#this seems like an oversight but also it's really funny because i KNOW why we got glow squids | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

terramythos · 1 year

Text

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Reading Notes

Full Review Here!

-while I am going into these mostly blind (literally my max exposure to Sherlock Holmes is some of the show Elementary and the Guy Ritchie films) this specific story is a little spoiled for me. Oh well -there is licherally no publication year on my copy lmao What (1887, thanks Google) Part 1 (ooo a two parter- scandalous) Chapter 1 - Mr. Sherlock Holmes -ill be real I have like no context for the afghan war except Classic British Colonialism part six billion or whatever -"the great wilderness of London" lmfao -I feel like I vaguely knew Watson was an honest to God doctor but its still surprising considering what I know of other adaptations -shout out to Holmes inventing a fictional(?) version of luminol? Which apparently was discovered early 20th century, lol. -too bad forensic evidence is still so sketchy a century and a half later, Holmes -BOY I WISH THE POLICE WERE A THING OF THE PAST, BRO. -Holmes meets Watson for the first time and almost immediately stabs himself in the finger to prove a point. The serve Chapter 2 - The Science of Deduction -"haha no way is he addicted to narcotics" oh my sweet summer child -watson: I swear I'm only super fascinated by Mr Holmes because my health sucks and I'd be bored otherwise that's it I swear. -ooh I like the observation that Holmes is basically self taught and ignorant of a lot of things people take for granted. I don't think I've gotten that impression about the character before -i mean it's impossible now not to know Holmes is a detective, but since this was the first story, I have to wonder if some original readers really didn't know going in. If so this bit would be fun because based on the character study and Watson's list of Holmes' knowledge you can figure it out yourself. -watson: man this writer is full of shit, what a moron Holmes: me? :) God that's funny -the unintentional prophecy of Holmes wanting to "make my name famous". God lmfao Chapter 3 - The Lauriston Gardens Mystery -oh hey the actual crime mystery is here -rip random American dude I guess? -goddamn that setting description really digs into a bleak tone, huh -my main observation is the apartment was seemingly abandoned if the dust is any indication, so he was not a resident but brought there. Poisoned makes sense if he was not injured -ok, lol, the Rache thing NOT being Rachel is the thing I had spoiled, and they've already dropped that in the intro chapter to the crime. So I guess I don't know where this is going. Fun! Chapter 4 - What John Rance Had To Tell -watson is smart actually -though I think RACHE being a red herring as Holmes suggests is way too easy -tho Holmes guessing the murderers appearance leads me to believe it's someone he knows. (Also weird that Rance is also a five letter R-E word). -could even make the argument that it could be a fucked up version where the C and H are switched and mutilated, but I have no clue why if the murderer supposedly did it -then again I also don't know why the murderer was the injured one with no sign of a struggle. Maybe a third person? Or something unrelated/accidental? OR the dead dude wasn't actually poisoned, we only have the police's word on that -OH HE SAID THE TITLE OOOOOHHHH -also Holmes seems more invested in the fun of the mystery than the fact some dude was fucking murdered, presumably by a friend based on what he said earlier Chapter 5 - Our Advertisement Brings A Visitor -watson be like "well the guy was fuck ugly so it's probably good he got murdered" like bro??? -yeah no way is this the culprit. Like we're maybe a quarter into the book. If it IS him then there's way more to it -Some Rando In Disguise It Seems -tho I have to say putting an ad out for a (potentially?) valuable piece of lost jewelry like a wedding ring would attract grifters whether they had any relation to the murder or not. Seems like a weird oversight to the plan. Chapter 6 - Tobias Gregson Shows What He Can Do -seeing how 3 different papers frame the murder, specifically political motivations, is a little funny even if I'm missing some of the context of the time. -interesting frame for the chapter, someone else telling a story to the leads. I guess it adds some variety to the presentation (and lets us see red herrings that wouldn't trip up Holmes) -some of the terminology didn't age well, which is unsurprising -- "street Arab" rather than "street urchin". -HOW THE TURNTABLES. THE PLOT THICKENS. ETC Chapter 7 - Light in the Darkness -RACHE again. Hmmmmm. Only this time it WOULD be the victim's blood, not the murderer's. Is the handwriting the same? Plus the original height observation? And the first RACHE was almost hidden, but this one seems more in the open based on what Lestrade said. -again the use of framing where one of the less capable detectives talks about what they've done and discovered to add some variety -ok so this guy was murdered in a much different way than the other, which seems odd, unless someone else did this one. -and the pills point to Stangerson killing Drebber, but then who killed Stangerson? If he was poisoned he would have been stabbed independently of that. -and why two different kinds of pills. Is one an antidote to the other, maybe? It's possible the murderer planted it in Stangerson's room, but why, if the goal was to implicate him? So it probably is actually his. -holmes just knowing and there being some plot contrivance why he can't say does kinda fizzle the stakes a little (never mind this gets resolved in like 2 pages) -but assuming he IS right, I was correct about there being 2 people... which might explain the differences in the 2 murders? -the cab driver! He was mentioned early then everyone seemingly forgot he was present around the time Drebber died. -"it's the end of the mystery!" Uh yeah except the second person is almost certainly at large and there's an entire second part to the story, Holmes. Lol. Lmao Part 2 - The Country of the Saints Chapter 1-- On The Great Alkali Plain -colonialist worldview ahoy -doyle my guy you know quite literally nothing about ecology here like it's ok to admit it -*lists 3 predators* "these are the only guys that live here, in the great miserable American plains," that's not how any food chain works. Also you live in fucking London -I'll stop roasting him lmao -i guess it's like the Nevada salt flats or something?? A little more valid I guess -... huh. -this is quite the framing for part 2 of a murder mystery I'll be real. -the idea of this huge mass of white people traveling through the western desert and biblical references in the like makes me think of Mormons more than anything... -and Stangerson makes his appearance here which sure is fascinating if the dude fucking died (unless the whole antidote and fake death thing is the real shit). Or he has a twin or something. Or this is the past. -oh my god they are Mormons -why are there Mormons making pilgrimage in the salt flats in the first Sherlock Holmes murder mystery??? This shit is wild -"my kid now" ok, word, Ferrier -bringham young is in this SHERLOCK HOLMES story and is also a fucking dick. I'm going insane Chapter 2 - The Flower of Utah -ferrier gay as fuck let's just be real here -so is this like where the backstory for the wedding ring comes from? If so this is pretty extensive. I do wonder how it all ties into the first story. Like we went full cowboy western here -twu wuv exposition etc Chapter 3 - John Ferrier Talks With The Prophet -"the Mormons suck by the way" ok Doyle go off? -i have to emphasize again that Brigham Young is a character in this fucking Sherlock Holmes story. Like. A villain. This is just crazy to me lmao -The Danites were a real thing apparently? Man. -my guy put in a FOOTNOTE and CITATION about Mormons being misogynistic. There are no footnotes anywhere in the story except to be like "no really they called women heifers here's the guy who said it" I am literally not making this shit up. Doyle based actually??? Chapter 4 - A Flight For Life -we are like half through the second part and I have to fucking state again this is a Sherlock Holmes murder mystery thats just straight up a western now with Brigham Young as the antagonist with the title character nowhere in sight -it hasnt been like outright stated and he could just be tan but theres so many references to Ferrier having brown skin it does make me wonder if he isn't white. The only thing that would be odd with that is he isn't racially discriminated against in a Mormon compound. Especially since his adopted daughter is deffo white & he is discriminated against for NOT taking wives. I can't see that really happening if he isn't white -"there are two ways out of the room... there is the door, and there is the window. Which do you care to use?" DAMN dude -Stangerson & Drebber really do be 2 complete cunts huh. Fuck those guys -doyle: I need to name the guy who rescues Ferrier and Lucy from the Mormons. In America. I got it! "Jefferson Hope" Chapter 5 - The Avenging Angels -we got 3 chapters left??? -"once safe in Carson we may rest for the remainder of our lives" is that on the nose foreshadowing -at least now the wilderness is being described in beautiful terms -Oh RIP Ferrier I guess. They bothered to dig a grave, lol? -honestly I'm a little surprised they didn't try to hunt Jefferson Hope down for good measure since they're supposed to be ultra vindictive. Unless they didn't know he was with them? I guess maybe they didn't? -... nope, they knew and put out a warrant. Again why not try to track him? Too hard? -and convenient random guy Hope happens to know who doesn't hate him who we havent ever seen before -lmao he just leaves her to die I guess? "Oh well some rando married her so it's all over"?? Surely true love would, I dunno, trump social conventions? I guess not LMAO -i guess that's one way to circle around to the first half of the story Chapter 6 - A Continuation of the Reminiscences of John Watson, M.D. -I'll be honest, it could be because this is the first story written about Holmes, but I'm pretty confident this WASNT a mystery one could figure out based on the evidence presented, which is something I was led to believe was a staple of these stories. But I guess it's possible the style just wasn't nailed down yet -maybe you could figure out how the crime was committed but not the motive -that line about vengeance might be the quote to use -I like this part of the narrative where we really see into Hope's actions. I think so much of the story in America was unnecessary; I just didn't feel strongly about the characters like I do actually seeing his perspective here. Why bother with the whole stranded in the desert thing and going into so much detail about how Lucy and Ferrier came to live in Salt Lake City? I dunno, I think it might have been better to be shorter and from Hope's perspective if you must include that section of the story at all - and again, it's not like you could have figured out all that shit based on the first half of the story. I appreciate the kinda experimental time jump but I don't think it worked great -ok the Russian roulette pill thing is a bit weird but sure king, go for it -i know it's metaphorical probably but I like the kinda Gothic touch of Lucy and Ferrier following him to the murder -"let us see if there is justice upon the earth, or if we are ruled by chance" ok that's pretty raw, go off king -i mean if I have to choose a revenge story from around this period I'd definitely go for Monte Cristo but this is fun too -why try to cover up the crime with the whole Rache thing if you know you're gonna die tho lol -i guess to buy time to kill Stangerson too? Chapter 7 - The Conclusion -I do like the detail that the murderer's blood was on the scene but not the victim. That WAS revealed early but I never suspected a bloody nose to be the source. If it had been a wound there probably would have been evidence of it; a limp or something. That is pretty clever. -but on the other hand, Holmes WAS privy to information we never get (Hope's name and connection to Drebber), so I wouldn't call this a fair mystery. -lestrade and Gregson getting all the credit as predicted lmao -my man closes with Latin? I gotta look it up -"The public hiss at me, but I cheer myself when in my own house I contemplate the coins in my strong-box." -basically, I'm awesome even if no one knows it Well! That was interesting. I liked the mystery itself, and the revenge narrative portion of the conclusion. It's a strong start to a famous character. I think we get a little lost in the weeds with the time jump in the second half of the story, way too much detail and I don't think it focused on the right characters for most of it. Also I have to be a stickler on the fair mystery thing; there are some things you can deduce, but Holmes literally had info we never receive so it's ultimately not fair. I hope this does genuinely change in future stories. I certainly didn't mean to start with the first one, that was an honest accident lmao

#taylor reads #reading notes

4 notes · View notes

batbeato · 4 months

Text

persona 5 tactica update: at the final dungeon (I'd presume) with angel boi.

i hate it here.

first of all, the design of the final dungeon is... interesting. I understand what they're going for - the characters even explicitly said it: that it's meant to be boring and ugly and same-y because that's what stagnancy is like - but it doesn't change that it... is boring and ugly and same-y in a very unappealing way.

in the same way, I understand what they're going for with the boss gauntlet, but I also... dislike it. I don't think just reskinning the bosses to be silver like this is goddamn inverse-xibalba (...I'm so sorry for comparing this place to xibalba persona 2 I love you xibalba and your metal recreations of figures of trauma) is that interesting. I would have really liked it if they made new (can still be monochrome/silver!) twisted/distorted designs of the previous bosses, or at least modified the designs slightly more, to really hammer home that these are just recreations Salmael made without the glimmer-glammer-oomph-whatever of Toshiro's memories.

in addition. having Toshiro join the party was really... interesting. the reveal that Elle was actually his Persona was very ??? and even the game talks about how it's such a special unique case. so. don't think I even need to go there. they really put themselves in a corner idk. it also doesn't make a ton of sense to me that you can still use Elle as an individual unit but also have Toshiro in the party using her as a Persona, but. okay.

Toshiro had a mask for .5 seconds that he ripped off during his Persona awakening and then just never got a Phantom Thief outfit of any kind. anything to spice his design up. even just a goddamn PHANTOM THIEF CODENAME. NOPE!! It honestly feels like an act of laziness or oversight, since this is one of the things the game didn't even bother to explain! unlike how kindly it tried to explain Elle and the Kingdoms.

the reveal, btw, that the Kingdoms were just... made by Salmael to break Toshiro's spirit is something. as is that Salmael is THIS obsessed with one man. even the man that's going to be prime minister. seriously. why not bother some billionaire with tons of financial power who could easily end world hu - nvm I'm giving it too much credit. gotta dial it back. anyway.

I don't mind Salmael as a concept. at this point we are all used to the obligatory world-ending god final boss in Persona. it's a requirement for any given Persona game. I do mind how Salmael gets to be responsible for Everything and how his existence gets to wave away any more interesting worldbuilding about Kingdoms. I was really hoping we'd get something about, idk, remnants of Shido's faction doing experiments on Shido's successor or some shit. nope. To be fair maybe I will get that. I haven't fully cleared the game yet. But thus far, nope.

Another thing that interests me is just how much... better a fit for this game's protagonist/focus Eri seems to be. she wants to be a journalist - super fitting for the PTs. she has a strong sense of justice. she got screwed over in the past and framed for a crime she didn't commit (like Joker!). she's so cool. why is Elle just here to be Toshiro's pet Eri. why is Toshiro the main guy and not her cute traumatized boyfriend she has to save.

Oh, and another thing! So many interesting things this game gives me to think about! Why is Toshiro's Persona of the opposite gender to him...? I think that this is like, a single case of this occurring, or else just generally rare since I don't remember any instances (outside the wildcard protags taking on female Personas). Personally I think it's funny to imagine that Toshiro is trans or some flavor of genderqueer and hasn't realized it yet. I know it's probably meant to be some romantic BS but in my dreams... Idk maybe Toshiro's gay and Toshiro's 'attraction' to Elle/Eri is because Toshiro wants to BE her. In my dreams.

Since I've been working my way backwards, it seems: Toshiro's Shadow. Oh, Toshiro's Shadow. He doesn't make any sense. He doesn't have any internal logic. He expresses "ohhhh we got Eri hurt we're so baddddd" and then five seconds later "ohhh Eri is so badddd with her rebellious ideaalssss". The game is like "oh yeah this is Toshiro's Shadow totes for reals" and I'm sitting here going "no this is clearly some shit evil god-angel bitch made up to fuck with Toshiro. this is nothing like anything Toshiro has ever said ever". It sucks. Reminds me of Persona 4, in a bad way.

Usually I try to put some positives in these posts to not be too negative towards the game. It's a little difficult this time since I am now FORCED to have Toshiro in my party even if I would rather leave his ass to rot. I dislike having him there and would very much like to continue my fun routine of rotating party members around to get to play with everyone. He disrupts this by never going tf away. Game didn't even force me to use ELLE most of the time and yet now I always have to use Toshiro. Man...

Well. I did finally change the game's difficulty from Normal to Hard. I thought I wasn't that good at strategy games, so it might just be that the game's difficulty curve isn't quite right. That, or I'm actually good at the game. Not sure which. Anyway the seratonin hit of making giant-ass All Out Attack triangles to hit ten million enemies with at once? Addictive. Beautiful. Best part of this game.

#persona 5 tactica #persona 5 tactica spoilers #p5 tactica #persona 5 #i almost feel bad for toshiro at this point man #like I would love to like him. I just need him to not be so central to the plot I think #my brain latches onto shit I shouldn't like. like adachi #I miss adachi so much every scene with him was a double layered comedy #give me back problematic middle aged babygirls with cabbage issues #tactica is still better written than persona 4 though thank goodness

1 note · View note

romanticerawitch4 · 2 years

Note

Connor doing the whole "stop killing dad" thing is so funny cos he genuinely has no clue! He has his own trauma of his mom and not seeing dad for three years, and Kendall at this point is still not talking about being Daddy's Number One Bitchboy, so Connor and the whole of season three people will just see him go on about "it's you now" and water and being cleansed, and think he's just a spoiled brat.

Connor is so interesting for his place in the Roy family. Like he doesn’t know about anything with Kendall but he also literally doesn’t get the golden trio and I feel like it is in part because he has had a separation both self induced and involuntarily from the family. Like the three years away, being neglected by his dad, living in the middle of the desert, while these all present different issues in him they also protect him from a lot of the abuse Logan inflicts on the others because of sheer proximity. And I don’t think Kendall, Shiv, or Roman have ever had the opportunity to really be away from Logan, even if they were physically separated, for an extended period of time (except for Kendall in season 3).

It also makes me wonder about Connor’s place in the fourth season. I read his response to Kendall after his attempt about how he has to stop trying to kill dad in two ways and I think it’s meant in two ways 1) Kendall would be happier if he wasn’t hellbent on destroying Logan and 2) Things would be better if everyone could just let Logan do what Logan wants to. It’s very just let the kid get the toy at Target so they don’t start screaming. Connor believes if they could all just stop fighting and give in to their father things would be fine. And I don’t think he means this maliciously or to not be on his siblings’ side, it’s just his defense mechanism so he’s not a target for Logan. And for season 4 I think it would be very difficult if not impossible for him to go against his father in a meaningful way even if it’s in defense of his siblings. It would be very don’t make me pick sides like he always is. It’s really interesting too that we’ve seen Connor embody the dad role to the three siblings in a variety of ways but never in a protective way except in moments like when Roman pushes Kendall. And that’s the position he’s taken in the trio’s life, he would visit and they maybe do fun things that are meaningful and then he would dump them back with Logan at the end of the day. And so I don’t think they see him as a formidable person to be on their side going against Logan. And they’re right because in season 3 even when we saw him challenge and threaten Logan it was never in a monumental way like the others kids’ challenges have been positioned, though I’m sure Connor has information that could really sour Logan’s reputation (what happened to Connors mom?!)

He’s just him, and he can’t really do more than that, he’s Connor out in the desert with a wife he paid to be with him and he’s content with that, he doesn’t need the same validation from Logan that the others do because he wasn’t raised with that as the only option, he was discounted from the role as CEO pretty much from the start so he’s found other things for himself, often delusional things, but things that make him happy nonetheless. And he’ll never fully understand his siblings because the purposes for which they were raised were so different, the trio were raised as tools for Logan with one goal in mind, whereas Connor seems to have had little oversight from Logan in who or what he should be, which might explain why he is always so lost and bouncing from one thing to another.

But I agree I think he does think of Kendall as spoiled and anyone would be right to view him that way based on his behavior and especially because almost everything the audience knows about Kendall and Logan’s relationship is hidden from the other characters. They can’t know the lengths of emotional torture Logan has put him through or any of the events he’s been through that are impacting his decisions. They can only see him throwing giant parties and firing his lawyers and spiraling without daddy. It also makes me sad because I feel like Kendall’s manic episodes have always been written off as he’s a spoiled rich boy/ he’s on drugs and so he’s never been offered the help he needs (not that the Roys would anyways). It’s sad and I hope that in the fourth season we do see more of the siblings being connected to Connor especially after that first born son rant, but I still can’t see Kendall opening up to him about the accident or any of the emotions that go along with it because of all those divisions in place between Connor and the trio.

#this is a very long Connor rant #poor Connor I’m sorry daddy wouldn’t endorse you for President #thanks for the ask!#kendall roy #succession #connor roy #logan roy

12 notes · View notes

ben-crytalker · 2 years

Text

first season rewatch observations/questions that 0 people asked for:

people be giving away their first borns like a really good cupcake

storybrooke!david, my poor poor dude... was your coma IV perchance filled with idiot potion because seriously, just, what are you doing

rewatching the david x mm story line it is wild to me but a testament to how much i loved snow and charming, that despite him being such a complete dingus i still wanted them to end up together

not that it was likely, but laughing at the idea of david’s weird hypnosis dream being presented in court as evidence. “well your honor, i took a nap with a therapist watching me and it felt like i was unlocking a memory. mary margaret happened to have long hair and was wearing an old fashioned fantasy cloak and contextually it felt very different from this reality but hey you know how memories can be?”

“till my lips bled” is still so funny to me, like i know it’s hyperbolic {hopefully?} but i just picture kathryn going to town on gold!frederick for a hot sec and all the guards on watch just being like (⊙__⊙;)

still don’t understand why nova and dreamy couldn’t be together

a part of me will always mourn the possibility of august x emma

what was the impetus for henry first going to get emma? like why that time, not earlier or later? i know it was her birthday but he couldn’t have known that

my theory is archie got his therapy accreditation from the same institution as the dad in season 1 of american horror story

how/why does archie end up paired with pongo for the curse, again? or just in general? on that note, i know cruella shows up later but i don’t remember roger/anita ever being involved either

forever hate everyone insisting emma is henry’s “real” mother just because she gave birth to him. i think the subject of adoptive vs. biological relatives is often mishandled in the series, maybe because they never explore the topic deeply enough. i won’t go into more detail rn but for me it’s a real weak point of the show overall. i distinctly remember always hoping there would be an opportunity where regina could save henry with true love’s kiss and they never gave it to her. maybe i just missed it, or as i rewatch i’ll notice a moment like that for them. but season 1 definitely still misses the mark for me in this regard

it drives me nuts that snow puts charming’s mom’s ring on her right hand to try it on. why not her left hand? it just seems like such an oversight. americans (and characters within the OUAT universes) generally wear engagement and wedding bands on their left hands, and they’re clearly trying to hint that snow is the one he should really be marrying, so why does she put it on her right hand gahhhh

do we ever find out who the nurse watching over belle is supposed to be?

so many names make a lot of sense (rumple/gold, cinderella/ashley, red/ruby, white/blanchard, astrid/nova) yet so many also seem super random (august booth, leroy, david nolan), and some don’t change at all. then there are also names that seem like they were intended to be something that never came to pass, or maybe just purposeful misdirects? like dr. whale and even emma swan. i always wondered if emma was supposed to have some kind of ugly duckling tie-in somehow but it never happened. i don’t really have a point here, just reflecting i guess 😂

#ouat #i love this show and i have cried over this show so please don't interpret this as hardcore criticism #just some takeaways #onto season 2!!

24 notes · View notes

fallout-lou-begas · 3 years

Note

A lot of people have accused yjj of being racist, particarily in regards to one of their comics involving Joshua graham, and in general saying that they glorify colonization. I mainly understand the other things they’ve done, but the racism seems inexusable. A lot of people have also been saying that yjj and their followers have harassed people. I want to get both sides of the story on this, so basically I’m asking what the deal with all this is?

Hi, anon. I'll provide my thoughts since you asked politely.

This post is quite long and can be considered an extension of my previous post on the matter.

Besides the infamous and self-admittedly ill-informed chancla comic, for which they've apologized, essentially all of the claims that Yesjejunus is racist stem from their depiction of the Dead Horses and Sorrows relative to their depiction of Joshua Graham and their original character Joan in their fanfic No Light (and to a lesser extent Learnin’ the Blues), which is heavily grounded in the setting of Honest Hearts. I think it's unambiguous that the depiction of vaguely defined "tribals" in Honest Hearts, assembled through a mishmash of disparate signifiers and recycled stereotypes and named like Warrior Cats and completely helpless without Joshua Graham's guidance, is indeed thoroughly racist, even if it was intended to be more nuanced and came from a place of self-admitted ignorance on the part of the developers. What I struggle to understand is that the developers and writers of Honest Hearts—and of Fallout: New Vegas as a whole since the entire game is rife with such mishandled, insufficient depictions of "tribals" with no explicit inclusion at all of any specific Indigenous people or presence—are given miles and miles more sympathy and leeway for their poor handling of these characters in the source material than a fanfic writer is for using the tools and setting that they were given by that source material, including the "lore" and naming conventions of the Dead Horses and Sorrows, to tell a story that means a lot to them personally, inspired by their own deepest fears and experiences with abuse, and ignited by their charismatic yet deeply and blatantly monstrous interpretation of Joshua Graham. Given that it uses the setting of Honest Hearts as a backdrop, there aren't any living characters in Honest Hearts who aren't "tribals" besides Joshua Graham and Daniel, and post-canon, Daniel wouldn’t be there. When Yesjejunus is accused of sidelining the Native characters or relegating them to the background, it's because they're just not writing a fanfic about Follows-Chalk or Waking Cloud as main characters: they're writing a specifically intentioned story about the Courier and Joshua Graham, a story that for better or worse remains faithful to the source material’s depiction of Joshua Graham’s unilateral authority over the tribes in Zion, a baked-in element of Honest Hearts and a critical narrative component of No Light. To accuse Yesjejunus of being racist on this principle in and of itself would be like accusing me of being lesbophobic if I wrote a Dead Money-set fanfic with Father Elijah as the main character instead of Christine. If you want something that centers these other characters then you'd just have to read a different story, or write it yourself.

As a final note, I do think that Yesjejunus is a skilled writer. This thought exists simultaneously with the acknowledgement that like everyone else in fandom, they're writing as a hobby and do not have the oversight of an editor on the work that they produce personally and for free. It's not lost on them that there's things about their story that they could have handled differently or more sensitively, such as the oft-cited example of the death of the pregnant Dead Horse character in No Light, with more forethought or planning at the time—even if they were bound by the constraints of Honest Heart's own setting (such as the dearth of non-tribal characters who could have possibly been in the scene instead) while writing the story. Everyone is free to critique this aspect of the story as much as they are to critique any other aspect, or to be discomforted by the whole thing (given it's a very intentionally uncomfortable story throughout), but the suggestion of so many of these "callouts" that Yesjejunus must have been cackling maniacally about the plight of poor access to medical care among real Indigenous people is a suggestion made entirely in bad faith, and one that I simply don't care to entertain.

As for the point about harassing people: if anyone's only evidence of being "harassed" by a single, specific person is anonymous messages on tumblr dot com, then I don't believe the evidence. If people are accusing Yesjejunus' "supporters" or "associates" of harassing people, then if the accusation is that this harassment is occurring either on Yesjejunus’ behalf or otherwise with their approval, then it is also going to require more evidence than the mere existence of the mean anonymous messages themselves. This goes for the rumor that they have "spies" in fandom Discord servers or whatever, too, which is a rumor that I think has only manifested among its spreaders by either self-appointed individuals speaking on no one's behalf but their own, and by the metaphorical snake eating its own tail in paranoia. Yesjejunus, and I, and all of our mutual friends have been nothing but annoyed at best and horrified at worst by the efforts of some self-appointed individuals to "defend" them with such excess vitriol. Speaking plainly, we generally avoid literally any kind of anonymous or public interaction with anyone who's vocally opposed to us as a rule, specifically to avoid this kind of debacle, and when I say "we" and "us" I'm not referring to some sort of shadowy cabal of conspirators scheming to advance the nefarious YJJ agenda, but to a group of friends. I don't know how to explain to some people who question why we praise their work or share their art sometimes how normal friendships work online.

I also take severe umbrage with the validity of the breadth of these anonymous harassment accusations because of how patently fraudulent several other claims are. Yesjejunus has recently been accused of "grooming,” for example, an accusation only even worth considering if one temporarily forgets what grooming actually is and pretends that grooming is when someone older interacts in literally any capacity with someone younger. Some will say that they’re not accusing them of grooming per se, or not of grooming by that name, but in any case, the meaning is that Yesjejunus has interacted with minors and this on its own is intended to scare and upset you. I have seen only two users actually named as "victims" of these “interactions,’ however, sas-afras and comrade-shrimp, but both users have publicly refuted this accusation because neither of them were minors when they first interacted with Yesjejunus. Frustratingly, though, these literal refutations from the literal so-called "victims" are either dismissed out of hand or muddied by hand-wringing mutterings of "well, I could have sworn they were actually minors, though" and "well they claim that they weren't actually groomed, but who really knows." The spreading and trust in completely anonymous accusations, combined with the total rejection of statements from the only people named in these accusations when their statements contradict the accusations, suggests to me that the existence of these actual interactions (and assuming these interactions occurred both intentionally and with Yesjejunus’ being fully aware of the other person being a minor) is not nearly as important as pushing the narrative that "Yesjejunus is a groomer" or “preying on minors” onto the fandom, and ensuring that anyone who doesn't take this claim completely at face value appears complicit in something horrible. As for anyone who still feels "uncomfortable" at how sas-afras or comrade-shrimp or me or anyone who is very much an adult but just so happens to be younger than Yesjejunus could ever become endeared to them, I reiterate that sometimes I don't know how to explain to people how normal friendships work online.

I want to conclude by saying something that I've said many times before: you don't have to like Yesjejunus (or me, or everybody, or literally anyone else) and no one is holding a gun to your head to befriend them or read their work or look at their art. The block and filter and unfollow buttons are very conveniently located on your dashboard and are totally free to use. Everything I've written here is not intended as some argument as to why everyone on the planet needs to be following their blog and leaving kudos on Learnin' the Blues. Still, while I think everybody has the right to curate their own dashboard and remove the content that they don't want to see, I also think it's reasonable for me to not want my friend to get their name dragged through the mud by the exaggerated and misinformed claims of petty, grudge-bearing brigadiers and self-aggrandizing fandom security guards when they'd like to just dump funny shitposts about the Burned Man's chode in peace.

#asks #anon #yesjejunus #discourse

85 notes · View notes

lesbiangracehanson · 3 years

Note

One thing I’m puzzling over is why Kate would go along with Jo taking the blame for Ryan’s death. That was probably the most justified killing in LOD history. There’s a mountain of evidence to prove it was self defence- she was lured there as part of a conspiracy to murder, Ryan had OCG links and an OCG weapon, she was authorised to carry a firearm specifically because of the threat he posed to her life, she textbook double tapped. Kate would never have been charged after interview. She’s in a lot of trouble if it ever comes out she lied in her statement, and Carmichael already knows it. Is it just that Kate accepted Jo was desperate to make it up to her and decides to let Jo feel better by allowing it because they both knew Jo was going down anyway?

u make a lot of good points tbh loooool + it’s something that’s puzzled me too!! i think it was maybe a combination of a few things:

i think kate wasn’t sure if carmichael would try to charge her for it (despite the evidence that it was justified) - cos like the last info kate gets from steve before the car chase/the arrest is that carmichael’s taken over, we already know kate doesn’t trust her + we also know that she doesn’t really trust ted either atm after steve told her about the OCG money he passed on to steph - basically, i think kate genuinely thought that bc of the state of ac-12 her getting charged was possible

i also think you’re right re: knowing jo was going down anyway, like if she’s told jo has confessed to killing ryan i don’t think kate would then complicate things further/out jo as lying about that bc it could just make things worse? although, i feel like surely they wouldn’t have told her jo had confessed to it BEFORE they actually interviewed kate like??? u would want the two accounts without one influencing the other? so that doesn’t make sense to me really still i’m ngl lol

ultimately i think it’d have made things too complicated for them to have to show us an interview with kate, narrative-wise it was easier for them to just have kate be let out so she can get back to work/saving jo :-)

as a side note tho, i do find it kind of funny that kate simply ? didn’t get asked WHY she fled the scene WITH jo? like as soon as jo confessed to ryan’s death they were just like ok yeah ur good to go then kate, without even questioning why she jumped in a getaway car with jo in the first place?? ahjsfbsdf i don’t know that seems like an oversight but i don’t work for the police so x

#line of duty #sorry this actually got so long + is a bit of a late reply #asks #anon

26 notes · View notes

azaffranist · 4 years

Text

Deleted lines of dialogue in Frozen 2

We know that F2’s plot suffered from last minute changes and even leaks that we got before the release contradict the final material, but that’s another can of worms for another post. What I wanna talk about in this post is something I happened to notice a few days ago while watching the Frozen 2 Outtakes video available with the Blu-ray version of the movie. Here’s a link to it. My apologies if there’s a post out there already talking about this, but I haven’t seen one so I thought I might as well give it a go.

Basically, the video is a recollection of funny moments that arose when the voice actors were recording their lines. But… I don’t know if this was deliberate or an oversight on Disney’s part, or if they didn’t care too much about it at the end of the day and released it anyways. The thing is, we can see the original dialogue they were supposed to record as tiny subtitles, and good god, there are tons of deleted lines, including an earlier version of Some Things Never Change, and some point to the existence of completely different scenes from the ones we got. Here’s what I mean:

I don’t recall ever coming across deleted lines for Frozen 1 apart from the famous “That’s no blizzard, that’s my sister”, so this is pretty interesting.

But in addition to that, while digging through some old files I found recorded lines of a Frozen 2 book that came out before release (Specifically on October 4th, 2019, when the Frozen Fan Fest was being held with the first released merch). That’s a long, long time ago and I don’t remember the name of the book, sadly, but you can listen to the recording I made right here. If someone does remember the name of the book that’d be really cool. I think the original recording was provided by Snow on the Arendelle Kingdom Discord server, so credits to her.

UPDATE: The book was found along with other interesting pieces of info! It’s called Frozen 2 Read-Along Storybook and CD. Credits to @lovewillthaw-j and their amazing detective work! Here it is.

What’s particularly interesting about this one is that no merch released on October 4 had the ending of the movie. Every book was cut off at the moment Anna received Elsa’s message in the cave, with no mention of Show Yourself or Elsa’s death for that matter. Now, we don’t know if they were trying not to spoil the movie, or if they legitimately didn’t have a final ending at the time the books were made. Knowing how… messy Frozen 2’s development was, I think we can all sort of agree it was the latter.

Because of this, there is some really intriguing stuff. Nods to scenes that aren’t in the final movie, shameless hints to Elsa’s permanent death, events happening in a different order… I don’t know if these lines were recorded only for the book, but I doubt they were, because many of those lines are actually in the movie or are referenced in books and some have really slight modifications like changes in tone of voice. I guess we’ll never Find The Truth™, but we can analyze these lines too because they can give us an idea of what earlier versions of the movie were like.

So let’s look at them one by one. Looooong post ahead.

Frozen 2 Outtakes Video

“Should have left it to me. Love you too. You blew it Kristoff. Oh. I’m alone. It’s fine.” – Kristoff/Sven

This one definitely happens during Kristoff’s first proposal attempt. Before this line, Anna says, “She couldn’t act out ice?” and we can assume Kristoff absent mindedly responds with “Should have left it to me”. That makes sense, considering he delivers ice for a living and ice is his life. Then we got “Love you too”, which Kristoff says in the final movie, but then we got Sven dialogue as he tells him “You blew it, Kristoff.” “Oh, I’m alone,” is what would go before he finally says, “It’s fine.” The reason the dialogue is all mixed up is because Johnathan Groff is the one recording the lines and he does both Kristoff and Sven’s voices (well, technically, Kristoff).

_______

“Hey. What the—What is this? Hang onto me. What’s happening? Run. The mist is rising. We are being pushed by the…” – Kristoff

We can tell this happens when the Arendellian gang was crossing the mist wall for the first time. The scene was evidently going to be longer and more chaotic than what we actually got. Apparently they run and that would’ve been pretty cool.

_______

“The winds are restless. Like how I sometimes feel in the fall. But I’m not ready. I love these days, I’m grateful for them all.” – Elsa (Alternate Some Things Never Change)

Now this is what I call a quality deleted line. I recommend you guys watch the video to hear the little part that Idina sings to have an idea what Elsa’s part in Some Things Never Change was originally going to be like. Definitely a bit sadder than what we got. I think this line gives the idea that Elsa wasn’t feeling too comfy in Arendelle even though she enjoyed the company of her family immensely, or if we go with the idea that fall represents change, Elsa is feeling restless in the face of change. She’s not ready to ‘change’ and wants to keep enjoying her days in Arendelle. She can’t let them go. How ironic. Interpret it as you want!

_______

“I’d freeze this moment if I could find a way…” – Elsa (Alternate Some Things Never Change)

Same scene. Sadder atmosphere for her part of the song. It’s a shame we don’t know what goes next.

_______

“Water drowns with a stallion’s might.” – Elsa

Wowowowowow. Now this is interesting, because I have no idea where to place this line of dialogue meaning there might’ve been another scene foreshadowing the Nokk. In the final movie, the only moment we see the Nokk is during When I Am Older and it was very brief and played for laughs. But this line gives the idea that the existence of an angry murderous water horse was going to be mentioned earlier on. Now I have a lot of ideas as to what she might’ve referred to (maybe that’s just a comparison she made on the fly and didn’t know the water spirit was a horse? Maybe it’s like a riddle she solved to know what the water spirit was?) but to be honest I think there’s no way to know. Fun to theorize, though.

Also, total confirmation the Nokk is a male!

_______

“It’s magic. It’s amazing. There’s a voice. I need to follow it.” – Elsa

This line probably happened when they visited Pabbie and evacuated Arendelle. A different take on how she explained to Anna why she wanted to go on the journey. Honestly, I prefer what we actually got. She sounds quite desperate and hypnotized in this one. VOICE. I HEAR. MUST FOLLOW. I don’t know what you guys think. The actual explanation in the final movie is not great either but I prefer it.

_______

“Hey Elsa. It’s your mom. Remember, mothers are always right. Now, be who you are!” – Olaf (Longer Post Credits Scene)

We were robbed. This line and another one points to a longer post credits scene. I suspect they weren’t able to include it because of time constraints, because c’mon, this is hilarious. An animator on Instagram said that they were not able to model the inside of Elsa’s ice palace for the post credits scene because they ran out of time, so they used Ahtohallan pillars and changed the lighting so that it gave the ‘feel’ of the ice palace. I’m sorry I can’t provide a link right now because I don’t remember who the animator was, but if I find it again or someone else does I’ll update this.

UPDATE: The Instagram comment in particular was found! Thanks to @super-mam-te-moc for the screenshot.

Okay, kind of got derailed there. They didn’t have enough time to finish the post credits scene and that’s the only coherent answer I can find as to why this was deleted.

_______

“They’re all looking at us, aren’t they? Okay, got any advice? How do I free the forest?” – Elsa

Very similar to what’s in the movie but here Elsa asks Bruni if he knows how she can free the forest. The fact that Elsa asks a little cute salamander this… kind of gives the idea that Elsa was completely clueless, same as the rest of the gang, and the rest of the writers. Jkjk!

_______

“Emotional and slightly haunting memory of Mother? Is that you?” – Olaf (Longer Post Credits Scene)

Same as above. We were robbed. Twice.

______________________________

Unused Recorded Lines from Frozen 2 Book

“Teeth? Oh. Pillow fort! Disturbed! Aw, c’mon, you definitely look disturbed!” – Anna

Shorter or summarized charades scene. Anna never mentions a pillow fort in the final movie.

_______

“I know that rumble.” – Kristoff

This probably goes when Pabbie and the trolls appeared at the evacuation place. Seems like in an earlier version, there was more buildup before the appearance of the trolls. Kristoff hears the rumble of the rocks before anything else. Deleted scenes seen in trailers also point to a slightly different ‘troll appearance’ scene.

_______

“I won’t leave her side.” – Anna

During Pabbie’s visit. We know thanks to trailers Anna’s little talk with Pabbie changed a bit. Here Anna displays her worry for Elsa even more.

Here’s a comparison between the trailer:

And the final movie:

What’s particularly interesting about this is that a later point in the movie, during Kristoff’s third failed proposal, Anna suddenly remembers Elsa and runs off hurriedly saying, “I swore I wouldn’t leave her side”. Coincidence? I THINK NOT. She never explicitly says so in the final movie, but it seems like she did in an earlier version.

_______

“We’ll fix it together. / Together. / Together.” – Anna, Kristoff and Olaf respectively

Probably as they were going to go on the journey, considering the lines are said chronologically? They discovered the power of teamwork. Weird Elsa doesn’t say ‘together’. Maybe they left it out because, coughcoughtheydidn’tfixanythingtogether.

_______

“Uhm, I sense no way in, but this is fun nonetheless.” – Olaf

Definitely during the arrival at the mist wall. Olaf doesn’t say anything as he bounces off in the final movie.

_______

“Hah! It let us in, but it clearly does not wanna let us out.” – Olaf

Same as above. Anna is the one who says they’re trapped in the final version.

_______

“Your father was… / King Agnarr of Arendelle.” – Mattias, Elsa, respectively

In the final version Mattias immediately says “Agnarr”, while here Elsa finishes his words after his pause. To be honest, it makes more sense in the final version, considering Mattias would remember Agnarr’s name without a doubt.

_______

“I’m fine. I just… actually, I’m starving.” – Anna

This probably goes right after the “Don’t Run Into Fire” argument. I didn’t think much of this line at first but it’s actually really interesting, because in the final movie, right after Elsa and Anna’s argument, Elsa places Iduna’s scarf on Anna’s shoulders and with this perfect timing they find out she was Northuldra, leading to the whole “Vuelie” scene. But here, there’s no comforting with scarf, and it seems like this scene leads to the one after Vuelie in the final movie, with Anna eating as she talks to Mattias, and Elsa and Honeymaren talking about the spirits.

Which means… that in an earlier version, the discovery of Iduna being Northuldra was probably going to happen later on. Pretty crazy, right?

_______

“If I lost her… I think I’d lose myself.” – Anna

All right. I think that this line is one of the most important ones. Thanks to books having this line in them we can pinpoint exactly when Anna utters it: expectedly, when she was talking with Mattias. The delivery of this line is also particularly heartbreaking, so I recommend you guys hear the audio file.

I don’t wanna ramble too much but there’s a lot to be said about this line. But yes, I’ll actually end up rambling. Warning.

Along with “I won’t leave her side”, it seems like earlier versions of the movie showed Anna being even more anxious and worried about Elsa’s wellbeing. As we know, Anna and Mattias were talking about ‘doing the next right thing’, and being prepared when life throws you down a new path. This is obvious foreshadowing to The Next Right Thing. But why were these two cut? Don’t they deepen Anna’s character and show just how deathly scared this whole adventure had her?

Well, here’s some speculation. These two lines are obviously foreshadowing Elsa’s death. The thing is, there exists the likelihood that at the times these lines were written and recorded, there was no such thing as Elsa’s revival. We’ve known for a long time that Elsa was going to die for real in Frozen 2, but test audiences were left traumatized and probably in need of PTSD treatment, hating it so much that the ending and everything that came with it was rewritten around June. Including, I speculate, these two lines which blatantly foreshadow Elsa’s big oof.

There’s not much foreshadowing to Elsa’s death in the final version. That’s because it was a minor thing. She died before the climax of the movie and her death scene didn’t feel final nor dramatic enough to fool the audience and make them believe she was really, really, won’t-breathe-ever-again kind of dead. Some watchers didn’t even realize she died, because the scene was not supposed to feel like her end. Not even the score, Ghosts of Arendelle Past, has a final feeling to it. It just kind of ends there in an ominous tone and they stress the fact that she sent an important ice message before freezing, giving hope of events resolving themselves.

But these two lines do foreshadow of a terrifying event. One that’s not minor nor temporary. These two lines, probably among others we’ll never find out about, and Anna’s worried sick attitude in earlier versions, give more weight to Elsa’s death, Elsa’s permanent death, and ultimately, The Next Right Thing.

Or maybe not and I’m wrong and there was no need for a 4 paragraph long overanalysis of two lines. Maybe they just deleted them just cause. Who knows the ways of writers…

_______

“All this time… the four spirits. Right there.” – Elsa

Maybe this goes during Honeymaren’s talk about the spirits? Right there, meaning, they were all along depicted in Iduna’s scarf and nobody in Arendelle realized? We’ll never know.

_______

“You mean like a voice?” – Elsa

Probably happened when Honeymaren was talking about the fifth spirit crying out the day the forest fell.

_______

“She made it across the sea.” – Anna

“I know why the spirits evacuated Arendelle.” – Anna

“Olaf, I know how to free the forest.” – Anna

Okay, I’m gonna talk about these three at the same time because it’s the same scene. Obviously, these lines of dialogue take place in the cave as Anna receives Elsa’s message, right before The Next Right Thing. We know that for sure because The Next Right Thing was one of the first Frozen 2 songs to be written and the writers knew that’s where they wanted the story to go. This seems like a pretty different setup, but to be honest, it feels like a placeholder. Anna doesn’t even react to the fact that there was a statue of grandpa slicing an innocent man in two right in front of her which just feels weird.

And all in all, the lines just don’t have the sadness of the final version. Anna doesn’t sound nearly as disappointed and her voice doesn’t lower that much. She sort of sounds determined in the last line! So determined to wreck her home to pieces with a gigantic flood… ahaha Anna…

______________________________

Okay, it was pretty fun to overanalyze all 23 deleted lines that I managed to find. There are even more deleted goodies out there thanks to the merch, but we’re gonna leave that for another moment.

There’s no doubt that Frozen 2′s development had plenty of problems along the way and I think it’s pretty interesting to learn what it could’ve been and could’ve had. These lines are just the tip of the iceberg and I’m more than interested to know what exactly the test audiences saw in those infamous test screenings...

______________________________

UPDATE: More deleted stuff!

@theupsidedownpyramid collected more deleted lines found in the trailers right here!

@yumeka36 made a really interesting analysis of the Frozen 2 Novelization with even more deleted lines and scenes here!

#frozen 2 #frozen #elsa #anna #kristoff #olaf #sven #frozen 2 deleted scenes #frozen 2 deleted dialogue #frozen 2 outtakes

640 notes · View notes

plasticnightmaredoll · 3 years

Text

How about that WandaVision finale?

I have been MCU trash pretty much since 2008's "Iron Man," and it's currently a great time to be MCU trash. "WandaVision" is one of the few series that not only kept me coming back week after week, but actually amounted to much more than just a gimmicky twist (I'm looking at you, "Behind Her Eyes." Seriously, that show is soap opera drivel with a shocking double twist as its only captivating trait...and the double twist wasn't handled very well anyway)

In the end "WandaVision" was about overcoming grief and accepting reality.

Spoilers ahead!

The "WandaVision" finale was quite good overall, but there were a few disappointments. I'll address the latter first:

We never found out who was in witness protection. At the beginning of the series, Jimmy Woo stated there was someone trapped in West View who was in the witness protection program, and it seemed like it would be a key subplot but ultimately, it didn't lead anywhere. Perhaps it wasn't meant to be seen as anything more than some...random bit of information, but it is odd that they put such a specific detail into the story in the first place if it wasn't going to lead anywhere. Then again, supposedly we may get more questions answered in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," so this subplot may not have been wasted after all.

There were so many theories floating around hinting at who the true villain was behind the scenes, including Mephisto, Nightmare, Grim Reaper, and Chthon. All seemed like valid enemy choices, especially Mephisto as many clues appeared to lead to him, and Grim Reaper due to his helmet making an appearance in the opening credits of episode two. However, there wasn't a big baddie hiding in the shadows, and Agatha Harkness and Tyler Hayward were the only villains. Then again, that doesn't mean there isn't an ultimate villain lurking out there who could appear in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," but it kind of sucks we have to wait until 2022 to find out.

I wanted White Vision to go to Wanda and get together with her since Hex Vision restored his memories. But White Vision just flew off and wasn't seen again for the rest of the episode. I guess he needed time to process all the memories that had just flooded his high advanced robot mind, which is understandable because it was a lot to take in. I would have liked to see him make another appearance in the episode, though, even if it was at the very end with Wanda in her secluded cabin. I just want them to be happy together, ok?

Evan Peters wasn't actually Quicksilver/Peter Maximoff from the "X-Men" movies but someone named Ralph Bohner. This must be the Ralph Agatha referred to numerous times throughout the series but was never shown (not until the later episodes, that is). It does seem a bit weird -- off-putting, really -- that Evan wasn't Quicksilver from an alternate timeline. It would have made sense, and would have been a nice sampling of the "Multiverse of Madness," but in the end, he was just...Ralph. I honestly, don't get it, though: Why choose Evan Peters for such a random role when he was Quicksilver in the "X-Men" movies, and we are getting into the Multiverse part of the MCU storyline? Also, what happened to him in the end? After Monica freed him from Agatha's magic, we never saw him again. So....? What gives?

Although this is more of a personal gripe than anything, I was seriously hoping Doctor Strange would appear in the finale, even if it was in a post-credits scene. It would have been an excellent lead in for "Multiverse of Madness," and I just really love Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of the character. But again, this isn't really a flaw with the "WandaVision" series and is more of a pet peeve.

Also another peeve: What happened to Señor Scratchy?

I can't even say that there was a lot to be disappointed in with the finale, though. The lack of an "ultimate big bad meanie" isn't so bad. The series was more focused on Wanda running from her grief, having it smother her, and then earning her acceptance. Agatha and Hayward were sufficient as "true villains" of the series.

The only big issues are Evan Peters being a random dude named Ralph, and the weird subplot of a missing witness that ended up leading nowhere (for now?)

There was plenty of good in the "WandaVision" finale!

Wanda finally donning a scarlet outfit and crow reminiscent of what she wears in the comics was totally bad ass. It looked fantastic, and it shows she's now understanding herself and her powers much more. She isn't naïve about any of it, and is ready to learn how to control and enhance her abilities. Initially, she didn't want to be seen as a witch but ultimately, it is her destiny, and she chose to accept it without fear.

The second and final post-credits scene with Wanda making tea in her secret cabin in the mountains was interesting to say the least. Physical(?) Wanda was doing daily task while her astral projection -- which featured her in her costume -- was studying the book of dark spells (or "Book of the Damned," as Agatha called it). This is a funny nod to 2016's "Doctor Strange" considering Doctor Strange's physical form would sleep while his astral form would study magic. The difference, though, is Wanda is reading from the Book of the Damned, which can't be a good thing. Also, it almost indicates she has two personalities: Wanda Maximoff and Scarlet Witch, and I like that idea. She may have to wrestle with herself internally in the near future.

I was so glad that White Vision was able to regain his memories of his past -- and true? -- self thanks to Hex Vision. I hope White Vision will go to Wanda and reunite with her, but I'm not sure when that will happen. Paul Bettany isn't listed in the cast for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" so...I'm really confused. White Vision still exists and is somewhere but...where? When? How? The cast list for "Multiverse of Madness" is very short, though, and Paul's upcoming films and series list ends in 2020 so...maybe it's meant to be a secret? The movie isn't due out until next year so it COULD be the case. Otherwise, it seems like a huge oversight on the MCU's part to just forget about White Vision. It would be a pleasant surprise if he shows up in "Multiverse of Madness" to help Wanda from doing bad things, losing control, or whatever?

Scarlet Witch is supposedly stronger than the Sorcerer Supreme, which is kind of awesome but kind of troubling because Doctor Strange may not have the best time in "Multiverse of Madness" is he is to confront her. This is why I hold on to the theory that White Vision may appear in the movie to aid Doctor Strange by calming Wanda down. Either way, knowing she is so powerful and at the same time, a very emotional person, hints at an epic fight in the near future.

I really liked how Wanda tricked Agatha into stealing her chaos magic. I was wondering why Wanda was missing with some of her chaos magic spheres, but assumed she was just growing tired and weak and was losing focus. Then it's revealed that she wasn't missing her shots -- she was placing large runes on the Hex's walls to prevent Agatha from using her magic. Then this allowed Wanda to take back her powers and steal some of Agatha's, which, in turn, made her accept her role as the Scarlet Witch. Agatha is punished by being trapped as nosy neighbor Agnes in West View, but I don't think it's the last we'll see of her.

I'm glad Wanda was able to finally accept Vision's death as that was what had caused all this mess in the first place. Despite what she did, she was a sympathetic "villain," if you can even consider her one. She was overwhelmed by grief and found a way to cope...she just happened to drag a small town into her world. Oops.

Monica's powers continuing to evolve was amazing, like how she managed to stop the bullets Hayward attempted to fire at Billy and Tommy. I really like Monica's character and the actress, Teyonah Parris, is very talented, so I'm excited to see more of her in Phase Four.

While it was expected, it was ultimately the right decision to let the people of West View go free. Even if they still resent Wanda for trapping them previously, they are given the chance to return to their normal lives without any harm done to them (well, maybe some mental and emotional trauma but, hey, who doesn't deal with these things in life, right?)

Some things I want to make note of:

Paul Bettany is a fucking troll and I love it! He had hinted at a surprise cameo later in the "WandaVision" series, which would involve working with an actor he's always wanted to work with. This caused a lot of speculation as to who it would be, although, Benedict Cumberbatch was the top choice since Doctor Strange and Vision never had screen time together, and Benedict is a great actor (then again, so is Paul, although, he's underrated, I think). Then there were rumors of Al Pacino being the surprise cameo since he was a major influence on Paul, and there were theories Al would show up as a secret villain like Nightmare. Turns out the secret surprise cameo was Paul Bettany himself since he played both Hex Vision and White Vision, and the two did fight for a bit before having a philosophical chat which led to White Vision regaining his memories. So, yeah, Paul Bettany is Troll of the Year. I guess I was initially disappointed that the big reveal wasn't really a big reveal, but I quickly realized how hilarious it was that Paul played us all so well. He's probably laughing his ass off right now at everyone's "WTFFF?" reactions.

I know Elizabeth Olsen was criticized for her poor Russian accent, but I think she's a very good actress and love her portrayal of Wanda. I mean, accents can be a bitch to master, I get it, and sometimes, I think if the performance is still impressive, we can learn to be unbothered if the accent is off.

I noticed that Chiwetel Ejiofor is returning as Karl Mordo in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," so perhaps he will be the main villain or a secondary villain? He has to be a villain since he is hunting down sorcerers to take their powers. Maybe he wants to take Wanda's powers, too? I mean, she's a sorcerer of sorts, so...maybe that is going to be a plot point? Although, Mordo is probably way out of his depth against her but we shall see.

I kind of still want Mephisto or Nightmare to appear in Phase Four since they have been hyped so much due to clues in "WandaVision." I don't think Wanda will be the big baddie for Phase Four, I just don't see it. Also, I don't see Mordo as being the big baddie, either. Both are very single-minded in their goals, and yeah, Thanos was, too, but he dragged the entire universe into his insane and devastating goal. I don't think Wanda or Mordo have such grand and deadly intentions. Wanda just wants her kids back and Mordo wants to get rid of sorcerers as...revenge against the Ancient One's "betrayal?" I don't know...but I don't think he wants to take over the universe. I never read the comics, though, so I could be wrong.

In the second post-credits scene of the "WandaVision" finale," we see Wanda's astral self studying dark magic from the Book of the Damned, and Billy and Tommy suddenly call out to her. I am guessing she could have been studying spells to see if there was anything that could bring them back since, unlike Vision, they were a creation unique to her from the start. Vision was initially a new, more powerful, more durable body for Ultron, then he was given Jarvis' AI and became, uh, the Vision, so, he never "belonged" to her. Getting her kids back, however, may prove to be a problem for the universe because it could lead to multiverse madness. I'm so funny, I know.

As disappointing as it was for Evan Peters to presumably be some dude named Ralph Bohner and not the "X-Men" movieverse Quicksilver/Peter Maximoff, maybe it makes sense when you really think about it. Marvel owns the rights to the X-Men now because Disney owns Marvel and Disney purchased the rights through their merger with 21st Century Fox. Marvel plans to reboot the X-Men with "The Mutants" movie sometime soon, and that means characters will be recast. They kind of have to because the current cast's movie series has hit a dead end with "Apocalypse" and "Dark Phoenix" proving to be underwhelming. I do wonder how Marvel will breathe fresh life into the X-Men in the movieverse because I feel like there is X-Men fatigue right now? Or maybe it's just me. I've grown disappointed with the franchise and am sort of annoyed at a reboot because it may be too soon. But, hey, hopefully I'm proven wrong!

Marvel also has rights to the Fantastic Four, which means we may actually finally get a good Fantastic Four movie! Three attempts have been made so far (yes, three), and they all failed to impress with the last attempt being an embarrassment. I mean, it was a disaster as nearly everyone hated how boring and bland and choppy it was, and that is reflected in its pitiful earnings. On a budge of $120-155 million, the 2015 "Fantastic Four" movie only grossed $167.9 million globally. OOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFF.

Phew, that was a huge post, but got all my thoughts out. Considering how shitty things have been since the abomination of 2020 was born, and with little hope for things to improve anytime soon (I have my own problems as well, which aren't going away anytime soon, either, hahaha T__T), it's refreshing to have some stuff to be happy about. Some people hate the MCU, some people have lost interest, and some people may just be indifferent, but I'm definitely and MCU fan and it makes me feel excited and giddy, two things I don't experience often anymore :\

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or in a reblog, but no hate and no "cancel culture" talk. I want to keep this post positive.

#wandavision #scarlet witch #agatha harkness #vision #the vision #mcu #marvel #wandavision spoilers #tommy maximoff #billy maximoff #elizabeth olsen #doctor strange #benedict cumberbatch #paul bettany #evan peters #senor scratchy #doctor strange in the multiverse of madness #kathryn hahn

25 notes · View notes

ecto-american · 5 years

Text

I was doing some research for a fanfiction, and remembered this line from Reality Trip, which got my criminal justice self all excited because of the implications. So have some analysis from a rambling autistic with a criminal justice degree.

“Daniel Fenton, in accordance with the Federal Anti-Ecto Control Act, Article 1, Section 1, Sub-section A, you're under arrest.”

Y'all, this is kinda wack? It means, on some level, there has been a federal judgment within the world of Danny Phantom that not only acknowledges that ghosts exist, but has an entire fucking act describing specifically the course of action in a sense. Lots of acts will kind of be this vague overarching thing with various random acts thrown into it, but the name along with the article one, section one subsection a dealio implies that this entire act focuses on ghosts. I say act and not law btw, because those terms are not necessarily synonyms.

Not only does this confirm that there are acts (at least one anyway) in Danny Phantom that specifically talk about ghosts, but kind of really and truly cements that the Guys in White are actually a federal government agency, rather than them simply acting as one but really being a private company of sorts or being some local state government program.

And with laws about ghosts, it means that legally, the government had to define what exactly a ghost is as well as their rights and lack of rights, and that they legally acknowledge, as a nation, that ghosts exists. While, of course, we don’t really ever get to see this act, and as far as I know, it’s literally Never talked about again, this scene means that this act applies to Danny. For a quick refresher, this happens after Danny is exposed, and so this act still applies to Danny despite him being outted as a half ghost. A scary sidenote is before this scene and line of dialogue, the agents told Danny that he was coming in for questioning and experiments.

So what might it possibly say? If there are any acts that we can potentially base what this act possibly would say, I would probably guess it’d be similar to the acts used for minorities within the United States. And I say these kinds of acts because they’re specifically acts that discriminate towards a group, and that have used various reasons to justify how they are not human, citizens or have any legal rights. If the agents’ lines were correct, these acts probably gave them justification for doing inhumanly cruel things to Danny.

Of course, Danny could be arrest for something totally different and not for some anti-ghost reasons. At this point in time, he’s still kind of half-loved, half-hated publicly as people are shown to still believe that he stole during the events of Control Freaks and the mayor incident of Public Enemies, but if he was under arrest for any of those crimes, the agents would have said that. And I refuse to believe this is an oversight of the writers, because they would have found any nitpicky thing and made it a funny situation where the agents went on and on and on about this endless list of crimes that the ghost boy has committed until Danny roundhouse kicked somebody. And no, it’s likely not because the Guys in White are only interested in Ghost Crimes. As federal officials, which they are confirmed to be, they would have arrested him for everything and have to basically fistfight the other government agencies investigating his Non Ghost Crimes.

So what exactly is he under arrest for? No clue obviously, and it’s hard to really even guess. Article 1, Section 1, Sub-section A for most acts are basically describing what the act’s going to be before it moves on to detail that. I think this is an oversight of the DP writers, lord knows we get enough of them, but it could also potentially highlight the Dumb factor of the Guys in White that we would see them sometimes exhibit, where instead of properly referencing the piece of legislation he’s under arrest for, they just blurt out the first section of that law.

And who wrote this act? It could be anybody, of course. Anybody within politics. It also begs the question as to exactly when this act was written and when it was put into effect. I’d wager it heavily depends on when the Guys in White came into effect, as they are clearly acting under these laws. Which begs the question: how many pieces of anti-ghost legislation are there? Who’s writing them? There’s potential that there are literally lawyers who are literally experts in ghost law. Keep in mind that in the beginning of the series, there was a lot of skepticism that ghosts even exist.

This honestly leads me to propose a new headcanon: The Guys in White are a very new government organization that spawned after the events of Public Enemies. To preface this and clarify, in order, the Guys in White appear in only five episodes: Million Dollar Ghost, Double Cross My Heart, Reality Trip, Eye for an Eye, and Livin’ Large.

Evidence to support this theory:

They only show up four episodes later in their first appearance in Million Dollar Ghost. Public Enemies seems to also be the first episode in the series that shows a massive onslaught of ghost attacks. I would guess that this is the ghostly event that probably spawned the act in question, which may have called for the organization of the Guys in White. Prior to this, ghosts were basically shown that they’re unconfirmed to exist on a public level. Even Jack, our lovable and excitable ghost hunter who’s been doing this since his college years admits in Mystery Meat that he’s never seen a ghost until that point. Jazz mentions that Harriet Chin in Bitter Reunions lost her job for writing an article about ghosts because she was laughed for writing about something that was more for “the national enquirer”, a conspiracy theory newspaper that nobody really takes seriously.

Why are they there during the events of Million Dollar Ghost anyway? If they’re a new organization, they may need that money or are cashing in on the publicity of the event to spread their name, or they’re just starting out and have no real clue where else to go. Only two of them even showed up anyway. The only other groups there are very small ghost hunting groups: literally two young adults on scooters, another set of young adults with a tiger fueled by anxiety and a van, and FentonWorks. And while they, out of all of them, clearly have the most advanced technology, they’re about on the same skill level as the other ghost hunters (getting captured and tricked and such just as easily). Danny even was just as “haha” about them as he was the other hunters who had showed up.

Their technology in Million Dollar ghost is nothing in comparison to the literal jetpacks and planes and four wheelers and armor they get several episodes later. Their funding increased when they proved ghosts exist and more ghostly events happened, and they likely proved their competence in some way. Especially when we see that they have been catching other ghosts (like Skulker in Double Cross My Heart and Lydia in Reality Trip) and gathering important information on ghostly artifacts (Reality Trip).

It would explain why they don’t really show up that often in the series, especially during major ghost events where they really should be there, such as the ghost king invasion of Reign Storm. They may have not secured the funding or manpower to really do anything just yet. Note that Reign Storm happened in between Million Dollar Ghost and Double Cross My Heart, which is almost a 20 episode gap. Their skills, knowledge, ability, technology and apparent funding jumped massively between these episodes, and it kind of stays about the same consistency for the rest of the show.

They really only seem to have one department, and they have really low employee numbers for a government agency. There’s no talk or implications or having multiple departments or anything, such as research or technology. Even during the SWAT invasion during Reality Trip, there’s only like twenty or so agents there. In Livin’ Large, there’s only about seven there, and two are the Agent K and O that we know. They play a lot of roles, from researching, questioning, gathering information, tracking down criminals, getting information from the Fenton’s lab, technology things in FentonWorks, etc. Of course, this is a staple for many law enforcement jobs where you have many tasks, but they seem to be playing the role of detective, computer analysis, and police officer at minimum given the wide variety of things we see them do. As somebody who’s worked in three situations where the company/program was very new, it’s incredibly common for a new company that’s still finding it’s groundings to have a very blurred job line. Or they’re heavily underfunded, but look at the goddamn jetpacks they get, look me in the eye and tell me they’re underfunded.

The lack of basic ghost information. In Livin’ Large, they want to destroy the Ghost Zone. It’s apparently very obvious that you Can’t Do That, but the Guys in White seem oblivious. While you can argue that they’re just fucking dumb, it may be more reasonable to assume that they simply just don’t know.

There’s no dialogue (that I can find) prior to Million Dollar Ghost to suggest they exist. There’s also no dialogue from Vlad, who would have known and been wary of such an organization had it been around for years, to suggest that they’ve been around a while. Jack, who also is open about how much he admires them, would have likely said something to. But I am willing to chalk this entire part up to simply poor writing.

“But Danny knew who the Guys in White were when they showed up in Million Dollar Ghost!” Yeah. He also knew who the other people were, and I heavily doubt that they’d be as big of a deal or name as the Official government branch. It’s very likely that they all introduced themselves when they showed up.

#show analysis #nick talks #danny phantom #guys in white

1K notes · View notes

basket-of-radiants · 4 years

Note

now that you've decided what nightblood is we can finally have the domestic au of ur dreams: two asshole roommates, their preteen children who won't stop bugging them, and their cat. and all those other losers i guess maybe

Oh my god, I was going through my very old asks, and how could I have missed this, this is literally the best thing ever, you’re right this is the domestic au of my dreams. Alright, here we go, a disaster family comprised of Szeth, Nale, Lift, Nightblood, and a cat. Actually a dog and two cats. Everyone’s backstory is basically the same, but they’re all retired now except for Nale. (And yes those other losers definitely all exist in this au, let me know who you care about.)

If you’ll permit me to crib off of wtnv for a moment, Nale works for a vague yet menacing government agency wherein he has full authority to carry out whatever actions he deems necessary with zero oversight. He still works through legitimate bureaucratic channels whenever the need arises, but he has contacts in pretty much every institution willing to expedite paperwork for him with zero questions asked, and Nale has figured out that he can do pretty much anything legally so long as he knows what forms to ask for. He does. He’s basically memorized the entire legal code and memorized every obscure law and loophole in existence. Some didn’t think it literally possible for a brain to hold that much information, but he impresses. Nale’s actual job description is similarly unknown, but whatever it was before, it has unfortunately morphed into parole officer for a hitman, a thief, and a child with a criminal record that claims he’s a mass-murderer.

Szeth’s story is about what you’d expect. He knows a dozen languages and a hundred ways to kill a man. No one knows anything about him aside from the mysterious “assassin in white” suspected of carrying out multiple terrorist attacks and high-profile assassinations. I dunno, Szeth killed JFK or did 9/11 or some shit, wait no those aren’t modern enough examples, but he’s done some shit with that level of publicity and conspiracy. The kinds of crimes he pulls off are seemingly impossible to both perform and survive all the while escaping without his identity being revealed. He’s probably got a massive following in the serial killer fandom. Szeth lives his life following anonymous instructions sent to him remotely, and he keeps texting back for them to please stop making him do these things, and they don’t stop. He hates himself and wants to die, and he can’t for the life of himself figure out why no one’s stopped him yet. If only he weren’t such a criminal genius. One time he almost died and it was great, but then he woke up in a hospital to see a man and a kid waiting for him. Nale explained that he’d mined the data off of Szeth’s phone and knew everything about him, and complimented his criminal efficiency and his capability to follow orders so precisely. Basically he’d like to offer him a job. Szeth is like “wait seriously” because he’s still a murderer and Nale explains that from his phone history it’s clear that Szeth himself never had bad intentions, and it’s the thought that counts. Nale offers him a deal wherein Szeth will remain in his custody for a duration and work for him in exchange for no other legal recourse. His idea is to eventually make Szeth a field agent for his institution’s mysterious purposes, but for the time being Szeth really isn’t fit for that, so for the time being all he has to do is look after the kid.

Nale had intentionally sought out Szeth. (Everyone had, but he’d gotten to him first.) Lift on the other hand was a pure accident. After her mother died, Lift was resistant to entering the system, and so she hid from the government, surviving off of stealing food and clothes. When she got older, her shoplifting got a bit more bold. On her streets Lift is a legendary skater as well as being a pretty good thief. She and Nale crossed paths by accident, and she tried to steal his wallet without realizing who he was. Unfortunately she didn’t have her board on her at the time to do some sweet moves and then get out of dodge. He arrested her on the spot, but unfortunately his jurisdiction is different from that of normal police, and he had to file additional paperwork before he could hand her off to the local authorities. He took her to one of his local offices and handcuffed her to his desk while he filled out the papers. She kept making a bunch of requests for food and was so annoying about it that he acquiesced. Talking with her mouth full all the while, Lift completely dismantled his current psychological state, reduced him to tears, and hugged him, by which point he was a bit too attached to her to just arrest her. Still, she was a criminal whose whole lifestyle revolved around stealing, so he couldn’t just let her go, but he made her a deal and offered to take her into his personal custody instead of handing her over to the system. Lift was confident that it wouldn’t be too hard to run away from one person, and besides, it’d be funny to see how high she could get his grocery bills.

Nighblood is a pre-teen kid whose record ties him to hundreds of murders, none of which seem to be provable however. Nightblood mostly talks a lot and plays a lot of video games. Nale briefly looked into his past after he found him, but overall was too busy with his vague yet menacing government work to really focus on him. He decided it was best to keep the kid close, however. He didn’t have the time for babysitting either, but he would figure something out. Upon picking up Szeth, he found he was not psychologically fit for field work whatsoever, so he found another way to makes him useful while he was recovering. Nightblood also can’t move very well on his own, so Szeth has to stay with him at all times.

On the streets, there had been a dog that always followed Lift around. It was easily frightened by everything, and it would whine at her whenever she did something dangerous, but it always came back to her. Additionally, there is a cat that is incredibly shy and is pretty much only ever seen from afar, or off in a tree, or under something. For some reason Szeth refers to it as his cat. Nale apparently has a cat too, but no one has ever seen it, and he really doesn’t seem like an animal person, so it’s sort of hard to believe it actually exists.

Nale put up Szeth, Lift, and Nightblood up in his flat. Due to the mysterious nature of his work, he has to travel a lot, so typically it’s just Szeth and the kids. Szeth and Nightblood are always together, of course, because Nale said they had to be. Szeth will talk about his problems and Nightblood will show him the game he’s currently playing and will say “that’s really sad Szeth, but watch me do this cool move and destroy all these evil guys!” They talk a lot, that’s basically all they do these days. They’re both very fond of Lift, but she is understandably creeped out by two murderers, and she sneaks out of the house all the time. For her, yes her housemates are super messed up, but Nale stocks a lot of really good food and is barely ever around, so so long as she seems to be present and to be staying out of trouble, she can actually do as much trouble as she wants so long as she’s clever about it. One time as she’s sneaking out, she notices Szeth staring at her and she panics for a bit, but he’s like “no you can do what you want, I literally don’t care.” That ingratiates him slightly to her, so she does try to have conversations with him. He’s such a mess though. Nightblood offers to show her his video games, Lift is like “you think that’s cool, come outside and watch this” and then she does a flip on her skateboard or something. Nightblood has idolized her ever since.

When Nale is around, Lift bothers the hell out of him while Szeth follows him around doing pretty much whatever he asks of him while Nightblood keeps tugging on Szeth’s clothes and whispering questions to him. Ever since that first time with Lift, Nale has been unflinchingly stoic, but he lets Lift do whatever she wants and gives her anything she asks for. The same is true for Szeth and Nightblood as well, although Szeth tends not to make unreasonable requests, and whenever Nightblood is about to, Szeth whispers to him that maybe he shouldn’t bother Nale about it. So instead Nightblood bothers Szeth to ask Nale about it. Lift is just having fun exploiting this setup for all it’s worth. They’re all incredibly familiar with each other.

Basically this ends up as Nale being a super important government person with an unlimited budget which he ends up using to indefinitely house three criminals. Also in this au, Nale wears a suit, Szeth wears a hoodie, and Lift wears a baseball cap.

#god i can't believe i lost this ask #i love these dumb skybreakers and these kids #i kinda wanna draw something for this au #(groceries picture from forever ago belongs here)#what's it called?#semi domestic au #there i like that #human!nightblood au #szeth #lift #nale #nightblood #god anon i'm so sorry i left this ask for so long #it really got buried #but this is my favorite #Anonymous #asks

56 notes · View notes

gelatomesomeironqrow · 3 years

Text

It's a day late but then again, I'm a busy girl. But. Here are my thoughts on RWBY V8 Episode 13.

Where do I even begin? So much happened in like 18 minutes, I must admit, my brain is a little scrambled.

Anyways.

I knew my girl, if she fought for real, could do major damage. To her surprise, her damage was to the wrong girl. So it will definitely be interesting to see where Yang ends up, I can't imagine she'll be feeling 100% after that K.O. and neck breaking landing she did.

Do I think she's dead? No. Do I think her mother will save her. Also no. Because Raven told Qrow to tell Yang that she will not step in again to save her. She'll have to save herself. She'll probably find herself along the way. Which is fine. But damn. That was a brutal way to go.

God I love Neopolitan.

Watts letting out his unstable ex was a genius move to create more chaos before Atlas falls. I've wanted Jacques to die for awhile now, but getting blown up is not what I was expecting. But then again, I feel like it was a bit of an oversight on Winter's part to just leave his weapons like a foot away from his cell.

It seems to be a theme this season for oversights and forgetting certain people are out and about. She knew the hacker was still out there some where. Really. She should have thought about that.

Speaking of Watts, I love how Neo decided to use a briefcase (like Watts carries around) as part of her disguise.

Cinder using Djinn like that. I feel like that was a bit of a waste of her last remaining question, but then again, how was she supposed to know only one question remained. I wonder what she really thought when she saw Emerald there. Betrayal? Sadness? Honestly, she doesn't really deserve to feel anything because all she has done, is use Emerald for her gains.

Cinder monologuing once again during a battle. It's interesting that Weiss (our resident "holds the most losses, even more than Cinder, Ice Princess) teamed up with newly human Penny to fight Cinder while Ruby and Blake are fighting Neo.

I don't get Neo death flags, but I can see her possibly either falling into the abyss (which would be ironic) or going to Vacuo and disappearing for awhile only to come back and hopefully take on Cinder. Or, she gets beat and has to listen to Ruby explain why it wasn't her fault that Torchwick died and hopefully team up to take Cinder out.

LOOK. I just want Neo to be the one to take out Cinder. It's one of my only wishes remaining from this show.

Penny has new (old?) Weapons and I love it. I just wish she could get an outfit change.

Vacuo seems like a fun place. Hooray for sandstorms and all I can think about is this.

Which, in all honesty I shouldn't be thinking of another animated show but here we are.

Going back to James. My man definitely has had some kind of mental breakdown. That single tear, upon knowing he will have to fight the person he trusted the most. Now, we haven't seen Winter fight much so I'm sure their fight is going to be amazing. I don't know who will win, I honestly don't even want to think about the possibilities. I just hope he isn't killed before Qrow gets there. Qrow deserves to be there, for whatever happens. Hoping it's for a talk but... we won't find out until next week.

Qrow and Robyn fighting the Ace Ops, who has fractured even more. Who knows where Marrow and Elm are, Harriet and Vine discussing Clover (finally! I swear this show sucks at communication.) But Watts taking control of the ship a second after Harriet activated the bomb. Next episode is going to be intense and I don't know what to make of it all. I just want Qrow to be where James is but him flying into the window was funny.

Okay... did I miss anything...? Oh!

Four more oversights on Team RWBY's part.

They really did forget Cinder was there. They really should have expected her to attack. I can't believe they thought it would go smoothly when history has proven that nothing ever goes smoothly.

Did they just forget that someone made it off Salem's space whale...? The answer is yes. Yes they did. Oscar, Yang and Emerald knew why Salem was after them. Emerald knew Neo was "working with them", but did anyone think to mention it to the rest of them? Again, the communication is lacking.

Ambrosius. Oh Ambrosius. They really didn't think through the details that well. They really should have expected him to find loopholes. Oz told them to be specific. Why or why did they say "one way ticket to Vacuo?" They really just screwed Atlesians and Mantle peoples. They also don't have backup. Also, none of them thought to include a floor or railings with this path to Vacuo? To, I don't know, prevent people from falling? Also Nora flying around like a witch does on a broom, is hilarious to me, she really just bypassed the whole "Do not fall" thing.

I think they may have pissed Ambrosius off by having him create two things.

My predictions/hopes for the final episode of the volume.

Someone else is going to fall, my guess is Weiss since she is legit just hanging off the edge right now and looking kind of tired. It would be funny if Neo or Cinder fell too though. But, considering how persistently annoying Cinder is, she'll most likely follow them into Vacuo. But seeing as they told Watts they would be back. My guess is one or both of them won't return.

Watts choosing to stay in Atlas, even after knowing that Atlas is going to fall. Means that he is collectively making that decision to end his partnership with Salem, since all he wanted was to watch Atlas and Mantle to burn. He got what he wanted, so he'll stay there until the end. Which means, Tyrian will most likely never see him again.

James and Winter are still there two. James, with his stubborn semblance, will probably be fine but Winter might not be. So hopefully they get into the portal or Qrow and Robyn come to their aid.

LISTEN, I just want Qrow and James to talk and/or fight it out.

I think that is everything. Til next week.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby spoiler tag #rwby v8 #rwby v8 spoilers #rt first #first spoilers #Gelato blogs

9 notes · View notes

maplecourtesy · 4 years

Text

TAZ:G NOTES, EPISODE 27

oh we’re starting with a full recap of the history huh;;

HHHHHHH ARGO, all i can think about is argo…. ever since last week my brain has been like many thoughts head argo keene

argo…… already…… oh god the music. argo gripping fitzroy’s shoulder;;;;; i love how that’s the thundermen’s love language.

[most of the content under the cut, because spoilers!!]

OH L O R D I DID NOT WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THIS…oh jesus christ JESUS FUCK GOD WHAT THE HELL IM IN SO MUCH PAIN. THE ONE THING I DID NOT WANT. THE O N E THING. WAS HEARING ABOUT ARGO KILLING FITZ AND THE FIRBOLG. I KNOW THIS ISN’T REAL BUT IT VERY WELL COULD BE IF THINGS GO WRONG OH THIS IS AWFUL. IM IN A FITZROY KINSHIFT AND I FELT PAIN BETWEEN RIBS WHEN TRAVIS SAID THAT…. IM ALREADY EMOTIONAL SOMEONE HOLD ME. “you consider what you have done, and you smile.” NOTHING HAS HURT ME AS MUCH AS ARGONAUT KEENE.

i’m like . shaking. that singular dream sequence has convinced me that argo is genuinely one of my Highest comfort characters. i feel nothing but pain.

unfair that this cute music is playing while argo is waking up from the. WORST possible nightmare.

“does fitzroy have his own bedroom?” “he does” “*evil bastard chuckle noises from griffin*” GOD I LOVE HIM

notes in the adventure zone are never good. why are they never good i almost don’t wanna hear this even if its just a good lil fitzroy note. BE BACK SOON. if travis had made it say just “blah blah blah. back soon.” i think i genuinely would’ve fucking lost it. sorry for having taz balance brainrot i dont do it on purpose <3

NOOOO GOD I HATE THIS SO MUCH. GET OUT OF ARGO’S HEAD ARGO DON’T LISTEN TO HIM BUDDY THEY LOVE YOU SO MUCH THEY THINK YOURE THE ABSOLUTE BEST OH MAN IM SAD. i knew gray’d be capitalizing on argo’s fears and doubts n insecurities but i didn’t realize it’d hit this hard…. man argo cmere lemme give u a good good hug.

NOT @ THEM BEING MEAN TO CLINT TOO SDBFJDKSJ;;;;; STOP BULLYING CLINT AND ARGO!!!!!! >:T JAHSBJSDF TRAVIS MAKING THEM APOLOGIZE;;;

right before justin said his little podcast law thing i was literally Just about to click the 1.5x button and i felt very called out

FAST FIRBOLG FAST FIRBOLG. ITS VERY FUNNY THAT HIS UHHHHHH’S STILL REMAIN THE SAME THOUGH. hey does travis know what Talking Faster means.

“i have been giving this much thought” “HELL YES"

"the worry-"

"aw no"

WHEJDJDBSJSHBS

OH THE MUSIC!!!!! FESTO TIME THIS IS FESTO TIME!!!!! I MISSED FESTO SO MUCHHHHH GOD FESTOS THEME MUSIC SLAPS SO HARD

as always fitzroy is already being The Best. hes so good. man festo better be impressed by this.

“DID YOU SEE?????” EVERY DAY I LOVE FITZROY MORE..

you heard the man travis!!! we need a festo and fitzroy rave scene and we need it NOW

OH THANK GOD ITS FESTOS PROPER VOICE AGAIN I WASNT FEELING THE VIBES

I MISSED SNIPPERS SO MUCH TOOOOO I LOVE SNIPPERS TO THE MOON AND BACK…. snippers the phantasmal crab well spring of all magic ever

I LIKE GORDY SO MUCH!!!!! GORDY GOES TO RAVES!!! :DDD

hey festo do u wanna spill the hot drippin wet goss

YOU DO HAVE A HABIT OF PISSING PEOPLE OFF WJDNSNFJSKDFJKN THIS WHOLE EXCHANGE….

FESTO MAKE JOKE SDHJFBHSHDJFJHB

rip fitzroy <3

CLINT THE POWERFUL WIZARD…. GOD CLINTS CANONICAL IN EVERY UNIVERSE…. THE. SDHFJJBSDFHJSDHJFB THE CLINTORIS. LET ME OUT OF HERE I WANNA GO. I HATE IT SO MUCH. I HATE IT I HATE IT.

hehe pretty music!! i will never shut up about how beautiful griffin’s composition is especially in these recent episodes;;

I REALLY ONLY LISTEN TO THE AD READS FOR BABY DOT NOW I LOVE HER SO MUCH;;;;;; <333 THAT’S A GOOD HALLOWEEN GROWL;;;;; HEY BABY DOT;;;;;;;; oh i love dot so much im ;3;

glad we had that chat about using the potty!!! thanks guys very cool!!

now why would fitzroy bring that up.

WHERE IS ALL THE ART OF THUNDERMAN LLC IN BOOTY SHORTS CLIMBING GEAR!!!! I NEED THAT!!! GET ON IT ARTISTS!!!! /LH

WHJBDHHJSDHJFHBJ NOOO GOD;;; i saw a post that said it sounds like argo seems like hes feeling some rejection sensitivity dysphoria and Yeah;;; little sidetrack but i really do feel like all the thundermen are neurodivergent in some way. i project my adhd very heavily onto fitzroy and i think that argo and the firbolg could both be somewhere on the spectrum!! argo could also be ocd and thats a very comforting headcanon too;;;

GOD SARCASM…..

oh its hieronymous;;; sad music time i don’t like this;; i care so much about hiero i hope he’s doin alright;; “i’m just tired.” yeah me too hiero…

GOD EVERYTIME FIRBOLG MAKES A JOKE I LOSE MY MIND…. canon that firbolg does a little celebratory dance after each banger joke

“we can’t take that risk” “well MAYBE THEY SHOULDVE BEEN STRONG ENOUGH”

yall think fitzroy could get that influencer cape on and charm his way into the heroic oversight guild. but yeah hiero and althea!!!!

OH NO ARGO. O H. N O. AR G O.. OH JESUS ARGO OH GOD FUCK ARGO……OH NOOOO OH NO OH GOD FUCK ARGO DONT DO SHIT I SWEAR TO FUCKING G O D. ARGO PLEASE IM SO SCARED I CANT HAVE FITZROY GET STABBED… argo sounds so … defeated oh im so sad;;;; i have so many argo feelings…

maplekeeners how are we feelin…

HOW DOES ARGO KEEP FUCKIN ROLLING CRIT FAILS… oh no;;; fitzroy fuck him up. do it. fuck him up. FUCK Y E S. HOLY SHIT FUCK HIM UP FITZROY.

if gray don’t get the FUCK out of my boy argo

thank god argo knows now because idk if i could’ve dealt with him feelin that shitty self deprecation and thinkin it was still him even after that;;

thunderman llc love each other so much god i'm so sad...

oh i cant wait to see the art people come up with for the godscar chasm scene this sounds beautiful...

OPALESCENT SKIN??? CHAOS????? not? chaos??

"i have been called many names, some of them unkind. i think the one i most identify with is order."

HOLY SHIT I JUST GOT C H I L L S WHAT THE FUCK THAT WAS SO INCREDIBLY COOL OH IM IN AWE. THAT WAS SUCH A COOL ENDING OH MG GOD.

this commentary got Long but for good reason god this was such a good episode i believe in taz g episode 27 supremacy.... holy moly folks.

#taz #taz graduation spoilers #taz grad #taz g #taz graduation #taz grad spoilers #the adventure zone #the adventure zone graduation #taz episode 27 #sir fitzroy maplecourt #fitzroy maplecourt #argonaut keene #argo keene #the firbolg #master firbolg #taz notes by krys #krys talks

35 notes · View notes

thetravelerwrites · 4 years

Text

Monster Match #26: Duamutef (Lemon)

The Traveler's Masterlist

For @one-halloween: “My pronouns are she/her and my orientation is pan. I'm small (like 4'9") with waist length brown hair that's bleached in an ombre style. I dress in a kind of retro style (so like 80s acid washed jeans and crop tops). Uhh I love reading, writing and gaming as well as hiking and working on a car or something like that. I'm often quiet but around people I like I can be the jokester of the group.

Cliché but I like partners who are taller than me, and those I can joke around with. Someone who is also loyal and honest as well as loving and will take interest in hobbies. The things I dislike are dishonesty and secrets. As well as someone who takes life way too seriously and won't crack a joke here or there. Also someone who doesn't take interest in what others do. I was thinking if you could make it NSFW that would be great.”

You’ve been matched with Duamutef!

Duamutef is one of the four sons of Horus and one of the protection gods of the four canopic burial jars, specifically the jar which contains the stomach. In war, the most frequent cause of death was from injuries in the torso and stomach, and Duamutef protects this organ, both in life and in death.

Duamutef was originally represented as a man wrapped in mummy bandages; however, from the New Kingdom onwards, he is shown with the head of a jackal and is an example of cynocephaly which, in Greek mythology, is a creature with a human body and a canid head, specifically a jackal.

What gives a god their power was the belief of their followers; however, many of the ancient religions had either died completely or were far less worshiped during modern times, affording the gods of those pantheons less power. While some gods lamented this decline in their abilities, others found it freeing, and delighted in the opportunity of roaming the earth as they wished. One such deity was Duamutef.

As a lesser god, even people who followed the revival religion Khemetism didn’t tend to worship him as much as Anubis or Ma’at or his father Horus, so he decided to come to earth and travel the world, learning about an era with which he was unfamiliar.

Of course, you didn’t know all that when you met him. He introduced himself as Tua, an exchange student from Egypt. He was a mysterious figure and his age indecipherable to you. Sometimes he seemed young and boyish, easily a full foot taller than you, always smiling and laughing. However, there was this ageless look in his eye that told the story of a very old soul. He was tall and dark, just like in fairy tales, and already very popular on campus.

It surprised you when he took notice of you. You were a quiet girl, unassuming and not the type to draw attention, so his sudden interest in you was a little startling.

“Excuse me,” He said one day, coming up to you suddenly. “I’m afraid I don’t know your name.”

“That’s probably because we’ve never spoken before,” You said. “And I don’t think you know any of my friends.”

“An oversight. My apologies,” He said, smiling. “I make it my aim to know everyone in every place I go.”

You looked at him in alarm. “There are hundreds of people attending this college.”

“I am aware,” He said, still smiling. He had those deep, dark type of bottomless black eyes one could get lost in. “I’ve managed to at least introduce myself to most of the people, but it seems I have missed you. Forgive me.”

“Honestly, it’s not a big deal,” You said. “I’m nobody, really.”

“That’s not true,” He said. “Everybody is somebody to someone, and I’d like to be a friend to you. My name is Tua. May I ask yours?” He offered his hand to shake and you shook it, telling him your name. “Will you walk with me? The cafeteria is offering something called a corndog I’m eager to try.”

You laughed. “Don’t get too excited about that. It’s not exactly a culinary masterpiece.”

“But it’ll be new. I like new. I spent a very long time in one place, and now that I’m out in the world, I want to experience as much as I can.”

“Were you homeschooled as a kid or something?” You asked.

He laughed again. “Or something. My family had a lot of responsibilities many years ago, you could say. After working my whole life in the service of others, I think I’ve earned a vacation.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” You said. “It can be tough when your parents expect a lot from you.”

“That’s the truth,” He replied. “So, corndog? I’ll treat you.” He extended his hand toward the cafeteria.

You echoed his laughter. “I don’t know if I’d call it a treat, but sure. That sounds nice.”

From then on, Tua spent a lot of time with you. He seemed to go out of his way to seek you out. He said he enjoyed listening to you talk about things, saying that your perspective was entertaining. You didn’t mind his presence. He was earnest and funny and he always wanted to hear your opinion on things. He’d often come to the bookstore where you worked to get your recommendation for new books to read. He seemed confused by a lot of western culture’s practices and often asked you for advice or to explain things to him. His open curiosity and wonder with the world around him was very endearing.

You weren’t sure why he chose you to help him navigate life in the western world. Surely there were better candidates in the large pool of people who followed him around. He had a legion of fans who hung on his every word and shadowed him like love-struck puppies, but he dodged them consistently to spend time with you. There were more attractive people of several genders that he could have had his pick of, but he decided on you, and you were slightly baffled by it.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” He asked you one day while you were ringing up his new purchases. He must have a significant library by this point. “There’s something called a farmer’s market I’d like to go see.”

“I can’t go tomorrow,” You said. “My friend’s car is acting up and he wants me to take a look at it. From what he’s telling me, it sounds like his alternator is shot, and if that’s the case, that’s a full day’s work.”

“You can fix cars?” He asked. If he had animal ears, you’d swear they had perked up when he said that. “How interesting. I don’t know anything about cars. Can I observe?”

You shrugged. “If you want to. Make sure to wear stuff you don’t mind getting dirty. It is very hard to get motor oil out of clothes, trust me.”

“Of course,” He said.

“Here,” You said, taking out a pen and running out a length of receipt paper to write on. “Here’s my address. He’ll be dropping it off around 9 A.M. and picking it back up after his shift at work.”

“Excellent. I won’t be late.”

“If you say so,” You said, handing him his purchases. “Here you go. That D&D book is a classic. I think you’ll really like it.”

“Much appreciated,” He said with a smile, nodding politely as he left.

He arrived the next morning carrying a sack of donuts and coffee. You were glad he already knew what kind of coffee you liked, because he drank his very strong and you wouldn’t be able to stomach it. You had to do a double take when he took off his jacket and revealed a v-neck black shirt and tight black jeans. Normally he wore a pair of slacks and a button-up, so this look was quite a change and you were having trouble not staring. He was skinny, but he had a lot more muscle definition than you would have suspected.

“I hope I’m not late,” He said. “There was an accident on the way here. No one seemed to be hurt, but there was quite a backup on the highway.”

“No, you’re fine,” You said. “My friend hasn’t even shown up yet. Let’s eat before he gets here. Eating with grease on your hands is a bad idea.”

Your friend pulled up as you were inhaling a bear claw. You introduced him to Tua, they exchanged brief pleasantries, and your friend took off for the bus stop down the road.

“He seemed nice,” Tua said.

“He’s gay and single, if you want his number,” You laughed as you popped the hood of his Honda Accord.

Tua laughed as well. “I appreciate the offer, but he’s not my cup of tea. Or coffee, if you will.” He took a big gulp, and you shuddered.

“I can’t believe you take that black. It’s got to be so bitter.”

“We didn’t have sugar where I grew up, so I’m used to it.”

Your head rocked back. “Where did you live that you didn’t have sugar.”

“Near Cairo,” He replied. “It was called something different when I was born, though.”

You made a face. “Cairo was founded in 969 AD. You’re not that old.”

He smirked. “How old do I look?”

You stared at him, trying to gauge his age, but blanked. “Let’s just get to work.”

The alternator was indeed going out, and while changing it out wasn’t rocket science, it was labor intensive work for someone as small as you were. You were actually glad to have an extra set of hands to help. In addition to the alternator, you also found a crack in one of the hoses that was also going to have to be replaced, as it was leaking coolant.

Both of you were elbow deep in grease by the time you decided to take a break for lunch. You went to order a pizza as he went in to wash his… self. He somehow managed to get grease all over his face. You had a sneaking suspicion he just liked getting dirty.

After putting in your order, you went back outside to clean up the area around the car and put away the tools you didn’t need anymore in their rightful place in the toolbox when you happened to look up to the bathroom window. You had to squint and blink, because something was… off.

Tua had taken his shirt off to clean up, but something was odd about his head. It was larger, darker, and blurry almost. It almost looked like an animal’s head. Maybe it was just how the frosted glass reflected the color of his hair, but it didn’t look… normal. Something on the top of his head resembling ears flicked back and forth. Something that looked like a snout opened and shut, as if inspecting its teeth. The head shook like a dog slinging water from its fur. You blinked, and he had put his shirt back on and his head looked completely normal again.

Were you going insane?

Tua came back out of the house, the water from washing his face and neck glistening on his skin. You didn’t realize how bug-eyed you were until he tilted his head in concern.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

You shook your head to clear it. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. I thought I saw… nevermind. It doesn’t matter. Pizza’s on it’s way.”

“What did you see?” He asked neutrally.

“It doesn’t matter,” You said. “It was probably a trick of the light.”

“What if it wasn’t?” He asked in the same neutral tone, watching your face. “Hypothetically.”

“What are you talking about?” You asked.

He sighed, shook his head, and his usual smile was back in place. “No matter. What kind of pizza did you get?”

You let the matter drop, but it nagged in the back of your mind for the rest of the day.

That night, your dreams were unusual. You dreamt of a dry place, of women in soft, sheer gowns and men in short skirted garments. Shaved heads and wigs.

In one of the dreams, a woman led you to a huge, grand hall made of stone. There, sitting on a throne of ebony inlaid with gold and jewels, was a man. He had a falcon’s head on a fit human’s body. He held a staff in his hand, and on his head perched a red and white pschent, the crown of Pharaohs. Behind him were four gigantic statutes of other men and women. He sat at their feet, surrounded by attendants.

The woman gestured for you to walk forward, and the man on the throne waved a hand. All of the attendants left him, leaving you standing there alone with him.

“My son has shown you interest,” The man said, his voice booming throughout the chamber, though his mouth never moved. “That is unusual. He and his wife have divorced millennia ago, and he has not taken interest in anyone for many, many years.”

“Your son?” You repeated. “Who is your son?”

“Know you not who I am?” He asked, standing and laying his staff against the armrest. “The god of the sky above and kingdom below. The wisest of my siblings, the most benevolent. Am I a stranger to you?”

“I’m sorry,” You said hesitantly. “I’m not really religious.”

He sighed. “I suppose that’s to be expected. The power of our pantheon has declined dramatically. I must be grateful that the revival in modern times has allowed us to rise from our sleep and reclaim any sort of rule.” He stood to his full height, which had to be at least seven foot. “I am Horus. You are a friend to my son, Duamutef, blessed with the head of a jackal, the animal of death, guidance, and protection.”

“The head of a jackal?” You asked. “Like a dog? So I wasn’t hallucinating? Tua really has the head of a dog?”

“In so many terms, yes. Tua, as you know him, asked for my permission to travel the world, and I granted it to him, hoping he would stop pining and bring his knowledge of the new world back to his peers.”

“How long is he allowed to explore?”

“Not that long,” Horus said. “A few centuries.”

You gaped at him. “You realize that since the industrial age, humanity and its technology is advancing very quickly. The world isn’t the same as it was ten years ago, and it will be different in another ten years.”

“Oh,” Horus said, seemingly baffled. “That’s alarming. In the ancient kingdom, it was as if time stood still. Once we gave humans the knowledge they needed to live and create, things carried on as it always did for over three millennia.”

“Things are different now,” You said, perhaps too boldly considering you were speaking to a god.

“It would seem so,” He replied thoughtfully. “Duamutef is eager to learn, however. As long as he sends back a report, I suppose he can stay in the mortal plane as long as he wishes.”

“I’m sure that would make him happy,” You said.

“I think you would, too,” Horus said, looking down at you. A falcon can’t smile, but you felt kind approval radiating from Horus’s body.

“I would?” You said. “I’m his friend, just a girl he follows around because I explain things to him. I’m not special. Besides, I don’t even think he likes me that way.”

“Aren’t you?” Horus asked patiently. “Doesn’t he?”

You flushed. You hadn’t really considered it. He seemed way out of your league. “Well… even if he did, how can I be worthy of a god?”

“You are worthy. You do not need me to tell you so, nor do you need him to. But he has chosen you, and I am pleased that he is happy and moving on. He has been alone for a very long time.”

“This is a lot to process, you know that?”

“Indeed,” Horus agreed. He turned and went back to the throne, sitting in it. “Take some time to think it over, but do not make him wait long. My son’s happiness is important to me.” He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

You woke covered in sweat and gasping. That… that couldn’t have been real, could it? Thank god… or gods… that tomorrow was Sunday. You needed a full day to just… deal.

Monday, you returned to school, both confused and… a little excited. There was something innately fascinating knowing an actual god was walking around campus, acting like a human. While you weren’t a fan of the fact that he was hiding it from you, you were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Just this once.

You saw him in the courtyard surrounded by his usual fans. His magnetism suddenly made a lot more sense. You wondered why you were so resistant to it.

“Tua!” You called. He looked up, caught your eye and smiled, walking over. His gaggle of… worshipers?… followed behind him.

“I need to talk to you privately,” You told him in a terse undertone.

“That sounds serious,” He said, still smiling, though he looked concerned. “What about?”

“Your father came to visit me,” You replied.

The smile slipped and the color drained from his face. “Uh…” He said to his group, trying to laugh lightly. “Sorry, friends. Family business.”

They groaned in disappointment but thankfully dispersed. He took you by the hand and led you to the side of the Sciences building.

“What did he say to you? Was he angry?”

“No,” You said. “He told me he was pleased.”

Tua sighed in relief. “I’m glad. I was worried he was annoyed with my decisions. He said he wouldn’t interfere, but I’ve been concerned because I hadn’t heard from him.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” You asked, folding your arms.

“What, that I’m a lesser god of an ancient religion that had almost died out, until the recent revival?” He said shrewdly. “Would you have believed me.”

“Your real head might have convinced me,” You replied. “The jackal?”

“Ah, yes,” He said. “I figured you had seen it the other day, but you didn’t press the issue, so I hoped you’d think it was a figment of your imagination.”

“Why didn’t you want me to know?” You asked.

“I did,” He said. “But I wanted to tell you myself, when the time was right.”

“When would the right time have been?”

He shrugged and looked at the ground. “I don’t know, I guess. I almost did, the other day, but I was nervous.”

“Your father told me something else,” You said carefully. “That you had been alone a long time. That your wife divorced you and that you had been pining for a long time. He also said…” You cleared your throat and swallowed. “That you had chosen me.”

He looked at you through his lashes, looking apprehensive. “Can… can we discuss this later? Somewhere private?”

“Come to my house after school. We’ll talk, okay?”

He nodded, looking self-conscious, turned, and jogged away, dodging his fan club and ducking into the Arts building.

Later that night, you paced in your living room, waiting for him to arrive. When you heard his car pull up, it took every ounce of willpower to not dash outside.

When he knocked, you opened the door to find him holding flowers and a gift bag.

Oh god.

“I figured if the cat was out of the bag, I might as well try,” He said. “Here.” He handed you the flowers, which were your favorites, and the bag. Inside was a book.

“Someone wrote a book about me,” He said. “Well, about me and my brothers. It was written while we were sleeping, so there’s a little missing, but I’m happy to fill in the blanks.”

“I don’t like that you hid this from me,” You said as you moved aside to let him in.

“I’m sorry,” He said. “I didn’t mean to hide it. Most people don’t look that closely. You’re the first person to see my true self.”

“That’s not entirely true,” You said. “I only saw an outline, a shadow.” You folded your arms. “So show me the real you. I want to take a good look.”

He took a deep, calming breath, and his body shimmered. His head elongated, black fur sprouted from his neck up, trailing down his spine and the middle of his chest. His normal modern clothes disappeared and the traditional gathered skirt of ancient Egypt appeared around his waist, ending at the knee. His eyes were silver and had markings around them. He wore no crown, but there were markings where a crown might have once sat.

“Is this what you saw?” He asked. Like his father, his mouth did not move when he spoke. Instead, his voice came from all around you.

“Something like it, yes,” You confirmed.

“Are you frightened?” He asked hesitantly.

“No,” You replied. “I’ve had time to come to terms with it. I think I’d be more freaked out if you had sprung it on me out of nowhere, maybe.”

“See? What else was I to do but keep it to myself?” He said in exasperation.

“I guess I see your point,” You admitted. “But no more secrets, okay? There’s nothing I hate more than people keeping secrets from me.”

“If that’s so, then… there’s one more thing I must confess,” He said slowly.

“I think I know what it is,” You said, bracing yourself. “But I’d like to hear you say it.”

He cleared his throat and stood tall. “I have become… enamored with you. I don’t know when it started, but it came to me quickly. Perhaps it was because you didn’t fall into worship of me, as others have done. As gods, it is humankind’s natural inclination to bend the knee to us, but you did not. Perhaps it was your patience with me and my multitude of questions. Perhaps it was the extent of your knowledge. Perhaps it was all of those things. But I care for you. I do not expect you to return my feelings, but I would wish to remain close to you, in whatever form you desire. Friend, companion, lover. It is your decision.”

You laughed a little. “That’s a hell of a declaration. I mean, you haven’t even kissed me yet.”

He looked startled. “Is that something you wish?”

“I don’t know.” You moved closer, considering him. “Are you any good at it?”

He took your hands. “Well… it has been some time. I may be out of practice.”

“Give it your best shot,” You challenged.

His lips curled into a smile, and he pulled you into an embrace. Tall as he was, he had to bend to reach your lips. His kiss was light, but experienced, and he lingered for many minutes. When he pulled away, you were seeing stars.

“How was my technique?” He asked playfully.

You shook your head to stop it from spinning. “More than adequate,” You chuckled. “You’re not quite as rusty as you claim.”

“Ah, that’s good to hear,” He said, and kissed you again.

You weren’t sure how the two of you made it into your bedroom, but suddenly there you were, the bed right next to you. You began shedding clothes and pulled at the belt that gathered the skirt at his waist. It fell into a pile at his feet, and he stepped out of it, lifting you into the air and setting you gently down onto the bed.

You began to shake a little. You hadn’t had a serious partner before and while this wasn’t your first time, the sex you’d had before hadn’t been as… significant as this was turning out to be. Were you going to fast? You’d known him for months but it was only in the last few days that you’d known he was carrying a torch for you. It had been a lot to process, and still was. Were you rushing into it?

He seemed to feel you tense. “Are you alright?”

“I…” You struggled to find the right words and not sound insulting. “I feel like we’re moving to quickly? I’m not even sure how I feel, and we’re already in bed with each other. I just… feel…”

“Rushed?” He said. “It’s alright, I understand. This was a lot to lay on you at once. We can stop.”

“That’s just it, I don’t know if I want to stop. I don’t know if I want to keep going. I don’t even know for sure how I feel about you, or the situation. I feel really overwhelmed.”

“It’s alright,” He said. “Why don’t we just lay here for a while and be still and give you some time to find your bearings. I can leave you to think for a while, if you’d like.”

“No. No, stay,” You said. “Just turn off the light and let’s be quiet for a little while. I just want to think.”

“Of course,” He said, reaching for the lamp switch. The two of you were bathed in darkness. He lay next to you, and you allowed him to put his arm around you. You put your head on his chest and listened to his slow heartbeat. It was strangely reassuring: you almost expected him to not have a heartbeat at all.

At some point you must have fallen asleep. He still lay with you, his body illuminated in the moonlight, slightly propped up on the pillows, watching you sleep. He smiled when he saw you rouse.

“Good evening,” He said quietly.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to doze off,” You said.

“It’s no problem. I actually rather enjoyed it. You’re very cute when you’re asleep.”

“Don’t be silly,” You said, smacking his chest.

“I’m not!” He chuckled. “You make very adorable noises.”

“Hush, you!” You said, tickling his side.

“Hey, hey!” He exclaimed, squirming away. “Don’t do that!”

“Oh, is the big, bad god ticklish?” You asked playfully, dodging his arms and going in for more tickles. “Is he? Is he ticklish?”

“No!” He cried, trying to wiggle out of your grasp, whimpering like a puppy. “I shall retaliate if you don’t cease!”

“Oh yeah?” You taunted. “Whatcha gonna do about it, big man? Sniff me to death?”

“I may just!” He said, putting his muzzle in your ear and sniffling.

“Ah!” You squealed. “It’s so cold!”

“You like that?!” He said, tickling you back and pressing his nose to your neck. “Have some more, then!” He licked at your neck and shoulders. He grabbed your hands and held them above your head as you wiggled underneath him.

At some point, the mood shifted. The weight of his naked body on top of your naked body was exhilarating and made your heart race. His licks slowed and went from playful to deliberate and were interspersed with open mouthed kisses. He let go of your hands and touched your body. You instinctively pulled your knees up and wrapped them around his waist, holding him close by the back of his head and petting down the fur of his spine.

“Is this alright?” He asked heavily, breathing hard.

“Yes,” You whispered in reply. “Yes.”

Some more minutes of touching and kissing and licking later, he reached between the two of you and rubbed his knuckles on your clit, making you moan against his lips. He rubbed himself and you at the same time, then pushed the tip against your entrance, gently pushing himself inside of you. Your head fell back onto the pillow, your mouth wide open, your brows furrowing. He was thick and long, but no so that it was painful. You whimpered as he inched all the way inside and pulled out slowly, thrusting inward and pulling outward.

Slowly, but with gaining speed, your bodies moved together. Wordlessly, he flipped you so that you were on your stomach and pulled you toward him, reentering you and thrusting vigorously, while you gripped the sheets desperately, crying out in pleasure. You bit the pillow and shut your eyes as you felt the ecstasy well up in you, your inside walls clenching and contracting. He huffed and grunted above you, gripping your hips as your bodies smacked together over and over.

You could feel beads of his sweat dripping onto your back as he sped up again, groaned loudly, and spilled himself into you, gushing out with each jerk of his hips against your body. When he was spent, he withdrew and fell sideways as to not crush you. You lay on your stomach for a few moments, allowing yourself to catch your breath and cool down, before turning over and sliding into his arms. You’d change the sheets tomorrow.

“I hope this means you accept me,” He said sleepily.

“I always accepted you,” You said. “I just wasn’t sure what I wanted my role to be in all this. I’m still not sure. I think starting with a date might be nice.”

“Of course,” He said. “Anything you want. I am your humble servant, at your beck and call.”

“You’re not my servant,” You said firmly. “And I’m not yours. We’re partners or we’re nothing at all.”

“I understand,” He said, turning on his side. “So, my partner, where would you like to go for this date?”

“I don’t know,” You said. “This’ll be your first date on the mortal plane, won’t it? Do what you love to do: research it.”

He laughed. “That sounds like fun.”

To get your own Monster Match, buy me a Kofi!

Since my work is no longer searchable, please do me a favor and reblog this story if you enjoyed it. Help me reach a wider audience! To help me continue creating, please consider becoming a Patron or donating directly to my PayPal.

Thanks for reading!

My Masterlist

The Exophilia Creator’s Masterlist

#Exophilia #Monster Match #Ancient Egypt #Egyptian God #Duamutef #Four Sons of Horus #one-halloween

65 notes · View notes

itsybitsylemonsqueezy · 4 years

Note

Hey, it’s me again! ^_^ I hope I don’t bother you too much with my requests, but your posts are so cool I just can’t help it. Upon completing Yakuza 4 I’ve had a lot of thoughts and feels about Daigo and how his character was handled across the series. To be honest, at first I didn’t like him much, because he seemed pretty bland (and his screen time leaves much to be desired), but soon enough he’s really grown on me. What is your opinion on him if you don’t mind me asking?

I definitely do not mind requests! Meta is my bread and butter c: I’ve just been busy for a few days, sorry ^^; And... my opinions on Daigo are not going to be as mindblowing or exciting as my opinions on Kiryu, I’ll be real ^^; And there’s a big advantage in Kiryu being the protag, All of the content is about him ^^; I do love Daigo, I think he’s a super interesting character, but his tragedy is just what you pointed out, he’s underutilized. And he isn’t set up very well to have the position he holds.

But, so saying, let’s get into my essay on Daigo ^^;

So, we meet Daigo properly in game 2. There’s little side stories with baby Daigo in Zero which helps build Daigo’s and Kiryu’s relationship and set up for what would later happen, but we don’t really know him until game 2. And game 2 is a LOT about Daigo and his arc and what he’s meant to be! There’s a tumblr text post meme somewhere with a pic of Daigo depressed in his little puffy white coat that says “And I’ll probably become the next chairman of the Tojo Clan. Things like that just happens to guys like me.” and that is totally accurate! Like, it’s a funny thing to complain about, but that’s obviously the struggle Daigo’s having, understanding from a young age that it was obviously his destiny to succeed Sohei, the only problem is uh... well... Kiryu.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Dojima Sohei never became chairman of the Tojo Clan. And that’s really wild thinking back to Zero and how powerful he was, he was all but a shoo in for chairman. But then, uh... Kiryu. Kiryu happened. Kiryu, and Majima I should say, are the reason Sera becomes chairman, not Sohei. Forever upsetting the wheels of fate. Given where we see Sohei next, I can’t imagine that he ever really recovered from that upset ^^; And I’m SURE it made him bitter towards Kiryu the rest of his life. And considering, again, where we see him next, I think the canon supports this ^^;

So what becomes of Daigo’s destiny then? His father had victory snatched away, destiny denied, and everything he had slowly crumbles over time, leaving his son with less and less to inherit, but still with the ideology that he should take this over. That’s an awkward position to be in.

And then Sera dies. Ooh, golly, I wonder who the next chairman’s gonna- it’s Kiryu. Of course it’s fucking Kiryu, how could it not be? It OBVIOUSLY should be Kiryu. He’s the strongest, the bravest, and who inspires the most loyalty. It doesn’t matter that Kiryu’s never been in leadership before, he TURNS people. Kiryu could get anyone on his side through sheer force of personality, which is hilarious to say about a guy with maybe 3 facial expressions. But tell me I’m wrong. I cannot count the number of part-time antagonists who turned on a dime because Kiryu beat their ass. And anyone who can do that can rule the world. Kiryu was absolutely the best pick for chairman and I will fight the world on this.

(Abbreviated for length, this is a LONG post)

But... then Kiryu makes the stupidest decision of his entire fucking life and renounces the chairmanship. And he has his reasons, feeling unworthy, traumatized from the events of Kiwami 1, unsure if he even wants to stay in the yakuza or if there’s maybe something else he wants to do with his life... he’s going through a lot of intense self-reflection and self-doubt and, I hate to harp on it, but fucking trauma. His brother blew himself up in front of him in a bid for redemption after all but telling Kiryu that all of his mistakes are Kiryu’s fault. Yeah, no, I’m sure Kiryu’s doing FINE with that. So, like, I can see why Kiryu said no, but it was still... fucking nuts. And it irrevocably changed the trajectory of everyone in this universe. Which Kiwami 2 goes out of its way to explore. Kiryu’s leaving? Majima fucking retires, Terada’s suspect, there aren’t any old, loyal hands left to lead the families, and we see how vulnerable the Tojo clan is on every side because Kiryu just up and fucked off.

(I have A LOT of feelings about Kiryu being chairman and someday I will have the strength to write the AU we all deserve where Kiryu stays as chairman)

So... the wheel of fate turns and oh yeah remember Daigo? Dojima Sohei’s son Daigo? The kid who’s been raised his whole life to take over the clan only to be denied at every turn? How’s he doing? Not great! It turns out, not great! Kiryu, his father figure, killed his ACTUAL father, but didn’t really, took the blame for some other weird guy, leaving Daigo with one badass mother and very little direction in life. Daigo’s been brought up thinking he’ll take over a great kingdom but all that’s left now is a broken wreck about to be demolished and picked apart by scavengers. Great, yeah, just what any kid wants to inherit. And he wasn’t trained to fix this, it’s kinda shitty to saddle him with destiny and then not train him for the thing that actually has to be done and then do it anyway. It’s real shitty actually. And not many people help Daigo.

Daigo couldn’t have taken the chairmanship directly from Sera, he was still just a teenager then. But it probably would have been nice if Kiryu checked in with him even fucking once since getting out of jail. But no, we never explain on screen to Daigo what happened as far as I can remember. Which, I feel, is a pretty fucking big oversight. How the fuck is Daigo supposed to trust you Kiryu? Or we’re supposed to believe he just figured it out off screen and holds no grudges? Like, I’m sure knowing Kiryu didn’t kill Sohei helps, but he couldn’t fucking tell you that himself? He couldn’t trust you with that information or that conversation? Fuck this. Very understandably, Daigo has his own crisis of faith about the yakuza, very much in parallel to Kiryu’s. Why the fuck SHOULD he go to bat for a crumbling organization that has only proven itself to be a dog chasing its own tail, willing to devour itself at the slightest provocation? It took his father, both his fathers, and he didn’t really get either of them back. Why the fuck should he try to fix that?

And to its credit, Kiwami 2 does a decent job of articulating Daigo’s motivations there. I could have done with even more, but I think they do him credit in showing him as disenfranchised and lost. And I think it’s refreshing to see someone have to confront the consequences of what’s happened since Kiryu left. Because the games don’t do a good job of showing that this is Kiryu’s direct fault. They never like to make Kiryu’s decisions have consequence, which is poor use of a protag. Rightly or wrongly, their decisions ALWAYS have consequence, or they’re not the protag. You can’t have it both ways. If this person is going to matter then, guess what, their consequences matter. Kiryu turned away. Rightly or wrongly, he did that. Daigo will never get that opportunity. Child of destiny. Not only was he bred and raised for this, he doesn’t know how to do anything else either. He doesn’t have other options the way Kiryu does. And we’re in a terrible vacuum of power. Terada’s namely in charge, but no one’s loyal to him. Even if he wasn’t deliberately fostering this, the Tojo Clan can’t survive without faith in their leader. Daigo, by fact of being his fathers’ son, can bind what’s left. And he has to because Kiryu won’t. Which is... really shitty. So either Daigo does this, or we all hang. And we never quite articulate that this is on Kiryu’s say so. Kiryu could still take over now and fix it he just... won’t.

And on top of this already comfortably stressful situation... we set Daigo up to come into a stable situation of power, where his transition would be smooth. We didn’t give him the tools to know how to salvage. He’s not practiced negotiating with hostile entities or even just people who will resent him because he’s young. And he’s lost a lot of faith, without even charisma and willpower on his side, this is a massively uphill battle. If he doesn’t believe, who else will believe him? Daigo knows this. And we watch that struggle go on, all while Kiryu just cheerleads. He hasn’t decided yet if he’s gonna stay in the yakuza either and he’s lowkey depressed after Kiwami 1. Lowkey he’s just suffering depression and can’t do as much as he normally would. Not an excuse, but I think an important way to read how tired and reluctant he is. Some therapy would really fucking help.

Anyway, we manage to get through Kiwami 2 and install Daigo as chairman, at which point Kiryu fucks off for good. Now, he kinda/sorta leaves some supports for Daigo, in Majima specifically, but also in Kashiwagi and I wanna believe in Daigo’s mom too. She was so cool and then we just... never talked about her again ^^; Laaaame *sigh* So, I guess, Kiryu did try to fulfill his remaining responsibilities as Daigo’s living father, but mostly it was just an excuse for him to leave and not feel guilty. Mostly it was him foisting off his duties onto someone else. He didn’t stay to teach Daigo everything he knew about the people Daigo would have to control. He didn’t teach Daigo and Majima how to talk to each other, a thing which REPEATEDLY comes back to bite us in the ass. He’s not there for Daigo to ask advice and help. Kiryu is full of confidence for Daigo, he’s not TRYING to make him fail, but Kiryu’s so caught up in his own need to leave, he neglects to people who need him.

And Daigo, to his everlasting credit, does his best to get by without Kiryu’s help. As much as possible, he never calls to ask Kiryu for help. And he does grow into a quite competent chairman! He does successfully rehabilitate the Tojo Clan, he makes them profitable again, he insists on respect and people don’t run amok under him. He does it, he salvages a dying organization. And he may not even really believe in it, but he has such a sense of responsibility, he does it anyway. He knows there’s no one else. He knows if he goes to Kiryu and says I don’t want this, Kiryu won’t help him. Kiryu didn’t mean for it to happen this way, he didn’t mean to be selfish and put others in a bad position. But he wasn’t there to listen. And I think Kiryu eventually comes to rue that.

The very unfortunate thing about Kiryu is... he is a dragon. Even though he is kind and generous and not greedy in a conventional sense, he is greedy. As much as Kiryu is a powerhouse because come hell or high water, he does what he thinks is right... this also makes him extremely selfish. He can be blind to other people’s needs and refused to be tied down. Again, for the best of reasons, because he’s trying to raise a family, because this environment is triggering for him, but he just hauls off and does things instead of talking to anyone which... makes him impossible to have a working relationship with. He has to learn to talk and to listen and that he can’t make all of the decisions by himself. The great irony being, Kiryu never wants to, but he doesn’t know how to ask for help. He’s so used to have everything put on him, he doesn’t realize it doesn’t have to be that way... but anyway, I’m getting caught up ^^; The point is, he thinks because he ditched the Tojo Clan they no longer care about him. Which is... naive at best. Of course people still care about you dumbass. Which makes Kiryu a massive vulnerability to the Tojo. In 3 and 4, Daigo makes stupid calls trying to protect Kiryu and trying to protect his interests. And because Kiryu hasn’t left open an avenue for them to talk, Daigo has to make these decisions on his own with bad information and he does his fucking best. But... he doesn’t know how to make the best of what he has, not like Kiryu would, and he fucks up sometimes.

I really, really love game 4 for that reason. Daigo’s fuck up is SO understandable, SO reasonable. It sounded like a good idea, it sounded like peace and harmony. And he was left without a leg to stand on before he knew it. In many ways, it wasn’t his fault. Kiryu himself says as much. And I may never forgive the end of 4 for letting Kiryu REALIZE he defaulted on his responsibilities but then, instead of changing his behavior in any way, he fucks off back to Okinawa. God... *siiiigh* ANYWAY.

And this struggle, this lack of communication, but unstated loyalty, comes full circle in game 5. When Daigo is literally drowning, literally knows he’s going to fail this time and there’s nothing he can do, and even when he’s with Kiryu, he can’t bring himself to ask for help. He knows Kiryu won’t or can’t. Instead he asks for absolution. He tries to tell his dad he’s just been doing his best and... he’s sorry for the terrible things that are about to happen. How gutting that Daigo can only see himself as a failure because... he’s not Kiryu. No one’s Kiryu. Even Kiryu refuses to be Kiryu. But Daigo knows if he was just Kiryu, things would be better. He’s not a legend. He’s not a god. He’s not all-powerful or crazy or impossible. He’s just a guy, doing his best because he had to. Because there was no one else. And some days Daigo does great, but a lot of days, he doesn’t measure up. And that eats at Daigo like mold. Kiryu would NEVER look at Daigo this way. Heck, most people at that point would never compare them. It’s in Daigo’s head, but it still hurts. He’s still, even now, looking up to Kiryu and he’ll just... never quite get there.

This is the only good thing I will ever say about game 6, and it was still 2 or 3 games too late, but Kiryu finally acknowledging Daigo as his son was good. Kiryu saying he was proud and saying he was grateful was good. Again, several games late, but... it still mattered. It still mattered that, in the end, Kiryu recognized his legacy in Daigo. That he understood so much of what Daigo did and does and is and was is for him. That mattered.

Daigo is a great chairman who takes care of his clan. But he was robbed of his relationship with his father. The games never work on the relationships that exist, strong relationships, for reasons I will never understand. Games 3, 4, and 5 would have been SO much more interesting if we had just like Kiryu talk to his fucking friends. Two would have been SO much easier if Kiryu had just been fucking chairman like he was fucking supposed to be and the transition of power to Daigo came later and smoother, with Kiryu helping to make it. Daigo tries his hardest every day and he’s an incredible negotiator and savior after all the shit he’s had to pull the Tojo Clan through, kicking and screaming and fighting to tear itself apart every damn day. The generation above him is all legends, Majima and Saejima and Kiryu. Daigo isn’t one of them. But he’s better because he was here and because he tries and because he succeeds. We need Daigo. We deserve him.

#Dojima Daigo #Yakuza #I don't even know spoilers for... all of the games #Games 2 and 4 especially?#The beginning of 5 #and the end of 6 #I mean... a little #you wouldn't know what happens in 6 if you read this #floweysky

30 notes · View notes