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majorsoapfan · 3 years

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Umbrella Academy Season 3 Wish list

This is a long one so buckle up:

Let Klaus and Allison take centre-stage this season in leading the plot. Both are incredible characters and deserve the chance to shine. And I can think of several reasons why they deserve the chance to take centre-stage: out of the whole Academy their powers are some of the most fascinating and in Klaus’ case he has so many that haven’t been revealed yet. They’ve both suffered and lost a lot as well, particularly in season 2 and their hardships tend to get ignored by others. Their relationship together is already really interesting and supportive and they would be an awesome team up. There’s more but I’ll be here forever if I tried to list them.

No Apocalypse. The world ending in eight days was a great plot driver in season 1 and again in season 2 with the reveal that the end of the world actually followed the Umbrella’s back in time. But if the same thing gets repeated over and over then I’m worried that the show will lose it’s edge as a result. In order for the characters to develop new crisis's need to take its place.

Let Five have a rest. Even if it’s just for an episode or two so he can get a solid eight hours sleep if nothing else. For the last two seasons Five has been running around non-stop trying to stop the end of the world and save his family. Without that Five can grow as a person and get a literal break that he really hasn’t gotten in 45 years.

Oh course that doesn’t mean I want Five out of the drama entirely and I do expect to see Reginald and Five scenes in season 3. Five is the only one of his original children that the bastard seemed to tolerate and he did seem to have some form of twisted respect for Five as well. And I wouldn’t put it past the monocle monster to have some twisted plans in store for the eldest member of the Umbrella Academy. He’s had fifty years to plan for the Umbrella’s return after all.

The Sparrows. I just saw the line up of the Sparrows for season three and I am honestly so interested. I can’t wait to see what their powers are like and I already have some ideas. They have so much potential and hopefully they’ll be done well. And so far they seem to be written as the Umbrella’s foils. Marcus is a natural leader who loves his family, while Luther forces himself into the role and alienated his family as a result. Both Ben and Diego long to be the leader but while Diego is more emotional, Ben’s more strategic. Five is driven by his love and desire to protect his family, while Sloane feels held back by hers. Vanya was treated as an outcast and betrayed her siblings trust while Christopher, a literal Cube, is said to be loyal and is treated as a loved family member

That being said though, I don’t want the Sparrows to be the main focus this season or have the attention split between them and the Umbrella’s. Because while I do want to see the Sparrows and their family dynamic and how they interact with the Umbrella’s, I would prefer to see how the Umbrella Hargreeves’ cope with their existent and how this impacts them and how they move forward with this. Or a team up between Sparrows and Umbrella’s would be fine. Or multiple team ups, I’m not picky.

There is a really good fan theory out there about Klaus and Five being twins and while I know that in the comics it’s Luther and Five, the fan theory in season 3 would be so much better in my opinion. And in all honesty it makes so much more sense. Physically they are strikingly similar, especially as children. Their powers both concentrate in their hands and emit a blue glow when they use them. Their powers themselves are literally time and death, which are linked and they have additive personalities, which can be inherited between family members. And I can’t help but feel that this moment:

lends a new level to their relationship then what we see with them as adults. Look at how alike they are! And that fond smile that Five is giving Klaus? Making them twins opens up a wide range of possibilities for Klaus and Five both character and plot wise.

Give Luther a proper love interest. And I can’t believe that this even has to be said but his sister does not count! Literally all of siblings have have romantic interests, all of them so important in the Umbrella’s life in some way or another. It would be nice too to see Luther form a healthy romantic connection for the first time in his life.

While I’m on the subject of Luther and healthy relationships, it also brings me back to the Sparrows and how their number one Marcus seems to be Luther’s foil. And it would be interesting for the show to explore just how seeing the Sparrows and someone so similar to Luther might just affect him. He did spend thirty years of his life after all being Reginald’s little solider and believing that his position as Number One made him the family leader only to find out it was all for nothing. Only Marcus seems to be respected in his position as leader and loves his family dearly, while Luther was mocked and seems to have driven all of his siblings bar Allison away from him because of it. This has incredible potential for Luther’s character arc this season especially if it makes him acknowledge his behaviour to his siblings as they were growing up; particularly to Klaus and Vanya who probably got the worst of it. Allison after all was his closest companion, Diego was his rival (more or less), Ben seemingly got on with everyone and Five would have bitten Luther’s head off if he tried anything. But Reginald’s disappointments Klaus and Vanya? Luther, wanting to impress their dad and follow his orders probably didn’t treat them the best. And I want Luther to admit that and apologise and make the next step in becoming a better person and brother. He’s made incredible progress in season 2, but I don’t want his past treatment of his siblings to be swept under the rug. It needs to be acknowledged and Luther needs to admit it was wrong so he can grow.

Can we get Diego’s season one hair back too? I wondered just how it got that long considering that he was only in the sixties for around three months. Klaus makes sense as he was in the sixties for years. Plenty of time for him to grow it out, not really for Diego. But I really prefer his season one hair so can it make a comeback please?

What I want to see for Vanya this season is for her to realize that she doesn’t need powers to be special. I kinda noticed that she seems to have defined her worth on her powers and that’s not healthy. So a potential scenario: Reginald seems to have made the power-suppressing drug himself, so he may still have it in season 3. Imagine Vanya getting a dose of it that knocks her powers out for a good chunk of time and in the meantime some of her siblings are in danger (I’m picturing Luther and Diego here the himbos) and she ends up saving them. Not with her powers but because of her intelligence and other skills that she has and she realizes that she doesn’t need her powers to be special or to save the day. A logical step in character growth.

Getting some closure on season 2 character like Sissy, Ray, Grace, the Cult (which I really didn’t like) and the Swede and what happened to them once the Umbrella’s left the sixties. And maybe finding out what happened to season one’s characters since the Umbrella’s didn’t exist in this timeline: Agnes, Patch, Leonard, Pogo, Claire.

For Klaus and Umbrella Ben to talk about their issues and make up. I know that our Ben is now up there with the little girl in the sky but that has not stopped Klaus from visiting heaven before. And I think that if Klaus and Ben do not get at least one final conversation to talk through their issues next season then I will sue. They both did crappy things to each other in season two but they both love each other dearly and they deserve the chance to get the closure they both need. I think that Klaus will definitely need it in order to move on completely.

I know I said no Apocalypse but I’m still going to be expecting some major crisis to happen during the last few episodes. An alien invasion or Sparrows trying to kill the Umbrella's maybe? But no matter what the problem is, I really want Klaus to get his moment to shine by being the one to save the day. Reginald said himself that Klaus has untapped potential and we know thanks to the comics what other powers he has. And thanks to Ben’s antics at the family dinner the old bastard has probably written him off as useless and not a threat when making plans to deal with the Umbrella’s. Which means nobody is going to be looking at Klaus or considering him a potential threat to their plans, leaving Klaus relatively safe to start exploring and enhancing his powers. He was supposed to be the one to have done it in season one with the moon and his abilities were brushed to the side completely in season two or used for Ben’s benefit so I think he’s long overdue his moment to shine. And maybe then will the rest of his siblings stop seeing Klaus as a joke.

Lila. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of her, her story felt unfinished and she does have a briefcase. She could pop at any moment in the story. She has so much potential and I did love her actress. Imagine her and Five forcing to team up or something? Or maybe her and Allison?

Another character I’d like to see return is Hazel. He’s someone who really grew on me. And there is a chance that he could return and maybe team up with the Umbrella’s this season. Potential scenarios: Five on the hunt for allies to help him restore the timeline hunts down Hazel who in this timeline is working with the Commission and because the Umbrellas don’t exist hasn’t met Agnes yet. Maybe something happened to her because of the Sparrows?

Finally Dave. I’m a huge Dave fan but I really don’t want him to show up in season three. Or if he does then for the smallest amount of time possible just to give Klaus some ‘closure’. Time travel is in the Umbrella Academy universe after all and it’s possible that by Klaus warning Dave about his faith and causing him to enlist earlier and in a different branch as a result he’s saved Dave and opened up the possibility of seeing Commission!Dave later. Which is the perfect storyline for season 4. Season three is only 10 episodes long and there’ll be a lot going on already so shoving Dave into what will already be a pretty packed season won’t give Dave the attention he deserves and will take away from the other focus. Not only that but Klaus’ motivation for the last two seasons is doing something for either Dave or Ben. I want to see Klaus train his powers either for himself or to help someone else. Also, Dave deserves the chance to grow as a character as well and making him a part of season 3 would take away from the main focus of the Umbrella’s and Sparrows. Making him a main focus in season four instead if we get one will give a great opportunity story-wise to develop both him and Klaus as individuals and as a couple.

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mediaevalmusereads · 3 years

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Bringing Down the Duke. By Evie Dunmore. New York: Berkley, 2019.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, A League of Extraordinary Women #1

Summary: England, 1879. Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women's suffrage movement. Her charge: recruit men of influence to champion their cause. Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain's politics at the Queen's command. Her challenge: not to give in to the powerful attraction she can't deny for the man who opposes everything she stands for. Sebastian is appalled to find a suffragist squad has infiltrated his ducal home, but the real threat is his impossible feelings for green-eyed beauty Annabelle. He is looking for a wife of equal standing to secure the legacy he has worked so hard to rebuild, not an outspoken commoner who could never be his duchess. But he wouldn't be the greatest strategist of the Kingdom if he couldn't claim this alluring bluestocking without the promise of a ring...or could he? Locked in a battle with rising passion and a will matching her own, Annabelle will learn just what it takes to topple a duke...

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: graphic sexual content, sexism/misogyny, attempted sexual assault

Overview: I learned about this book while searching around for romances in the vein of The Suffragette Scandal. Overall, I found Bringing Down the Duke fairly fun; it features a badass heroine, a hero who doesn’t give off violent alpha male vibes, and a plot that addresses real issues like class and gender equality. I only give this book 3 stars, however, because I think the plot could have been organized better, and I think the romance gets a little frustrating after about the halfway point. Still, if you’re just starting to read romance and aren’t sure about what level of physical intimacy you’re willing to tolerate, this book might be a good starter.

Writing: Dunmore’s prose is fairly laid-back and easy to understand, so if you’re looking for a light read, this book might fit the bill for you.

I do think, however, that Dunmore could have crafted her narrative and used her prose to reinforce the theme of independence vs safety. While this theme comes up a number of times, I always felt it was an afterthought because so many things were happening in the book, and I would have liked to see Dunmore pull back and really make the whole narrative (and use language, metaphor, etc) about this conflict.

Plot: The non-romance plot of this book follows Annabelle - a bluestocking who is given a full scholarship to Oxford on the condition that she support the suffragette movement. She is allowed to go on the condition that she send her cousin 2 pounds per month to pay for a housekeeper (which he will be lacking if Annabelle goes away), and as she tries to balance school, work, and activism, she is tasked with “infiltrating” the Duke of Montgomery’s home in hopes of winning him to the suffragette cause. Of course, shenanigans ensue from there.

What I really enjoyed about this plot was the ambition. I liked reading about the class and gender barriers that Annabelle had to navigate, and I liked that her political ambitions were at odds with the Duke’s personal ones. However, such a wide range of conflicts meant that not all plot threads were explored to the degree I would have liked. It seemed like characters were pulled in a lot of different directions, and that these non-romance plots took a backseat when it was least appropriate. The Duke’s New Year’s Eve party, for example, is supposed to be this big political move for the Duke to show his commitment to the Queen and the Tories, but we never see him put things in place or pull some social strings to line everything up, and we never see the party used as a crisis point in the political plot. Instead, it passes in the space of only a few pages and is mainly used as an opportunity for Annabelle and the Duke to become intimate. I would have instead liked to see it be this moment where the plot as a whole takes a turn: maybe everything is going well until the Duke realizes his feelings for Annabelle as well as the actions of his younger brother throw the whole party (and his political ambitions) into jeopardy. In short, I felt like events could have been moved around to make them more narratively impactful, rather than everything happening at a somewhat leisurely and meandering pace.

On a related note, I didn’t feel like the plot as a whole had many elements of suspense, nor did they really build on each other. As a result, the plot seemed to lack shape; there wasn’t really a rising action, and I was never sure what characters were going to do next (which was frustrating, rather than exciting). I think this could have been improved if we had seen Annabelle take a more active role in trying to manipulate the Duke. As the book stands, Annabelle seems to simply inhabit the Duke’s house and “wins” him over by being defiant. I think I would have liked to see her try more purposeful techniques, like going through his things to try to get information on him, having more political or philosophical conversations, etc. Something to drive the suffragette narrative forward and perhaps set up a moment when Annabelle has to reveal that she’s been trying to spy on him or something.

Characters: Annabelle, our heroine, is a fun character to follow. She’s smart, hardworking, and generous with regards to her friends. I liked that she wasn’t presented as this superwoman who could do everything, but was doing her best to balance all the demands made on her. While I think all of Annabelle’s actions were believable and she was a fairly complex character, I also think Dunmore was trying to do too much with her. Not only is Annabelle trying to balance her studies and her activism while struggling with poverty, but she also has a secret from her past which must be dealt with. Personally, I found it all a little much. I think Annabelle’s past and her financial obligations to her cousin could have been cut, placing more emphasis on the pressures of staying in school or becoming destitute. The conflict for her, then, would be something like the risks that come with being an independent woman, and how her entanglement with the Duke raises new risks.

Sebastian, our hero, in interesting in that he is stoic and single-minded without being a huge jerk. He’s completely obsessed with winning back his family’s estate, and he lets that obsession compromise his political and moral beliefs (though not to the point where he’s openly hostile towards women or anything like that - more like he’s willing to support the Tory party because he has been promised the return of his estate if they win the election). I liked that much of his personal growth had to do with deciding what it was he valued more: his family’s reputation or his personal happiness and being on the right side of history.

Supporting characters were fun and enriched the narrative. Annabelle’s suffragette friends were a lovely support system, and I adored the moments when they rallied to help Annabelle in moments of trouble. Sebastian’s brother, Peregrine, was a nice foil to the Duke and I liked that he was irresponsible and impulsive without being a total rake. Jenkins, Annabelle’s professor, was also an interesting character to have in the mix, especially when he became more involved in creating points of tension towards the end, and I liked that he was bookish and eccentric without being cold and self-important.

Romance: Annabelle and Sebastian’s romance is... ok. There were things about it I liked, and things I found frustrating. I really liked their banter and that they were intellectual matches for each other. I also liked that the barrier to them being together was rooted in class and the conflict between personal desire and family obligation. I also appreciated that the romance seemed to build naturally; while physical attraction was present, it wasn’t like Sebastian saw her and popped a boner and that’s what set everything off. Their relationship developed slower and I found it much more believable than some other romances.

What I didn’t like, however, was that after about the book’s halfway point, the relationship seemed to plateau and it became a matter of Annabelle and Sebastian splitting up, chancing upon each other in public, feelings erupt, then they do something intimate and split up again. I would have much rather have had something like a clean break at the 3/4 mark in the book: the two realize they can’t be together in the way they want, so Annabelle leaves and focuses on her activism/studies. During that time, things happen that challenge Sebastian’s commitment to his family legacy, but he doesn’t go seek Annabelle out. Maybe Annabelle instead gets an offer that would make her more financially stable (or more secure in her place at Oxford), so then she can go back to Sebastian, etc etc (I’m thinking about how the class barrier is handled in Jane Eyre here, if you can’t tell). It would have gotten rid of the annoying miscommunication incident towards the end, and instead would have forced some more meaningful development and not a “will they or won’t they” string of events.

TL;DR: Bringing Down the Duke is a bit of a narrative mess, but nevertheless fun and entertaining. With likeable characters, a believable romance, and meaningful themes, I would recommend this book for those just starting out in romance or to those who want romances written with contemporary readers (and sensibilities) in mind.

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kingbennyboyyy · 3 years

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benny’s RWBY rewrite: team JNPR

it’s time for part 2 of my character ramblings, and this time i’ll be focusing on team JNPR! while i’ll be going into individual characterization and themes for these characters, my main goal is to analyze their uses are narrative foils for team RWBY. one of my main critiques of the show as-is is that there’s too many main characters, so i’ve opted to delegate team JNPR to side character status. this is nothing against them, this is purely a structural decision. with the preamble out of the way, let’s get to team JNPR!

jaune arc:

- ah yes, vomit boy. i’ll admit, my personal opinion of jaune isn’t the best: i thought he took up way too much time in the first few volumes of the show, time that should have been spent telling the viewer about the rules and power systems that exist in the world. despite this, i think jaune as a character has the potential to do a lot for the main cast. as a character in his own right, he’s defined by his bold nature, contrasted with his deep emotional concern for the people around him. i think that his issues with cardin can stay (so long as cardin is less of a cartoon bully and more of an actual issue), and i think that somebody else should have issues with cardin: weiss.

- i think that the contrast jaune and weiss have is part of the reason a romance was originally written between the two. they have very stark similarities and differences: both of them care extremely deeply about their family names and expectations, and act somewhat carelessly to keep up appearances. jaune cheating his way into beacon, and weiss’ spoiled princess routine, are both direct results of them taking their expectations very seriously. i think that cardin should be the key to both of these characters thinking more critically about what their family names mean to them. for weiss, it could be cardin expecting weiss to be in on some kind of malicious prank against velvet, or even blake after defending velvet. for jaune, it could be cardin insulting jaune’s living up to his family name, or even (and this is mostly me being dramatic) breaking his family heirloom after insulting its effectiveness as a weapon. dealing with cardin should bring these two characters together despite their initial difficulties in getting along. both of them should have to think critically about what their families represent, and if they even want to live up to those expectations.

nora valkyrie:

- now i like nora a lot. i think she fills in the position of “traumatized happy-go-lucky tank” very well, almost better than yang does. she and yang are a bit too similar for me to feel comfortable pairing them up, though. nora’s later development is what intrigues me most: having grown up with ren for a majority of her life, and having had to keep the trauma of losing her hometown and her family to herself by masking it with overwhelming joy and energy, she holds a lot of conflicting feelings and emotions. as much as she comes to resent it, the role of the ditz that smacks things with a hammer is a role that has its benefits. this masking of true emotions with a wall of a conflicting one is something i’ve described in another character: blake.

- as different as these two characters appear to be, they do have a lot in common. both blake and nora have expressed concerns with being defined by the people they surround themselves with. i am in no way at all trying to say that ren and adam are similar characters or people, but i am saying that they debatably play similar roles for nora and blake. for nora, ren is her rock, the person who keeps her grounded, and the person she’s had to change and mask aspects of herself to appease. adam, although much more abusive and violent, forced blake to do similar things: to mask her emotions, do what was expected of her, and to give and give until all that was left was a tool. for both of these characters, learning to be more authentic without fear of hurting the people around them is key.

pyrrha nikos:

- i fucking love pyrrha. the fact that we only had her for two volumes is a crying shame, because i think that her place in the story is really important. it’s easy to forget that past the fantasy high school backdrop, these are children training to become killing machines, who will almost certainly die in battle. pyrrha has embraced this expectation: she’s one of the most competent fighters in her age group, has essentially a cult following, and has somehow gotten through that being pretty well-adjusted. however, the burden of excellence has made it impossible for her to make decisions for herself, for fear of letting down the people who have placed her on a pedestal. this fear is a pretty stark contrast to another character: ruby.

- ruby and pyrrha should have been much closer in the original story. it would have made her death hit ruby a lot harder, but i also think that these two working together makes total sense. pyrrha is the ideal that ruby is striving for in her huntress training, and the two having a mentoring friendship would be really nice. as much of a good fighter as ruby is, she has room to improve in the leadership department, and learning from pyrrha would be great for her. in addition, she and pyrrha have opposite issues: ruby knows what she wants to be, but not what she has to be, and pyrrha knows what she has to be, but not what she wants to be. where ruby’s naivety and optimism drives her to make decisions based on her personal ideals, pyrrha’s comparative maturity makes these decisions much harder. ruby would not sacrifice herself to become the maiden in the same way pyrrha did. i think that pyrrha’s death should be a lesson for ruby: a lesson in sacrifice. it should remove the rosy tint from her gaze, and show her that being a huntress isn’t just about fighting monsters and saving lives- it’s also about giving up your own.

lie ren:

- finally, it’s ya boy. ren is a really interesting character, especially when contrasted with nora. he and nora went through the same trauma, but he came out the other end much different. ren’s semblance is literally masking emotions, and he’s come to do this extremely well. while he’s more recently exhibited a propensity for exploding, for the most part, he’d much rather sit and broil in his angst and anger than let it be readily seen. similarly to blake and nora, he’s the opposite side of the emotional coin to our final main character: yang.

- these two have very different demeanors: one of them is calm, cool, and collected, opting to simply tolerate things that bother him. the other one is almost exclusively at 11, wearing her emotions on her sleeve at all times. however, these exaggerated displays of emotion both serve the same purpose: to mask their suffering. where ren sits in his emotions, slowly and methodically boiling off feelings that are inconvenient, yang is the kind of person to pour gasoline over her feelings and throw a match onto the pile. make no mistake, these two characters are 100% prone to lashing out, and both of them often lack the ability to see how their explosions harm the people around them. ren and yang, at the beginning, shouldn’t get along. ren should see yang’s emotional nature as a distraction from more important matters, and yang should see ren as a doormat, perfectly willing to be walked all over. however, something should unite them (their loved ones being endangered, perhaps), and allow them to see how similar they are. maybe they’re surrounded by grimm, yang’s semblance has accidentally activated, and her holding onto ren is burning him. ren and yang talk about emotions, how deeply they both feel them, and where ren comes away learning to emote more freely, yang comes away learning to be more cognizant of what her anger does to people. these are both deeply emotional people, but they need to learn that being completely unhinged or completely repressed are far from perfect.

with that out of the way, i hope you’ve enjoyed my thoughts! they’ve gotten a bit more jumbled as time went on, but i really think that team JNPR’s role in characterizing the main 4 is a really important one. as for what happens after the fall of beacon, i think that they should go their separate ways, ren, nora, and jaune splitting up to contend with the death of pyrrha. this mirrors the split of team RWBY, where yang goes home to recover from her injury, ruby, no longer accompanied by team JNR, goes off on her own to try and stop cinder’s forces, weiss is taken home by her family to contend with its newly-illuminated legacy, and blake ventures off to put a stop to adam. i think they should reunite at the end of the volume, after a bit of emotional work is done. but that’s a discussion for another post.

#benny's RWBY rewrite #RWBY #pyrrha nikos #jaune arc #nora valkyrie #lie ren #characters

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residentlesbrarian · 3 years

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Fandom and Fanfiction Galore

Ship It by Britta Lundin

Aaaaaalrighty...so this was written almost 3 years ago hot out of ClexaCon 2018 and it is...an interesting one. I had and still very much have feelings about this book. Would I write my thoughts the exact same way today as I did back then...probably not! So enjoy this bit of a pre-pandemic pre-a-whole-bunch-of-other-personal-stuff-y’all-don’t-need-to-know-about me talking about a book I still don’t really know how I feel about! Enjoy!

This was another book I found because of the Queering YA panel at ClexaCon 2018. Being able to talk to Britta at the booth after the panel was awesome, because you could tell talking with her that she was a true fan. She knew what being surrounded by fandom was like and it made me pretty excited to read the book.

Unicorn Rating:

Blurb: Living in the environment of fandom can be an insane experience in both good and bad ways. This book delivered a unique experience and look into fandom culture that was surreal to read about outside of fanfiction and tumblr.

Disclaimer: I will try my best to not spoil anything from the book, but my book loving rambles may give more away than a traditional review. Here we go! Ramble time!

Review:

I would say overall this book felt a little weird for me. I didn’t absolutely love it but I also didn’t particularly dislike it. It fell in a very ‘meh’ place for me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have good things to say about it, they are just slightly confusing things.

The plot was actually one of the things I liked the most about it. Even though it was a crazy unrealistic plot, it helped capture the absolute lunacy of being a member of fandom culture perfectly. Sometimes being a fan is a simple life of surfing Tumblr and liking posts but sometimes the craziest things happen and change your life forever. In this case the reader is swept up in this craziness with Claire and the unrealistic aspect of it all made it feel more realistic as counterintuitive as that sounds. That is what the fandom experience can feel like at times, everything makes so little sense it actually circles back around to making sense, but enough about that...time for some character rambles.

Now we have two perspectives explored in this book. That of Claire, the fangirl, and Forest, the actor who has never had to deal with fangirls before. Let’s start with Claire. I am of two minds on her. Part of me really doesn’t like her, mostly because she is a person that in real life I probably wouldn’t spend time around and, as I’ve stated in a previous review, I have a hard time separating myself from characters and remembering that they are only teenagers. Multiple times I actually physically facepalmed, while reading a hardback book! That isn’t easy to do, but I did it, because she was doing things that just seemed so illogical from my perspective. But I am an adult, so of course I have a completely different perspective than a teen who is away from home and feeling a little out of control for a plethora of reasons. Now the other part of me really liked her, strangely enough for those exact same reasons, she was so real that I went full ‘Mom’ mode and wanted to sit her down and have a talk about what she was going through before she did something she was going to regret. Even if I found the character to be unlikeable the fact I was still on her side and wanted to help her really shows the depth that was written into her.

Now moving on to Forest. Oh, Forest. He was a character that I was very intrigued by at first because his was a perspective I, as a fangirl myself, had never seen in a book before, but damn if he didn’t make it so hard to like him. Some of the things he said and did made me want to throttle him. I could excuse some of the stuff Clarie did because of her age and the craziness of everything going on around her, but Forest is an adult and should know better. He would improve and his actions would start to win me over, but then he would overreact to something and make me want to put on my throttlin’ gloves again. I felt like that Tyra Banks ‘I was rooting for you!’ reaction gif while I was reading this multiple times. Again, though, there were parts that I was glad Forest called Claire out on her actions when it was called for, but overall they both needed an intervention to have them sit down and just chill for five seconds.

I actually genuinely liked a majority of the side characters in this as well. I actually have less of the weird mental confusion when it comes to the side characters. Rico was cute and great around the fans. Jamie was a total asshat but he was written to be that way to foil Claire in her mission to make ‘Smokeheart’ cannon. One of my favorite scenes in the whole book was actually between Claire and the social media consultant, whose name I totally remember and am just choosing not to put in because I think that’ll be all avant garde...okay fine I forgot her name and I am not digging the book out to find it. Anyway...I can’t really go into detail about the scene because, you know, spoilers but it was so well done in the context of the story.

Now for the last big character I want to speak on, the love interest, Tess. Now I really liked Tess and even understood how she wanted to keep her nerdy hobbies a secret from her small town friends. I was lucky that I grew up in a family and a circle of friends that let me embrace my passions no matter how off-the-wall they may seem to others. Tess obviously didn’t have that kind of support but she was still so passionate just privately. I will say though, ironically given the title of the book, I don’t ship it. Tess and Claire definitely share an instant attraction and the chemistry is there but they have so much growing to do before they are anywhere close to having an actual healthy functional relationship. Maybe if we saw more of them it would feel more compelling but it just wasn’t for me.

So my final thoughts on this book are just...a little discombobulated. Part of me was really happy to read a book that portrayed a part of my life that is so hard to put into words at times. I have never been a rabid fangirl, but after Lexa’s death I had to try and explain my utter devastation to people who just didn’t understand why a fictional character mattered to me so much. This book captures at least a layer of the fandom experience in a way that I’ve never seen before. The problem I have in the end though is how problematic everything that happens was, and then the ending just felt so sudden. We didn’t see any of the characters address their issues on the page. I hope this review made some coherent sense, because this book still doesn’t really make sense even in my brain, but I need to wrap this up now.

Queer Wrap-up: Okay, so, for our rep we have a questioning main character who definitely has some queer tendencies, but overall her realizing her feelings took such a back seat to her mission to make a fictional ship cannon on a show that was already filmed it took away from the rep as a whole. It just felt like the focus was so split that the actual rep gets lost in the pages. There is no argument by the end of the book that Claire is queer, which earns the three unicorns on that alone, but some of the tropes that played parts in the book were just so cringey that I couldn’t rationalize giving it more than that. Even with a couple side characters who were revealed to also be queer they weren’t enough to cover for the less stellar parts of this book.

Links:

Britta Lundin’s Website

TheStorygraph

Amazon

Okay, so if you couldn’t tell by that train wreck of a review this book just confused me. It kept me just interested enough to pick it back up after I’d put it down, but also wasn’t that bad. It lives in a weird oxymoronic vortex in my brain that honestly gives me a headache if I focus on it too much. There were aspects of this book that I did genuinely like but it all gets swirled together with the parts that made me put it down and need to take a break. If any of you want to discuss those more spoiler-filled aspects please send an ask and I’ll welcome you into the cyclical nature of whatever this book is doing in my brain. And as always if you want to read this but don’t want to spend the money without knowing for sure you are going to like it, go to your local library. You’d be surprised what they have on their shelves just waiting to be discovered. Trust me, I’m a lesbrarian.

#ship it #britta lundin #queer girl #ya fiction #resident lesbrarian #this whole thing is a bit of a time capsule #i wrote this soooo long ago #man weird #still agree with it though

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yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy · 3 years

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Chapters: 12/? Fandom: Incredibles (Pixar Movies) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Violet Parr/Buddy "Syndrome" Pine, Violet Parr/Original Male Character(s), Invisigirl - Relationship Characters: Violet Parr, Invisigirl - Character, Little Miss Disappear, Buddy Pine, Buddy "Syndrome" Pine, Bartholomew Pine, Original Male Character, Original Male Superhero Character Additional Tags: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Corporate Espionage, Modern AU, Spy Invisigirl, Smut, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Aged up characters, Still, A bit of an age difference, Safe Sane and Consensual, Love Triangle, Assets & Handlers Summary:

Ten years after the events in the movies yet in a modern setting. Violet Parr as Invisigirl, has since disappeared from the public eye several years ago. She became a protégé to none other than Mirage and has had an incredibly successful career still working for The Agency but working as a spy and agent behind the scenes and foiled more Villains without anyone but The Agency ever knowing that she was the one who foiled them. However Superhero Work has it's price- mentally, emotionally and most of all physically and now Invisigirl has to come out of the shadows and work one last job as a public handler for an aristobrat, genius, billionaire, playboy- Mr. Phillip Sebastian who has his own tricks and agenda and requests Invisigirl specifically. Which in turn- put's her back on the radar and put's her under an iron clad contract with not just The Agency but with Mr. Sebastian. And it's this one last job that will be the answer to all of Violet Parr's problems. After this, she can disappear for good and never, ever, be found again. It's a three year contract and she is already a year in and everything is going perfectly. Until- Buddy Pine decides to try his hand at corporate espionage. His target? Phillip Sebastian.

And just in case you don’t want to click the link- I’ll have a read more.

Why So Jaded?

Chapter 12

"What did you sign?" Violet demanded of her brother, trying to keep her rage in check as she prayed her brother wouldn't be stupid enough to sign anything without having at least one lawyer.

"I didn't sign anything." Dash reassured her before she blew out a breath of relief.

"I have a healthy enough fear of you Ms. Parr to know that if I would even entertain the possibility of hiring any relation of yours that I would have several lawyers involved." Phillip offered with a charming smile as Violet smiled politely in return but she was ready to roast Phillip on an open spit for even entertaining the idea of hiring Dash as Violet simply crossed her arms over her chest and popped her hip. She had to get Dash out of this building before he did something everyone would regret. She would never forgive herself if something ever happened to Dash and that burden would be too much even for her to carry. She needed to get Dash out of this building and away from Phillip before Dash came to any more harm. Because Dash probably had at least one suicide seed planted in his head, who knew how many others Phillip had already planted there with just him being in this office.

"A private word Mr. Sebastian." Violet urged, she needed to intervene. She would pull the overbearing, controlling bitch card if she had to if it meant her brother could walk free.

"Oh come on, give me a chance before you shoot me down Vi." Dash argued.

"Mr. Parr had quite the convincing argument as to why I should hire him along with Mr. Traeger." Phillip explained.

"Then I have a counter argument which you should find even more convincing." Violet insisted. She hated to do it but she needed to make Dash out as the worst possible candidate for Phillip. It would be like opening up old wounds between herself and Dash and rubbing new salt in them but it would save his life and make sure that he in turn would be alive to at least watch his own children grow up. She didn't care how she would come across or who would hate her for this, it was for his own good.

"Come on Vi." Dash pleaded.

"Dash, this is your one opportunity to get up and walk out of this here and now. This is not the time or the place for you." Violet insisted as she gave him her own pleading look while doing her best to keep in control of her emotions, praying that Dash wasn't going to push this because she knew he was too stubborn yet alone, mentally weak enough to fight against anything Phillip was pumping into his head, she needed to fix this before it became a catastrophe. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to Dash because of her, the blood of other Supers was already a torment to her conscience. She couldn't have Dash's too.

"Well in the spirit of fairness, please, enlighten me as to why Mr. Parr wouldn't be a good fit. But don't do him the disservice of saying it behind his back." Phillip offered and Violet was never more furious for being pitted against her own brother especially by Phillip but if Phillip wanted an entertaining show, she was going to give it to him if it meant that Dash could walk away from this. She could deal with Dash being pissed at her for "ruining" his chances. But if she had to worry about not only keeping her own head and her own wits, she couldn't handle juggling Dash's too.

"First off, what exactly do you want to hire Mr. Parr for?" Violet asked, hoping that by some miracle, that it wouldn't be that bad. Maybe he wanted Dash as a PR man? Maybe?

"As an associate handler." Phillip answered and Violet was ready to curse, scream and cry because of course Phillip would want to keep his leverage against her as close to himself as possible.

"Does Mr. Parr have any handler experience?" Violet asked as she looked from Phillip to Dash pointedly.

"I handle myself just fine." Dash answered and Violet snorted a laugh as she pretended to pat her hips down.

"Are you missing something Ms. Parr?" Philip posed.

"Yes, Mr. Parr's microphone because he's obviously trying to do some stand up comedy." Violet answered as Leo snorted a laugh in turn as he simply sat in the chair and looked over at Violet fondly. Violet was always a special treat to be in the presence of, no matter the circumstances around their meetings.

"Mr. Parr, you have never, in your life, handled yourself well." Violet answered dismissively.

"How can you say that?" Dash demanded before Violet came over and perched herself on the corner of Phillip's desk between Phillip and her brother because there was no other chair for her to sit at at the desk and she didn't want to sit in Phillip's lap or actually bring another chair over from where the living room space of his office was.

"Mr. Parr, if you are even going to apply for that kind of position, for not only a fortune 500 company but for an asset worth billions who in all respects is a very high value asset, you need to have a minimum of 2-5 years experience of being a handler for other high value assets and handling yourself doesn't count you also need to have at least three to five, preferably seven, very glowing letters of recommendation and be vetted by at least two to four, maybe five individual, independent and completely objective guarantors. Do you even know how to spell guarantors?" Violet put to Dash.

"G-u-a…." Dash tried to think.

"And have a body count of at least 10." Violet interrupted.

"Oh I got that in the bag." Dash scoffed.

"Really? You've killed more than 10 people in cold blood and buried all evidence that you were the one to kill them?" Violet asked and watched as Dash's face fell as he realized that she was asking for that kind of body count, a kill count. Not a "body count" as in had sex with at least ten people.

"Mr. Sebastian, go on The Agency's data base and inform Mr. Parr what my body count is." Violet invited as she scooted back onto the desk to sit more comfortably.

"I don't know if.." Phillip began as Leo simply raised his eyebrows and bit his lips to keep his face from splitting in half from a smile because he could sense this was about to get really ugly in the most entertaining way.

"Do it." Violet ordered as Phillip nodded and did as she asked.

"You have 3,744 confirmed kills and another 2,317 additional assumed kills," Phillip read off as both Leo and Dash's eyes got wide.

"So, Dash, what's your body count?" Violet repeated.

"Uh, well, we did kill like a dozen henchman when we stormed Syndrome's…" Dash began.

"No, you tipped off their flying hovercrafts so they could run into each other, how many people have you either shot, dismembered, strangled, poisoned, bombed, or just outright slaughtered?" Violet asked.

"Well how many have you…?" Dash asked.

"7,834." Violet answered.

"Damn." Leopold coughed like he got shot in the gut.

"And over a thousand of those were mid coitus." Violet grinned triumphantly.

"Fuck." Leo coughed again before he got his glass of water and drank it like it was whiskey, he knew Violet was lethal and one of the more dangerous Supers at The Agency, but that would put her in a league all her own as Violet seemed to appear a whole lot more sexier than she ever was in his eyes, no wonder Phillip adored her, he could see why, she was all femme fatal.

"You've killed, over a thousand guys, while their dicks were.." Dash paled.

"845 men, the remaining 347 were women." Violet smiled like 'fuck you' was written on her teeth as Dash looked downright scandalized as Leo couldn't help but whistle lowly and mutter a 'wow' under his breath.

"But moving on from the body count. Dash, you don't fucking listen. You don't listen to anyone about anything, you don't listen to your own handler or your own manager or your own coaches for crying out loud or anyone else in any position of authority. If I tell you to duck, you ask why and argue with me along with everyone else. Your immediate and unquestioning obedience to orders given, no matter who gives them, means your life in this business. Even when you don't agree with it or don't see the sense in it at the time. You had a hard enough time being obedient to Dad, let alone Mom. And your sexist bullshit has no place here because you don't listen to women especially even when those women have earned that place of authority to tell you what to do. Not to mention you're a selfish, self absorbed asshole whose ego can practically touch the moon and you need a measure of humility in this job, of which you have none. You don't know how to walk into a room and not immediately want to be in the center of attention in it." Violet leveled and even Leo had to agree with her very valid points because Violet knew what she was talking about.

"Dash, you are a great Super and an awesome hero and you know exactly how to play to the media to make yourself the star of the show because you have a ton of charm and charisma, which you get honestly from Dad. But it's because you are those things that disqualify you from this kind of position. Because in this job, you're not the star, you're not even supposed to be on the damn camera or even in the shot. You are offscreen supporting cast only and an asterisk in the credits. You don't get any limelight and when you do, it better be pointing it Mr. Sebastian because since he's the asset, he's the star of the show, he's the focus, he's the target, he's the focal point. And if you detract from that, you're not doing your job correctly. Also if you're working for Mr. Sebastian, that means that your life as White Lightning, not to mention Dash Parr the Olympian, gets put on hold and on the last back burner. Because you'll be working as yourself which means that White Lightning has to be completely separate from this. Which means you won't be able to do any stunts or any press or any media work for yourself. Which means your own popularity will wane and the focus at The Agency will focus away from you and find someone new to push onto the masses. Someone younger, prettier, bigger and better, faster and stronger. New Supers are found and practically made- every day and that eventuality is the given, it's the rule and the expectation which is why I never bought into it. Which means, that your time in the spotlight, your own fifteen minutes of fame- should you take this position, will be over. And when you're done being in this kind of position, mounting a comeback- isn't going to happen with any measure of success, because you will just be a has been and old news and a passing fling for all your adoring fans. Also your training as an Olympian will also wane and fade. Which means you won't be an athlete anymore. At least one that won't and can't compete professionally. Which means your "real life" persona, will also fade. What brand wants to sponsor a has been? Old news? Your ego already can't handle your rival's popularity if it overshadows yours, you'll implode on your own downward spiral and fall from grace and your current media darling status." Violet warned, hoping and praying that Dash was listening to a word of this because she was pulling out every stop she could think of to make him see sense and make him see that this would not serve him well in the long run and knew that Dash held his own fame near and dear to his heart and if anything was going to snap him out of the spell Phillip put him under, this should be it.

"Also, loose lips sink ships. And you can't keep a secret to save your life. For someone as selfish as you are, your own sense of self preservation is next to zero because you can't help but reveal your own secret or super identity because there's no difference between the two. I'll give you a fairly recent example. How much money, would it take for me to offer Bianca, the Victoria Secret model who you spent your weekend with to find out how many times you showed her your 'human vibrator' trick? A hundred dollars? A thousand dollars? Ten thousand maybe? You do it with almost every girl you sleep with. And it's the reason you can't keep a condom on that pecker of yours because you literally burn through them because you're a show-off. Because whoever you are fucking, her adoration and her being in a state of impressed is always like a drug to you because you're addicted to always being the best, no matter what you're doing. Because the only reason that Ashley and Amy get as much child support from you is because half of it is practically hush money which they abide by because you're a cash cow for them, and as long as they keep their mouths shut, they get to live comfortably and raise your kids in your absence because you can't be bothered to actually raise them half the time because if word got out that the reason you're the fastest man alive and the reason you're always a gold medal Olympian is because you're a Super, imagine the fallout. Every girl that you fuck, can put it together that you're really White Lightning. And everything will get taken away once that barely held secret comes out and then all your popularity, all your sponsorships and endorsements on both sides, both for Dash Parr and White Lightning will be taken away and you'll go from most popular to most hated overnight because you're a cheater in every sense, you cheated on your high school sweetheart with your first college crush for crying out loud and your two sons by two different women are only six months apart. Do you really think that speaks of your character in any kind of good light?” Violet posed.

“Mr. Sebastian has enemies in both high and low places. Enemies that pay more money than you can comprehend to find any cracks or kinks in his armor. I would give it, maybe 12 hours at the soonest, 72 at the very latest, that the moment you are even rumored to be involved with Mr. Sebastian that every deep dark secret you possess would be offered up to them on a silver platter by all their moles and hunters and then that very dirt is used against Mr. Sebastian and yourself or because you're a greedy, selfish, two timing, cheating motherfucker, who is to say you won't go to them yourself? And not only tell all your own secrets but tell on mine, or tell on Mom or Dad or tell on everyone you know or you're associated with, let alone Mr. Sebastian's? And you'd do it for one thing, money. Because you blow money faster than you spend it and you're drowning in debt and yet the moment you make a hundred bucks, you're spending a hundred and fifty? You've fired every money manager I've gotten you because they told you things that you didn't want to hear like 'stop buying everything in sight'. Do you really think that I, let alone Mr. Sebastian of all people are going to bend over backwards to protect you when all you are to us is a liability, when you can't even perform the fucking job in the first place?! You are in way over your head and you have no business in this business." Violet plainly and yet strangely, honestly appraised and didn't know if it was Phillip urging her to be honest or her own will to finally let all this air out because she had been stamping all this down since she came back.

"And the word on the street may be that I'm a hateful, mean, domineering and controlling bitch. But you know what? I perform my job with a margin of error that is in the fractions of a single percent and I have earned every single person's loyalty and respect on my team to the point we take bullets for each other all the time on the regular. I not only have to deal with ransom situations and assassination attempts but also deal with corporate espionage that makes just regular governmental espionage look like child's play and you wouldn't even know what any of that looks like because you'd again, hand over everything for a pretty face with a smile and short tight skirt." Violet accused evenly as Dash simply sat there and pouted like a child being told no while Leo sat there as realization hit him over the head how much sense she was making because while Dash was his bro. Violet was speaking nothing but truth and if Leo really had to be in this job himself, he didn't know if he'd be willing to have Dash's back when Dash was so clearly ill equipped to have his.

"And I can see it written all over your face because you have a shit poker face, that I'm just being mean right? I'm just out to ruin everything for you? That this is a personal attack on you and I've taken this all too far? Well I got news for you. I'm literally just being honest. I'm not a bossy bitch, I am the big boss bitch. I have dozens of others coming to me for mentorship and advice on how to do this job the right way and the most successfully viable way because I've been there and done that with everything that can happen. Because I have set the precedent and the standard. And it is the gold standard in this industry for very good and valid reasons. All that money that I make that you're so jealous of, because all this really is to you- is about the fucking money and nothing else. Guess what, I've earned and payed for every cent of it with my own blood and every drop of my enemies blood as well because Mr. Sebastian's enemies which in turn are my own by principle alone. Because that's what a shield does. And while on paper I'm a handler, what I really am is a shield and a deterrent and every other Super in my position, is a shield for their assets in turn and the reason Mr. Sebastian is safe is because who is left of his enemies knows that they can not strike at him without me giving a counter strike and when I strike, I hit hard and they stay down and they never get back up. I'm a hunter and I always hunt to kill and I'm always successful because my life depends on it and my life is spent serving others and I am perfectly happy and content with that and that’s your problem, you’re never happy or content with anything. And that's what's the biggest disqualifier for you, you only know how to serve yourself. You don't know how to best serve others because you've never cared enough to learn how to do it. And the reason all of this has worked so well is because I hold myself to a standard of perfection that you can't even dream of holding yourself to. I operate with surgical precision because I have to because not only does my life hang in the balance, but so does my asset, and his family and everyone he cares about and everyone who depends on him works for SEB and all of Mr. Sebastian's companies depend on me to protect the man who signs their checks and gives them their means of living along with every single person on my team and all of their families and loved ones, not to mention my own." Violet specified.

"Tell me Dash, how many back up plans do you have? If a swat team decides to storm this building, which has actually happened more times than I can count, and if they decide to blow out these windows again and open fire from a helicopter that is hovering just outside this office- right this second. What would you do? How do you protect yourself? Are you even carrying a gun or any kind of weapon or is your plan always to just 'duck' and use your powers to move faster than the bullets themselves? Do you protect yourself or do you protect Mr. Sebastian first? How do you counter attack? How do you get to safe spaces? Where are the safe spaces even located? And what happens when you get shot dead? What plans do you have in place for Dash Jr and Dillon and Ashley and Amy? So they don't raise those boys all on their own or are you going to leave it to chance and the universe to take care of them when you're not around to? Do you just get to hope and pray that whoever will marry those girls will treat their future step sons ok? Or will they be the proverbial redheaded step children who get left out in the cold? Do you even have life insurance? Who gets to bury you? And where do you want your body to be laid to rest? What kind of funeral do you want to have? You're a 'take it as it comes, I'll figure it out when I get to it' kind of person. You can not be that kind of person in this job, you need to not only have your day planned out, your week, your month, your year. But you also need to have plans, structure, protocols and contingencies in place for whatever happens and be ready to react however you need to and not always how you want to and you need to have all that memorized and your body to be ready to go into action and evasive maneuvers in the blink of an eye and do you have any idea how exhausting it is not just physically but mentally because that can happen at any moment without warning, whether you're on the clock or not. Because if you are not in complete control of every situation in every moment, accidents and chaos will happen and will always surprise you and do it's utmost to catch you with your pants down when you're not ready and recovering from the damage inflicted in those moments will take the rest of your life. However long or short that will be. You have dealt with some pressures in your life, but these pressures here, are too much for you. It will take at least a year or two or maybe three, to get you properly trained in all the disciplines you'll need to know to even attempt to hack at this job and all that time is going to cost at least seventy five to a hundred and fifty grand per year. And your value as a person and your value as a production entity, and what you produce is protection and safety- needs to outweigh your liability and your investment. And from where I sit, you're a bad fit who needs too much work to be made viable who's own liabilities are too high risk and whose value of protection will never pay out in any meaningful way. And your connection to me is a hindrance, not a help. Nepotism kills in this industry. Everyone has a 'I tried to get my nephew or my brother or someone else I know into this and they're dead now and we've had a fall out in the family since and we don't talk anymore' story. And I don't want to have one of my own, and neither should you." Violet insisted.

"With all due respect Mr. Sebastian, with respect to everything that Ms. Parr has brought to light. I will not be signing on if Mr. Parr does. Because I am in agreement with Ms. Parr on this 100%. Mr. Parr isn't right for this. The closest I would want Mr. Parr is just a friend and not a close one at that in light of all those liabilities, and frankly, I'm underqualified for this, the fact that Ms. Parr even mentioned my name in the first place is very high praise that I'm not worthy of and I'm frankly honored to bear witness that Ms. Parr lives up to her reputation of being the best in the business for every good reasons that she just demonstrated, to the point that she is so professional that she won't let familial ties cloud her judgement or keep her from making the right call and to ignore her or go against her very sage advice, would be courting disaster." Leo formally answered Phillip who frowned. Not thinking that Leo would rather side with Violet instead of Dash, here he thought he would have it easy to have a three against one but right now it was two against one and if he wasn't so hell bent on his own objectives, he would immediately dismiss Dash. He had to find a way to make everyone happy while still serving his purpose.

"But..." Dash began to argue before Leo reached over and clasped his shoulder to stop him from making a fool of himself.

"Dash, Violet has you dead to rights, to sign on with this is signing your own death warrant and you have too much to lose if anything goes sideways and you're just plain, not cut out for it, it's not gonna work out man and it's ok, just accept it. No amount of money in the world should make you want to risk not watching your kids grow up. And you may be pissed at your sister and your pride and ego might be bruised right now but she just saved your life and you're an idiot if you don't see that. I wish I had a badass sister like you who looked out for me the way she just did for you. And she honestly did you a favor and every word out of her mouth rang true and she just gave you a priceless service of pointing out, in less than, say 20 minutes, where your weaknesses are and what you need to work on as a human being to be better. She did her job right. And she did right by you by making sure you stay out of harms way, which this job has more than it's fair share of. You can't ask anything more from her. Now, let's get out of here, I'll buy you a drink." Leo offered.

"Mr. Sebastian, thank you for your time, we'll be in touch and I'll give you my answer when I have a chance to think it over and sleep on it. Ms. Parr always a pleasure to see you." Leo offered as he stood and shook Phillip's hand. then Violet's hand.

"Mr. Traeger." Violet returned.

"Thanks for at least hearing me out." Dash offered to Phillip as he shook his hand but still offered Violet a dirty glare as he passed her to leave with Leo.

But Violet could handle Dash's hurt feelings more than his innocent blood, she did it, she saved him. And what's more is she at least had Leo to back her up before she swiveled in her spot on the desk and turned around and faced Phillip, ready to take on whatever bullshit he would come up with to excuse himself.

"You were too hard on him." Phillip offered to Violet.

"No. I'm the only one who can see through bullshit apparently. What is wrong with you? Did you think that just because he shares some of my blood that he'd be anything like me? How many times have I told you about how he needs reminders to pay his own child support and bills, how he can't even function as an adult. He can't even cook or take care of himself properly and how the only thing he knows how to keep clean is his shoes, his car and his super-suit, because he can’t do laundry to save his life and he just drops all his clothes off at the drycleaners so they deal with it. The guy buys paper plates and bowls and plastic cutlery because he can't even bring himself to actually wash his own dishes. If he can't take care of himself, how in the fuck is he supposed to take care of you? What kind of sob story did he try to ply you with?" Violet posed because she knew outright accusing him of trying to hire Dash to use as leverage against her wasn't going to work. But if she could shift the blame to Dash, it would effectively make it look like she was letting him off the hook.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I didn't take any of that into consideration and as always, you did bring up some very valid points, so I conceded, I will not be hiring Mr. Parr as my handler and anyone who hires him in any position where his own liabilities endanger others is foolish." Phillip cooed to sooth her anger because her rage was palpable even without his powers before her anger seemed to abate as his own spark of genius thought of ways he could get around this.

"Before you sign anyone else, at least run it by me. I appreciate you doing everything to keep things from off my plate, but Dash was the worst candidate for that job. Or really any job that doesn't involve his own ego and his own popularity and fame, because he is shallow, like a puddle, or maybe the Habsburg gene pool." Violet teased with a laugh as Phillip simply chuckled with her.

"Anyway, do we have anything new for Mr. Pine this evening?" Violet asked.

"Nope, nothing new, good night Ms. Parr." Phillip bid her.

"Goodnight." Violet grinned as she nodded and hopped off the desk and walked down to Buddy's floor.

"Good evening Mr. Pine." Violet greeted.

"Good evening Ms. Parr." Barret greeted.

"Any new business?" Barret asked before Violet started laughing that laugh that portrayed how close she was to losing her goddamn mind.

"What happened?" Barret asked.

"Some damn foolishness, that's for sure." Violet answered as she pulled up the feed from Phillip's office from about an hour ago on her tablet. "Not to be an imposing guest, but could I trouble you for about an hour of your time and a glass or two of wine?" Violet asked with a giddy smile because she wanted Barret to see what had happened.

"You're never imposing." Barret immediately reassured her as he immediately put down what he was working on as Violet happily pressed a button on her sleeve and her outfit changed into one of just a casual outfit of a nice blouse and leggings with flats as she followed him into his apartment and took a seat on his breakfast bar as Barret went through what he had before he threw together the leftovers from the weekend as an offering for her before he got up on the other barstool next to her as Violet felt cameras and listening devices power down now that she was on this side of his space before she pulled up the video for Barret to see.

"Who's this?" Barret asked.

"That's Dash, as I'm sure you've figured out, is really White Lightning and that, is Leopold Traeger, aka Mysterio, but obviously, don't tell, anyway it's Leo who I suggested to Phil because Mysterio has a decent head count and has his own fair share of scandal and cover ups who's been around the block a few times and wouldn't judge Phil for his vices and would be flexible to work the schedule and wouldn't mind the cage too badly. He's not the greatest but he'll do for now until someone awesome becomes available because obviously I've been reassigned to you." Violet murmured quietly with a happy smile before she pulled up the video as Barret opened the bottle of wine and started to pour two wine glasses full before Violet put the tablet on the counter between them as they watched Dash try to spit his best game trying to get whatever job Phillip could use him for.

"Desperate much?" Barret muttered with a frown.

"That's Phil." Violet breathed in Barret's ear.

"What?" Barret asked as he moved his arm to rest on the back of Violet's backrest of the stool as Violet happily cuddled into his side as she put her mouth over his ear, her other hand cupping between her lips and his ear.

"That's Phillip. It's not that he can read thoughts per-say, he can read emotions, and he manipulate your emotions, even if all Dash did was look at him and go 'damn I wish he was my boss so I could make as much money' he takes that and turns it up to 11. He can make anyone feel desperate, desperate for him or what he could give them. Which in this case- is money. Phillip probably made Dash feel like if he didn't get a job from Phillip today- that he would starve to death before he would get evicted tomorrow. That kind of desperate." Violet revealed into Barret's ear as he fought not to shudder in delight, having her that close to him as his fingertips curled around her arm once the inside of his forearm made contact with her back and shoulders as her warmth seeped into his soul.

He knew it was going to be her job to "seduce" him, thankfully slowly. But he'd be lying if he tried to deny that he hadn't already fallen for her. But he also knew, the "harder" he made it for her to get close to him, the better for her in the long run because that would buy them both time to figure stuff out with Phillip, but in these moments, it was hard not to give in because his heart was ready to turn itself into an airplane runway and start waving her in.

"I see." Barret nodded in understanding before they watched the rest of the video as Barret watched on in awed amazement to see Violet do her best to try to counter all of that as he thought Leo's reactions were hilarious if not incredibly appropriate as he found himself mirroring the same reactions to everything Violet said.

"So I take it had you not been there to intervene and interfere, Dash would have been the real take." Barret realized.

"Yup. Now if Phillip goes to my father to try to do the same thing to him, I'll end him. So my question would be, should that happen, do you want me to take you with- after I do?" Violet asked.

"Please." Barret found himself saying before he could stop himself.

"Awesome, well, until then and while I'm here and while the spiders are sleeping, you and I should really talk about how we're going to proceed with 'the give'. Because I feel like the moment Philip is sure that you've fallen for me, he's going to order me to undo you. And I don't want to do that, for real at least. But even if we have to play this up for the camera so to speak, I think there's a way we can do it without hating each other's guts by the end of it. So I have an idea." Violet began.

"Ok," Barred prompted.

"I know we agreed about the Mr. Pine, Bartholomew, Buddy, Barret thing. As much as this hurts to say and I feel sick to my stomach just saying this out loud but, when the time comes for when Phillip orders for me to undo you. If I absolutely have to and have no other choice, I would prefer to undo Tully, not Barret and just in case you need to undo me for any reason, undo Eloise, Ellie for short, not Violet. Eloise is my real middle name and it's a nickname that very, very few people use or would even know to use and it'll be something that can also get by the sensors and it'll give Phillip something somewhat tangible for when we have to put on a show in here and that way I can "hurt you" at least mentally and emotionally without actually hurting you, or at least, the real you." Violet suggested and Barret was ready to kiss her because his love and adoration for her just about overpowered him.

"Violet and Barret, Ellie and Tully." Barret nodded in agreement.

"So tell me about Ellie then." Barret invited as Violet smiled happily.

"Well, Ellie…" Violet began giddily as she settled in and took advantage of the fact that they could talk for now without anyone overhearing them.

#Why So Jaded?#Why So Jaded? Chapter 12 #Synlet #Violet Parr #Buddy Pine #Bartholomew Pine #Barret Pine #the incredibles #modern AU #Corporate espionage AU

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linkspooky · 4 years

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Do all the villains in Medaka Box have complexes about the concept of main characters?

That’s a good question, Non. I would say that Medaka certainly has a main character complex where she sees herself as the center of the world, and therefore the most important person. As if the whole world is written to revolve around her the same way it would for the main character of a story. Rather then them all having main character complexes I would say they’re written to reflect one aspect of Medaka’s main character complex. They’re all basically callouts for her own egotism. More under the cut.

1. Medaka is Always Right

In a story, the protagonist is usually right. The story’s morality and themes are usually written that way to center around the main character’s point of view. If the main character is wrong they’ll usually find the right answer in the end. It’s like how most detective novels end with the detective solving the mystery. The main character is usually written with the audience point of view in mind, so the audience will agree with the main character. Therefore, the views of the main character are usually the right one.

Medaka takes this to its logical extreme. Her point of view is always the correct one. Despite the fact that there are clear gaps in her knowledge, she just assumes that she knows better than others. Despite the fact that she doesn’t understand most people’s circumstances, she preaches to them like she knows their own lives better than them and what she says is best for them.

Medaka’s like fifteen so thinking she’s the center of the universe and she has life figured out is pretty much the norm. However, Medaka is so strong she can usually strong arm others and force her views on them. Which is why she’s confronted with Unzen.

The extreme result of thinking you’re right all the time is moral absolutism. Unzen suffers from the exact same flaw as Medaka. He thinks his views are the right ones. He’s completely confident in those views. His opinions on the world are the only ones that matter.

Not only does this show Medaka how egocentric she is, because Unzen is literally ten years old. Which means Medaka has the developed empathy and ability to see other people’s viewpoints as a ten year old. It also confronts her with what forcing her views on others looks like to others. Unzen blows up the student council room, because he thinks he is right. Unzen attacks the student council members, because he thinks he is right.

It sure is bad to beat others up and get into fights all the time because you think you’re better than them. Oh wait. Unzen’s moralizing crosses into zealotry, because he thinks he’s right he also thinks he has the right to punish those who are wrong. Just like Medaka thinks so, it’s his job to correct the flaws in others. He punishes people for their flaws, Medaka forces her help on other people, that’s the only difference.

Unzen thinks that he’s standing up for justice, but it’s only his own idea of justice. Medaka thinks she loves people and therefore she’s helping them, but really just like Unzen she loves the idea of people. The idea of justice that’s in Unzen’s head is what drives him, and what Medaka thinks she sees in people which we’ve shown time and time again her ideas about people are wildly incorrect are what drive her. When people don’t meet her ideas Medaka tries to correct them as well the same way Unzen does and it’s forceful.

2. Medaka Stands Above Others

The main character especially in a shonen manga is usually the strongest character in the story. Everyone will flock around the main character. The main character is the leader, the chosen one, etc. etc. However, a real life person who thinks about themselves this way would just have a superiority complex.

The center of Oudo’s entire character is that he thinks he’s better than other people, therefore he knows better, and has a right to control them. “Abnormal” is just a fancy term for saying he thinks he’s special. He’s better than normal people. Normal people are beneath him and meant to be his subjects.

Oudo has this same chosen one complex that Medaka has. Because he’s special, he can’t live a normal life. He’s above ordinary run of the mill parents. He’s above friends. He sees himself as the magical chosen one meant to create a happy world for everyone else.

But it’s not actually about other people it’s always about himself. Oudo’s main character complex takes a running leap and jumps all the way into narcicissm.

The end result of centering the entire universe around himself is that Oudo starts hurting the people around him. He does it so easily because he doesn’t see their feelings. Oudo never really wanted to help others, it was all just narcicissm on his part. Medaka too, does she genuinely from the bottom of her heart want to help people and do what’s best for them, or does she think she’s better than other people, knows better, and therefore wants to meddle in other people’s lives without really understanding who they are or what they need.

3. Medaka Fights for Her Friends

The main character is always surrounded by their Nakama. Kumagawa and Medaka have lots in common as character foils, but they’re united in one aspect they’re both incredibly lonely people.

They’re both an equal distance away from everybody else. You can only love everyone, or hate everyone from a distance, because it requires you to stop seeing individual people as people. They do this for opposite reasons, Kumagawa because he’s traumatized, and Medaka because she’s been spoiled all of her life.

The main character surrounds themselves with Nakama. Medaka and Kumagawa are both people who misguidedly try to surround themselves with true companions and fight for the people around them.

Kumagawa just like Medaka is someone desperate to love everything about people. He accepts the flaws, the damage, and the pain of being close to other people. In a way Kumagawa’s desire to help traumatized people is much more genuine because he knows what other people’s damage looks like. Medaka is convinced everyone in the world is a suffering, starved orphan waiting to saved by her kindness. Kumagawa knows that traumatized people are messy and traumatized, and don’t really want to be saved a lot of the time because they’re too caught up in the pain and can’t imagine a life outside of it.

However, both of their methods are wrong. They both try to help the people around them by forcing their views onto others. Kumagawa assumes that everyone just wants to stay a traumatized little mess forever like he does, and Medaka just assumes everyone wants to be fixed.

However, the result of their misguided help is different. Kumagawa’s efforts to help his friends always blow up in his face. He always has good intentions towards others, but those good intentions always go the worst way possible because he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. He’s just inserting himself and needlessly meddling.

Medaka does the same thing, she “fights” for her friends when it’s really more about herself. It’s about her own desire to not be alone. It’s just Medaka’s mistakes haven’t blown up in her face the way Kumagawa’s have, at least not yet. Kumagawa is punished over and over again, Medaka is spoiled, creating the difference between the two of them.

At the end of the minus arc, Medaka and Kumagawa are both trying to have small groups of friends, but they’re also trying to fix those friends because they don’t know how to have friends like a normal person.

4. Medaka is the Main Character of this World

Finally, if someone truly believes that they’re the main character of the story it means they’re applying a fictive lens to the world. They see the world as if it were a story happening in a story book, written by an author with meaning and purpose.

However, is this world is a story and they’re the main character then what about everybody else? Unconscoiusly, other people are casted as side characters in their own story.

That’s what Ajimu hammers in hard when she breaks down Zenkichi and Medaka’s relationship. Medaka never really asks Zenkichi what he wants. Their friendship from the start has always been about her. Zenkichi just revolves around her.

Medaka sort of just treats him like a side kick to her story. Which Ajimu says, if Medaka treats him this way he must not be that important to her. He must be somebody Medaka can easily replace. If Medaka can treat her own closest friend like that, that goes to show just how she sees other people.

She seems to lose all interest in Zenkichi in about fifteen seconds. Ajimu doesn’t even have to try really hard to split them up. It’s because Medaka can’t see other people, and she can’t believe her relationships with other people are going to last. She’s constantly working to earn the love of other people because she literally can’t believe someone would just give it to her. She lacks object permanency in regards to other people, like if she doesn’t give them a reason to stay they’ll just go away from her. Which is also just a symptom of her narcicissm.

Seeing the world as just Medaka’s story makes her ignore the fact that other people exist, and therefore they have their own stories as well. Ajimu suggests something as simple as Zenkichi could be considered a main character too.

Medaka who treats her friends like they’re all sidekicks in her story. The most extreme result of that behavior is Ajimu, who simply doesn’t see or care about other people.

Ajimu is so far gone she simply believes the world doesn’t exist. Therefore it doesn’t matter how she treats people it’s all the same in the end. Medaka and Ajimu are both people who assume they know it all and at the end of the arc they finally learn...

They’re thinking was completely wrong.

Medaka didn’t know anything because she didn’t know other people. She didn’t know their view points, she didn’t know their stories. It’s after this point in the story Medaka shakes off her main character complex. Instead of assuming she’s always right, that she knows better than others, that she’s like the main character in the story she comes to realize she doesn’t matter that much in the grand scheme of things. She now knows, that she knows nothing.

Now that she’s no longer living as the main character of a story however, she can start living as a human being.

#Anonymous #mb meta #medaka box meta #metasks #medaka box #ajimu najimi #kumagawa misogi #kurokami medaa

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mothbug · 4 years

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maggie i’ve been trying to suss out the plot of ur bug lesbians for so long please tell me abt them. somehow it got into my head that they were?? like jaeger pilots? please confirm or deny

i can’t do a read more on mobile so i’m sorry in advance (coming back here after i’ve written this: it makes no sense. it’s all rambling. sorry. and i just put things everywhere randomly so this won’t even be typed chronologically)

yeah there’s giant fun robots! most of them are normal and fine but like a few of them are very fucked up

so there’s four pov characters and at the start of the story three of them are on the same ship and the fourth is the target they’re chasing? only one of them knows they even HAVE a target and is trying her best to stall because she and the target were roommates in fucked up robot catholic school. the other two are playing crazy 8s and being romantic and also terrified all the time but also doing a lot of theorizing about things because they know SOMETHING is up they just don’t know what’s going on. Bc you know. their commander won’t give them any information. and also avoids them because she hates narrative parallelism

also the one stalling is also having her blood drunk by her giant robot. and maybe being mildly possessed by it? so it’s maybe The most fucked up robot. it’s also a giant dog and a good boy. and an heirloom of a fucked up family. which may explain some stuff but honestly i think nisa’s mom was just a bitch and it didn’t have anything to do with the robot she’s just like that.

and she’s stalling bc she Knows she won’t turn perovskia in she knows she wouldn’t let her get hurt she Knows it’ll change her life forever if she finds her and she’s just not ready to face that. but yknow she has to so it was all just very silly of her but when something will change your life dramatically it’s terrifying even if you know that things currently Suck.

somewhere in here Arkansas’s family is threatened and it’s. upsetting. and i’m not sure what direction to go in with it but it will be important because her family means a Lot to her. she has two very good kind dads and a little sister named Tinsel. basically she has the only functional biological family out of all the characters and they make me :’) I also think they eventually meet Idabel and ADORE her and since she grew up without parents it’s just a very strange and emotional experience and. h. they r Wives. and the Trust family is all very sweet and kind even if Arkansas struggles a lot w gifted kid syndrome like i think her dads did their best even if they fucked up sometimes yknow. idabel goes fucking wild at the arcade like legitimately bloodthirsty and arkansas is just like i love my furious and powerful wife

anyway there’s some (a lot of) homoerotic space fighting (which perovskia usually wins BECAUSE she remembers when she and nisa used to spar and can predict what she’ll do. nisa ALSO remembers this bc. ofc she does. but perovskia had to learn how to adapt after Events bc her physical health changed a lot and she had to learn to be more careful about overexerting herself and also now knows how to swordfight. and moves more fluidly and confidently. so what nisa expects to happen often doesn’t bc perovskia’s fighting style has changed so much while nisa hasn’t really bothered to refine hers. anyway) perovskia (the gay little target that does a gay little crime and makes fun of you to piss you off) is like hey. what if you all committed treason it’s really fun and sexy. and then her adoptive mechanic mom gives everyone spinal surgery so their bodies don’t shut down and they won’t die :) that’s a thing by the way i won’t elaborate bc uhh :( but it is why perovskia has all the. nerve damage and chronic pain. i can elaborate on the actual Pre-story perovskia stuff later bc i think about it A Lot and it has a lot of bearing on her character but it’s also. before all this. but anyway if she hadn’t been bleeding out on Slice’s front lawn specifically she Would be dead. and there’s some fun narrative foil character shifts that happen four years before the main storyline but i will not say bc i’m tired

after this is Vague in my mind but a lot of it is Perovskia and Nisa reconnecting and just. talking. but being weird and repressed and deflective about anything Meaningful. And I have written a Lot about this so there’s more than I can condense but it’s very fucking good and. Idk. it’s a big shift in the narrative at this point and they’re just Agonizing about their dumb little feelings and it’s good. and P doing some work to make their giant fucking spaceship more stealthy. and Idabel and Arkansas being really cute and also going THROUGH it because i mean. a lot is happening. And it’s nothing either of them ever expected to happen but they’re like. hopeful for the future or whatever don’t look at me. It’s just like. put all of these characters on a spaceship in the middle of nowhere in transit and they all Have to have conversations even if they don’t want to because it’s HARD. nisa is forced by slice to learn how to make pancakes

Slice makes stew. They’re good at stew and contraptions and having a mild new england accent somehow. also canonically back in the scrapyard they would make things like the knife wielding tentacle constantly and perovskia would just stumble upon them. slice changed the live laugh love sign to say die cry hate because perovskia made fun of it. they r her mom.

so now they do some fun fun robberies and various crimes and it’s so sexy and i don’t think N and P are like. fully caught up at this point or know where they stand, so there’s a lot of very fun banter and having to work together despite really being afraid but also yearning to get to know each other again and just connect with one another honestly and openly after four fuckin years apart. because they’re both so different now but also very much the same. horse staring out into sea MAN. the thing is there’s no direct like. reason for them to avoid each other (at first P was shocked and overwhelmed and felt a little bit betrayed when she found out who was chasing her until she found out WHY. oh i forgot to mention Nisa BEGGED to be assigned commander for this mission bc she knew anyone else wouldn’t hesitate to get Perovskia killed. Forgot to mention that it’s IMPORTANT she fucking loves her so much god DAMMIT) but it’s just. tense and there’s a lot happening and it’s just. Ghhhdhbnm and ofc I and A have picked up on it since P showed up but it’s like. ok so what is Happening here. OH AND ONCE THEY START WORKING THINGS OUT IDABEL DOES START BEHAVING LIKE NISA’S SHITTY LITTLE SIBLING AND ACTING FUCKING DISGUSTED BY THEM ITS VERY FUNNY. they’re like perovskia you’re pretty cool what’s up with this. nisa sucks and also is a bitch. and perovskia says SHE CAN GET IT. and idabel says GET WHAT? BANNED FROM OLIVE GARDEN? and perovskia fans herself and is like yeah~ and idabel was just joking around but now is debating between mercilessly making fun of her and hitting her with a cricket bat. but god when P and N just get to hold each other in silence and security and just be. it’s . they. god. fuck. man.

oh i know this is a space story but perovskia just straight up has a sword (and some knives and maybe a gun idk) don’t ask me why idk but it’s very lesbian of her and she does gay little flourishes and is just. very annoying and i like her a lot. she’s very dramatic like her alias was madame revenant when she was living in the scrapyard and just doing some petty crimes like. she embroidered that jacket herself nobody calls her that she’s just a goofball. also warrior cats exist and she makes warrior cat fan animations. that just has to be true so warriors has been preserved for centuries. also she was presumed dead for a while uhh don’t think abt it too much but she likes that aesthetic.

Idabel takes the best to this new life of crime they are fucking FOR it she gets a FLAMETHROWER and Arkansas is like. wrow honestly my favorite thing abt them is that they’re both fucking INCREDIBLE pilots. like they know what they’re doing. and nisa is really really bad at it btw she cannot pilot a mech well. but this block of text isn’t about her i’m talking about THEM. Their chemistry is so good they r just. 🥺. and they both become Fast friends with perovskia because she’s just pretty likeable?? and ofc nisa’s jealous bc a) you guys don’t even like me :( but also b) that’s MY friend. it’s very funny. honey of course they didn’t like you you were being very unpleasant to be around. but arkansas does rlly wanna be friends with her and she and idabel have so much sibling energy it’s insane. i think they’d abel and cain each other for a scooby snack but also kill for each other. because they’re tiny girls who will growl at you solidarity and also probably hang out and just destroy things with bats sometimes. they all become closer and get a rlly sweet found family dynamic it just takes a While. oh also idabel is basically the chosen one and can set things on fire with her hands but it’s barely touched on because i think that’s a really funny thing to just ignore. but i also think it does become important because it’s largely fueled by anger and emotion and. h. i think idabel has a lot of feelings ok. Arkansas and Perovskia bond over having fucking anxiety disorders and have caprisun drinking competitions. i think it’s just like. these people all have similar trauma and need people to lean on when things are hard so they stick with each other once they have the option to split apart because by then they’re friends and work well together and Care. auto tuned baby crying mp3.

Alia and Agent Variety show up somewhere around here? They’re Slice’s very cool wives and Alia has a Vechicle Collection and own fucking stupid race cars and stuff and I love her. perovskia is afraid of being in vechiles so she has to take a fucking benadryl every time they have to make a getaway. Variety isn’t actually an Agent anymore and I also love HER because she’s very fucking good. they started out as just contacts slice had but it turns out they’re all in love <3 alia is also actually a sports car racer like. unprofessionally. illegally. which is just very cool of them.

Also i don’t think it has. a very BIG end, yknow? it’s like, they’re doing very good things and are up against a lot, and I don’t think they like.. singlehandedly take down the government or anything because they’re only a few people. but i think they get a happy ending and get to grow old while making positive changes to the world around them. like i don’t think they’ll be able to solve everything but they’re sure as hell gonna do what they can. But idk maybe they actually do get like. some good shit done. but again they’re not. an army. they’re a bunch of 20-somethings and their rube-goldberg-machine-creating chaperone. but i think they should get a fun climactic moment so i guess this is all to say i don’t. have an ending planned. but there should probably be one at some point.

OH AND the giant evil blood sucking dog vineyard vines robot Definitely almost kills Nisa (or at least fully destroys her in some way) and. it’s very narrowly avoided and she’s very very weak for a while because it took a lot out of her. also the dog robot does make grape vines grow and uhhhh any grapes that show up are 100% full of the pilot’s siphoned blood. also i think there’s still some remnants of that bitch in nisa’s mind afterwards bc an old mechanical god is hard to get rid of. but it’s mostly ok.

Also the bug people are just. a thing. like every person in the most recent generation in this specific society are at least a little bit genetically experimented on because. it sucks there. and i think if your parents bribe the government you can be a little Less fucked up but yknow. everyone’s a little weird. this was an excuse to put bug ppl in here they’re just the folks who were probably the most fucked with and i have many bug people here because i think bugs are cool and i want them to look like weird little bugs. This was all also an excuse to give the main characters fangs bc i’m gay. i don’t think randomly fucking with your genetics will make you a bug in real life so do not try this at home or at all PSA

SPEAKING of the society ok it’s very much obsessed with earth nostalgia and stuff and very yknow. basic cyperpunk shitty capitalism you know the drill you’ve seen space operas whatever but it’s also weirdly oligarchical? and like? it’s weird and bad and kind of a corporatocracy?? and. fuck. idk man they’re a fucked up space catgirl greeble-y amazon with catholic imagery. The Academy is also a thing but. idk how to describe it more than i already have it’s just kinda shitty boarding school. And after a certain point ppl can get sent on like. missions and stuff? in their fucking robots? but again i’m not sure what For. an option could be that there’s nearby Shit and nobody can tell if it’s safe because space is weird? also it’s only about 3200 so i’d say like. whole societies out in space is a relatively new thing and there’s some weird shit going on. so they sometimes send teenagers out in robots to see what’s up and that ends SUPER well for EVERYONE. hmm something SHOULD be going on actually there should be some weird eldritch space stuff. it should be connected to the more fucked up robots. it should also be Core’s fault somehow because uhhh capitalism and lack of foresight? anyway here’s women kissing i don’t know things. WAIT FUCK I FORGOT TO MENTION HOW SHADY SOME OF THE STUFF GOING ON IS LIKE THE DEATHS OF THE CREW PEROVSKIA WAS ON UHHH JUST TRUST ME DUDE like they are NOT afraid to get kids killed which was IMPLIED but also like it goes a little deeper than that and uhh i don’t know exactly what’s happening. but i’m sure it’ll all fall into place eventually. basically it’s very fatt shitty faction vibes idk how else to describe it. man it‘s like. just. there’s stuff happening they have goals and ideals and there’s probably more to it than i know so far bc stuff happens but i don’t KNOW what i’m tired and have been typing this for a year i don’t want to talk abt the bad capitalists i want to talk about tenderness and girls but unfortunately the ways in which the girls are tender are deeply informed by the environment they grew up in so i do have to think about it even if they all deserved better.

i think they all get a cat or a dog or something eventually. like they all deserve it. i think the final home they build together is actually pretty reminiscent of the scrapyard house. i think they get to live there for the rest of their lives and. just build something small and wonderful for themselves :’)

also i forgot to put men in the story they exist i just forgot about them. there’s nisa’s one ex i already forgot his name but he’s mentioned i think.

#IM SO SORRY FOR HOW INCOMPREHENSIBLE THIS IS I DONT HAVEA PLOT I HAVE CONCEPTS #ocs #long post #LONG FUCKING POST I CAN’T STRESS THIS ENOUGH #death ment #body horror cw #maybe #catholicism ment #again just to be safe #injury ment #possession tw

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inspector-montoya-fox · 4 years

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#13 - Menace from the North, eh!

Setting part 1: i mean......... whatever, right? at this point, India got 2 levels and Prague got 2 levels so i’m like ok, let’s get this over with. and i genuinely believe this and Anatomy for Disaster are the game’s two weakest episodes, despite the great conclusion. look, SP... they fucking delivered. they served absolute excellence with episodes 2-4, but it’s getting redundant and Menace from the North, eh! is just Menace from the North, meh? (please forgive me Lord). the game takes a weird environmentalist turn, which i fully appreciate but am ultimately confused by, seeing as He Who Tames The Iron Horse had absolutely nothing to do with Jean Bison’s pollution aspect. it feels weird to return to a Canadian outing after the gang had such a successful run in the previous episode, which felt like a conclusion even with the absence of a bossfight. like, SP could have easily inserted a Bison bossfight at the end of He Who Tames The Iron Horse in order to add another Klaww Gang member for an extra episode or maybe replace Menace from the North, eh! with the lost Monaco episode. it sounds like i’m bitching a lot, and i actually am. what really takes me aback every single time i play this game is that after you complete the Rajan/Contessa saga, it all becomes so anticlimactic. and i can’t comprehend why. by the end of this episode, the stakes are so high but the drive just isn’t there. and it’s not because the gang is demotivated. Sly has been having so much fun throughout the game, even with Neyla’s backstab being a huge obstacle. so getting down, dirty and serious is a much needed mood change. but i feel like i speak for all of us when i say that episodes 5-7 are overshadowed by episodes 2-4. with a few alterations to the order of the episodes and some changes to the script, i really think we could have had an awesome Contessa vs Clock-La final showdown episode and have Bison come right after Dimitri. because, honestly, Canada feels like ‘second episode’ material.

Setting part 2: i’m splitting it up because i don’t want my rant above to spoil the actual writing. the gang sticks around for another Canadian caper after some kooky stuff goes down with the environment and, mainly, the Northern Lights, which as we’ll soon find out, play a rather unexpectedly significant role in the grand scheme of things. and we’re treated to a log-chopping area, an off-the-maps secretive camp which really ups the ante, because Jean Bison is being such a jerk to nature. we’ve got deforestation, we’ve got melting ice, exploitation of wild animals, and Bison getting a raging red boner by literally destroying the environment in order to flex in the Lumberjack Games..... both the player and the gang have had enough of this dude, and i think SP used the fact that his only traits are being an angry idiot and a bigot to their advantage. instead of providing the necessary character development as they did with the Contessa and Rajan, Bison and his actions (especially his communication with the mYsTeRiOuS Arpeggio) are used as a prelude to Anatomy for Disaster. there’s not really a lot of dialogue apart from the final mission and bossfight, because the overall Klaww Gang plot begins to unravel, and particularly so by the time we find out about the lighthouse and its technological contents. in fact, if you think about it, Anatomy for Disaster starts with Clock-La’s shitshow and an info-dump at the beginning, which, if you’ve been paying enough attention to the details (i know that until i turned 12 and replayed the game as a young teen i hadn’t been paying attention to shit so it was all gasp!), is just the connecting of the dots. Menace from the North, eh! is essentially the last piece of the puzzle, before it’s all given to us in full detail by Arpeggio. i mean, apart from Dimitri serving dishes with drugs in them (i still can’t get over that at the age of 21), the rest is all things the player could pick up. and that’s this episode’s main focus. trying to prevent the inevitable under countdown, before Arpeggio’s blimp arrives to collect the Northern Lights energy. so it feels very anticlimactic and strange to put in all this effort without purpose. if you’ve played it before, you know it’s all for nothing since all the parts will be gone by the end of the episode. and it’s even more anticlimactic (although hilarious in tonal shift) to see how the gang scrambles under the pressure of preventing the Klaww Gang’s doomsday by hacking boats and having all these grandiose plans involving the lighthouse, just to then resort to taking part in the Lumberjack Games, without even a clever scheme but actually just cheating, and finally have Bison, an idiot, foil their plans by finding out where they’ve been hiding. and the bossfight is fine, but again, meh... i mean, woohoo Bentley! or whatever the fuck.

Characters: let’s talk about Jean Bison and his mistreatment as a character. we first meet him at Rajan’s ball, where Bentley introduces him as a Canadian shipping baron and says that he owns half the trains in Canada. later on, during the introductory cutscene for He Who Tames The Iron Horse, we get his backstory and how he’s risen from being practically dead, frozen since his time, and back with a vengeance against the environment. in my previous #episodeproject entry i said: SP plays up Bison’s savagery and gruesome nature by spotlighting how his plans affect the environment and even going so far as to call his house ‘the lair of the beast’. this is all true but is never put into practice. like, Jean Bison is all tell and no show, y’know? even the cutscene that plays when Sly gets caught in Bison’s cabin during He Who Tames The Iron Horse’s first mission shows Bison getting angry, but hunty, that’s about it. apart from the Lumberjack Games and his bossfight, it’s all oh Bison will get angry and oh Bison will kill us with the talons. well, where is it? where’s the fucking Canadian shipping baron with a vengeance against the environment? my baby heart was legit quivering when we had to steal Rajan’s blueprints as Bentley, and the Contessa was such a grand sleazebag of a woman, like what a douchebag - and you see that, although i’m often flamboyant in my writing (!!!), the way i describe these moments with these villains is both effective and relatable, because they showed up and lived up to their descriptions. Bison was written to be a ferocious beast of a villain but never showed that. and that’s on SP. whatever... let’s talk about the gang. now, despite the gang looking seriously badass in the opening cutscene for this episode (image below), they’re actually in a pretty good headspace. they’re only missing the talons and whatever Clockwerk parts Arpeggio had before collecting all of them. so it’s only natural for them to feel a bit cocky, and that’s actually gonna be their demise. before that, i just wanna mention that almost all the missions here (as with He Who Tames The Iron Horse) are group missions: Sly and Murray infiltrate the moose club in RC Combat Club, all three of them work together in Lighthouse Break-In, Boat Hack, and Old Grizzle Face. what really stood out to me every time i played this episode, is how, at the end when they take down Bison and they rush to the battery, each member has a different way of entering it, which is a small detail but important nonetheless. this further reinforces how united the gang has become since the Contessa levels and how their bond has strengthened. now, lemme circle back to how they’re cocky. i mean, apart from Jean Bison, Menace from the North, eh! doesn’t present any immediate danger or like trouble, seeing as both Neyla and Carmelita are absent. without any interference, the gang had lots of breathing space to plan ahead, even under countdown before Arpeggio’s blimp arrived. and they kinda wasted the opportunity because, as i’ve already mentioned, the operation was an absolute train-wreck. there’s no plan b, or like something clever or whatever. and usually, the operations tend to get disrupted by third parties, such as Carmelita or Neyla, but here, it failed because it was never smart. and it’s only natural for them to fall hard (by losing all the Clockwerk parts) after feeling all cocky (maybe i’m being too harsh). and all this directly leads to some more Bentley character development.... again. look, i’m all for character development, but the turtle already faced his demons when he busted Sly and Murray out of jail. i know we got Murray vs Rajan, but i don’t know, Murray was always kinda just there throughout the game. the hippo had his ups and downs (face-off with Rajan, imprisonment, losing the van), but not a fully realised story arc. that’s why, when Sly 3 starts off with his enlightenment and return, that story arc is instantly so iconic. i could go on about how Bentley gains self-confidence after defeating Bison, but um, we’ve already done that sis.

Themes: He Who Tames The Iron Horse and Menace from the North, eh! should have been one episode and i truly believe that. they could have shared the same themes. for the former, i said there’s the speed theme, and that applies here too because the gang are under pressure. the countdown lights a fire under their asses and it’s all very destructive. again, there’s an antithesis between the calm Canadian atmosphere and the chaotic energy of the missions. but it’s not just speed theme anymore, it’s more like theme of ferocity. everyone’s kinda on edge??? Old Grizzle Face is a motherfucker and we get up close and personal with the eagles, lasers destroy huge ice pieces, there’s a mammoth, the destroyed oil manes create fiery air drafts... chaos. and it all results in the disastrous events and outcome of the Lumberjack Games, which make Menace from the North, eh! the straightest episode in the game. yuck. it only makes sense for the missions to become less sneaky and more destructive as the stakes get higher and the gang is in a hurry, and that kinda embodies the pollution motif/ environment motif. it’s less of a theme and more of a motif because it’s so story-centric, but that’s the other things the comes into contrast with the calm environment. saws, the buzzing, chopped-up logs flowing down the river, tree stumps spread across: these embody the pollution and the harm Jean Bison has been doing even though it’s a forced storyline in my opinion. and finally, size theme. it’s not major, but it feels like everything’s bigger in Canada... Sly feels so puny in this episode, like especially when climbing the lighthouse. the wild animals are huge, the structures are huge, Jean Bison’s house is huge. it’s just lots and lots of nothingness. if you took absolutely nothing and enlarged it by 10 times, you’d have this episode’s hub. and this is also seen in the bossfight when tiny Bentley takes on Jean Bison. so yea.

What I Like: gliding off the lighthouse and throwing fish onto already stinky guards before Old Grizzle Face rips them to shreds. also, those cute lil catfish-lookin viruses in Bentley’s hacking! they’re so adorable.

What I Don’t Like: erm... it’s not that i don’t like this episode, but i find it kinda boring? apart from interacting with the wild animals, the missions are meh. and i hate the Lumberjack Games...

Quote: Get too close and old Grizzle Face will be eating barbecued raccoon for dinner.

#He Who Tames The Iron Horse and Menace from the North eh! should've been one level #good morning #episode project #sly cooper

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bemused-writer · 4 years

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VNC Chapter 41 Analysis

What a chapter! After reading this one, I was left reeling a bit, I won't lie. Certain things didn't surprise me all that much, but then there were revelations that I definitely didn't see coming whatsoever. So, without further ado, let's take a look at what took place. The first thing we see is Olivier and Roland fighting side-by-side without much success. We already knew they were comfortable with one another, but to me this sort of cemented it. They've fought together many times in the past and they're used to one another's ticks.

Contrary to what I've been thinking, Olivier is definitely the more high-strung between these two, even in battle. XD Not that I ever thought Roland was high-strung, but Olivier is the kind of character who could have easily been written as calm and collected above all else in everything. Instead, he very much is not: he seems to be barely keeping a lid on it, at least around Roland. I'm loving this about him, because it actually fits in very well with his portrayal in The Song of Roland. He tolerated Roland's antics there, but he was completely done more often than not. For VNC it makes for an interesting foil to Roland. Olivier is more serious about his job, but Roland generally has a calmer personality, even as he branches off to do whatever he thinks is right. Olivier still maintains his more sensible, responsible streak from The Song of Roland, though. He reminds Roland that they're short on time. Soon, they will have to kill Chloé. I find this interesting because neither of them is happy about it. They're just doing their jobs. It's not super obvious what Olivier thinks about vampires just yet--he's been a lot more concerned with Roland just being a good paladin and not rocking the boat, but he's never said Roland is wrong to question either.

[Volume 4]

[Volume 5]

He strikes me as someone who will do whatever it takes to make sure Roland stays out of trouble. He even says that he recommended Roland for Jasper because he thought some responsibility would help him settle down. Now, in The Song of Roland, Roland was engaged to Olivier's sister, Aude. I wonder if some of Olivier's concern with Roland is because he views him as part of the family, a brother of sorts.

He also knows that Roland cares very much for his own family; he has several siblings and it sounds like he joined the chasseurs as a way of providing money for them. Personally, I think this is nearly the only reason why Roland obeys the chasseurs whatsoever. Olivier was right when he said Roland "believes in himself as a follower of God." He will do what he thinks is right first and foremost, consequences be damned. But the consequences of disobeying here are retribution against his family.

I'm very curious to see just how long Roland will manage to keep this up. Things worked out well enough this time around, but his loyalties are essentially split between the chasseurs and Noé. That can't last forever. Meanwhile, Vanitas has realized saving Chloé will be a little more difficult than he'd anticipated. This is at least the third time that a specific malnomen has been brought up. The second was in the catacombs:

[Volume 4] Vanitas of the Blue Moon: It's a vampire's shadow made physical. The shadow of one under this curse begins to writhe as if it has a will of its own. Swelling and growing larger and larger, it swallows the vampire to whom it belonged in the end. Prédateur is a glutton. It kills and eats anything it can reach. Until the moment it consumes the last of the life force of the vampire who created it, its only goal will be to devour life. When I first read this section, I assumed Prédateur was simply a manifestation, a part of the curse. However, the description of Chloé's malnomen gave me pause:

Vanitas of the Blue Moon: The trouble with this malnomen is that it can't be cured simply by deriving the formula for an inverse operation. Unless the curse-bearer rejects the theater of their own accord, the link can't be severed, and you'll end up erasing them along with the closed space. It's finally struck me that we're dealing with names. Specifically, Prédateur, Millie, and Loup-Garou way back at the beginning. Malnomen aren't simply part of being a curse-bearer, they have a life of their own. Perhaps they are literally members of Charlatan acting through another living vessel or perhaps they're lost vampire souls trying to find absolution. Maybe there isn't a difference between the two. There's a lot to consider there. Also, Vanitas of the Blue Moon definitely has a teacher's aura about her. Everything Vanitas knows about the book comes from her; he didn't simply figure this out on his own. And the way Vanitas of the Blue Moon is teaching him... It's like she knew he would need to do something about curse-bearers at some point. Sure, it could have just been academic, but why mark him and give him access to the book's abilities if she didn't think he'd use it at some point? The mystery surrounding her only continues to grow as well as what Vanitas's relationship with her even was. Either way, Vanitas has to convince Chloé that she should be cured. I want us all to think about this for a second. The fellow who literally said "I'll do as I please, use methods I choose, and no matter what you people want, I will save you without fail!" is now having to reason with a vampire and convince her he should be allowed to save her. Truly incredible. Makes me wonder, what if his issue with VotBM is that she wouldn't let him save her? There's a thought... But getting back on track, Vanitas still isn't great at reaching people through tender methods. No, he berates Chloé and points out things will be awful either way, so she better make up her mind real quick. I'm... not sure he was convincing exactly, but I appreciate his urgency. It works though. The fact that it's her choice, that she has to choose, finally wakes her up and she sees the destruction around her. More specifically, she sees Jean-Jacques. Chloé has never wanted to hurt Jean-Jacques. She hasn't understood him all that well as he pointed out in the last chapter, but she genuinely wants to do right by him. Not an easy position to be in. We finally get to see how Noé's doing at this point in his battle against Astolfo. These two are interesting for two reasons: 1) This is someone Noé can't just "fix." Astolfo's issues with vampires run deep, far more so than Roland's ever did. Noé isn't used to being confronted with a problem without a solution. He's been able to solve everything else so far, so Astolfo is the first real evidence he's had that the enmity between humans and vampires is beyond him; he can't use diplomacy with him. He might not ever be able to. 2) Noé is a good person, but for Astolfo everything he says and everything he does reminds him of the night his family was defiled and killed. We're used to seeing Noé as the good guy, but for Astolfo it's impossible for Noé to ever be anything other than evil. Even though we know Noé would never do any of those things, through Astolfo's eyes we see Noé's image slanted as it becomes corrupt, all because of what he was born as. It's exactly how bigotry in real life works. We can understand why Astolfo hates vampires, but at the end of the day it doesn't make him right or his cause just. Roland goes out of his way to explain Astolfo's history to Noé regardless of it being impossible for Noé to change Astolfo's mind. Why? My guess is that he thinks we should all understand our enemy. Roland didn't understand his enemy, vampires, until he met Noé and realized they could be good. Likewise, Noé can't understand those he fights until he learns some of them are irredeemable. I like that Vanitas is initially outraged at Roland doing this:

Vanitas has been worried this whole arc that Noé won't be able to handle Astolfo as we can see from his reaction to Noé saying he can handle him:

Honestly, this entire arc has been Vanitas worrying over Noé, incessantly so considering who we're talking about. He let Noé fight him in chapter 35, but he also didn't have a choice. No doubt, he thought Roland revealing how tragic Astolfo's past would stir Noé's chivalric side and he'd have difficulty once more. Vanitas knows Noé is affected by these kinds of revelations. When he told Noé his own parents were killed by vampires, Noé took it pretty hard and things went downhill from there. Turns out, Vanitas was both right and wrong to worry about this. When Astolfo goes into the details of how he's suffered, Noé looks affected, but what really takes him off guard is when Astolfo starts bleeding from taking too much of the tonic. Personally, I think this is how Astolfo was able to trap Noé and Noé was forced to lose his arm in order to avoid being literally blown to smithereens. I'll admit, this was the biggest shock of the chapter for me, as I'm sure it was for pretty much everyone reading it. XD I'll get into more detail on that in a second, but I do want to point out that the fact Noé didn't die, didn't hesitate so much that he lost his life, is a big shift for him, and it's thanks to Vanitas, who must have known he had to do something to counteract what Roland had revealed. Vanitas: Don't hesitate, Noé. Don't think about whether Astolfo's hatred is justified or not. Both humans and vampires act on their own concepts of justice. One's just can be someone else's evil. "Being right" is "power." It can easily turn into violence, a weapon that's much harder to deal with than malice. Don't brandish it. Keep it inside. Justice should merely be the light that illuminates the path ahead of you. Vanitas hasn't been prone to giving good advice in the past (or at least not advice Noé would take), so Noé's reaction is understandable:

He's shocked into silence. Vanitas is giving genuine, heartfelt advice, designed to help Noé with a difficult situation. It's possibly the most open we've ever seen Vanitas. Sure, he's told Noé things about himself in the past, but it was always veiled in anger or resentment. This was simply to help without any strings attached. Between how he's been treating Noé this arc and even Jeanne, we're seeing a much softer side of Vanitas than we had previously. And the advice doesn't stop there.

Vanitas looks so fond here and just a touch regretful. I wonder if he knows this way of doing things would never work for himself; he's already devoted to himself to revenge; it's Noé who gets hung up on what's right and wrong and how he can help others. Maybe he wishes he had that kind of solid moral compass for himself. We also see Roland smiling as they talk; he honestly likes, and is inspired by, their friendship.

Another thing about these two panels is that Vanitas is being openly affectionate this arc, in front of Roland of all people, and I genuinely wasn't expecting it. This arc has been a whole lot of Vanitas fussing over Noé and everyone (except the person in question) noticing it. Behold my montage Let's take a look at how things have developed so far:

This isn't even including every single example, but you get the idea. Vanitas's way of caring is a mix of berating (because he doesn't know what to do with the fact that he cares), lying to anyone picking up on it, and opening up/being gentler when he's reminded that Noé really is on his side or by things he's learned about Noé more generally. Most of these events are prompted by Noé doing something first: Noé apologizes for wanting to drink his blood, Vanitas is nice to him on the train. Noé has a tendency to wander about, Vanitas tries to get the whole group to look after him. Noé has a hard time fighting against a particular type of person, Vanitas switches their targets/keeps Noé away from the problem, and reminds them of their goals. Noé is missing/kidnapped, Vanitas spends the entire arc worrying about where he is. Noé can't tell what is real, Vanitas assures him. Noé assures Vanitas that he doesn't look down on revenge as a motive, Vanitas wipes the blood off his face/promises to help Chloé. Noé learns the truth about Astolfo, Vanitas gives him the best advice he's given anyone in this entire series. If the catacombs arc was about Noé learning about Vanitas and helping him, then this arc is definitely about Vanitas caring for and helping Noé.

Also, the advice Vanitas gives Noé about how justice should be the light that illuminates the path ahead of you? Who was it Noé compared to light only a few chapters ago? And was symbolically represented as the only light Noé can see?

None other than Vanitas himself.

We’re definitely seeing how these two are inextricably intertwined for the rest of the series.

Anyway, getting back to the fight with Astolfo, Noé loses his hand and part of his arm in order to dodge the blast. The one thing he can't concede is Chloé and Jean-Jacques. More broadly, if Noé has the capacity to help someone, he can't back down, no matter what.

Dante's reaction to Noé's victory is one I wholeheartedly endorse. I, too, was pretty impressed. Even so, Noé's coming out of this arc a complete wreck. 8D

He still has a head injury, his shoulder seems to be pretty well sliced, and he's missing his forearm. I just... wow. But this raises several questions: How will Noé cope with only one good arm for fighting? Can he regrow it? Will it be missing the rest of the series? Can he withstand that much blood loss? Did Vanitas bring his medical kit? Because some first aid would be a good idea right about now.... Possibly the most interesting question to ponder out of these is "Can he regrow it?" The reason for this is that we already know Noé suffered some kind of extreme injury as a child:

For his entire left eye to be wrapped seems to heavily imply one of two things: it was either gouged out or otherwise severely injured. But we can see that as an adult he has both eyes and they both seem fine. If he was actually missing an eye, then he regrew it and the likelihood of him being able to regrow his arm increases. If it was simply injured, maybe not. But the one time Vanitas offered to give him medical aid, he was pretty nonchalant about it:

Even Vanitas thought that was a weird reaction. Perhaps Noé has unusually good healing abilities. Or he's stubborn. Guess we'll be finding out soon. 8D Also, I’m just going to hazard a guess that, seeing as it’s the same shoulder that’s been injured in both of these examples, the main difference will be that, while Noé turned away Vanitas’s help before, maybe he’ll accept it this time. It's also finally revealed that this whole time Chloé wanted to be human. I thought that must be the case; why go to all this trouble otherwise? It's terribly sad that she never felt like she was really herself once she became a vampire. She's never been able to accept who she is once her entire life. She's spent all these centuries trying to make her family, who has long since passed on, happy.

But Chloé's finally made a choice, and that choice is to remain with those people who are in the present, her new family: Jeanne and Jean-Jacques.

It's an almost suspiciously happy ending and I am fully expecting Mochizuki to take this down a darker path, but I kind of hope she doesn't. It would be nice to see these three get the happiness they deserve, and with how much attention has been given to Jean-Jacques and Chloé this arc, I think it would make a lot more sense for them to serve a role at the end of the series. The chasseurs (or maybe just Astolfo) might be the main problem, or possibly Charlatan itself. But right now, it genuinely looks like things have been taken care of, which would be great because I don't think Noé is going to last much longer if things keep up. Of course, this analysis wouldn't be complete without addressing "Luna."

I have two thoughts on what this could be. One, this is the name of the mark and marks might work like malnomen: they have a life outside of the purpose they serve. Two, Luna could be VotBM's real name and this mark is very literally summoning her power. When Vanitas uses his power, Noé remarks on the formula he sees:

This got me thinking, is he seeing the world formula itself right now or a physical representation of Chloé's name or soul so to speak? I'm leaning toward the latter if only because with Amelia we also saw a unique background when she was cured and it was completely different:

Flowers, which fits perfectly with her name. As for the next chapter, I'll admit I don't have a lot of guesses. I would think it would just be everyone recuperating and healing up. Probably some serious conversations will have to occur. I think it’s important to note that even if things go badly, Vanitas did keep his promise to Jeanne, which is huge. There was no guarantee, but he made the promise anyway and, lo and behold, he kept it.

As for whether the peace will last, I have no idea, but I definitely think this arc is coming to a close and we'll be moving on to the next fairly soon. I'm looking forward to what happens. ^^

#vanitas no carte #vnc spoilers #long post #Bemused's post

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sonderwalker · 4 years

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In response to this post here, I’ve written the first one shot in this series. I’ve decided to call it “The Butterfly Project”

The idea behind this series is to go through different story arcs throughout star wars the clone wars but have the events happen to different characters. Feel free to request an event, and I’ll probably upload them to AO3 and FFN as well.

This first oneshot is called “Blue Shadow”, and it’s the blue shadow virus arc, but Anakin and Ahsoka have traded places.

requested by: @ dratin-dragonadetinta96

“Ahsoka!” Anakin shouted into his commlink. “We have to find Dr. Vindi as soon as possible!”

“I know, master!” Her voice responded through the commlink. “Me and Rex are on it!” She said. Anakin kept running, with several of his troops following close behind. He quickly made his way through the tunnels of Dr. Vindi’s lab, heading towards the location that they had scouted out on the map earlier. The higher levels of radiation from that location meant that is probably where the bombs were being held. Which meant that Padme, Jar-Jar, and the doctor were not far behind. Anakin felt his heat drop into his stomach at the thought of Padme, his wife, being held captive by such a monster. He rounded another corner only to be met with blaster fire from battle droids. Anakin deflected the blasts with ease. There was only one thing on his mind right now, and that was getting to Padme as soon as possible. He quickly rushed forward and sliced through several droids, his troopers taking out the rest. At the end of the hallway he saw a set of doors made from glass and metal. Through the force, he could sense Padme and Jar Jar’s presence.

“They’re on the other side of that door!” Anakin yelled as he continued to press forward. He reached the doors and quickly stabbed his lightsaber through the metal, watching as the blue blade slowly melted the door. He heard the footsteps of his troopers catch up to him and stand on either side of the doors, ready to start firing their blasters as soon as he cut through the doors. Anakin used the force to push the doors forward, and they crashed onto the ground with a loud bang.

“Padme!” Anakin exclaimed, his voice full of worry.

“Anakin!” She yelled back, relieved to see her husband.

“One more step, Jedi, and your friends die!” Dr. Vindi shouted as he made his way over to a large switch. He pulled the switch down and Anakin watched in horror as Padme and Jar-Jar were electrocuted. Anakin leapt into action- destroying battle droids left and right as he and his men advanced towards Dr. Vindi. The doctor quickly grabbed something- Anakin couldn’t see what and ran out of the room.

“Ahsoka!” Anakin shouted into his commlink “Dr. Vindi is escaping!”

“We’re on it, master!” Her voice rang out from Anakin’s commlink.

“Padme”, Anakin said softly as he gently placed a hand on her cheek. She opened her eyes and saw her husband in front of her, his eyes full of concern.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“Ani, next time, can you please rescue us before you destroy all of the droids?” She said with a soft smile.

“Sorry milady.” He replied sheepishly. “It won’t happen again.” Anakin stood back up and ignited his lightsaber, cutting her and Jar-Jar free from their restraints.

“Anakin.” Obi-Wan’s voice called out from his comm. “We’ve tracked down the bombs, but they’ve been activated! You have to hurry and find Dr. Vindi as soon as you can.”

“Ahsoka and I are on it!” Anakin responded.

“That’s not all, one of them seems to be missing as well!” His former master said.

“A missing bomb?” Padme asked. “I saw a little droid carrying a bomb around earlier. It must have run off with the bomb!” She exclaimed.

“We have to track it down.” Anakin said while looking back out towards the hallway. “If that bomb detonates then we’ll have bigger problems to worry about.”

“Do you know which way the droid went?” Anakin asked.

“I think so,” Padme “But I’m not entirely sure.”

“We’ll split up to find it.” Anakin said as they walked out of the room and back into the hallway.

“Ahsoka! There’s a missing bomb, if you and your men see anything, let- “Anakin said into his commlink.

“Oh, hey master.” Ahsoka said as her and Captain Rex ran up beside them.

“Ahsoka, there’s a droid running around down here with a bomb containing the blue shadow virus.”

“We can look for it!” Ahsoka said eagerly while turning to look at Rex.

“No.” Anakin said while crossing his arms. “I don’t want you anywhere near that thing in case it goes off.”

Ahsoka began to protest but Anakin cut her off.

“Ahsoka,” He said, “I know that you’re eager, but none of us have any immunity to this thing, and I don’t want you getting sick.”

“Well what about you?” She shot back while crossing her arms as well.

“We’ll be fine, now get going!” Ahsoka hesitated for a moment before nodding her head and taking off with Rex and the other clones following her lead.

“Master Kenobi!” Ahsoka shouted into her comm “We’re on our way to help!”

“Good. Some of my men are currently deactivating the bombs right now, but we need more help with trying to capture Dr. Vindi.” He responded. Ahsoka began to turn around a corner when she was suddenly met with blaster fire. She ignited her lightsaber and began to deflect the blaster bolts while the troops behind her began to fire back. Ahsoka leapt onto the walls and jumped down towards the droids, slicing through them with her saber. She rolled between two droids, slicing their legs off in the process.

“I think that was all of them, commander.” Rex said.

“Good, let’s keep moving.” Ahsoka said as she turned her saber off. Ahsoka had lost track of how long they had been running through the hallways. They all were starting to blend in her head, with the metal walls and red lighting. Fortunately, she had paid enough attention during the briefing to remember which paths lead to where in the bunker and knew that they should be approaching the hangar any minute now.

“Up ahead!” Ahsoka shouted. Ahsoka and her man ran up behind them, blasters and saber out.

“Leaving so soon, Doctor?” Ahsoka asked with her blade drawn, pointing it at his chest.

“You’re too late!” He shouted as he pulled out a vial from his pocket. “Catch.” He shouted as he threw the vial as far as he could. Ahsoka leapt off the landing platform and caught the glass vial right before it hit the ground. Behind her, she heard the blast doors to the hangar close. Ahsoka quickly got off the ground and began to cut through the thick metal with her lightsaber.

“Master Kenobi!” Ahsoka shouted into her comm “Dr. Vindi is escaping!”

“I’m on my way.” He responded. As she continued to cut through the blast doors, she could feel the anxiety from Rex and the other troopers in the force, not that she could really blame them. She was also doing her best to keep her worries at bay, and she could hear Master Skywalker reminder her to not let her emotions control her actions.

“General” Rex said from behind her. A second lightsaber blade went through the blast doors and helped to finish cutting through them. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan pushed the door down using the force and she ran forward. In front of her, Dr. Vindi was on the landing platform, and it was rising to the planet’s surface.

“Not so fast!” She yelled while running after him. Ahsoka leapt will all her strength and with the help of the force. She flipped over his head and landed in front of him.

“You’re under arrest!” Ahsoka shouted, her saber pointed at Vindi. The doctor held his hands up in the air and frowned.

“You haven’t won yet” He said while holding up another bomb in his hand. Suddenly he was tackled to the ground by a gungan farmer. The gungan began to beat him with her staff, breaking his headgear, and the bomb rolled away from the two of them. Ahsoka ran over and grabbed the bomb before looking back at Vindi, who was laying on the ground, knocked unconscious.

“Master, Dr. Vindi has been taken care of.” She said into her commlink.

“Good” Master Kenobi responded. “We have taken care of the rest of the bombs as well.” He leapt onto the roof to join her.

“Dr. Vindi, it seems as though your plans have been foiled.” Master Kenobi said. Vindi’s glared at the two jedi.

“And you will pay for your crimes again- “He was cut off by the sound of an alarm. Ahsoka looked at her grand master, waiting for his next move.

“You’re too late!” Dr. Vindi shouted. “The virus has been liberated!” He said while laughing.

“Master Kenobi,” Ahsoka said urgently “Master Skywalker and Senator Amidala are still down there!” Master Kenobi opened his mouth to say something, when suddenly the landing platform was rocked with the force from an explosion.

Dr. Vindi laughed and smiled at the two of them. “The virus will ravage the life forms on this planet, and throughout the galaxy! You were too late, Jedi!”

“Anakin!” Master Kenobi shouted into his comm.

“We’re here.” He replied.

“What happened?” Master Kenobi asked.

“The virus is loose, but Ahsoka and I have sealed off the compound.” He replied. “We should be alright.” He added on.

“Are you contaminated?” He asked. There was a pause before Ahsoka heard his voice through Master Kenobi’s commlink.

“I’m afraid so” He said and then began to cough. Ahsoka felt her heart drop into her stomach. She looked up at Master Kenobi for guidance. Even though he was trying to keep his face as neutral as possible, she could feel his anger and his fear for Master Skywalker through the force.

“Master, what are we gonna- “Ahsoka began to ask.

“Patience, Padawan.” Master Kenobi said while holding his hand up. “The virus is still sealed inside of that compound.”

Dr. Vindi began to laugh “But once one of the droids breaks out of that compound, all of Naboo is doomed!” Obi-Wan looked back at Ahsoka.

“Ahsoka, the fastest way to save Anakin and Senator Amidala is to take him back to the capital and find an actual antidote.”

“Yes, master” She replied, not taking her eyes off the doctor.

“Hello? Is anyone out there?” Padme spoke into her comm. “Can anyone hear me?”

“Padme!” Anakin exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, we’re fine. We’re wearing protective suits, and we haven’t been contaminated.” She replied.

“What about you? Have you been contaminated?”

Anakin paused and looked around at his men. Several of them had taken their helmets off and were coughing harshly. He swallowed, trying to hold his own coughs back.

“We have.” He responded.

“Sir, several of the men are already showing symptoms, and none of us are immune to this virus.” Sergeant Coric said.

Anakin took a deep breath and sighed before responding. “I know. But we aren’t dead yet. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka are with Dr. Vindi right now and trying to find a cure. They’ll make it in time, sergeant.” Anakin said while placing his hand on the trooper’s shoulder.

“Anakin” Padme’s voice called from his commlink. “We still have to stop the droids from escaping. Jar-Jar and I will be heading over to you.”

“Alright but be careful.” He responded before coughing into his elbow.

“So, you think you’ve found a cure?” Ahsoka exclaimed as she walked over towards Captain Typho.

“Not exactly, he said while pulling up a diagram of a plant root.”

“There’s an extract made from riskso roots that can be used to cure the virus. It can be found on Iego.”

“The world of a thousand moons.” Master Kenobi said while stroking his beard.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Ahsoka said.

“Not so fast,” Master Kenobi said. “Continue, Captain.”

“Well, there’s a problem. Once you land on Iego, you won’t be able to leave.”

“What do you mean, we won’t be able to leave?” Ahsoka asked.

“No one knows, it might just be a legend.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Master Kenobi said. “Thank you, Captain Typho.”

“Ani, I’m sorry.” Padme said as she walked towards her husband. She grabbed his hands and held them in hers, angry that she couldn’t touch him, angry that she couldn’t enjoy a moment of peace between the two of them. Right now, Anakin didn’t look any different than he had a few hours ago, but she knew that it would only be a matter of time before he began to succumb to the virus.

“I’m alright.” He said while smiling softly. “Besides, we’ve got droids to catch.” He stepped away from her and turned to face his troops.

“Everyone put your helmets on if you haven’t already. There are still droids in this bunker that are trying to get out, and we cannot let them reach the surface.” He told his men.

“Yes sir!” The clones responded.

“The bunker is divided into three main parts, and our section is clear of droids. We’ll continue onward to the other two sections to find the rest of the droids before they reach the surface.”

As Anakin progressed through the tunnels with his troops, he tried his best to appear fine on the outside. But he could feel his body being weighed down by the exhaustion and chills from the fever. He already spent most of his time being cold but having a fever didn’t help. Each breath he took hurt his lungs more than the last, but he kept pressing forward. He could feel Padme look at him each time he coughed. He wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her that he was alright, and that they were alright, but he couldn’t. He’d rather die than pass this virus onto her.

“Droids, up ahead!” Anakin shouted and ignited his lightsaber. The blue glow from the blade blended in with the blue mist from the virus, creating a halo effect around his saber. Anakin rushed forward slicing through droids, frustrated at how his body was already beginning to slow down. He could hear Padme and his troops shooting at the droids.

“Hey!” He shouted as a droid began to climb a latter. He ran up to the ladder and looked up. The droid was beginning to cut through the metal door that had been sealed shut. Anakin took a deep breath, trying to concentrate. He didn’t trust his aim, so he used the force to pull the droid down forcefully. The droid slammed down onto the ground next to him and Anakin swayed, grabbing onto the ladder to steady himself.

“Anakin.” Padme said while resting her hand on his shoulder.

“I’m alright.” He said, his voice weak from all the coughing. “Let’s keep moving.”

“Master, I got it!” Ahsoka said as she pulled the root out from under the ground.

“Good, now let’s get out of here!” He shouted back from several meters above her. Ahsoka began to climb, and Obi-Wan did as well once she caught up to her. Once they reached the surface, the boy that they had met earlier was waiting for them.

“Wow.” He said as he looked them over “I’m surprised that you guys didn’t die while you were down there.”

“Thanks.” Ahsoka said as she turned to walk back towards the ship.

“Wait, you’re not going to try and leave, are you?” He asked.

“Why would we stay here? My friends are in danger!” Ahsoka exclaimed.

“You can’t leave. We’re all stuck here.” He said. “The planet is cursed; every time someone tries to leave, they don’t make it.”

“Well, we’ll be the judge of that.” She said as she continued to head towards the ship. Ahsoka hopped into the co-pilot seat and began to get the ship started when Master Kenobi slid into the pilot’s seat next to her.

“We should be careful, there might be some truth to what he is saying.” Master Kenobi said as he began to take off. He steered the ship upward and Ahsoka sighed as the left the planet behind.

“See?” She said “There was nothing to worry- “Ahsoka was cut off as lasers began to fire, filling their view, and making it impossible to navigate.

“We have to turn around!” Master Kenobi shouted.

“We can’t!” Ahsoka said. “We have to save Anakin!” Obi-Wan turned the ship back around and they landed back on the platform from earlier.

“Ahsoka, I’m also worried about him, but we cannot let our fear cloud of judgement.” He said while laying a hand on her shoulder. Ahsoka opened her mouth to reply, but they were getting an incoming call.

“Senator Amidala, Anakin” Master Kenobi greeted them. Ahsoka looked at her master. While she couldn’t see much color from the holo, she could tell from looking at him that he was very sick. He was partially hunched over, his hands wrapped around his torso. On the other hand, she was relieved to see that Senator Amidala was wearing protective gear and appeared to still be healthy.

“Obi-Wan.” Padme said. “Ahsoka, it’s good to see you two.”

“And you as well, senator.” Master Kenobi said.

“Obi-Wan, the men are seriously sick.” Anakin said. Ahsoka winced when she heard his voice. She had never heard her master sound so frail before. “We don’t have that much time left- “He continued to speak but was cut off by a harsh coughing fit. Ahsoka watched her master gasp for air in between coughs and drop to his knees, his hands clutching his chest.

“Anakin!” Padme said while bending over to help him “Anakin!” Both Master Kenobi and Senator Amidala shouted. The holo cut out, and Ahsoka sat there in the cockpit with her grand master. She could feel his worry through the force, and she was sure that he could feel hers as well.

“Let’s go, Ahsoka.” Master Kenobi said as he got up to leave the ship.

Padme wiped the sweat off a soldier’s forehead with a cool cloth. She looked up, trying to find Anakin through all the haze, when she heard him cough.

“Anakin,” She said while rushing over to his side. He was trying to stand, bracing himself against a wall.

“Padme” He whispered. “I’m alright, we’re gonna be… alright.” He said, his harsh breathing interrupting his sentences. He began to slide back down the wall, and Padme rushed to catch him.

“Anakin.” She said urgently. “Anakin!” She shouted as his head turned listlessly in her arms. Padme held her husband in her arms, and felt her tears slide down her cheeks. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

She gently set him down, and gently touched his face with her gloved hand.

“Jar-Jar, what are we going to do?” She said, her voice cracking.

“I dunno, milady.” He replied as he sat down next to her.

“Anakin”, Obi-Wan’s voice called out. Padme looked up, and saw the light on Anakin’s commlink blinking

“Anakin, come in.” Obi-Wan called again. “We’ve got the antidote, we’re on our way back to Naboo right now.”

“Obi-Wan!” Padme responded through Anakin’s comm.

“Padme, where’s Anakin?” Obi-Wan asked.

“He’s really sick.” Padme said and bit her lip “All of the men are really sick.” She replied. There was a short pause before she heard a response.

“We’ll be there in a few hours.” He said. “He’ll make it. I know he will.”

Padme had lost track of how long they had been waiting for Ahsoka and Obi-Wan. She knew that they had said a few hours, but it had felt like an eternity. Watch Anakin’s condition slowly deteriorate as time progressed made her seriously question if they would make it in time, or if she was going to watch her husband die in her arms. He had woken up a few times since fainting earlier, but it was getting harder and harder for him to hold a conversation with her. She tried to get him to talk to her about something, anything really, and he tired his best to. But between gasping for air, the coughing, and the fatigue from the fever, he was becoming less and less responsive.

“Hello? Is anyone in here?” She heard Captain Typho’s voice call out.

“We’re in here!” Padme shouted. She saw several figured through the haze. As they approached, she saw Captain Typho along with several clone troopers, all wearing protective gear.

“Master Kenobi is back, milady.” Captain Typho said. “We need to get you all out of here as soon as possible.” Padme looked back at Anakin’s body, and watched his chest rise and fall with each breath that he took.

“He’ll be alright, we’ll make sure of it.” He said. The troopers began to pick their brothers up and place them on stretchers before carrying them out of the room. Two troopers bent down silently and picked Anakin up, placing him on a stretcher before quickly leaving the room and heading back towards the surface of Naboo. Padme pushed herself off of the ground and followed her captain through the hazy hallways. She noticed that as they walked it felt like as if they were going up a hill. Captain Typho opened a series of blast doors.

“Milady, Representative Binks, you will have to remove your protective gear here.” Captain Typho said as he removed his hazmat suit. Padme removed her hazmat suit stepping out of it as Typho opened the last blast door. Suddenly the bright light of her planet’s sun filled her vision. Padme lifted her hand to shield herself from the sudden change in lighting. As her eyes adjusted, she looked around and saw several men on stretchers who were being attended to by medics. She spotted Obi-Wan and Ahsoka standing next to a stretcher and made her way over to them.

“He’s going to be sick for a while, even with the antidote.” A medic was explaining. “The antidote will help, but the blue shadow virus, is well… a virus. So, his immune system must do most of the work and fight it off. But he should make a full recovery, Thanks to your help”. The medic explained. Padme looked down at Anakin and sighed. Once he was feeling better, she was going to have a talk with him about his habit of saying that everything was fine when it clearly wasn’t. They watched as the medical team took Anakin away.

“That was close.” Ahsoka said while resting her hands on her hips.

“Too close” Master Kenobi said while stroking his beard. Padme laughed.

“Thank you both for what you have done.” She said “Now Naboo, nor the rest of the galaxy will have to worry about this virus anymore.”

“Of course, Padme,” Obi-Wan said “Helping people is our job, after all.”

#star wars #star wars the clone wars #sw #sw fanfic #star wars fanfiction #star wars fanfic #swtcw oc #the clone wars #star wars: the clone wars #Anakin Skywalker #Padme Amidala #padme naberrie #Ahsoka Tano #Ahsoka #obi wan kenobi #fanfic

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newstechreviews · 4 years

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In a slightly different world, Fargo season 4 might never have happened. After the FX anthology drama ended its third season, creator Noah Hawley admitted that he didn’t have an idea for a follow-up. And, he figured, “the only reason to do another Fargo is if the creative is there.” So, if there was to be a sequel, Hawley estimated it would take three years. That was in June 2017.

Thirty-nine months later (it would have been 34 had COVID not temporarily halted production), the show has reemerged with a story whose timeliness is obvious. It marks a significant departure from the earliest seasons of Fargo, which pitted good and evil archetypes against each other in arch, violent crime capers that ultimately erred on the side of optimism. Season 3 flirted with topicality, from an opening scene that hinged on Soviet kompromat to a hauntingly inconclusive final showdown between the latest iterations of pure good—represented by Carrie Coon’s embattled police chief Gloria Burgle—and primordial evil (David Thewlis’ terrifying V.M. Varga). Five months into Donald Trump’s presidency, that ending simultaneously reflected many Americans’ fears for the future and suggested that the battle for the human soul would be an eternal one. You can imagine why Hawley might have considered it a hard act to follow.

Instead of trying to top the high-flown allegory of its predecessor, the fascinating but uneven new episodes tackle conflicts of a more earthly nature: race, structural inequality, American identity. To that end, Fargo season 4 ventures farther south and deeper into history than it has gone before, to Kansas City, Mo. in 1950. For half a century, ethnic gangs have battled over the midsize metropolis. The Irish took out the Jews. The Italians took out the Irish. Finally, just a few years after a brutal World War in which fascist Italy numbered among the United States’ enemies, the Great Migration has brought the descendants of slaves north to this Midwestern city whose complicity in American racism dates back to the Missouri Compromise.

This upstart syndicate is led by one Loy Cannon (Chris Rock in a rare dramatic role), a brilliant, self-possessed power broker who doesn’t relish violence but is determined to exact reparations from this country, on behalf of his beloved family, by any means necessary. Loy’s deputy and closest friend is a learned older man by the name of Doctor Senator (the great Glynn Turman, all quiet dignity). In an early episode, the two men walk into a bank to pitch its white owner on an idea they’ve been testing out through less-than-legal means in the Black community: credit cards. (“Every average Joe wants one thing: to seem rich,” Loy explains to the banker.) He turns them down, of course, convinced that his clientele would have no interest in purchasing things they couldn’t afford. We’re left wondering how the ensuing saga might’ve been different if Loy and Doctor Senator had been allowed to channel their considerable intelligence into a legit business.

Elizabeth Morris/FXSalvatore Esposito and Jason Schwartzman in ‘Fargo’

The Italians, meanwhile, are starting to enjoy the rewards of their newfound whiteness—a largely invisible transformation marked in The Godfather by Michael Corleone’s relationship with naive WASP Kay Adams. (In keeping with previous seasons’ allusive style, Fargo often playfully evokes Francis Ford Coppola’s trilogy.) In the wake of their capo father Donatello’s (Tommaso Ragno) death, two brothers battle for control of the Fadda clan—a crime family that has Italian-accented patriarchalism written into its very name. Crafty, spoiled, crypto-corporate Josto (Jason Schwartzman, doing a scrappier, cannier take on his Louis XVI character in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette) has long been Donatello’s right hand. But his younger brother Gaetano (Salvatore Esposito, imported from Sky Italia’s acclaimed organized-crime drama Gomorrah), a brawny brute who came up in Sardinia busting heads for Mussolini, stands between Josto and the consolidation of power.

Generations-old tradition dictates that if two syndicates are to share turf in Kansas City, their leaders must raise each other’s sons. These exchanges are supposed to be a sort of insurance policy against betrayal; never mind that they never work out as planned. So Loy very reluctantly trades his scion Satchel (Rodney Jones) for Donatello’s youngest (Jameson Braccioforte). The boy finds a protector in the Faddas’ solemn older ward, Patrick “The Rabbi” Milligan (Ben Whishaw, humane as always), who double-crossed his own Irish family in an earlier transaction.

Ethelrida Pearl Smutny (E’myri Crutchfield from History’s 2016 Roots remake) is the show’s other innocent youth, a bright and insightful Black teenager whose parents (Anji White and indie rocker Andrew Bird) own the poignantly named King of Tears funeral home. Every Fargo season needs a personification of goodness, and in this one it’s Ethelrida. Not that her virtuousness makes her life any easier. In a voiceover montage that opens the season premiere, she tells us that she learned early on that, as far as white authority figures were concerned, “the only thing worse than a disreputable Negro was an upstanding one.” Her inscrutable foil is Oraetta Mayflower (Jessie Buckley), a white nurse neighbor whose patients tend to die before they can experience too much pain. Oraetta’s quaint Minnesota accent (another Fargo staple) belies the racist views she politely but unapologetically espouses; she seems fixated on making Ethelrida her maid.

Elizabeth Morris/FXE’myri Crutchfield in ‘Fargo’

It’s fitting that Oraetta is both the most tangible link to Fargo’s home turf and the first character who ties together the mobster’s story with that of the Smutny family. As her loaded last name suggests, she seems to embody a particular form of evil that has been a constant in American life since the colonial period: white supremacy. Oraetta harms, kills and plunders with minimal consequences. No wonder she has eyes for Josto, the first Fadda who knows how to wield his white identity, building alliances with government and law enforcement that would be impossible for the Cannon syndicate. (Josto’s version of Kay Adams is the homely daughter of a politician.) “I can take all the money and pussy I want and still run for President,” he boasts at one point.

The reference to our current President’s briefly scandalous Access Hollywood tape is so flagrant as to elicit an involuntary groan. It’s lines like this that expose the limitations of Hawley’s attempt to fuse the topical and the elemental. Fargo still creates an absorbing, cinematic viewing experience, with painterly framing, pointedly deployed split-screen and arcane yet evocative needle drops. A not-at-all-gratuitous black-and-white episode could almost stand on its own as a movie. And, as in past seasons, the show gives us many remarkable performances: Rock may seem an odd pick for a gangster role, but the same shrewdness and indignation that fuel his stand-up persona also simmer beneath Loy’s measured surface. The pain Whishaw’s character carries around in his body goes far beyond what can be conveyed in dialogue. Bird broke my heart as a meek, loving dad. But in his eagerness to make a legible, potent political statement, Hawley struggles to find the right tone and keep the season’s many intersecting themes straight.

Elizabeth Morris/FXJessie Buckley in ‘Fargo’

The show is simply trying to do too much within a limited framework. Fargo wouldn’t be Fargo without some eccentric law enforcement, so an already-huge cast expands to fit a crooked local detective with OCD (Jack Huston) and Timothy Olyphant—whose roles on Deadwood and Justified made him prestige TV’s quintessential cop—as a smarmy, Mormon U.S. Mashal who snacks on carefully wrapped bundles of carrot sticks. Yet Hawley also realized that he needed to break from previous seasons that, like the Coens’ film, cast a white police officer as the avatar of goodness; hence Ethelrida, whose investigation into her city’s criminal underworld takes the form of a school assignment, and whose soul is stained by neither corruption nor white privilege. She’s a wonderful character, but her and Oraetta’s story line can feel peripheral to the gang war.

With such a crowded plot, it’s no wonder the show can’t maintain a consistent tone. Each season of Fargo creates a hermetically sealed moral universe, doling out divine and definitive justice to each character according to their position on the spectrum spanning from good to evil. In the past, its archness has served as a self-aware counterbalance to the sanctimony inherent in such a project. And there’s still plenty of irreverence in season 4, particularly when it comes to Hawley’s depiction of the Faddas, Oraetta and the other white characters. But there’s nothing funny about the oppression and discrimination that Loy, Doctor Senator and Ethelrida face. Each of their fates is shaped at least as much by a society that is hostile to people who look like them as it is by the moral choices they make as individuals. So the scripts give them the dignity they deserve at the expense of inflicting earnestness—along with frequent reminders, such as Schwartzman’s Trump line, that the story’s themes remain relevant today—on a format that isn’t built for it. Realistic characters and absurd ones awkwardly mingle.

Hawley’s attempt to correct his show’s political blind spots is laudable, and some pieces of the allegory work well; the ritual of ethnic gangs trying—and failing—to work together by raising each other’s sons makes an inspired metaphor for America’s fragile social contract. Even so, Fargo seems fundamentally ill-equipped to address systemic inequality. Though that failing may well render future seasons similarly flawed, if not impossible, in our current political climate, it doesn’t negate the pleasures or insights of what remains one of TV’s most ambitious shows. Like this nation, the new season is a beautiful and ugly, inspiring and infuriating, a tragic and sometimes darkly hilarious mess. As frustrating as it often was to watch, I couldn’t look away.

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thanagariansnarebeast · 4 years

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Top ten fallen heroes

These are not reformed villains, though they may go into that role after, or at least an anti-hero, but most of these I prefer as villains.

10. Ozymandias (Watchmen). While you don’t see him do his heroics much in the comics, because he is pseudo-retired at this point, you do know what he did in the past to some extent and you know he’s still trying to make the world a better place. (spoilers for the comic that you really should read because there is a reason why it is considered a masterpiece) Ozymandias sacrifices his own morality to try and stop the world from destroying itself, its an awful thing that he does and thinks its for the greater good, and he clearly feels the weight of what he’s done but still stands by it; which is what makes him a fallen hero.

9. Griffith (Berserk). Now Griffith has many heroic qualities, but he always seemed to have a bit of a dark and selfish nature; but that being said his betrayal still really hurt both the audience and the few surviving main characters; and what he did was so profoundly selfish and evil that he becomes a fantastic villain.

8. Light Yagami (Death Note). Light does his fall really hard and really fast, but it takes a bit before he becomes completely evil. His mental chess game with L is one of my favorite story arcs in all of fiction, and it all started because this seemingly innocent boy found a notebook. There are definitely times when you are rooting for him even though you know you shouldn’t be, and I think that makes for some of the best villains. I was going to put Walter White on here, but I feel like Walt was always just a likable villain, you just didn’t know he was an egotistical dick until much later in the show.

7.Artorias the Abysswalker (Dark Souls). Artorias in any other game would probably be a hero you follow the footsteps of, or just play as; but in Dark Souls you slowly piece together the tragic story of a hero that tried as hard and as long as he could to win an unwinnable fight and in the end succumbed to the very abyss that he was fighting. Having to fight his best friend and protector of his grave is just heart breaking, and fighting him in the DLC was almost as bad. He’s not a character that I prefer as a villain, but he is a fun boss.

6. Angelus (Buffy/Angel). Now Angel is my favorite main character in my all time favorite show, but Angelus is a lot of fun to watch. He just loves being evil so much, he relishes it and is almost cartoonish at time with how fucked up he can be; but he has done far too much damage to the main characters of both Buffy and Angel to be taken lightly (I mean most villains in the show ether respect or fear him, and that’s pretty impressive when he’s been gone for hundreds of years). Having a main character who can go so completely evil if pushed is such a fun dynamic and when he gets to come out and play for real in season 4 it is a hell of a show. He’s such a good villain because he gets to sit and watch in agony watching Angel and friends do good all the time, but the whole time he sees how to push buttons and manipulate people so that when he gets free he can get what he needs out of them.

5. Jason Todd/Red Hood (DC comics). Jason was not a well liked character when he first appeared, or even after Crisis on Infinite Earths, but his death was still tragic and made people really question how good of an idea having a teenage sidekick really was. It was only after he came back to life and starting messing with Batman that I really liked him. Most of the villains on this list have questionable at best motivations, but if I was Jason and Batman didn’t kill Joker to avenge me, I’d be pretty pissed off to. He’s a great foil for Batman because he knows him so well, knows how to hurt him, and is pissed enough to really hurt him. He did eventually become an anti-hero and sort of DC’s answer to the Punisher (though they already had Huntress for that) but I like him more as a villain than I do an anti-hero (though he can be written well when he’s not in New 52). I was torn between him and Winter Soldier, but I think Bucky’s story isn’t quite as tragic because of the amount of time that had passed between him dying and him showing back up, and I like him more as a hero; both in the comics and in the MCU.

4. Two-Face (DC comics). From this entry and the last one you might think I’m a Batman fanboy, but I’m not; he just has damn good villains. There are many Spider-Man villains that were good guys to some extent before something terrible turned them into a villain, but Harvey Dent has the edge for me because of how much good he was trying to do before he became a villain. In his many incarnations you can always see a dark side to him before he falls, but seeing him actually become evil is still painful to watch. He is a fantastic villain because he’s so twisted and evil, but there is still a chance for him to be redeemed. He’s a constant reminder to Batman of his failure to help his friend, and he also has a very unique visual style to him that a lot of different creators have had a lot of fun playing with.

3. Arthas Menethil (Warcraft series). Arthas had your classic heroic backstory; young, handsome, talented prince who cared about his people would stop at nothing to protect them. He was brave and a very powerful paladin, but his arrogance would prove to be his undoing. He started down a path of doing worse and worse things to try and accomplish his goals, and eventually became fully corrupted once he got Frostmorne. Once he got his armor and became the Lich King, he became one of the most powerful villains in all of Warcraft, and the sword and armor he had made him very cool (no pun intended). His role as antagonist for a whole World of Warcraft expansion just shows how powerful he was, and being able to piss off pretty much everyone shows how good a villain he was.

2. Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars). Now the prequels are very flawed films, but I don’t find much fault in Anakin’s characterization throughout them. He starts off just a sweet and innocent child longing for adventure, but the next time we see him he’s a cocky teenager with enough power to back up his attitude. He’s very high on this list because while he did do some evil things before his actual turn to the dark side, he was manipulated into most or all of them; that doesn’t excuse him completely because in the end he still had agency over his choices, even if it wasn’t full agency. Some people say that his turn was too quick, but I think what happened is after he made that split second decision to protect Palpatine, he realized he was pretty much stuck with what he did. He did what he did because he was naive, manipulated, and wanted to save his wife and child. I’m also a sucker for a Greek tragedy and a self-fulfilling prophecy. Everything he did after the death of his wife and supposed death of his child was because of his rage and sadness at what he had lost, and clinging to what little he had left. He’s one of the best villains in all of fiction, and is so incredibly visually striking that even if you’ve never seen a Star Wars film, you know just by looking at him who he is.

1. Superman (Injustice games/comic). Who could possibly be a more tragic fallen hero than the symbol of hope and peace losing all hope and becoming a fascist, murdering dictator. Superman needs no introduction, but the Joker tricking him into murdering his wife and unborn child, and blowing up Metropolis sure is a different take on the character. Its not entirely surprising that something so tragic could make the Man of Tomorrow loose what made him a hero. As you read the comics you see that he started off just wanting to kill supervillains, and slowly he had to compromise more and more to get what he wanted. He never completely lost his morality, just slowly changed and warped his view on it until he became so scared of losing what he had left that he became a dictator.

#my lists #top ten

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trinuviel · 5 years

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A Bad Fit. Some thoughts on Daenerys Targaryen’s white costume in season 8 (part 2)

I’ve previously written a rather long essay on the white and red fur coat that Daenerys Targaryen will wear in season 8 of Game of Thrones. However, with the new trailer out and new photos as well, I’ve noticed several new details and since what was supposed to be a short addendum to the original post has turned out to be rather long, I’ve decided to make a second post on the subject - a continuation and elaboration of the points I made in the original post.

THE COLOUR RED

When the very first image of Daenerys’ updated fur coat surfaced, a lot of details couldn’t be seen because of the pose where she had the side with the shoulder fur facing the camera. The addition of red was very eye-catching detail and in a discussion @lostlittlesatellites speculated that the lining of the coat might have changed from grey to red as well. The new photos turned out to confirm her speculations!

And it isn’t just the side-laced flap that is lined, it is the entire coat!

The addition of the red colour makes this outfit even more visually striking but in terms of symbolism, red isn’t such a good colour for her because it connects her to Viserys:

With Dany in particular, finally we’re getting the [Targaryen] red. She was a confused woman, she was wandering … trying to seek something. And now she’s finally got her armor, she’s finally got everything, and she can finally echo the style of her brother with the extended shoulders and the red and the symbolism. He always had the big Targaryen [sigil] on his chest and now she’s got the big chain with the dragon’s heads on it.” (Michele Clapton to the Insider)

“I think it’s quite interesting that we finally see her embracing her brother’s ambition,” Clapton says. “What does that say?You’re seeing the beginning of something. We’re not at the end yet and I think it’s very important at this moment that we start seeing who she is.” (Michele Clapton to Uproxx)

At this point in the story every detail conveys meaning, everything about the costumes are symbolic according to the costumier Michele Clapton:

We try to be really symbolic about everything everyone wears now.” (Michele Clapton, Insider)

Thus, when it comes to Dany the colour red symbolizes not just her House in general but her brother and his ambition in particular - and any parallel to Viserys has a negative symbolic value considering just how awful and selfish he was.

Clapton used red rather sparingly in Dany’s season 7 costumes, the most overt use was the silk sash that was pleated to look like dragon scales.

The red accents aren’t immediately eye-catching because they are so discrete, additions made with embroidery and beading. Neither are these subtle accents very conspicuous against the dark charcoal base colour of the costumes. However, when you pair red with white, the effect is quite different!

Notice how the red stripes have even been widened in comparison with the corresponding grey stripes in the season 7 version of this costume. This makes the red much more noticeable.

When you then add all the red accessories - the gloves, the ascot and the sash - then the red colour is very prominent visually, even though it is still used as an accent to a neutral base colour.

A MISMATCH

I’ve previously mentioned that the addition of a silken sash to a fur coat looks rather ridiculous and out of place in the frozen North. However, after watching the trailer, I noticed that Dany has also changed the placement of the sash compared to how she wore it in season 7 where it was draped over her shoulder and fastened to her dragon chain - the chain that symbolizes her ambition and her authority. Now, the sash is no longer looped into the chain above the three headed dragons. Instead it its fastened on the back of the coat, underneath the shoulder blade.

It is a rather awkward placement that undermines the gravitas of the sash as a symbol of authority. @lostlittlesatellites has mentioned that in the South sashes draped across the body are often used as a symbol of authority in male characters like Tywin Lannister.

The sash fastened at the shoulder seems to be the Targaryen variation of this sartorial custom as we see Viserys wear something similar in the exact same way in season 1. Now, however, the sash of authority has been displaced by Dany’s one-sided shoulder-fur. I’ve previously mentioned that Dany dons this element, which is completely new to her wardrobe, as an attempt to fit in at Winterfell. Remember that the fur cape is used as a symbol of authority in the North. That is why Sansa always wears her fur cape, even indoors when Jon is away:

But there is one part of her look that's positive, Clapton says, and is a sign of her ambition. "Sansa's cape, for instance, represents Ned and her desire to take on more of a leadership role at Winterfell," she said. (Michele Clapton, Elle)

It makes sense for Dany to add this element to her costume because she wants to be accepted in the North as their leader. However, it clashes with the Targaryen sash both in colour and silhouette - and the sash has been reduced to an inconsequential and insubstantial pennant-like addition that flutters impractically in the harsh winds of winter:

(GIF by @snowsource)

In short, it is impractical and it looks ridiculous. She tries to combine two very different styles of dress and ends up with a mismatch.

There’s another, more personal, aspect to Dany’s new shoulder-fur. She isn’t just adopting a garment that is associated with authority in the North, she is also trying to match Jon’s silhouette. However, since the shoulder-fur isn’t a full cape draped over bother shoulder but rather worn across one shoulder as the pelisse of a hussar, her costume only partly matches Jon’s silhouette.

There’s a kind of deceptive quality to this aspect of the costume because while it is clear that this element is to bind them together as a cohesive couple on the visual plane, it is a visual harmony that only works from one single angle!

The pic set above illustrates how Jon and Dany really don’t match as a couple in terms of the visuals, even when their fur-clad shoulders face the same direction, the contrast in colour separates them. Their silhouettes don’t match from the other sides and the contrast is also driven home in other ways. Dany’s outfit is rather fancy - with beaded embellishments, silver jewellery and silken accessories whereas Jon is wearing a somewhat battered and worn leather tunic beneath his cloak.

Visually, Daenerys and Jon don’t really match each other through their costumes. I generally try to avoid making comparisons that fuel shipwars in my essays but, unfortunately, the best way to demonstrate how a couple can look like a visually cohesive unit is this photo of Jon and Sansa from season 6:

As you can see, there’s a stark difference between how two couples look together. Whilst Jon and Dany visually contrast each other in several different ways as I’ve outlined above, Jon and Sansa form a visually cohesive unit because their costumes match on several levels. Firstly, their silhouettes match perfectly since they both wear the same type of cloak where the fur is draped across both shoulders. They also match in terms of colour. They both wear the dark and murky colours of the North. Furthermore, Jon’s brownish fur matches Sansa’s red hair while her grey and black fur matches Jon’s black hair. Their costumes also match in terms of the level of formality. Sansa is wearing an embellished dress in velvet and Jon is wearing studded leather armour decorated with a rhomboid pattern. It is the exact same type of leather armour that both Ned (Lord of Winterfell) and Robb (King in the North) wore. it is a far cry from the worn leather tunic that laces up the front that he wears with Dany.

As the final touch of unity, Jon and Sansa both wear the same symbol: the direwolf sigil of their House.

This detail is even repeated in the following season where they both wear two direwolves facing each other, symbolizing their partnership as leaders of the North. And just like their costumes matched in season 6, so did they once again match in season 7 (x).

In summation, Dany and Jon simply don’t match on the visual level, and even when they seem to match somewhat it is deceptive because Dany’s costume is a mismatch of her Targaryen style with a few added elements of the Northern aesthetic.

Since everything regarding the costumes is symbolic according to Clapton, this sartorial mismatch between Jon and Dany is significant and meaningful.

Jon and Dany are foils to each other. Their personalities, ambitions, morals and the way they act as leaders are complete opposites and the show has made that clear on several occasions (for one example see this essay). The mismatching clothes work as a visual expression of these fundamental differences between these two persons - and costume design is, to paraphrase Michele Clapton “a story told in cloth.”

One curious aspect of this particular costume is the fact that while the white fur coat looks very impressive from the front, it presents quite another image from the back.

When seen from the back, you immediately notice that the outfit looks somewhat “busy”. There are too many elements that visually compete with each other. Thus, the flimsy red sash visually competes with the split skirt, which looks cumbersome and not as fluid and elegant as the season 7 version of the coat.

The addition of the shoulder-fur and the way that it is worn as a pelisse also skewers the overall silhouette of the outfit.

The fur pelisse give the entire outfit a lop-sided quality where one of Dany’s shoulders seem higher than the other because of the fur. Furthermore, you can see how the Northern silhouette that the pelisse creates stands in a stark contrast to the triangular silhouette of the other shoulder, which signifies her Targaryen style/heritage. The difference in silhouettes creates an asymmetry that isn’t pleasing to the eye.

Daenerys is trying to combine two very different styles/silhouettes in one single costume and all she ends up with is a mismatch. From the back it looks like two completely different garments have been combined - and this is actually quite a accurate image of the dilemmas that characterizes Dany’s narrative arc - the struggle between her ambition to conquer Westeros and her need to be seen as a saviour (which is now connected to her infatuation with Jon).

This dilemma was the driving narrative of season 7 where she refused to help Jon Snow save mankind unless she could put her conquest on hold without losing ground. In season 7 she avoided making the hard choice between her two desires but the audience knows that Cersei has no intention of honouring that truce, which means that Dany will have to face what will be her ultimate choice: Will she stay in the North and help save the world even if she looses her foothold in the South or will she abandon the North after Cersei’s betrayal and Jon’s competing claim to the Iron Throne is revealed?

In that sense, the split skirt is a curiously apt metaphor for the direction that Daenerys’ narrative has taken. Dany avoided to make the hard choice between altruism and selfishness - but the narrative has been set up so that she cannot both have her cake and eat it too. She will be forced to choose - and we’ll just have to wait and see whether she makes the right choice.

#game of thrones #costume design #anti-jonerys #michele clapton #anti-daenerys #not really anti but I don't have the patience and energy to deal with fragile stans

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