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#not that i believe these parallels would be very well-developed parallels
crishayle · 5 months
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Astrology notes
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The person with Mars in the 11th house works so well as a team. School/university activists are often found among them. Good organizational skills and energy. With them you will never be bored at work :)
Not always a man with Mars in the 1st house is athletic, but they are always physically hardy. They're like Powerpuff girls, cute, but very strong
Stelliums in houses can create a vibe of the sign of this house in you. For example, the 12th house is Pisces, the 6th house is Virgo, the 3rd house is Gemini
A person with 4+ aspects to Saturn is literally a phoenix. No matter how life burns him, he will incarnate again. But don't confuse it with Pluto! Saturn tempers the spirit, Pluto transforms the personality
People with the Moon in the 12th house always feel lonely. It's very difficult for them to find a soulmate. They are sensitive and empathic, but they are like a psychologist who needs a psychologist himself
The transit Sun in the 5th house feels like "i feel like bonita💅" .You feel beautiful and confident in any clothes and in any look
People with Uranus in the 5th house are VERY EMOTIONAL!!!!! I would not say that they are hysterical, after all, for this you need to look at the rest of the placements of the natal chart, but for such people feelings are not the least important
People with Uranus/Neptune in the 5th house may have problems with attention. Do you know these people who watch a movie, watch Reels in parallel and play with a cat? It's them. In fact, there is an advantage in this. They are not bothered by noise when working and they are very multitasking
Saturn in the 12th house is one of the indicators of a person's self-esteem problems. I have noticed that such people suffer from impostor syndrome, can be too tough or too gentle with themselves. It is very sad to see such a placement in the charts of people with Mars/Sun in the 10th or other strong placements. Such people have ambitions, but the fear of risk and mistakes can greatly hinder their development
My personal observation, text me if I'm wrong, but have you noticed that people with a strong Mercury in the natal chart have a very pleasant voice/laugh?
I use Part of Fortune to find out where a person can find luck. A person with Fortune in the 4th house is lucky when he helps people. He invests energy, strength or patience. The most important rule is give it. I also have Fortune in the 4th house and I really get the gifts of fate when I help others and take care of them
People with Neptune/Uranus is in the 9th house, have you also ever thought about moving or studying to another city/country? :)
People with the Venus-ascendant aspect are photogenic, as are people with the ascendant in Leo
Have you ever met a person with your mirror natal chart? I'll explain. You have the Sun in Pisces in the 2nd house (the house of Taurus), and a person has the Sun in Taurus in the 12th house (the house of Pisces) and so on with all other placements. At first glance, it may seem that you are not alike, but believe me, you complement each other perfectly. Your knowledge, life experience and personal qualities work in tandem.This is a very interesting astrological observation✨
People with Venus square North Node may think that it is more difficult for them to find love, or they may think that they do not deserve to be loved, or they simply have problems with romance. They really appreciate attention, love and care, they just don't know how to respond to it correctly
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seriousbrat · 2 months
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this says a lot about Snape's character development for me. There are many parallels drawn throughout the series between Harry and Snape; obviously, they're very different characters but there are similarities too.
I think here Snape is talking about himself. The teenaged Snape we see in the Pensieve is very much like this- emotional, heart on his sleeve, easily provoked, a definite wallower in sad memories... weak. Adult Snape, though he retains some of these characteristics that do emerge in stressful moments (in PoA we see how angrily he reacts to Sirius's escape, for instance) on the whole is a great deal more thoughtful, reserved, calculating, measured.
I think that Snape at some point had to force himself to become this. I think he actually relates to Harry here, and is giving him advice based on personal experience. In my fic he begins to learn to control his emotions partially out of a desire to protect Lily; he's fully aware that she's his weakness (or really, his strength, viewed a different way) and that openly displaying any sort of emotion towards her at all makes her vulnerable to the likes of Avery and Mulciber, who will have the perfect weapon to get to him if they want to.
Severus doesn't have the advantages of his peers, he's not pureblood, he wasn't born into money. If he wants to join the Death Eaters and rise in their ranks, he needs to be subtle, cunning, careful. he can't afford to be careless and entitled like mulciber or bellatrix or even sirius. what he's got to offer isn't his name or his money, it's his sheer talent and cleverness. moving on:
When Voldemort decides to go after Lily this becomes even more important. Imo the reason why Voldemort believes that Snape only "desired" Lily is because that's what Snape told him. He lied to Voldemort's face and told him something probably disgusting tbh because that's the only way Voldemort would accept it and agree, if it was a selfish, callous request that Voldemort could understand. We can see evidence of this here:
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Asking Voldemort to spare a mudblood because he was in love with her would likely not have gone over well- and as we know, Voldemort actually bore his request in mind, though obv didn't give enough of a fuck about Snape to follow through. Because although asking voldemort to spare her must have taken serious balls, Snape's mistake here was trusting someone inherently selfish to do something selfless for him.
Clearly he immediately realises this and goes to Dumbledore, which is when controlling his emotions becomes of paramount importance, because now he's working against perhaps the most highly accomplished legilimens of all time.
It's also interesting to me that Snape in this conversation is probably the character who is most forthright and informative with Harry in the whole of OotP until Dumbledore at the end; Harry actually learns a lot in this conversation. And Snape also kind of gives him credit which is interesting too:
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like for Snape that's high praise lmao. A shame because if he wasn't so bitter (i.e. didn't wear his heart on his sleeve so much around harry) then he might have actually been pretty helpful to Harry and a decent teacher. Again, during the Occlumency lessons his unrestrained emotion brought up by memories of James is a hindrance. He defies Dumbledore's orders to teach Harry Occlumency because of his emotional response to SWM, as well as honestly doing kind of a shit job before that (by not being empathetic and teaching Harry in a way that would've been actually productive.)
At this point Dumbledore believes that Harry learning Occlumency and controlling his emotions is of vital importance; he turns out to be wrong about this. In Harry's case, it turns out to be his emotional nature that saves him- unlike Snape, who is the opposite. Snape's journey is about learning that some things are more important than his selfish need to give into his own emotions.
By DH Snape's learned this lesson fully; his old hatred for James doesn't stop him from doing what has to be done, from giving Harry the tools he needs. Even in the final moments of his life, he can look past James and see Lily in Harry- and, by giving Harry the information that leads to his self-sacrifice, he can let her go.
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strangersmunsons · 20 days
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💖 Eddie Munson x Reader Fic Recs 💖
I just wanna show some appreciation for a few of my all-time favorite Eddie fics! Here’s a handful of the series & oneshots that have really stuck out to me in all the time I've been reading - there's A TON of great writers on here who have posted really stellar work :^)
List under the cut!
june baby by @luveline - luveline jade u are a celebrity to me. this was the first Eddie story I ever read and it is so beautiful. it's tender. it's melancholy. it's realistic. it's gorgeous. it honestly makes me feel something I've never felt reading any other fanfiction.
oh, baby by @inknopewetrust - another one of my first Eddie fics! the feeling that this series invoked in me is what I aspire to invoke in others for my own writing someday. it's just so sweet and funny and made me nostalgic, in the same way that watching '80s teen films do, except it's even better because Eddie is in this one. I wanted so badly to just dive into the story and really experience it for myself.
hoping I'll find [a glimpse of us] by @inknopewetrust - this smashed my heart into 1000 pieces, and then promptly glued it very sloppily back together and I've reread it like six times just to reinflict the pain. I love rockstar!Eddie stories that maintain some realism about what that type of relationship would look like, and this fic does that SO perfectly. masterclass in angst right here.
dancing with myself by @ambrossart - this one hits close to home! and even though it hurts along the way, there's a happy ending that it builds so nicely towards! it's beautifully paced & the reader is very funny. you can just tell that the her backstory & relationship w/ Eddie was so carefully thought out, it really feels like this was written with so much love! and I LOVE that it doesn't paint Chrissy as a villain.
10 things I hate about you by @spideyanakin - so glad that we all collectively agree that Patrick is Eddie-coded. and in this fic the parallels are there, without Eddie sacrificing his own unique character - that part is handled really beautifully! and the ST characters are worked into the original movie's narrative so well. it's the perfect mix of fluff and drama!
freaky friday by @jo-harrington - I adore this series! I love this version of Eddie so much I could cry, he is so sweet and selfless, I want to give him the entire world. and an Eddie & Steve body swap? 10/10. lindsay and jamie lee, eat your hearts out.
to know you're mine by @blueywrites - oooohboy. I almost didn’t read this one (just because I would normally avoid swinging/cheating in a fic) but I'm so glad I did, because it was like being on the homer's odyssey of 18+ ST fanfiction. it’s wild. bluey girl u were insane for this. and i mean that as an extremely high compliment. i was so damn invested!
i will wait by @abibliophobiaa, @blueywrites, @breddiemunson, @myosotisa, @fracturedarkness - there's three chapters, it's on hiatus, I don't care, I will literally keep reading these three chapters over and over again and just fill in the blanks myself if I must. it's that good. you guys are amazing. I am totally enthralled.
rumor by @msgexymunson - this is what turned me on to older!Eddie. I love him, and I desire him carnally, and specifically this version of him. when I daydream about Eddie sweeping me off my feet, I think about Eddie in this series. he's everything to me. I even wrote my own older neighbor Eddie fic because of this!
trapped under ice by @munson-blurbs - the iron grip this fic had me in...I'm still going back and re-reading my favorite parts. it's beautifully developed. this version of Eddie is so real and believable. Harris is my favorite kid he's ever been given. an all-time, truly, I can't sing its praises enough.
siren!eddie by @parkermunson - a monster-ish Eddie fic! I'm a sucker for anything that incorporates mermaids and sirens and the like, so I really love this concept. it's a great story, I love our protective, doting fishboy, and hope to see more of him!
use me by @reysorigins - simultaneously the nastiest and sweetest fic ever. smut, but it's interspersed with these moments of such deep-seated love and yearning between Eddie and the reader that it made me want to cry! incredible piece.
mine and yours by @muertawrites - ahhhh this one is so so sweet! dating is so fucking hard, I think we could all use a comforting, reassuring moment with a sweetheart like Eddie, who is especially kind to us in this fic. I love the way he’s written here.
our patron saint of the arts by @storiesbyrhi - I love an artsy, crafty reader! I feel like Eddie would be sooo into someone who’s creatively-minded like him. this is the dream relationship, basically, these two are adorable together! (and Eddie in a dress! 😗)
And this is just a sample of what’s out there! Some of these are fics that I read very early on, even before I started this blog. I was more shy then, too, so I feel like I never showed them the appreciation I should have! You guys are all so talented, these works are very inspiring to me.
To readers: I encourage you to let the writers know how much you enjoy their work! Reblog! Leave a comment, even if it’s just in the tags! Write a reply, or send them a message, even if it’s on anon! I’m trying to get better at doing these things myself, too 💖
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meanbossart · 21 days
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I just noticed DU Drow has the mouth scars used to link the 7000 lesser vampire spawns to the 7 greater ones. Is that a certain significance for that scars or do you just think they look cool? I had the same scars for both my tav and durge but after the reveal it must be confusing to Astarion lol. What is his reaction after meeting Sebastian?
Hahah well obviously I had no idea the scars would be of any plot significance when I picked them, but based on how the game treats that scene, I don't think they're MEANT to be the same ones. Sebastian is the only one in the cells that has them too, if you look closely.
My assumption is that the developers gave him the same cosmetic that's available in character creation as a temporary solution, possibly with plans to replace them with something more unique later on - and then that just fell in the list of priorities. Either that, or Sebastian's chin scars aren't actually what the insight check is referring to (the narrator only says the scars are carved into their flesh, not specifically on the face)
For me, personally, I choose to believe that Sebastian's scars are the result of something else, likely self inflicted throughout his 200 years in captivity and not the EXACT same design that DU drow has.
That said, I do like to take note of the resemblance in my "personal canon". In A Novel Experience, the similar scar placement Is not lost to DU drow or Astarion (they also have the same hair model, funny enough), and that leads to some uncomfortable - albeit entirely concidental - parallels that they don't really speak about but are definitely implied.
Sebastian kind of lives in both of their brains in a subconscious level 24/7.
Regarding his reaction upon meeting, between the slight resemblance mentioned above and the context of the situation, DU drow was definitely made very uncomfortable. His "canonical" response is the "lets get the fuck out of here now" option that gives Astarion the curse of the sire debuff - so, thanks for that asshole LOL
I think something about the exchange made him feel threatened, but not necessarily because of jealously or anything like that - he just recognized that Sebastian held a kind of symbolic power over Astarion (aka - guilt) that makes him resent him. He doesn't feel this way about the rest of the spawn, but Sebastian is different.
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lttleghost · 1 year
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The Thematic Relevance of Jesse Pinkman as an Egg 🏳️‍⚧️
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(I wrote this analysis awhile back and wanted to make a fresh post to update it!)
While not intentional, there is a lot in Breaking Bad that supports reading Jesse as an egg. This reading of Jesse has a lot of thematic and narrative relevance and also doesn't create any conflicts with the canon material. Jesse being someone who hasn’t realized he’s not actually a man yet could quite literally be canon.
This analysis is heavily based around parallels between Jesse’s character development and what Breaking Bad thematically associates with gender. It’s also heavily interconnected with the show's overarching theme of change, and also, at least for our two main characters of Walt and Jesse, the revealing of true self. There’s plenty of evidence that each of them already had the traits we see them with at the end of Breaking Bad. Jesse being this very kind and compassionate young adult and Walt being this egotistical monster.
But I would consider Walt's self-deception to be more shallow than Jesse’s self deception. While Walt did end up in a lifestyle that was opposed to who he truly was, he consciously knew what he wanted to some extent, whereas Jesse fully convinced himself that he was a different person than the one he truly is because he never really got the chance to actually figure out much about himself. 
There are a lot of examples of Jesse’s disconnected sense of self throughout the show, but the first one that comes to mind has to do with his superhero OCs-
EDIT: YO! if you find video essays more engaging than reading a bunch of text, this analysis now also comes in video form [link]
I think that Jane’s observation that all of them looked like Jesse was, in fact, correct. I wouldn’t consider him doing this as a conscious decision but I feel that he almost admits it. After initially denying that his OCs looked like him and after Jane affectionately teases him he ends up saying to her “like you never wanted a superpower.” And while you could interpret this as just a response to her teasing, I’m convinced that there’s an additional layer to it. Especially because when Jane leaves to check the door, there's a moment where Jesse looks at the sketchbook with his drawings and it seems like he’s considering something, and I’d bet you anything that what he’s thinking about is whether or not he had actually drawn himself and this is REALLY interesting since-
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Jesse is a criminal right? And while superheroes themselves are technically criminals as well, as vigilante justice isn’t actually legal, they’re still typically known to be ‘crime fighters’, and Jesse describes his characters as being such. So with his OCs subconsciously being depictions of himself and them being superheroes (crime fighters) and his current life as a criminal, you get the image of someone who doesn’t know who he is or what he wants deep down. 
There’s no way that Jesse’s current delinquent lifestyle was his truly… preferred path. It’s much more likely it was the only thing he thought he could do successfully. It’s evidently been the one thing he’s made a decent living off of. He has no support from his parents, and doesn’t seem like he has had it since he was a highschooler. Jesse is shown to have no support outside of the drug trade. Most of his personal skills and interests are artistic or honestly domestic in a world that assigns more value to academics and he’s a highschool graduate who doesn’t have any job experience. 
I also believe Jesse is very aggressively ADHD coded, and the combination of having virtually no support, struggling with addiction, and having undiagnosed and improperly self medicated ADHD would make slogging through any “respectable” job that he has access to, or any job that his parents might encourage him to do, unbearable.
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So the drug trade was his best bet, Jesse even views cooking meth as a form of art, something that he’s passionate about.
I can’t in good faith ignore that doing something that is... generally frowned upon, didn’t factor into what Jesse chose to do on some level, as society and the structures that it’s built on failed him and there’s an inherent sense of rebellion that often forms in a person when they’re failed like that. Granted, superheroes also tend to often contain some commentary on societies failings as well. Jesse just couldn’t actually be a real-life superhero. So with the few benefits it had in practice compared to any other job, Jesse played into the rest of the role of a criminal, and convinced himself that the aspects of it that conflicted with his personality... didn’t, probably without even noticing.
Even more to this disconnect; When Jane asks “and that’s a superpower?” in response to Jesse explaining Backwardo’s powers Jesse responds with “come on, I was a kid when I drew these, it was like four years ago.” And Jesse is 24 years old in that scene, meaning that he would’ve been 20 when he drew these characters, and when I first wrote this analysis I was wondering whether or not Jesse had gotten involved with the drug trade other than buying drugs by that time, but there wasn’t really anything I could confirm any theories with. 
But now I've got the Better Call Saul episode “Waterworks” where Jesse has his second cameo, where he is in fact, 20, and in that cameo Jesse accompanying Emilio, a person we know is his partner in cooking meth, to Saul’s office makes me certain he’s in it by that point. And I just have to wonder if Jesse’s superheroes were almost a… subconscious vent, a manifestation of how being a criminal in the specific way Jesse is, is not what he wants. Something that suggests that Jesse’s actual identity and his current view of his identity don’t line up.
Another thing to point out about the cameo that could be seen as additional evidence of Jesse’s discomfort with being more than just a customer of the drug trade is that he was hanging out outside of Saul’s office, and until Kim gave him one he didn't have a cigarette, so he wasn’t out there to smoke. And while there could be other explanations to why he was outside on his own, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say, other than just his general skepticism of Saul, he was just not particularly jazzed to be where he was at that moment and not comfortable going inside.
So relating all of this to gender; that narrative of convincing yourself that you are the person that you’re supposed to be for your best chance of survival instead of being able to truly be yourself already works pretty strongly as an allegory for being trans. But to add onto that even more, thematically Breaking Bad associates “manhood” with the drug trade in one way or another, and paralleling how Jesse realizes he doesn’t fit into the drug trade like he thought he did with how he might not be a cis man like he thought he was makes for a really solid queer reading.
The whole show is pretty explicitly about toxic masculinity. Obviously in real life masculinity and manhood do not have to be toxic, and in Breaking Bad’s original intended story Jesse is a cis man who ends up not fitting into those toxic ideas of manhood. 
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Things that the rest of the male cast don’t blink at or at least have more mild reactions to, just tear Jesse apart. He’s also targeted at least a couple of times for having emotional vulnerability that is considered to be “not manly”. It’s much easier to point out the differences between him and the male cast than it is to point out similarities between them and this just gets more pronounced the longer the show goes on. He doesn’t really have any positive ties to being a man and I don’t think we can say we ever see Jesse actually reclaim his own sense of manhood. And I think that lack of reclamation gives even more legitimacy to the reading that, along with leaving the drug trade and all of its toxic masculinity bullshit behind, maybe Jesse just leaves behind being a man altogether, and maybe it was something that wasn’t really ever a true part of him, just like his life as a criminal.
Even at the start of the series Jesse’s attempts at hyper-masculinity come off as really goofy and performative. In episode one  Krazy-8 mentions that Emilio thinks that Jesse might’ve ratted on him Jesse first has a much more genuine response of “that’s bullshit” which makes sense with his strong character trait of being loyal, but then he goes to say “I should kick his punk ass for even thinking that.” and it just sounds like fake bravado to me. There’s no way Jesse actually thinks he stands a chance against Emilio since Jesse has a body type that resembles a small bird and there's no way he has that little self awareness. He's just playing out a script that wasnt even well thought through, and while some of his other performances of masculinity don’t come across as that fake, there aren’t many that feel like they actually come from Jesse himself, they just feel like something that he just thinks he should do.
And while not every experience with men Jesse has is negative, there always seems to be some distance between him and the men he does have good relationships with. Jesse forms a parent-child type relationship with Mike that is healthier than any other he’s had up to that point other than probably his aunt, but there’s a part of Jesse that Mike never seems to fully get. When Jesse doesn’t want Lydia to be killed Mike says that 'this woman deserves to die as much as any man' and I think he misses that Jesse just still isn’t that keen on killing people even with everything he’s gotten involved with. Even if there are some acts of violence and even some people’s deaths he is fine with and thinks are justified, Jesse never fully adapts to “the job” the way Mike does, and Mike is just not quite able to understand that, or at least not why.
Jesse and his friends have a distance between them as well. Though they’re arguably not as entrenched in toxic masculinity as any of the other prominent men in the show are, and aren’t nearly as involved in the violence of dealing drugs despite being in the trade. Yet still Jesse’s interactions with them most of the time feel different and more withdrawn than their interactions with each other. Like Jesse really wants their presence and company and wants to fit in but there ends up being something that he can’t connect with alongside them, and this also gets more prominent as the show progresses. There’s parts where Jesse seems to be withholding how badly his “high rank” in the drug trade is affecting him when Pete and Badger seem to sort of idolize him for it and want in on it. I think Jesse sort of considers saying something to them about it, but he hesitates and doesn’t. He repeatedly doesn’t confide in them even though, while his friends do perform some facets of hyper-masculinity, they don’t really seem to target or reject vulnerability in the way most of the other men in Breaking Bad do. And Jesse’s distance from even the more harmless side of the male cast makes it feel like it’s not just the toxic masculinity that he’s disconnected from.
Jesse’s relationships with women even further separate him from the men of the show. His romantic relationships with Jane and Andrea read much more as relationships between equals, compared to Walt and Skyler or Hank and Marie. While Jesse does throw the “nice job wearing the pants in the family” insult at Walt in episode two of the first season, after Skyler almost caught him moving Emilio’s body, in Jesse’s own relationships he never actually tries to take control and doesn’t have any problem with Jane honestly being the person making more active choices for the both of them in their relationship, which Walt comments on by throwing that same “nice job wearing the pants” insult back at Jesse.
Another interesting thing found within Jesse’s relationship with Jane that ties them to specific gender roles happens after Jane doesn’t really introduce him to her father. Jesse asks about it and after a bit this Jane ends up saying “What am I supposed to say? Hey dad, meet the stoner guy who lives next door and by the way I’m sleeping with him?” and Jesse replies “Is that all you think you’re doing?”
It’s been pretty common for “the guy” to be considered as the one who sees a relationship as just being sex and “the girl” to see it as being romantic, and this is a very very dumb aspect of traditional western gender roles that this scene even has to subvert, but I think in the context of Breaking Bad’s dealings with gender roles the fact that Jesse is put in the role much more typically associated with women could be viewed as significant. And this significance can be extended to the show’s most prominent dynamic, dealing with the relationship between abusive men and women, Jesse is a victim. I’m not implying men can’t be victims of other men's abuse, but it does make Jesse easier to associate with women in the story, and while the narrative association comes from a negative place, the negativity is directed towards men. But the connection it forms between Jesse and women is a sense of camaraderie and even comfort, at least on Jesse’s side.
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and with those connections with women I’d say the most accurate egg interpretation of Jesse is that she’s specifically transfeminine in some way.
I think in this analysis its important to specifically examine Jesse's journey with gender questioning as I think it follows the rest of the ups and downs in her learning more about herself in the resr of her character arc. My personal interpretation of Jesse is that she is a non medically transitioning nonbinary transfem person. The not medically transitioning bit is largely because I enjoy bringing attention to the existence of no-med no-op trans people and to push the point that not seeking medical transition doesnt make a person any less trans, though I do feel that since Jesse's relationship with gender is focused on the societal side of gender roles that don't really relate to physical form that it's a reasonable interpretation that she may not medically transition. I think she uses he/him and she/her pronouns, and is maybe a futch lesbian. I’m saying all of this because it'll be the lens through which I’ll be talking about Jesse’s journey with questioning his gender and how that progresses during the timeline of Breaking Bad. However I don’t claim this to be the only version of transfem Jesse that works with my analysis, or that it's necessarily better than any others that do work. I’ll also be mentioning concepts of “offscreen” additional scenes. That being said, if you’re someone who likes to stick 100% to the text given to us, the “offscreen” scenes aren’t exactly necessary for this interpretation to work as a part of the existing story as the general emotions behind them still stand.
I don’t picture Jesse as having any definable Gender (™) experiences when he was younger other than just a general sense of not belonging, though gender wouldn’t be the only thing playing into that. But as Jesse got older and struggled more, he started to purposefully play the part of what he saw as “a man” to survive in the only role that he thought he could. I see the thought “I wish I didn’t have to be a man” crossing his mind every so often though. I think he just deals with his place in the world for awhile, but after Walt enters the scene and Jesse experiences shit he really didn’t bargain for because of his old teacher, someone who is settling into a personification of toxic masculinity, Jesse’s frustration with being a man becomes more prominent and harder to ignore internally. 
In my opinion Jane is the person that helped him start to solidify what exactly those thoughts were indicating. Her approach to relationships would be considered not traditionally cishet, and so is the way she presents herself in general, so I think Jane has some sort of knowledge about the complexities of gender, if she isn't actually queer herself in some way.
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And she’s one of the only people we see Jesse truly, truly open up to and so I think at some point later in their relationship Jesse might actually say something about wishing she wasn’t a man around Jane, and I can see Jane saying that Jesse doesn't have to be a man if she doesn't want to be.
But then Jane dies, and I think as a result of that and the lesson Jesse learned from rehab “I’m the bad guy” he goes into just total repression mode. Embodying this new belief Jesse very much dips into the hyper-masculine behavior of the drug trade, he is much more concerned with money beyond paying bills and having nice things, and he plans to do the one thing in the entire show that makes me truly angry at him because of this whole thing, attempting to sell drugs to the rehab group. I don’t think he would’ve ever thought of doing something like that before. He’s trying very hard to be something that’s even further from his actual nature than we’ve seen up until this point.
Part of Jesse’s grief over losing Jane, a person who he confided in probably more than anyone else at that point, was to just completely close up, even to himself. Forget all of those parts of himself that resisted the rougher aspects of the drug trade he was getting dragged into and definitely forget about wondering if he really is a man or not.
At least until meeting Andrea and Brock, which snaps him out of that “I’m the bad guy” mindset, but by that time I think just, too much starts to happen for Jesse to have much time to question her gender. I wouldn’t consider her to be as actively repressing any sort of “I wish I wasn’t a man” thoughts but the amount of turmoil and danger that she’s in, just really really doesn’t lend itself to that sort of gender introspection as much. 
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I’ve got some additional thoughts on Jesse’s journey with gender that are more headcanons than actual analysis of the show so I didn’t include them in the text above. But I still really wanted to share because I like them and think that they really add to the analysis, so here they are;
I mentioned that I don’t think that Jesse had any particularly notable moments that might’ve suggested that she was trans when she was younger other than feeling out of place, but maybe he did have some interest in playing with “girls stuff” and her parents discouraged it because as we know they’re the shitty type of people who value their child being “normal” at the price of that child’s happiness, but I can also see her being one of those kids who just didn’t even grasp the differences between boys and girls stuff for a longer time than others, or I can even see Jesse’s last connection to the "male" side of gender being from when she was a little boy, before he was aware of the concept of what being a man was, and that it would be expected of her.
But later, in his adulthood, after the idea and pressures of "manhood" became very present in his life, one of the more certain instances of gender questioning I picture Jesse having is at some point while hanging out with Badger, Pete and Combo, Jesse screws around and puts on a dress. And he's like “haha I look like such a queer don’t I?” but is internally thinking something more along the lines of “ I will die before I tell anyone how this makes me feel” (that being that it makes him feel happy). 
And then, as we enter into the timeline of the show itself; when Jane first tells Jesse that he doesn’t have to be a man if he doesn’t want to, I don’t actually think that Jesse would be receptive of it at first. I think it’s more likely that he’d decide he suddenly doesn’t want to have this discussion anymore and change the subject. Jesse would still have the misconception that you need to medically transition or at least be required to fit some sort of ‘criteria’ to be trans, instead of just identifying as a different gender than your assigned sex, and I think that would play some role in his not wanting to talk about possibly being trans. And even more because, while he could opt out of telling anyone that he’s trans, Jesse’s in a world in general that isn’t trans-friendly, but the drug trade he’s in specifically is very lgbtq-phobic. Jesse himself is definitely gonna have some internalized transphobia, we’ve seen his homophobia, and I definitely read that as a result of his environment rather than actual hatred considering at Jesse’s true core he’s a pretty caring person. But there are definitely people in the drug trade who would be violently homophobic and transphobic, and Jesse would know that, and would probably perceive even realizing that he is trans to be a threat to his safety. But, later on, further into her relationship with Jane I think she’d open up, even if only to Jane.
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And that’s what I like to focus on the most with this analysis, all of the happiness and freedom and healing that Jesse gets to feel detaching himself from manhood, something that honestly contributed so much to every part of his suffering. And god does this girl deserve some happiness.
Then when for the most part too much is going on for Jesse to consider whether or not he’s trans, I still sometimes think of a situation where Jesse might’ve suggested? Her gender questioning to Mike, and while I don’t think Mike’s personal reaction would be technically negative, I think he’d tell Jesse to ‘please not share that with anyone else kid’. Which would be discouraging to Jesse, and she’d quickly backtrack, some because of the reaction on its own but also because he really already knows that it’d be stupid to say anything to anyone else, but it’s not until Jesse’s really free from the drug trade that she can finally crack that egg. I really like to think about the comfort and relief Jesse would get to feel no longer having to try and be a man, cause she finally realizes that she isn’t one.
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drdemonprince · 21 days
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Just chiming in to agree that that person is not a selfish bitch. I'm also really put off by moralistic performances of emotion, and I know in my case it's because it was part of a pattern of abusive behaviour that my mother did.
Anytime you expressed to her that there was a problem with her behaviour, she seemed to genuinely believe that if she put enough effort into weeping and crying on her children's shoulders, and verbally denigrating herself for being an inherently bad an immoral person, and stressing so much that she developed physical illnesses from it, then she could follow that up by asking for forgiveness - as if it would be cruel for us to continue her suffering by denying her that forgiveness. Except that to her, "forgiveness" meant "it's all swept under the rug, I have Atoned By Suffering Guilt, so now it doesn't matter and I can keep doing it again." (I really wonder how much the religious background of her parents' generation came into the formation of this worldview.) And at the same time, she refuses to read news that's "too upsetting" and never engages with literature or media about dark themes "because there's enough of that in real life."
It might be cynical of me to read this pattern into the way people talk online about genocide. But I keep seeing parallels. My perspective is that a) if you're not regulating your emotions well enough to function, then you have less capacity to offer practical help; and b) people who are actually trying to survive genocide want unnecessary human suffering to END, so you're not aligning yourself with that hope by engaging in rumination etc that compounds suffering with not practical benefit to anyone.
But also, watching my mother's behaviour has led me to add perspective c) that a lot of people (in Christian cultures?) haven't developed enough understanding of the complexity of the world and how to relate to it, and genuinely believe that an overblown emotionally affected reaction, followed by helplessness and thereby inaction, is the only possible way for them to respond when they're confronted with upsetting information that demands action from them. Being raised to think in a black-and-white "good vs evil" dichotomy, and thinking about people as "either morally good or morally bad" rather than thinking about people as neutral and behaviours as either ethically helpful or harmful... it doesn't give them a conceptual framework to integrate upsetting information and then carry on getting things done, it's like their moral anxiety gets them stuck and that keeps the emotions escalating.
I see people discussing this pattern in the context of religious trauma, and in the context of the cultural construct of "whiteness" - the discovery of something morally bad has to be followed by an extreme emotional reaction that basically amounts to protesting your own innocence and helplessness to deny responsibility for your direct behaviours (in my mother's case) or complicity in a corrupt system (in the case of overwhelmed average people learning about genocide).
Maybe I'm rambling more than I'm analysing here, but the comparison stands out a lot to me and it's troubling to watch.
yo anon no this is gold, thank you for sharing. This is remarkably astute.
I will add the quick caveat that hyperempathic people who are debilitated by their sensitivity exist, of course, and have very real struggles and none of this is intended to denigrate them. In practice, their behavior can have the impact of silencing criticism or distracting from the issue at hand but being wired that way certainly does not doom a person to behaving in a counterproductive, manipulative manner.
This critique is more about performative over the top empathy as a tactic (conscious or not) of offloading responsibility, and as a pseudo-religious ideology that makes predominately white western cultures particularly ill-equipped to deal with the consequences of their global plundering. almost certainly by design. Most moral teachings that we encounter in the west promote this tactic and ideology, and it gets very deeply ingrained in most us if we don't devote a ton of attention to uprooting it.
thanks for this great response.
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sepublic · 2 years
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In Witches before Wizards, it hurt Luz SO badly for Eda to laugh off the idea of Luz being a chosen one. Then in Covention she angsted over being a real witch. And by Enchanting Grom Fright, Luz felt partially motivated to prove she wasn’t weak by challenging Grometheus, only to fail! And then Separate Tides, Luz feels she was a burden for getting Eda captured and losing her magic, and tries to prove she’s not that, only to need Eda’s help in the end.
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...She really must’ve thought that all of these incidents, especially Grom, just certified to Eda that Luz really was just some weak kid; Confirming another worst fear. Luz just has. SUCH a complex about being a burden. About being unwanted. A nuisance. And so she has to be useful, Luz has to bottle up her problems so she’s as low-maintenance as possible. Luz has to be cool and someone people actually like and would want to hang out with! She has to be worthwhile to others, and this entire scene... Where Luz realizes Eda is trying to send her and King away, her RSD leaps at the culmination of all these little storylines from past episodes that stemmed from this fundamental self-doubt!
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So I love this show for having Eda reiterate that it’s not because she thinks Luz is weak, because even the strongest kid in the world shouldn’t handle this, especially not by themselves, and Eda should know because she experienced that herself. Eda doesn’t think of Luz as weak or a burden, Luz and King are EVERYTHING to her and if it comes down to it, they may as well be all that matters to Eda. It’s like before at Grom, when Eda didn’t lord it over Luz that she couldn’t handle Grometheus; Instead she reassuringly tells her it’s okay with zero judgment, and moves to help before Amity barges in with her gayness.
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I feel so bad for Luz because it feels like she’s constantly repenting and apologizing for who she is, for her ‘shortcomings’ as a person and it’s such a good parallel/foil to Philip, who would’ve had a Puritan upbringing that hammered in such a toxic mindset. But Luz at least grew and chose compassion as a coping mechanism, even if she’s gone too far with it at her own detriment. Luz just wants people who would accept her, from who she is to what she has to offer, to believe in her; And after Camila sent her away to summer camp, for her own good, Luz managed to find Eda... The one person she felt she could count on not to do that, because Eda DID let her stay, instead of sending Luz back!
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So this was the ultimate betrayal to her. No shade to Camila nor Eda, they both had their reasons and are both struggling... But again I love this show reiterating that adults are not perfect. That they try but they’ll make mistakes and they don’t always know what’s going on. But they do care and they don’t mean for it to come across that way (which reminds me of being neurodivergent, another aspect of this show). And it really is just about communicating and explaining things to your loved ones, instead of keeping them in the dark. Kids just want respect, especially growing teenagers, so getting that is such a huge coming-of-age hallmark. As is the realization on Luz’s end that Eda doesn’t have it all figured out, as cool as she thinks her mom is; But Luz still wants to be told that and treated as a person that people will talk to and regard seriously.
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...Ah well. As heartbreaking as that fight between student and mentor was, it was also kind of a wonderful show of Luz’s strength and growth, how much her magical prowess has developed to keep up with Eda for even a bit; Which, given how Eda said Luz would have to earn her Palisman by showing her capabilities as a witch...
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Yeah, that pairs very nicely with Eda realizing it’s finally time for Luz to carve her own, and Luz agrees as she decides her future.
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cranberryjuice-posts · 2 months
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I’m abt to post a new clarisse FIC but I just wanted to go on a rant abt this
SPOILERS FOR PJO
Clarisse and silena Were in love. Ive already made a post abt thhis before but I wanna just like elaborate
- “Clarisse is in love with Chris and silena is in love with Charles beckendorf”
Yes that’s true but have you ever noticed how differently clarisse treats female characters vrs male characters. She softer and while still a bitch not an actually shitty person to characters like for example annabeth, silena and more, in the sea of monsters she was concerned for annabeth after she broke her ribs but in the next line insulted Percy.
She is also seen countless times being kinder to annabeth in multiple different scenes while still be harsh to other male characters. She gets ruthless in the war meeting in the final book and all she said is “I apologize to only silena” or something like that. When have we ever seen clarisse apologize than to silena
- “clarisse went into the labyrinth to find Chris she loved him”
Clarisse went into the labyrinth to find Chris, the only reason for this was because he showed up to her house in Arizona. She felt responsible to get him back from camp. She also helped nurse him back to sanity until Dionysius could help.
Clarisse felt responsible for Chris, that’s why and she can still love him platonically. That’s how I’ve always viewed their relationship was them being platonic.
- “silena and clarisse Were Just good friends that’s it”
Clarisse and silena Are direct parallels to Achilles and Patroclus, two characters in the Iliad who are very clearly lovers.
I Said it once I’ll say it again, Rick most likely didn’t think about making both girls the parallels to the myth until he was already writing the book. If he had decided on that way before I firmly believe he would of made them both together
But I would also like to add his books came out in the early 2000’s the last Olympian coming out in 2009 and queer represantion wasn’t as “common” as it is now. With Disney also being his publisher he was probably hesitant to even introduce a gay character in his books let alone two sapphic women.
Yes we started to see change for queer identies in the early 2000’s we also have to still think that again Disney is ricks publisher, even Disney didn’t really start being more accepting of LGBTQ+ identies until recently.
- “well if all that’s true why didn’t Rick just make them in love in the final book”
I Just explained why above but also he had already written their relationships out, silena and beckendorf in the demigod diaries or which ever one it was and clarisse and Chris in the battle of the labyrinth.
He can’t just go back and completely rewrite the cannon relationships he has set without it being weird.
——
In the end even actors like Dior who plays clarisse says that her character and silena will have a more sapphic relationship and with the show coming out now and with season 2 being announced, Rick having cannon gay characters a whole book about nico and will who are to young men in a relationship going through Tartarus, I belive Rick will make silena and clarisse have a more romantic relationship compared to the books.
Also we’re going to be seeing a lot of change anyways, Rick wrote these books YEARS ago and of course like any artist you will critique your old work. So again I hope we see a more developed and romantic relationship between silena and clarisse especially since Clarisse is very much a lesbian coded character
That’s it Ty for coming to my Ted talk 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩
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m4gp13 · 8 months
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Can we talk about how badly Rick nerfed Jason when he broke IVLIVS at the end of the book it was introduced in? And by nerfed I don't mean the destruction of it held him back in terms of power in any way, I mean in terms of the narrative and particularly his ability to stand against/alongside Percy.
Percy already had five books of context, backstory and time for the reader to get attached so Jason had to do a lot of heavy lifting to not get completely overshadowed but at every opportunity Rick had to let Jason have something to puff him up, it fell flat. Percy had a cool transforming weapon so Rick gave Jason one but then destroyed it in the first book of the series. It reminds me of Rick giving Jason a flying horse in the form of Tempest so he would have his own Blackjack but then Tempest hardly showed up and didn't have a fraction of the established bond that Percy had with Blackjack (also Tempest definitely should have been a giant eagle especially since it was established that Venti can appear as giant eagles).
The worst part about it is that IVLIVS could have been so cool! First of all, ranged weapons are incredibly underused in Rick's books. Clarisse had her electric spear that was relevant for one book but everyone else just has swords or knives, occasionally bows and arrows. It's especially annoying because in most historical military units, Roman and Greek ones included, swords and knives were mostly kept on person as a last resort. In an ideal fight, they never would have been removed from the sheath. The spears should have been enough and most of the time, they were enough. Jason being a Roman demigod could have made him using a spear much more impactful because it would have emphasised the strict and regimented approach the Romans have towards fighting. It would have contrasted with the way the Greeks fight. Since Rick already had the whole arc of Jason deciding he's as Greek as he is Roman, it would have made the whole thing about IVLIVS being both a spear and a sword may more narratively important. The spear represents his Roman side and the sword represents his Greek side.
Second of all, the functionality of it could have been very well-utilised. It's a coin toss. It's inherently random. It would have been cool to see Jason in a fight where he wanted to use one weapon but the coin gave him the other and we would have seen him improvise on the fly, showcasing his years of military experience and the skills that made him a praetor to adapt an ill-suited weapon for the situation and use it effectively because he knows these weapons very well and knows how to use them even in unfavourable contexts. Or you could have it the other way. He wants weapon A, gets weapon B which is much worse for the fight he's in and does poorly, extra points if it draws attention to the Greek/Roman debate he's having. Maybe he wants to use a spear when he's fighting the ghosts at the start of BOO but gets a sword and because of this, gets stabbed by the ghost guy who emphasises how Roman he is. Jason internalises his failure to be Greek (failure to use his Greek sword and fighting style to protect himself against the Romans) and how it caused him to be in danger of 'dying like a Roman' but does character development stuff and heals his wound with the power of believing in himself and realising he can be both Greek and Roman (*cough cough* because I'm a bi!Jason truther his dual identity could have been a great metaphor and parallel to his sexuality *cough cough*).
Lastly, it would have given him something interesting to help him stand out in a cast full of interesting characters with their own 'flair' to make them memorable. Percy obviously has Riptide, Annabeth had Luke's old knife (which she should have gotten to keep), Piper had Katoptris and later on the Boread's sword (which she should have gotten to use more), Frank was the only significant character with a bow and arrow, Leo had his magic toolbelt and Hazel had her spatha (but should have gotten to use it while on Arion a lot more, it's a cavalry sword). And Jason had a sword. Just a regular ass sword. Even Nico's sword had some intrigue because it was made of Stygian iron and it has its kopis shape (idk if that's canon or fanon because it's shaped like that in virtually all fanart of him but I can't remember it being described like that in the books. I could be misremembering this but I have no idea where that idea came from). Jason's already at a huge disadvantage and loads of readers (particularly when the hoo books were being released) just saw Jason as boring and unnecessary.
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maripr · 3 months
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Ozcarnation merge musings from my twitter
I wrote these months ago and finally sharing them on tumblr.
Why I differentiate between Ozma and Ozpin, a 🧵
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I disagree with the general interpretation of where the merge subplot is actually heading in canon: most people think it will actualize, I think it will be reversed, either stopping the merge for good or reversing it after it comes very briefly into reality.
Oscar's arc, paralleling Ruby (mainly, but other characters share the trait as well) has been about him trying to find his own place and his own story, but the shadow of supposed ego death is always looming on him and terrifying him.
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Everytime he takes a step forward, he's reminded again of the expected fate for him, something that some characters actively want (like Ironwood).
Examples:
volume 6, after being treated as a stand-in for Ozpin, currently MIA, Oscar takes his own decision to forgive the team and be prepared for battle alongside them. While reconciling with tem, with his new combat gear, he still can't help but be haunted of "how much time he has left".
Volume 7 places him in a conundrum the entire volume: he's developing as a fighter, growing up as an adolescent and forging stronger relationship with his newfound friends. Jaune clearly comes to see him as a little brother and there's something interesting going on with Ruby that may or may not result in a romantic relationship down the line. The team actually worries about his opinion on stuff as well, and Ruby clearly values him as Oscar Pine. Meanwhile, the very person who's helping in his growth is James Ironwood, who cannot shut up about wishing Ozpin was there everytime they meet, and telling Oscar he will basically cease to exist to his face with a big shiny smile. It's unclear at this point if James knows or not about how terrified Oscar is of the merge, as the boy never voices this fear. I think he just wants not to think of it. So even at the end, where James finally says "fuck it, Oscar or Ozpin, i don't need either" and shoots him, Oscar starts coming onto his power, in a scene that's both powerful and bittersweet, paralleling Penny.
Both of them, for their qualities, were chosen by a magical destiny, one capable of beautiful and powerful magic, that they don't want, never wanted and will struggle with with the next volume. Penny's arc is a direct parallel and commentary to Oscar and the way it ends might comment on Oscar's arc. Not in death but that Penny could finally show everyone she was her own person who could choose for herself.
Coming back to volume 8, Oscar has his worst time yet, finally voices his fear of merging with Oz, and comes back from it scarred but stronger, having helped Ozpin trust himself and others and gaining a new ally in Emerald.
But, see where I'm getting at? This is no resolution.
Oscar has briefly shown his fear but at the end of the volume, much like Ruby has done for several seasons, swallows the literal torture he endured for half of it and the fear of imminent ego death due to reawakened magic, and chooses to focus on the positives.
Boy, if he had fallen into the ever after maybe he would have healed too. Or maybe we would have no plot at all bc Oscar and Ruby would have noticed each other's pain, which would have been nice as well, but sometimes therapy has to be brutal.
And also Oscar can't conclude his arc in the ever after because his own is complimentary to Ruby's but also a contrast to it. Ruby wants to emulate her mother and ideal of what a hero is and must learn that she is enough as she is already. Oscar does NOT want to emulate or be his father figure, whose og incarnation was basically THE ideal hero of fairytales. He wants to be enough but doesn't know who he is yet, since everyone keeps telling him to his face that Oscar Pine isn't enough.
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SO anyway. If both Penny (a commentary on Oscar) and Ruby (a direct parallel)'s arcs end with them realizing their own individuality, I 100% believe Oscar's arc will end like this as well.
And when i say end i mean end is just a new beginning.
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Before moving to my final argument, let me also briefly comment on how Jaune and Weiss' arcs are similar but different to Oscar and Ruby's. It's interesting because, by main character status, Jaune as the leader of team JNPR, is a lancer and a foil to RWBY and Ruby inside of team RWBY's dynamic, Weiss, as Ruby's partner, is the lancer and foil to Ruby and inside new JNPR/ORNJ, Oscar, as Jaune's new partner, is his lancer and foil.
And both Jaune and Weiss deal with identity but more in a role they want to play as expected to what their family might want, initially, and later as the knights they idealized in fairytales. This is way too long for this post, but again, fascinating. And also Whiteknight slays.
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So, my final thesis:
Oscar's arc will end with him affirming his own individuality over the merge.
So why can't Ozpin also do the same?
The god of light's intention in bestowing Ozma with this method of reincarnation was the positive idea of him never being alone.
And this works, more or less, in different lifetimes. Even in the very first, the farmer who we initially assumed was completely eradicated, still voiced his opinion and reminded Ozma of the good path.
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In later lives, the spirit and the host lived more comfortably, having estabilished an equal partnership.
But... They still end up as one person? They're literally so like-minded that their enormous guilt complex makes one believe he's responsible for everything the others did?
I feel like this is what the story is trying to say, much like what many characters say of Oscar, and it's framed as a bad thing.
And incorrect. Oscar is always "punished" for what his predecessors did because he will be Ozma eventually.
The voice still going by the name of Ozpin feels responsible for everything that happened since Ozma was brought back to life and literally agrees with his own torturer that yep, he deserves all the punishment and pain for it.
Every incarnation eventually reaches a point where they start to identify with their predecessors in such a way that contradicts what the god of light's intention was (then again, we have been shown time and time again that the god of light is not very good at his job).
Instead of a partnership where each soul helps the other moving forward and never los hope, we have a continuous cycle of guilt and self-abuse accumulating. Oscar is gnawing at it the entire time. Who's to say Ozpin, as the professor, also didn't?
And Oscar is going to break the cycle.
As he does that, I want Ozpin to also realize his own individuality.
This is why I want an happy ending for all the incarnates, not just Ozma. Merged they may be for now, in the physical realm, why should only Ozma move on to a peaceful afterlife? All the people who ended up clogs in the ever ticking clock and had no say in it were all people with their own lives, their own friends and families, their own name. And they deserve peace too.
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otsanda · 5 months
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I was reading this great meta by @fuckyeahisawthat about Aziraphale and Crowley metaphorically switching places— from Crowley being the giver of Knowledge and the freedom of choice to humanity and Aziraphale being the protector, by giving humans the flaming sword to Crowley being the protector of humanity and Aziraphale granting knowledge and freedom of choice.
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But this made something click into place for me that I’d been turning over in my mind for a while: what if it’s not just freedom and knowledge and choice for humanity… what if Aziraphale functionally brings freedom and choice and knowledge to everyone!
I mean, one thing I haven’t really seen anyone talking about is the contrast between the portrayal of angels and demons (generally) in S1 and specific angels and demons in S2. The first season really set Heaven and Hell up as full of a lot of characters who had their own quirks and unique aspects, but still functioned very well as cogs in the same type of machine.
Gabriel and Beelzebub are the most obvious examples, since they had the biggest pivot in S2: suddenly it’s not just Aziraphale and Crowley who are the special ones.
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We get to see these two other characters have thoughts and desires and aspirations beyond that of following their angelic/demonic natures or furthering the cause of their respective sides. S2 really humanizes both of these characters who were (in S1) the best real example that we saw of an official representative of the corporate goings-on from each side. God and Satan were there in S1, but in a much less visible way (and even LESS visible in S2).
But even beyond Beez and Gabe, S2 took careful steps to humanize a lot of other ethereal/occult characters as well. We see Michael both confident and shaken, sarcastic and unsure. Strong, but with aspirations to go Higher. Uriel pushes back, questions authority, and asks for reassurance that they’ve not done something wrong. Side note: I really hope we get to see more Uriel development bc Uriel has so much interesting potential to me.
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Muriel wasn’t in S1, but is an obvious parallel for early Aziraphale and we see a lot of similarities between them (their enthusiasm and delight at experiencing Earth, being believed when attempting a particular human job, enjoying books, etc).
Even the demons we see aren’t a monolith. Shax feels quite different from the classic evil demons we’ve met before. Furfur and Eric too. Although they’re doing demon stuff, none of these demons act all that demonic. We see even more hints at them struggling and learning and growing. Being… more human.
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Heck, even the demon with the scary mouth in E4, Astoreth, was just doing his job.
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So then what if the end of S2 is establishing Crowley as the defender of Humanity while positioning Aziraphale to share knowledge and the freedom of choice in heaven. If the ‘big battle’ that Crowley mentioned at the end of S1 is between Humanity and whoever is representing Heaven or Hell, maybe it’s time to give more ethereal and occult beings the opportunity to choose their own place in that fight.
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Because I think that Crowley is right that Heaven and Hell are toxic. And Aziraphale is right that they both can do good. And separating the two of them, as painful as it is to watch, could give Aziraphale the space to see glimpses of humanity in the other angels (and even demons?) while positioned in Heaven. And it could give Crowley... probably trust issues, actually. I guess let's put a pin in that part.
But come Season 3, I would love to see Crowley and Aziraphale positioned on opposite sides of the war to end all wars, Aziraphale representing Heaven (and Hell?) and Crowley alongside Humanity. But before anything truly awful happens, they do what they always do.
They’ll come up with a plan. And they'll rescue one another and themselves.
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And everything else and everyone else will fall into place around them.
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chimonystack · 4 months
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Alright,
so there's been an Orange Side™ teased for a long time now in Sanders Sides, right? And the common theory is that Orange will be some form of Rage or Wrath, and will either take over or split from Logan, right? Well, I want to voice my opinion on this, because I believe it's extremely accurate, and could also provide an amazing character to the mix to oppose all of the sides (yes, INCLUDING LOGAN.)
So, first point:
This point is very minor, but Logan was the first side to have his name revealed. If Orange is the last side to be revealed, that would mean he'll also be the last one to have his name revealed, which is an interesting parallel.
Second point:
Logan rarely shows any emotions. Yes, he gets excited about Crofter's, he has some small amount of pride whenever he's right, and earlier in the series he feels small amounts of remorse whenever he does something that hurts one of the other sides. But, most of the time, Logan doesn't show any emotions (and in "Alone on VALENTINE'S DAY!" he even says "Call me when you have something a little less feelingsy"). He shows nothing, except for one emotion (which is fairly obvious given the intro to this post, but I'll still save it for later).
Third point:
Logan has had excellent character development since the beginning of the series. In the beginning, Logan only cared about the logical solutions for any of Thomas' problems. He would constantly fight one of the other sides about a problem until one of the remaining sides or even Thomas himself forced him to see what he was doing wrong and concede or compromise. But as the series kept going on, Logan started becoming not just more academically intelligent, but very importantly, more emotionally intelligent. He understands the other sides more, and he eventually comes to realize that every side has their merit, even Janus and Remus.
Fourth point:
Logan often gets ignored or dismissed by the other sides and Thomas himself. Yes, Thomas calls on him for help for several situations, and Logan often saves the day, but even so, he doesn't always get the full credit he deserves. The most notable examples of him being dismissed or ignored are in "Moving On," and "Working Through Intrusive Thoughts." In Moving On, Logan makes a mistake and suggests they go to Patton's room, but once he realizes what Patton's room is actually doing (especially to Virgil), he immediately tries to get Thomas and the other sides to leave. Thomas, Roman and Patton ignore him, and Logan gets frustrated enough to leave. In Working Through Intrusive Thoughts, Logan constantly tries to get Thomas to follow his schedule for the day, but Remus keeps breaking Thomas' focus on his chores. Then, once Thomas finally gets called by Nico, the final thread of Thomas' focus on his chores is broken and he instead decides to go meet Nico to look at art. Despite all of this, Logan still tries to listen to everybody, including Janus and Remus.
Fifth point:
There seems to be a pattern with the sides and whether they're associated with more positive or negative traits. Logan, Patton, and Roman are all positive. Janus and Remus are both negative. Virgil is both positive and negative. If Orange is Wrath or Rage, this creates symmetry on both sides, with Orange joining Janus and Remus as a negative trait. This is also supported in the Sanders Sides Anime Intro (which I'm sure everybody already noticed but it's still worth it to me to bring up).
Now, to bring it all together:
If Orange is indeed going to be Rage or Wrath, it absolutely makes sense for him to either take over or split from Logan, because the one emotion that Logan shows consistently and often is anger. His frustrations whenever he makes mistakes, or when he gets ignored or dismissed, and especially his "FALSEHOOD" are all examples of how he commonly has outbursts (or at the very least, visible) bouts of anger. Logan's eyes glowing orange when he yells at Remus in Working Through Intrusive Thoughts only add to this. If Orange is meant to be a reflection/the opposite of Logan, then he'll likely show emotions constantly, with the only thing that stays the same being the outbursts of anger, just severely intensified for Orange. This also opens the door for the character development that Logan has had being completely reversed (no matter whether Logan is taken over or if Orange just splits from him). All of a sudden, the rest of the sides have somebody that simply does not care about their opinions or feelings. Orange likely will ignore all of the rest of the sides, or even lash out at them constantly, never giving them the time of day. Orange will refuse to see the merit in any of the sides' functions, which is the exact opposite of Logan, who tries to see everybody's merit. The new biggest problem becomes avoiding Wrath, but to no avail, as he keeps coming back angrier every time, until eventually they all realize that, just like with Virgil, they need to try to understand him. The only problem with that is that it's harder to understand and accept Wrath than it was to understand Virgil.
No matter what, though:
I am SO hyped for these teasers to pay off, no matter what Orange ends up being. I have no doubts at all about Thomas' ability to create an amazing and compelling character for all of us to love just as much as the other six sides.
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helido24 · 5 months
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Well... i finished both snootgame and volcano high, i needed to talk a bit about them
First of all: I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS SOO MUCH, FANG I LOVE YOU I HOPE TO YOUR HAPINNESS
2:. . .jeez, it's so difficult talk about both games without making parallels or comparing them
SG is a very simpler visual novel with a... very questionable reason to exist to begin with, but even with that it surprises you with a very beutiful story of self development and young love in the modern times. The multiples endings all of them are EMOTIONAL DESTROYERS, even the obvious joke-shouting-super edgy ending 1, but just 'cause all the care and love you have for the characters, you feel it in a more deeply way and you suffer watching them like this, giving you strenght to do the best ending possible and. . .oof, that destroys you too, but in a different way
I love Fang an Anon soo much, i wish them nothing but hapinnes
And talking about the elephant in the room? Well... i don't think snoot game is anti-LGBT propaganda
"B-but it's about fang doing destransicion"
That's the take talking about SG in GVH wiki and i'm not with that
Yes, anon is openly an ashole about lgbt themes and always talked shit about it
And the game treat the whole fang(they/them) with humor. . .both of those things happens between the first hour and the bad ending
As the game progress and anon makes the RIGHT choises you can see him at least try to comprenhend the pronouns thing, and perhaps he makes mistakes about it,but he get that is something important to fang
And yes, there's an ending where fang simply leaves behind all that identity and becomes a generic femenine wife? That's not the true ending
The true ending actually respect that side of fang, with her still liking that style,style being like that, still being fang, the only thing she doesn't keep is the pronouns
To me at least, fang's story isn't just about being no-binary. But being a young person trying multipples sides of their persona and life to try and found itself, with the help of the ones who cares about them to grow as a person
Fang could be a She,a he or them, and i would be perfectly fine with any of those
But if at the end she found herself more happy in this new version. What's the problem? If precisely that's the goal with this theme right?
BUT.... snootgame have a very heavy sin to carry and is. . .it's a 4chan game, and is a parody made to make fun about an openly pro-LGBT+ game
Even with how good the story is, with how NG never attacks directly the community and the movement, it's very hard to believe there's no bit of bath fait in the people behind
We still have all this early shit-talking about this theme after all
But having all in mind. . .i just can't hate snootgame, with it short experience it turned those characters in a very big part of my life (at least for this month lol), and the story touched me in various levels 'cause personal reasons (let's just say i had a "trish" in my life)
And well. . .thank you cavemanon for this very beutiful experience, i'm hoping your next project can shine your talent even more without so much controversy around it
And talking about conteoversy....
*sigh*
Goodbye volcano high. . .with you i have less things to say but still they're important i think
First of all: its FUCKING UNFAIR what happened to this game. An openly pro-LGBT+ visual novel with "tumblr aesthetic" being the first fucking thing they show about the fucking ps5??
What the fuck
It was throwed to one of the most savage and closed-minded fandoms in all the internet: """hardcore gamers"""
And just when they're waiting to some assasins creed, GOW or any other super big HD IP with muscles in the muscles of the characters
I can't think about this choise as nothing but an homicide, forgive for the comparation but. . .this shit was taking your 8yo cousin of color to a place you KNOW is full of neo-nazis with guns and criminal precedents. You know what you're doing or you are extremely stupid
And then internet folks started all this controversy and harassement and hate to the game and the studio by a lot of sides and themes and. . .i feel so sorry for the studio and the people working in volcano high, as a snootgame fan i'm truly sorry for what you passed trought, im hope with all my heart this doesn't make you to give up this style of game, and i'll be waiting to see your next project with heart ^^
And now talking about the game. . .fuck
Fuck fuck fuck
I'm sorry,i know what i said but. . .volcano high is broken by so much sides
I really wanted to enjoy it, i really wanted to love this version of the characters and the story but. . .fuck, i can't
Almost all the characters are soo flat (personality i mean)
All and everyone of them talk about ona (1) thing that they like and never shut up about it, you can be talking about anything else and- OH here's comes trish to talk about her worm. . .again, or sage and their cooking, or fang and their band. . .i get it, they're character traits and you need to use them but... i don't know these people, i don't know at all these characters at all.
In the first hald of the game you need to at least try to tell me something about them, their relationships, their past and problems, give me a reason to give 2 and a half shit about them... and they try, but everytime they talk and seems to be about to give some context they start to just talk about that one and only thing they like, leaving me with nothing to work with
And that's the problem of volcano high in general to me. Is obvious there's a story, there's a background to these characters and there's real context to almost every conversation they have. . .but we don't know it, we can't see it, we don't KNOW these people and is frustrating. After the 2 hours i just shuted down my brain and every time this happend i just go "oh yeah,some cute experience we don't know about them)
The two musical montages (there's 2 right?) With photos of the group living their lives and interacting with each other. . .they're very cute and seems to be fun, but we don't live any of this. Fuck sake i WANTED TO BE SAD in the ending, i wanted to feel the characters and their lives sliping away at the end
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See al these beutiful and impactful moments? Well. . .i'd love to see them, to live them with them
But we don't. They're just a bunch of PNGs passing by at the end as the music continues. And that upset me a lot...
And what upset's me the most. . .you know why i care so much about the characters? Why i need to know their lives and feel something in this story?
BECAUSE OF FUCKING SNOOT GAME
They made me to care about fang and the gang, abour nazer, about naomi, about stella and rosa, i cared about this characters soo much that. . .i feel attatched to the GVH ones too. Even if volcano high do close to nothing to make me care for them at this level
It's to sad and so unfair, volcano high obviously was made with a lot of heart and they OBVIOUSLY cares about the characters a lot more than almost anyone in both fandoms, just the "memories" from above show it. But with the game story and characters as they are right now. . .i don't want to compare them so much, but honestly without NG being so important i wouldn't finished volcano high
And about the story itself? Well... is very rushed to say at least
As i said earlier they spent too much time trying to made us meet the characters (but without letting us know them)
To sudenly introduce the meteorite plot and. . .it feels zero important. Yeah it drives the characters to the harsh decisions they're making and how they interact with each other, but for half the game the meteorite is just there in the background and just mentioned over here and there as a reminder. Just to sudenly be the most important thing in the world at the last hour and half of the game.
Before that all the plot is about fang,the band and the battle of the bands (wich i hardly care about at this point)
But. . .fang and the band? Here they made it a very good work
Yeah, fang talk almost exclusively about the band as is their (1) personality trait, but still they manage to make me feel and understand how important is this to them, and. . .wow, i really felt how fang was feeling reed and specially trish leaving them behind and not taking the band seriously (and still having fang at the edge with promises of being a team but without helping them AT ALL)
I mean, there's no problem with reed and trish don't seeing the band as something more than some fun friends time after school and wanting to make something else for their life. The problem is they seeing fang talking 24/7 aboud the band their future together and openly taking life decisions about it and never saying "hey pal, i think you should focus more in a solos career, we don't want to live with the music but we're still friends" or something like that. . .and they do
Trish says this to fang. . .in the battle night, just in the most important night in fang's life, just to say that she's leaving the band in this very important moment and taking choises she never discussed with fang (as fang did talk with trish about theirs)
And the story insist on pointing out fang as the bad person here, who makes all the bad choises and burn all the bridges with everyone. . .but they doesn't
Even at the end with everyone crying and yelling each other, is fang who talk to everyone and says they're a horrible person and you can blame everything on fang because. . .reasons? Idk because with all the choises and talking options we taked at this point, we clearly made fang a very patient and caring person, but still there's one and only way the story was made and was with fang being constantly a bitch with everyone, so it doesn't matter if you take the bad or good options to talk about 6 hours, the dialogues are all about the bad ones almost constantly. And that's fucked and unfair for my dude fang the pterodolphin, i love them so much
But. . .not everything is bad with volcano high
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The background arts are beautiful and very colorful, a lot of cute dettails and i love them
The characters? Well. . .it's weird, i love them a lot and they're very unique, in the special images and animations they look soo good
But in the normal gameplay...
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They look kinda derpy all the time, and the few animations they constantly use for everything get repetitive after a short while (take a shot everytime trish does the eyebrow rise grin animation, tell me how you died)
((Btw perrito tacita epic cameo))
The art style in general of the game is very cute and i love it, but for the in-game animations they needed some more time to make them. . .feel alive and les akward
And the music?
Hell yeah this is good shit, i love fang's voice and definitely i'm gonna check more of their music soon
In conclusion...
I can see where all of this came from, if that leaked script is real it just makes soo much sence about how the final product ended,i can see every original plot being planted as seeds in the final game but never having the chance to grow or even blossom, just a little sapling in the dirt, and that make me so sad. . .
Even with all of that,they managed to launch the game,and leaving out all the controversy i think the game got very descent sales and everything was kinda worth, i really hope they don't give up again with this type of story
But Ko_On and cavemanon are full of talented people and they deserve a chance to grow and shine by themselves
Both without being a perhaps-bad-faith parody, or without so massive backlash from the wrong people who's not are even interested in the quality but the politics in the games
I don't make this kinde or post so often,but i had to speak my mind about something so important to me
Thank you very much if you readed it 'til here and sorry for the mess,i was typing things as they apeared in my mind lmao
Check it out my art, i just recently made this piece of fang and i really loved the result ^^
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glitteryinknotes · 5 months
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A little follow-up to my previous post.
[https://www.tumblr.com/glitteryinknotes/733101911814848512/there-is-a-level-of-deep-bitterly-poetic-and?source=share]
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This one line is the perfect irony I was talking about. Astarion's most gentle and vulnerable side appears in that moment; clinging to the idea that there is good in the world and people who bring it exist, because that abused, terrified, helpless, poignant part of him wants to believe that, needs to believe that he's not alone and will not have to face his greatest terror alone, now that he knows all too well what it means to be an underdog, less than a person, dependant on somebody else's whim, someone who holds all the cards in the circumstances he's been forced into. Against Cazador, without Tav and the gang, he is as defenseless and vulnerable as the tiefling refugees he was so disgruntled by protecting and helping at the very beginning of the journey.
And we all know it is heartbreaking to hear him say that right after.
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At the same time, those lines are quite unlike his usual self. The Astarion who doesn't care about anyone's business but his own, won't scoop down to help anyone in need unless convinced to or ordered to or lured in by the promise of entertainment, and only has a heart for you and maybe a few of his favourite companions. This line comes from the part of him that only developped after everything he's suffered and came to see that people who abuse power are genuinely loathsome and a plague on this world.
...wickedly ironic that he can say THAT in the very same conversation.
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The parallels between both Ascended Astarion and Astarion The Magistrate, and Cazador are way too obvious. Again, delightfully ironic.
A little personal confession at this point: I was always obsessed with the idea of Tav finding out about Astarion's life from centuries ago, and confronting him about it in some way. It's not impossible, if he indeed was a magistrate, some records of his "ruling" must be kept in some form of city archives, and all it would take is a trip to the city to do a little digging in the library. I think it would be challenging, but in a rather healthy way for him to see clearly what kind of a person he was (especially after the events of the game, with Cazador dealt with); seeing the parallels between not just who he could have become had he chosen to go through with the ritual, but his "original" self and his abuser, and being forced to reflect on the kind of person he will be in the future; someone following in those footsteps, or someone, while retaining his mischievous, hedonistic, self - oriented instincts, choosing to be better. Different. More than that.
I believe that after everything that's happened to him, there is no separating Astarion's innate instincts of self - serving from his survival instincts of self - preservation. We can never know for certain where does one begin and the other ends, we can only hope to steer both in the "good" direction as a trusted, healthy influence, either as friend or partner. Preserve the goodness and kindness, the capability od which he has developped after being brutally and forcefully "humbled" for two centuries while still giving him space to be gleefully... Well, himself.
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pinkandpurple360 · 2 months
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Ngl thanks to all the Stolizt/Vangel parallels I would love to see Blitzo and Angel meet. They would either come out as better people or emotional wrecks that hate each other because they remind them of themselves, and how much they hate that.
But hey! They could talk shit for hours about their respective abusers, that would be fun. I can see a scene where they are talking in bed (because of course they do the thing) and Blitz is on his phone seeing his "conversations" with Stolas and AD is all "damn, does he pest you too?" And Blizt notice he has his own phone going off with love-bombing, then threads from Val. And that is when he realizes that Stolas is more than annoying- he is downright abusing him. And like in a rare moment of sincerity Angel sits up and goes full "word of advice, as a thanks for the-" *insert joke here about their bed activities because it's still AD* "He let's you have your life, your business and shit at the start- but then he starts to request more of your services-" *Blitz's mind flash to the instances where Stolas used him as his bodyguard when he didn't even need one* "and before you know it, you nothing but his little plaything"
And Blitz server all ties with Stolas the next day (this would take place after he gives him the Asmodeus crystals so he doesn't really needs him, but was considering staying with him out of pity), adopts Octavia, and sends a cute little "Thanks, don't push away those that want to help you." Note to Angel Dust, who reads it with a little smile and decides to join the rest of the hotel crew on whatever shenanigans they were doing.
I dunno I am a sucker for victims of abuse that had developed HORRIBLE copying mechanisms finding solace with each other 💜
Ohhh this is so goood and precious 😢🥺 they’d 100% get into a gunfight and probably make out then have a drinking contest at first. In no particular order. But because of the similarities idk if they’d go that far as to sleep together but then again who knows with these guys. OHH THE NOTE AAA CUTE i bet hed come up with some kindve nickname for the Angel too. And did you know Blitz is apparently a fan of Sir Pent? Because that’s a very convenient comedic avenue.
Some of the main things they could talk about are the ways the guys call them sweet names then grab at them, blow smoke in their faces, or put cigarettes out on them, how they whine and cry as if they’re weak people, even though the two have seen firsthand how violent and scary they are. How the abusers violate people, but they know nobody would believe them. The fact that like you said, neither of them can turn on the phone without constant calls and messages begging for attention. The way both of them have had panic attacks due to fear of their anger, even about things that aren’t their fault. Like Via sneaking in the office, or Charlie sneaking onset. The fact the abusers both force them on stage, watch them constantly, and that the only pep talk they can give is how well they perform in bed. How scary it is when they verbally attack their friends, ie Charlie and Millie/Moxxie.
And maybe they would talk about the self blaming, the excuses, how people say they “led him on” , brag about how great they are at the service, that they don’t fuss about it, but it’s never enough…that they don’t know when to turn the persona off. They got themselves into this mess by going after the book or signing the contract. Blame themselves because sometimes the sex isn’t that bad but for some reason they feel so disgusting, raw, and used after it. Their abusers always remind them of the fact they enjoyed it sometimes, so why are they resisting now? Who would believe them now? They’re just a (insert slur) after all…yikes. I hate that side of the fandom.
But hey. They can laugh at how the two guys clearly have no life, all they do is yell at and abuse their staff, surround themselves with luxurious decor and fancy plants, drown their sorrows in alcohol. All alone.
Interestingly, Angie always has to fake being submissive, and Blitzo has to fake being extremely dominant. So Angie wants to feel strong sometimes and he violently lashes out, while Blitz just wants to rest and be soft so he seeks out his daughter and his two lovey dovey friends. Kindve an interesting opposite. Cuddles perhaps required.
Sadly, it seems like it’s too late for B cause the more Stolas’ life falls apart by his own hand, and the more Stella is built up as evil, the more Blitzos saviour complex and pity builds. The foundation of what’s keeping him trapped is actually pity and guilt, and a feeling of needing to save him. Because he couldn’t save his real friend.
Plugging in this lovely art
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I just think it's special that Rooster and Hangman have kind of equal and parallel journeys in terms of character + flying development over the course of the film. What I mean is that their big individual triumphant moments in the narrative use their piloting choices to reflect emotional development. The film shows us from the start that they each have a Big Flaw--and the finale shows them overcoming these flaws.
Not only that, but the narrative uses their dynamic to introduce these individual shortcomings to us, the audience. Their first on screen conversation with each other is how we learn about their Big Flaws in the first place. Because of their relationship and the way they interact, we know how Rooster and Hangman are going to fly before we ever see them in the air.
For Rooster, it's "snug on that perch, waiting for just the right moment...that never comes.” We hear this over and over again, from both Hangman and Maverick–"Now you got it, don't think, just do." "Rooster, you got him, drop down and take the shot!" "Too late, had your chance.” "...same old Rooster." "You're not. flying. fast enough. You don't have a second to waste." This is Rooster’s Big Flaw–he doesn’t trust himself. He flies too slow, and he’s too careful, too hesitant in moments when he needs to believe in his abilities and let instinct take over. This is what Maverick and Hangman are trying to pound into his head the whoooole time. 
And then he’s on the mission, and Fanboy’s laser doesn’t work. And instead of waiting, well: "There's no time, I'm dropping blind." "Bullseye bullseye bullseye!"
This moment is HUGE for him. Fanboy is literally telling him to wait so he can line it up, and maybe a prior Rooster would have done that, but this Rooster has finally learned that he gets one chance and he has to take the shot that's in front of him. [Cue Hangman cheering.] The decision he makes as a pilot in this moment shows that he's learned what Maverick and Hangman were trying to teach him and that he's grown emotionally. He's more sure of himself now–he was always capable of taking the shot, but now he actually trusts himself to do it.
And then we have Hangman, Bagman, Mr. "Where's he going?" "That's why we call him Hangman, he'll always hang you out to dry." "Leaving your wingman, there's a strategy I haven't seen in a while." He's not a good team player; he flies solo both literally and metaphorically. We hear this over and over again, especially from Rooster–"Watch your back, Phoenix." "You put your team in danger and your wingman's dead." Hangman’s response? “They couldn't keep up." (And I can't stop thinking about "Hangman, the only place you'll lead anyone is an early grave." There's so much history there, and so much belief from Rooster that Hangman is Not a person to depend on in a moment of crisis.)
But then, Hangman’s ultimate moment of triumph is that he refuses to leave Maverick and Rooster hanging, that he is the one person who has their backs in a moment of crisis. We see exactly how concerned he is while waiting on the carrier, and we see him ASK to go engage in the fight to fly cover for his squad when the bandits aren’t even attacking anyone yet!! Like I could seriously cry about "Dagger spare, request permission to launch and fly air cover." Because he is specifically asking so that Rooster can go back and get Mav, something that we know is completely at odds with his Big Flaw. And then we see him presumably disobey orders to show up and save Maverick and Rooster's lives anyway. He learned from Maverick and Rooster–he's part of a team now, those are his wingmen out there, and he's not leaving them behind. 
So the film uses their big triumphant moments in the air to show Rooster and Hangman overcoming their respective flaws. It’s part of what makes the action of the finale so fucking good, because while yes, it is very satisfying action on its own, it’s also rooted in their character development. We’re not just happy that Rooster made the shot, we’re happy because Rooster making the shot means something about him. We’re happy that Hangman is the one to come through for Rooster and Mav because that means something about him and his growth.
The most iconic part is that the traits they each needed to adopt belonged to the other. Rooster is set up from the start as the pilot who won’t leave his wingman, even when it’s gonna cost him–“Should be us down there.” “But it’s not. And now you know a little something about Rooster.” This is the exact thing Hangman struggles with, and it’s what he overcomes to have his moment of triumph. Meanwhile Hangman is set up as the one who flies by instinct–”Yeah, you’re good, I’ll give you that.” He flies fast, he doesn’t overthink, and above all, he trusts himself as a pilot. This is the exact thing Rooster struggles with, and it’s what he has to overcome to have his moment of triumph. 
The fact that the two of them have parallel arcs like this? The fact that they both learn to be better, more complete pilots by adopting the strength that comes naturally to the other?
I just think that's beautiful.
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