#like - i initially planned to take this piece of meta all the way up through sakura and sasuke's last scene together

[panharmonium]

Hi! I love your Naruto thoughts and meta posts with all my heart and I want to ask your thoughts on something that has been on my mind literally since I was 13: what do you think about the relationship between Sasuke and Sakura? I went from being a hardcore shipper when I was a teenager, to being against any romantic relationship in Naruto after finishing the anime when I was in my early twenties. Nowadays I'm very into platonic love and depictions of friendship and I think the anime's obsession with forcing the "romantic interest" curse upon the main female character robbed us of... so much. There are a few wonderful moments in the anime where Sasuke and Sakura acknowledge each other, but because she's always "the girl with the crush", her actions are so often interpret as irrational or selfish by the fandom.

Hi @riemmetric!  It's great to talk to you again! Sorry it's taken me so long to answer this; RL has been making demands of me lately and it took me way longer to finish writing this up than I wanted it to (then again, I knew from the minute I read your original ask that my reply was going to get long, so I suppose I should have predicted a delay XD)

It's funny, my sister once asked me to choose between Sasuke or Sakura for an “unpopular opinion” meme, and I ended up doing Sasuke solely because I think the negative fandom opinions about Sakura are so unhinged and divorced from the actual text that I wouldn’t even know where to start.  People are entitled to dislike whatever characters they want, obviously, but there are some fandom takes that are, for me, so obviously rooted in bad faith viewings/readings that there’s no urge in me to discuss them.  That said, since you asked, I’m happy to go into my own thoughts on this a bit, with the disclaimer for other potential readers that I only write about fandom things for my own personal enjoyment, not as a contribution to The Discourse. If you don’t like Sakura, great!  I have no interest in changing your mind. Please consider this a sincere invitation to scroll on by and go enjoy whatever parts of the fandom appeal to you.

In general terms: I love Sasuke and Sakura’s relationship as much as I love all of the relationships in Team 7.  If we’re talking about them specifically as a romantic couple, then I probably fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, because I do like them together in a post-canon (to be clear: non-Boruto) setting, after time has passed and they’ve continued to develop individually and reconnect with each other, but I also wouldn’t exactly call myself an intense “shipper,” in the sense that I have no interest in pulling things out from the text and incorrectly citing them as evidence that Sasuke has hidden romantic feelings for her during the canon period. He cares about her in the canon period, just like he cares about Naruto and Kakashi.  That’s not up for interpretation; it’s the text.  But Sasuke during the canon time period does not demonstrate specifically romantic interest in anyone.  

[A note before people who might ship Sasuke with Someone Else emerge to rail against this statement - please just scroll past and continue enjoying fandom in whatever way is most fun for you. It is cool to ship whatever fanon thing you want; I think that’s great!  But earnestly citing any loving or emotional thing Sasuke does re: various characters in this story (yes, Sakura included) as indicative of specifically romantic love isn’t supported by the text. I know there are always going to be enormous subsets of any fandom who insist that it is, and I'm certainly not going to barge into anyone else's space to complain about that (because other people having fun together is harmless and none of my business), but I'm not obligated to indulge it on my own blog, either.]

Anyway, that said - the reason why I love Sakura and Sasuke’s relationship (from here on out I’ll use “relationship” in a general, non-romantic sense) is precisely because Sakura isn’t just “the girl with the crush.” Sakura has an arc when it comes to Sasuke, and its trajectory moves in the exact opposite direction of “irrational” or “selfish.”  She specifically goes from “the girl with the crush” to “the girl who steels herself and tries to put her personal feelings for Sasuke aside for the greater good” to “the girl who knows she can’t put her feelings aside, but who also knows full well that Sasuke doesn’t reciprocate them, and who still wants to save him regardless, because he matters to her as a person and a friend.”

[I'm putting the rest of this under a cut to save everyone's dash, and also to emphasize once again that this is a personal post on my personal blog which I wrote in response to a question from a personal acquaintance, the full content of which no one is obligated to read. I am not sending this post to random strangers and forcing them to look at it. I'm not even putting it in the character tags. I'm typing it up on my own blog and putting it under a cut. If you already know that you don't like Sakura, but you still click the link/read the post and then feel an urge to comment and complain, I am going to copy-paste this disclaimer and remind you that I specifically recommended that you scroll past and go have fun with fandom in your own way. Thanks in advance for responsibly curating your own fandom experience!]

So, from the top:

1. the girl with the crush

Sakura is, obviously, completely obsessed with Sasuke at the beginning of Part 1.  She’s also deeply clueless about him and his history (bizarre though it is, the story seems to indicate that she initially doesn’t know what happened with his family, the same way young!Obito is initially clueless about Kakashi’s father).  But what I like about Sakura and Sasuke’s Part 1 relationship is how this changes over time.

The critical scene that kicks this off happens right at the beginning of the manga, when she and Sasuke are talking by that bench - she complains about Naruto and blames his behavior on him being all alone/having no family to scold him; and even says she’s jealous that he doesn’t have parents to nag him all the time.  This obviously triggers an outburst from Sasuke, who tells her she has no idea what loneliness means and that she “makes him sick”/she’s “annoying” (importantly, the exact same thing Sakura said to Naruto in anger earlier that day), which in turn prompts Sakura to reassess herself and wonder whether she’s been making Naruto feel this terrible all the time, too:

From that point on, it’s a process of her putting little pieces together.  She still has a MAJOR crush, and she still acts like a twelve year-old, but as we approach the end of Part I, Sakura actually has a more accurate grasp on Sasuke’s current state of mind than Naruto does.  Naruto is initially excited to fight Sasuke on top of the hospital, because he feels like Sasuke’s finally acknowledging him, whereas Sakura is the one who immediately recognizes that something is wrong about this situation.  She is also the one who, after this fight, is concerned that Sasuke is really unwell and might do something drastic like run off in pursuit of the power Orochimaru promised him, but when she communicates this to Naruto, he assures her that this would NEVER happen:

(Sakura isn't convinced, though, because she goes to monitor the exit out of the village anyway.)

I’m not criticizing Naruto for his response here.  I ADORE hearing him say that Sasuke is too strong to need Orochimaru, with such perfect confidence - I love seeing how much respect and admiration he has for Sasuke underneath all their fighting, because that’s the whole reason he’s always baiting Sasuke and yelling at him and claiming “you're not so great!” He looks up to Sasuke; he wants to be like Sasuke; he thinks Sasuke is awesome! (It’s that Obito @ Kakashi behavior, you know?) But the fact remains that he is clueless about what’s actually going on with Sasuke in Part 1, and he remains clueless(ly optimistic) for a long time.  

(Eg, when he catches up to Sasuke during the retrieval arc and Sasuke climbs out of that cursed seal coffin, Naruto waves at him and calls "Come on, let's go!" as if Sasuke has been successfully rescued and is now going to come running home.  Even in Part II, when Naruto hears that Sasuke killed Orochimaru, he beams and immediately says, “So he must be on his way back to the Leaf Village!”  And everyone else in the room is like, “....,” because they know better.  Naruto doesn’t yet fully understand [or doesn't want to accept] the extent to which Sasuke has willingly chosen this path, and it’s not until after Jiraiya’s death/the Pain attack/the Five Kage Summit that Naruto really starts to understand Sasuke more clearly, which is something he himself admits.)

Sakura, in Part 1, has access to more information about Sasuke - she’s there for his first dissociative monologue during the bells test, she’s there for the curse mark’s placement, she’s there for his first violent transformation in the Forest of Death - she is, in fact, the unwitting catalyst for it (“Sakura…who did this to you?”), and her compassion is the reason Sasuke is later able to overcome the curse mark’s influence - so she has a more accurate/complete picture of “how he’s doing,” for lack of a better phrase, whereas Naruto, who doesn’t know about the curse mark in the first place, is still in the dark.  This means that Sakura is able to accurately discern that Sasuke is struggling more than Naruto realizes, and specifically to predict that he’s going to run away.  

(This dynamic is then interestingly flipped in the back half of Part II, since at any point after the Five Kage Summit, Sakura doesn’t have access to extremely relevant [if currently questionable and unproven] details that would in any other circumstance inform her behavior).

Of course, just because she has more info in Part 1 doesn’t mean she has some kind of miraculous insight into Sasuke’s every thought and feeling.  There are parts of her attempt to convince Sasuke to stay in the village that are as clueless as any of Naruto’s assumptions, and they showcase the kind of magical thinking common to childhood - like when she says that if he stayed with her, she could give him happiness, she’d do anything for him, even help him get his revenge - this idea that she herself can do something to make him feel better, that she can love him powerfully enough to defeat his pain - obviously none of that is rooted in realism.

Is this part of her approach irrational and immature and inadvertently self-centered?  Of course it is!  But it’s no more irrational and immature and inadvertently self-centered than Naruto’s stated plan to drag Sasuke back to the village even if he has to “break every bone in [his] body!” 

Hating on Sakura for her Part 1 attempt to convince Sasuke to stay in the village while simultaneously lauding Naruto for his feels like a bad faith misread of what is, to me, pretty clear narrative intention.  The story doesn’t at any point intend for us to see her begging him to stay as a selfish or conniving attempt to get something she wants.  She’s begging him to stay for the same underlying reason that Naruto is: she cares about him.  She thinks he’s making a mistake that will only cause him more pain in the end (she’s right) and she wants to make it so he feels less pain right now (she can’t.  But she doesn’t understand that/isn’t able to admit that, and she’s willing to try ANYTHING that might help).  

It’s critical that this farewell scene is set in front of that same bench from their first important confrontation - she references that day and how angry he got at her, and this time she tells him that she understands his reaction.  She’s learned things and she recognizes how insensitive she was being back then (“I know what happened to your clan, Sasuke”), even though she still can’t fully grasp all the complexities of the situation. She tells him that him blowing up at her back then helped her understand what loneliness actually meant (as opposed to her previous shallow understanding of it), and she challenges him about his choice right now: "So that's it, you're choosing the lonely path?" And when she tells him that she'll be very lonely if he leaves, we're immediately shown a panel of Sasuke thinking of both his friends, with the very clear implication that if he goes through with this, he will be lonely without them, too - that he's still struggling with the idea of leaving them, no matter how hard he tries to pretend:

Sakura at this point knows that Sasuke isn’t interested in her the way she is in him, but she still wants to give him happiness, however fantastical and immature her ideas sound to us (and, I’m sure, to him).  “I’ll do anything, even help you get your revenge/we'll have fun every day, and...and you'll be happy! I'll make sure of it!” - of course, it’s completely childish.  It���s irrational.  It’s ridiculous to think that any of this would ever be effective, but no more ridiculous than Naruto’s belief that he can simply break every bone in Sasuke’s body and keep him in the Leaf by force.

Both Naruto and Sakura are children who have a deeply oversimplified understanding of Sasuke’s situation.  They both still think they can fix him themselves.  They both think they can save him themselves.  They both think they can convince (or force) him to do what they want, what they think is in his best interests.  Both of them don’t yet understand that he has to want to come back, if it’s ever going to mean anything.  Their attempts to keep him in the village are immature and unrealistic, yes.  What they aren’t, however, is selfish, because neither Sakura nor Naruto are doing any of this with the intention of advancing their own interests.  They’re only thinking about Sasuke - how to keep Sasuke safe, how to make Sasuke happy - even when neither of them are taking an approach that will actually work.

Naruto and Sakura are children.  They’re afraid of losing somebody they care about.  Their attempts to prevent that from happening are desperate and messy and ultimately ineffective, but they are also genuinely felt and rooted in a true desire to rescue Sasuke from his pain, which - and this is the single most important thing that should impact our viewing of Part 1 - is something that Sasuke RECOGNIZES.  He doesn’t spend that agonizingly long moment bowed over Naruto’s defeated body so we can pretend he doesn’t understand that Naruto was just trying to help him.  He doesn’t take the time to murmur, “Sakura…thank you,” before laying her out carefully on a bench, just so we can discount it and pretend that he doesn’t recognize and appreciate her genuine intention to make things better for him, however clumsy that attempt might have been.

2. the greater good

If Stage 1 Sakura is "the girl with the crush," then Stage 2 Sakura is a progression to “the girl who decides to put her feelings for Sasuke aside in order to protect innocent people, including (but certainly not limited to) Naruto.”  She’s driven to this decision by interactions with Shikamaru, who all too recently had to grow up fast himself (“We're not kids anymore...we can't allow a war to break out between the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Cloud because of Sasuke") and Sai, who risks his new friendship with Sakura and Team 7 in order to speak some hard truths and deliver one of my favorite lines in the whole story: “I don’t know what promise Naruto made to you, but it’s really no different than what was done to me.  It’s like a curse mark.”

(INCREDIBLE.  How can anybody be complaining about a season where Sai gets to say something that goes THIS HARD and Sakura LISTENS and takes DRAMATIC ACTION that actually propels the story forward in a meaningful way - )

[Okay, yeah, brief personal opinion interlude - it is just bonkers wild to me that there are people who complain about Sakura in the Five Kage Summit arc. That entire season is the greatest character arc she ever has.  Literally she has never been more interesting and dynamic than in Season 10; it’s the first time she ever gets to be as deep and fascinating as the boys; what is everybody so worked up about?  Oh, “she lied to Naruto that one time” - Sasuke joined infant-kidnapping baby-murdering human experimentation machine Orochimaru when he was twelve years old in order to (dare I say it????) selfishly pursue his personal goals and yet, somehow, we are still able to root for him.  He abandoned his friends/allies to imprisonment and death (Suigetsu and Jūgo) or outright stabbed them in the chest himself (Karin) in order to (SELFISHLY) get what he wanted, and yet, somehow, we are still able to love him, understand him, and be on his side.  Naruto is canonically not upset with Sakura about her lie after receiving context for the situation and I think we can probably take our cues from him without feeling the need to bring her up on war crimes; please calm down]

[Sorry, I just really love most of Season 10 and think it’s one of the best examples of how good this story can be when every single character gets to do something that matters (as opposed to things being all Naruto, all the time) so I get a little bit worked up over people complaining about some of the best writing Sakura ever gets.  I don’t understand what certain elements of fandom want from her. People complain about her being “useless” and not doing anything that contributes to the story, but then they complain just as much when she does finally get to act decisively and have just as complex/dynamic an inner world as the boys.  She’s “weak” for being unreasonably in love with Sasuke, but when she tries to be “strong” and put her love for him aside and eliminate him in order to protect Naruto and the rest of the world, she’s evil, because she should have been more understanding of his situation (despite the fact that she doesn’t KNOW anything about his situation).  But then when she can’t go through with killing him after all because she cares about him too much despite the things he’s done, she’s not "compassionate" or "kind" or "a good friend," she’s “weak” again. Nothing Sakura does in S10 is more wrongheaded or rash than any of the batshit, buckwild things Naruto and Sasuke have done in the past (and will continue to do in the future), but when Naruto and Sasuke have big feelings or take bold action, it makes them interesting characters, whereas Sakura can’t breathe in anyone’s direction without being minutely scrutinized for moral impurities.]  

Anyway. Back to a more measured response.  

Every single piece of development Sakura has with regard to Sasuke in this season satisfies me so much.  Her initial shock and disbelief at hearing that Sasuke had joined the Akatsuki?  Good, appropriate.  The fact that she starts to acknowledge the reality of what Sasuke’s done sooner than Naruto does?  Also extremely appropriate, very in-character for both of them.  Her taking Sai’s words to heart and deciding that the promise she asked Naruto to make when they were children is causing him to suffer and she has to relieve him of that burden?  Juicy!  AND thematically significant (promises!!!!  the burden that a promise places on a person, especially when it can't be kept - we've seen that before in this story and we'll see it again).  Her anguished pivot from wanting to protect Sasuke to realizing that she has a responsibility to protect the countless innocents who will die because of the war he’s trying to start?  HELLO THIS IS INCREDIBLE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.  Her knocking out the classmates who agreed to help her so they don’t have to share in her burden (and so the only person Naruto will hate when it’s over is her)?  BRUH.  Her being so committed and focused on her goal of saving innocents and protecting Naruto (not just from being harmed by Sasuke/the Akatsuki, but by the possibility that Naruto will someday have to hurt Sasuke himself) that she tries to take everything on by herself and walks into a confrontation that she absolutely cannot win??  INCREDIBLE.  (Literally the first time I watched this, I said, “Finally!!!  It’s Sakura’s turn to go off the rails!”  I laughed with my sister about how Kakashi isn’t even mad, because Naruto and Sasuke have been pulling stunts like this for years and Sakura was way overdue for her own meltdown.)  And then, after Kakashi intervenes in the fight - Sakura barreling back into the battle when she realizes he’s going to take on the burden of killing Sasuke himself in order to spare her and Naruto the horror - “I can’t let Kakashi-sensei bear this burden!”  I love her for that.  

And then, of course, in the end - her not being able to do hurt Sasuke after all.  Despite committing herself to the act, despite forcing herself to put her feelings for him aside, despite resolving to stop him from starting a war and killing innocent people, she can’t harm him.  She cares about him too much.  This, too, is thematically significant - think about Itachi’s “you don’t have enough hatred” - she doesn’t have enough hatred to kill someone she cares about, even if it seems like he deserves it, even if would be the right thing to do to protect others.  She can’t do it, and Sasuke almost kills her for her compassion.  

I love the dynamic this sets up between her and Sasuke, for a few reasons:

1) Personally, I think Sasuke respects Sakura much more for trying to kill him than he would have if she’d just tried to talk him out of his behavior or beg him to come home (a la their original confrontation in Part 1).  This is the first significant interaction he’s had with Sakura in years, and the fact that she does something SO contrary to his memory of her is an important demonstration of the fact that she’s not the same girl she used to be.  Sasuke spends a lot of time after his defection declaring to his old team “I’ve changed; I’m not that person anymore,” but this is one of the moments where he’s forced to acknowledge that his teammates have changed, too.  Time didn’t just stop for them when he left.  While he was turning into someone new, so were they.  They grew up without him, and his old memories of them can’t encompass the whole picture of who they are now.  

(This is a little tangential, but in general, I love the spectrum of reactions that Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi have in this sequence, and the way that all of them are ultimately messages Sasuke needs to hear.  Sasuke - who we know textually regrets what he did here, who apologizes to Sakura for it later - for “everything,” in fact - needs Naruto’s aggressively optimistic open-arms policy, yes, needs that potential, that unconditional possibility of return.  He also needs Sakura’s refusal to let him hurt her friends and start a war that will kill thousands of people, needs her surprisingly ruthless attempt to take him down; needs just as much her failure to do so, because it shows him that she still loves him too much to kill him even as she condemns him.  And he needs Kakashi’s grim line in the sand, needs someone who very possibly won't hesitate like Sakura (despite the horrifying personal cost), someone who will try to reach him but also won't let him escape and become the next generation’s Orochimaru, who won't let him cause untold suffering to untold numbers of people just because a teacher loved him too much to stop him when he had the chance. 

(And then even Kakashi chooses not to deliver a killing blow when he has the opportunity -)

(I know that in fandom people are more likely to be all, “oh, Naruto Good, everybody else Bad,” but I don’t think the narrative frames Sakura or Kakashi as “worse” than Naruto in any way.  The story goes out of its way to make it clear how desperately they don’t want to hurt Sasuke and how much they care about him.  And [this is just my interpretation, so obviously I won’t claim it as fact], I personally think that Sasuke - Sasuke, who, looking back, can see how lost he was then and how tortured he would have been if he’d gone through with many of his plans - would be grateful to Sakura and Kakashi for making an attempt to stop him when he couldn’t stop himself.)

2) On the other side of this, the fact that Sakura wasn’t able to deliver the killing blow means a lot. Sasuke was incapacitated under that bridge; he was completely at her mercy - but she stopped with the kunai an inch from his back.  She couldn’t kill him, even though she knew that he was completely willing to kill her (because he'd attempted to Chidori-assassinate her from behind just a few minutes ago).  That’s huge!  Sasuke is too out of his head right now to process this or understand it, but later, it's going to matter.  She stayed her hand.  She spared his life.  She loved him too much to hurt him, even when he’d given her every reason to take him down.  She hesitated, and he almost killed her for it, but her inability to strike him ultimately gave him yet another chance to come home, another chance to get better, another chance to have a life outside of his pain.  Despite everything, some part of her still hadn’t really given up on him, and that knowledge will matter later, when he’s finally able to acknowledge it.  

The point of all this is to say that I really have no complaints about Sakura and Sasuke’s dynamic in their S10 confrontation.  This season is the point where Sakura fully grows past her “girl with a crush” stage and into her “shinobi must make very harsh decisions” adulthood, but it never means that she doesn’t care about the person she’s trying to take down.  Her ultimate inability to deliver the killing blow remains a dangling lifeline for her relationship with Sasuke, an open door that Sasuke is able to walk through at the end of the story (literally, in fact, when Sakura opens that portal for him and saves him from Kaguya’s desert prison, and figuratively, too, when Sasuke apologizes to her).

3. she only wants to save you

The last stage in their relationship is what Sakura settles into during the war arc.  She started off Part 1 being just a girl with a crush, then tried to harden her heart and put her feelings for Sasuke aside in service of the greater good, but she was unable to actually follow through and kill him, and because of that, what she’s come to accept by the war arc is actually two things: that 1) Sasuke truly is willing to let her die if it furthers his goals, and 2) she wants to save him anyway.  

She has no intention of pursuing Sasuke romantically.  She knows full well that Sasuke isn’t interested in her.  She even knows that Sasuke isn’t really on their side (there’s a great scene where Sai questions Sakura about Sasuke’s return, and she reassures him that everything is fine, and Sai sadly thinks to himself “even I can tell your smile is fake”).  She’s well-aware that Sasuke didn’t try to help her when Madara stabbed her.  She’s well-aware that he left her to die in the lava pit.  She’s also well-aware that none of this is enough to make her stop loving him.  He doesn’t have to care about her - she still cares about him.  She still wants to help him.  She still wants to save him.

This is not hidden, hard-to-parse character development.  It’s explicitly articulated on the page:

Sakura’s not trying or wanting to make you hers!  She only wants to save you.

I’m not sure if people look at this last confrontation and unquestioningly take Sasuke at his word (as if we haven’t just read 71 volumes/watched 700 episodes showing us how how painfully distorted his thinking is), or if they stop reading/watching before the end of the scene, or if they don’t understand that Sasuke saying something doesn’t make that statement an accurate representation of reality.  The entire point of this scene is to show us how deeply mistaken Sasuke is about Sakura (and, by extension, the rest of Team 7).  He’s locked into a false pattern of thinking.  His single-minded focus on revenge and destruction has blinded him to the unconditional love his friends feel for him; he’s become so accustomed to using others and being used that he can’t understand or accept that someone would care about him without needing a reason, without needing him to love them back, without needing to receive something from him in exchange.

Sakura’s not trying or wanting to make you hers!  She only wants to save you.

Sasuke matters to Sakura as more than a love interest.  He always has.  She does love him romantically, yes, but she doesn’t only love him romantically, and her desire to help him is not and has never been contingent on him returning her feelings, romantically or otherwise.  Sasuke isn’t able to acknowledge that in this scene, but that doesn’t mean we’re supposed to just sit back and agree with his warped perspective.  Kakashi is the one who’s explicitly positioned as the voice of the narrative here.  We, as the audience, are supposed to recognize that Kakashi is the one telling us the truth.

[tangential thing 1: You don’t have to love Sakura's last plea to Sasuke here. It’s not my favorite, either - the best part, other than Kakashi’s speech at the end, is the moment after Kakashi collapses when Sakura’s expression changes from pained uncertainty to pure rage, when she grits her teeth together - when I first saw that, I almost leapt out of my seat like “Oh my god.  She’s finally going to let him have it.  It’s finally happening - ”  I wanted that so badly, and I still think it would have been a more effective writing choice for Sakura’s last words to lean more into her anger at the suffering Sasuke is causing all of them (himself included!) and less into yet another of Kishimoto’s “let me have Sakura articulate what a shame it is that she can’t do as much as Naruto despite the fact that I literally just went through a major reveal sequence in the war to show that she’s caught up to the boys; I can’t make up my mind about whether I want her to progress or not” - it’s extremely frustrating (and it's something he does at the very end of the S10 Team 7 reunion, too, which is the ONLY moment of S10 that falls flat for me).  But at the same time, even if there are ways this sequence could be more satisfying, it doesn’t change the fact that her plea to him is not remotely motivated by a desire to be with him romantically and not anything to condemn her for.]

[tangential thing 2: I do like how she remembers that moment when Sasuke says “Thank you.”  That panel precedes her saying “If there’s even a tiny corner of your heart that thinks about me…” (which I’m sure is one of the things that people like to criticize about this scene, aka “oh she’s sooooo self-centered” etc), but that particular line of dialogue is preceded by that particular flashback panel for a reason: Sakura knows that Sasuke DOES think about her.  He thinks about all of them.  Sakura remembers that “thank you,” and it reminds her that despite everything Sasuke has done and said since, despite all evidence to the contrary, she knows in her bones that his expression of gratitude back then was genuine.  He cared about her once.  He cared about all of them.  She’s trying to reach the part of him that still does, if it exists.]

[tangential thing 3: The fact that Kakashi says “she suffers from loving you,” and it triggers Sasuke to remember his own family - thinking about how much he suffered (and still suffers) from loving them - “Perhaps…those are the ties to a failed past” - the idea that it’s not worth it to have bonds if it means you suffer this much…that it’s too difficult, it’s too painful, and if Sakura and the rest of Team 7 were smarter they would just give it up (all Sasuke knows how to do now is sever potential bonds before they can hurt him; so why aren’t Sakura and the rest of his teammates doing that, why can’t they let it go, why are they making this so hard - ) << yeah, he clearly doesn't care about her/them at all.]

4. the shadow of my family

This has all been a really long way to answer the original question, but the short response to “What do you think about the relationship between Sasuke and Sakura?” is “I really care about it,” just like I really care about the relationship between Sasuke and Naruto, just like I really care about the relationship between Sasuke and Kakashi. And I don’t think the story ever asks me to choose between them.

I’m not sure whether it’s the impact of Boruto-era “canon” that gets in the way of other people approaching things this way (I don’t consider sequel material when I evaluate the original story), or if it’s Kishimoto’s frequent disinterest in/disrespect towards female characters, which yes, does sometimes make it harder, or if it's a shipping thing (bane of my existence), or some combination of factors, but for me, taking one member of Team 7 out of the equation hobbles the rest of the story.  I can’t read/watch Naruto while hating one of the protagonists and loving the other three.  It doesn’t work like that for me.  The story wasn’t written that way, and there’s nothing in the text that would cause me to receive it that way.

That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with disliking one of the main foursome (or any character, for that matter) - obviously we're all going to have different preferences, and everyone is free to enjoy or reject whatever parts of a story they want, or to like or dislike whatever characters they want. I know that some people have more fun disregarding canon and doing their own thing, which is fine.  My own personal zone of enjoyment comes from receiving the story as closely to how I think it was intended to be read as I can, and personally, when I look at this particular story, what I see is that all the members of Team 7 clearly demonstrate their love for Sasuke in ways that he himself later recognizes and acknowledges. All of them are driven by their desire to save him and their unwillingness to hurt him. All of them make repeated choices to chase after him when he runs away, to trust him when he hasn't exactly earned it, to give him another chance when he doesn't appear to deserve it. ALL of them, not just Naruto, do these things multiple times throughout the story, and Sasuke owes his life (and thus his eventual recovery) to ALL of them, many times over. Kakashi disobeys Hokage-elect Danzō and breaks the law to negotiate for Sasuke's life with a foreign head of state. Sakura and Kakashi both have opportunities to kill Sasuke in the Land of Iron, and they choose to spare him instead. Kakashi stops Sasuke from killing his only friends at two different points in the story, which would have been a mistake Sasuke couldn't have recovered from. Sasuke would have died in Kaguya's desert dimension if Sakura hadn't saved him (Sakura, who knew that Sasuke wasn't even truly on her side yet, who knew he'd abandoned her for dead multiple times already that day). Kaguya's bone bullet would have killed Sasuke too, if Kakashi, with his intention to die in Sasuke's place, hadn't leapt in front of it (Kakashi, who also knew that Sasuke wasn't fully on their side yet, who also knew that Sasuke had abandoned him for dead earlier that day). Sasuke and Naruto would have BOTH died in the Final Valley if Sakura and a severely injured Kakashi hadn't chased after them to heal their injuries.

Remove any one member of Team 7, and Sasuke never makes it home. Without the combined efforts of all three of his teammates, he doesn't survive.  That’s the way it should be, thematically, for a story whose first and most foundational premise was the importance of teamwork, and since Sakura was just as essential to that framework as everyone else, I’m just as invested in her relationship with Sasuke as I am in his relationship with everyone else.  You can’t remove one leg from a four-legged stool without damaging the integrity of the entire structure, and for me, discounting any single member of Team 7 irreparably damages the integrity of the entire story. 

TL;DR: I love all of the Team 7 relationships, including Sakura and Sasuke's, because despite what some segments of fandom seem to believe, the text of the story never gives me any reason not to.

#naruto #meta #replies #anyway that's that! hopefully that is a helpful answer #thank you for the question! i honestly don't think i would have ever gotten around to writing about this if i hadn't been directly asked #i love talking about the stories i enjoy (obviously; we all do; that's why we're here) #but i'm usually ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about responding to takes that blatantly misread the narrative to justify hating a particular character or ship #mostly because a) it's whatever. as long as people mind their own business and leave me to enjoy myself they can do what they want #and b) some opinions are so divorced from the actual text that they're not worth discussing #like. what's the point of responding to random internet posts saying that sakura was selfishly pursuing sasuke as a lover the entire time #when that is textually and provably not the case? #if you're that committed to experiencing things in direct contradiction to what the narrative is asking of us then just go ahead #is it mildly annoying to me? sure. but so are lots of things and it's better to just let stuff go #like - i initially planned to take this piece of meta all the way up through sakura and sasuke's last scene together #the one where he tells her 'maybe next time' and finally reclaims and redefines itachi's forehead tap (INCREDIBLE. THIS SCENE.) #but ultimately i changed my mind because everything i wrote for that last section was coming out too harsh #i generally prefer to talk about fandom stuff in a chill/friendly approachable way #but i kept thinking about the most obscenely & disrespectfully inaccurate read of that scene i'd ever seen #and i couldn't figure out how to talk about it in a non-scathing way #that scene and the one where naruto gives sasuke's headband back are the ONLY well-written things about the finale of naruto #they are SO perfectly constructed and i can't respond to people slandering either one without feeling an urge to kill #so i just deleted it. partially because again - this is fandom; it's not that serious; people can do what they want #but also because i know i get extra frustrated about people picking over the text and plucking out isolated bits and pieces #to contort into blatantly misinterpreted mutant shapes that 'confirm' whatever pre-existing judgments or ships they had #instead of experiencing the story as a cohesive whole & keeping in mind the greater context of what it's always been trying to communicate #people on this website say 'we all interpret things differently :)' as if it means no one can ever be wrong about what a text is saying #newsflash: not all interpretations of a text are valid. things can't in fact mean whatever you want them to mean. #the ***story*** persists and exists even if the author is dead to you #if you choose to ignore that then that's fine; it's just fandom; who cares. but i'm not going to pretend you're 'analyzing' anything. #(ok now i'm really done. you can see why i deleted this section XD)

[sincerely-sofie]

The piece you wrote awhile back about Twig's passing, has that changed at all since Opal came into the picture?

I’ve been considering that piece noncanonical because of how sad it makes me. Twig dying to a mundane infection after all she’s survived feels fitting in a very sad way, but the more I think about it, the more I feel like it’s a waste— both in-universe and at a meta level— for her to die in her mid 40s. Especially as I add in more cast members to this AU and consider Ark’s perspective.

She’s got so many people to stick around for. I hate the idea of squandering the potential in her interactions with Gengar and Calypso especially just to squeeze out one last drop of angst. And that’s not even to mention Opal, who wasn’t a part of the story when I wrote that piece. If Twig dies when I initially planned, the gal would barely be thirteen when it happens, and I can’t handle that.

When you factor in Ark as well, it’s the most unsatisfying turn around to his character arc. He’s just figuring out that life isn’t doesn’t hate him, and then the woman he loves kicks the bucket after a long, painful, illness that he’s partly to blame for? The ending line of that fic where he laments that it’s not fair rubs me the wrong way looking back on it. I don’t think he’d recover from that, and it’s such a disappointing ending to Twig’s life. She’d be so ticked that her legacy is one of grief and despair instead of fondness and growth.

Instead, I think it would be more interesting for Twig to live far longer than any charmander-line pokemon has on record. She’s a lot more hale and hearty than a charizard in her 80s should ever be, especially when you consider it’s remarkable if they live to 60. There’s an anxiety surrounding her slowed aging, and Ark in particular wonders when the temporal distortion affecting her will waver and she’ll finally pass. It eventually does happen— and Twig is still reluctant to allow people to be there when she does slip away— but she does let Ark be present at his insistence that she doesn’t shut him out during this final stretch of time he has with her.

Twig dies, and it’s not fair— nor will it ever be. There’s grieving to be done in the wake of a loss so deep. Everyone takes it hard, and Ark will never forget the morning he found Opal solemnly flipping through an old sketchpad with drawings Twig left for her to discover in the corners of each page.

It's the first time Ark has ever grappled with immortality like this. He's going to live forever without the person who showed him life was worthwhile. He sees her memory in everything around him, and a century later he still catches himself thinking that Twig would like a certain flower and that he should tell her its name when he gets home. He'll miss her for eternity, and her death will never stop hurting. But he'll never regret being able to learn from and love her.

Opal's been practically raised as a mortal. Grovyle's passing was her first exposure to death that hit her family. She'd seen Dad upset after they attended a funeral for a nidoqueen, but it didn't have the same impact as Grovyle— and nothing was as world-shattering as Mother's death. She bottles it up and hides from her grief at first, only letting herself mourn when she goes through the old sketchbooks she shared with Twig. After a conversation with Lucky, though, she finally lets herself grieve in full, and goes to Ark about it.

It’s difficult to move on, and maybe none of them ever will. But Twig’s death slowly becomes less of a wound and her memory becomes more of a balm. They miss her, and they love her, and her love for them is something they'll never go without feeling.

#the present is a gift au #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokémon mystery dungeon #pmd explorers #pmd sky #pmd eos #pmd2 #pmd #pmd darkrai #travailshipping #ark/twig #sofie answers asks

[blizzardsuplex]

So, I actually made a RS/AC relationship meta post...thanks @christiancagesupporter for the sign that was a live sex celebration joke, and also @scissormedaddyass for not telling me to stop.

So, imagine a relationship that goes something like this: there’re two guys who’ve known each other pretty well a long time. They’re into some similar things, like music and craft beer and their mutual profession, which paved the way for their initial bond despite some initially obvious differences between them (like age and experience in said mutual profession). They have quite a few differences in personality, too—the starkest one being, probably, that one of them prefers to go with the flow, taking opportunities when they come; the other has been on that grindset since day one.

Still, they’re pretty close. When Roddy (the generally more passive one) moves on in his career, the other hugs and kisses him in public. When Adam, the generally more active one, moves on in his career and gets himself into trouble, the other comes out of nowhere to save him. They’ve had their disagreements (explosive ones), but overall things are good—kind of blue oni and red oni, as TV Tropes might say.

Then Adam gets another chance to pull himself up the ladder—not only further, but to the very top of the profession they both hold dear. He wants this (to be the best, and to be adored for it) more than anything, and will do anything to get there. This includes concocting a plan so elaborate it’s almost comedic: get close to the person on the current rung (Max), find out his weaknesses, and destroy him before any official confrontation. When several wrenches are thrown into his plans, he quickly pivots to not only play kingmaker (to someone who now owes him and is someone he's won against before) but get petty revenge on the man now-deposed, who he blames for plans going awry.

Now, as we all know, Adam is a manipulative asshole. He has backstabbed people close to him more than once and will probably backstab many more. In fact, he’s backstabbed or has planned to backstab Roddy himself at least twice. But Roddy is actually a significant part of Adam’s current plan. Adam’s mark, you see, is distrustful and wary about any attempts to get close to him. An attempt at a straight shot through to the heart would probably fail. Could Roddy (and some others) be a smokescreen, causing a distraction while the other pieces fall into place?

And, you know what? Without a second thought, Roddy does it. In fact, Roddy does it with such aplomb people around them genuinely wonder if he’s gone insane—and then outright believe it, after he continues to do it for months. He has a public tantrum in his hometown. He pretends to be delusional enough to outright attempt to kidnap Adam for weeks. Adam, again in public, verbally tears him down and disavows any bond they previously had (in favor of his new “friend”, of course).

But why does Roddy agree to go through these lengths? The simple answer is probably “emotional manipulation”, and you wouldn’t even be wrong about that…to a point. What makes Adam Cole such an effective manipulator is that he makes his feelings seem so real, and he does that by committing to actually feeling them. As Drea @shes-a-voodoo-child has pointed out recently, any love and affection he feels towards those he’s close to is actually kind of genuine—as long as those he loves know their place, which is to say he’s the one on top and running the show (as she said: just ask Kyle O’Reilly). In that case, then, yes: there’s at least some manipulation going on.

Roddy knows this though, doesn’t he? Why, then, does he seem to keep falling for it? Is he forgetful, stupid, or a total simp? I think part of it is his personality; besides being more laidback when it comes to grand-scale ambition, which Adam has in spades, thanks to Personal Issues™ he also craves the love and attention Adam liberally provides (again, as long as the status quo remains how the latter likes it).

But the interesting thing is that this love isn’t just portioned and given to him like treats for a dog, something to ensure loyalty: Roddy decided to be loyal first, and as such actively works for it. It’s more a salary than anything else—which is to say that when he chose to receive it he also knew exactly what kind of person he was going to work for, just like he actively chose to play the fool for months on end. After 10+ years of knowing the guy, he’s not blind to or delusional about Adam’s nature or demands. Definitely I don’t think he wants to “fix him”. He’s just someone whose math of the costs and benefits of being close to and associating with Adam Cole has come out with him gaining more than he’s losing. He’s made his choice, and in that way he’s kind of using Adam, too.

Also, to be honest? People (myself included) focus a bit more on why Roddy continues to stick by Adam; not a lot of people think about why Adam continues to keep Roddy around beyond a general "he's useful for now". Recognition in a relationship is a two-way street, and so (besides genuinely sharing interests and such) Adam definitely has figured out, and probably even likes, the truth: that Roddy can be as big of a prick as him. It’s not in the same way; Roddy’s brand of dickishness is more out in the open, but because of that they complement each other well. Heel synergy, you might say.

In fact, they just complement each other in general: being gifted at talking versus being gifted in-ring, a leader versus a follower, being evasive versus being direct. That they just “click” in these way probably contributes to the sense they just have fun doing things together—even if that “thing” is “heartlessly destroying Max’s world in front of everyone he knows and those watching at home”. And, of course, they don’t really challenge each other, which does wonders for their egos (both sort of fragile/easily set off in different ways).

Basically: there still a power imbalance/lack of equality in their relationship? Yeah—but the power is more or less being willingly given, and not as one-sidedly as it may initially appear. Do they enable each other’s worst habits/tendencies? Yeah—but in part it’s because they’re so used to and accepting of each other, flaws and all, which can be kind of wholesome depending on how you look at it. Are they toxic bfs as heels? Hell yeah (no buts).

Tl;dr: Roderick Strong and Adam Cole are mutually evil bros. They both know what they’ve gotten themselves into and exactly what kind of person they’ve chosen (for now) to stick with—and they more or less like and/or accept who they’re sticking with. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk that will probably be refuted when we see them interact or something moving forward

#mel's writing tag #wrasslin' talk #fine fine I'll tag the main tags #roderick strong #adam cole

[larkral]

I’d love a director’s cut commentary for the first chapter of Good at Something if you’re up for it!

If not (and even if you are) here’s a ⭐️ to talk about another piece of writing you’d like to talk about! 😘

Ohho! Thank you SO MUCH for asking. I... uh, went a little hard on this. Good at Something may be my magnum opus? So, uh, yeah I am obviously going to take the opportunity to drop a 1,000 word meta about it. Below the cut because I don't want to destroy anyone's dash. 😘

So, the first thing to know about this story is that literally it started with me and rainnorwind(/@petedavidsonscock) yes-and'ing about Baz and Simon being in the midst of an enemies with benefits situation and Baz telling Simon he wasn't very good at blowjobs and so they might as well just snuggle and Simon being like: "fuck that, I am going to destroy you (sexually) and prove you wrong." Which, obviously that exact scenario doesn't happen in Good at Something, but hopefully the relationship between the two concepts is easy to tease out. Anyway, all due credit to rainnorwind, without whom this story would absolutely not exist. 

The first scene on this was a BITCH, because I knew when it took place (per my notes on September 8th, the day before term starts), but I didn't want the reader to have to place themselves in a specific timeline quite yet. I did want to trade on some of the things we know about canon though: namely that Simon is likely crying about The Mage being a dick to him. Baz is also obviously not numpty-kidnapped, which I never explain because it's not what this story is about. I think, however, that it's reasonable to assume that Baz's presence at Watford pre-term is also part of the reason that Agatha broke up with Simon prior to this scene, as we all know that Simon almost certainly wouldn't cheat on Ags at that point in his character arc. 

Anyway, so, all that was in the planning, but I didn't want to make any it happen onscreen, because while it established the emotional stakes for the initial scene, it's not tonally valuable for what this scene is actually doing, which is: "I imagine you could be passably good at sucking my dick." So I percolated for a LONG time on how to get to that line without too much lead up, and this is where I landed.

So, then there's the first blowjob. Which I'm not going to dissect too much, because the goal was that it happen and be a bit fraught and awkward and also exceedingly enjoyable and hot for everyone. I think I succeeded, and I hope you do too. Something interesting about this scene that I didn't even realize I was doing until re-reading this story during editing was that Baz threads his fingers in Simon's hair and adoringly focuses on his moles and freckles, which comes up on every or nearly every sexy scene in this whole story. And it started here, y'all. 

Okay then, Simon's POV comes in and guys he LoVeD it. Also like, okay you can have some of his emotional backstory, if you insist. Also I very subtly and suavely mention the visitings. No reason for that, I'm sure. 😉🤫😂

At this point I feel honor bound to mention that the emotional arc for Baz is loosely going from despair that Simon is having sex with him and doesn't like him to the realization that Simon does like him, and Simon goes through a similar thing, the actual primary arc for Simon is going from extreme self doubt (because he's been continually asked as the chosen one to do things that put him badly out of his depth and offered little to no practical or emotional support on those tasks) to self assurance because he is in fact Good At Something. As several reviewers pointed out, this is a very Simon positive story, a vibe I embrace with gusto. 

So, blowjob number two may be my favorite blowjob of this fic. Or maybe I feel that way about all of the blowjobs in this fic? Hard to say, really. But the full section after Baz says he wants to come on Simon's face is, in my humble opinion, out of this world good. Legitimately it makes me weak and I cannot believe I wrote it I love it so goldarn much. 

Blowjob number three! Wherein the lead up includes for, again, no reason whatsoever, an extensive description of why Baz has spent next to no time in their room this far in the semester. Mysterious. And of course this is the through-the-pants blowjob Which they both feel some kinda way about.  As did many readers, and honestly as do I. 

Fun fact about this blowjob! It was completely absent in the first draft of this story. The first draft moved immediately from bathroom blowjob to music room blowjob and also didn't yet include the idea that all the blowjobs were visitor-blocking Natasha. After finishing the first draft of chapters 1-3(ish) I had to really self-reflect and decide whether and how much I wanted the ¡surprise! plot to play into the story. And in order to get the plot to work better, I decided I just *had to* add a couple more blowjobs. You know, for plot reasons.

And I couldn't be happier about that, because this section includes one of my absolute favorite lines:

It's like a mystery, like a puzzle, like a maze and a sphynx and a faerie's curse and all the while I know where I'm going. I know where I need to be, and I know that I'm taking him with me and when he tightens his fingers in my hair and strokes his knuckles against my temple and gasps and gasps, I know we're getting there, we're almost there.

As well as a dark horse line that approximately 50% of reviewers called out: "His fingers tease at the points of fabric like an oft-opened envelope—like I'm a letter he's tucked away in his chest pocket to be read again and again."

And also like, okay, since this is an exercise in navel-gazing, I'll just toot my own horn once again: I think this is a very hot blowjob scene. 

And then a tiny bit of Simon angst, because, (spoilers,) the "there" they're getting to is emotional intimacy as well as physical intimacy. Hard to believe, but as the author I can assure you it's true.

Fin ;-)

P.S. if you were into this, please prepare yourself I am definitely going to be doing one for the last chapter of Good at Something as well.

#good at something #my writing #meta #meta about smut #simon snow and the 190 blowjobs #snowbaz

[aradhya21]

Apple announces the ability to buy now and pay later and an edit message button

Macintosh Inc on Monday carried out moves up to the working frameworks for its iPhones and iPads, while examiners and engineers are distinctly anticipating any clues about how a future blended reality headset could work.

Apple declared at its yearly programming designer gathering that clients can purchase now and pay later for buys. Apple Pay Later will be accessible anyplace that Apple Pay is acknowledged and overseen through the Apple Wallet. Clients can make four equivalent installments with no interest or expenses.

Apple likewise added an alter button to iMessage for sent messages, beating Twitter to a long-mentioned highlight. While a headset declaration is far-fetched on Monday, engineers anticipate that the future headset should prone to utilize cameras to pass a perspective outwardly world into a high-goal show that can overlay computerized objects on actual environmental factors and could show up in March of the following year, said Anshel Sag, head examiner at Moor Insights and Strategy. Such a gadget would be Apple's initial section into another classification of processing gadget since the Apple Watch sent in 2015 and would place it in direct contest with Meta, which has uncovered plans for a blended reality headset code named "Cambria" to be delivered for this present year.

However, neither Sag nor different designers and experts talked with by Reuters anticipate a sneak look at the headset on Monday. All things being equal, they will be searching for covered hints about the future gadget, for example, upgrades in how Apple's gadgets cycle expanded reality scenes. They will be keeping watch for little shocks in supposed "spatial" highlights in which gadgets comprehend how they are being utilized in three-layered space, said Andrew McHugh, who helped to establish an application considered Vivid that allows clients essentially to venture inside their recordings and photographs.

Apple has recently carried out elements like spatial sound for its remote earphones, where sounds change as clients go their heads.

Mac could declare a refreshed form of its Mac Pro PC, which is focused on clients, for example, designers who need a ton of registering power and is the last machine in Apple's setup to utilize a focal processor from Intel Corp. That machine would probably highlight a strong processor comprised of numerous Apple Silicon chips combined with cutting edge bundling innovation, said Ben Bajarin, head of shopper advances at Creative Strategies.

The Apple Store was disconnected on Monday morning, a move that in the past has been trailed by new items being added to the site. Experts expect a portion of the day's greatest focal points to be updates to center items like the iPad. Bloomberg detailed that Apple intends to upgrade the gadget's working framework to improve it for working with numerous applications and a console. Such a move would mirror the way that better quality iPads have processor chips that are essentially as strong as Apple's Mac PCs, yet in addition includes that those Mac PCs don't have, for example, contact screens and cell information associations.

"For quite a long time, Apple highlighted the iPad as the PC for everybody. Presently it seems progressively like the Mac is the PC for everybody. Assuming that is the situation, where do you take the iPad?" said Tom Mainelli, bunch president for customer and gadget research at IDC.

Macintosh deals became 23% to $35.2 billion the Apple's latest financial year, fueled by a mix of expanded acquisition of workstations for telecommuting and its presentation of its own line of Apple Silicon chips to drive the machines. Bajarin said Apple could carry out new highlights intended to make Macs simpler to use in professional workplaces in a bid to focus point piece of the pie from PC creators who depend on Microsoft Corp's Windows working framework.

"I in all actuality do think we’re on the cusp of a flare-up of Macs in big business," Bajarin said.

#APPLE #SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS #APPLE IPHONE

[joinchris]

6 Website Must-Have’s for Small Businesses

Could it be said that you are an entrepreneur or business visionary and aren’t content with your site’s presentation? This eTip is tied in with taking advantage of your site for your business. If you have any desire to see to a greater extent a return from your site, then I have 6 unquestionable requirements that are only for you!

So what are these 6 things you should have to have a high-performing site? Continue to watch!

6 Essentials For a High Performing Business Website

1. Steady and Professional Branding

When individuals see your site, does it look steady with your web-based entertainment? Your site and online entertainment ought to have steady marking across all stages. Consistency is critical here yet it requires looking proficient. A novice-looking site won’t draw in the right sorts of clients. Initial feelings are critical so it doesn’t make any difference how extraordinary you are if the way it’s introduced looks modest or amateurish. Ensure you don’t plan something only for you. You may love a variety or plan yet in the event that not something would speak to your clients, then it ought not to be on your site. We utilize purple a ton ourselves yet we know it’s really great for our business so remember you might be putting individuals off on the off chance that you’re the one in particular who seriously loves a variety or plan component.

2. White Hat SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Try not to misjudge the force of good SEO. With SEO you are ensuring your site isn’t just something web search tools will list and (ideally) show to clients however that it’s done well. You are contending with different sites for similar key expressions clients enter and your objective is to be at the highest point of those results when looked through by your objective market.

Many individuals need comprehension of SEO despite the fact that it’s critical. You’re rivaling numerous different sites. In the event that you don’t have great white cap SEO, then, at that point, regardless of how great your site is, clients will not have the option to track down it.

Take a gander at the basics in on-location SEO like having your keyphrase focuses on things like the title labels, meta information, and the URL. An extraordinary model is in the event that you’re selling a book. Many individuals will list the URL relating to their book as kesbs concepts. What you ought to do is have a URL like this: Here. The title will probably be naturally associated with your substance with great keyphrases in it and Google will actually want to understand that. You could in fact add the catchphrases you need to rank for to components like picture naming and alt labels as well. Ensure you have your ideal key stages set and afterward remember them for the on-location duplicate. All of this is the setup for SEO so Google knows what you need to rank for. This piece of the business is overwhelming so go ahead and connect for help from somebody who does proficient site improvement. However, look out for abroad tricks, take care of business solitary continue once you’re agreeable. Search for somebody who will figure out your business and work with the marking, site advancement, and SEO together since these all work best when they are cooperating.

3. Responsive Website

A responsive site implies your site will show well on telephones and every single more modest screen. Quite a while back sites just needed to show well on workstations. Now that PDAs are normal, it’s vital to have a site that can show well on one. With a responsive plan, your site will change its showcase while keeping up with similar data, making it effectively usable on a cell. Originators now and again selected to have two separate sites that would be distinguished by the gadget and would show the fitting one. With this, however, there were two sites to keep up with an update. With a responsive plan, the layout changes so you eliminate the overt repetitiveness of doing everything two times. Google puts a great deal of significance on portable ease of use so it’s a truly smart thought to get a responsive site on the off chance that you don’t have one as of now.

On the off chance that you couldn’t say whether your site is responsive or you want assistance making it that way if it’s not too much trouble, reach out and our site engineers will ensure your site shows appropriately and performs well on cell phones. In the event that you don’t think your potential clients utilize advanced cells then, at that point, reconsider. More than half of individuals are on PDAs while they’re looking on the web so kindly reach out on the off chance that yours isn’t streamlined for cell phones.

4. List Building and Follow Up

List building is set up since, supposing that a client comes to your site interestingly, there is a little opportunity they’ll change over immediately. The chances are somewhat better assuming you offer something in the method of web-based business. Since clients are bound to change over after their most memorable visit, you need to give them a method for seeing their way back. An email pamphlet membership is an extraordinary approach to that. To fabricate your rundown you can take a stab at offering something with the expectation of complimentary like a download of a free how-to direct that requires the client to enter their email address to get it. There’s absolutely nothing that this can’t be: A sound document, video series, or PDF report. The point is to offer some benefit in return for the client focusing on giving you their email. Then, at that point, keep in contact with your rundown to develop the knowledge, as and entrust factor with this, giving them valid justifications to return.

5. Strong Marketing Message

A lot of business visionaries make their site about them. ‘I do’s ‘this is me’ ‘this is my specialty. Tragically for a client, this can leave them inquiring: what might be said about me? A site needs to console a guest they’ve shown up perfectly located. Your informing ought to obviously state what issues you tackle and that you are there to help. Use terms like “You” and “Your” as opposed to “Me” or “I”. Recruiting an expert publicist is smart since they comprehend the expectations of the guest’s requirements starting things out and can make what you do energizing, which helps convert them into a paying client.

Making fervor isn’t difficult to do so an incredible publicist is crucial for ensuring you get your site guests amped up for you and what you give.

6. Make It Easy To Reach You

Make the most common way of reaching you as simple as could be expected.

In the event that you have a web-based store, you really want a client care telephone number noticeably shown. It’s regularly positioned in the upper right half of the page. Regardless of whether you have a web-based store and you’re offering support or something different with a “Purchase Now” button, the help number consoles the client there is a genuine individual behind the scene on the off chance that they need assistance. Laying out trust is critical so giving them ways of reaching you in the event that vital is fundamental to laying out trust. You will get more site guests to focus on you and your business whenever trust is laid out.

Numerous business visionaries are stressed over having their telephone number out there however by the day’s end you really want one so anything that you can do to give one is an unquestionable necessity. Likewise have a decent contact structure. This and a telephone number are fundamental to laying out entrust with your likely clients. Have a CTA (Call To Action) that leads clients toward their objective. In the event that your change is qualified by a contact, lead clients on each page towards the contact page. Use buttons and text advising them to click and effectively reach out to you.

These are the unquestionable requirements for your site.

There are a lot more things to cover however these 6 are the fundamentals for progress. You might think you have a portion of these covered yet in the event that you’re involving a pre-assembled layout or an across-the-board arrangement, you might have something excessively swollen with exorbitant code to file well and it could really be neutralizing you.

Reach out to us on the off chance that your site is failing to meet expectations and we’ll take a gander at why and furnish you with a more expert choice.

We plan and foster destinations that are exceptionally worked to accomplish the objectives we layout with you.

That is all there is to it during the current week and remember whether you loved what you saw here if it’s not too much trouble, buy into our YouTube feed or pamphlet so you can get updates and recordings for private venture business visionaries consistently or leave a remark in the remarks underneath!

#website #web series #website design #copywriting #marketingstrategy #investment

[anime-grimmy-art]

Told you guys I’d ramble in due time.

I absolutely adore Bravely Default 2. It came at a really bad time cos I can’t waste 70 hours on a jrpg, but well, it’s too late to be concerned about that now. And as is tradition with me obsessing over a new game / show / whatever, you’ll basically find a fullblown review disguised as ramblings right under the cut. Be aware that I’m gonna talk about EVERYTHING, so spoilers are a given. Some maybe even for the previous Bravely Default games.

Also, if you wanna talk about this game in any capacity, hit me up, I’m DESPERATE to talk more about it.

Just for reference on how long this is gonna be, I made a voice recording while driving to remember all the points I wanna make, and that recording is almost 2 hours long. I did cut it down but still, this is gonna be a lot.

I’ll start off with the things that actually bugged me about the game, since there are only 3 things that really bothered me. First of, I really don’t like that you can name Seth. He has too much personality to be a self insert and player integration is not that big of a part in the game that this decision can be justified. It wouldn’t bother me that much if it didn’t leave a bad mark on the ending. First of all, we were robbed of Gloria desperately shouting for Seth, which makes the impact work less, and it’s just so prevalent that the name can’t be said because you have all the normal sound design going. If they’d just let the credits still play I wouldn’t have batted an eye, but because every other sound comes in it’s so obvious they’re just silently shouting in this scene, which makes it look silly. Like I said, this decision is more a detriment than an addition, and it’s a shame it casts a shadow on an otherwise heartfelt ending.

Speaking about lost potential, the other thing that really bothers me is the lost potential in certain plot points and character conclusions. I mainly mean Adam and Edna here. Both of them have been built up to be these formidable foes but they just, die. If it was just Adam I’d be fine with it, since you expect Edna to backstab him and be the actual big bad of the story, but I cannot fathom why they dropped Edna this HARD. If not Edna herself, I don’t understand why we don’t get more of a reaction from the Fairies and especially Adelle. I mean, Edna was her sole reason she left for her journey in the first place, then Edna dies and that’s it? No part where she grieves for a second? No concern from the others about Adelle? Mind you, I haven’t finished all the Sidequests, so maybe there actually is one in which this is addressed, but I think even just a Party Chat after Bad End 1 would have been sufficient to show how Adelle suddenly feels about the loss of Edna. It would have made Bad End 2 / The Secret Ending even more impactful, because, yeah, of course, you kinda know Adelle isn’t going to turn her back on fairy kind, but one of the reasons she doesn’t leave is because if Enda didn’t get a happy ending, then she shouldn’t either. It would have been amazing foreshadowing if she showed this sentiment before this scene happened. Other than that, it’s a shame that we know so little about Edna, or rather, how she became “bad”. I get she’s supposed to be corrupted by the Night’s Nexus, but how did it even come to this? It can’t have been a gradual thing, after all, Adelle says Edna was always good natured and then just disappeared one day. Really would have loved seeing more of that plot point.

Ok, last gripe I have, some choices in the soundtrack and sound design. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the OST, and I will get to that, but damn, whatever Revo used for the lead instrument in Wiswald hurts my ears. It’s a really good track, but I always have to turn down my volume because these high pitched sounds physically hurt. And for sound design. Dude, the Night’s Nexus is the least threatening, nightmare fueled abomination that ever existed. I get that its growl is kinda supposed to be layered with Edna’s or sth, but it, it just sounds silly. If they went the route of just swinging between different voices or began distorting it from phase to phase, it would have been fine. But the choice they made really made an otherwise creepy design just absolutely silly.

Ok, enough jammering, on to the good stuff. Like I said, there’s going to be a lot, so I’ll try to be brief in each aspect.

Gameplay

I honestly like the new battle mechanics more than the old ones. This individual, turn based system feels way more dynamic and it’s easier to strategies in battles. Because nothing made me more angry than setting up for a heal and the enemy suddenly being faster than me and killing my healer. Now it’s easier to plan ahead a bit.

I also found myself experimenting more with the jobs. Not sure what it really is, but none of the party members leaning more towards certain types of jobs and the job leveling being way faster probably helped.

And I know some people get up in arms because the boss sometimes can be a real pain in the ass (looking at you pope dude), I still found it very interesting getting around counters or even using these counters as a benefit. As an example, I made Adelle my main physical fighter and gave her lots of counter abilities to help her profit from being countered by enemies themselves. Now, she can attack enemies, get countered, automatically evade that counter and earn a BP at the same time. Made a lot of boss fights way easier and fun to exploit.

Music

Ok, I will try my best to be really, really brief, because in my recording this part takes up almost 40 minutes. Anyways, Revo might have just become one of my absolute favorite composers ever. I don’t know what kind of magic he used, but I initially wasn’t that impressed with the OST, but every time I listened to it, I just fell in love harder and harder. Before getting into specifics, I wanna highlight the two things that made me love this OST overall. First of all, this soundtrack almost seems like a refinement of BD’s. While losing some of that fairytale vibe, it sounds even more fantasy now. And in contrast to the original, this almost sounds more balanced? Like, BD’s OST felt high energy throughout, BD2’s on the other hand manages to find a good balance between high and low energy pieces. Like, the character themes or battle themes are absolute hype, but the overworld themes are a lot calmer and easier to listen to while exploring. Second big point that makes this soundtrack amazing is that Revo is an absolute god at using emotional progression/storytelling and leitmotifs in his songs. And heck, do I love myself my leitmotifs. You’ve got some obvious ones, like the final battle theme in which all the character themes and other leitmotifs are integrated. Then you got some maybe more subtle once, just like how the overworld themes are just the main theme, just a lot calmer and using the lead instruments of the towns of the areas.

But my absolute favourites gotta be the character themes and the main theme. I love how fitting the themes for the characters are and in general, each of them is such a bop. At first I prefered Elvis’, because I sure am a sucker for jazzy vibes, but over time Adelle’s became my fav. It’s just something about the trumpets, and how the theme almost sounds a bit melancholic and bittersweet, that drew me in. And considering her story, mostly her bad end, that the bittersweet tone really fits.

Then there’s the main theme. Just like BD’s it shouts “triumphant anthem” and it definitely gives you a very familiar vibe, but I’d argue it has even better emotional progression. Heck, the first time I heard the music start up in the reveal trailer, I didn’t have to look at the screen to know this is gonna be a BD game. Also, the credit song version had me weeping at the true end. I’m someone who’s very easily affected by music (if me shouting about soundtracks on this blog wasn’t proof enough) and just hearing that ending song, getting the after credits scene, just for the second credits to start as a freaking duet. Dude, at that point I just started sobbing, I’m not gonna lie. Just this little part showed how much Revo knows how to put emotion in a song and also write it in such a way that he can elicit strong, emotional reactions from you too. 

Story

People have been complaining how the story is too boring and kinda disappointing in comparison to the last one, but I just think the games tried to accomplish different things here. Since the BD series is a celebration of old, classic jrpgs, “cliche” storytelling is a given. Though, BD did throw a lot of meta stuff in there too. BD2 in contrast just feels like a direct execution of that initial idea. It feels familiar, it feels comfy and it feels safe. Except for the little things with the endings and then overwriting the Nexus’ “save file”, BD2 doesn’t really get that meta, which is totally fine. It doesn’t try to reinvent or innovate anything, it just wants to be a fantasy story, that might be cliche, but still fun and enjoyable in its own right.

I’d also argue that the pacing is a lot better than the old game, because with BD I sometimes found myself skipping through scenes to get on with the story. Not that this game didn’t have me rushing through stuff as well, but I found it kept my intrigue way better than the original.

Characters

Next to the music, this is the part that I absolutely love the most. While, yes, they did lose a lot of potential with some characters, mostly with the villains, the main cast is just so much fun. I love these 4 dorks so, so much.

I honestly can’t stand how much people compare them to the original cast. Yes, ofc, I’ve been doing my fair share of comparisons too, but calling these four a more boring version of BD’s party physically hurts me. Because except for some initial impressions, the Heroes of Light are completely different from our beloved Warriors of Light.

While yes, Seth and Gloria give off strong Tiz and Agnes vibes at first, they both grow into such different characters that they’re not really comparable. I think this shows with Adelle and Elvis even more. I do understand how people could compare Adelle and Edea, since they’re both the feisty girl type, but I can’t understand how people can see Ringabel and Elvis as the same character type. While those two are the “suave” party members, they act so differently from another. And that’s honestly apparent the first time you meet them. 

Anyways, I love these 4 so much.

We technically don’t know a lot about Seth at all, but they manage to pull so much out of just the fact that he’s a sailor, that it makes him really endearing, really fast.

I was kinda disinterested with Gloria at first, because again, the initial impression was Agnés2.0, but she grew on me a lot. Gloria is way more hard headed and honestly sassy in comparison to Agnés and I absolutely adore it.

Elvis. Elvis, my man. I love this fantasy scottosh wizard so, so much. He’s such a ridiculous character but so endearing at the same time. You got all this dorkiness, with him setting himself on fire as a student, him doing god knows what for a good drink or just laughing danger and prejudice in the face. But then you got his super empathetic and caring side. Mind you, most of his wise moments come from quoting Lady Emma, but still, as much as he’s hopeless with certain social situations, he’s actually still really good at reading the room and playing things smart. He’s a smart and powerful idiot, which makes him a danger to everyone and himself, and I love him for it. (I also can’t believe they called him Lesley I MEAN COME ON)

And then there’s Adelle. I liked her from the start, but I didn’t think she would stick out to me. I think now she’s my favourite character. Not even talking about all the stuff that happens in chapter 3 and onward, because these story threads are awesome in their own right, but there’s just something about her personality that’s interesting and appealing to me. Like I said, I’m not surprised people compare her to Edea, I did too at first, but while Edea walks very close to the line of a Tsundere, I was really surprised that Adelle is, well, not a Tsundere at all. Yeah, of course she’s putting Elvis down a lot, but that stems more from her preventing his ego from going to his head than her being all embarrassed. No, Adelle is actually really well adjusted when it comes to communication. While it’s hilarious that she and Elvis met with her chucking her shoes at him, the two just got along well right from the start. Adelle in general has this really open and helpful personality, but also doesn’t shy away from putting her foot down, even if that sometimes comes out as an embarrassed sputter. She’s also the mother hen of the group. She looks out for the other three and gets concerned about them real fast. 

I dunno, Adelle just really grew on me over the course of this game, and then her kinda being paired with Elvis too, as partners and as partners, makes me like her even more. Because as much as I like their personalities individually, I like their character dynamic even more. I honestly love the relationships between all four of them a lot. You really feel them grow closer as friends and all the little character sidequests just always made me really happy.

Conclusion

You might not believe me, but I really held back there. This could probably have been 3 times its length. As much as I love this game, it’s of course not perfect. It struggles and flails in some parts a lot and it certainly has some aspects that might turn people off. But for me, it was just a very familiar and comfy game that didn’t necessarily deliver anything new, but that told its story in such a way that it still got me excited to keep going. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing and the conclusion of the story actually got me to cry. While not groundbreaking, this game is highly enjoyable and leaves you absolutely satisfied at the end.

Also, I would like to iterate that I am desperate to get more content about this game, so if you wanna chat about it, hit me up.

Anyways, anyone else felt like having a fever dream when everybody in chapter 2 started talking fantasy scottish? Cos I sure did.

#bravely default #bravely default 2 #bd #bd2 #fanart #review #ramblings #seth #gloria #adelle #elvis #elvis lesley

[thedeviljudges]

yohan + physical tough + trauma response

disclaimer: this is based off of eps 1-7, and preview of ep 8; i wholeheartedly recognize that this post may become the worst meta ever depending on how the rest of the show goes. however, i do think there are still some interesting things to note about yohan. a lot of this is also me just talking shit out as i was sifting through all the eps again. i’m more than willing to change my mind or hear other thoughts.

also i kinda, sorta, unnecessarily included all of the moments of yohan and any physicality. a lot of them are not super important, but i do think they help draw a distinction in how he reactions when surprised, alone and around other people.

so, here’s a long ass post that is literally 99% me bullshitting, lmao.

so i wanted to delve more into yohan’s response to physical touch by way of trauma. while i know a lot of us have pieced it together, i think it’s pretty cool to lay it all out visually because i think there’s much more justification for his reactions; not to say it makes it right, but it does really flesh out a fundamental part of his characterization that i think is highly, highly important to understand.

yohan lives on the cusp for reckless behavior, almost as if he doesn’t care whether he lives or dies. the car chase, running through industrial buildings where safety isn’t a concern, etc.

episode one

the first time we see an instance of his disinterest in physical touch is when he first meets gaon. he actually offers him his hand, but the way he goes about it isn’t a handshake. he almost looks hesitant, and then he squeezes and does not shake. it’s truly a split second gesture out of formalities. granted, he’s just met someone he thinks looks like isaac, and might be in a little bit of… not shock, but certainly distracted.

later in the episode, yohan is in an abandoned building with homeless people. he’s checking people’s wrist, but he’s quick about leaving them alone. until, a homeless man comes up behind him and grabs him. in response, yohan swings his arm to knock him off. then, he punches him, steps on him and decides whether he’s worth the effort. again, granted, no one likes to be surprised in a creepy situation like this, so his response? kinda understandable at this point.

next is the scene where yohan catches gaon in his office, where he pushes him against the bookshelf and kinda, more or less, comes off as a bit luring. we know yohan knows gaon’s lying, but a couple of things here. yohan initiated the physical contact, and he did it because of the suspicious nature of gaon. yohan also knows how to use his power and charms to catch people off guard, and i think really, he was messing with gaon when he brushed his shirt and asked him if he lived alone. gay as fuck, lmao, but i also see it as an intimidation tactic, in a way.

i could also pose a couple of theories aside from intimidation if we wanted to squint:

yohan is still in a state of awe of gaon’s resemblance to isaac. he’s not heard his voice or been around the other man for at least 10 years, and now there’s tangibility at his fingertips.

if we want to look at it from the gay perspective, gaon is clearly intriguing to yohan, and as i’ll note further down in this post about yohan in relation to physical touch, i’m sure it could be assumed that this is one of the first people in a long time that yohan has an interest in making a connection with. however, because of his upbringing, it’s clear he does’t necessarily know how to connect with people (ie. ep 7 trying to connect with elijah, eps 1-6 with him trying to non-verbally tell gaon that he has bigger plans than what’s in front of his face. his admission in ep 5 about being monster). more or less, he knows his charms can be used, but when it comes to actually flirting and/or liking someone? it’s left to be addressed, but could be assumed he’s just as awkward about it as when we see him at home.

we also see a small instance of him letting someone dress him. there’s still touch involved, but it’s very clear what the intention is. he has control over the situation, and it’s not a surprise.

the next time he engages in physical touche, again, he initiates it because he’s in control, and it’s meant to be comforting, to an extent.

and then to round everything off, we actually see him reaching for isaac, who is actually gaon in the court scene, but you know storytelling and all that. he reaches for him both in the courtroom and within a flashback.

him reaching out for isaac seems to be a motif within the show as it happens later on, of which i’ll point out.

episode two

we see him initiate a handshake again. at first, to gaon, and then with jinjoo. controlled situation.

later on in the episode is when we see our first glimpses of batshit crazy yohan, an absolute delight and fav, lmao. he actually reaches out to the spoiled kid, and it’s clearly to legitimize intimidation and a position of power.

okay look, i’m not even gonna front, this was a cute scene. when jinjoo gets out of the car, he checks to make sure she’s okay, and they have this moment before they go onto the red carpet where they smile at each other. yohan is confirming she’s okay, and she agrees. again, controlled, and i don’t know for certain if yohan is more comfortable around women, or it’s just mere fact that he doesn’t always have a problem with touch when the situation is safe. he actually lets her take his arm further on in the scene, and yes, it is a public display of niceties, and he knows that.

so in the midst of this happening, we get the ‘devil child’ story. and i want to make note of the bird scene because i do think it’s important to note that people yohan cares for, he’s willing to go to the ends of the earth to protect them. yes, they’re children in school, but the girl next to him is the only one who showed him an ounce of kindness, and yohan is proven to remain loyal to those he loves or trusts in some capacity.

of course, he ends up pitting the rich and the poor kids against one another for their betrayal and making him an outcast. in yohan’s mind, what he did wasn’t necessarily wrong because his sense of justice is based on protection and when people wrong him or those he loves, it’s seeking justice on their behalf or making the situation better - not in the technically right way, but right to him. yohan comes across as a fixer and problem solver.

yohan has a very, very strong sense of trust and loyalty, and we can assume that stems from isaac, who clearly tried to protect yohan from his father, who went out of his way to do so as best as he could as a young kid. yohan values loyalty not because he necessarily wants lap dogs and people to do his bidding. it comes from a place of love and security he’s never really had.

anyway, back to the gala with jinjoo, he does shake the minister’s hand. again, controlled. there are cameras. he also puts his arm around her, and that’s mainly because it’s a battle of the wills, and she’s trying to reprimand him, lol, as if she could. he hugs her a little hard and a little enthusiastically, and you can clearly tell it’s for show.

and then he dances with both jinjoo and sunah. and there is a stark difference between these two scenes. yohan actually teaches jinjoo the proper placement for where she should rest her hands and how to move. he’s actually having a good time with her, and again, it’s actually really cute.

with sunah, he’s reluctant and definitely on guard. he can tell from her demeanor that her intent is with purpose trying to get close to him. at this point in the story, he probably sees it as sunah coming onto him and not because she’s actually the maid from when they were children. when sunah reaches up to whisper in his ear, you can really tell he doesn’t like her being that close to him at all especially because her words may not be overly threatening, but there is purpose behind them, which means yohan’s guards are up. he physically removes her hand and than blatantly turns her down: she tells him that enjoying things alone isn’t fun, and he counters it by saying he’s having a lot of fun.

so at this point to reduce on some screen caps, he meets the minister’s family, has handshakes with her husband and the kid he went after to essentially beat up his car with a mallet, lmao. the handshake is quite funny because they both know what happened. yohan is in control, and that kid is shaking in his boots.

then the explosion happens, and of course, it makes sense that yohan helps gaon after he’s hurt. gaon has never been a threat to yohan, and it’s clear yohan’s not heartless whatsoever, but it’s also poignant to note that gaon helped saved yohan’s life, thus starting yohan’s journey of loyalty to gaon. i think he’s always had his sight set on gaon to begin with, possibly long before he even became an associate judge, but if this was a test, gaon passed it with flying colors because if gaon can rescue a little girl, and he can help an old man who fell off his bike, would he really go the lengths to save yohan who has shown him time and time again his sense of justice is different?

episode three

yohan reacts negatively to soohyun and within good reason when she questions where gaon is. he turns away because for him, the conversation is over, but for her, it’s not. to get his attention, she grabs him when he’s not paying attention, and of course he has a very adverse reaction. at this point, it can be chalked up to disrespect given the fact that he’s a head judge and she’s just a mere cop, but hindsight is 20/20. he does throw her arm off by flicking out his arm. but instead of berating her, he just tells her to catch the culprits who harmed gaon and leaves it at that.

and then of course, everyone’s favorite scene and rightfully so. yohan caring for gaon? very sexy of him. gaon is injured, poses no threat, and as i said above about yohan finding some amount of loyalty in gaon means his physical boundaries aren’t jeopardized. and for that, we get these wonderful scenes of yohan helping gaon as he heals.

and then scenes of him messing around with gaon by hitting him. truth be told, i wonder if this was something him and isaac did as young kids. anyone with siblings know how that goes. fake picking on each other? fake bickering? yeah.

and then it slowly, but surely, it’s revealed that yohan didn’t have the same upbringing as isaac did. our first instance that something at home wasn’t right wasn’t just the conversation with ms. ji and gaon. it’s the flashback with yohan reading in his room when the door opens. he hastily pretends he’s asleep, and you can see he’s visibly shaking and breathing roughly until he realizes it’s isaac who’s there to give him books.

and that’s also when we get our first glance of what kind of abuse yohan suffered from at the hands of his father. it’s clear this isn’t the only incident, and there’s been many times that isaac wasn’t around to help defend him.

it’s also very clear in how yohan acts when he’s terrified and that his abuse has gone on long enough to be a routine pattern in the house. any time he hears heavy footsteps or thinks his father is around, he visibly shakes and gets panicky.

episode four

i include this scene because it’s been noted that a lot of books yohan reads are about humans, human nature, animals, animalistic tendencies, and he says random shit like this that directly points to what he thinks about humanity and humans themselves. we notice this most prominently at the dinner with gaon and jinjoo earlier on when he describes that he likes the feel of the chew and that he cannot taste. he always mentions hunting and prey, and i think this is one of those very clear instances where he actually reveals to gaon what he truly, truly thinks; no gimmicks. this also comes into play later on in ep 6 when elijah is worried about him being out all night. yohan clearly doesn’t trust people at all. he understands their intentions, their motives and how much pain they can cause other people for their own profit and their own gain. it makes sense that he wouldn’t leave his house, especially if he has a strong sense of loyalty to isaac (even after all these years) and caring for elijah.

this is also one of the very direct moments that yohan doesn’t understand family dynamics. when it comes to people, it’s a giant chess game. not only that, later on in the episode when they’re in the car and yohan talks about how people, no matter what, are always the same in front of greed, yohan is cynical, and he expects the bad every single time.

what he reads and the way he words things (here and the discussion of him being a monster, for example) is clearly an indication that he doesn’t trust; that he cannot trust, nor does he want to at this point. yohan doesn’t understand the concept of kindness being given freely (ep 7 when he berates elijah for being used by gaon, telling her she falls for kindness every time). and yet, later on in eps, it’s clear when he’s around the right people and the right mindset (uh, gaon?? lol), he’s constantly putting up a front.

after all in ep 7 when he tells gaon that confidence is key, it literally gives him away not just in the courtroom but in his personal life. there’s a reason he looks softer at home than when he’s not there (the hairstyle changes and clothing).

basically what i’m getting at is this behavior can be seen as a defense mechanism because of his abuse.

then it’s another gala event with gaon and yohan this time. another lovely favorite where yohan helps him get dressed and then proceeds to drag him around and safe him from the lion’s den.

tbh i dont even need to include these, but i’m doing it for the indulgence.

yohan does sorta physically throw gaon as well during the rich people party, but that’s mainly to get him to shut up because he’s trying to show gaon the truth at hand and how all of it’s pretty much a farce.

later on in the episode is when we first have gaon truly attacking yohan verbally, and that’s when yohan snaps. it’s clear that isaac is a trigger for yohan, especially from someone who speaks out of line on something they know nothing about. gaon, truth be told, had a stupid moment confronting yohan the way he did. i don’t know who waltzes up to a proposed murderer and just asks them, lmao.

but here’s the thing, thus far, gaon has not entirely posed a threat to yohan. whether that’s from yohan planting gaon and guiding him exactly where he wants him or gaon just not being as thorough as yohan would like, and he’s trying to tap into that talent, is anyone’s guess. but as i said above, the one thing yohan protects is the things he does care about the most, and he tries to talk himself out of his own feelings. he constantly compares himself to an animal (again, dinner scene with gaon and jinjoo) to justify his actions, and to possibly not feel anything; because that’s easier, isn’t it? not feeling. so on top of gaon calling him a monster and a killer, confronted with the possibility about being a villain in his own brother’s story, obviously sets him off. he beats down his emotions until he’s confronted with it - and this is what gaon also meant in ep 6 about how it’s ridiculous that yohan calls himself a monster over a victim because yohan can’t even see himself in that light. not because he truly believes victims are weak necessarily, but i wonder how much he realizes that what happened to him wasn’t his fault.

to me, and as i just said, yohan convinces himself he’s a monster to make it easier for himself to belief his actions (ep 5 telling gaon some humans are born monsters in relation to himself). it’s not that he inherently thinks he’s wrong, but i think his guidance for what’s right and wrong was misconstrued without a parent figure in his life, especially if he’d read crime and law books as the focus. yohan’s actions, at least quite a bit of them are, are based on a gut feeling of right and wrong. when you think about it and your own sense of justice, how would that differ without the checks and balances in place? what punishment do you think fits the crime if we weren’t bound by written law? yohan thinks any action to protect those he loves is, more or less, justifiable because it’s a means to an end. it’s making a worng right again.

i don’t think yohan is a monster. i think his feelings, and what he knows is love, is misconstrued in terms of how to express it. we see this in episode 7 with his and elijah’s conversation where she’s just trying to be a teen, but his version of love is protecting her without, once again, understanding family dynamics and the pain points of growing up, the learning she has to do on her own. yohan might technically be right; similar to being book-smart but not necessarily street smart. his theory of telling Elijah that she’s soft for kindness and being used was true, but his delivery and the idea that that’s how humans develop doesn’t work. he’s telling her text-book rules, but people don’t live through books. they live through real life. yohan reads to get a sense of fulfillment and to learn. he’s learned his way into adulthood, but that’s not normal.

so uh anyway, back to this familiar scene:

because we don’t know the actual story of isaac’s death, it’s hard to say what role yohan played in his death, but i don’t know that i believe he was the one who did it. the entirety of the devil judge is relying on unreliable narration, so it’s difficult to gauge (for now since we’re on ep 7) how this will turn out and what happened, but to me, it really comes across as yohan upset over the insinuation that he could be the one to cause the death of the one person he loved the most. plus, i think it says a lot that he cares/loves elijah, and she was part of isaac. gaon crossed a thine line. yohan essentially welcomed him in, and this is gaon toeing it. we can also look at this is not gaon being an outsider to their family, but now has become part of the family, and so it’s easier for yohan to be ‘abusive,’ if you will, rather than the perspective of gaon still on the sidelines and pushing too far. by this i mean, the accusations made by gaon threatens their formulating family dynamics.

and once again, the only person he ever actually reaches out for is isaac.

and then we have the aftermath of yohan’s nightmare, where he’s still caught in the dream as gaon comes in, and refuses to be touched after, even if gaon’s intention is to see if he’s okay. yohan makes it very clear to gaon not to touch him, and that’s when elijah comes in with a very accusatory ‘what are you two doing?’ in this moment, yohan is not just vulnerable, but he’s emotionally sensitive. i’ve no doubt he’s still dealing with a form of sensory overload from his dream.

and then, i don’t know that this was necessary? was it necessary?

the following set of scenes are the ones where gaon tells him he’s a victim and he hasn’t confronted his own emotions about his abuse. i think yohan realizes gaon is right to some degree, but it is convoluted, and it’s not so simple to face your own traumas. however, he does for a moment after gaon leaves, remember another instance of abuse he couldn’t stop but wishes he could, wishing a parental figure of sorts would’ve come in to save him like his older self is trying to save the kid version if only he could turn back time, if only he had the power to do what he wish someone else had done for him.

and then the kidnapping scene is just. fucked up in and of itself. it actually makes my skin crawl. not because sunah is scary necessarily, but the lack of autonomy yohan has - especially when we find out later more of sunah’s story. to do something like this after what she’s suffered through makes this scene even more disturbing.

you can see the moment yohan hears heels when sunah (not knowing it’s her yet) comes in. literally the minute he knows someone’s headed his way, he checks the fuck out. his whole face goes slack, especially when sunah reveals herself. and when she’s kissing him? blank as fuck, too. it’s the most dead-eyed stare i think we’ve seen from him.

episode six

so, we get this gem from elijah that i’d like to touch on later. it’s more speculation and just me running through ideas more than it is canon fact. but what it does let us know is that yohan doesn’t seek people out. he prefers to be at home and staying there.

after we get the maid story, and we do get yohan touching sunah’s cheek, and in some fucked up twisted way, this is his way of protecting one of the things isaac cherishes the most. the point of the gesture isn’t just intimidation but serves as an act of intent, of protection in the only way yohan knows how. he’s safeguarding isaac. you can tell he doesn’t actually like sunah at all as a kid, but uses that to his advantage. imagine yohan learning violence for ‘good’ things when his father used violence for ‘bad’ things. what a twisted way of looking at it? and the irony at hand.

additionally, the main reason i’ve included so many varying scenes of yohan touching people isn’t to establish that he’s okay with being touched given how many scenes there are of him randomly shaking people’s hand or touching them. it’s all about context and what the intent is for. most often than not, really way more often than not, yohan only reaches out for people when it’s socially acceptable to do so and because it’s manners. and yet, even in some of those cases, there is still intent behind the gesture.

the moments he acts out the most are when he’s not in front of an audience, when he’s more likely to be alone with his thoughts and is exceptionally more vulnerable to his own triggers.

and i think the scene after he’s back at his house from the kidnapping is noteworthy because it doesn’t just feel like he’s shaking off the effects of the drugs he was given. he seems to visibly trying to compose himself of the mental and physical play he just had to deal with.

the next scene is yohan angry with gaon for taking elijah out. which really, he does have every right to be angry, and one thing i didn’t note above during the ‘you killed your brother’ choke out scene before is that when yohan is backed into any kind of corner, he reacts like a caged animal.

because we’ve already established the scenes with his abuse, his father took his anger physically out on yohan. so how else was yohan supposed have developed the tools to express it? it’s easy to hurt the things you love the most; it’s easy to abuse the ones you know, and between gaon and himself, they both have an unhealthy dynamic because gaon is old enough, strong enough to take whatever yohan gives him. gaon is not family and so there’s still that clear divide and a distinction as to why he lays a hand on gaon but not elijah, for example. gaon can still pose a threat. elijah is family. then again, it can also be said that maybe yohan considers gaon family, and gaon betrayed elijah and therefore yohan, and you don’t do that. not with yohan’s understanding of family dynamics.

but with that said, it begs the question why yohan keeps gaon around, and i think some of that has to do with the fact that gaon surprises yohan. he might’ve set his sights on him long before he became an associate judge or maybe he took interest after gaon was chosen for the role (this is still up in the air), but deep down, yohan sees something in gaon despite his snooping, despite his righteousness. it could be the potential; it could be the fact that gaon could be better than yohan if he just allowed himself to loosen the ropes he’s tied himself with when it comes to the court of law and the justice system.

but here’s the thing that idk a lot of people have really picked up on. gaon is one side of the same coin underneath it all. he’s also provoked yohan with physicality when yohan brought up details about soohyun.

to be fair, we can say that yohan evokes a different type of anger in gaon, one that he hasn’t tapped into for years that allows him to open up to that more physical side of himself he learned to put behind him. gaon doesn’t really come across as the physically threatening type, but yohan does push his buttons and vice versa.

but then, of course, we have the big fight scene where gaon goes in on the attack, and that’s when yohan makes his threat not to attack him ever again. it’d be easy to say he says it based on the merit of him not actually attacking soohyun, but seriously speaking, the intent feels much more than that. more along the lines of asking gaon not to provoke him without warning again because next time might be bad. most of their other fights, especially the one above,have been in the midst of conversation. this time, it’s from a place of complete surprise, and you can tell yohan goes on the defensive when his first instinct is to not just throw gaon back but raise his fist to strike.

episode seven

the only physical contact yohan has with anyone is the president, and that’s when he turns on the live video of the two of them, and it’s clearly intended to be a lowkey threat. he keeps pulling the president back into his side to be on the live camera after the dude tried to come after yohan. i do think it’s hilarious that yohan manipulated the situation with a live component just as the president and the rest of the rich people thought they could turn a live court show into manipulating the public.

and then, of course, the jail scene. the part where he makes gaon stay. he also touches gaon’s shoulder later just before they leave.

episode eight

the most prominent scene in this ep is certainly the scene where sunah comes onto yohan, and you can tell she did it to get under his skin in some way. of course, he’s smart and knows she’s up to something, but i think it’s so interesting how he wraps his fists around hers, almost as if to tame her and prevent her from trying to further put her hands on him.

we also know yohan has no issue with using physical force regardless of who it is (obviously, his dialogue in this scene, too) when he feels caged or trapped. his intention is also to retrieve isaac’s necklace, and i like how he uses literally anything to his advantage. meaning, he’ll use physical touch, his mentality, etc to get what he wants or needs, even if it is marginally uncomfortable to some degree.

and i think that also says alot about him is that he’s able to displace what makes him uncomfortable in moments like this to achieve an end goal.

additional thoughts

i know this isn’t really common with a lot of the characters in general, and could be chalked up to a cultural component, but yohan’s definitely not a hugger.

the other thing i wanted to note is yohan’s seemingly adherence to touch unless it’s for good reason in relation to sex. the main reason i bring it up is because i’ve seen it discussed a bit, especially in regard to elijah’s comment about him not staying out overnight since the fire. there are a few plausible scenarios, maybe more, but for the sake of this, we’ll go for these.

yohan has had past relationships/experience or will in future episodes

day flings

he’s never had an interest in anyone before given his upbringing and abuse and therefore never sought out sex

inexperience could be from lack of interest in other people and sex itself

he’s never found anyone to really connect with and trust in such a way and has avoided it for that reason

and i bring this up mainly because i think it could be something to explore in fanon, but also because i’m kind of annoyed with how people have been talking about yohan being a virgin. i’m not quite sure what the joke is, but lack of sexual experience does not mean naive or that he doesn’t have a sense of humor when that’s clearly far from the truth:

i don’t know that people find it unbelievable because of his age, because of characterization of yohan being more dominant, but none of these things negate this being an option. i think it’s perfectly plausible of a situation (from what we know right now), and truthfully, it would make a whole lot of sense. i just don’t get the jokes about it that i’ve been seeing online (twitter) when there isn’t a mutual exclusiveness to any of it whatsoever.

yohan already has a hard time connecting with people, and i can imagine that level of physicality could be difficult. clearly he knows how to use a version of it to get what he wants. i’ve no doubt he’s used his charms in situations where he’s needed to. yohan knows he has that going for him, at the very least. but sexual appeal and jokes doesn’t mean having a body count any more than it could indicate there being one.

lastly, i also want to pull these paragraphs from @b612sunsets​‘s post because i think they do a much better job than i ever could of explaining, short and sweet, a fundamental part of yohan’s characterization, and mainly what i was trying to get at with this long ass post.

“There's two things we already know about Yohan from the last 6 episodes: he hates being touched when he doesn't see it coming and doesn't have control over it because of the abuse he suffered (I assume). To name a few: Soohyun grabbing his elbow to stop him from leaving and get answers about Gaon, the beggar that touched him while he searched for the fireman, Gaon after punching him and Yohan clearly telling him to NEVER do it again. The impression it gave to us is that if there's a next time he might not be able to stop his instinctive reaction of defending himself and using violence back (something worse than choking or pushing Gaon and he doesn't want to do that with him).

“Unless it's a friendly/small/slow touch like in the breakfast scene when Gaon touches his arm when he gets up to offer them some fruits. When he had the nightmare with Isaac, his walls were up high so even if he could see Gaon's touch coming and it was friendly, he decided to stop it because he was too defensive and sensible to accept the gesture (it would be the first time Gaon started physical contact with him too, he wouldn't be ready for that in such a state).

“The second thing is that Yohan hates when people take what is his or mess with what is important to him. Again, to name a few: Sunah with the necklace when she was a maid, the fireman with Isaac's watch (Yohan made them fall from high places, not caring if they died or not), the guy that fabricated the small bombs that hurt Gaon (Yohan would have burnt his face if "K" hadn't stopped him) and Gaon taking Elijah out of the house to Soohyun without previous notice (a cop and someone he doesn't trust).”

yohan has a very, very large sense of self-preservation for himself and for those he cares about. it’s in his intention, actions, facial expressions, movements, the way he interacts with people. i find it fascinating how calculating he can be, but at home, he’s at his most vulnerable and almost socially unaware and awkward.

yohan is a bit of an irony. he understands people from an action-oriented, instinctual level, but he doesn’t necessarily understand their thoughts and emotions in the waves of nuances that people live through on the daily. like, he gets it to an extent and on a practical level, but he himself is a square trying to fit into a circle - he doesn’t always understand it for himself and has to actively work on social cues so as not to come across as the devil child he was once painted to be.

and let it not be unsaid, yohan really will go to the ends of the earth for family, even if it means stepping out of his comfort zone.

and so anyway, i doubt this offered any real insight, but i think this is my way of breaking all of this down for myself. so, tada!!! lmao

#x #the devil judge #the devil judge meta #* #*the devil judge

[teresa-moyocoyotzin]

QOTS 5.09 “I Love You” Scenes Meta

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR 5.09 OF QUEEN OF THE SOUTH ABOUND

Okay this is basically just me trying to place James and Teresa’s ILY scenes within the larger context of their relationship and other kisses, and analyzing their respective reactions!

(Also just a disclaimer that obviously this is just one fan’s interpretation, there’s no right or wrong here! This is just how I see it and hopefully it’ll connect w some of y’alls insight too!)

Oh boy okay so I’m just gonna do this in the style of my old Bolivia visions meta b/c I think the best in bullet point form, so we’re just gonna go thru the scenes like super in depth, w/ way more detail than necessary. Think of it as a close reading, but instead of a piece of writing, it’s a tv show, and it has no sources except My Opinions lol

I’m still planning to actually write out my reactions to the whole episode when I re-watch it, but I can’t stop picking apart the I Love You scenes b/c honestly there’s so much going on there! Come on y’all this has been building since the second episode of this show there’s a lot to unpack here. I’m mostly focusing on how these kisses are vastly different from any of their other kisses IMO and how that affects the love confessions!

THIS IS GONNA BE UNNECESSARILY LONG AND NOT VERY ORGANIZED, BE WARNED

Let’s start when James says “You wouldn’t let me do it, so why should I let you?” shall we? B/c THIS MOMENT

SO as others have pointed out, this line really feels like a love confession in and of itself, and I’m sure if they hadn’t confessed their feelings in the same scene we would all be obsessing about it. I low-key am anyways..

Sure they’ve acknowledged that they do things to protect each other etc. etc. but this is really James making sure that she knows that he knows that SHE knows that they both feel the same way, and he’s not dancing around it anymore, not when she’s throwing herself into danger yet again. Teresa doesn’t have an answer, but it does make something click in her brain. No matter what moral code she’s following these days, if James was walking into a death trap like that she wouldn’t want him to go and would try to stop him. And right now, he’s feeling the same thing for her, he knows that she cares as much about him as he cares about her and that it’s a LOT, and he’s telling it straight to her face.

When she kisses him, I think it’s an acknowledgment of that, as well as her sort of trying to return the sentiment. And also, she doesn’t have a good answer to his question and wants to kiss him so she does!! James is clearly surprised by the kiss, as evident by his posture and slowly relaxing into the kiss. But THEN

After James’ brain catches up, he kisses her again, and even tho it’s short it looks to me like a pretty powerful, strong kiss!!?? (hard to tell b/c as usual…. they filmed it in a black hole..) and to me, it reads like he really let all his true feelings come through in that kiss POSSIBLY FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER

Now, lemme explain. Their first kiss in 3.05 was undeniably full of feelings and emotions, and I’m sure that night was super passionate and full of love! However, knowing what we know now about how everything plays out, I don’t think they were really at the point of saying ILY yet. Even if they did both love each other then, and I think they did, they had a lot of trust issues and abandonment issues to work through first. And as we all know, after that night everything goes to shit and they go about 12 steps backwards. My main point here is that I think both James and Teresa are still feeling generally unsure about each other’s feelings during their first kiss. This is also true for.. literally all of their kisses? Until now. Because in 3.09, they’re just super horny from taking over Phoenix but Teresa is just barely getting over Guero’s death in that episode.. I think that kiss was more about them feeling like the King and Queen of phoenix and less about their Actual Feelings (just imo obviously). And then they kiss after Teresa gets back form Bolivia but Teresa is suspecting him then and he’s certainly feeling her hesitation so no big feelings in that kiss either. Then of course there’s the goodbye kiss at the end of s3, and yes in that one I do think they were both letting their true feelings show in their kiss but they were both misinterpreting the other’s feelings and both were in a way lying to the other in that scene. James about his reason for leaving, and Teresa about her true reasons for wanting him to stay. And THEN, the kiss at the beginning of s5 is very much a “I’m happy you’re back, I want to be with you, but we can’t” kind of kiss, and again, there were feelings there but they were both still holding something back, and still not on the same page about what they wanted and were working towards. But in this kiss, they are on the same page , working toward the same thing, which is to get themselves OUT, together. Ever since they made that decision, there is an implicit agreement between them that they’re getting out together, and I think they both know that they want to be together if they make it out. And they both are desperate to have the other know their feelings before any potential deaths. However, they don’t really KNOW that they’re on the same page until that KISS.

SO ALL THIS TO SAY that in my eyes, the main reason Teresa’s so shocked is that this is the first time that James didn’t hold ANY of his love for her back when he kissed her, and she FELT IT babeyy. Teresa initiates this kiss to show him her true feelings, which takes him bit by surprise, but then he returns the feelings Full Force which takes Teresa totally by surprise.

I mean just look at her face after they part, before he says ILY. She looks shocked and confused, almost a little angry? I don’t think it’s really anger though, so much as it is being taken aback by the emotions that James is laying all out on the table for her to clearly see. Her face here is actually what drove me to write this meta, because at first I was so confused as to why she looked so shook up after the first kiss, cuz like girl U INITIATED IT?? I think part of it is that Teresa was a bit taken aback by the strength of her own feelings in that moments and the urge to kiss him despite them not being out of the business yet. She’s realized that if she’s gonna die tomorrow, she wants to kiss James first, and she wants that like, really bad. And also she loves him and was overcome w the urge to show him. But mainly, I really don’t think she expected to be met w/ such strong love from James’ kiss, because all the other times, he had been holding back his feelings.

James’ face after the kiss totally plays into this theory for me - he looks like he just got CAUGHT. She’s looking at him like what the Fuck was that!!! And he’s like oh SHit now I just gotta say it. The way he looks at her and shakes his head a little like, wow I’m really about to say it. I think it’s been on the tip of his tongue all episode, but he realized he just totally showed his hand with that kiss and there’s no going back now.

But omg you guys his face when he says it just SENDS ME TO THE FLOOR his little smile???? Like he’s thinking “how did we end up here? am I really about to tell Teresa I love her? YEP”

I don’t think she had any intention of telling him her feelings so outright yet, to me it totally makes sense that he tells her first. At the beginning of the season, Teresa made it clear that she does want to be with James, but she felt restricted by their life. So, James has spent the past season coming to terms with a) that Teresa still wants to be with him if they can get out of the business, b) that she’s changed a lot and no longer follows her old moral code, and c) that he still loves her even if she’s not entirely the same person he fell in love with originally.

Meanwhile Teresa came to terms w/ the fact that she wanted to be w/ him early in the season but pushed that Right down after indulging in 1 kiss (which I think was also meant to be a reassurance that she did want to be with him) but spent the rest of the season trying to grow her business, which in her mind would forever keep her from being able to be with James. So even if she acknowledged her feelings, she was not letting herself dwell on them. James, however… oh boy has he been dwelling. Especially since Dumas so kindly pointed his feelings out to him lol. So I think Teresa’s strong feelings for James have been building under the surface but she wasn’t allowing herself to acknowledge them at all, and therefore I think she kind of surprised herself a bit by kissing him, was then even more surprised by how strongly her feelings were showing, and then James hits her with a Big Feelings kiss and then an I Love You??? Oh boy

Taking this into account it totally makes sense that she looks super shocked after James tells her, even if they both have ~known~ for a long time. Y’know?

Okay so then there’s the sex scene which I LOVED omg, like absolutely zero complaints, super hot, exactly what they and we deserved. I’m not gonna get into it b/c I think it speaks for itself, but like, would happily read a meta about it if someone wrote it 👀

Anyways I think the morning after, when Teresa is laying in bed admiring James, is when Teresa is really digesting all of these feelings and the fact of them being out in the open, and she’s deciding that she needs to tell James she loves him, like ASAP. She is also at the same time having to accept that she’s going on a super dangerous mission today that she night not come back from, and if she does come back from it, they’re gonna have to still find a way Out. All in all, safe to say she’s got a lot going on in her mind, but it’s clear by her gazing at him that James is a big factor in all of it.

I love the next scene so much omg

They’ve gotten ready for the day and James is once again pulling tricks out of his bag to ensure her safety, and she’s just.. staring at him. My personal headcanon here is that Teresa’s intuition was telling her that a) the phonegun was gonna be irrelevant, and b) that she had about 30 seconds before her phone rang and she had to leave for potential death. Therefore it just blocked out literally everything but James and needing to tell him that she loved him. The moment I love the most is actually when James says “Here, try it” and he steps closer and she sort of jolts like they’re physically connected. The first time I saw the scene I literally gasped from that one step he takes because they just had this electric pull between them that was so obvious that I literally felt it. The chemistry!!!!

She’s just so focused on him in that moment and that whole scene, and the way she whispers “I love you” likes she just HAS to say it, she has to make sure he KNOWS she loves him before she runs off to risk her life. And the fact that it happens while James is actively trying to set her up for protection??? POETIC CINEMA I tell you. Kudos to Alice for that because apparently it was her idea and it’s my FAVE

Another thing that I really don’t know how to interpret but I find interesting from a cinematic point of view: James and Teresa are literally left in the dark during James’ love confession. It’s at night, and there is NO DAMN LIGHT AT ALL ON THEIR FACES (I bet the gif makers really appreciated that one huh…) so we can’t even see their reactions very well. Meanwhile, when Teresa confesses her feelings, it’s super brightly lit, in a white room, she’s wearing white, we can see all of the emotions on their faces. IDK what this is meant to symbolize exactly, so if anyone has thoughts PLEASE share them.

James seems a little in shock after, I think he really didn’t expect her to say it, even if he assumed she felt the same. And I think he was okay w/ that and had accepted it, knowing it would be really hard for her to say. After all, once she acknowledges it, it’s that much more painful if they have to say goodbye…

I think the way she says it perfectly captures how hard it is for her to get the words out, even if she feels an overwhelming urge to say them and make sure he knows. She seems very sure of her feelings, and I don’t think she hesitated to tell him at all, but it’s still a big step, and presumably the last person she said ILY to, in this context, was Guero. And his death destroyed her, so ofc she’s be scared to admit that she’s in love and put herself at the risk of losing it again. God Alice did such a good job w/ that line it really gets me every time. So sure, and soft, but with no room for doubt. Like she knows he doesn’t expect her to say it, but she can’t bear to let him think she doesn’t love him back. And it’s so simple too, like she’s saying “of COURSE I love you, how could you think I don’t?” AHHHH

And just the way she stares at him the whole time like she’s just waiting for him to stop talking so she can say it, and while she waits she’s perfectly happy to ignore the situation at hand and think about how she loves him and he loves her and also probably how good he FUCKS cuz like……………y’all saw his hand goin’ down there after he flips her over right 👀 okay ANYWAYS

So she finally tells him!!!!!! That she loves him!!! And kisses him!! Just to really drive the point home. And because, again, I think something was telling Teresa to kiss her man and tell him she loves him because she was about to get a call from Kostya’s men any second.

I really think James’ sort of blank look after she tells him is just him being in shock that she actually said it. I would have loved to know what he would have said after that, but alas.

That final shot before the phone rings though ❤️ their foreheads together, her hand on his heart and his hand on her hand, also the way that visually her arm (clothed in white) is across his body (clothed in black/gray) and vice versa w/ his arm is across her body, sort of continuing the sort of yin-yang theme they have going this season, I just think is a cool touch on the behalf of whoever choreographed/directed the scene.

I also interpret it as a very grounding moment for both of them, rooted in physical touch but not sexual in any way, just comforting. They finally can completely take comfort in each other because their feelings are out in the open and they’re completely connected. AGH they really have me in a chokehold lol

Anyways this is so fucking long and rambly, I don’t know if it makes sense but I did my best to proofread, I’m so sorry but thank you for reading if you’ve made it all the way here, or like even if you made it thru 1/16 of it lol I APPRECIATE YOU

I’m not sure what the main point is here, but anyways I think the actors, writers, directors, etc. did an amazing job w/ their I Love You scenes and I’m personally feeling v satisfied w/ it!

#i have no idea if i'm even saying anything new here but somehow i could not rest until i wrote it down lol so here ya go #qots meta #queen of the south meta #queen of the south #qots #jeresa #jeresa meta #qots spoilers #queen of the south spoilers #jeresa spoilers

[cosmicjoke]

Well, there’s a book and a half to say about chapter 55 and 56 of Attack on Titan!  I’ll focus on 56, because the whole interaction between Levi and Historia, and that entire scene, is just packed full of so many important details.

 The first thing I picked up on, again, is how Levi takes the time to thank Nifa for riding all night to deliver them Erwin’s instructions.  It seems like a small moment, but Levi ALWAYS does this, and I feel like it’s really important to point out.  He’s the one character who consistently makes the effort to show his appreciation and gratitude towards others for doing a good job, or giving their best effort.  Just telling someone thank you like that can make a world of difference to them, especially when you’re dealing with a world of such desperation and extremity as the world of AoT.  So I just thought that was an important moment to note.

Another big deal in this chapter, I think, was Levi’s further interaction with Dimo Reeves, and the continued respect he shows the man.  Dimo says that him and his men will leave the room so that Levi can discuss the plan with his squad, but Levi insists that Dimo and his men stay, restating that that’s how their agreement works, that they don’t keep secrets from each other, and telling Dimo that he trusts him.  He reiterates this again when Dimo tries a second time to leave.  It speaks volumes about what kind of person Levi is, about his honesty and integrity as a person, that he’s treating Dimo and his men as equals, and including them in on the plan, and not just that, but the entirety of the situation, willing to reveal to them everything the SC knows.  He isn’t treating them as tools in Erwin’s plan, he’s treating them as partners, as people, and showing them respect by making them privy to everything that they’re getting into.  He’s showing Dimo complete trust here, when just a few days earlier they’d been on opposite sides.  Levi even takes the time to welcome Flegel, and once again reaffirm his trust in the Reeves Company.  I find this remarkable, this kind of respect and regard, and, really, this kind of deep humanity we see from Levi.  He treats Dimo and his son and his men with dignity, which is something nobody else has done for any of them in a long time, it seems.

Of course, this leads into the big scene between Levi and Historia.  I read a brilliant meta on this recently, where the writer pointed out that it’s significant that this scene takes place directly on the heels of Hange and Levi torturing Sannes for information on the Reiss family, because that experience directly influences Levi’s violent reaction and anger towards Historia here, and also explains why it is Levi forgot to tell his squad about who Historia really is, and the almost embarrassed look on his face when he realizes this.  Levi is still obviously bothered by what both he and Hange did to Sannes, enough so that he becomes distracted and forgot to reveal an obviously vital piece of information.  

What’s really interesting about this scene though is Levi’s reaction when Historia, initially, refuses to become Queen, insisting that there’s no way she can, insisting that she isn’t “fit”.  Levi gets about as pissed as we’ve seen him up to this point at this, and actually, physically attacks Historia by lifting her off the ground.  What’s interesting is Levi’s reasoning behind his anger.  Historia is being horribly timid and indecisive here, claiming she can’t be queen because she isn’t fit, essentially saying because she isn’t good enough.  This kind of timid shirking of responsibility, in the face of what Levi’s just had to do to get the information needed to perform a successful coup, would be pretty maddening.  He’s just had to dirty his hands by torturing a man, and here Historia is, flatly refusing to step up and make that experience mean anything.  We know how Levi can’t bear to let people sacrifice their lives for no reason.  I think the same applies here.  Levi can’t bear to have engaged in something as ugly and awful as torturing a man for information, with nothing to show for it in the end, with nothing gained for the effort.  Historia’s behavior here must seem to Levi very self-indulgent.  He goes into a long speech after he drops her, asking his squad members, after they yell at him for going too far, what all of them will be doing tomorrow.  Asking them if they think they’ll have food on their table, or if they’ll get a good nights sleep, or if the people around them will still be there.  He then tells them he never thinks so.  

Levi is essentially telling his squad that because of the world they live in, nothing is guaranteed, and nothing can be taken for granted, and the kind of fear they all live with of never knowing is something he wants desperately to rid the world of.  This life of being trapped and stuck and always living in fear and uncertainty.  There’s nothing worse than that.  He talks about being willing to be the one to do the dirty work, to get his hands dirty, in order to prevent anyone else from having to do the same, to have to carry the burden of that, and in order for the nightmare of their desperate existence to finally come to an end, to save everyone from having to sit there and worry if they’ll be able to eat the next day, or if their friends will still be alive.  Levi calls himself abnormal here, and says it’s probably because he’s seen so many abnormal things, but he’s willing to be that, willing to be the freak or the “bad guy” if it means no one else has to deal with it, has to go through such horrible experiences of loss and pain and guilt.   This, again, is an awesome example of Levi’s selflessness.  He knows everyone in that room is looking at him with revulsion and anger, that they think he’s being a terrible person and cruel.  But he doesn’t care.  He doesn’t care what they think of him in that moment, because the lives of so many other people are at stake, and he knows if Historia refuses to take on her role as Queen, so many more are going to die.  This coup is happening, regardless, because the standing Monarchy has proven itself unwilling to put the lives of the people ahead of its own interests, and without a peaceful transition of power to overthrow a corrupt government, more lives will be lost.  In the face of that, Historia’s meekness and uncertainty is glaringly petty and unimportant.  

I also think Levi is, again, pulling from his own experiences growing up, the poverty of living in the Underground and having nothing.  Being on the fringes of society and abandoned and uncared for by a ruling government, left to starve and rot beneath a thriving, wealthy capital.  Dimo later defends Levi when his son starts talking smack about him, and remarks that a man like Levi, who is awkward but kind, must have come from absolutely nothing.  He defends Levi to Historia too, telling her he might be scary, but he’s not a bad guy.  He calls Levi kind, even after what happened with Historia.  Because he understood Levi’s violence here, when no one else really seemed to.  He understood that it was coming from a man who had to fight all his life just to survive from one day to the next, never having any certainty in what tomorrow would bring.  He understood that Levi’s compassion towards the downtrodden, like the people of Trost now are, is coming from a place of personal experience, and so he knew Levi would keep his word to help them, even though he didn’t have to and it gained him nothing.  Because Dimo perceives that Levi knows what it is to have “absolutely nothing”, he then sees the genuineness of Levi’s compassion and the inherent kindness in him, and his sincere generosity and thoughtfulness, underneath his brusque and rude manner.  When Levi asks his squad if they think they’ll have food to eat the next day, or if they’ll sleep well, I think he must be remembering his life in the Underground, when even simple, basic staples of living like that were never a sure thing.  

Levi’s frustration and anger with Historia here is because he knows there isn’t any time for that kind of self-involved mindset.  Levi’s made sacrifices to get them to this point, as has Hange, as has the entirety of the SC, and Historia is threatening to render all of those sacrifices moot and meaningless because she’s... insecure.  Again, Levi can’t bear meaningless sacrifice.  So he gets incredibly pissed, and because, as always, Levi has so much trouble expressing himself through words, this is how he goes about trying to make Historia understand the importance of her part in this, how vital it is to so many other people’s lives that she step up and become Queen.  

It’s interesting too that this outburst on Levi’s part comes right after he expresses and shows so much trust and respect towards Dimo and his men, because it gives us such a clear picture into how Levi treats people with so much thoughtfulness and understanding for their position, but how he often struggles to express those things in words.  That, too, speaks the the kind of life Levi had growing up.  A world where social niceties and politeness were nonexistent.  Levi has such a pure, good heart, but he has no refinement or charm, and he’s no good at talking to people.  That inability to make himself clear or understood also leads to frustrated and angry outbursts like this, I think.  He wants Historia to understand, to realize how she herself is being foolishly selfish by letting her insecurity keep her from doing the right thing, but he doesn’t know how to make her see it, so he picks her up and yells at her.  

Anyway, that’s what I’ve got for these two chapters!  

Oh, and also on a side note, Armin was creepy as hell in chapter 55, lol.  Armin is an interesting character, because he seems so timid and nice, but he’s actually one of the most manipulative characters in the series.  Of course he’s one of the few that understood early on that in order to gain something, you have to be willing to make sacrifices too.  But his manipulativeness is a trait of his that sticks out pretty prominently at times, and so I always find it strange when people talk about what a sweet or caring person he is.  I do think Armin cares about his friends and comrades a lot, for sure, but he’s also a little scary in his deviousness, in how good he is at knowing how to get people to do what he wants.  

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #Levi Ackerman

[sage-nebula]

Ah... not to be that person but if you continuously play a no-mercy route, Chara urges you to seek a new path. They're with you in the pacifist route, too. You save them in Asriel's fight. They didn't abuse Asriel - They were both 9, 10, and doing something scary. Chara is a kid who's done some wrong things but they're not a killer unless you make them one.

I really hate to burst your bubble, but you did not say a single thing that is actually true in accordance with actual Undertale canon instead of fanon. I'll break it down piece by piece.

If you continuously play a genocide route Chara urges you to seek a new path.

Yes, but also no. Chara doesn't urge you to seek a different path; rather, they express confusion as to why you want to do this over and over again—and more specifically, why you have this "perverted sentimentality" for this world, why you care about it, why you want to keep it around. They outright state this if you refuse to destroy it after a second genocide run.

It is NOT the desire to murder that Chara doesn't understand. That they understand, because they have it too, and that made them think that you and they were similar at first. It is the desire to recreate the world that they don't understand. It's the refusal to destroy the world after yet another genocide run that they don't understand. The world is empty. There is no one in it. Yet you want to keep it around. That's perverted sentimentality, in their eyes. That's what they can't understand. Chara doesn't "urge you to choose a new path" because they don't want to slaughter; they continue to encourage you to murder and urge you not to proceed if you don't meet quota on each and every subsequent genocide run:

But the fact that you keep recreating the world, and the fact that you try to refuse to destroy it (try, because they do it anyway) . . . that's what they don't get or approve of. 

(All above screenshots courtesy of NoChocolate.)

They're with you in the pacifist route, too.

It's a commonly held belief that they're the narrator in the pacifist route, yes, although they don't actually have any power there because no murders happen (/therefore no murders happen because Chara doesn’t have power to do murders themself, since they only get power to do murders themself after the player does murders first). As I said in the original post, the player has to initiate the genocide route and carry out most of the murders. Chara and the player are PARTNERS; Chara encourages the player and keeps track of their kill count, and only has enough power to kill on their own at the very end (when they kill Sans, Asgore, and Flowey). Chara wants the player to murder, is ready and raring to go if they're going to do it, but if the player doesn't meet quota at any point in the genocide route (or spares a boss etc), the route ends and Chara gives up on it. That the player has to give Chara power by carrying out most of the murders doesn't change the fact that Chara is very much on board while the murders are happening.

You save them in Asriel's fight.

Nope, that's Asriel you're saving. I know a lot of people got confused about this for some reason, but the "one more person you have to save" is Asriel, given that he's in the midst of an emotional breakdown during that fight. You save him, not the ghost of the kid who got him killed.

They didn't abuse Asriel - They were both 9, 10, and doing something scary.

I hate to break this to you, but kids abuse other kids all the time, though usually it's not called abuse. Usually it's called bullying. Even so, what Chara did to Asriel in the True Lab tapes carries all the hallmarks of emotional abuse. As a very quick run through off the top of my head:

— When Chara brings up how they and Asriel accidentally poisoned Asgore with the buttercups, Asriel mentions how scary it was, but also how Chara "laughed it off." Asriel adds that he should have laughed it off like Chara did, implying that he was far more upset but also that Chara has made him feel bad for being so upset, trivializing his feelings.

— Going along with this, at one point in the tapes (in fact I believe in that same conversation) Chara asks Asriel if he's crying. Asriel's reaction is, "N-No, I'm not crying! Big kids don't cry . . ." implying that Chara has shamed Asriel for crying before. Going along with this, Asriel at another point says, "I always was a crybaby, wasn't I, Chara?" implying Chara has called him a crybaby before. Shaming someone for crying / feeling bad (especially in the face of a traumatic incident like poisoning one's own father) and calling them names is emotional abuse.

— When Asriel tells Chara that he doesn't like the buttercup plan, Chara demands to know if Asriel is doubting them. We know, because Asriel says, "No! I'd never doubt you, Chara . . . never!" Instead of actually listening to Asriel and taking his feelings into account, Chara makes Asriel feel bad for having those feelings or thoughts at all and accuses Asriel of doubting them. This is emotional manipulation and abuse.

While these are only small glimpses given to us by the True Lab tapes, these are also the only glimpses given to us of their relationship, and every single one of them is an abusive behavior. The fact that these abusive behaviors culminated in their deaths, and that Asriel himself says that he wishes that he’d had a friend like Frisk when he was alive and that Chara wasn’t the greatest person further backs up that Chara abused Asriel by shaming and manipulating him into the buttercup plan. And as a final note on that, the “something scary” you’re referencing was entirely Chara’s idea, which they pushed Asriel into. It wasn’t like they suddenly found themselves in a scary situation; in fact, the only one who was actually scared was Asriel, and Chara is the one who made him feel bad about feeling that way.

For further reading on Chara’s abuse of Asriel, I really recommend this meta essay. It goes into heavy detail with referenced sources on abusive behaviors and the behaviors of abuse victims, and I really recommend it.

Chara is a kid who's done some wrong things but they're not a killer unless you make them one.

Chara is a child, and they’ve definitely done wrong things (abusing Asriel, attempting to slaughter a village of humans, later on murdering Sans, Asgore, and Flowey, and then destroying the world) — but they were a killer prior to their death, as Asriel tells us himself:

(Screenshot edit courtesy of NoChocolate.)

If you’ll recall, when Charasriel was seen carrying Chara’s dead body into the village of humans, the humans—understandably terrified and upset—attacked. Since Chara came from this village (and had a working brain), they had to have known that the sight of a humongous monster carrying a dead child would prompt the humans to attack. In other words, they picked that fight. They then wanted to use the power they had since fusing with Asriel to slaughter the village of humans. The only reason they weren’t able to commit any murders was because Asriel refused. So the idea that Chara only gained bloodlust because of the player’s actions is demonstrably false when Asriel’s words at the end of True Pacifist are taken into account. Chara always wanted to murder. Chara committed suicide with the intention of fusing with Asriel and then using that power to commit murder because they—again in Asriel’s words at the end of True Pacifist—hated humanity. It was Asriel’s refusal that made that plan fail, which Chara punishes him for by brutally murdering him at the end of the genocide route.

So all in all, you seem to be operating on a fanon idea of Chara, which is that Chara was an innocent child who was manipulated into what they did. In truth, the only innocent children that are manipulated / forced into murder in Undertale are Asriel (because his actions as Flowey directly stem from the emotional abuse that Chara doled out on him while alive / until his death) and Frisk (who is the one actually forced to do the stabbings throughout the genocide route). While Chara doesn’t have the power to murder before the very end of the genocide route (and only gain that power because you, the player, choose to start and continue that route and force Frisk into stabbing every monster you come across), they encourage and help you as much as they can until they have the power to take Frisk’s body for their own. The only thing they question is why you’d have any sentimental attachment to the world at all, but provided you don’t let that “perverted sentimentality” get in the way of erasing said world, Chara thinks you’re a great partner. 

(Screenshot courtesy of NoChocolate.)

#undertale #meta #long post for ts #chara #the player is not innocent at all #but neither is Chara #i don't know why people still believe in 2021 that it has to be either-or #when the answer is very obviously *both* #my best guess is that people are resistant to the idea that a child could be a humanity hating abusive murderer #and if we were talking about REAL children I would agree #(on the humanity hating murderer part. real children do abuse their peers thru bullying every day) #but Chara is not a real child. Chara is a FICTIONAL child in a FICTIONAL story filled with monsters & magic #a REAL child would not be a humanity hating murderer but a FICTIONAL child very well could be #because it's a made up story and in make believe land you can have anything you want from goat moms to murderous children #if you wouldn't want that in your story that's fine! but Toby Fox clearly wanted that in his #and thus we have Undertale #if you don't like it . . . that's unfortunate #but it's the way it is nonetheless

[sapphire-weapon]

Hi, I recently found your blog and love your meta posts, especially your theories regarding Rufus. You said that he would likely be a great leader but bad politician. While I may agree, can you elaborate more of why you think so? And do you think this might change in the Remake later?

i mean, rufus is a bad politician. that's just canon. people start to hate him during the rise of meteor and they never stop hating him, because he never does any politicking at all to try to raise his standing in the eyes of the public. even within his own organizations, he's poor with the politicking on that side of things, too. avalanche turns on him, and as soon as he's confirmed "dead" in OG, shinra turns on him too. heidegger and scarlet are lighting fast to take the reins of power following the diamond weapon attack, and no one tries to stop them. the only ones who ever truly believe in his leadership are the turks, and even then to varying degrees. (i can actually probably make the case that reno's the only one who's ever truly loyal to rufus for the sake of being loyal to him, but that's a different point for a different post.)

and honestly? those people aren't wrong for turning on him. rufus keeps his plans and ideas close to his chest, and it's difficult for any person to gain a handle on his true motives and intentions. how can you follow a man like that? when you have no idea what he's planning or what he's doing or why? even though that we, as the players and audience, know that his intentions are (mostly, most of the time) noble following the rise of the weapons, he never makes that known to the characters around him, and he continues to be shady and elusive with the way he handles things.

whether this changes in remake is wholly dependent on how divergent from OG canon the games become tbh. rufus has it in him to be a great leader, but he has to go through the entirety of his character arc first. it isn't until he contracts geostigma that he becomes one of the Good Guys really for real, and it isn't until he gives up on the name shinra post-AC that he accepts his weaknesses and gives up on politics all together.

so, remake would have to shove his long, complicated character arc into an abbreviated span of time, and it'd have be done in a different way that's still somehow just as impactful and growth-inspiring as what he went through in the initial compilation in order for it to bear fruit by the end of the remake series.

i'm not saying that they can't do it, or even that they won't. the pieces that they've put on the board for rufus are very interesting and already very different from OG's story. but i'd be curious to see how they'd do it, and what the ultimate goal would be (from a writing standpoint) in pursuing it at all.

#rufus shinra

[ouyangzizhensdad]

Unfinished Meta #2

WWX is established in the text as observant, making it incongruous that he’d also somehow be at the same time ‘oblivious’

We all know that WWX is a genius and a prodigy, which is not that interesting (how many characters are geniuses and prodigies?). But WWX is not only smart--he’s very observant, which is already more interesting. It is not clear, to me, whether these observation skills come from WWX’s innate abilities, the way his parents brought him up in his early years, the challenges of surviving in the streets, or the result of having to negotiate the pitfall and tensions as a permanent guest of the Jiang household--or even a combination of all these. Whatever the source or reason, WWX’s quick wit and deductive skills is perhaps his most established character trait we get in our first introduction to the character. While the Mo Mansion arc is dense with characterisation (WWX kicking the door with his foot and then throwing the bowl to the side! WWX calling LSZ ‘xiao mianzi’ in his internal monologue 😭), there is a clear bias towards establishing very early this part of his character.

(here I wrote “add quotes” but you can just refer to the meta I actually wrote about the Mo Mansion arc lmao)

WWX is good at reading people, understands how to goad them into reactions or how to diffuse tensions (although is not a master manipulator like JGY or NHS, nor as good of a arbiter as JYL or LSZ). This is made clear even in the earliest memories we see of him, when he angers LQR into throwing him out of class, or angers LWJ into destroying the evidence of the spring book he brought into the Library. We see it in his treatment of other characters; for example, he realizes early on that Jin Zixun is a prideful prat who needs recognition, so WWX purposely pretends to forget his name to antagonise him.

But more often, especially as an adult, his ability to read others and guess their reactions is used to scrutinize them or assess a situation, to make people confess or say something they hadn’t meant to divulge. During Guanyin Temple, until the moment JGY brings up LWJ’s feelings, WWX is very clearly trying to make JGY reveal more about his plan and his past deeds, or trying to find ways to distract him and his goons. Likewise, he sees through JGY’s attempt to do the same (up until the moment he brings up LWJ, at which point WWX is too heartsick and heartbroken not to pursue that line of enquiry, even while knowing it is part of a ruse, of a means to best him), warning LXC against falling for his tricks, and having to witness JC falling hook, line and sinker later on when JGY goads him.

At times, he’ll play-act a character to achieve this goal, as we see in the Mo Mansion arc when he puts on the persona of a lunatic in front of the Lan Juniors so that they will not suspect him of being a skilled cultivator while he assess the situation and finds how to protect them from the unknown enemy. (here it said add more examples of play-acting lmao)

On top of it all, WWX is also established to be well-learned and knowledgeable about the cultivation world and politics throughout the novel, as well as being creative and inventive, coming up with a new branch of cultivation and many devices to help his endeavors, like the zhaoyin flags or the empathy technique.

Being observant and having good deductive skills should not mean however that the character cannot ever be wrong or misled in their observations and conclusions; in fact, most pieces of fiction including such a character will often use the character’s personal or internalized biases and prejudices to make them grow or to shape some parts of the plot; Sherlock Holmes was bested by Irene Adler because of his prejudices against the ‘fairer sex’; Lizzie Bennet, who prided herself on her abilities to read people, was fooled by Wickham both because she mistook his genteel manners for good nature and because she held prejudices against Mr Darcy and was already willing to believe him to be a villain. What is important in these examples is that there is always something that explains, something that contextualises why the observant character came to the wrong conclusion (and how they finally understood their mistakes).

The novel often puts WWX in a situation where he doubts his observation/thinking, and has to face conflicting or contradicting information in order to decide whether or not he’s sticking with his initial assessment or not. For instance, in Chapter 10, he starts questioning whether or not LWJ really is unaware of his true identity after surprising him in the Cold Springs, even he remains uncertain until LWJ tells him so (and then, it takes him a while to figure out how LWJ did realise his identity, but WWX does ultimately figure it out on his own).

He did doubt that Lan Wangji might have guessed who he was. However, the doubt was lacking in both sense and reason. As sacrificing one’s body was a prohibited practice, there were probably not a lot of people who knew about it. The scrolls passed down the generations were most likely partial pieces of the entire work, unable to reach their full potential. Things continued like this, and so there were less and less people who believed in it. Mo Xuanyu only summoned Wei Wuxian by looking at a secret scroll, wherever he found it in the first place. Anyhow, Lan Wangji couldn’t have recognized him just from the awful flute melodies that he played.

He asked himself whether or not he had a heartfelt relationship with Lan Wangji in his past life. Although they had studied with each other, went on adventures, and fought together, all of these experiences were like falling petals and flowing water—coming and going. Lan Wangji was a disciple of the GusuLan Sect, which meant that he had to be “righteous,” quite incompatible with Wei Wuxian’s personality. Wei Wuxian thought that their relationship wasn’t exactly bad, but it wasn’t that good either. The chances were that Lan Wangji’s opinion of him was the same as everyone else’s—being overly wanton and not virtuous enough, it would have been only a matter of time before he caused a disaster. After Wei Wuxian betrayed the YunmengJiang Sect and became the Yiling Laozu, he had a few significant disputes with the Lan Sect, especially during the few months before his death. If Lan Wangji was sure that he was Wei Wuxian, they should have already been engaged in a large-scale fight.

Yet, he wasn’t sure what to make of the current situation—in the past, no matter what he did, Lan Wangji didn’t tolerate anything, but now, even though he used whatever methods he had up his sleeve, Lan Wangji could still tolerate him. Should he be congratulated because of his progress?! [Chapter 10]

#unfinished meta #mdzs meta #wwx

[panharmonium]

@bloomiii asked: Hey!  Do you think merlin actually hates Mordred?

Heya!  I’m assuming this is a follow-up question to the ask that @once-and-future-gay​​ sent me the other day, and I gotta say, I love this question just as much as I did that one, so thank you!  :D  It’s a great ask - relevant one, definitely, for Season 5. 

I have kind of a lot to say about it, so I’m going to put most of this reply under a cut, but the short answer is this:

No, absolutely not.  I don’t think Merlin hates Mordred.

I think Merlin hates himself.

I wrote in the previous post on this topic (which I think this ask is a response to) about the actual reasons why Merlin is in conflict with Mordred, none of which are based on personal dislike and all of which come back to Merlin knowing that he has to prevent Mordred from killing Arthur, not out of a selfish personal desire to keep Arthur safe, but because Arthur’s survival is supposed to be the thing that is going to bring peace to the land and liberate the magical world.

But Merlin, as I said in that post, does not want to be in conflict with Mordred.  He likes Mordred.  He says as much, to Gaius.  He cares about Mordred as someone who shares his oppression, as shown in the beginning of the Disir.  He agrees to keep Kara a secret from Arthur, at the beginning of 5.11.  And Mordred’s philosophy - “the love that binds us is more important than the power we wield” - is literally as close to Merlin’s own as it can be.  That is exactly how Merlin, at his core, sees the world.

Everything Merlin does to Mordred, he does for no other reason than that he thinks he has to.  (And I discussed in that other piece how Merlin is not foolish or mistaken for thinking so, either - important to keep in mind.)  But all of the things he has to do go completely against his nature, and by the time we hit the end of 5.11, I really feel that Merlin has descended into a pit of self-loathing that the show, because its ending is so poorly constructed, never allows him to climb out of.  

Every decision Merlin is forced to make about Mordred makes him hate himself a little more.  The decision to let Mordred die in 5.05 is visibly traumatizing for him.  He takes no pleasure in leaving Mordred behind for Morgana in 5.10.  And 5.11 is the ugliest, most soul-killing situation Merlin has been confronted with yet - he is torn between doing what he truly wants to do and what he feels like he has to do, when Kara comes into the picture.  He initially tries to hide Kara from Arthur, because there is no part of him that wants a Druid to be captured and harmed, even if she was with Morgana’s forces.  Mordred tells Merlin, “she’s one of us,” and Merlin agrees.  “Your secret is safe with me,” he says (and those are sacred words for Merlin; they’re exactly what Lancelot says to him in 1.05; this is not something Merlin would ever promise lightly).  He doesn’t betray Mordred’s secret, and when Kara is captured (through no fault of Merlin’s own) Merlin is the one who originally urges mercy, telling Arthur, “you’re breaking his heart/you’ll lose his trust” when Arthur claims he has no choice but to pursue execution.

However, after that, when Merlin learns that Mordred plans to escape with Kara, he boomerangs back to “he’s going to run to Morgana and then he’s going to kill Arthur and I am not allowed to let that happen/magical and godly forces have all told me that the entire fate of Albion and the future of magic all depends on me preventing Mordred from killing Arthur.”  And so he tells Arthur that Mordred is planning to escape, ultimately leading to Mordred and Kara’s recapture.

But THEN, after THAT, when they’re back in custody -  Merlin urges mercy yet again.  He tells Arthur to “free them both.”  He says, “How will one more death bring about the peace we long for?”  Merlin does not want Kara to be killed.  He does not want Mordred to suffer.  He does not want any of this to have happened; he did not rat Mordred out because he wanted to; he did it because he truly believed (for legitimate reasons) that he had no choice.  Like I talked about in that previous post - Merlin, at this point in the show, feels that his life has no purpose beyond the fulfillment of the destiny that has been prophesied.  He has come to see himself as a tool, with no intrinsic worth or value beyond what he can do to ensure Arthur’s survival (and thus the establishment of peace for all people).  He hates the things he’s supposed to do, but he literally cannot see an escape for himself.  This is just what he was “born” to do.

Even as far back as Season 3 we see this helplessness growing in him:

You feel trapped.  Like your whole life has been planned out for you, and you've got no control over anything, and sometimes you don't even know if what destiny has decided is really the best thing at all.

Merlin, in 5.11, doesn’t feel like what destiny has decided is the best thing.  But he also has reached a point where he feels like he has to do what he was told.  He’s seen the future.  He’s been told by multiple magical and divine sources that Arthur is the Once and Future King who is going to build the “the world we dream of.”  And so he does things that he thinks will enable that future to arrive (like preventing Mordred from running away with Kara), but because these things go so completely against his nature and cause him such pain, he then whips around and says, “Don’t kill her.  Let them go.”  He can’t help himself from slipping back into the kind of person he truly is on the inside.

He is trapped between his true self and what he feels is an inescapable duty.  And every step he takes away from his true nature makes him hate himself more.

Kara’s interview with Arthur, where she refuses to repent her “crimes” in exchange for her life, has one of the most telling, devastating shots in the show, when she says, “It is not a crime to fight for the right to be who you are.”  The camera, in that moment, is trained on Merlin’s face, not hers:

That is done on purpose.  The cinematography is trying to say something.  It wants us to look at Merlin and listen to Kara’s word’s and hear the contradiction.  It wants us to recognize that Merlin is dying inside.  The absolute MISERY locked down in his expression here!  He has been forced to do things that seem to work against the very goal he’s been told he’s trying to achieve (to have the right to be who he is), and it’s been going on for so long that it’s shattered his soul.  He listens to Kara being able to say that, proudly, without fear, and he hates himself for not being like her.

But he can’t see any way to escape the things he knows he’s supposed to do.  So ultimately, at the very end, he does nothing, and Kara’s execution proceeds.

He despises himself for it, and when Mordred escapes and runs to Morgana, Merlin’s only reaction is a dull, hollow resignation.  He doesn’t blame Mordred for whatever’s going to happen next.  

He blames himself.

This is, yet again, another reason why the Merlin finale is garbage storytelling.

It makes no narrative sense for the show to give us 5.11, which ends with Merlin in quite possibly the darkest and most miserable, conflicted spot he has ever been in, and to then start the next episode with him having a raucous good time at the tavern.  Merlin, after what happens with Kara and Mordred, is not going to be out laughing and cheering, playing dice, and making casual, tongue-in-cheek, meta jokes about his secret like it isn’t the most painful and soul-destroying burden he’s ever had to carry (“Ah, I knew you’d discover my secret in the end.  There is just no fooling you, my lord!”).  It is inconceivable for him to be out partying, after the previous episode.  It’s insulting to me as a viewer, that the writers thought they could show this to me as if it’s an even remotely rational direction for the story to go, as if I’m not going ask “what the HECK is going on???” when I see Merlin gleefully stumbling home like a drunken frat boy, without a care or concern in the world.

There is ZERO tonal consistency between the end of 5.11 and the beginning of 5.12.  It’s horrendous writing, and it’s why I continuously say that Merlin BBC does not actually end, it just STOPS - abruptly cut off after 5.11, with a slapdash two-episode finale tacked on, one which does not actually resolve anyone’s arcs, or address any of the central questions of the show, or follow where the narrative was naturally heading prior to that point.

Merlin’s arc with Mordred is what finally takes him to a place where he is irrevocably, inescapably confronted with the conflict that he has been struggling with from day one - how is he supposed to justify the things that Destiny is asking him to do, when what it’s asking him to do seems to be hurting the very people he’s trying to help?  How is he supposed to reconcile his responsibility to his people (and HIMSELF) with an externally-imposed responsibility to protect Arthur?  He’s been wrestling with this cognitive dissonance for years, and 5.11 is the inevitable crisis point - Kara is dead, Mordred has defected to Morgana, Merlin’s secret is OUT, and Merlin has never hated or doubted himself more.  It makes no sense for the beginning of the next episode to show us Merlin living it up at the tavern.  Merlin is tortured, at the end of 5.11.  He’s dying inside.  The next episode was supposed to be a natural progression from that moment, meaning Merlin should have had the chance to finally confront his conflict head-on, rather than having it all completely wiped away by the pile of garbage that was the finale.

The correct fallout from Mordred’s “turn” should have been a reckoning.  Merlin never wanted to be in conflict with Mordred in the first place; he hated himself for everything he had to do, and I really think the end of 5.11 took us to a place where Merlin had finally been pushed over the edge; it was the last straw.  The only correct progression from that point would have been change, and Merlin was finally desperate enough to do what he needed to do to find himself again and make things right, but we never got to see it, because the people in charge decided to completely abandon every complicated question they’d been pursuing, in favor of “actually Arthur’s the good guy and we’re gonna pretend we didn’t just spend an entire episode reminding people how Camelot is still an unjust place.”

I don’t understand it.  The same people created 5.11, too.  They wrote Kara’s righteous speech.  They framed her execution as an evil, and they framed Mordred’s flight as something Merlin and Arthur brought upon themselves.  

And then they did a 180 and dumped every ethical question they ever raised.  They never let Merlin find his feet or hold his head up high, and I’m honestly never going to forgive them for that.

#the once and future slowburn #meta #the druid boy #replies #merlin S5

[gffa]

hi!!! could you maybe recommend me some books/sources of information on how jedi order works?? wookieepedia is a little overwhelming to me lmao, and i kinda wanted to plan a fic about crèche master anakin, but that requires a lot of information about how raising younglings and clans work, more than i know at the moment!! thank you!

Hi!  I have a meta guide for everything we know about the Jedi in canon here: Taking a Closer Look at the Jedi Order in Star Wars Canon [Meta/Reference Guide] You’ll find the most in chapters 3 and 4, which is really only a handful of mentions about the creche (you can just ctrl+F for mentions, if you want)--the problem is that there really isn’t any book or source of information on how the Jedi Order works. This area of worldbuilding has really been done almost nothing with it, especially because there are two separate continuities, where you have Canon and you have Legends.  Legends probably has more details, but it’s always been non-canon to George Lucas’ Star Wars and so it really just kind of did its own thing (which often led to some amazing stories! Legends is a continuity that has a ton of value and meaning to people! but it also often contradicted what the Jedi were actually like because much of it was created pre-Attack of the Clones, so there weren’t even the three main movies out yet, much less The Clone Wars being out), which means you’re absolutely free to use it, but be wary of how it’s not always consistent. There’s not really even a source of information on what the Force feels like or how it works, aside from the interviews George Lucas has given on these things, which likely informs how canon attempts to treat these things, as they’ve said they’re trying to stay true to his themes now (for example--Legends often had “grey Force users” being stable, but canon now works according to George’s statements of how that’s not possible, the dark side corrupts, you have to actively resist it or you’ll fall to it), because not much worldbuilding has been done on this aspect of them. Instead, you have to piece together what we get in bits and bobs in the canon, which is what I’ve done with the above.  If you want, you can read stuff like the Jedi Apprentice books, but they’re pretty firmly not canon anymore (like they had an age limit of 13, which has been overwritten by canon, where Ahsoka was 14 when she became a Padawan, there was a youngling in Dooku: Jedi Lost who was 16 and indicated they’d have to wait another year, there was no indication of impending age limit, even in Legends there was a book that had a 17 year old initiate who would have to keep trying) and so, again, you’re pretty free to make up whatever you like about the way Jedi creches work. The few things we do know, as mentioned in the above link: - On arrival at the Temple, Initiates are sorted into clans to help them foster trust and kinship. [Dooku: Jedi Lost] - When a Jedi youngling becomes a Padawan, they seem to go from the creche to partnering with their Master, though, first there are conversations with the crechemaster and the Master at some point:    Obi-Wan said, “You know, I never had problems with that as a youngling. Being independent, I mean. I broke rules right and left. They even called me rebellious. Probably the Masters were surprised anyone was willing to take me on as an apprentice.”  In fact, Qui-Gon had been warned about this very thing. He’d long since assumed that the crèche masters’ concern was overcautious. [Master and Apprentice] - Yaddle spends at least some time in the creche, whether regularly or they have rotating ones, is anyone’s guess, but she was there when Qui-Gon was a youngling:       “Only yesterday, Dooku had chosen [Qui-Gon] as Padawan. He’d spent his last night in the younglings’ crèche laughing with his friends, imagining all the adventures he would have, and practicing with his lightsaber in the sparring room until Master Yaddle ordered him to bed.“  [Master and Apprentice] - They teach the younglings about the Force there:    “Qui-Gon whispered, “The dark side?” He knew it was a thing all beings carried within them, a part of himself he would learn to guard against—the crèche masters had taught him all that. But it still sounded a little like some kind of ghost or monster, a mysterious thing that would leap out from the shadows to get you when you weren’t looking.” [Master and Apprentice], which is a direct echo of George Lucas explaining the Force: “ Only way to overcome the dark side is through discipline. The dark side is pleasure, biological and temporary and easy to achieve. The light side is joy, everlasting and difficult to achieve.”  (George Lucas, Clone Wars writers meeting) - These bonds do seem to be significant, to at the very least some degree, as Obi-Wan thinks of his “creche-mate” even when he’s 17, indicating that possibly they’re often lifelong friends:       Obi-Wan’s crèche-mate Prie, for instance, had been partnered with a Master who was expert in two things [....] [Master and Apprentice] - The younglings in the creche seem to sleep near each other (I have a personal headcanon that they sleep in piles, all cuddled up with each other, because Space Psychics) because they seem to often gossip with each other night by candle droid:  In Dooku: Jedi Lost there is a gossip story passed around about a possibly expelled Padawan long ago, one that keeps getting passed around by Initiates telling stories by glow lanterns at night, which indicates that it’s considered juicy enough/surprising enough that it doesn’t seem to happen much/if at all. - We do see Yoda and Tera Sinube teaching classes of younglings as well, so they’re probably familiar to almost every youngling who passes through the creches.  Whether these classes are based on the younglings’ clans or if they’re randomized, we have no idea, though.  I’m assuming that at least some of them were based on clans, because we see Yoda teaching Bear Clan in Attack of the Clones, which also gives us an indication of the size of them--probably somewhere between four and eight.

We also see in Dooku: Jedi Lost that Dooku was part of the Hawk-Bat Clan, which often did things together, that Dooku spent time with Thranta Clan, while Tera Sinube spent more time with Heliost Clan. It’s probably reasonable to assume that the Jedi younglings from “The Gathering” are a clan as well, showing that they do things together fairly often:

Though, we see two other younglings there and Ganodi doesn’t seem to be part of the group, assuming that that’s Gungi, Byph, Petro, and Zatt with her.  But we do see Tera Sinube spending time with them here and again later, when they’re practicing with their lightsabers:

Though, again, we see more than just that one clan--unless the two other younglings are part of their clan and just weren’t on that specific trip to Ilum with the others?  Entirely possible there, too. But that’s it, that’s all we know.  Anything else isn’t canon/never really was and can be fun to use, but I often find it doesn’t really fit well with what we’re shown in The Clone Wars or with George’s themes for SW. I think it makes sense, though, that it works like a communal society, where there are crechemasters who look after the children in their little mini-family clans, helping shepherd them to their classes, who shoo the children to bed at night and take care of them, talk with them about the things they need to know, work to help ease the transition when they become apprentices, etc. (As a note:  If you’re reading Wookieepedia, even on the canon pages, they’ll reference The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force sometimes, but be wary, as that book is very firmly not canon.  Elements of it may be recanonized, but only what appears in books like Dooku: Jedi Lost, Master and Apprentice, Choose Your Destiny: Obi-Wan & Anakin, Age of the Republic: Obi-Wan Kenobi, etc. are actually canon.)

#Anonymous #jedi order #meta #long post

[seven-oomen]

Breaking the cycle | How Teen Wolf portrays its traumatized fathers

First of, I would like to say that the following words are my take on this. I am a 29 year old trans man of Caucasian descend who is an domestic violence and abuse survivor. I am diagnosed with ADHD since 12 and diagnosed with CPTSD since this year. I understand trauma and I understand what it does to people. But I am not a professional. I am a fan.

Secondly, the characters I’ll be talking about today are specifically the fathers of some of the main characters in Teen Wolf. Namely Chris Argent, Peter Hale, and Noah Stilinski. 

I realize there are many more traumatized parents who would fit well in this essay and while I thought about including them, I decided that for now, these are the three characters I’m focusing on.

I would love to hear your thoughts about some of the other parents and how their traumatizing pasts might have contributed to the way they raised their children.

Sources are listed under the read more. The gifs I’m using are from Google.

I will be focusing on these characters, discuss what sort of trauma they have, how it affects them and how it affects the way they then raised their children. And why their stories are important for trauma and abuse survivors.

Let’s start with Noah Stilinski.

From Episode 3, Season 6 Sundowning we know the following about Noah’s homelife:

Elias was known for being both emotionally and physically abusive, and on at least one occasion, Noah stepped in to protect his mother from his abuse, causing his father to inadvertently throw him into a glass coffee table; his shoulder was scarred, and tiny fragments of glass remain under the now-healed wound even in the present day.

He even tells Scott: (While talking about a memory of him and Claudia in College.) “The kind of father I wish I had. The kind I... I hope to be."

In the same episode Noah also refers to the incident above as “That time.” Indicating that it wasn’t the first time this happened and it wasn’t the last either.

Piecing all the information together we can conclude that Noah was emotionally, psychologically, and physically abused by his father. We can also conclude that this abuse extended to his mother. Meaning he was also a victim of domestic violence.

There is also evidence in the episode that Elias might have abused Stiles, or at the very least has a very negative opinion of his grandson.  “ That's right! Act like I'm not even here! Go crawling back to your dead wife and loser son!”

This scarred Noah, both physically and mentally. We see evidence of this in episodes where he reacts violently and explosively any time his son is hurt. He immediately blows up and threatens physical violence against the people who hurt his son. 

A part of that is parental protection, but imagine that someone beat the living crap out of you and those you love every day of your life. Once you’re free of that person it leaves a mark and a smoldering fear of seeing the people around you getting hurt. When it happens you get angry, at the people who hurt your loved one, and at yourself. You weren’t there to protect them, you were too late.

Noah blames himself whenever Stiles gets hurt. I believe, based on his childhood home life that Noah corresponds his son getting hurt with failure as a parent. And knowing where he comes from, that’s an extra sore subject for him.

We have basis of it in canon.

We can also see that Noah’s guilt tends to eat at him if he ever has to discipline Stiles or yell at him. As shown in the following scene.

I believe that the abuse Noah endured makes him a very scared individual especially when it comes to raising his son. He’s constantly afraid he’s turning into his father, his afraid of making the same mistakes. He’s afraid he’ll scar and traumatize his own as he was traumatized himself.

The fact that Noah is aware of what he’s doing, that he stops when asked is enough of an indication to tell us, the audience, that he isn’t his father. Once Stiles indicates he’s okay, or simply tells his father to stop, Noah stops immediately. He usually hugs his son or initiates a kind physical contact right after. 

He stops, he reflects, realizes his mistake, and tries to do better.

This is one way to break the cycle. Noah’s not perfect at it, we can see him struggle many times. He insults Stiles or his intelligence without meaning to, passing it off as a joke, he’s constantly working and is not around as much as he should be. And those are valid criticisms of this character.

But deep at his core Noah’s trying to break a cycle of physical and emotional abuse, he’s trying to be there for Stiles. Tells him to go to school, tries to keep an eye on Stiles and tries to talk to him whenever he has the chance to explore Stiles’s wellbeing and feelings.

This is a man who went through hell as a child, became a father, and decided to do better.

Noah is a character who effectively broke a viscous cycle and has a wonderful and strong relationship with his son as a result. It’s not without flaws and Noah’s not perfect. But he’s generally not abusive or an abuser. And that is a step in the right direction.

It also shows us, the audience, that no matter what home life you come from, you can arise above your own traumas and do better for the next generation.

-

Now Chris Argent is an interesting one. I already talked about Chris and trauma in my daddy’s little soldier meta.

Considering the type of person Gerard is, and how he treats several teenagers in the show. I believe Chris is also a victim of emotional, psychological, and physical abuse. We don’t know much about his home life with his mother, so that I can not speculate on.

What we do know is, Gerard has no qualms about hurting children and teenagers. He’s admitted that he would kill his own son if it meant he survived. He’s raised his own son to be a weapon and to compartmentalize his emotions. I shudder to think as to what methods Gerard must have used on Chris. But as we never see them, I can only speculate.

So how did Chris break his cycle of abuse?

By not raising Allison to be a hunter. For the first seventeen years of her life, Allison didn’t know the Supernatural existed. She was kept out of her father’s life until it was no longer possible. She was never raised as a soldier, she wasn’t raised to hide her feelings. If anything, her father encouraged her and nurtured her to the best of his abilities. Chris tried to be there for his daughter. 

He even moved her to France to get her away from their lives. He quit something he was raised to do and did it successfully, just to protect his daughter. He grew up to be everything his father wasn’t.

And while Chris, too, is not perfect at it, he does try and breaks the cycle.

He’s aware of their problems, addresses them, and tries to do better. He even extends this nurturing and protective side to Isaac later down the line. 

Chris, a victim of abuse, sees the signs of abuse in Isaac, and decides; this one, this one I will nurture and protect too. Which he eventually accomplishes by bringing him to France and away from the craziness that is Beacon Hills. (Would have been nice to get a good plot about Chris adopting Isaac, but well, that’s another rant.)

Chris, like Noah, shows that even if you were raised in the worst circumstances, by being aware of your trauma and how that affects others, you can break the cycle and come out on top.

-

And last but not least we have someone who went through an horrific event and possibly emotional abuse from his family, discovered he was a father, and then had to adjust.

I’m talking about Peter Hale.

Now Peter is not a morally good character in general. He has no qualms about killing people who get in his way. From what we know about his childhood Peter also had anger issues as a small child and often broke his toys. 

However, the reason why I’m stating that Peter was most likely emotionally abused (I think by his sister Talia) is because we know that Talia, would not believe Peter about the fire and the Argents and waved his concerns away without considering them. She manipulated multiple of his memories and frequently hid the truth from him. And we know that their relationship from before the fire was strained.

We also know that Peter does care about his family. He cared for Cora in the hospital and he does care about whether Derek lives or dies and tends to keep an eye out for his nephew. In later seasons we also see Peter caring about his only daughter Malia and even express fear for her wellbeing when they go up against the Anuk-Ite. 

His love for Malia is eventually what frees him from the Ghost Riders control and his wish for her to live is what motivates his decisions in Season 6 to try and keep her safe, and when he can’t keep her away from the fight, he joins her and tries to protect her.

Now I believe that the Peter we see in S1,2, 3 and S6B are the real Peter Hale. A traumatized man who believes his only way to stay alive is through manipulation and careful planning. But he does genuinely seem to care about a few people, Cora, Derek, and Malia.

In Season 1 Peter is still coming out of his traumatic event (being burned alive and then being in a coma) and he has to navigate a new world. He kills Laura (or so it is speculated) for her Alpha power and to heal himself. Because to Peter, he is the only one who can avenge his family and resolve the traumatic event he went through.

Revenge, of course, is generally not a good way to resolve trauma and the plan doesn’t work. His trauma is not resolved by killing Kate and he dies that night.

When Peter comes back practically powerless he has to navigate carefully and he does so through manipulating the people around him. To Peter, manipulation is the only way to stay alive and get ahead. This idea of his, had to come from somewhere.

This is where my theory of emotional abuse kicks in. Because if Peter was emotionally abused by his sister (for which there is evidence in canon), he most likely picked up his tactic of manipulation as a survival tactic.

Now out of the list. Peter is the only person who doesn’t fully rise above his past. The past still haunts him as he becomes a protector of Beacon Hills in S6B. But I firmly think that if we got to see more of Peter past this point, we would have seen a man starting his journey to recognizing his toxic traits and trying to do better by them. But that of course, is just speculation.

Peter’s story teaches us that the road to healing and becoming a better person isn’t always linear. It’s not a given that you’ll heal if you aren’t ready to accept it. Or if you’re so focused on getting revenge that healing is impossible, it’s also not going to work. And usually, trying to heal requires a positive presence in your life (Malia), a support system (Malia and the pack), and a willingness to recognize what you’re doing wrong and to better yourself moving forward.

Sources:

Breaking the Cycle of Child Abuse - Article written by a psychologist and peer reviewed by a psychiatrist

The cycles of violence - Article written for the WHO by the University of Birmingham

The Teen Wolf Wiki - for all information and episodes of these characters

Teen Wolf - MTV tv show that owns the characters.

#chris argent #noah stilinski #peter hale #teen wolf meta #teen wolf #meta #long post #trauma #healing #breaking the cycle