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sokkabaddiebender2021 · 3 years

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An ATLA Rant: Imperialism & Nuance

Just to start off, this is coming from a girl who’s grandmother was Filipino. No, I have not personally experienced imperialism in my lifetime, but it is a subject that I think is very serious and important to me because of my heritage.

That said, I have absolutely zero idea how you could watch avatar: the part airbender and come out of it saying that it is pro imperialist. Absolutely zero.

I agree because this is a pan Asian inspired show that was written was created by two white men (with the help and advisement of several poc as well but that is a topic for another time), people, especially people of color, have every right to be critical of it. But this argument that the show is somehow pro imperialist just doesn’t make sense to me.

The fire nation is in the wrong. The show makes that VERY clear. Their actions towards other nations is called out by several characters (Zuko, Roku, etc). Their destruction of other cultures (southern water tribe, air nomads, attempted earth kingdom) are seen as diporable and downright inhuman. Not only that, but we see the devastation this cultural genocide brings upon main characters like Katara and especially Aang and how they must heal from it.

Moving on, the show absolutely was not teaching people to stand docile and peaceful against their oppressors. Katara and Aang literally destroy a whole fire nation factory!! When the fire nation was attacking the northern air temple, they were kicking their asses off the cliff!! They planned a whole invasion to attack the fire nation capital to end the war!! (Let’s not forget Katara incititing a riot against the fire nation in the imprisonment episode with the earth benders). I could on and on about all the times the gaang meets the fire nation with violence and encourages others to fight back against them, but that would be going wayyy too in depth.

I think where people get far too simplistic here is that they think that atla is telling people to not use violence against their oppressors because the show is critical of people like Jet and Hama. First of all, the characters are given a lot of nuance in the show. Both are introduced with tragic backstories of the horrors that the fire nation inflicted upon them (I still get chills with the scene when Hama explains her story).

Despite this, both characters have every chance to use their abilities to fight back against the fire nation in a way that helps. You know, like fighting against the army and not innocent people who have no idea that the fire nation is actually in the wrong. The narrative is not that violence is bad! Peace is the only way! I think it’s that you can’t let your veagance lead you away from fighting the right people. That’s the issue: neither Jet and Hama were fighting the right people.

And we first see both characters fighting soldiers in their first scenes. Hama in the flashback when she’s defending her home (and rightfully uses violence to do so) and Jet when he helps the gaang take down some fire nation soldiers in the forest. This is just violence directed at the right people. But instead, both attempt to murder and in Hama’s case, torture people who take no part in the atrocities the fire nation has committed. Are they ignorant? Well of course they are because as we very obviously see, they’ve been fed propaganda their entire life while also living under an authoritarian regime, something that’ll give you no will to think other than the things that are spoon fed to you.

So let me ask you this, was it right for Jet to try and murder an entire village of innocent people, literal children included? Was it right for Hama to imprison and torture lord knows how many innocent citizens just because they belong to an nation that they have no actual knowledge of its evil? I’m hoping your answer is no, and the show would also say no as well.

When both Katara and Aaag choose not to kill, the narrative is not saying that they shouldn’t kill these men. The narrative allows both characters to make their own choice in what ways they wish to do, and it has nothing to do with what is actually right or wrong, because ultimately it is up to what each character wishes to do. Katara sees Yon Ra as the pathetic old man that he is, so she sees no purpose or healing for herself in taking his life. This is a personal choice made for herself, and that is all that matters.

The same goes for Aang. This poor boy is desperate to uphold the beliefs of his people, so he finds another way. A way that still upholds his beliefs while still ending the tyranny of Firelord Ozai. It is ridiculous to say that this is a passive take to imperialism, because yes he doesn’t literally murder someone but he still takes the dude out. And honestly, Ozai’s fate is worse then death (especially considering who Ozai is). Once again, the narrative is not saying be passive to your oppressors and don’t use violence. Its saying that because Aang is living in a world where his beliefs have been forcefully removed and disrespected, he has every right to continue to defend them in the ways he sees fit.

While some may see the narrative as more sympathetic to Iroh and Zuko, I think it’s just because they ARE some of the main characters of the show, as compared to those like Jet and Hama. We see much more of their story just as we see much more of the gaang’s story. Not only that, but their narrative purpose is far different from these two other characters. Iroh and Zuko are meant to show that despite them being from the fire nation, they are not inherently evil people. Jet and Hama are meant to show that even while they are against the antagonistic force of the show, they still can commit evil. Not only are Iroh and Zuko’s actions never justified, but they both must go on a journey to unlearn the hateful propaganda instilled into them, and remedy their ignorance. The narrative never says that neither Jet and Hama cannot also redeem themselves, but Hama feels no remorse for her actions, and Jet does attempt to redeem himself, but ultimately falls back into old habits (I believe he could’ve redeemed himself, but I’ll agree the writers were a bit sloppy in his end, like I’m not sure why they had to kill him other than to make him a tragic character but whatever).

To finally wrap up this essay, ATLA is not a black and white show. The show is not pro imperialist for condemning the violent actions of two characters who happen to be victims of imperialism. The show is not pro imperialist for allowing two children to decide for themselves whether or not they want to end the lives of someone. The show is not pro imperialist for not making the antagonist of the show a one note and one dimensional bad guy.

I’ll end this with the speech that Zuko makes to Ozai when he prepares to leave on Day of Black Sun:

No, I've learned everything! And I've had to learn it on my own! Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the War was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation. They don't see our greatness. They hate us! And we deserve it! We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #atla essay #zuko #katara #aang #iroh #jet #Hama #anti imperialism #I promise you if the show leaned towards supporting imperialism I would not love it as I do #the southern raiders #sozins comet #day of black sun

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booksforevermore13 · 3 years

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What she wants (is not what she truly needs)

Summary: After a potion accident, Ginny's left suffering its effects. Harry's there to help her through it, but he soon realizes that while thinking her wants were his to fulfill, he'd forgotten her needs.

Read it on Fanfiction if you prefer!

...

The pale, gibbous moon was striking against the dusky blue sky. It had untimely risen and though — as Harry looked up — it looked faded, clouded by the brilliance of the blue, it sat against the sky as if seated in a throne amongst the clouds.

Any other day and he'd not have cared. As long as the moon stayed in its place in the sky and didn't come hurtling down to the ground, he was perfectly fine with ignoring it.

No, what was important was the fact thatGinny was late.

Again.

It didn't help his case that he had been waiting for her for over an hour now.

Harry remembered the first time Ginny had been late. He'd done what he did best and that was rushing into the Harpies' stadium, convinced his girlfriend was in the clutches of some crazed genocidal maniac who'd use her as bait to lure him in. He'd quite nearly hexed the guards there when they'd pointed out the no outsiders warning taped on the door.

As if he didn't know that. He'd put up the sign himself.

Threatening to hex them had worked, though, and they'd let him in soon after that — it at least explained the nasty looks they sent his way every time he came to pick Gin up. Harry remembered rushing in that day and bombardingthe door leading to the grounds into fine splinters. It was only after he'd seen Ginny on her Firebolt Primus, hovering a few metres off the ground and staring at him with what was shock and concern, had he calmed down. Of course, she had been a vital factor in that, proceeding to tick him off after in true Molly Weasley fashion.

He'd not regretted it though.

As long as she was safe.

He'd not broken in again nevertheless — though he'd come very close once or twice — partly because he'd figured the guards were traumatised enough and partly because he was afraid of what Ginny'd do to him if it happened again.

So with no other viable option possible, he'd retreated so his back was pressed against the wall, his hands crossed over his chest. Every other second, he glanced at the Muggle watch Hermione had gifted to him on his birthday and then to the glass door to the stadium, hoping every time he looked, he'd see those beautiful brown eyes sparkling as they'd come out the door.

The next time he looked up though, instead of Ginny coming out with that dazzling smile of hers, he recognized one of her teammates.

Angila Macqueen.

He knew her as the reserve beater on the Harpies and Harry recognized her solely because he'd had Ginny point her out on multiple occasions, saying she deserved to be in the team but had been held back due to legalities. He'd talked to her before, shy girl she was, and they'd mostly just stood around until she'd admitted he was daunting.

He remembered Ginny laughing after she'd said that, and him being horrified.

"Angila, hey!" he called now as he stood up to his full height, not failing to take note of how worn the girl looked and how she didn't have her gear with her like Ginny normally did after practice. "Gin, is she done?"

"You need to come in, Harry," she said, skirting around his question but he could see the distinct worry in her eyes. Harry frowned at her, before taking off towards the door.

He didn't need her to say anything more; something had gone wrong.

He knew it.

"Where is she?" he yelled over his shoulder as Angie sped to catch up with him.

"Changing room," she yelled back. "Last door to the right."

And he sped, his mind clouded with fear as he ran where Angie had pointed.

Bludgers.

He'd heard about people getting hit with them and losing their memory. Completely blank about the life they'd lived.

But surely Angie would have said something if something like that had happened. Wouldn't she?

Or maybe she hadn't because she had wanted to break it to him slowly. People believed in rubbish like that, as if breaking it slowly or quickly would do anything to lessen the gravity of the situation.

Gwenog Jones was leaning against the door to the changing room and he came to a stop as he saw her. "Where is she?" he asked. "What happened?"

"Potion accident," Gwenog replied curtly. "Ginny's fine, though," she said as she saw the look on his face. "You," she sighed, "you should just—"

She stepped aside. "Go talk to her yourself."

He didn't have to be told twice. Harry pushed open the door, eyes immediately on a red blanket with the Harpies' logo emblazoned on it, Ginny's red hair peeking out from under it. Her eyes were closed and he could see the blanket rising at a steady pace.

She was breathing. Sleeping, but it did nothing to calm his frenzied brain.

Coma. He'd heard it happen to Quidditch players. Bludger in the head, person gone for the next two years.

No.

"Ginny?" Harry called, and he could sense the desperation in his voice as he crouched down beside her. "Gin, wake up," he begged, "wake up."

His voice cracked, and he didn't know if it was the panic or the anger playing as he gently brushed her hair back. "Gin," he tried again. "Ginevra."

"Don't call me that," she mumbled, and Harry nearly cried in relief upon hearing her voice. "Can't let a woman sleep in peace, can you?"

Her hand reached out from under her blanket and caught his, bringing him closer to her. He let her, for there was nothing else he'd have liked more.

"Potion gone wrong, if you were wondering," she explained softly. "We needed an extra edge to the game with Puddlemere this week, and Clarita suggested a limb-heightening potion. I was stupid enough to try it first, so here I am."

"What potion?" Harry frowned, before realising it was not the question he should have been asking. "Wait, what's it going to do now? Surely there's an antidote to this —"

"Nope," Ginny said, pursing her lips and Harry's heart skipped a beat as he saw her eyelids fluttering shut.

"Gin, don't sleep! Ginny!"

"Harry, stop panicking, I'm not going into a coma," Ginny chuckled, "the potion was supposed to increase my stamina. We must have done something wrong because it's doing the exact opposite. There's no other option but to wait for it to neutralize."

"Huh?"

"It's just going to make me sleepy," she explained.

He waited a second. "You're saying it's basically harmless then," he stated slowly, as if he was having trouble believing it himself.

"Basically. But I'll be fine."

"You'll be fine," Harry repeated again and then sighed in relief. "Thank Merlin, I thought something bad had happened, bloody nearly gave me a scare."

"This is bad, too, you know," Ginny said. "I'm sitting out the next match. And the one after that too if this doesn't get better by then."

He agreed with that, but couldn't help but grin. This was good, of course, not entirely, but he'd take this any day over anything he'd thought about.

"You know, I'd tell you to stop smiling," Ginny started, "but I know it'll make no difference."

"Rightly said, Miss Weasley," and he bent forward and picked her up, still grinning. Ginny yelped and he laughed as she brought her hands around his neck.

He looked at her and in a moment of impulse, leaned forward and kissed her, slightly dipping her down and Ginny shrieked again, laughing as Harry brought her back.

"What, you don't trust me?"

"A bit too much, in fact, Mr. Potter."

...

"What were you thinking?"

"You need it, Gin," Harry said, matter-of-factly. "I asked Hermione and she said this was the best option."

"Hermione told you to buy an entire shop's worth of energy bars?"

"No," he said, "but I figured it was for the best." He was being patient, unnaturally so, but this was the third time Ginny had yelled at him that day, and he was trying to be calm, to look at it from her eyes, but it was becoming increasingly hard to do so. But he could see that that was what she wanted of him, so he did it.

As long as she was okay.

He could see how frustrated she'd been for the past four days, dealing with her lack of energy, and he'd tried making it better for her but it hadn't worked, and now he was running out of options. "You'll need it," he said after Ginny didn't answer. "They're good for you."

"Oh, I know," she snarled, "hand me the bill, Harry."

"Ginny —"

"Give me the damn bill!"

Harry sighed and relented, handing over the scrap bit of paper he'd stuffed in his pocket. He watched as her eyes skimmed over the page and winced, damn well knowing what was to come. Sure he'd gone over a bit, maybe more than a bit, but it was for the greater good.

No, she'd yell if he told her that.

Maybe for her good.

No, that wouldn't do either.

"Two hundred pounds?" Ginny started quietly, and Harry, for a brief second, wished she'd yell instead of using that tone. "You spent two hundred pounds on this?"

"To be fair, there are a lot of flavours here," he defended and cringed.

Wrong answer.

"Flavours?"

"Don't yell, please," Harry sighed. "Yell at me later, Gin, but not now, it'll drain you out."

"Oh, so I'm supposed to ask for your permission now, huh?" she retorted and then paused for a second, whatever she wanted to say next, lost to the world. He watched her turn towards the stairs and shake her head once, twice.

"Gin?"

"You're right," she said finally, and he could sense a defined resignation in her voice. "I'm going up."

She was exhausted, he realized. More than she was letting on. She had been since the potion accident and the yelling had not helped.

For the past four days, all he had seen was her driving herself to exhaustion and he'd said nothing. Said nothing as he watched her struggle to a point where she could barely keep herself awake. He'd said nothing because he knew that was what she needed. He couldn't put it in words, but he'd kept his distance, helping when required.

Because that was what Ginny needed.

So he said nothing as she made her way up the stairs, their argument forgotten as he watched her climb the blocks, one at a time.

"Gin?"

She answered after a second and when she did so, she sounded out of breath."Yeah?"

"Can I help you?"

"No."

And Harry sighed, wondering if that was what she truly needed.

...

"Gin?" Harry called, knocking on the door thrice in succession before sighing. "Gin, can I come in?"

He'd never had to ask before, but Ginny'd never locked him out like this. Ever. Sometimes, she'd lock the door to their room out of habit but Harry understood that, seeing how she had lived with six boys before and needed her own privacy. But with him, she'd never hid.

Until now.

"I'm coming in," he stated when he got no response, taking out his wand to produce a quick unlocking spell.

"No, don't!"

He stepped back as he heard her voice, out of habit, searching for signs showing she might be hurt. He found none.

"Are you okay in there Gin?"

"I'm fine."

"Right," he replied, finding nothing else to say back. "Ginny?" he asked after a second. "Can I come in?"

"Please don't," he heard her say and he looked at the door, hoping he could see her through it. "Just," she sighed, "please just leave me alone, Harry."

No, he wanted to say. I won't. He wanted to go in and he wanted to hold her while she fell asleep, hoping that that would fade her problems away.

But he settled on saying, "okay," because that was what she wanted and that was what she needed, so he'd do that for her.

"I love you," he said as he rested his forehead against the door. He didn't know what else to say.

The past week had been rough, for her, and for him, but even through all of it, he needed her to know how much he loved her. Part of him thought she wouldn't say it back, the other part wishing she would.

"I love you too," she said finally and he nodded, very well knowing she couldn't see him. But nonetheless, he wanted her to know. And even though she couldn't see him, he knew she'd know. She always did.

So he turned to leave, because that was what she needed from him and he'd do whatever he could, if that meant she was okay.

He didn't make any noise as he turned towards the stairs, his footsteps silent against the floor.

"Harry?" he heard her call and immediately turned towards the door, wand at the ready to perform the slightest spell required.

"Yeah?"

"Tell Gwenog I'm out for the week."

...

The night was a special kind of blackness he noticed, the kind that wanted only to hold the stars and help them shine all the brighter.

He tried but Harry couldn't appreciate its beauty. With Ginny to point it out, it had come easily, looking for the tiny points of light hidden in the murky darkness. The one who could spot the most stars won.

She always did.

Perhaps, that is why, as he stepped into the training grounds, he wasn't bothered by the lack of stars in the sky.

She wasn't there with him this time.

He didn't know why he was there. Why he had come all the way to the Harpies' training grounds when he could have spent it with Ginny at home. He'd figured it was the fear playing, the dread he'd feel if she locked him out again. If he had to watch her push herself to exhaustion one more time. Or perhaps, it was simply because he wanted to understand the allure that had brought her here in the first place.

He couldn't get it.

He didn't understand.

Maybe she did, but he couldn't.

"Is she okay?" He heard a voice behind him, and he knew it was Gwenog. She was the only one here after hours, the only one crazy enough to do so, Ginny had said. Gwenog lived and breathed Quidditch, she'd told him. That, while it was a much loved career for her, it was an entire life for Gwenog.

For a second, he contemplated saying no, for it was the truth. Ginny wasn't okay and Harry didn't know what to do.

But he couldn't say that, and he took his time turning around, smiling wearily at the sight of the Harpies' captain. "I don't know," he decided at last, and Gwenog nodded as if she'd expected him to say that.

"She can't play in this week's match," he said plainly, holding back any expression that might give him away.

"She said that?"

"Yeah."

"No, you mean she told you she couldn't play or are you —"

"No, she told me to tell you."

Gwenog frowned, her eyes disbelieving and Harry glared at her.

"You can't possibly expect her to play in this state," he said angrily. "She can barely walk, goddamn it!"

"I didn't mean that," Gwenog frowned. "Ginny's….just never one for admitting things like this. I expected you to knock some sense into her. Not-not like this."

And that was true. He'd seen her play Quidditch with a fractured leg and a bludger to her ribs, goddamn it, and she'd done so brilliantly.

Gwenog was right. This was not the Ginny he knew. Not the Ginny he loved.

Had things become so bad that Gwenog had needed to step in to make him realize that things were not as it seemed? That Ginny was simply not okay? That maybe, just maybe, her struggling day in and out was her way of dealing with this?

"I have to go," he announced and Gwenog nodded, though her lips were still set in a frown.

But Harry knew she understood.

…

This time he didn't knock.

This time he knew well enough.

He found her on her bed as he walked in, curled up under her blanket. She wasn't sleeping, for the rise and fall of her figure was erratic. Not fast, but it wasn't constant either, like it did while she was sleeping.

"Harry?" Ginny turned and Harry could see her trying to hold her tears in. He didn't know how long she had been doing this, how long she'd been struggling with what he couldn't help with.

"I thought you might need me here," he said and he offered a shrug as Ginny looked at him.

"I don't need anything now, Harry."

"We don't always have to need each other, do we?" he asked as he laid down beside her on the bed, gently pulling her close to him. Ginny sighed, pausing before she gave in and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I suppose not," she said and he could hear her voice wavering ever so slightly.

The problem, he realised, was that the feeling of need was unknown to them both. Harry knew not to need from a very young age, but Ginny... Ginny knew how fast need could be turned into a trap. The need to be independent had been taught to her in the hardest way possible. Without it, he realized, she felt helpless. By thinking her wants were his to fulfill, he'd forgotten her needs.

For he realized, want and need were two very different things.

He needed Ginny, needed her more than he could ever comprehend.

And he knew Ginny felt the same.

...

#hinny fanfiction #harry and ginny #post-war fic #holyhead harpies #harry potter #ginny weasley #potion accident #romance #hurt/comfort #angst #written for the quidditch league fan fiction competition #hinny fluff #gwenog jones #original character

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ostrichlady · 3 years

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THOUGHTS AND RAMBLES ABOUT SNK CHAPTER 139 (SPOILERS!!)

Rating of this chapter: Lukewarm tea.

And everyone knows lukewarm tea tastes bad.

I do think the best way to deal with this chapter is to not overanalyze it. Read it once, call it quits and move on. I did that and felt great the next day. But because I spent too many years of my life in this story, of course the thoughts came back and there are a few things I need to say before leaving this story behind.

I never wanted a happy or tragic ending. I never wanted for everything to be solved neither for everything to end on a depressing note. The only thing I ever asked for was that the finale was fair and made sense.

But unfortunately, what happened was the exact opposite.

Everything that happened after the 3 years time skip was a big whatever and the only thing that comforts me is that Armin is alive, and Historia seems happy with her child.

I still don’t understand why Reiner and Annie were so easily accepted. I mean, at least Reiner showed huge amounts of regret and we saw how he dealt with the trauma that everything caused to him (although now he's back to being a creep for Historia? Ew). But Annie? She herself admitted she would do the same shit all over again no problem, and why was she tearing after talking to Eren in the PATHS? Didn’t she say a few chapters ago that if they had to kill him, she wouldn’t hesitate and was almost judging Mikasa and Armin for not thinking the same way? Excuse me Annie, but what made you so emotional all of the sudden?

Then we learn that the world is still a very dangerous place for Eldians and Paradis; the yeagerists are in charge of the military force and will swoop the alliance’s ass very easily if they find them chilling outside. And my question is: killing 80%of the population lead to this? Really? At any moment, Eldians can be exterminated, this is even worst than before!? They don’t have proper military training, the world still doesn’t like them and the alliance ambassadors or whatever are not very liked either sooo...I truly don’t understand the point of this. Now, don’t get me wrong: I never liked the Rumbling plan because as Hange said, "There's never a good enough reason for committing genocide", and I also always believed the Rumbling would make everyone else hate Eldians even more. But if 80% of people had to have their lives taken, at least don’t let it go to waste!?

Anyways, going back to when they’re still at war.

So Eren went around everyone’s mind and now everyone cries for him. A little late, but sure.

Everyone who was transformed into a titan is back, making the previous chapter be even more useless. Imagine reading the volume, get some shock value with Jean, Connie and everyone else becoming titans just to turn the page and they are back. I mean, I thought it was really unfair Jean died (and I hope he’s not arranging his hair for when they meet Mikasa) but having him and everyone else coming back like this is just....dumb?

The fact we had Eren’s intentions explained this way makes the whole situation even messier. From his conversation with Armin to the road trip he did through people’s memories, it was just a big dump of information that did nothing but pull out a wtf from me. I think it would be a lot better if we saw a POV like the one from chapter 131, more honest and raw being that we would be seeing his true thoughts with no outside opinions and questioning. But this whole mess felt so, so displaced that for two seconds I wondered if they were all going crazy, Eren included.

And I will never accept that Eren “killed” his mom for the sake of whatever the heck this became. Just no. Carla was Eren’s most important person, the one who said he was special simply for being born, and you want to convince me she had to be pulled into this mess because of some weird shit Ymir had going on with Mikasa, and Eren had to follow through?? This was cheap shock value that didn’t even shock because of how nonsense it is. The scene in which Eren asks Reiner why did his mom have to die lost all of its value and weight. How can one rewatch or reread snk, see the tragic and emotional scene where a 10 year old kid cries and screams as he see his mom be EATEN BY A TITAN and feel anything at all? Honestly, what a disrespect to Carla. Someone should have told her Yeagers can’t be trusted.

Speaking of Yeagers: Grisha, your kids are a mess. Come take responsibility for this-

Besides the fact that Zeke was killed for absolutely NOTHING, Eren’s character became a joke on a dozen of panels. More than angry, I’m shocked with how Isayama pulled this off. From having one of the best MC in modern shounen to having a pathetic little idiot that doesn’t know wtf he’s doing and has an intense unresolved crush on the girl he’s always had zero chemistry with. Legit I would be less surprised if he said he had a crush on fucking Connie, for god’sake. All of his motives, ideals and determination were sacrificed in sake of complete obnoxious notions of love I’m not even gonna ramble about here. And don't come at me with the whole "Oh bUt hE's JuSt A tEeNaGeR aNd DoEsN't UnDeRsTaNd HiS eMoTiOnS aNd WaS hIdInG hIs LoVe FoR mIkAsA". That's a cheap explanation for a cheap argument for a cheap mess that makes no sense. If you’re an Eren stan, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened but I feel your pain.

Last but certainly not least: Mikasa and Ymir.

I could say so much about these two but to sum it up: what a miserable duo. I’m not head over heels for Mikasa but I thought she had her place in the story and could have had some good character development. But ever since the timeskip, I had a feeling it wasn’t going to happen and it really didn’t. If Isayama chose this way for her because there’s a message between the lines, I don’t care because this was the last chapter and we all wanted answers. So we’re working with what we have laid down plain which is: Mikasa had a miserable ending, can’t let go of Eren and is stuck in the past. Her so called “selfless” love and obsession towards Eren is a very unhealthy response to her own traumas. This connection between her and Ymir just proves even further what I said as both of them are devoted to a love that never gave back and deeply hurt them in more ways than it’s apparent.

And still on Ymir’s topic, I don’t understand why she now has stockholm syndrome towards that nasty, disgusting, waste of human being king when the plot was setting her up in a complete different direction!? That whole talk of Eren finally freeing her from being a slave to the royal family, and giving her the chance of choosing her own path, where did all of that go!? What was that chapter for!? All of this buildup just because she was waiting for Mikasa?

Where has the entire talk about “everyone deserves freedom because they were born into this world” go? Why has a theme bigger than any of the characters gotten reduced to “waiting for Mikasa to decide herself about her feelings ‘cause omg tragic loooovee story”??? This just makes the deaths of everyone, and the scouts look completely useless. That Ramzi kid really died for this...

I swear, what a mess.

Overall, if you read this chapter in one go and then sigh relief as snk is finally over, this ending will probably be okay or just meh. I’m not angry or anything near that. Just disappointed and shocked that these two last chapters were this bad. Again, even if there are hidden messages between the lines, this is the last chapter and we shouldn’t have to be debating that. It’s okay to pull out a bunch of foreshadowing and questioning and whatnot in your story but to leave things in the open with the most weird messages and morals on the surface is just...blergh.

#snk 139 #aot 139 #snk last chapter #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #snk spoilers #aot spoilers

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pl-panda · 4 years

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Damienette arranged marriage part 4

Credits: Miraculous Ladybug team for the elements I take from MLB show. DC for their characters, @ozmav for the AU, @maribat-archive for giving me access to so many different stories to have take inspirations from, @thyladyanput for idea for Chat Damian and me for the plot.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

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"Oh god! Oh god! I got to meet MDC! Can I get your authograph?" He was suddenly next to her, holding a copy of the her first album cover she made for Jagged.

"Sure." She signed it and handed it back. It read: 'Good luck TD, MDC'

Tim Fainted.

Marinette was befuddled. She never saw anyone react like that. Sure Adrien once asked her for an autograph, but this was new.

"Forgive Drake. He first got into what he calls 'music' when he saw the new glasses Jagged Stone wore in Paris." Damian said, looking almost bored with his brother's antics.

"Really?"

"You should have seen him. He also wanted to figure out MDC identity. After three nights he had nothing. We had to cut the cord from coffee machine in the batcave and force him to go to bed." Dick was laughing at the unconscious brother. Tim was often such a nerd that it was miracle he got Steph to date him. But then again, Demon Spawn just got married.

"Tt. As much as I love to embarrass Drake, it's less fun when he is unconscious and we have other matters to discuss."

"Agreed" Bruce nodded. "Do you know what will you tell your parents miss?"

"Not really... They don't know about this." She gestured around. "If they knew I got married, they would ground me for life. Maman and Papa can get a bit overprotective. Last time I brought a boy home Papa got akumatized and placed me in giant prison of thorns."

"Brr... And I thought that having to duel Tamaranian general to be able to marry Kor'i was bad." Dick chuckled.

"Suckers!" Jason shouted before taking a large swing of the whiskey. "I never had such problems."

"Maybe because you never dated anyone, Flappy Bird" Dick grinned maliciously.

"That's enough! I am trying to have a civilized conversation with my daughter-in-law! If you two idiots don't shut up, I will ground you and give you the Watchtower duty at least until christmas!" Bruce was slowly getting done with this bickering.

"Fine/He started it!" Dick/Jason shouted.

"I don't care. Get out if you wish to continue." Bruce cut them off before they got into another argument and turned to Marinette. "No friends that would cover for you? Or a partner?"

"No..." Every member of the batfam (bar the unconscious Tim) immediately noticed the darker note behind this. "My identity is... was the best kept secret in the world. There were exactly two humans who knew. Me and Master Fu. But he lost all his memories." She hummed for a moment. "Well, now I guess you know too. And the League of Assassins. And Order of the Guardians. Oh Tikki I am an awful Ladybug..."

"You are great Ladybug Marinette. The best one out there." The Kwami reassured her. "Nobody in Paris would do a better job!"

Marinette smiled and calmed down a bit. She was still shaking. Jason gave her one look and tried to handle her a glass of whiskey, but one glare from Damian was enough to make him back away from this idea.

"I have a better question." Dick joined the discussion after he was done with Jason. "What about you and Damian."

"Nobody asked you Grayson." Damian huffed. If it was up to him, he would delay this questioning session to next year. Or decade.

"But he did make a very good point Demon Spawn." Jason supported his older brother.

"I... I don't know. That woman, Talia, said that if we broke this marriage, there would be another war. Who was she?"

"Talia Al Ghul, my mother. She is the current leader of the League of Assassins" Damian explained.

Tim, who nobody noticed woke up, was now sitting back in the computer chair. His face was still pretty much pure bliss, but he was typing like a madman. "There must be some way out of this. It would be easier if we knew the specifics of the marriage contract."

"That's not how it works with the League Drake." Damian scowled. "It's not paperwork. When the ceremony is done, the two people are bound. There is no marriage certificate, there is no marriage license, it's the act that counts." His face was in usual frown.

"So basically the marriage is as well as nonexistent. That's good." Tim grinned, but seeing Damian's face he sensed there was more to it.

"No. That's bad. There is no such thing as divorce in the league, except for killing the spouse."

This caused Marinette to let out a fearful yelp and cuddle to Tikki. But at the same time, Bats noticed that she tensed and prepared to fight. Damian internally cursed himself. He did not want to scarry this girl.

"Don't worry, Miss. Nobody would even consider this." Bruce tried to calm her down.

"We wouldn't, but if the League consider that we are not upholding the marriage, they might go after her." Damian wanted to go and butcher the League. He could do it. Well, everyone but his mother. The young Wayne was unsure if he would be able to do it. For all her faults, he still cared about her.

"Let them try!" Tikki shouted in her squeaky voice. "I will get Plagg to cataclysm this pathetic base of their! Nobody messes with my Marinette!" She protectively flew in front of Marinette, ready to fight anyone who threatened her chosen.

"Maybe let's try to refrain from genocide yet?" Dick asked, half amused, half scared about this. While he was leaning toward believing the threat, the idea that someone so small and cute could take on the whole league was just too damn funny. He then looked at Damian and noticed that the boy had same kind of murderous look. Oh this is too good. He is actually falling for her. He grinned, but decided to at least now don't tease him.

"So there is no way that the two of you just stayed on different continents and acted like this never happened?" Tim asked with resignation.

"It is expected of us to stay together." Damian answered shortly. Marinette felt air leave her lungs like someone just punched her. Her whole life was shattered in the span of a week. What will she tell her parents? And what about school? "I am sorry, Du... Marinette." Damian was tempted to walk to her and comfort her, but he stopped himself. She needed space.

The rest of the Wayne family was stunned. Damian rarely referred to anyone by their first name, much less to strangers. Yet, he was acting very protective and even some dare to say affectionate toward this girl. Tim was starting to think someone did drug him, but rest just smiled. Demon Spawn finally got a crush, and on his wife of all people.

"Wait! There might be a way to deal with it." Tim suddenly brightened. "Or at least delay this."

"Just spit it, Replacement." Damian tried to frown, but he couldn't deny the hope. At the same time, there was this small tingle where his heart should be. He was happy that maybe Marinette would have a chance at normality, but at the same time he wanted to stay with her. To get to know her. Just what in hell is going on with me?

"First of all, rude." Tim started. "And secondly, we could file for her to get a formal underage marriage."

"And how exactly does it help?" Marinette asked.

"The state of Gotham allows underage marriage from the age of fourteen with court permission, provided the certain age-gap is retained. The procedure is very lengthy though."

"So how does it help Drake. I am very curious what is going in this few brain cells of your." Damian was getting impatient.

"The League should respect that you try to validate the marriage in the eyes of law. So until the court proceeding is finished, you two could stay separate and go about your lives. And with a bit of work, it could last for up to two years before the judge agreed."

"To even file for this, we would need a solid basis." Dick spoke before anyone got hope. Tim pressed some buttons on the keyboard and displayed the copy of the underage marriage act.

"One of the listed reasons is cultural specifications. And most people know that Damian was raised by his mother outside of the States. With a bit of work, I can draft a betrothal deal signed when he and Marinette were still babies."

"So basically we put this in court and then delay this into oblivion?" Jason grinned. "I like this."

"I am impressed Drake. For once you've actually proven to be useful." Damian commented.

"So I would be able to stay here in peace?" Marinette asked shyly.

"For some time, yes. The League should not go against you then, because it's not your fault you can't legally live with Damian yet." Bruce assured her.

"But what about vultures in the media?" Dick asked.

"Simple: classified proceeding. Public won't know anything is even in motion." Drake was getting more and more confident in this plan.

"I would be able to finish my school here." Marinette smiled.

"Yes, you would. I will make sure there will be no complications." Bruce smiled. "But there are two more problems that still needs to be dealt with. Hawkmoth and your parents."

"I will deal with talking with my parents on my own." Marinette reassured them. "But I don't don't know about Hawkmoth. He went silent after the last stunt, but it won't be over until I take away his miraculous."

"Drake will stay here and help you solve this case. He is the most level-headed in this room, so the risk of him falling under Akuma is the smallest." Bruce declared and others nodded.

"Thank you! thank you! thank you!" Ladybug jumped from the chair and hugged Tikki, then Bruce, then Tim.

"It's no problem Miss. I am sorry League ignored your plea for help. It's the least I could do."

"For your daughter-in-law you mean?" Jason grinned. Oh he would not let this die so easily. Demon Spawn would get it this time.

"Nobody asked you, Todd." Damian scowled.

"Please don't fight because of me. I think it's time for me to go face my parents."

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Marinette arrived at her parent's bakery around 10 PM. The lights were still on. She stopped before walking in, taking one more breath to calm herself. She hated lying. She knew that there was no such thing as white lie, not really. Every lie hurt in some way, just not always instantly. She gathered all the courage she could muster and pushed the door, walking in.

"Maman! Papa! I am home!" She called them and there was instantly a commotion on the first floor. "Here we go Tikki. I hope my detention ends before I graduate..." She whispered to her Kwami and prepared to face her parents.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" Her mother barged into the room. "You better explain yourself this instant!" This surprised the girl. She expected her mother to be angry, but also to show some worry. An alarm bell rang in her head. Something was not right.

"How could you?!" Her father was also angry. She could only hope Hawkmoth was still licking his wounds.

"What's going on? Maman? Papa?" She asked in confusion.

"Don't play dumb with us young lady! Alya told us how you decided to run away and try to join Audrey Bourgeois in America!" Her father shouted at her.

"What!? I never did such thing. My mandarin teacher, Master Fu, had an accident. He lost his memory and I was escorting him to the train station for him to meet his friend who would take care of him. You remember master Fu?" She received a nod and continued to bombard her parents with information. It was an advice from Damian. The more she babble the less time they have to actually think this over. "So I handed him over to his friend and they walked into train station, but then I realized I was still holding his luggage and I tried to chase after them. Then, I thought I saw them enter the train, so I followed them, but it turned out this was the wrong train and then it left the station and I was still inside. I panicked and looked for the conductor to sort this out, but he said that they couldn't stop. So I tried to find Master Fu, but he was not there and I immediately got out on the next train station, but I left my purse in the train so I didn't have a phone on me and I had to somehow figure out where I was and then I entered another train, because they said it was going to Paris, but it was misunderstanding and it was coming from Paris and I got even further away, but then I finally got out in some different city, still carrying only Master Fu's luggage and I had to somehow get back to Paris and it took me so long to actually get there and I am sorry that I didn't call but I didn't have any money to pay for a stationary phone and I lost my purse and it would be wrong to go through Master's luggage to get money so I had to sort this out with the train station officials and they helped me get here and I even managed to send the luggage through mail, but only now I got here..." She took a deep breath. Her heart was beating super fast and she was sweating a little bit. Anyone proficient in lies detection could tell this was all bullshit, but luckily her parents wanted to believe her. "What I wanted to say is... I am sorry I didn't call you. I guess I panicked a little."

They hugged her tightly, all three crying a little (her father much). Once they broke apart, she smiled. "Can I go to my room and get some sleep now?"

"Yes. Our little grown up girl." Marinette smiled and was about to run, but she heard her mother continue speaking. "But you are still grounded for two weeks."

"Mom!" She shouted, but smiled and went back to her room.

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Taglist (sorry if I missed you)@pheonixashtree @sassakitty @unabashedbookworm @vixen-uchiha @maggiecc12 @actualdisasterwoman @tired-butterfly @shizukiryuu @floralfi @imanerddealwith @northernbluetongue @krispydefendorpolice @toodaloo-kangaroo @dast218 @bluesoulblueheart @theatreandcomicfreak @disneyfoxuniverse @mindfulmagics @alwaysnumberonetruth @nyaabinch @jardimazul @lenamau @rosep16 @dramatic-squirrel @sonif50 @daminett4life @lulutheawkwardess @weird-pale-blonde-person @mooshoon @jeminiikrystal @mochegato @moonlightstar64 @dragonflyswing @silverwhiteraven @shamefullove @magic-miraculous @valeks-princess @heaven428 @mlbchaosqueen @winter-gardenflower @spicybelladonna @emo-elaine13 @vetilora @karukofox21 @my-name-is-michell

#fanfiction #fanfic #damienette #crossover #marinette x damian #damian al ghul #damian wayne #maridami #maribat au #maribat #batman #mlb #miraculous lb #arranged marriage au

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trifoliate-undergrowth · 3 years

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Pacific Rim 3

I outline the plot of Pacific Rim 3 as experienced by me in a waking fever dream before and during today's 4am shift as a way to distract myself from real life stress with imaginary stress, written in breaks during work and in the parking lot before driving home because I'm going back to sleep when I get there and I want to preserve this fever dream first before I lose the details of it,

Ok I've been here for 3 hours and I don't know how to do a read more link on mobile I'm sorry you're getting this as is whether you want it or not I need to sleep goodbye

Dr. Gottlieb and Liwen are working on building their own portal to the Precursors to beat them up once and for all

Jake is seen giving an inspiring speech to a new wave of cadets who've been training with the old ones, now fully realized Jaeger pilots. Amara is everyone's favorite instructor.

Jake is very imposing and military and inspiring. Jake is everything the kids need him to be. Jake slips away from the party early and tears off his uniform before disappearing down a side street in his civilian clothes

Nate has the visible emotional human reaction of milk curdling and goes after him

Dr. Gottlieb and Liwen Shao are talking to someone about how they're making progress on the rift but they need help. Someone in particular who knows about alien tech. He's coming in on the next flight, actually. The person they're explaining this to gives a disbelieving "no..."

NEWTON

Wakes up in his house in the middle of fuckass nowhere. Somewhere away from technology he could theoretically use For Evil, or people he could theoretically hurt. This is, however, a self-imposed isolation, as he seems to have been granted his freedom, conditionally.

We see his morning routine, featuring normal stuff like making coffee, panic attack in the shower ft. indistinct memories of the Precursors, taking a massive dose of PPDC-granted experimental medication, starting the car, another indistinct alien trauma flashback, listening to the radio on the way to the airport where people appear to recognize him and he low-key has a panic attack because oh God everyone knows what I did

Jake leaves the bar and runs into Nate, who gives him the old Argh Argh Responsibility And Pride talk and Jake is like yeah man I know shut up

They have a fistfight in the rain and the neon lights in the alley outside the bar

No one properly wins because they've drifted so many times and they can predict each other's attacks but they both land a few and take a few, Jake gets hit a bit more because he's drunk

They both end up just sitting in the rain feeling sorry for themselves

Nate: Jules proposed to her girlfriend.

Jake: I know

Nate: they're getting married.

Jake: yeah that usually happens when someone proposes

So Jules wasn't going to end up with either of them and they're both sad about it. Nate suddenly suggests they go back in the bar. He'll buy Jake a drink to make up for beating him up. Jake is like ok sure but the drink's gonna be soda because I was LEAVING the bar because I was ALREADY drunk

They share a Soda Of Angst at the bar and talk about how they're gonna die alone. Jake says "at least we've got each other" and it's impossible to tell if he's joking. Nate is like "you know what this place isn't that bad we should come back sometime."

Newton reaches the lab. He is terrified of Liwen and awkward around Hermann. He instinctively calls Liwen "boss" and she reminds him matter-of-factly that they're working as equals now, "since you ruined my life's work."

Hermann asks how the medication is working and Newton indicates that it works fine but he still gets anxiety about it not being enough. Hermann promises him it's been proven effective, thus why the PPDC let him out of his crimes against humanity iron cell of shame. It's revealed that what they're giving him is a stronger dose of a medication originally developed for burned-out Jaeger pilots with unmanageable symptoms, and that it blocks out memories related to the drift--and since this is how the Precursors were reaching him, this works to block out their influence. The cost is that Newton doesn't remember much of anything past building his own neural bridge. He knows it happened but the details won't load. He's constantly worrying that it's not enough, that the Precursors will come back, and is taking a dangerously high dose that gives him constant hand tremors and worse insomnia than usual.

The first time he and Hermann are left alone they have an uncomfortable attempt at talking which gradually turns into an argument about nothing in particular. Newt keeps calling him Hermann but it sounds Wrong and Hermann hasn't been allowing people to just use his first name here and he finally snaps at Newton to stop it and he's like "oh my God I can't call you your NAME? what the hell am I supposed to call you??"

Newt says something angsty and Hermann says something like 'yes well the nicest thing that ever happened to me was drifting with a dead and decaying piece of kaiju viscera' and he says it sardonically but he's serious

Newt doesn't remember any context for the time they drifted.

Newt assumes he's being maliciously sarcastic and starts SCREAMING at him

Hermann just looks at him in shock at first then just lets him go for a little while

Eventually shutting his mouth by jabbing him under the chin with his cane and saying, very quietly and coldly, "get out of my lab"

Newton gets out of the lab

Newton runs into Nate and Jake at The Angst Bar and they recognize him but he has no idea who they are but he's willing to just roll with it at this point and asks them if they know Hermann well enough to give him advice

"like that was sarcasm right? I'm pretty sure he was making fun of me but now I'm less sure idk"

Nate's: no he's immune to sarcasm

Jake: yeah it's kinda funny

Nate: *the gaze*

Jake: I mean, nothing wrong with that, but yeah if he was being sarcastic that'd be first time it's happened as far as I can tell

Newt: are. Are you telling me. That someone actually. For some reason. Offered me a sincere compliment. And. I yelled at him

Jake: that's your call, I mean, you know him better than us, right? You guys were friends right?

Newton, who doesn't remember any of these people:

Nate: I mean I wasn't there, only way to tell is to go back and ask him

Newt: aaaaaaa

Newton goes back and Liwen is like "hey I've got no idea what's going on here but can you weirdos just act normal for two seconds so we can get some work done" and Hermann and Newt both just kinda. Laser focus on rift stuff

Remember the guy with the "no why would you involve Newton"reaction? No because he's but important and has no name or real identity? Yeah ok every Pacific Rim movie needs one Designated Douchebag to cause Interpersonal Drama and this guy is it. I'll call him DD for short

DD shows up and is like oh my God you actually turned Newton loose in the lab?? Why would you do this we're all going to die

Everyone just ignores him

Designated Douchebag has the self-importance of a high elf and the confidence of a fucking walnut and doesn't like being ignored

And starts talking directly to Newton, which really freaks Newton out but he continues pretending to ignore him

DD: so you're safe now? Not going to start speaking alien gibberish?

Newton: don't plan on it

Hermann, without turning around: DD you may not like to hear this but it was never your business who we brought in to assist, we don't need your permission, and complaining about Newton now that he's already here is certainly not going to do any good.

DD: alright fine but you'd better keep a close eye on him.

DD: anyways Newton tell your girlfriend I said hi

Newton, blank: who?

DD: you know, Alice?

Newton's face registers several emotions as he grapples with a name from the buried memories-confusion, disgust, terror-mostly shock

There is an abrupt cut

Liwen, thinking her two colleagues were acclimated to each other enough to allow her to leave the room and get tea without disaster, is walking back down the hallway talking with a lab tech when they hear the sound of something breaking

A moment later the doors to the lab are flung open and DD is forcibly ejected, collapsing on the floor in front of them. Dr. Gottlieb exits the lab behind him, holding his cane like a cricket bat. There is a muffled sound of Newton yelling OH MY GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING

Liwen backs out of range of cane damage and sips her tea, mildly intrigued. The lab tech starts to run for help and nearly crashes into Nate and Jake, who came running to see what the yelling was about.

Nate: what is--

Dr. Gottlieb, panting with restrained bloodlust: HELLO SIRS GOOD TO SEE YOU I BELIEVE THERE'S BEEN A SECURITY BREACH BECAUSE THIS FELLOW HAS JUST BEEN CASUALLY CHATTING ABOUT RESTRICTED CLASS-J49 INFORMATION PLEASE LOCK HIM UP

DD: it's COMMON KNOWLEDGE and he ATTACKED me

Dr. Gottlieb: YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID SIR!! *He takes a handkerchief out of his pocket and wipes some blood off the handle of his cane*

Nate: WHAT is happening

Newton: *trying to have a quiet hysterical laughter meltdown in the lab before anyone remembers he's there*

Anyways next plot point. An alien shows up

Not a Precursor! A nice alien

Listen if PR:U gets to pull all that bullshit with Mt Fuji I'm allowed to add aliens okay

Hermann should have a nice non-genocidal alien friend I think he deserves it

Anyways the alien is clearly a different species than the Precursors (or Kaiju) and seems friendly but they can't communicate with it, the linguistics team is working on it but it's going to take A Lot of Work

Hermann goes "hm I've got a quicker and more accurate option"and wheels out the drift interface

This alien's mind doesn't link well with human minds but Hermann is a pro and powers through

He gets seasick and throws up and finally comes out shaky with a bloody nose and eye but he's managed to communicate!

The alien is a diplomat from another world the Precursors attempted to colonize, they survived because the Precursors underestimated the humans' resilience and spread themselves too thin, trying to invade earth and the alien homeworld at the same time and then getting distracted dealing with the humans, which left the aliens time to prepare their defense

They're here to help with the war effort, they don't have a lot that's relevant to current human scientific understanding but they can help fill in some of the gaps in the human's knowledge about rifts

They're making progress! Yay!

Things are getting serious, training montage Jake and Nate and the new pilots getting ready to kick ass

Newton finally brings himself to apologize to Hermann and explain he was confused but the net progress here is still zero because then they immediately have ANOTHER argument

Hermann has started writing his notes in the alien's language, he wants to make sure he can remember it well enough to help the linguistics team, and it's also beautifully precise and he just loves it and loves that he's able to write it, come on who wouldn't be proud of being the first contact human

Newton sees a bunch of notes of Alien Gibberish (to him) and gets Bad Vibes

Newton doesn't think they can trust the alien, Hermann does but his proof is mainly "I can tell because I drifted with them" and Newton 1. Doesn't remember what that's like and 2. DOES remember that the last time he thought it was a good idea to drift with an alien he ended up nearly killing literally everyone on earth

They yell at each other some more

At some point Hermann tries to deescalate and asks why they can't be friends again and Newton, still yelling, says "people keep acting like we're friends and I don't remember it! As far as I'm concerned this is all we ever had! I barely remember you at all and what I do remember is that we hated each other!"

Hermann: ....I never hated you. .. alright, colleagues, then? We've got a rift to build

Newton, still hyperventilating slightly: ok ok yeah sure yeah

Interlude: Jules gets married!

She asks Hermann to walk her down the aisle (where she meets her wife, who walked down the opposite aisle to meet in the middle)

Newton, protesting "I don't know I don't feel like I should be here," is physically dragged into the venue by Liwen, who is telling him that this is a diplomatic event it's his duty to be at.

She drags him over to Hermann and settles between them, soaking in the chaotic gay science panic vibes

She seems to be enjoying herself

Jules sees Hermann in the audience and an evil gleam comes into her eye

She has a strong arm

She hurls her bouquet directly at his face

Hermann ducks, panic granting him lightning quick reflexes

The bouquet, travelling at about Mach 5, zooms past him and hits Jake Pentecost squarely in the nose

He inhales several petals of baby's breath and gets slapped in the eyelid by a vine and goes into a dramatic coughing fit. Nate pounds him on the back.

Alien, speaking through a translating device they've got set up (it isn't perfect but it works on a basic level mostly): is it bad luck to touch the flowers?

Hermann, still slightly panicked from the near miss: no it's ahh, there's this silly tradition that whoever catches the bouquet is likely to get married next, and ah, as you see there, sometimes a bride with a sense of humor will, err, intentionally aim it at someone who, uh, didn't necessarily want it?

Alien: I think I understand. My sibling often tells me to go the southern hills of ^°^=^^°^°^^°°= to find a mate, though I have told them many times that I have no such desire.

Nate and Jake are like "ok neither of us have a date I guess we're drinking our sorrows away together at the reception" and do that

And maybe make out a little bit

Neither of them is ready to deal with Feelings so they both just blame it on the alcohol and try not to think about it too hard

Newton, venting @ someone, explains that there's an empty space in his memory where he knows that that something about Hermann is supposed to go and it doesn't feel like the other, worse memories he's blocked out, it feels like he lost something precious, but he has no idea what that is

Hermann tells Newton he's been working on a device that might block out the Precursors' influence without affecting his memory, so he can use all of his knowledge. And so he isn't constantly so confused about who he does and doesn't know but he doesn't say that part

It connects to his skin a bit like a drift interface

Newton is terrified but enthusiastic about maybe being Less Confused All the Time

The fact that he is guarded by a full security detail to make sure he doesn't Become Evil Again the whole time he's going off his meds really doesn't help the stress much

Memories start coming back but they're confused and jumbled and at first he's not much better off

The Precursor nightmares are about what he expected but he keeps hearing Hermann's voice in there too and he's not sure why and he can't remember when he heard it like that

Meanwhile Hermann keeps needing to drift with the alien to clarify important details about the rift that they don't know how to translate into human terms, but it fucks him up a little bit more each time he does it until the last time he passes out for like at hour and wakes up disoriented with a nosebleed that just won't stop and Jake orders him to stop drifting

He's ok with that because they've got the information they needed anyway!

IT'S TIME, THEY'RE SENDING THE JAEGERS INTO THE RIFT

Newton, despite his misgivings, reluctantly joins Liwen, dr. Gottlieb and the alien in command to supervise the mission, still wearing the device and getting random bursts of confused memory

Jake and Nate are piloting the Lady Avenger (did u know gypsy is a slur and they prefer to be called Romani) and go though first and start punching Precursors and their bodyguard Kaiju

Newton goes very still and just stares at Hermann for like a solid minute while he's trying to work, his expression shifting to something new

Hermann, softly: what?

Newton, smiling: I remember you.

Hermann, furiously trying to interpret alien data: is this really the best time??

It's a close fight across the rift, the Precursors are on their home turf and the Jaegers are not, fighting in a bizarre low-gravity environment that doesn't really have floors

Their base is set up differently than expected and Hermann decides he needs to check something with the alien. By drifting with them. He's still bleeding uncontrollably after the last stunt that got him banned but he's determined to do it because It's Necessary

Newton takes the headset from him and puts it on instead

It feels Bad

But then he sees another planet, beautiful, so different from his own yet so similar. He sees aliens attacked by monsters from the deep, responding more or less how the humans had, moving inland, building useless walls, building their own monsters for defense. He sees the alien diplomat losing friends and family.

He sees the journey to earth, and drifting with Hermann. He sees the alien's memories of Hermann, and Hermann's memories in the drift. He sees how Hermann remembers him. What he forgot. What the Precursors had blinded him to.

He doesn't have time to think about it because he's feverishly trying to translate the knowledge he's receiving into data that works with their human technology so they can help the Jaegers and there's blood dripping from his face onto the controls but it's there, in the back of his mind, he knows now. Hermann missed him.

The Lady Avenger is hit and Jake is knocked unconscious. They begin to drift downwards as Nate, unable to move the Jaeger alone, yells at Jake with no response

Newton disconnects from the drift, nearly blacks out, and has to sit down for a minute. When he comes back around he sees the Jaegers are in trouble--none completely disabled yet, but they need more help

Newton has an idea

Newton: ok I'm gonna do something stupid. *To his security detail* listen I need you to aim your guns at me and shoot if you think I'm out of control

Liwen, with zero hesitation, reacting quicker than anyone else in the room, pulls out a gun and sticks it right in his face

Newton: see, yeah, that's what I was saying, like that. Thanks boss, glad someone here's got guts.

Liwen: not your boss

Newton: I kinda like saying it tho

Liwen: hm. I'll allow it.

Newton: ok. Hermann--uh

Hermann, hearing his name said right this time: it's ok

Newton: :) ok cool I'm going to deactivate the blocking device I need you to turn it back on as soon as I squeeze your hand, can you do that

Hermann: absolutely.

The Precursors are a hive mind. In battle, when pressed, they can force their thoughts outwards, confusing and scrambling the communications of other species while keeping in contact with each other. This is going well and normal until there's an unexpected distortion which resolves into Newton's voice

Yelling WHAT'S UP MOTHERFUCKERS I'M BACK

(epic Tom Morello riff)

Newton can't keep the connection open for more than a few seconds before they start to overwhelm him, Hermann pulls him back. It was enough to confuse the Precursors and give the jaegers an advantage.

During the delay, Jake wakes up. He's disoriented and in pain and so is Nate, still linked to him, but they can move again. They one-hit-k/o the Precursor that was creeping up on them, turn around, and realize they've drifted almost right into the reactor they've been looking for

So they blow it up

Hermann is still holding Newton's hand as everyone else celebrates. He looks at Newton for confirmation, who nods in relief.

"they're gone. Well, those ones are, anyway."

Humans start opening rifts across the galaxy to kick Precursor ass across multiple star systems

(epic Tom Morello riff intensifies)

Humans team up with multiple alien races previously menaced by the Precursors to take out their common enemy. Jaeger tech is combined with alien science, humans and aliens drifting

They figure out how to use a recording of Newton's Precursor-influenced brainwaves as a weapon to confuse them

So basically Newton makes a recording of himself screaming at the Precursors that's weaponized by teams across the galaxy and it's incredibly cathartic

Jake, in a hospital, is woken up by an infuriating snoring noise. Nate is sleeping in a chair by his bed. He's both annoyed and touched. Mostly the latter.

Hermann writes a book in what is now his third language, the alien script precise and beautiful

We see Newton and Hermann getting dressed together for an Important Event, they're both complaining about having to go but seem not to mind too much. Newton ties his tie too loose, like in the good old days. Hermann fixes it for him.

No one died

The free peoples of the galaxy took down the Precursors with no casualties and the power of screaming

#personal (ok to rb)#pacific rim #what to tag as #headcanons #fanfiction #sorta #humor #extended fever dream that wouldn't let me rest #EVERYONE'S GAY AND NO ONE DIED

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braveclxrke · 4 years

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Michael Guerin week 2020

Ao3: Day One prompt - “You don’t have to stay”

Title: Maybe, our ‘someday’ is almost here.

Summary: Michael and Alex look for information about Mr Jones and Michael contemplates his relationship with Alex after gaining some advice from his sister.

Preview:

Michael just stared at Alex, it must be around 4am at this point, Michael hadn’t checked but he knew it was late. And yet, instead of climbing into bed and having some well-deserved rest, Alex had come back to the bunker to help, bringing food because he knew Michael wouldn’t leave and was hungry. Michael gave a small smile, “You don’t have to stay,” He quietly said.

Alex looked up at Michael, that soft smile he wore so well on his face, “I know,” He said, he leaned closer on the table, his arms crossed on the table, “I want to,” He said, his voice strong, yet somehow still kind and soft; quintessential Alex. Michael felt the smile grow on his face. Alex pushed some of the food towards Michael, before grabbing his own.

*Keep reading for full fic*

Michael flicked through the folders on the desk, his eyes scanning the page for anything relevant for their search. Across the table was Alex, who was doing the same thing, his eyes darting around the page looking for any references to Mr Jones. It had been a few months since Max 2.0 had been around, he had told the group he’d been locked away in the cave when they landed and had no idea how or why, but Michael didn’t believe it. So here he sat in the bunker at god knows what time with Alex Manes looking over every file they had to see if they missed something. Michael closed the file tossing it into the dead-end pile in the middle of the room.

Alex leaned back on his chair, “Nothing?” he asked, clearly already knowing the answer to his question.

Michael shook his head, “Nope, just your usual alien genocide propaganda,” Michael sighed, running his hand through his hair, “You?” Michael asked.

Alex gave a small shake with his head, Michael reached up and rubbed his eyes, losing track of how many files they had looked at tonight. “Maybe Jones is right, maybe he doesn’t know why he was locked away? Or by who?” Alex asked, leaning his arms on the table.

Michael had wanted to believe that, wanted to believe that this time the fourth Alien they found wasn’t a homicidal psychopath, but something didn’t feel right. Max had been immediately taken in by Jones, needing a distraction after Liz had left. Jones was cagey and had a deep mistrust of the humans, especially the military. Michael could understand that he could, but it seemed more than that with Jones. Michael leaned back on his chair, his hands resting behind his head, “I just-he has to know more, there’s something he’s not telling us I can feel it,” Michael explained, he wasn’t sure how or why, but something felt off.

Michael looked up at Alex who was just watching him, he gave a small nod, “Okay…” He reached forward and grabbed another file, smiling up at Michael, “Then we’ll keep looking,”.

Michael couldn’t help but smile back, as he felt some of the tension leave his body.

Michael had brought up his mistrust of Jones to Alex a few weeks ago, and since then Alex had been helping Michael to investigate, going through his old files, searching databases. At first, Michael was sure it was because Alex needed a distract after breaking up with Forrest, but that had been weeks ago and yet here Alex sat in the middle of the night helping Michael.

Michael felt some guilt course through him, he had told himself that he wouldn’t drag Alex into the Alien drama, that he’d give him space to live his life normally. Michael glanced up at Alex, he was staring intensely down at the page, blinking quickly every now and again, he reached up and rubbed his eyes; he was tired.

“Look there’s a load of these to go through still and there probably dead ends,” Michael started, causing Alex to look up at him, “Why don’t you go home, I can finish up,” Michael said.

Alex sat up straighter, clearly trying to make himself look more awake, “No no it's fine,”

Michael tilted his head to the side, “Alex you can hardly keep your eyes open, you’ve been here hours,” Michael said, they had arrived around 5pm that evening so by Michael’s guess they’d been here around 10 hours.

Alex raised his eyes brow, “So have you,” He remarked.

Michael gave a half-smile, “Yeah well this is my alien problem, not yours,” He said. Alex went to speak when the large computer at the top of the room made a noise. Alex stood up, pausing and rubbing his leg for a moment before heading up to the screen. Michael followed behind.

Alex sat down in the seat, typing before letting out a long breath, Michael knew what that meant, leaning back against the railings. They had run a search for any of their online documents that included the word Jones, but nothing. Alex leaned forward typing something, focusing as he spoke, “I’ll re-programme it, allow for anagrams and other part phrases,” Alex said, looking up at the screen as the large coded text disappeared and its search began again. Alex leaned back on the chair, running his hand through his hair before wiping it down his face.

Michael pushed himself off the railing, “Look that’s going to run through its search I can handle this pile, go home,” Michael said again, he could handle this he told himself, it wasn’t Alex’s problem.

Alex looked up at him, seemingly thinking it over, finally, he gave a small nod, pushing himself up from the chair, stretching his arms as he did. “You should sleep too,” Alex said, giving Michael a pointed look.

Michael help his hands up, “Alright alright, I’ll finish the ones in front of me then go home?” Alex seemed to study him for a moment, before giving a nod and heading down the steps. Alex gathered his bag and jacket as Michael sat down on the seat, his back already protesting. Alex paused by the table looking at the pile and Michael could practically hear his thoughts. “I’m fine Alex,” Michael repeated.

“You need to eat, and rest,” Alex said, leaning against the table.

“And I will but I’m currently in the middle of a riveting military report,” Michael joked, wanting to make sure Alex knew he was okay, Michael nodded his head towards the door. Alex sighed, giving Michael a smile, “I’ll see you tomorrow Michael,” Alex said, walking out of the bunker. Michael heard Alex leave, the large vault doors closing behind him. Michael exhaled, looking at the large pile in front of him. If Michael was honest; he didn’t want Alex to leave, having him around just made things easier.

It had been around an hour since Alex had left, none of the files had provided Michael with any new intel. He could feel his stomach twisting with hunger but knew if he left the bunker to get food the chance he would return was low to non-existent. He wanted to finish the pile before he left. He heard the door to the bunker open, the sound of heels walking down the hallway.

“We’ll this is looks healthy,” Isobel said as he walked into the large room. Michael looked up to see his sister walking over to the table, her eyes scanning over all the documents scattered across the table. Michael gave her a playful glare; it was then he noticed what was in her hands. Michael’s face must have lit up because Isobel grabbed the coffee cup from the tray and passed it over to Michael.

“Through you might need this,” She smiled, sitting down where Alex had been pushing some of the files out the way on the table, drinking her own coffee. Isobel had popped in a few times over the week, normally stopping by after leaving planet 7 on her way home. “When did Alex leave?” She asked, sipping her coffee.

Michael chugged almost half his coffee, ignoring how hot it was. Michael set the drink back down, “About an hour ago,” He said, going to pick up another file when he looked back up at his sister. “Wait how’d you know Alex was here?” He asked. Isobel tilted her head up to the large screen, the code on the screen scanning through thousands of files. Michael nodded looking back down at his file.

“Plus, every time I’ve popped in over the last week he’s been here,” She remarked. Michael read the words on the paper but found his mind drifting, feelings Isobel’s gaze on him from across the table.

Michael sighed, “What?” he mumbled.

“Nothing just…” Isobel trailed off. Michael reluctantly looked up, seeing his sister playfully smiling at him, “You two are working together a lot” She said, the sentence somewhere between a question and a statement.

“He’s helping me to find out more about Jones” Michael defended, not sure why he was defending spending time with Alex; they were just friends, right? Isobel tilted her head to the side, the smile growing on her face, Michael copied her motion, tilting his own head to the side, giving up on trying to focus on this report. “What?” He asked.

Isobel leaned forward on the desk, “You really think Alex is staying in this dingy bunker all night and day because he wants to know about Jones?” She asked, giving a small laugh at the end.

“Alex doesn’t trust him either-“ Isobel shook her head, holding her hand up to stop Michael.

“I’m not saying Alex isn’t curious about Jones, we all are,” She said, the smile on her face as she spoke, “I’m saying he’s staying here because he wants to help you,”

Michael closed his eyes, letting out a breath. He was too tired to have this conversation; not sure he would be able to keep up with his sisters’ logical arguments. “Isobel,” Michael said, leaning back on his chair.

“Look I don’t want to meddle,” Michael gave a small laugh, earning a glare from Iz. “But…you guys have gotten close these last couple months, you said it wasn’t your time because Alex was trying something with Forrest and you needed time to work on yourself,” Isobel spoke Michael’s words back to him, “Well Alex and Forrest broke up, over a month ago.” She said, holding her hands out to the side, “And you, you’re doing good; you’re not drinking, not fighting” She finished. It was true,

Alex and Forrest had been over for a while after they had broken up Iz had tried to have this exact conversation with him but Michael had told her it was too soon, that Alex needed time to process. As for Michael; he had been doing better. Not relying on acetone and drinking to solve his problems had been tough, having been his default for 10 years. Communication had also been something new to Michael. The last few months had been hard but rewarding, Michael being able to mend relationships he thought were damaged beyond repair. One of those relationships being his and Alex’s. Being just friends with Alex had never been Michael’s speciality but over the last couple of months, the men had been able to start anew, getting to know each other again without the weight of decades of hard feelings and broken hearts.

Michael pulled himself out of his thoughts. While Isobel was right it wasn’t that simple. “We currently have another fourth Alien, who we know nothing about, and we still don’t know anything about deep-sky-“

Isobel stood up from her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. “Michael, if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last year is…” She let out a breath, walking over to where Michael was sat, perching on the table next to him. “There is always going to be something going on, always some weird Alien drama or government conspiracies.” She said, waving her hand off to the side, “If you wait till there’s none, you’ll never stop waiting,” She plainly said.

Deep down Michael knew that he’d know it for a while. He guessed that was the price they paid for being aliens on a human planet; someone was always going to be after you. This realisation had opened up another problem for Michael.

“I don’t wanna drag him into this Iz,” Michael admitted, looking up at his sister, “He got kidnapped because of us, because he was trying to help us,” Michael said, the fear and panic he’d felt when he realised Alex had been taken had never really left his chest since that day. It returning every time Alex took a little too long to answer his door or phone.

Isobel gave her brother a soft smile, leaning forward to place her hand on his, “I know you don’t wanna hear this but…Alex is already involved,” She softly said. “And he would have been even if he hadn’t met you,” Michael looked away for a moment, she had a point. Alex’s family had been entwined with the Alien long before Alex had been born and Michael was sure that eventually, Jesse would have dragged Alex in, or Alex would have worked it out himself. “Plus, don’t you think its Alex’s decision? And from that song we both heard, I’d say he’d already made it,” Michael felt his heartbeat a little faster as he thought about Alex’s song, while only hearing it once he could recall each and every word.

“It’s not that simple,” Michael said, trying to find a reason in his mind as too why it wasn’t that simple but was coming up empty. Isobel paused, taking her hand from Michaels. She leaned forward a little, “You once told me that you would always love Alex and that you needed to walk away so you could start a new story someday,” She sat back, a smile appearing on her face, “Well maybe it’s time to start that story?” Michael went to say something when he heard the bunker door open. Michael frowned, looking up at Iz as she slipped off the table. No one else came to the bunker beside the three of them. Michael quietly stepped in front of his sister as he heard the person walk down the hall. The siblings held their hands out ready to confront whoever it was.

The door pushed open to reveal Alex stood in the doorway. He’d changed his outfit, wearing his black sweater instead of a shirt. Michael dropped his hands, “Alex,” He breathed.

Alex smiled, stepping into the bunker, “Hey,” he said back, looking over at Isobel nodding at her, “Isobel,” he said.

“I thought you went home?” Michael said, stepping forward.

Alex peaked over Michael’s shoulder, looking at the table. He looked back at Michael, raising his eyebrow. “And I thought you were only going to read a few more files?” Michael looked at the pile behind him before looking back at Alex. Alex gave a little laugh, walking over to the seat he had previously occupied. “When I got back to mine, I remembered who I was talking too and realised that you wouldn’t leave this bunker till you’d gone through all these files,” Michael tried to keep his face neutral, not wanting to give away that was indeed his plan. “So, I took a quick nap and grabbed this,” He carefully pulled his backpack off, placing it on the table. He undid the top and pulled out a bag of food. As one cue Michael’s stomach grumbled again, as he looked down at the food. Alex sat down in the chair. “We’ll finish up quicker if both here,” He smiled. Michael just looked at Alex, his hair tousled in that way that made Michael breath a little quicker.

“We’ll I’ll let you guys get back to work,” Isobel said, placing her hand on Michael’s shoulder. “Think about what I said Michael,” She quietly whispered, patting his shoulder as he walked out of the bunker. Michael turned around to see Alex frowning at the mess on the table, organising the files into neat piles like he always did. Michael walked over and sat down, finishing the rest of his coffee.

After Alex had finished putting everything into the correct order, he carefully pushed them to the side creating a space in front of them both. He pushed the bag of food into the middle of the table, pulling its contents out. “Why don’t we eat first then get through these,” He said, motioning to two large piles to the side. “Should only take us a few hours, we should be able to get home before the sun rises,” Alex joked, taking the last of the food out and placing the bag on the floor.

Michael reached out and grabbed the container suddenly noticing the logo on it. Michael pulled his eyebrows together, “This place is still open?” The takeaway shop had been in Roswell for as long as Michael could remember, severing anything you could think of.

Alex gave a small laugh, shaking his head, “Apparently,”

Michael laughed, “Damn, we use to eat so much of this when we were kids,” When they were 17 and sneaking off into the desert the boys would swing by the shop in Michael’s truck and pick up more food than they could eat. Michael pulled the lid off the food, stopping and looking up at Alex, “You remembered?” In the container below was the same order Michael use to get when he was a kid, over 10 years ago.

Alex looked up at Michael then quickly down at his own food. “As you said, we use to eat this a lot,” He tried to joke, but Michael could sense the nervousness in his voice, “Hope you still like it,” He finished, starting to eat his own food.

Michael looked down at the food, then back at up Alex. Maybe it’s time to start that story, Michael fidgeted in his seat, keeping his eyes down at his food, almost certain if he looked at Alex he would lose all the courage he had just mustered. “You know there’s a new place that’s opened up around the corner from the Crashdown…” Michael started, pushing the food around in the container, he noticed that Alex had looked up from his food, Michael cleared his throat, finally looking up at Alex and meeting his eye, “Maybe we could try it out?” He asked.

For a second Alex’s eyes widened, his hand wrapping around the fork in his hand tighter. Michael felt his chest constrict, his mouth dry; what had he just done, Michael went to say something when Alex smiled, it almost reaching his eyes, “Yeah, I’d like that.” Alex said. Michael felt the air rush back into his lungs, “Saturday?” Alex asked.

Michael’s smile matched Alex’s, “Yeah,” He nodded. For a moment the pair just smiled at each other, lost in the little moment of peace they had found in their chaotic lives. “It’s a date,” Michael finished, watching as Alex’s smile grew even more, giving a small nod. The pair went back to the food, in a comfortable silence neither losing the smile that was plastered on their faces. The normally stressful tension-filled air in the bunker seemed lighter. The anxiety and worry that had made a home in Michael’s chest began to drain away, filling with a feeling Michael thought he’d lost time ago; hopefulness.

#mgweek20 #guerinweek20 #malex fic #michael guerin fic #alex manes fic #rnm fic #roswell new mexico #me? writing fluff?!#shook #but it was needed

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wolf-mask · 4 years

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Borderlands 3 Nitpicks

Since my post about what made Borderlands 3 so disappointing got popular, I figured I might as well write down my big 3 nitpicks for the game as well. The following disappointments aren’t necessarily ideas that broke me out of the game, but they did either annoy me or just made me give a disappointed sigh as I continued playing through the game.

If you want to read my post on “What Makes Borderlands 3 Disappointing,” it can be found here

More under the cut, and of course SPOILERS for all the Borderlands 3 and The Pre-Sequal.

Misunderstanding Aurelia

I won’t lie, I didn’t think much of Aurelia when I first saw her in The Pre-Sequal. I thought she was just a rich bitch who didn’t care about anyone. I didn’t understand WHY some people were so upset when the player kills her in BL3. She was just a money hungry capitalistic asshole, right?

Then I got curious and learned more about Aurelia. I learned she’s not as much of a bitch as I first thought. Yes, she’s still a “rich popular bitch” so to speak, but she’s not one dimensional. Aurelia feels regret when she erases Felicity’s consciousness. She’s disturbed by Jack’s decision to airlock the scientists. In the Claptastic Voyage, when Claptrap’s Consciousness breaks down over the fact that people just keep hating him despite how hard he tries to help, she says sorry to him. And at the end of the DLC, she thinks Jack’s decision to kill all of Claptrap’s line is too extreme. The only other people who ever disagree or show discomfort with Jack’s actions are Athena and Timothy.

Aurelia herself says that she’s evil, but sees Jack as even more evil for killing innocent people and commiting genocide against an entire line of robots. Aurelia has layers. She's a bored CEO who can't handle her own company because her mother is still running it despite being in retirement. That's what caused her to become a vault hunter, boredom. Not a sense of greed. She doesn't mind killing bandits for fun but she doesn't like killing innocent people or betraying her allies.

Unfortunately the writers of BL3 seemingly didn't look past her first layer of being a rich bitch. They just saw her as Alistair's bitchy rich sister and decided that's all she was. She's never given me the vibe of wanting to murder her brother either. Hell in Hammerlock's quest in TPS, Aurelia goes out of her way to avoid getting into an argument with him. They also overlooked something vitally important: AT THE END OF THE PRE-SEQUAL AURELIA WAS CAPTURED BY THE CRIMSON RAIDERS.

If you've played the holodome DLC for TPS, you'd hear that after Athena tells her story, Axton and Gaige come back from hunting down the vault hunters that helped Jack become a dictator, and they had just caught Aurelia. Hell, in the trailers they made it look like Aurelia would be joining you to fight against the COV. There's gonna have to be a big retcon to fix this issue.

Aurelia was done really damn dirty in BL3. I may not have understood her at first, but I do now. She's a 3 dimensional character, but the BL3 writers decided to boil her down to "rich bitch."

Criminally Underutilized Characters

Everyone was excited to see the old characters come back to BL3. Everyone wanted to see Tiny Tina all grown up, to see the BL2 characters interact with each other and characters from the other games. In the end though, most of the side characters were sidelined to give the big three sirens the spotlight.

I really wanted the B Team to come to the ship with us. I wanted Wainwright with us. Really I just wanted everyone who was on Sanctuary 3 in the trailer to actually, y'know, BE on the ship with us in the game. The fact that so little characters joined us, to the point that it was just Ava assaulting the cathedral with the player, just disappointed me.

The new side characters in BL3 get some focus, but nothing else besides a surface glance. I wish they'd given more development to them. I want to know Clay's backstory, why he stopped being a smuggler and started working with the Jakobs family. I want to know more about Lorelei's struggles. I didn't even realize she was nonbinary until I read it a freaking news article. I had listened to her Sit Rep echo before but it never clicked in my head.

Really I just hope the side characters get more content in the DLC. I want to see more of these characters, they're so lovable and interesting.

Character Dialogue

One thing I adored about The Pre-sequal is how unique the NPC dialogue was. Playing as Timothy, Moxxi and Nakayama would point out that they can tell Tim is a doppleganger, Jack hits on Tim, and Roland asks what his real name is. As Athena, Janey hits on her, Moxxi and Roland and Lilith remember her from the time they helped her kill General Knoxx.

Every interaction felt so unique that I wanted to play as the other Vault Hunters. I liked knowing the NPCs thoughts on the Vault Hunters.

Now, BL3 does have unique voice lines for the Vault Hunters. And I love them. I love how deadpan Fl4k is, how insane Zane is, Amara's cockiness, and Moze's sarcasm. All of them felt like unique characters.

But, I feel like their interactions are harmed by the fact that none of the important NPCS acknowledge them differently. I really wanted to see how the other Vault Hunters would react to Zane FLYNT, the younger brother of two guys they killed. I wanted to see how Amara's fame would impact the NPCs. If not, then that fact that she's a fucking SIREN. Y'know, the people that the whole of BL3 centers around. How would the sirens act around this new siren? Why wouldn't Tyreen leech Amara? I don't know, because it's never addressed.

It feels like a step back from the unique interactions in TPS. I don't feel motivated to do another playthrough just to see the unique dialogue and how the NPCs react to the Vault Hunter like I did in TPS. I wish they had had continued that idea into BL3.

That's all the nitpicks I have for BL3 for now. If you have any of your own, let me know. If you feel like any of this stuff can be explained away by canon, let me know that too. This is all just my opinion and you're not obligated to agree with me. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day my dudes.

#borderlands #bl3 #borderlands 3 #aurelia hammerlock #zane flynt #amara the siren #moze the gunner #fl4k the beastmaster

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firelxdykatara · 4 years

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Literally what? It makes perfect sense for Sozin to outlaw homosexuality. He wanted a war. He needed an army. He heralded the fire nation as the master race. That’s textbook “homosexuality is bad because we need to do whatever we can to make as many perfect fire nation babies as we can.” The fire nation as a whole, sure, doesn’t make much sense. Sozin specifically, abso-fucking-lutely he’d be the supremacist straights only because reproduction vital guy.

It only ‘makes perfect sense’ if you ascribe to the very childish system of morality that spawned it: well, he’s definitely evil. @araeph explained it quite well in this post, which I’m assuming you didn’t read, despite the fact that I linked it in the comment to which you are referring. I’ll quote the relevant bits, though:

The easiest, cheapest way to discuss morality in media is to gather all of the “evil” traits on one side of a conflict, all of the “good” traits on the other, and then assign people “good” or “evil” status while not allowing any overlap. We can give a bit of a pass to children’s cartoons (although they, too, have become more complex in recent years) because children are still in the earliest stages of learning right from wrong. But Legend of Korra is intended for an older audience than A:TLA, while being infinitely more childish in its morality.

Also below, an excerpt from a post defending Bryke’s portrayal of LGBT issues:

and there is Sozin banning same sex relationship which again doesn’t contradict the source material, and Sozin being evil isn’t anything new,

Here is the premise both these arguments are working from: that because person A believes in wrong idea B, that that person must also believe in wrong idea C, D, and E, all the way down the alphabet. Because they’re Definitely Evil. But that’s not the way it works at all, and Sozin himself is a prime example.

People with discriminatory beliefs always have a system for them, a rationale that they use to justify their worldviews and fit them into a larger belief structure. There is a method to the madness; if there weren’t, hatred would be much easier to conquer because dismantling it wouldn’t require undermining other deeply held beliefs, with which it’s often intertwined. Sozin’s madness was an extension and expansion of his idea that the Fire Nation is superior to all other nations, and that he alone is the guardian of that superiority. Every evil action he takes stems from those premises:

Colonizing the Earth Kingdom. In Sozin’s mind, the Fire Nation experiencing an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity equaled a mandate to restructure all other nations so that they would be as “great” as the Fire Nation.

Challenging Avatar Roku in the palace. In “The Avatar and the Firelord,” Sozin flatly states that Roku’s allegiance should be to Sozin first, and everyone else second. After all, if the Fire Nation is the greatest country in the world, anything that might challenge that belief—such as the equality and balance between four nations—is a threat and must be eradicated. In a similar vein:

Leaving Avatar Roku to die after helping him fight the volcano. The volcano was a threat to Sozin’s homeland, and so when Sozin and Roku battled it together, they were working as two Fire Nation citizens. However, as soon as Roku’s premature demise left an opening to begin Sozin’s conquest, the Firelord couldn’t see past his own vision of a perfect world, in which he and his country dominated everything.

Hunting the dragons. Sozin’s aggressive world conquest required that the general philosophy behind firebending be changed and all traces of the old ways be extinguished. Humans could be bought or frightened into suppressing the “fire is life” belief, but that wouldn’t work on the dragons. Thus, in his mind it became necessary to wipe out all traces of the dragons, and therefore, the true meaning of fire.

There is nothing in Sozin’s worldview that suggests he would invent, from whole-cloth, without it existing before in his nation, institutionalized homophobia--not unless you subscribe to the ‘well, he’s definitely evil’ mode of thought, which LoK does, but which AtLA approached with considerably more nuance:

Toph: It’s like these people are born bad. Aang: No, that’s wrong. I don’t think that was the point of what Roku showed me at all. Sokka: Then what was the point? Aang: Roku was just as much Fire Nation as Sozin was, right? If anything, their story proves anyone’s capable of great good and great evil.

And, at the end of the day, it all comes back to my personal problem with that entire storyline (nevermind the fact that Korra had nothing to say about Sozin except a petulant ‘that guy was the worst’, as if this was new information and she didn’t already know that he had orchestrated the Air Nomad genocide): the fact that it was completely unnecessary.

This was a fantasy world, and while inspired by many real world cultures, it was not beholden to real world history the way historical fiction would be. There was no need to inject institutionalized homophobia where there was no hint of its existence before in the entire franchise. Evidently, it was too much to ask that this one fantasy world exist where people like me were never persecuted for their sexuality. And it absolutely does not sit right with me that a couple of straight men shoved that ham-fistedly into the story they were telling with their newly revealed bisexual lead.

And it doesn’t even make sense that the Fire Nation--the nation with women in the armed forces, and a distinct lack of evident misogyny, particularly when contrasted with the anvils dropping all over the place in the Northern Water Tribe--was the one with homophobic attitudes (and not just attitudes, but actively pulling people from their homes for the crime of Being Gay), and not, say, the Water Tribes:

But you know where homophobia would most likely gain traction? In the Water Tribes. Sexism and homophobia often go hand in hand, and in a culture where men reign supreme and gender roles are fixed, it would make sense for Korra and Asami’s romance to be a threat to the perceived natural order. But you see, the Water Tribe are the “good guys”, so they can’t be discriminatory, right?

#atla #atla comics critical #anyway no it absolutely does not make sense for sozin to have created institutionalized homophobia out of thin air #especially not considering his on-screen relationship with roku #thank you and good day #Anonymous #asked

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secret-engima · 4 years

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Like,, I know u only know the fma and undertale fandom through absorption but like imagine, Edward Elric and Alphonse are the ones to fall down the hole instead of Frisk. Or, them having the save point/resets powers. Ed is Determination Personified u can't convince me otherwise. This Kid got trapped in a mine shaft with a pole through his stomach and was like,, yeah, I need u to pull it out and I'll heal myself with Experimental Powers and, with a hole in his back, fucked off to beat Up kimblee.

That would be terrifying and amazing holy cow. Imagine, also, if their Undertale adventure happened BEFORE the main plot of FMA. Like- when they did the Forbidden Alchemy and Truth yote them through his gate, something went sideways and wrong because of Ed’s sheer levels up Stubborn and so they both wound up IN the underground. Al with his body and Ed with … most of his? I still kinda want him to be missing that initial arm. Just cause.

Anyway cue Toriel finding the possibly covered in blood and crying children and her rushing to heal them and stuff and Al and Ed going on a grand Undertale adventure and TOTALLY doing at least two runs (neutral and then pure pacifist to make it right), Ed learning to abuse the HECK out of the save point system and determination over alchemy while Al … honestly I want Al to learn monster magic. Like- he and Ed obviously find a way to save the day but like- they totally figure out a way to use monster magic. Perhaps in a slightly more alchemic way but STILL something that isn’t “in the norm or rules” of basic alchemy.

Also also if I REALLY super wanted to AU this then it would JUST be Ed who falls into the underground and his brother Al isn’t his original little brother at all (he would be an only child in this au) but would be ASRIEL who Ed un-flowey-ed and turned into a human by like- using alchemy to build an inert human body (because that doesn’t break the Laws of Alchemy) and then using his own Determination to help build/stabilize Asriel’s soul and stuff it in there so boom. New bby brother he is monstrously overprotective of after they get back to his world which is like-a separate dimension from the Undertale dimension.

…. you know what that is amazingly interesting.

DARNIT I HAVE A NEW AU.

-Ed loses the only person in his life he loves and he is smart and desperate and has no sibling to even moderately hold him back. He studies under Teacher and he plans and then he-

-Makes the biggest mistake of his life.

-And he is going to lose everything for it, he KNOWS this down to his Soul as the thing called Truth laughs at his hubris and the gates yawn wide. But just before it can take him, just before it can UNMAKE him he-

-Refuses.

-His Determination burns and

-He

-Falls

-He wakes up, sobbing and in pain, the stump that was once his arm pounding with his heart. There is a face over his, a face that isn’t human, but he has no time to be afraid because the blackness takes him.

-He wakes up in an unfamiliar bed that smells like cinnamon, with a bandaged arm and the monster he will soon know to be Toriel sleepingly fitfully in an armchair by his bedside.

-He doesn’t take it well. He is a hot-tempered child prone to violence, he is a grieving child who does not take boundaries well. But … he is still a child, and he is hurt and grieving and scared. He spends months in Toriel’s care and he … loves her.

-He discovers save points day they fight in the basement and he screams-screams-screams with her dust on his hands.

-(there are two ways this AU might go at this point, one is that Ed snaps and goes on a Genocide run until he meets Sans in the Hall of Judgement(? I think that’s what it’s called) and there Ed has a change of heart and performs a True Reset, OR he just reloads the save point from before his fight with Toriel without leaving the ruins at all. Because I’m an Angst Lover™, my personal HC is the first option).

-Toriel can never get him to tell her why he sometimes stumbles into her room in the night and sobs apologies into her nightshirt, clutching at her with his one hand.

-His run after that is a True Pacifist run (yes yes I’ve read that has to be the second run after a Neutral but this is AU). He’s already got the blood of one mother (one run, one world) on his hands, he refuses to add anyone else’s). He meets the monsters of the Underground, and he is awed by their magic just as they are awed by his alchemy, and Alphys makes him a shiny new arm to replace his old one after they figure out that he CAN learn monster magic for some reason (the Gate, blame the Gate, humans in this world don’t have a Gate).

-And he learns things, and befriends people and sometimes he watches Sans and Papyrus and feels an ache that isn’t his arm and wonders why he feels like something is Missing™, like that should be a mirror of him and another when he is an only child. But he loves the brothers anyway, and he treats Papyrus like his hero, because he remembers this skeleton who was so very very SURE he could be a good person if he just TRIED, and he gives Undyne water because she may be scary and angry but she’s also kind of cool and he wants to be friends.

-But sometimes fighting is inevitable, no matter how much he refuses to kill and so when everything unravels and Flowey becomes his adult Asriel form … Ed fights. He fights and fights.

-But he does not kill

-He choses Mercy.

-And in the end, when Asriel insists he cannot rejoin the monsters as himself, Ed, being the stubborn genius he is, says, “Then be my brother.”

-And there among the flowers, using materials scavenged from the Underground and supplemented with magic, Ed makes an empty shell that looks a bit like him, but not quite. Younger. Gentler. He fuses magic and alchemy and pure unrelenting Determination to give this boy a second chance just like he was given one and…

-And the boy in the flowers opens his bright gold eyes.

-He wiggles his fingers in awe and Ed laughs until he cries.

-“What should my name be?” The boy (Ed’s little brother) asks shyly, “I don’t … think Asriel OR Flowey fit me anymore.”

-“How about Alphonse?” Ed asks, the name sitting easy on his tongue, “It’s a name from a book I read in the aboveground. I can call you Al!” And the boy named Alphonse smiles shyly and hand in hand they stumble up the path to the door that leads to the outdoors, to freedom and light and life-.

-They step over the threshold and the world crumbles.

-The Underground was magic, and magic had kept Truth from finding the wayward Edward, but once they were outside-.

-They tumble back through the gates on a burst of magic so strong Truth cannot stop them and steal anything more.

-They wake up on the bloodstained floor of Ed’s old family home.

-Winry’s grandmother (I forget her name atm) finds them when she comes to check on Ed, having seen the brilliant flash of light that came from the transmutation circle. She comes to … conclusions … when she sees Ed huddled there with a boy who looks like him but Not clutched in his arms, one arm now METAL like automail and an older haunted look in his eyes as he stares at her like he hasn’t seen her in a long, long time.

-She doesn’t ask. She just takes them home. When Winry asks who the other boy is, Ed says “That’s Alphonse. He’s my brother.” And something in his tone brooks no argument.

-It’s a small town, but the Elrics have always been Odd, so no one really questions it when Winry’s grandmother says that the boy’s father showed up late one night and dropped off a child from another woman (even Winry is told this story, though she … has suspicions as she grows older). Ed’s arm is explained as an alchemy accident, and if the “automail” that is a foreign design and strange makeup well … the Rockbells are eccentric mechanical geniuses. It’s probably just a new design.

-Roy Mustang knows none of these things when he comes looking for a genius alchemist. He finds the bloody circle like in canon, he talks to Ed about the military.

-Ed quietly tells him no.

-Funnily enough, the world still has a happy ending. Because Alphonse has never been aboveground save that one tragic time and he is curious about the world, so Ed and Al take to traveling, doing odd jobs with Alchemy to get by, and this somehow leads them getting dragged into the plot and probably Ed still joining the military just to get nosy people off his back.

-But the Homonculus are going to get a NASTY shock when they try their plot, because Ed and Al have already seen the end of that Run and they are not going to do it again and for all Alchemy is a known factor that Father can control.

-Magic and Determination?

-Not. So. Much.

#SE asks #oliverslewty asks #Secret Engima Rambles #NEW AU #aaaaaaaaa #Anthem for the Homesick verse

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kytea · 4 years

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The True Nature of Deltarune

Deltarune Chapter 1 has been out for over a year now, and being the big UT/DR fan that I am, I’ve been slowly mulling over both games, reading many fan theories and putting together my own interpretation of what I believe the nature and goal of Deltarune will be. This will be a long one so grab some popcorn, put on your matpat hats and click to keep reading!

So what is Deltarune? Is it a sequel to Undertale? Is it a prequel? Is it an alternate universe? Is it the coming of age story of a bunch of teens? Is it a complex meta-narrative on the nature of video games?

The answer is yes to all of the above. And to begin delving into this we must first understand the creator of this game: Toby Fox.

I won’t toot Toby’s Fox’s horn too much, we all know how talented and hardworking he is, but he’s also very emotionally perceptive and empathic. His general disposition is reminiscent of avant-garde artists that push the boundaries of artistic creation in a medium.

Toby loves mysteries, and in the early version of Undertale there was an included file that disparaged hackers and went on to say that it’s difficult to add mysteries in games these days due to data miners and such.

Thankfully, this did not stop Toby from lovingly adding quite a few big mysteries to Undertale that have yet to be resolved. Knowing Toby and his strong desire to share his story, a story that according to him, kept him awake at night:

“For the past 3 years I've been waking up in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep because I've been thinking about the scenes that happen in the game. Even though so many details are still hazy, I really want to show you the things I've been thinking about.That's really my only reason for making this game. If I don't show you what I'm thinking, I'll lose my mind.“

I don’t believe Toby will let these mysteries go unanswered, and it is here that we can begin to understand what Deltarune is about.

The Mystery of W.D. Gaster

Truly, the biggest mystery of Undertale is that of W.D. Gaster: former royal scientist, creator of the CORE and the Determination Extraction machine.

A player can go through the entirety of Undertale multiple times and never even hear word of Gaster’s existence. This is because all the events that pertain to him are hidden behind a value in the game’s files known as the “FUN value”. Outside of actually manipulating this file manually yourself, it is, to the average player, random. The FUN value can trigger multiple different events throughout the game, some of which include running into “Followers of Gaster” or even Gaster himself.

While the latter has nothing to say before he “boings” out of existence, the former Followers all tell an eerie tale of a scientist who fell into his own creation and was scattered across time and space.

But hold on. Time and space? Why does that sound familiar?

Ah yes, during the Sans battle he speaks about an “massive anomaly in the timespace continuum”.

And during this battle Sans says a lot of other cryptic things without context, for example, he laments not being able to “go back” somewhere. But where or when is he referring to?

He mentions how he and others were monitoring time-lines and their readings showed them stopping and starting, jumping left and right, and eventually ending. Who was he monitoring these readings with? This all seems incredibly scientific and sci-fi, I thought Sans was just a silly skeleton, is he some kind of time cop? (he does have a “badge” in his workshop) He also uses skeletal weapons known as “Gaster Blasters”.

What…? Gaster Blaster?

Okay, now we KNOW Sans DEFINITELY has some connection to this mysterious scientist W.D. Gaster, but what? Well, for starters W.D. Gaster is short for Wing Dings Gaster, a type of font that he also speaks in.

Who else is named after and speaks in specific font types? Sans and Papyrus of course!

Furthermore, in the concept sketches for Papyrus, Toby wrote and redacted parts of a message that says: “has a brother named comic sans and a [BLANK] named [BLANK]”.

Who is this mysterious redacted person and what is their relationship to Sans and Papyrus? The easy money is on a family member, and for sake of argument lets use the prediction most of the fandom has already concluded and accepted: that Sans and Papyrus have a father named Gaster.

So Sans and Papyrus have a long lost father that was a scientist. This explanation would begin to explain why Sans has a weapon named after him, and why he wanted to “go back” to some place or time, perhaps in an effort to save him from his fate.

There’s a hidden event in Undertale where if you reset after listening to Sans speak about LOVE and EXP in a pacifist route, and initiate the conversion a couple of times in a row, he’ll catch on by the expression your face that you’ve heard it before and will surmise that you’re a time traveller and give you secret code words to tell his past self.

This will lead to him giving you the key to his room which ends up just being a prank at first.

But then you find a key to the secret workshop/basement hidden behind his house.

Once you enter the workshop, you’ll find some blueprints written in symbols you can’t read (wing dings?) and a curtain covering a machine that doesn’t seem to be working, among other things.

Toby Fox tweeted a message regarding this machine a few days after Undertale’s release around the time people were figuring out FUN values and the secrets surrounding Sans and Gaster.

“You’ve all seen the happiest outcome. Neither of them could fix the machine, no matter how hard they tried. No one can.”

This tweet seems to imply that if the machine could be fixed that Undertale could have a happier outcome.

And this my friends, is the gateway to the nature of Deltarune.

Deltarune, according to Toby Fox, is a game for players that have completed Undertale. But what does it mean to complete Undertale, and I mean, TRULY complete it? Toby often expressed that he wasn’t happy with how people told others how to play the game, that it is best played completely blind. Having played Undertale blind myself, and having watched others do the same, the natural way the game is meant to progress is that first players will experience the Neutral Ending, followed by the Pacifist Ending, and Finally the Genocide ending. This is because the game cruelly plays against your expectations of how an RPG should work and this almost guarantees that you will kill at least one monster your first play through. As if the fact that the fight button is always the default position in battle isn’t enough, in the early parts of the game you are told that you may need to weaken a monster before you can spare them. This naturally brings to mind the systems of Pokémon, where you have the best chance to catch a Pokémon if it’s at low health. Well, if you try this during the Toriel fight, as most do, you’ll find that as soon as you get close to critical health, you’ll instantly kill her.

Poor goat mama..

Difficulty-wise, the neutral route is the most easy, because you can level up a little and gain more HP. The Pacifist route is a bit harder because your HP is lower, but with the experience you gain from the previous route, it should prove no problem. Finally the Genocide route is the most difficult because it takes a concerted effort that implies knowledge of the previous routes to kill every single monster.

So an ideal Deltarune player has knowledge of all three main routes of Undertale, and may have experienced or heard of Gaster.

Is this player you? If so, ask yourself, what would a “happier outcome” look like to you? And be honest. Many fans in the Undertale community have already answered this question in the form of fanworks. Some of the most common elements among them are as follows:  

1) Frisk and all the monsters are free from the Underground and living on the surface with humans.

2) Asriel is revived.

3) Gaster is revived.

4 )Chara is revived.

The revival of Asriel, Chara, and Gaster are the undisputed holy grails in terms of happiest endings that the UT community dreams of and creates endless fan works to explore the possibilities. Toby knows this well.

Using a speech pattern attributed to Gaster, Toby teased the release of Deltarune Chapter 1

“I LOOK FORWARD TO CREATING A NEW FUTURE WITH YOU.” stands out quite a bit to me as the prospect of a “happier outcome” is already tied to Gaster and Sans, now a “new future” is connected.

And when Deltarune released, and fans had a chance to play it, they found:

1) All the monsters are free and living on the surface.

2) Asriel is alive and well and living his best life.

3) A voice with the same speech pattern as Gaster (based on Japanese text) brought you to this world and attempted to give your own vessel before…

4)…a voice with the same speech pattern as Chara (also based on Japanese text) discarded it.

Right off the bat Toby seems to have given fans what they wanted, a perfect future ending. But as you continue to play, you begin to realize that this may not be the world you dreamed of.

First, while all the monsters are living on the surface, they aren’t the same people from Undertale, for example: Undyne has never met Alphys, and the amalgamates that went to live with their families at the end of Undertale are deceased in this world. And while Asriel is alive, it’s not THE Asriel we were so determined to save in Undertale.

Gaster’s presence permeates Deltarune so thoroughly it would take awhile to point out every example, but it seems clear that he’s present in some form.

And Chara? You only need to see the ending cutscene of chapter 1 to know that they are around in a similar fashion as when they possess Frisk in the True Pacifist after a Genocide ending.

But their presence is also present in subtle ways. For example, if you attempt to play the piano in the hospital in Hometown and then speak to the receptionist, she comments that Kris’ playing isn’t the same as usual (Likely due to our control), but it seems that Chara may be good at piano. Interestingly, on the cover artwork for the official Undertale Piano Collection 2 book, Frisk can be seen holding a knife playing a key on a piano in the judgement hall filled with bones.

So for better or worse, what appears to be the original Chara and Gaster from Undertale are present in Deltarune, in some meta form or another. And maybe that’s the key: “Meta-characters”. After all, you yourself as a player are a “Meta-character”. You can ask the inhabitants of this new world questions that only someone with knowledge of a True Pacifist route would have, such as being able to ask Undyne about Alphys. Asking her this only makes sense if you yourself completed a True Pacifist route before playing Deltarune.

Ralsei, the lonely prince.

Toby being the trickster dog he is, he didn’t just give us 1 Asriel and call it a day, no he gave us 2.

Ralsei is quite clearly meant to be a version of Asriel because not only do they have similar or identical dialogues, but he was also was meant to look more like him before Toby decided to give him his Black Mage look.

There are even strong parallels obviously meant to create an emotional response and connect Ralsei to the feelings people had for Asriel in Undertale by giving the players the option to hug him.

Ralsei is quite the mystery on his own. And while he’s most certainly sweet and lovable, there’s undeniably some disconcerting things about him such as:

-Why does he know Kris and Susie’s names?

-Who did he learn the prophecy from? “Foretold by time and space” isn’t a good answer (or is it?).

-What did he say to Kris when the player SOUL wasn’t present in the prison?

-When he’s KO’d in battle, what does he become? Apparently he can still eat to regain HP when in this shrunken form.

Ralsei seemed to be under the impression that violence wasn’t needed in this world, but upon nearly being defeated by the King after mistakenly healing him, Ralsei says “This isn’t a world where kindness always wins, is it?”

The way he says this seems to imply he knows of other worlds and that they have different rules. Perhaps he comes from a world where someone being kind to everyone they met had great results?

There are definitely things that Ralsei is not telling us, whether this means he’s up to no good will remain to be seen, however, I would like to take this opportunity to make a prediction based on the previous understanding that the original Chara and Gaster are present in this new world in meta forms, and assert that Undertale Asriel, the final piece of the perfect ending puzzle is present in Deltarune in his own meta-character form of Ralsei. Perhaps the form he shrinks into when KO’d is one we know well...

There is that unused Flowey face...

Add glasses and a hat and...

but that’s just a game theory!

And I can't help but wonder about the dark heart on Ralsei's chest and this merchandise in the Deltarune section of fangamer that specifically features a quote from Undertale about the prophecy of Delta Rune (that turns out to be about Asriel in the TP ending, and Chara in the Genocide ending) "There is a prophecy. The Angel... The One Who Has Seen The Surface... They will return. And the underground will go empty."

It's also the Deltarune game logo

Because the merchandise is called Darkheart, it made me immediately think of the dark heart on Ralsei's chest, and having an Undertale quote about Asriel/Chara makes it all the more mysterious...

Regardless, in just the first chapter of Deltarune, the elements of the “happier outcome” connected to Sans’ machine are present. But how do they all connect? Well, let’s look at the other characters in Deltarune, starting with:

Lancer

Oh Baby Santa Claus, how we love you so. It’s hard to overlook how similar Lancer is to Sans. They’re both hilarious in their own way, both ride bikes, have similar color-schemes, both have a love for tomato-based products, and both have some scientific/engineering affinity (Sans and his workshop, Lancer and his “Lancer Industries”).

But that’s not all, the door to Sans’ room is identical to the warp doors found in the Dark World that Lancer hails from, and Sans’ warp ability also makes the same sound effect as these doors as well.

Lancer is a member of the FUN gang (remember the FUN value?), that, as far as we know currently, has 3 other members besides himself: Kris, Ralsei, and Susie (with the possibility of Noelle and others in the future).

Speaking of Susie, her name (or a version of it) popped up in Undertale prior to Deltarune’s release when the game was released on the Switch. By speaking to the Gaster Follower “Clamgirl”, you can learn of a girl named “Suzy”, that you will meet her soon, and that “in life’s grand scheme, she might be why you came here in the first place...”

Upon receiving this dialogue, checking the drawers in Sans workshop will reveal a card with a drawing of 3 people smiling and the words “don’t forget”.

“Don’t Forget” is the vocal theme of Deltarune sung by Laura Shigihara, and the melody from the ending verse,“Don’t forget, I’m with you in the dark.”, is leitmotifed throughout the entire Deltarune chapter 1 OST. The connections between Sans, the FUN gang, Gaster, and by extension Undertale and Deltarune are quite apparent. Perhaps the actions of the FUN gang in the Deltarune world will have an affect on the FUN value in Undertale.

Based on all the evidence we have now, I am going to make a bold prediction:

Lancer is literally a younger Sans.

That’s right, Toby Fox made Baby Sans before Disney and Sega made Baby Yoda and Baby Sonic.

Deltarune’s Dark World is the past from the perspective of Sans and Gaster (or a recreation of it). How Lancer becomes Sans will likely be a very large part of Deltarune’s narrative, and once he becomes Sans, he will exist as a separate meta entity that can traverse different worlds, even if versions of himself already exist in some form there (similar to Ralsei and Asriel).

We’ve seen that if characters are exposed to elements that make it clear they live in a video game world, whether this be Determination for humans and Flowey, a time-space accident for Gaster, or a strange man whispering to Jevil, these characters become something wholly different, more powerful, and begin to become more similar to players with the ability to SAVE, RESET, or use abilities that seem beyond the scope of the game (e.g. Photoshop Flowey, Jevil’s ability to speak, etc). Undertale and Deltarune are video games about video games.

So if it is to be believed that Gaster is Sans’ father, and that Lancer is a younger Sans, then it stands to logical reason that whoever Lancer’s father is, that they must be Gaster.

No, not the King, there is another. A “Lesser-dad”.

Yes, Rouxls Kaard.

“GOD DAMNIT”

Rouxls Kaard, or “Rules Card”, or if you rearrange his name “A Dark Soul Rx”, wait, Rx as in prescription? As in a doctor? Dark Soul as in Mr. Darkness Gaster himself? Too much of a stretch? Maybe. Although you can’t deny they have similar appearances.

If Rouxls Kaard is Gaster, and therefore the father of Sans and Papyrus, then he’s undeniably similar to one of his sons. Rouxls Kaard seems to be quite passionate about puzzles, (despite not having a natural predilection to them). I could see Papyrus gaining an affinity for puzzles by being raised by such an individual, they both have quite flamboyant personalities. And let’s not forget that there are also hints that Rouxls Kaard may be inclined to creating scientific devices such as the “Control Crowne” he uses to control K.Round.

Hmm, controlling other people… sounds familiar to what we the player are doing to Kris… and who was it that was initially going to give us control of a vessel before we lost said control to Chara’s intervention? Control seems to play a big part in Deltarune doesn’t it?

Also, isn’t his manner of speech is reminiscent of a silly ye olde knight. Wait, wasn’t there a Knight causing trouble in the Dark World? Hm.

So something is going to turn Lancer and Rouxls Kaard into Sans and Gaster, respectively.

Now remember the CORE that Gaster built? This one?

It turns geothermal energy into magical electricity via an unknown means with one of the byproducts being ozone, which is corrosive and could potentially make someone very melty. This is what it looks like on the inside.

Lots of blues of varying hues with white accents. Kinda reminds me of Rouxls Kaard and the other “card” people’s color schemes.

What a coincidence! Oh and apparently the layout of the CORE can be re-arranged or something:

"I work at the CORE. The inside is a maze made of swappable parts... That means we can shuffle the layout at will." - Hotland NPC

Almost sounds like a sliding puzzle…

Finally, Gaster is referred to as “The man who speaks in hands”, likely due to his Wing Dings font that contains a lot of hand symbols, however, it isn’t a stretch to also apply that epithet to Rouxls Kaard, after all, the Rules Card speaks in hands as well. Hands of cards.

Susie

Can’t forget Susie. Unfortunately, there’s not much we can say about how her role in all this will play yet. If we are to believe that the “Suzy” that Clamgirl references is Susie, then it’s clear that she’ll be key, perhaps as a catalyst for all the big changes some characters will need to undergo...

I will say that I think it’s interesting that toby specifically has a character in Hometown comment that humans are made of blood (and implying the monsters are not),

and Susie says:

“Everybody bleeds, right?”

From our understanding of monsters in Undertale, monsters don’t bleed, they turn to dust. But, maybe Darkners can bleed. If we believe Sans is a Darkner, it may explain this:

It could be ketchup. It could be a Darkner thing. Lancer does mention blood casually. But if only humans and Darkners bleed, then why would a monster like Susie say “everybody bleeds”?

So what is Deltarune you ask? I think it’s:

1) A story about Sans, Papyrus, and Gaster’s past and future. We get to experience their past in the Dark World, and speak with their future selves in the Light World. But these future versions of Sans and Papyrus may not be as far into the future as the Sans and Papyrus we meet in Undertale. Remember, Sans had an Ice-E’s crossword in Undertale? Ice-E’s-P’E’zza is a restaurant in Hometown. Papyrus may also be younger than he was in Undertale because Sans, an adult who runs a grocery store, thinks a teen like Kris should hang with his little brother, and it would be “weird” if he were there with them.

2) A story about post-Undertale Asriel, Chara, and Gaster. Asriel/Flowey maintains his new form as Ralsei thanks to the power of the Dark Fountain. He now lives in what is/was Sans’ childhood home. Whether he knows this or remembers the events of Undertale is unknown, but it is my belief that he holds a deep connection to the Asriel we all wished to save. Chara resides within Kris in a similar manner as they did at the ending of a UT True Pacifist Ending after surrendering the red SOUL to them in a Genocide ending. Does this mean that Kris’s body or “vessel” is Frisk? This seems to be heavily implied by Kris’ outfit taking on the same color scheme as Frisk’s UT shirt while in the Dark World.

3) A coming of age story for a bunch of teens. Kris, Susie, Ralsei, Noelle, Lancer, and all the friends that may join on their adventures are still people regardless of what grand meta narrative is at play involving the nature of their reality. They still need to go to school, fall in love, and worry about growing up and going to university. Noelle will undoubtedly play a large role with Toby’s tease of her as “Lost Girl”, and considering how attached most of the community has already gotten to these characters, it hurts my heart to think about what may befall them as they try their best to live their lives. Does this mean Deltarune’s world is doomed? I hope not... but those save file screens sure are creepypasta...

“IT WAS AS IF IT WAS NEVER THERE AT ALL.”

4) A story about video games and the control (or lack thereof) we have over them. It’s quite clear that we, the player controlling the red soul, is able to influence this new world based on knowledge from Undertale that should have no barring. For example, we can name “Onionsan” who has forgot their own name. One of the options is “Onion”, but why? Is it because we know their name is Onionsan in Undertale? How do we even know if that is actually what this version of them is really named?

Deltarune is so close to the perfect Undertale ending we wanted, but it’s just a little bit wrong. Would it hurt to force Undyne and Alphys to meet and fall in love? To get Toriel and Asgore back together? To make Bratty and Catty friends? If you were given the option in game to do it, would you do it? What if it made their lives worse…? I believe that the fact we are able to influence inhabitants of Deltarune with our Undertale knowledge may have some unforeseen consequences, and perhaps, be what begins this whole situation in the first place. (Paradoxes are the best time travel stories!)

Toby Fox said that Deltarune was the game he originally wanted to make, but whether it was too ambitious or time consuming, his idea evolved into Undertale. Now that he’s creating the game he always wanted to, I believe that he will connect everything we know about them together and resolve the mysteries, after all, Gaster has been waiting for this chance.

And maybe, with a little luck and determination, we can create a new future with a happier outcome. If I’ve learned anything from Undertale, it’s that you must hold on to your hopes and dreams, because dreams are the goal of “Determination.”

#undertale #deltarune #spoilers #sans #papyrus #gaster #asriel #chara #frisk #kris #toriel #sans undertale #theory #the true nature of deltarune #noelle #fun gang #susie #toby fox

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f4liveblogarchives · 3 years

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Fantastic Four Vol. 1 Annual 1981

Tues May 05 2020 [12:15 AM] Bocaj: ANNUALLL [12:16 AM] Wack'd: Bryne's run may be in full swing but he has not been yet anointed King of All Fantastic Four and also annuals are done way in advance I think [12:16 AM] Wack'd: So this one has a different creative team [12:16 AM] Wack'd: Who or what is a "Steve Ditko"? [12:16 AM] Bocaj: I think a spider man villain [12:16 AM] maxwellelvis: I dunno, some independent guy. I think he's the guy who rebooted Blue Beetle? [12:17 AM] Bocaj: Englehart on Avengers had the annuals tie into the ongoing plot a couple times. That must have been a pain to manage [12:18 AM] Wack'd: I mean Lee and Kirby also did that a lot--Reed and Sue tying the knot, Franklin being born [12:18 AM] Wack'd: But they had the advantage of also writing the regular book [12:19 AM] Wack'd: Anyway the book opens with a guy named Ral Dorn being chased by a buncha Dragon Riders, who are like cops from his world, and he's blasphemed by stealing one of their weapons [12:20 AM] Bocaj: DO-NOT-BLASPHEME DO-NOOOT-BLASPHEME [12:21 AM] Wack'd: "Wow, I can't wait to see how superstar artist Steve Ditko draws all my favorite characters," I thought, like an idiot

[12:22 AM] maxwellelvis: I see his ability to draw the Thing has not improved over the last 20 years. [12:22 AM] Wack'd: Anyway Ben recaps the plot of #35, Dragon Man's first appearance. His frat bros are like "what does any of this have to do with us" [12:22 AM] maxwellelvis: "I'm buyin' -- so shaddup" [12:22 AM] maxwellelvis: Wow, perfect timing, me [12:23 AM] Wack'd: Ral Dorn stumbles into the bar and Ben's frat buddies are like "you should deal with whatever this is" [12:23 AM] Wack'd: So he does that [12:24 AM] Wack'd: Ben calls an ambulance and then several days pass so I guess none of that was relevant [12:25 AM] Wack'd: "Why don't people talk to each other anymore? These days everyone's always got their head stuck in a newspaper. Why in my day, you made eye contact when you sat down to a meal with someone!"

[12:25 AM] Wack'd: (Also did people still say "making time" in 1981) [12:26 AM] Bocaj: Wow. War never changes [12:26 AM] maxwellelvis: This is a fun moment. [12:26 AM] Bocaj: I should print this out and smack people with it who say things about phones [12:27 AM] Wack'd: Anyway Reed's pocket Baxter intruder alarm goes off so naturally they leave the diner as obtrusively as possible [12:27 AM] Bocaj: Its the Fantastic Four way [12:27 AM] maxwellelvis: How many $$$ in property damage is that? [12:27 AM] Wack'd: Not much unless Johnny set something on fire on his way out [12:27 AM] Bocaj: People make jokes about the X-Force not knowing what doors are but they are posers [12:28 AM] Wack'd: Anyway it turns out it's Ral Dorn [12:28 AM] Wack'd: He doesn't want a fight but you know how it is [12:29 AM] maxwellelvis: They missed a perfectly good brunch because of him [12:29 AM] Wack'd: He uses his forbidden weapon to get rid of Johnny's flame but then he's like "oh, whoops, Johnny can't fly without that, I fucked up" [12:30 AM] Wack'd: Dunno what this thing is but it looks neat

[12:30 AM] Bocaj: Ral Dorn: "I am become error" [12:30 AM] Bocaj: Like this cool design [12:31 AM] Wack'd: Reed and Sue arrive just as the Dragon Riders do and decide to abduct Ral Dorn first as a bargaining chip to find out what happened to Johnny [12:31 AM] Wack'd: Sure is a convenient thought process for the narrative [12:32 AM] Wack'd: Ral Dorn manages to slip away from the fight and find Ben, who he explains the situation to [12:33 AM] Wack'd: "You need to save me!" "But why do you need saving?" "I did a genocide"

[12:33 AM] Wack'd: Not a very compelling argument [12:35 AM] Wack'd: Anyway Ral Dorn comes from a libertarian utopia. His dad was the only other human Dragon Rider but he died in battle so Ral got free admission to the very expensive dragon riding school [12:35 AM] Bocaj: damn it is about who you know [12:37 AM] Wack'd: So Ral and Lalique graduate but their instructor has gazed into the future and seen that no dragon wants to symbiotically join with them so he technically gets his degree but will never ride a dragon [12:37 AM] Wack'd: Turns out this is because all the dragons have been killed, and because of what happened thirty seconds ago, everyone assumed Ral did this out of bitterness [12:38 AM] Bocaj: Huuh [12:39 AM] Wack'd: Anyway he and Lalique to escape through a time portal which you can only navigate with dragons! And one of Ral's old teachers is like "it's impossible but I'm going to try and stop you anyway" [12:39 AM] Wack'd: And Ral does a self-defense so now he's wanted for genocide and also assault [12:40 AM] Bocaj: My takeaway from this is that future vision and time portals make things worse [12:41 AM] Wack'd: Anyway Ral was like "I heard in your time someone, like, artificially made a dragon? And it had all the qualities of a real dragon. So I want it" [12:41 AM] Bocaj: oh no [12:41 AM] Bocaj: But Dragon Man is neither a dragon nor a man [12:41 AM] Wack'd: And also Lalique and him parted ways because Lalique started trying to pressure him into admitting guilt [12:41 AM] maxwellelvis: "Well, okay, but I don't think Dragon Man can actually-" "I'll take it!" [12:42 AM] maxwellelvis: But he IS guilty! [12:42 AM] Wack'd: I mean he did do a self-defense [12:42 AM] Wack'd: Yeah [12:43 AM] Wack'd: But nah Lalique was trying to get him to admit he killed the dragons [12:44 AM] Wack'd: So what has Dragon Man been doing since 1964 or whatever? [12:44 AM] Wack'd: Terrorizing farms, apparently [12:44 AM] Wack'd: Burning down grain silos [12:44 AM] maxwellelvis: He fought the Avengers once or twice [12:45 AM] maxwellelvis: Also [12:45 AM] maxwellelvis: BURNINATING THE COUNTRYSIDE! BURNINATING THE PEASANTS! BURNINATING ALL THE PEOPLES! AND THEIR THATCHED-ROOF COTTAGES! THATCHED-ROOF COTTAGES! [12:45 AM] Bocaj: He DID fight the Avengers once or twice [12:45 AM] Wack'd: This is a little creepy, Dragon Man

[12:46 AM] Bocaj: Wait, he has to eat? [12:46 AM] Wack'd: I guess! [12:46 AM] Bocaj: but [12:46 AM] Bocaj: android [12:53 AM] Wack'd: The Fantastic Four go to find Dragon Man, with the Dragon Riders close behind. Fight fight fight [12:54 AM] Wack'd: Enjoy the worst drawing of Sue Storm in recorded history

[12:54 AM] maxwellelvis: Who felt the need to draw facial features on her invisibility? [12:54 AM] Wack'd: Ditko presumably [12:55 AM] maxwellelvis: And why did he give her Lenny face? [12:55 AM] maxwellelvis: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) [12:55 AM] Wack'd: Ral you dingus

[12:57 AM] Wack'd: Anyway Reed and the Dragon Riders decide to team up after Reed uses a polygraph machine to determine these beings are incapable of malicious deceit [12:57 AM] Wack'd: Sure, whatever [12:58 AM] Bocaj: Sure Reed [12:59 AM] Wack'd: Not sure what phrase I like more, "my father's private interspacial pocket continuum" or "foodsticks"

[01:01 AM] Wack'd: And so Ral and Dragon Man form symbiosis. Now that Ral has a dragon he is entitled by law to trial by combat. Sure [01:03 AM] Bocaj: this law system sure is arbitrary [01:05 AM] Wack'd: Anyway Ral wins and also proves that his old teacher did it [01:06 AM] Wack'd: The teacher gloats that his dragon was rejecting symbiosis so he drugged his dragon and killed the rest of them so no one else could have a dragon [01:07 AM] Wack'd: Anyway he had one more step in his plan [01:08 AM] Wack'd: All of the dragons he didn't kill he launched back in time to Earth to be murdered by the military when they go all Godzilla [01:08 AM] Bocaj: 😐 [01:08 AM] Bocaj: This is a bad plan [01:12 AM] Wack'd: Anyway, Dragon Man takes the Four and the Dragon Riders back to Earth in order to fix this mess, which they do fairly quickly. And Ral becomes a hero to all [01:13 AM] Wack'd: Anyway I just spent way too much time on a backdoor pilot

[01:14 AM] Wack'd: Yessiree. Time well spent

[01:14 AM] Bocaj: HAHAHAHAHAH [01:14 AM] maxwellelvis: Shame. His lizard-dragonfly girlfriend was kinda neat [01:14 AM] Bocaj: I know it was the trend for a while to introduce new characters in annuals and try to spin off new books I just didn't know it went that far back or that blatant [01:14 AM] Wack'd: She was [01:15 AM] Wack'd: Justice for Lalique [01:15 AM] Bocaj: Ral was only the latest in Marvel's attempts to make Dragon Lord a thing apparently [01:16 AM] maxwellelvis: Would it be too much to ask that if he has to remain human, that Ral Dorn at least be redesigned to look like Jason Momoa could play him? [01:16 AM] maxwellelvis: Did they want another slice of the fantasy pie after the success of Conan? [01:16 AM] Wack'd: hahahahah [01:16 AM] Wack'd: just fuckin realized ral's whole deal is basically just goddanged avatar [01:16 AM] Wack'd: the james cameron one [01:17 AM] Bocaj: Womp womp

#1981 #Ed Hannigan #Steve Ditko #The Main Book

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madou-dilou · 4 years

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Why The Dragon Prince Season 3 messed up

SO I pRoMiSed YoU aN EssAY about why the third season of The Dragon Prince disappointed me, and as I'm arrogant enough to assume that you are interested in my opinion, I post it here. ;)

*rolling drums*

King Harrow sums up the conflict as a narrative of endless vengeance, wrongs on both sides, that had to be redeemed whatever the cost.When the Dragang finds the egg, they think about the peace that could come.

But when Rayla shows it to Runaan, he tries to kill her, then goes to murder Harrow. He learnt nothing from what happened and is just trapped into that eye-for-eye scheme. At this point, Runaan represents not only Xadia's ideology, but also the whole world scheme. The world is blinded by this narrative of revenge, so blinded that they refuse to considerate peace even at the cost of relatives -and yes, I’m including Viren if “the world”. So there's no guarantee that returning that egg will stop the war, especially that, as far as we know, it was the queen of the dragons herself who ordered this assassination mission.

And Xadians don't stop there. They seem to work actively on kindle the fire. Elves are gathering at the Breach and attack human fortresses. And, just watch the episode where Soren attacks a dragon. Yes, Soren attacked first. But that dragon was flying over the city for days, fully aware of tensions, fully aware that humans were on their nerves after the kingslaying. If he just meant to afraid the people, he could just have left after dodging Soren's arrow; or simply destroy the tower, then leave. But he doesn't. Instead, he destroys the tower, then almost reduces the city to ashes, with the people still inside. When Callum finds out about it, he first doesn't understand why Rayla wants to save this dragon; but she explains him about the narrative of vengeance, that someone has to do something to break the cycle, even if she has to die for it. But she doesn't totally succeed and humans try to kill her, and the dragon gravely hurts a few of them before finally leaving. Even if, unlike Runaan, that dragon finally understood the hope the Dragon Prince was representing for the world (or perhaps he just flew away to warn Queen Zubeia), this doesn't erase the fact that he burnt down a whole city for no reason.

And Viren knows about that. Elves and dragons have exiled humans because they found a way to stop being considered as lesser beings who deserved nothing more than starvation. A quite unethical way, yes, but Elves could just give humans a bunch of Primal Stones if they wanted them to stop Dark Magic. No, instead, the Elves and Dragons exiled a whole people on sterile lands, Trade of Tears/Grapes of Wrath style, then ruthlessly killed all those who dare to pass nearby the border. Maybe the elves see it as a guarantee, a shield which prevent humans from doing unethical things. But to humans, that's just a knife over their throat. When they manage to get rid of that knife, elves and dragons just declare war on them, fully aware that they won't be able to defend.

Viren sees himself as the Jon Snow of the story, he wants to prevent a genocide, but no one is listening to him because they don't feel directly threatened. And the elves, in my opinion, had no intention of attacking the four other kingdoms, since their kings took no action against them (not even Duren). But if we set in Viren's shoes (Viren who saw his friends dying right before his powerlessness because of those damned critches), his point of view makes sense. He is also trapped into an eye-for-an-eye mindset -after all he is the one who murdered Thunder to avenge Sarai, and he is also trapped in a "protect my people whatever it takes." Just as the elves.

“That’s horrible, Viren.” “We have no choice.” “Story of your life in two sentences bro”

The heroes' job is to stop this, to break the wheel. To save lives from both sides -but more from the human side, given how Harrow qualifies this conflict "unwinnable war".**The thing is, in season three, the heroes didn't stop the war.**Well, effectively they did, but because they chose a side over the other. That was quite an easy choice to them, for their enemies were no more humans but soulless monsters. But that's exactly where the problem is.

The narrative brutally decided to caricature the conflict into a good VS bad framing :

Magic creatures are actually super friendly with humans!

“Team Daenerys 4ever”

"Trees to meet you Callum! Yes I know, I was fully OK with my husband and daughter going into a suicide-squad to murder your father and brother, but no, I don't hate you, I think you are a wonderful person and that the world needs to hear a message of peace!" And the human army meets absolutely no resistance from the Xadians, that’s a proof Xadians were absolutely not hostile and humans are mean, racist, awful warmongers invading a land of peaceful rainbowed creatures! And the Dragon Queen is super happy about her baby's return and peace's arrival, so happy that she completely forgets -and so as the characters, that SHE sent those assassins over Harrow, and that her husband spent his whole life killing humans. And of course, the cast, including Soren, totally forgot about that dragon who burnt a whole city down, because dragons are, I guess, way more badass and cool than mere humans...

Viren stops thinking and being sorry about his actions.

“No son, I don’t, I was too busy looking like a random bad-guy and admiring a sexy starry butt”

You might say, it's because he now acts instead of just talking. But just look his attitude when Amaya confronts him back in season 1. He's mad about her insinuating he murdered Harrow and even proposes the throne to her because she is the only one apart from himself, who cares about the elves and dragons. When Claudia asks him about Soren's life, he takes a while before responding, and doing so, his face is definitely not some Ozai's one. Or when he steals the king's stamp. He hears the screaming from the fight -he is traumatized by the elves and dragons. He looks at the family portrait, the family that was destroyed partly because of him, and definitely, has deeply sorrowful features on his face, while no one can see him, so there's no one in front of whom to pretend anything. And this isn't the only example of th- What? Season three? hahaha! no, he's definitely not sorry about imprisoning Ezran and shouting to Soren that his life didn't matter the slightest!

Even if he was quite desperate when he was in jail, because he thought humanity was just doomed, this just doesn’t fit...

Oh, and he lost his brain when he gained the crown, and that was totally ridiculous and out-of-character. I mean, given the little we see from Harrow's reign, it was Viren who just handled the whole kingdom for ten years. The cunning king's shadow, who always had a back-up plan to fix Harrow's stupidity thanks to his knowledge, inventiveness, eloquence; the guy who raised Claudia; this guy is now unable to utter a single idea of his own because of a sexy elf’s butt and voice who gives him some validation? Haha. I don't believe it for a second.

And not to mention how kiling him just solved the entire conflict, like he was the one who caused it in the first place. He murdered Thunder and Azymondias and gathered an army to make his crusade, yes. But he acts this way because there already were massive thousands-years-long tensions before. Viren was a product of those tensions, not the direct cause.

But then I suppose it was so much simpler to have a random Iago/Claudius/Richard III/Scar/Jafar/Rasputin/Melissandre...

Oh, speaking of questionable using of fire.

The Cinder-heart soldiers.

“DRACARYS !!”

When people talk about Dark Magic, they describe it as a shortcut, an easy way, a magic problem-solver that gives a far too proper way to determine what's right and wrong, who has the right to live and who hasn't. Well, with the Cinder heart soldiers, writers do exactly the same. They don't use Dark Magic to address ethic issues as in season 1 and 2, here they use Dark Magic to give the viewer something to thrill about, to draw a neat, clear, proper, defined line between what's right and what's wrong. With those humans turned into soulless monsters, you can say that the elves are right to defend themselves because those monsters are stronger than they are; but you can also say that killing them isn’t such a big deal since they have no soul. Of course, that can be used as a tool to point Viren’s fucked up morality, to point that the greater-good mentality can lead to atrocities. But that just doesn’t work. If they wanted to sum up the absurdity of war, writers could have left the soldiers as they were: humans who think they’re doing the right thing but only lead to disaster.

By making these monsters of those soldiers, by making them Viren’s puppets, by making them extensions of Viren’s will and power, writers frame Viren as the big bad guy who’s fault is everything and who’s death will resolve all the conflict (pretty much how killing the Night King solved the ten-years awaited winter in two seconds).

And if I remember quite well, as illogical, rushed, nonsense, stupid, badly explained and outrageous king Ezran’s abdication was (GOD, that was SO STUPID. Ezran is Harrow's son, no doubts), his goal was to save lives. But at the final battle, he happily jumps over a dragon’s back to burn those exactly same lives down -even far more numerous than the ones he pretended to save His sorrowful look on a single frame is clearly not enough to make me believe he’s sorry. He never addresses or criticizes or points the fact that those creatures were humans, while he is supposed to be the main character of a show about ethics, and while Viren shows doubts several times and justifies his actions which he knows are awful. Kantian Queen Sarai did a whole vegan argument about how killing apparently soulless creatures wasn’t a way to solve problems, and she was presented as right in the long term. Kantian-Rawlian King Harrow rathered die that letting one soldier take his place (but he was bad at math so he didn’t realize how putting 200 guards between himself and invincible assassins threw his calculation down, but that’s another matter.)

“DRACARYS YEEPEEEEE”

Then their son, the main character, the one who gave up his crown to save a few lives, the one who is supposed to carry the whole breaking-the-infernal-wheel thing, this character doesn’t even blink at the thought of lighting a giant pyre out of those people, Daenerys style. And who could blame him? How could anyone blame him? Those weren’t humans anymore. Those were a bunch of soulless monsters who were running at him to slaughter his friends and family. I don't blame Ezran for killing those. I blame the series for making those and not pulling a question out of it. Do you understand what I mean? The Dragon Prince was about ending an absurd conflict where both sides were wrong but had reasons to fight. But turning a whole side into mindless monsters (including Viren and Claudia, one being blinded by power and a sexy elf’s butt, and the other blinded by her love for her father) just threw that speech away. And not to mentions how their deaths are treated on a comic and cheerful mode (I definitely hate this baker).

Did I say “A whole side ?” Oh, sorry. My bad. I kind of forgot about someone.

“A Mary-Sue is never late. Nor early. She only arrives when she was meant to.”

How everyone who ever sided against Viren for whatever reason is automatically a good-guy. Callum, Ezran, Soren, Opeli, Amaya, Aanya, Corvus, Gren, the baker (this DAMNED BAKER !!!) … I mean. When Viren came at the other royals asking them for help to avoid bloodshed, queen Aanya said “I won't send my army to face an unknown danger basing myself on a two-minutes speech!”. Very well, she doesn’t want to risk her people’s life because just one single kingdom messed up. That’s not her problem. I fully understand her choice here (even if she could at least enforce defences because Viren’s arguments were pretty valid). But when Opeli comes at her with pretty similar arguments “We need your army to avoid bloodshed”, she just accepts. Of course, we could explain her choice by strategic issues about how taking down three human armies all at once alongside with the magic army just makes her the most powerful human queen ever, even if that outcome was very unlikely given how unbalanced was the scale (I maintain it, how can mere arrows kill a magma berserk ? and even if she was relying on surprise, Viren's army clearly outnumbers gOoD gUyS's, as it was said several times)... But the season doesn’t address those strategic issues. Instead, queen Aanya just seems like Mary-Sue, like some low-cost Gandalf who has no other reason for being here except helping the good-guys against the oh-so-bad Viren. And as you know, good guys are, by essence, not interested in power (tHeY dOn’T wAnT iT)… So she goes to war right when the narrative is okay and when it helps the heroes. And of course, she arrives right when she is needed, even if, to quote Kronk, “by all accounts, it doesn’t make any sense”. (Kronk, who has the same French voice actor as Viren btw).

And about Ezran... even the series says that Viren was right on this point : having a world-war resting on a eight years old king's shoulders is the worst idea ever. Even if this kid has best intentions ever, no one can take him seriously. Not Kaseef, who's father was just slain. Not Saleem. Not even Opeli -whom "you should have someone you can trust to rule this kingdom, someone capable, strong, dignified, loyal, lawful" scene seemed like the most unsubtle manipulation ever, and should have foreshadowed some nuance or lust for power into her.

And about General Amaya…

“I don’t know why I hate him, but he is so dangerous, so evil, and I hate him so much than I’ll side with the people who murdered my sister and drink my nephew’s blood !!”

Of course, there is only one single guy in the whole human realm who deserves to be called arrogant and rotten to the core. Of course, he is so dangerous, evil and bad-intentioned that she just gets alongside the army she’s been fighting her whole life along, the army whom she believes drink human blood and the army who killed her sister. I mean, even if she distrusts Viren because of how her sister died and how Harrow’s assassination benefits him, don’t forget that she is a human and that Viren is working to defeat elves, just as herself. I’m not saying she’s some awful traitor to her blood or anything, but just that she took her decision far too quickly, and that this decision was far too brutal, too defined, for to be credible for the viewer. But, guess what? She opposed to Viren once! That means she is a good girl, and that everything she does is the right thing, even if she has no reason to do so. And don't make me launched about Opeli...

So, the result of it: it gives the impression that the Sunfire Ordeal of Light was right. Elves aren’t wrong, elves are never wrong because they just have an unmistakable detector for right and wrong. The proof is, it found Amaya to be good and Viren being bad! Because Dark Magic is so bad, you know (sorry to the 100 000 of lives who Viren saved with that magic).

“You thought you were allowed to be a morally grey antagonist in a kids show? Haha, how bold of you, you fool !”

And of course, no important character dies amongst the “good-guys” side. Also on the bad side actually apart from Kaseef (whom treatment by the narrative was just disgusting), but Viren died before being brought back and Claudia was traumatized for life. The good guys? Oh, thanks for asking. All of them are well and safe because they brought peace by crushing that oh-so-bad Viren and his oh-so-evil-and-soulless army. Ezran and Aanya butchered hundreds of thousands of people by fire and arrows, and Viren died without Callum trying anything to save him, but I guess that was the right thing to do to prove the narrative of love and forgiveness. <3

“Bye-bye oncle Scar”

And, on the top of that, the icing on the cake, the cherry on the top, "la cerise sur le gâteau" : getting Azymondias back to his mom just solved the entire conflict in one second.

I know the purpose was about stopping the war. But there, the series didn’t stop the war. The series chose a side and forgets about everything that was established in the first two seasons about the complexity and absurdity of war. The series just threw its whole own speech away by ridiculizing Viren, depicting elves and dragons as nothing but kind and gentle, defining a straight line between magic goodies and soulless baddies, and having a thousand years-long conflict resolved in a few seconds.

Do you remember when Harrow described this conflict as “not so simple”, as a thousand years-long conflict where both sides were so filled with hatred to each other that peace was nothing but a naive child dream? Do you remember when Runaan tried to murder his adoptive daughter when she tried to explain that peace was possible? Do you remember when that red dragon burnt down a whole city for no reason? That's a shame because the series doesn’t <3

And that can be explained very simply: NOT ENOUGH EPISODES. If only Netflix agreed to change the format, this series could have obliterated Avatar The Last Airbender or the Alabasta Arc from One Piece (which has a similar plot, but with some bad guys into it from the very start, and in spite of this succeeds into outstandingly depicting the absurdity of war). If only the TDP series has had more time to breathe, to explain and develop characters, motives, depths, events, (especially Ezran's downfall which didn't make any sense) it could have been LEGENDARY

.But instead, The Dragon Prince just ran straight into the trap it was so brilliantly avoiding in season one and two: Manicheism, black-and-white, goodies VS baddies, Simple narrative.

And I don’t even think a fourth season can fix this.

The final picture was too rainbowed, too happy-ending, too simple to be fixed. Yes, there are still “OH SO SOOOO BAD GUYS” and under-plots to explore (Aaravos’s final plan, Viren and Claudia’s trauma, Rayla’s parents including Runaan, Pip, cohabitation between critches and humans), but the series was about the absurdity of war and how characters dealt with it. Once this war is not only over, but also oh-so-happy-ended, I really wonder what’s left to explore. Even Dark Magic ethic, one of the most interesting part of the show to me, is ridiculed. By rushing, they handled their speech in a very clumsy way, and even worse: hypocritical.

The third season threw the series's speech to the trash by a too fast narrative… And I don’t know if I can forgive this.

Reminds me of GoT season eight, actually. But that’s another problem ^^

Thank you for coming to my TED-Talk.

#tdp #tdp season three #tdp s3 #tdp Callum #tdp Ezran #tdp Rayla #tdp Zym #tdp Viren #tdp Claudia #tdp Soren #tdp aaravos #tdp Aanya #tdp Ethari #tdp Zubeia #tdp analysis #tdp meta #the dragon prince #tdp criticism

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peachymess · 5 years

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On Eren

If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Snk, you keep me up at night. It’s 7am and I can’t sleep. It just hurts too much. All the fears hitting me at once. I need the next chapter, just to further the in-verse present time. Yet at the same time, I can barely read another word or I might perish.

Listen, Eren might have had a very black-and white sort of tunnel vision all his life. He may always have been rash and headstrong and quick to decide what he deems as right and wrong. And he might come down on what he deems “injustice” very hard. But that’s not all there’s been to him. He’s also always cared about strangers in need, his friends, the freedom we’re all born with and deserve to have. He cries for people’s fates, he smiles at others’ joy.

He felt hate, yes, but he also felt love. I’m just gonna go ahead and pick a side. I refuse to accept that we’re meant to land on the far-evil side of his spectrum. If his plan is exactly what he says it is, I actually accept it as IC, because given Eren’s circumstances, we can understand what lead him to become this consumed with hate and misguided action. However, even so, I don’t think that’s where he’ll be by the end of this story. He’s swinging, and he’s gonna land somewhere closer to the middle. I’m not talking redeemed, I’m just talking understood and hopefully reawakened from his hate-consumed state - unless we’re just gonna have a straight up “this had to be done for best ending” twisteroo.

The thing is. If his plan is what he says it is, it’s nuts. But it’s *so* nuts that it’s... almost cartoony. Because not only do we get the plan like he says, it also means that the bleak as hell narrative Mikasa gave this chapter, is meant to be correct. Paraphrasing to a dangerous degree, we can sum it up like this: “Eren is a monster and I’m starting to realize he didn’t become one; he’s always been one”. This, canonized, would erase the weight of any smile, care and love Eren’s shown to give from earlier years. It would mean that beneath care for his friends and laughter at the dinner table, his thoughts and goals were so ugly and selfish that it even at that point outweighed the “shallow” good he projected into the world. Not only does that set the bar extremely low for what people we are meant to consider “evil”, but it also flips the script of the entire story to be one of hatred and fake beauty from start to finish. If we’re told Eren’s meant to be evil masked as good from the get-go, 1. If we accept it, every happy interaction looks empty and pointless as hell and strips the story of its stakes to some degree, or 2. We realize it honestly doesn’t fit because his “good” feelings being genuine is why entire plot points work and the story developed in the way it did.

What I’m trying to say is this: Mikasa’s temporary conclusion that Eren might have been a monster* all along, isn’t correct (and it’s meant to be seen as a wrong read imo). But if his plan is what he says it is, he IS one, thus her conclusion would be correct. Which it isn’t.

Side note: while I believe Eren’s plan and Mikasa’s conclusion need to coincide (plan true = M conclusion true VS plan fake = M conclusion fake), there is an argument to be had that Mikasa could be wrong about Eren always having been a monster while Eren still truly having become one by this point in time. But I don’t believe so. For instance: if Eren wasn’t a monster before but has become one now, Mikasa’s closing conclusion (him being one NOW) is still correct - but the reasoning/buildup used to arrive at that conclusion, is wrong. It would be like solving a mathematical problem incorrectly but arriving at the right answer by luck. She’s asking herself if, looking back, she can actually see the seeds of his true form, where she previously saw him through rose tainted goggles. But if he truly was a good boy before, it would be unfair (and a waste of time) to put on the table, a plot point that’s synthetically explained/constructed, when there is a true calculation/formula to the conclusion since (if) it’s correct. And the other way around, if her conclusion is right, but the plan is fake, the “monstrosity” she’s caused to reflect on, is fake to begin with, so how can she still be right he’s a monster?

So, back on track, I don’t feel like Eren is meant to end on this 100% villain note. His plan of genocide, his on-the-nose villain final titan face, PLUS Mikasa’s “sike, he’s ALWAYS been a monster”... it’s just too much evil. Especially for a story like SNK. It feels to me, like this is the “the night is darkest before the dawn” part of the story, where we go from “he’s a pure boy”** to “my god... no... he’s actually a demon boy, god help us”. Mikasa’s narrative says this, and Armin is having that exact themed melt-down when his desire to see Eren as good, physically stops being compatible with what he sees around him. They’re both so scared of acknowledging Eren’s flawed, that having to accept it, initially feels like a much bigger deal, a much longer fall from grace. So we swing with them, from one outer point to the other. Panic mode... but it won’t end there. It’s too cartoony, too black/white still. Looking back, the good times they shared, they were real. And the pain he’s later caused, is also real. But he’s not setting out to do damage for the sake of damage. He’s not evil to the core. I refuse to believe that’s what we’re meant to be left with at the end; redeemable or not, his goal isn’t pain. A lie is best wrapped in truths, and Isayama is fueling our own fear of Eren’s monstrous side by making us do callbacks to things in the past that could be seen as seeds of evil. And to a degree he’s right. Eren is violent. To be honest, it never say well with me how he killed those men at age nine. I understood the “the end justifies the means” aspect of it, and I think that’s why I was able to let it slide despite the discomfort. Yet it never quite... fell to rest. A nine year old being able to stab other humans to death with no remorse and such violent words... should a nine year old child be able to do that, even if it’s for the greater good? I’m sure I’m not alone. And Isayama intended it this way, to be able to do this callback. It spreads uncertainty. You start to buy into it... Becayse it’s true to some degree: it’s messed up. Your regular kid couldn’t do something like that... But it’s not proof that Eren is evil through and through. It’s just presented in such a way that it makes for a compelling argument. And in the heat of the moment, it provides the “holy shit fuck” the story needs to make the stakes as severe as possible. Taking a step back, I refuse to believe it’s a true revelation, but an intensional gaslighting of his person, presented so we’ll swallow the bait. Eren having always been a monster incubating, is too cartoony to be the final note.

So the question becomes: is the plan true or false? Depending on the answer, we’ll have three different proceedings. In neither scenario, he’s means to be the evil monster he’s seen as right now, though. If the plan is true, he’s become this way through being misguided and lost in perpetual hate and pain caused by all the knowledge and visions. With this backdrop, EMA/SC will have to either take him out despite realizing/finding out the pain that corrupted him - so not hating him but having to end him all the same. Or, they manage to win through to him by countering the hate with love (he could still die though, we might be past the point of no return, ngl).

On the other hand, if Eren’s been playing the long game and about to throw them for a loop, the cast members will all learn this in time and come to accept the bittersweet outcome that after all will be the best ending they can ask for in a world with so much hate. Eren can still die, I’m not delusional (but here’s hoping he won’t).

*when I use the term “monster” - and “evil”/“villain” - I’m pinning that to a personality that intends harm with the end goal of harm. Just because he’s not a monster (if this turns out to be the case), that doesn’t mean he isn’t still in the wrong, antagonistic, irredeemable for actions done in the name of good, etc. This ramble meta is about Eren being a conscious agent of pain versus a bringer of pain yet an agent of “good” (not considering his performance as an agent of such).

**He was already tainted from the attack in Liberio, so while I say “pure boy”, I mean in terms of us/the characters still seeing him as originally good (possibly - but “I refuse to believe it” - bad).

Edit: while I say at the start that if the plan is true, he’s a monster, and later say it could be true and he’s still not a monster for it, what I mean is this: if the plan is true in the sense that he knows how evil and selective it is, and will fight for it till the end, then yes, he turned out to be the monster that Mikasa correctly realized him to be. If, on the other hand, erens goal isn’t the pain but the greater good, he’s a misguided “good boy” who caused more bad than good out of mistake. If this is the case, I also believe he will realize it before the end, to swing that morality pendulum back towards the middle. Hope that clears it up. It’s about intent.

Thus concludes my late night/early morning rambles. I’ve said it before, I’m fine with anyone calling me a naive idiot for still holding out hope, but I’m just not accepting that Eren going full Satan and us accepting that “surprise, he always was Satan” is what Isayama wants to leave us with.

Isayama say sike right now.

#snk #snk 123 #eren yeager #snk meta #snk 123 meta #’you never go full retard’ to quote a good movie lol #save me jesus

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mariolucario493 · 5 years

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A Frozen 2 review no one asked for! (POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD)

Okay, hear me out. I’m probably in the minority when I say this, but...

I think it’s better than the first one.

I liked the original Frozen just fine. I liked how it depicted anxiety and how it subverted a lot of Disney tropes, but I probably wouldn’t put it in my top ten.

(Which, in case you’re interested, is:)

10. Tarzan

9. Aladdin

8. Beauty and the Beast

7. Frozen 2 (this one!)

6. Lilo & Stitch

5. Wreck-it Ralph

4. Moana

3. The Lion King

2. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1. Zootopia

(And that’s not even including the Pixar ones.)

But it seems that the general consensus of Frozen 2 is the same as a lot of sequels (especially Disney sequels): that it’s not as good as the first one. Or, dare I say it, that it’s just the first one all over again. But here’s my argument against that. I think being similar to the first one actually works in its favor.

What do I mean by that? Well, after the prologue, the movie opens with a song called “Some Things Never Change,” in which all the characters sing about how happy they are in their current life. Although Olaf worries that change might be inevitable (I love how woke he’s become, btw), no one is really seeking anything new. Now that sounds like the setup for a lot of recent Disney movies, I know. But it's an idea that’s really explored throughout the entirety of the movie.

Every character reacts to change differently. Elsa is nervous, but tries to embrace it anyway; Olaf dismisses it as something he will understand when he’s older; Kristoff feels like he and his friends are drifting apart; and Anna struggles to accept it overall. And we see how each of them goes through it. Even the inclusion of darker themes allows the audience to react similarly to the characters onscreen. Kids probably won’t always understand what’s going on; but they’ll have a good time anyway. And just like Olaf, they’ll understand it when they’re older. That does seem to be one of the major criticisms I’ve seen for Frozen 2, that it’s too dark and too complicated for kids. But Disney’s never been afraid to tackle heavy subjects before, because they know that challenging the audience helps them grow. And hey, at least it’s not Crimes of Grindelwald, right?

I think the reason they made Frozen 2 similar to Frozen 1 was the same reason they used similar themes in Frozen 1 that we were already familiar with - princesses, magical kingdoms, curses, goofy sidekicks. And that’s to deconstruct and subvert them. In fact, I might even go so far as to say that this was an attempt to remind Disney to always try new things, which they have had trouble with recently. Just look at all those live-action remakes that no one asked for. The exact same thing all over again disguised as something new, but without all the stuff that made the originals so good in the first place.

Frozen 2 also continues the tradition of having interesting female protagonists. Well, interesting ANIMATED female protagonists, anyway. It’s not like the Aladdin remake, where Jasmine has a whole new song about girl power, but then she becomes the damsel in distress anyway and does nothing to fight back. It’s not like Captain Marvel, who makes a big deal about being a female superhero even though the Avengers already have several much more interesting female members. It’s not like the new Star Wars movies, in which they’re so focused with making Rey a strong female role model that they forget to give her a personality. And it’s not going to be like the Mulan remake, which I’m just going to assume is going to be another soapbox feminist’s wet dream. Oh, wait, I forgot this is Tumblr, and they love that shit.

But really. Starting with Tiana, Disney’s animated leading ladies have become such well-written characters. From Rapunzel to Vanellope to Judy Hopps to Moana to Elastigirl, they are fully fleshed-out characters first and agenda pushers second. Anna and Elsa are no exception. Elsa battles magical spirits and tames a water horse, and Anna has a crisis of ethics that feels really genuine. All without saying something dumb like “Look how capable I, a female, am in this situation, in comparison to my less competent male companions.”

Oh, by the way, for those of you who wanted Elsa to be revealed as a lesbian, I think we have a few more hints that she may be. She does not end up with a love interest, but I noticed she does seem to get along really well with Honeymaren. So maybe? Definitely better than the live-action Beauty and the Beast, am I right?

Oh, and the songs are great. We get not one, but TWO big numbers from Idina Menzel. Olaf and Kristoff both get new songs that are pointless, but still really funny. Anna has a new song that is one of the emotional highlights. The lyrics are just as clever, and they help further each character’s story arc. Even the lame pop versions of the songs over the end credits, which I usually DESPISE; hearing Imagine Dragons’ cover of “Into the Unknown” was actually pretty decent.

So, those darker themes. The reveal that one of Anna and Elsa’s ancestors was a genocidal tyrant who built the dam as a way to restrict the Northuldra tribe’s resources, and then declared war on them. Pretty ballsy, I have to say. And pretty creative that the villain of this movie is a character who is already dead before the movie even begins. Kind of like Coco, but they don’t even interact with him as a spirit or anything. What I like about this is that it kind of explains why the father in the first movie didn’t always do the right thing when it came to raising his kids. Locking up one of your daughters because she has supernatural abilities seems like a terrible move. But when you consider that Agnarr’s father was also distant from his son and had the goal of suppressing magic, you realize that it may have been a subconscious choice on his behalf. And hey, it’s also revealed that the reason Agnarr left on the ship that would eventually be his grave was to find answers about Elsa. So he probably felt remorse about it.

And now it’s time to compare this movie to today’s political climate. And before you start typing about how I’m wrong like Tumblr users are prone to do, maybe take a hint from the first movie and let it go. This is just my personal analysis.

The Northuldra tribe is clearly inspired by the Sami, the indigenous people of Norway, who have been persecuted for generations. But I don’t know much about Norwegian history, so let’s just compare it to America. Now let’s see...does America have a history of persecuting its indigenous population and disguising acts of war as offerings of peace? Hey, didn’t this movie come out just a week before Thanksgiving?

That’s right, I’m going there. Come to think of it, this whole movie radiates Thanksgiving vibes. It’s set in autumn, and it opens with everyone having a big feast with pumpkins and stuff.

King Runeard is a historical figure within Arendelle, and he is considered a hero. The dam that Runeard built is a monument that is ultimately destroyed by Anna in the film’s climax. And Anna initially refuses to do so because she believes the dam represents all that her kingdom stands for. I might be crazy, but this reminds me of how people are starting to take down statues of Confederate soldiers or how many cities have stopped recognizing Columbus Day as a national holiday, despite others saying that they are important parts of our heritage. One of the lines in “Some Things Never Change” is “Arendelle’s flag will always fly.” Sounds kind of like those conservative nuts who think the American flag is an infallible symbol and anyone who disrespects it (say, by taking a knee during the national anthem) is not a true patriot. Might be grasping at straws with that one.

And what Anna decides to do ultimately makes Arendelle a better place, even though she worries that it will be an unpopular decision. So we have a person in a position of political power who puts aside her own hubris for the good of her people. She asks for nothing in return, and knows that the right choice is not the easy one. She destroys a physical bridge, but builds a metaphorical one. Anna really is the type of leader we need. And if you think that it’s ethnocentric that a white person saves the day for a minority, remember that Anna and Elsa are actually half Northuldran on their mother’s side.

Yes, I believe Frozen 2 is up there with Zootopia as one of the great Disney flexes on right-wing extremists. But it’s subtle enough that we can enjoy the characters, the music, and the story first; and the message second. It reminds us to step outside our comfort zones and to always think about what it means to do the right thing.

If you didn’t like the first Frozen, you probably won’t enjoy this one either. I can understand what people mean when they say the movie throws a lot at you and doesn’t always feel focused on a coherent story. But regardless, I think it is an important movie.

#frozen 2 #disney #review #anna #elsa #olaf #kristoff #sven

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