely things Carlos did wrong and we never got to see him apologize to TK either. The show in my opinion leaned heavily into the narrative that it was entirely TK’s fault and I don’t see it that way. We just have to infer that they did all that important work in the hospital and were solid again by the time they moved TK in.

#911 lone star #anon asks

19 notes · View notes

luna-rainbow · 1 year

Text

Okay, so I’m still stewing on episode 10 and the lack there of a preview. A couple of things:

How are they going to resolve the car crash? I think potentials are: Dojun survives and dies from another event later; Dojun enters a coma and wakes up in the present to continue the story (and work out who killed him both lives); Dojun survives, thereby proving to himself that he can change the future, but also means he’s now in uncharted territory because he no longer knows what will come next.

If the President of Soonyoung dies in a car crash on the way to a media conference, and this being what 2001/2? Surely it would be all over the news (ie Hyunwoo would hear about it). It doesn’t make sense for Dojun to not recall the date and manner of death for the grandfather, so either he doesn’t die here or there was massive coverup about the death. I am already side-eyeing Dojun for taking 9 episodes to work out he had already died. The series has done amazing so far so I hope it doesn’t start handing out idiot balls.

The fact that Hyunwoo doesn’t remember Dojun’s existence at all is…very interesting. I mean Hyunwoo may have been too busy to keep up with the New Data scandal, but for someone who was doing so well, and who was the grandson of the conglomerate to just die and then disappear from everyone’s minds…it’s bizarre. Again I hope it’s explained well. Like I’m always curious when people die young and I’d read up on it. I’m surprised Hyunwoo didn’t bother.

Yejun (their cousin) still hasn’t appeared. For someone who seemed like she was an important antagonist, it’s interesting she’s appeared so late. It would be a cool twist if she turned out to be on Dojun’s side and wants to finish what he started, but I can’t see that happening.

Hwayoung and her husband were very snappish at each other in episode 1, suggesting what she did last episode had lasting impact on their marriage.

Interestingly, in episode 1, Dojun’s parents “no longer speak to each other”, and when Dojun’s mum marched in she lumped her (?ex) husband in with the rest of the family as someone who knew the truth of “the incident”. I hope Dojun’s dad doesn’t turn out to be a bad guy 😞 That would be supremely disappointing (of the family) especially after he said he would have Dojun’s back.

Lee Hangjae (the grandfather’s right hand man who he saw “as his son”) was notably absent from episode 1. Is his death significant?

I was banking on Seongjun having been reborn as well. There is just something very off about the way he acts now compared to the first episode. The way his smile doesn’t reach his eyes, his weird confidence, his uncharacteristic eagerness (for someone who said he didn’t want to inherit the company), and there were some weird lines that suggested he knew what was coming. And the way he treats Hyunmin, too, he’s got the control of the situation a lot better than he did before. So…this is either a dud theory or we haven’t seen the end of the past just yet.

Despite her minimal role, Shin Hyunbeen managed to capture the difference between a seasoned prosecutor in episode one and a newbie here. The way she’s a bit uncertain and a bit idealistic, versus the cynical but dogged older version. At the moment there’s simply not been enough screen time for the audience to care about her relationship with Dojun, and it’s not convincing that his death (if that’s what happens in this episode) will spur her onto become the grim reaper of Soonyang, unless this unravels into a coverup of immense scale.

The idea that the main character cannot change the world, even despite his immense wealth and reach, is…kinda nihilistic. What hope does anyone else have? I hope the story eventually leads to something else.

#reborn rich #kdrama

8 notes · View notes

catharusustulatus · 9 months

Text

My Eddie Munson analysis, with points that have already been made, but that I’ll say again:

He was probably not intended to be as popular as he became, hence his death. The Duffers and co obviously regret their decision; cue the kajillion posts, teases, and merch pieces coming out about him. They fucked up by killing him, and they know it. Will he come back? I have no idea.

Joseph was the one who made Eddie as great as he is. He helped shape the character and he gave him the depth and personality (mannerisms, rings, eye fucking Steve in all scenes, other choices, ad libs, etc) that we love him for.

To me, Eddie as a character IS a plot device. He was written to mature the party boys, specifically Dustin. He was written to die, so that Steve could live. He was written to subvert expectations, like with Chrissy, which makes you care about him.

He was also written to confirm the re-significance of Stancy, with his explicit “get her back” comments in the UD. This fascinates me because he barely knows these people, let alone what’s going on in their relationship. Why would he feel compelled to say what he said, unless he’s being used as a narrative tool to push Stancy to the forefront? I am into Stancy too personally but like, lol, who told him about what was going on? Did Robin take 5 minutes to be like “hey Eddie btw if Steve and Nancy seem awkward around each other, it’s because they used to date but she broke up with him and he never really got over her and her long distance bf has been incommunicado so I feel like there might be a chance they rekindle their love” like I guess it happened off screen! Did Dustin tell him? And while I wish we’d seen a conversation so it would make more sense why he’s saying that, we didn’t need it, because HE doesn’t exist that deeply on the page. His comment was to further someone else’s plot, not his own. (I personally also love the headcanon that he said all of that to Steve because he was crushing on Steve and was deflecting).

I have no idea what the costume and hair and makeup departments were doing when they developed his final looks, but that boy is queer. The bandana alone, I immediately thought he was going to be the first gay character in the show in s4e1. In his introductory monologue he mentions sodomy, I mean….

Lastly, everyone has already said this, but his death. Are you kidding me? It’s not just that he was another one season semi filler character that’s introduced, who you fall in love with, who dies. It’s the fact that he died so savagely, in what felt like a nonsensical way. It felt almost taunting, like here’s this symbol of what it means to be different and let’s kill him! Get it, he didn’t run away this time! Booooo 🍅🍅 that’s bad writing. He didn’t zip up his jacket! Why? He was written to make all the wrong decisions, because they so thoroughly wanted him to die, almost like his death is an important part of his character.

Whether or not he’s Kas, just haunts Dustin the way Billy haunted Max, or something in between, if he isn’t shown at all in season 5, after all the hubbub about him, I will riot.

#stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson analysis #I truly believe if he had lived and was just a flat out part of the final season #they’d have won like an Emmy or something #because he’s so beloved #and Joe Quinn is so talented #we could’ve had it all #everyone mentions the same things we missed out on #him and Wayne #him and will #him and Steve becoming deeper friends #what if he had lived and then been nabbed by the police?#breaking him out of jail woild he the perfect opportunity for Hopper to come back and tell Chief Powell everything #anyway I feel like while this is nothing new it’s good to get my thoughts out #fuck this stupid show for killing him tho

2 notes · View notes

snowsheba · 2 years

Text

i finished... 3-4... thoughts under cut...

characters

mel i already made some posts dragging her but the fact she gets all high and mighty after learning two (2) spells is so funny. to be fair, if i'd also spent my entire life without magic, i would react in the same way, but the phrasing used where she became "addicted to magic" was unintentionally comedic. similar to not helping the merchant and letting him bleed to death, actually!

my main complaint, though, is that genuinely i want her to be held responsible for how much hurt she's caused to the people who she calls her friends, or at least to take responsibility for it, and she never does. she had a hard life and she's sensitive about it, but throughout all of these games she just kept lashing out because she's defensive, and it's like. after a while people won't put up with this shit, mel. you can't keep hurting people and expect them to keep coming back to help you as if nothing's happened. they do because it's just a game, but in real life, she'd be alone and she'd die alone.

in 3-4 she just gives a silly little apology to ONLY edward about the chain of events (to which edward says "i'm already over it, it's cool" pretty much. what!) and that's it. like. i enjoy that she's destructive and angry and bursting with emotion, but i do think it's a tremendous missed opportunity that she experienced barely any growth from game to game.

stella setting the game up for stella marrying edward is poorly done. like. why even give the option if the following games are ALL going to be about edward and mel being weird bitchy exes.

stella's arc was very neatly presented and neatly wrapped up. i really enjoyed seeing her come to terms with what happened to her and her body and resolving to continue living anyway in 3-2 and 3-3 (though a lot happened off-screen obviously. but it's easy to guess what happened, and that's an important distinction).

it was incredibly touching that she got her wings back. out of everyone in this game, i think she deserved that miracle. she was never involved in the prophecy beyond her duty to guard the orb of light and everything was taken from her simply because she was in the way. to be able to return home whole after fighting in a battle that she made hers - because she loves her friends and the world under naylith and everything else she's seen - is just really good storytelling.

edward ok. edward was tough in this game, but i liked him best in this one, too.

i mentioned this in another post about how it seems like av3's writing relies on having a prideful idiot butthead as a primary protagonist, which is a weird tool to rely on but there it is. this time edward slotted into place. and it was WEIRD, man. having him actively yell at people (to the point stella consistently told him off for it) felt really out of place at first, but gradually i got into it because yeah. i mean, yeah. everything was taken from him, and now they're ripping his friend away from him, too. he's lost everything and he isn't going to lose any more, not if he can help it.

that paradigm shift changed my view of him entirely. like yes he's always sarcastic in previous games, but in this one he's pissed off and, for once, not under any obligation to hide it. (he's not a prince anymore. he can't even go home.) so he doesn't! so he yells at people and complains about lack of rewards and never once wavers in his mission to help mel, because he's allowed to do what he wants for once in his goddamn life.

and then he gets home and he concedes to his duty, because if there's anything this journey has taught him, it's that avoiding your fate never works. and that might not be the best lesson to take away from watching your dear friend almost destroy the world, but he takes the crown and goes back to being the dutiful, polite son.

it's sad. i feel like... it was only really in this game that i developed an idea of what his character is like, and it's just sad to see that because of his resentment and the growth he experienced because of where that resentment took him, he will make an excellent king.

galahad my first reaction to him having a) a terribly misogynistic marriage contract and b) using it was like "dude, not cool." and then, of course, i remembered that te'ijal has been pretty much torturing him with nonsense for the past three centuries or so, so at that point, i went "ok. i guess i can give you a pass for this one."

overall i was fascinated by his dynamic with te'ijal here. i NEVER thought that galahad would actually want to stay married to te'ijal if he became human again - but instead he calls her "love" and seemingly dotes on her. it's such an interesting angle to explore (full of dysfunction and codependence, i would imagine). like at this point he obviously believes magic is real, so he's accepted some things about his reality, but it's almost as if becoming human shifted his perception entirely.

so many questions! so many questions. it's a shame he and te'ijal became vampires again - i would have loved to see a bit more of them interacting as humans, just to sate my own curiosity.

te'ijal i feel like anything i say here will just be a repeat of what i've said before about te'ijal, but regardless: what a tragic figure. i cannot BELIEVE she let galahad order her around even with the marriage contract. i can't tell if they wrote it that way for shits and giggles or because they wanted to demonstrate how much her mental health had deteriorated since becoming human. (probably the former?)

i think there's something very telling in that she no longer cared about helping mel, right up until her husband returns from the demon realm. before that, she was following along because of the marriage contract and then galahad's ability to turn her into a vampire again. even then, she only stuck it out because galahad had changed and she was unsettled by it. it seems like a weird reversal from the other games, and i wonder if it has to do with whether you responded to her letters or not in the previous.

that said, another interesting thing with te'ijal becoming perturbed with galahad's corruption. she and galahad have spent so long complaining about each other that the minute the status quo changes, they both get spooked. it's a really fascinating dynamic that i wished the game had explored more.

yemite i don't have much to say about yemite except that she was very funny and very sweet. i like that she eats curses.

i think it's very fun that she continues to follow mel around after all is said and done. mel having a companion like her for support can't hurt, i don't think.

gyendal rip this guy. kiiiind of think the twist that he was serving a higher power (mordred) was kind of a cop out.

it is honestly baffling to me that they just send him into the demon realm to die. like they know that it could just not work if mel could come back, but this is treated as being done and done. like if he REALLY wanted to i'm of the thought that he could get a portal going, no problem.

yvette do you think they ever go back and tell her mel is ok after she literally vanished from the country after being sent out to get flies? because i think about that pretty often.

uma and nox booooooooring. mel has twins. yaaaaay. why are they working for the oracle though.

the oracle she has a personality now which she only shows with uma and nox. the shadow version was very interesting, though.

mordred darkthrop his villain monologue wasn't even good! and mel didn't get to confront him! wasted opportunities all around.

hercules lmao. that's all i have to say about that.

story

like i said in gyendal's section, the whole thing felt like a bit of a cop out!

honestly i felt so little impact from the story itself. i was FAR more invested in the characters and their interactions with each other, the events, and the world around them.

however, i will say that playing most of the game without mel as an central cornerstone was incredibly freeing. literally felt like a breath of fresh air to get a sense of how these characters interact when mel is gone. i loved it SO much. it was also really nice to see mel navigate through things on her own (especially since she's... kind of bad at it).

gameplay

the battle system felt very much like 3-3 (and 4) in terms of appearance but more like 1, 2, 3-1, and 3-2 in terms of actual play. thank GOD for the boots of haste, though. ashera's sandals in 3-3 were a game changer and the boots of haste were the same. why they didn't give you a speed crystal like in av1 is beyond me.

something i do miss from av1 and av2 are sidequests that don't actually matter. aveyond 3 has this skill of construing quests as "side quests" but ultimately they are actually main quests because you have to do them to complete the story. i would have loved some more useless quests to run around and complete for the hell of it, but that's just the completionist in me.

music

I CRIED WHEN THE PROFESSORS CAME AND THE RECRUITMENT MUSIC CAME ON. AAAAAAAAAAAA

the remixes of the classic songs are so good. i have very strong auditory memory so i was just like bopping along to every one. i'm SO HAPPY. i miss av1 so much. i like the original versions better because nostalgia's a bitch but still ;w; sedona...

conclusion

literally want to replay the games and write a novelization at the same time. i love the aveyond series and i'm beyond delighted with what aveyond 3 delivered.

#aveyond blogging #av3 #aveyond

6 notes · View notes

moomingitz · 2 years

Text

Because I know someone is going to ask for my opinion on the fan game Sonic Omens sooner or later:

Story wise, it feels like the people who made it had a clear beginning and end in mind, but they didn’t take near enough time to flesh things out and better plan how to get from Point A to B.

The whole twist involving the exiled Metarex dude and Chris was clearly planned from the start, as there were way too many hints and foreshadowing starting all the way back in the beginning cutscene for them to just be mere Sonic X easter eggs. It even the uses the leitmotif from the English dub of Sonic X in it’s soundtrack. The problem is that, in my opinion, it and everything else in the story felt like there was a massive crucial chunk of story missing in-between, especially since what apparently happened according to the info dumping dialog later on is something that’s kind-of hard for it suddenly come up as a “Oh, by the way-”

How did Chris manage to safely link his and Sonic’s worlds together, and how did the population and societies from both universes react to this and manage to integrate with each other? That’s a really major event for the story to, again, just go “Oh, by the way this happened-” Apparently traveling between two dimensions caused Chris to rapidly age, leaving him with only 15 years left to live, so he spent it wanting to make the world a better place to the point of joining G.U.N. with the goal of reforming it. Okay, makes sense in universe doing that sort of thing would eventually negatively affect Chris physically, and it seems to fit him post-season 3 to take Sonic’s philosophy to just keep going even when his time is running out. But, they should have done more showing than telling there before and after the reveal near the end. Maybe show a flashback or two, or include more hints to foreshadow it ahead of time.

Apparently Sonic wasn’t even aware that Chris had died until Russian Eggman’s info dump. You think one of his closest friends dying would of have been something Sonic would have learned about pretty quick(no pun intended). Or at least you’d think Chris would have let Sonic known about his 15 years-left-to-live clock ticking away as soon as possible. I don’t think Chris would have left Sonic and the rest of his friends in the dark about something that important. And no, there’s a photo of the two shown hanging out together in the beginning cutscene. So not only did Chris not pass away before the whole interdimensional connection thing happened, but him and Sonic had spent some time together before his time ran out. Again, another thing they really should have spent more time showing or at least hinting towards, instead of just going “Oh, by the way guys-”

I’ll give the devs credit for Chris’ death not being used as a shitty and cheap way to bash him, and in-universe it does make sense, and it was sweet of Sonic to defend him even in death. I just wish they had further elaborated on this whole very major plot point, instead of waiting near the end to just dump all of this onto the story. Would have been a lot more impactful if they further elaborated on it and not just have Chris die off-screen, or not have the big reveal of it told to us in an info dump. Hell, it could have served as a very meaningful way to end the character arc Chris went through in Sonic X. He spent a good chunk of his life wanting to avoid the reality that everything eventually has to come to an end and say goodbye, and now he has to face it himself and come to terms with it. You think facing his impending morality would be a really impactful way to cap off that kind of reoccurring internal conflict. But I guess the concept of your impending death is just an afterthought. I’m almost getting flashbacks to, Thor: Love & Thunder, concerning Shane Foster kind of just being there in the film’s story- despite going through something as major as having cancer and trying to prevent the inevitable(but at least in that movie, Thor was at least informed about it before she died).

I honestly think the exiled Metarex dude was a really interesting idea, and I do think he has an honest to God good character design. I don’t find it implausible at all of there being other seedrians beyond Earthia who also opposed and attempted to stop Dark Oak’s desire to genocide the entire universe. I do like that his motivation is simply because he became disgusted by G.U.N. shitting all over Chris’ hard work after he died(because the government gonna government), and basically just went, “Fuck this place! I’m going home!” But the way it was executed felt more like that one Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode where some dick named Mr. Wong went around ripping people’s dicks off, in order to make a giant dick ship to get back to his home planet, until Frylock tells him to just call someone to come and pick him up. Again, they really should have done more showing than telling with something that’s supposed to be so important to story.

And I’ve seen so many takes on the whole thing with Shadow and Maria, and the many other janky stuff in this fan game’s story. So I’m not going to talk about that because this is already long enough.

And I’m gonna kind of come to bat for the voice actors, here. It’s really obvious that for most of them, English is not their first language. That is especially evident when it comes to the dude who voiced Eggman- you can really hear the accent. I’m not gonna fault a bunch of non-professional voice actors working on a fan game for sounding off or weird especially when they’re doing it in a language that isn’t native to them. Simply knowing what to say in a language is different than knowing how to inflect and fully and properly enunciate in it. This comes down to the higher up devs on this fan game- which I’m going to assume English also wasn’t their first language- making the decision to have the voice acting done in English. I personally think they should have just had it dubbed in whatever their native language was, provide English subtitles, and then possibly have it dubbed in English later on by native English speakers and voice directors who are far more fluent in that language.

I think they should have just dropped the whole thing with them trying to tie the main game canon and Sonic X continuity together, and should have just made it into a fan game based purely off of Sonic X altogether. It feels like that’s what they really wanted to do, but they wanted to have their cake and it too. I think they just shouldn’t have made it into a fan game at all, but into an animated web series instead. They seemed to have focused much more on the cinematics than the game design itself(I didn’t play it but I’ve heard that it isn’t good when it comes to control and level design). It would have given them a lot more room to focus on fixing up and fleshing ouy the story, writing, and questionable characterizations.

Also, I personally find it harder to take more serious moment in the gameplay when you’re blasting the most pure and unfiltered Dubstep in the background.

But at the end of the day, I just see it as another harmless fan game. I do find it admirable when people who set out to make a fan project actually see it through, even if the end results aren’t the best. It’s much easier to start something than it is to actually finish it. Unfortunately it has that whole Patreon controversy attached to it(even though the fully finished game was released for free in the end anyway), combined with the growing “SEGA HIRE DIS MAN THEY CAN DO BETTER THAN YOU” attitude in the Sonic fandom when it comes to fan games and people getting increasingly annoyed by it, and fan game devs either hyping themselves up, or fan games getting hyped up by fans until their expectations make them forget that it’s(monetized or not) something not being done by a big professional team but usually by some people doing it on the side of their mundane ass lives, so if anything does come of it there’s no way it is going to meet those high expectations they’ve set for it.

It had a lot of really good potential, and the talent was there. But they were too damn ambitious, and they should have better managed their ambitions and expectations for what they wanted to do and set them accordingly. As an outsider looking in, Sonic Omens is “just another fan game” to me.

#opinions #rant

3 notes · View notes

rivaiin · 3 years

Text

just got to chapter 9 and the plot is really starting to pick up some pace and im really really excited to see how things turn out

#miik plays yakuza #i wasnt really convinced that masato was dead cause like #he seemed like a way too important character to just die off screen after a couple scenes #but i didnt expect him to be like a whole ass different man now hjfkdshgkjsdfhg #also i love that when they talked about the top tojo dudes leaving the city to go into hiding after shit started going down #they just show majima daigo and saejima like they know whats good #i desperately need to know whats up with my boys #also loving that kashiwagi is there at the bar listening to the gang talk about tojo shit and a fucking omi invasion and hes like #cleaning glasses and shit king of minding his own business #im still waiting for an explanation about why him and joon gi are alive #ALSO i switched saekos career to night queen and i Love it #and now that ive leveled up eri quite a bit more shes a fucking powerhouse like jesus the goddamn thumbtacks attack?????????

1 note · View note

naruhearts · 3 years

Text

I’m done keeping my composure.

Sorry, this will be a LOADED post! (And I’ll be repeating the points others have made)

for real, to everyone being nasty and telling heartbroken fans that “Dean was always supposed to die get a grip you’re just butthurt etcetera etcetera—” F you royally.

How dare you police the brutal feelings that’s been embroiling us since the Finale That Must Not Be Named aired.

The show you think you all watched, the show you all believe was the same SPN from Season 1-4, changed at some point. Kripke wrote his original vision, put it to screen, saw it through in S5 as he intended, and closed the door on that era.

In 2008, Supernatural was adopted and inherited. As you know, there was a supreme paradigm shift post-Kripke era. The show FLOURISHED (we won’t talk about Gamble thanks). It evolved, transformed, grew beyond trauma-induced self-worthlessness and toxic masculinity and endless death and hegemonic social ideals and conservatism and repressive anti-revolutionary ideas. Castiel, the iconic favourite and beloved staple of the series portrayed by Misha Collins, was introduced in Season 4 as the core lead character, and he ushered in a brand new era of Christian mythos that SPN took advantage of. Longevity SKYROCKETED. Audiences were INTERESTED. SPN amassed an incredibly groundbreaking fanbase infused by non-nuclear principles. A massive subversive wave began, fighting the Status Quo of the times since 2008. It’s precisely why such an abysmal ending to a show of extensive Freud-Jungian metanarratively meta META complex stature and social POWER will render us totally and unbearably broken for years to come.

Point is, DEAN WINCHESTER NO LONGER WANTED TO DIE. HE WANTED TO LIVE. HE WANTED TO SIT ON THE BEACH, PLUNGE HIS TOES IN THE SAND, AND SIP UMBRELLA DRINKS WITH HIS BROTHER AND HIS BEST FRIEND. He said this in Season 13. And then, a season later, he told the ghost of his long-deceased father — the source of his deep-running trauma and the figure of self-reductive authoritarianism permeating his arc since Season 1 — after being questioned why he didn’t pursue the Nuclear Fam, that he already has his own: his brother Sam, his adopted child Jack, and Cas.

Dean’s best friend Cas. Oh god, Cas, who made his inevitably permanent mark on Dean’s soul beyond allyship. Castiel, renamed to Cas, God’s -iel removed by Dean. Dean, the human spark that lit the fire of pre-existing autonomy in the inherently rebellious angel who was, this entire time, the catalyst for free will in God The Writer’s puppet show. Their friendship set on goddamn fire. I can also write paragraph upon paragraph about my love for Cas while devastated tears stream down my face, but I digress—

Cas’ romantic love for Dean pushed our main Heart of SPN to love himself. Love is free will. Free will is also love. Of note, Cas’ love confession in 15x18 was supposed to offset something so vastly important and fundamental...to maybe (read: most likely) pull the trigger on SELF-TRUTHS in conjunction with free will. And The Great Anticipated Follow-Up to the episode penned by the passionate Berens should have included (read: seemed like it was going to be) Dean, closeted trauma survivor in love with his best friend, being given the opportunity to do it right: to SPEAK HIS TRUTH, and then that very singular opportunity was STOLEN so grossly. After poring over it for days, I refuse to believe we made their years-long story up out of thin air, spun it out of fantastical-delusional dream cotton candy, because we DIDN’T. IT WAS REAL.

As I said in another post: “I’ve just been feeling physically ill for the past >40 something hours with the terrible knowledge that 19/20 undid years of vital progression towards healthy interdependence, autonomy, and a positive endgame, where Sam, Dean and Cas close the ring of found family in final empowering self-fulfillment...where Dean, no longer repressed and set free, is able to use his words and speak his truth as a queercoded trauma survivor, henceforth confirming and self-affirming his own bisexuality since S1 by reciprocating — by telling Cas that he always loved him, too, loved him endlessly, which would have altogether divested Supernatural of its cult status and catapulted it into global worldwide significance as the longest running sci-fi genre show in American broadcasting history that actually dared to defy and, by proxy, empower LGBTQ2IA+ everywhere who found profound personal meaning in Destiel through VALIDATION,” — found themselves mirrored in Dean and Cas’ respective character journeys individually and as each other’s queer love interests.

THIS IS WHY DEAN WASN’T MEANT TO DIE.

THEY WERE SO ESSENTIAL, NOT JUST TO THE OVERARCHING STORY AND HEALTHY INTERPERSONAL THEMATICS OF MODERN SPN, BUT ALSO TO THE SOULS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD WHO FOLLOWED THEIR JOURNEYS, HOPED FOR THEM, ASPIRED TO BE LIKE THEM, TREASURED THEM, WEEPED FOR THEM, AND FOUGHT FOR THEM, LIKE YOU AND ME.

Heck, how could anyone think Sam Winchester had a well-deserved characteristic ending? He didn’t. Dean’s brother was shafted so badly. He stopped hunting when seasons ago, he had canonically accepted that he no longer wanted an apple pie life. He simply...turned the lights off in a resoundingly empty bunker and left — abandoning his dead brother’s room — never to return (he did return later to get the Impala, family photos etc, I mean this symbolically)...as if — dare I say it — Supernatural itself eerily told us, in the negative-spaced pitch blackness, that the organic show and the wonderfully complex, matured characters we’ve grown to love weren’t going to survive or be revisited...that it was all going to perish, and that they no longer gave a single shit about their own show, which, to me, is the worst cardinal sin, because how dare they throw Team Free Will, an immovable and indomitable and passionate found family they built from the ground up, a found family CHOCK FULL TO THE BRIM OF LOVE AND LIFE RAGING AGAINST THE AUTHORITARIAN MACHINE IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE FREE WILL, under the bus no matter who is to blame. Growth was stomped on.

Then Sam married a faceless wife who wasn’t his textually established (and deaf) love interest Eileen, named his son Dean Jr., and grew old miserably, still mourning the passing of his older brother, shaken and sombre. Back to square one. IT WAS ALL ANTITHETICAL, even OUTSIDE a shipping context, and I ripped my hair out at this point in sheer disbelief.

This 15x20 ending would have fit somewhere between S4-7. Now? IT DOESN’T FIT. IT’S A JAGGED PUZZLE PIECE THAT DOESN’T BELONG ANYWHERE. IT’S THE FOREBODING UNKNOWN STRANGER IN ITS OWN LAND, BOTH LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY. This kind of ending was basically an illogical, unsound cluster of metastasized cells that, to me, ruined the viability of previous seasons to sustain bold praise and respect and dignity and rewatches and classic nostalgia in such insidious ways.

Dean Humanity Winchester and Cas, after everything they’ve been through, were silenced and lost in death, ripped apart from each other, unable to love each other the way they deserved, because of disappointing, vile incompetency and homophobia. The greatest love story ever told, again obliterated in less than 60 hollow minutes.

You know what this tells your audience, CW SPN? Death without self-growth is the way to go, and no one is allowed to forge their own path to freedom.

HOW INSULTINGLY HARMFUL IS THAT?

I don’t think I’ll ever stop grieving.

We all deserve answers.

2K notes · View notes

assassyart · 2 years

Note

Me again. On an earlier exchange you noted that the Ratchet & Clank games have an unfortunate track record of sidelining and often forgetting female characters (see Angela Cross, Sasha Phyronix and Talwyn). Why do you think that is? It doesn’t seem intentional, at least not in an actively malicious way. Though that doesn’t mean it’s not annoying. It is. I just hope Rivet doesn’t get pushed aside. For the next game I’d have her be canonically confirmed as trans. “Yes, I used to be a boy.”

I don't think sidelining the girls is done with malicious intent, however...it's something that leaves me believing they do not know what to do with female characters if they are not directly related to a male character in some way. I don't think it's just Insomniac either, since the community also does the exact same and to some extent, I think I have an issue with it too, when it comes to Talwyn's connection to Ratchet.

To preface this: I love Ratchet & Clank. I really do. It definitely treats its female characters better than the sexualized-to-hell Jak and Daxter characters, or the heinous Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time female character treatment. So comparatively, I don't think it has gotten worse with female character treatment, but it hasn't actually gotten better either.

With that out of the way, let's take an individual look at all the female characters they've done dirty, shall we? (Wow this is longer than I thought)

Angela Cross was an intelligent female character that works for a megacorporation and is the one that actually furthers the plot for the entirety of Going Commando. She's not done as bad as other gals and it's moreso the fandom that did her dirty. She was chalked up as a love interest for Ratchet due to Ratchet harboring feelings for her. Angela herself is shown to have no interest in a relationship. She gives Ratchet a cheek kiss, sure, but this extends to Clank too, and we don't see any Angela x Clank stuff ever now do we? However, Angela in canon is the only character that has been excessively mentioned (leading to believe she is supposed to be important) within the writing only to never appear again after her debut. She is practically forgotten when Sasha— the new, actual love interest— is introduced.

Sasha Phyronix was a very political woman, strong yet sweet. It's probably safe to say that the relationship with her and Ratchet was very forced and very fast. This relationship gives off big first crush vibes, which is cute but there's nothing else there. Sasha is a very independent character, yet we don't really get to see her truly shine until the comics, imo, where she gets to reveal her leadership abilities in full force and gets to showcase her ability to be Ratchet's friend instead of another love interest.

Courtney Gears has no real connection to Ratchet besides being another famous person he was fond of being a bad guy. However, instead of being connected to Ratchet, she's connected to Dr. Nefarious as his love interest. In game, she is quite literally referred to as disposable.

Cassiopeia I might as well get out of the way. She is set up to die. Her relationship with Dr. Nefarious is at least more mutual, imo, than Courtney's was. Still, she is killed on screen by Ratchet to further Dr. Nefarious's rage. Cassiopeia at least has more drive —avenging the other Valkyries, using the Great Clock to bring back their home, etc— but she is still attached to Dr. Nefarious by the hip.

Talwyn Apogee is probably the worst offender when it comes to being tied to a male character. The creation of her character was to make her relatable to Ratchet. Her own plot is finding her father, like Ratchet's is finding his kind. With fandom, a good handful of people admit they find Cronk and Zephyr more interesting than Tal. And to top it off, Talwyn is never brought up in fandom unless referring to her as the canon love interest. Shoot, I remember someone in fandom completely forgetting that she is Captain of the Polaris Defense Force because no one talks about it and it is mentioned once(?)

In canon, when Cronk and Zephyr were killed by Vendra, Tal never got to confront the killer. It suddenly became Ratchet's duty to avenge them, Ratchet's job to stop the Prog Twins, and not the Captain of Polaris, not Talwyn, the person that was directly tied to them and should be affected the most. Cronk and Zephyr's death did its job in bringing Ratchet and Talwyn closer, but it did nothing for Talwyn's character unlike what Azimuth's death did to Ratchet.

Vendra Prog is another character that is similar to Ratchet to a fault. She's the first main female villain!! Kind of. She uses the Dimensionator to find the nethers because she wants to be accepted by her kind. Fate has other plans by having Mr. Eye betray her and throw her into a different dimension where she'll later be saved by Clank. This plot furthers Ratchet's character, by giving him more fear about seeing the lombaxes, but it only destroys Vendra's presence as a villain. She is the first main villain, but no she isn't because she is immediately betrayed by the actual main villain and doesn't even get a cool boss fight even though we get to fight her brother. We don't even get to kick her ass for killing off two great characters!

Rivet and Kit. Probably don't need to explain why their concept itself inspired me to rant about this. Rivet and Kit are parallel versions of Ratchet and Clank, which means they are not off to a good start. But honestly? I can put it aside. Kit is very different from Clank and I like her a lot. She's strong, but her greatest weakness is her own fears and insecurities. Her interactions with Ratchet really show why these two are perfect for each other, sharing similar insecurities of fearing not being accepted. But, uh...yeah, Ratchet and Kit work well off one another. But I don't think Rivet and Kit work well together.

Rivet is similar to Ratchet, to the point I can't actually point out what is different with their personalities, but she has zero moments with Kit that really show why they should be a team. It's more like, "Well Ratchet & Clank are friends, I guess that means we should be friends?" And fandom definitely does the same thing that every other character has been to fault to— many paint Rivet as nothing but a potential love interest. She's no longer her own person, but a parallel version of Ratchet or Ratchet's potential love interest.

Side note: Not saying Ratchet and Rivet can't be shipped. Go for it if it floats your boat, and that goes for any of the other pairings I mentioned.

Honestly, female characters have never had a good track record in Ratchet & Clank to the point that it is a fandom joke that Rivet will be thrown away in the next game. The fact people actually are worried Rivet and Kit, the most popular female characters in the entire franchise, won't be in the next Ratchet & Clank entry speaks volumes.

While I do not think Insomniac is intentionally sidelining female characters in R&C games, they also aren't particularly worried about it either. Like, I hate to sound like a broken record, but if they really didn't want people shipping Ratchet and Rivet (which definitely seems like the case from their comments on the pairing in the past), they could have put Talwyn in Rift Apart rather easily while still not including her just because she is the love interest. Skidd did nothing that made him standout as a character and Phantom all but confirmed he will never return by stating once the Emperor was defeated, he'd disappear.

Why not have Talwyn instead, a character that is clearly important to Ratchet? She was canonically one of his reasons for staying in his own dimension and that wasn't even mentioned in Rift Apart. Sure, people from the reboot wouldn't know who she was, but wasn't that the point of the character introduction slots in the menu? So why not?

Answer: It was easier to add Skidd McMarx.

81 notes · View notes

calumxkisses · 3 years

Text

Dancing In The Sky | a.i.

pairing: ashton irwin x reader

genre: fluff to angst

warnings: death (not main characters)

summary: request - Hi!!! It’s very morbid but, I really want one with ash or cal, where they’re in one of the boys house just the boys and their girls, and then the reader receive a call in the middle of the conversation telling someone in her family is dead and she just in shock and she tells them, and the he hugs her and she breaks!!! Thanks

a/n: recently my granny had to be rushed to the hospital and i thought i was going to lose her - luckly it didn't happen. i felt this request particularly close. i always say 'i love you' to my grandma before hunging up on the phone (we live pretty far away from each other) and i thought about what would happen if i forgot to say it, not knowing it would be for the last time. i'm sorry to anyone of you if this triggers you. i love you.

you should read this imagine while listening to: before you go

➳

The light coming in from the window on your right illuminates the whole room, it’s late afternoon but the sun shines almost as if it were noon. The scorching heat has now passed, there is a breeze that cools the air and spreads the scent of the grill in the garden, alternating the scent of grilled vegetables and steaks throughout the house. The pool water is still moving, the inflatable flamingo is wedged near the pool stairs and you can still see the tracks of Michael's wet feet near the diving board.

Halsey's songs are repeated at a low volume, but the guys sing them out loud and a smile forms on your face as you see how they are always ready to support their friends, not only publicly with tweets or instagram stories, but also in private, enjoying music like normal people do.

You hold onto the sweatshirt Ashton gave you as you grab your cell phone from the sofa and put it in your shorts pocket. Your hair is still wet from the shower you just took and it’s leaking few drops of water as you head outside, where your friends are starting to set the table for dinner.

You don't know how it happened, you have vague memories, but you feel grateful to have them around you, to have the opportunity to consider them as a second family, to be able to hug them and to be able to laugh with them. It is a fortune that not everyone has and you make sure you don't waste this opportunity.

“Honey!” Ashton yells, shaking his hand up and looking at you with an amused look. A few tufts of hair fall in front of his face and with one hand he tries to move them back, only to find them in front of his eyes again. His swimsuit is now dry, his chest is red from staying under the sun all day but his tattoos still manage to stand out in the tan and a huge smile covers his face.

Seeing him so happy, confident, at peace with his mind and in love with life, warms your heart and you almost feel like crying of joy in seeing him like this.

You wiped his tears, hugged him under the covers and held him a million times as his demons took over, when mirrors became enemies and food scared him.

You turned off his cell phone every time he read comments about his body and spent sleepless nights keeping him company while he vented his frustration by playing the drums.

You held out your hand to him while accompanying him in his battle against himself, you kissed him as he went through hell and his joy was worth every single tear.

You are proud of him, of the way he went back to wearing his favorite t-shirts and of the way he has come to love all his flaws, even though you're still sure he doesn't even have one.

As you leave the house, a cool breeze passes through your hair and you instinctively close your eyes to be able to appreciate the moment of coolness in the terrible heat of the last few days.

When you open your eyes, amazement takes over your body: the sky is not simply blue like the water in the pool you've been in all afternoon, but pink and orange clouds cover it completely; the sun hides behind them, tinges the sky with more intense colors and you feel your soul leave your body at the sight of so much beauty.

The sunset is so mesmerizing that you don't even feel the need to pick up your phone and take a picture of it, it's so beautiful that you're sure not even the best cameras would be able to capture such a marvel.

It’s a pink and orange sunset, bigger clouds are the backdrop to smaller more intense colors and the skyline of the city is slowly tinged with black, the lights of the buildings begin to see each other more and the world slows down as it prepares for the quietest hours.

The sunset arouses familiar, nostalgic, certainly not typical emotions in you; it’s so beautiful that you feel like you are living a dream, you pinch your arm lightly to make sure you are awake but Ashton's laugh reminds you that it is reality and, with that melody in the background, you understand that the difference between dream and reality is not that big.

And even if it were a dream, you know that dreaming never hurt anybody.

As the sunset surrounds you in a warm hug, a small white butterfly begins to flutter around you, spinning around and bringing a smile to your lips. The insect is small, but in the orange sky it stands out in an important way, making you feel like a Disney princess. You stretch your hand up, raising your forefinger and inviting the little butterfly to lean on it and, without fear, it leans on it, resting its wings and showing itself even more beautiful than you thought.

It’s white but at the corners of its wings it has black spots, its gaze seems to be directed towards you as its antennae move delicately. A sense of awe and wonder makes its way inside of you and you slowly bring the butterfly closer to you so you can admire it better, noticing how safe it continues to feel with you.

“Is everything alright?” Sierra asks as she sets the plates on the table, she's too busy to notice how you seem to be in symbiosis with the butterfly.

“Yeah.” You whisper while the insect continues to stay on your finger, motionless, leading you to feel a sense of peace in the moment you are living.

Suddenly, while the blue sky is giving its space to the dark night, the butterfly takes off and, after making another turn around you, heads towards the sky and merges with the lights of the stars.

You walk back to your friends, still confused about what just happened, and you see Michael trying to move the fire bowl to the corner of the pool. “Mike, if I were you I'd be more careful, you're not the luckiest person when it comes to fire.” You smile and you hear your friends laughing out loud as a grin appears on Michael's face.

“Don't worry, Crystal has seen enough tv shows about doctors to know what to do if I get burned again.” He replies looking at his girlfriend and laughing.

“Shut up and come here,” Crystal responds by pretending to be offended. “Dinner’s ready.” her lips try to hold back the smile that is forming on her face.

You sit on your boyfriend's lap while Luke sets the meat on the plates and Sierra pours the beer into your glass. Ashton pushes your hair to the side and kisses you on the neck, giving you goosebumps and getting winks from his friends.

“You’re terrible.” he replies while looking at them and squeezing his hands on your lap, his head resting on your back while he rolls his eyes and smiles. Everyone burst out laughing and the sound of their laughter still feels like the most beautiful melody to you.

As you are about to take your first bite, your phone starts ringing and vibrating inside the pocket of your shorts. You put your fork down and stand up, being careful not to trip over Ashton's feet as he gives you a questioning look. You give him a kiss on his head and you go away slightly from your group so you can hear better.

Your mother's voice is low as you bring the phone to your ear, a smile forms on your face to hear the sound of her voice but the world collapses on you a few seconds later, when her words become understandable while she cries.

The conversation is short-lived, it is mostly made up of your mother's sobs and words you never wanted to hear. Your mouth opens slightly and your heart seems to stop. And when she closes the call, you have a hard time figuring out if you are having a nightmare or if you are still in reality.

“Was that your lover on the phone?” Calum smiles as you stare at your phone screen as soon as you hang up the call. You look up and see everyone's gaze on you as your eyes start to pinch.

“It was my mother,” you take a deep sigh as you try to find the courage to speak. “My grandmother died a couple of hours ago. She's gone and-” and the words die in your mouth.

Your friends' smiles quickly transform as their brows rise and their eyes lose their light. Crystal is the first to hug you, in less than a second her arms are around you but it's all so surreal that you can't even find the strength to move your body. You hear whispers, but your ears are muffled as Ashton takes the place of your best friend and holds you close to his chest, kissing your hair and whispering words of comfort.

It all happens so fast that you struggle to metabolize, it seems to you that the whole world has stopped or is going too fast, it is hard to try to understand as your mind repeats your mother's words all over again.

You talked to your grandmother the day before, you described to her the weather and you told her all the projects you had in mind, including going to see her as soon as possible. She had told you some stories from her past because she knew how much you loved hearing stories from other times and then you said goodbye to her in a hurry because someone had rang the doorbell.

You didn't tell her you loved her and your heart breaks even more at the realization that she left without knowing the affection you felt for her.

Did she know you loved her? Did she know that she was the most important person to you? Did she know you were grateful for all the sacrifices she had made to make you happy? Did she know you were proud of her? Did she know you loved the way she kissed your hands? Did she know how much you cared about her? Or did she pass wondering if you loved her?

If that were the case, you would never forgive yourself.

Part of you, however, is aware that behind those wrinkles and trembling hands, there were years of wisdom and intelligence and that, even when she was sick, she knew that you loved her unconditionally.

You still remember how she was the one who taught you to ride a bike when your parents were too busy working, how her hunched back bent even more as she pushed you along the street outside your childhood house, letting you go on your own when you learned, while still lying to you about how her hands were attached to the bike, to make you feel protected.

You certainly still remember the way she bragged about you, how she proudly used to tell all the ladies at the grocery store that you were her niece, her greatest joy and the best gift she ever received.

And, if you close your eyes and focus, you can still feel the warmth of the old fireplace in her home, of her hands holding yours while your face was resting on her shoulder. You can still hear the sound of burning wood, of her sweet voice singing melodies belonging to past eras while, between one verse and another, her lips kissed your head and whispered words of love.

Most of all, you have memories of how her arms wrapped around your little body when there was a thunderstorm, when the screams inside your house got too loud and when you saw her again after weeks, with your hearts coming back to beat in unison and your lungs beginning to breathe again.

Now that she is gone, who would be by your side? Who would teach you to cook and sew?

You would no longer hear her heart beating when you leaned against her chest, you would no longer hear the sound of her breaths when you slept next to her, you would no longer wake up with the smell of the flowers she grew and, above all, her dry, wrinkled lips would no longer whisper “I love you” to you.

All the fights, all the moments when you were bothered by her calls and all your snorting about the boredom of being with her bring a pang to your heart that tastes of guilt and arrogance, of shame and wasted moments that won't come back.

She was now gone, her heart had beaten for the last time and her eyes had stopped shining and the more time passes, the more her absence starts to hurt.

While your friends are around you to not leave you alone and Ashton hugs you tightly while caressing your hair, everything seems to start to make sense: the butterfly that just moments before had leaned on your hand, the sunset so beautiful and intense - she was there, she was giving you her last goodbye with all the delicacy possible.

She was reassuring you that she will always be there for you, that she will be in the sunsets under which you will fall asleep and that she will be the butterflies that will fly around in the sky, to reassure you that everything’s gonna be alright.

And with this new certainty and a weight in your chest that will slowly go away, you let yourself go, the tears begin to roll down your face and the sobs echo in the silence of the evening, as the stars light up the sky and God gains a new angel.

Ashton knows it won't be easy, that it will be months before that pain will become more bearable and that family lunches and dinners will be harder, that that empty chair around the table will be a stab in the heart every time.

But he also knows that you are strong, that you will be able to overcome everything, that sadness will turn into a smile when you’ll remember her and that, whatever happens, in a way or another, he will always be there next to you, just like your grandma used to be.

—

#5 seconds of summer imagines #5 seconds of summer imagine #5sos imagine #5sos imagines #ashton irwin x reader #ashton irwin imagine #ashton 5 seconds of summer #ashton irwin imagines #ashton irwin #ashton irwin x you #ashton 5sos #ashton fletcher irwin #calum 5sos #calum 5 seconds of summer #michael 5sos #michael 5 seconds of summer #luke 5sos #luke hemmings

144 notes · View notes

chaoticdean · 3 years

Text

Supernatural and the topic of found family — family don’t end in blood… or does it?

I know I’ve talked a great deal about the way the complete erasure of both Cas and Eileen from the two final episodes of SPN made my blood boil, but after careful consideration and a lot of talking with several very clever people (you know who you are), I think what hurt me the most on top of it all is the way Supernatural decided to essentially throw away an entire section of what made the show what it was for the best part of the last decade and a half: the topic of found family, and how they’ve carefully crafted so many important side characters and relationships only to throw them all away for the sake of having one last episode essentially disconnected from the rest of the story.

[Because I’ve talked about in great length over the course of the past week and a half, and although there are undoubtedly more issues with Supernatural’s series finale than just this (ie: the Destiel treatment and the queer erasure, along with the complete erasure of Eileen, the only disabled character this show has ever known), I’m going to concentrate solely on the treatment of found family, and why its erasure from the finale storyline is deeply upsetting on top of being utterly inexplicable. If you want to read an incredible article about this, I’d redirect you to @chill-legilimens article’s, The Trauma of Silence]

When Supernatural started airing in 2005, the show essentially focused on Sam and Dean and their relationship, with a dash of John Winchester and mending the broken pieces between a father and his sons into the mix. The first side character that gets introduced to the audience as some sort of surrogate father to both Winchesters is Bobby (1x22, Devil’s Trap), and he quickly became a fan favorite to the fandom. Interestingly enough, Bobby is also the one who comes up with the “Family don’t end with blood” line (if I’m not mistaken, the first time it’s said on the show is during 3x16, No Rest for the Wicked). Once this line gets said, it quickly became more than just a slogan within the fandom, and it’s often referenced as a motto for the show as well (Dean even uses it during his talk with Crowley in season 10 to explain what family means).

Over the years, so many characters got introduced and became fan favorites (off the top of my head, I can come up with half a dozen already) and have grown within the show, to the point where they’re introduced to the audience as some sort of found family to both Dean and Sam. The boys get invited to Jody Mills’ and her wayward daughter’s house for dinner, spend what can only be qualified as a slumber party watching Game of Thrones with Charlie Bradbury in the bunker, keep running around and bickering with Crowley, spends time in the bunker with Eileen (the margaritas and Sam and Eileen being hungover the morning after in the bunker’s kitchen lives rent-free in my head). Even the Ghostfacers keep popping in almost every season for a decade. The audience gets to learn who these characters are and connect with them on several levels, most of them also becoming fan favorites over time.

But if I had to pick only one side character to make a point, Castiel is undoubtedly the one that comes to mind first.

When Misha Collins came along during season 4, he was only supposed to be in for a couple of episodes and be done with it. But because of his masterful performance (and because the character of Anna, who gets introduced around the same time as Castiel, doesn’t seem to work as well as the writers thought it would), Misha stayed along for the whole ride, and ended his run on Supernatural 12 years and 144 episodes later, with a character that is so beloved by the fandom that it elevated him to the rank of third lead. Castiel is not only an angel of the Lord, he’s also Sam and Dean’s best friend who would do anything to protect them (and, well, has done so, multiple times). He’s grown within the show to the point where the audience directly refers to him as being one of the family, even though he’s not blood, because “Family don’t end with blood” after all.

Another example that is particularly telling over the course of the last couple of seasons is the treatment of Jack’s character, who’s quickly adopted by the boys and referred to as “their kid”, the three of them acting like surrogate dads even though in the end, Jack is Lucifer’s son. Once again, the show makes a point of showing the audience that although Jack is not related to Sam and Dean in any way (I’m guessing since Lucifer is basically Castiel’s brother, he is somewhat related to Cas, but since I don’t have a degree in angel DNA, I can’t 100% be sure), he’s still family, he still matters.

The story basically tells the audience that even though you might not have a blood-related family, that doesn’t prevent you to find people along your life’s journey that becomes intrinsically connected to your story, both on a deeply emotional and practical level. It tells you that you’re not required to have a blood family to be someone’s kid, or sister, or brother. It tells you that blood doesn’t define who you choose to share your life with, and most importantly, it tells you that you’re allowed to choose.

So why on Earth did anyone think that ending Supernatural’s 15-year run with an episode that essentially showcases Sam and Dean and sidelines the wide majority of the family they found along the way (with the exception of OG Bobby showing up in Heaven) was a good idea?

Don’t get me wrong, I love Bobby, I really do… But what was the excuse for not having either Misha back (the literal third lead of the show, who confessed to being in love with Dean, the second lead of the show, two episodes prior), or Alex (Jack being one of the main focus of the past two seasons at least)? I get that Covid made all of this difficult, but you can’t tell me you’ve been able to bring back Mark Pellegrino’s Lucifer for a two minutes and a half cameo in 15x19, but not Misha fucking Collins to end his character’s arc (and Dean’s, who’s arc is deeply wired with Castiel’s) after 12 years.

I’m gonna say it again, because I feel like it’s been used as an excuse for everything ever since the finale aired: Covid cannot be the sole excuse for everything. It cannot account for the absence of literally EVERYONE around the Winchesters.

At that point, I should probably add that although I was incredible baffled by the one-off mention of Cas (well, two, if you count Sam saying he misses him and Dean deflecting during the Pie Fest at the beginning of the episode), what probably set me off the most is the part of Dean’s death speech where he says “when it all came down to it, it was always you and me, it’s always been you and me”.

I’m sorry Dean, you know I love you to pieces, but what the actual fuck was that? What does it even mean? That single line essentially strips away any kind of meaningful contribution of any side characters… Including Castiel “always happy to bleed for the Winchesters”’s, and Jack’s who quite literally saved the whole world ONE EPISODE PRIOR.

Not to mention that the fact we don’t get to see Cas again leave Dean’s entire character’s arc incomplete. What was the point of season 15, which focused so deeply on Dean and Cas’ relationship, if in the end the entire character’s arc gets dropped?

So what’s the message being sent here?

“Found family was a myth, it’s always been sorely about the Winchesters”?

“Ha! Tricked ya!”?

Why did Supernatural, after a decade and a half spent consolidating the contribution of side characters, decided to essentially throw it all away?

Why did Supernatural, after a decade spent crafting meaningful relationships within the show, decided to light it all up on fire and end its run with an episode that basically tells the audience that none of it really mattered, it’s always been sorely about Dean and Sam.

I would’ve been fine with a Sam and Dean episode if Castiel had more than a one-off mention, if they didn’t give Sam a blurry wife, if Dean had the funeral he deserved (with a rock band, whisky, and all the fellow hunters and family he found along the way), if Sam didn’t spend the rest of his life mourning his brother. I would’ve been fine with only getting Jim Beaver on screen (because Covid) if we had been given something more than just Dean driving for his last 5 minutes on screen. It would have been FINE, if Supernatural hadn’t essentially forgotten about what made Supernatural, well, Supernatural.

Long story short, I feel tricked. And I know a lot of you feel tricked too, because this isn’t what we’ve been fed for the past 15 years. Supernatural was a show about finding your way through life and death and horror and trauma, with help from people you found along the way who became linked to your story because you cared for each other. And Supernatural ended by telling us that found family didn’t really matter, that Dean was always going to die on a random hunt, that Sam could never be truly happy without his brother by his side. Talk about a downgrade, uh?

I don’t know why they decided to throw their entire legacy to the wind. Truth be told, I don’t think we’ll ever get to know. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to stay pissed about it. That doesn’t mean I’m going to ever be okay with my favorite show deciding to end its run with a finale episode so deeply disconnected from their 15-year story that it felt utterly shallow.

They said “Family don’t end with blood”… But after all of this, doesn’t it, though?

#idk what this is i had a lot of feelings #spn meta #sorta #found family #spn #spn 15x20 #jus.meta

862 notes · View notes

zuko-always-lies · 3 years

Note

So, question, because I see people saying it often that Iroh has the right to feel animosity towards Azula because she made fun of/derided Lu Ten's death (or something like that), but does she actually do that in that scene? Or does she express disdain for Iroh's reaction, which considering the culture could easily be interpreted as Iroh being the one to make light of it? (Pretty sure there's at least one instance in _Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ where one character absolutely annihilates an opposing force because his brother/father/friend dies, if we want a real-world example of the mentality. Or, like, all of _The Hagakure_.)

Does Azula call Lu Ten a coward for dying? Or does she say that Iroh is for not "getting justice" or revenge for his son's death? For not finishing the task and abandoning the cause Lu Ten died for?

Because one of these means Iroh's dislike could be justified (nevermind the fact that he wasn't present for this conversation, so if he knew about it, he would have only heard about it from Zuko). But the other is an angry/disappointed/disgusted child calling an adult out.

Good question! I think I should start by talking about what Zuko and Azula actually say about Iroh.

"The Western Air Temple"(featuring 13 year old Zuko!):

Iroh: (Iroh looks on, concerned) Prince Zuko, it's only been a week since your banishment. (Cut to a far back view shot of the 2) You should take some time to heal and rest. Zuko: (turns around and raises his voice) What else would I expect to hear from the laziest man in the Fire Nation? (Cut to a close up of Iroh's slightly appalled face as he looks down and sighs) The only way (Cut back to a frontal shot of uncle and nephew) to regain my honor is to find the Avatar. So I will.

"The Headband":

Zuko: (standing at the bars) You brought this on yourself, you know. We could have returned together. You could have been a hero! (Iroh turns a shade further away from Zuko.) You have no right to judge me Uncle. I did what I had to do in Ba Sing Se, and you're a fool for not joining me. (Iroh is silent.) You're not gonna say anything? (Enraged, he kicks a stool and bends a blast of fire at the wall.) Argh! You're a crazy old man! You're crazy, and if you weren't in jail, you'd be sleeping in a gutter!

Zuko says some pretty negative things about Iroh, right to Iroh's face!

Now, what negative things does 14 year old Azula say about Iroh? Surprisingly little, even though she clearly doesn't like him. She implicitly calls him a traitor a couple times(during times when he is, in fact, a traitor by all reasonable definitions), but never really explicitly does so. Beyond that, there's very little. This is the only thing I can think of:

Azula: So...I hear you've been to visit your Uncle Fatso in the prison tower. Zuko: (standing, incensed) That guard told you.

Which is actually way less harsh than what Zuko says about Iroh! If anything, Azula's behavior in the present suggests that she only rarely criticized, much less mocked Iroh's behavior to his face when she was younger.

Now let's turn to the meat of your question, "Zuko Alone." There are two scenes in that episode where Azula criticizes Iroh. The first comes before Lu Ten's death:

Ursa: "And for Azula, a new friend. She wears the latest fashion for Earth Kingdom girls." (As Ursa speaks, Azula picks up a doll wearing Earth Kingdom green. The Princess makes a face of disgust.) Azula: If Uncle doesn't make it back from war, then dad would be next in line to be Fire Lord, wouldn't he? (In the background, Zuko runs around practicing with his new dagger.) Ursa: (disappointed) Azula, we don't speak that way. It would be awful if Uncle Iroh didn't return. And besides, Fire Lord Azulon is a picture of health. Zuko: How would you like it if cousin Lu Ten wanted dad to die? Azula: I still think our dad would make a much better Fire Lord than (looking at the doll with disdain) his royal tea loving kookiness. (She holds out the doll and makes its head burst into flame. The screen flashes white and the flashback ends.

There are several things which seem to be driving Azula's actions here. The first is a reaction to the massive favoritism Iroh just showed toward Zuko. The second is a belief, no doubt inspired by Ozai's poisonous statements about his brother, that Ozai, who Azula idolizes, would make a better Firelord than Iroh. Finally, Azula is a confused child who is asking inappropriate questions because she's too young to understand proper boundaries. Nothing she says here is actually that serious, and I would expect a responsible adult(i.e. not Ursa) to either shrug it off, or to carefully reason with Azula in order to explain why what she is saying is problematic.

Now we turn to the other main scene, the one right after Lu Ten's death, and the one you probably actually wanted me to talk about:

Azula: (getting up and walking over to him) By the way, Uncle's coming home. Zuko: Does that mean we won the war? Azula: No. It mean's Uncle's a quitter and a loser. Zuko: What are you talking about? Uncle's not a quitter. Azula: Oh yes, he is. He found out his son died and he just fell apart. (leaning against a nearby pillar) A real general would stay and burn Ba Sing Se to the ground, not lose the battle and come home crying. Zuko: (angry) How do you know what he should do? (looking down, sadly) He's probably just sad his only kid is gone... forever.

You might note that, again, Azula doesn't say anything negative about Lu Ten. You've already noted that Iroh is thousands of miles away at the moment, so having him be "justified" in his hatred of Azula by a conversation he didn't hear doesn't make sense.

Azula is also very angry in this scene, quite possibly the angriest we ever see her at any point. That does suggest that she's taking what's happened, either Lu Ten's death or the abandonment of the siege, very personally. I don't know enough to comment specifically on this, but you are right in that there might be cultural background which specifically proscribes the achievement of vengeance as being of particular importance, and Azula is thus outraged that Iroh failed to fulfill his duty to his son.

But that not at the core of Azula's critique here. What Azula is attacking Iroh for is that he responded to a personal loss by abandoning his duty in the heat of battle, and she is 100% right on this, not only by the standards of Fire Nation cultural but also by the standards of modern western culture. Fun fact: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and Robert E. Lee(screw the latter two, but that's another story) all suffered the loss of children they dearly loved in the middle of the American Civil War, yet none of them abandoned their duty. Archibald Roosevelt(another problematic figure) had two brothers die in WWII, yet he continued fighting on the front line. John W. Geary literally had his son die in his arms in the middle of battle, yet he continued commanding his unit well enough to prevail. Hell, we can even turn to Joseph Stalin here, to some extent.

Again, the core of what Azula says here is absolutely correct. Iroh is a "quitter" because he responded to Lu Ten's death by falling apart and abandoning the siege when it seemed on the brink of success, rather than continue the operation until victory. I don't think we need to go further than that to establish that Azula is entirely justified calling Iroh out here. And again, she doesn't criticize or mock Lu Ten at all, instead only attacking Iroh's reaction to Lu Ten's death.

#Azula #Iroh #Ultranos #ask #anti-iroh #Zuko #Zuko Alone #Ursa

119 notes · View notes