#which is why i disagree with the part where she can't move on or accept change / because she can ( it depends on the event / situation )
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It astounds me that CRWBY can have the whole volume's 'character arc' resting on the idea that Ruby doesn't need to be perfect and that her friends aren't expecting her to be, only for her heroic entrance in the climax to be followed by her team mates basically going "If she wasn't perfect, we wouldn't follow her.". They've already failed to effectively establish a character arc and somehow STILL manage to undermine it.
Unfortunately, that's RWBY's go-to writing style: put forth a straightforward character arc, but then fail to consider how everything surrounding it may undermine that journey. RT seems to continually believe that The Message of the show is separate from everything else we see on screen, rather than realizing they're two sides of the same coin; a fictional series of evidence supporting a fictionalized argument. You can't have a character proclaim, "I've learned to be charitable!" and then show numerous scenes where they're being unnecessarily stingy. That's a head and a tails that simply don't fit.
Cat: You’re broken! You break everything you touch! I call Humans… weak! Confused! Incomplete!
Weiss: No, you’re wrong.
Yang: She’s never been any of those things.
Blake: That’s why we follow her.
Unlike my above example though, RWBY is usually a bit more complicated. Here, the Cat tosses out accurate and inaccurate accusations, making it that much easier for viewers to simply ignore the ways in which this moment doesn't support Ruby's arc because look, some of what he's saying is nonsense. Personally, I disagree with "broken" and "incomplete"—especially with those two descriptors leveled partly at Yang—but confused? Frequently. Weak? Yes, that's a part of life; a challenge to overcome. Breaking everything they touch? Not everything, but a large part of Volume 9's reflection was supposedly them acknowledging how massively they messed up in Atlas. So... yeah. Things have been broken, on a literal and metaphorical level. Why would the heroes deny that in the final hour?
The purpose of Ruby's arc was meant to be accepting her flaws to the point where she can work to move past them. There's a fine line between acknowledging that people are imperfect while likewise acknowledging our responsibility to continually improve. It's not an excuse or a pessimistic declaration, yet Volume 9 started by denying the impact that their failure has had on others—Who cares that an entire Kingdom is gone? We tried our best and that's all that will ever matter!—and ends with the girls denying that those flaws exist at all. "You're wrong... She’s never been any of those things." Ruby has never been weak? Or confused? She's never fucked up? Huh, I thought this arc was explicitly showing how weak and confused and a failure she's been, to the point where those emotions drove her to a magical suicide. Worse than simply erasing Ruby's (already near non-existent) growth though, this moment—as you say, anon—suddenly paints Ruby as perfect when the whole POINT was for her to realize she didn't have to be. Her team turns her into an archetype on a pedestal, rather than a living, breathing, flawed person who needs support. Ruby is never confused. She's never weak. She's never lacked anything within her sense of identity. She's never made horrific mistakes. She is the PERFECT leader and that is why we follow her. Insert the implication here that a flawed Ruby would be abandoned by her team, AKA the very fear she expressed earlier that day:
Ruby from a few hours ago: "Why do I have to be the leader, anyway? Why do I always have to be the one to pick people up? What about me? ... Gotta find someone who isn't going to just screw everything up! Gotta stay positive, right? Smiles all around!"
RWBY is so frustrating because we have these scenes where multiple narrative problems are combining. I hate that they have Ruby complaining about being leader when she continually demanded that responsibility, to the point of actual Kingdom-wide destruction, and I hate that she's simultaneously right to be upset with how her team has been treating her. RWBY fails on both fronts by giving us a hero who is incapable of acknowledging her own screwups without making a whole production of it (Ruby's breakdown, though understandable, puts her in the position of a victim in need of comfort, rather than the responsible party who needs to own up to those mistakes) and it gives us a hero who expresses a need to be treated like a human being... only for her team to turn around and deny a large chunk of what makes her human.
None of which even gets into the iffy human/faunus dichotomy and how these definitions of humanity apply to Blake...
I love you just the way you are, says Summer, talking to a literal toddler who has not caused irreparable damage in a war.
What about me? screams Ruby, someone who has made it all about her since she ignored Qrow's advice and ran after Cinder.
We never expected her to be perfect, says Yang, and she's kinda right because the story has consistently shown Ruby demanding this responsibility, not having it placed on her shoulders.
We follow Ruby because she's perfect, says the team, obliterating this Volume's arc that was already contradicting the rest of the series.
This show is a MESS, says Clyde, banging her head against the metaphorical wall.
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Sam, you’ve talked a bit about the anger that comes with going undiagnosed for so long, and with having parents that dismissed your struggles. I’m about your age and I recently told my mom that I am relatively sure I have ADHD and that I was looking into getting a diagnosis, and I was at least 60% expecting her to disagree. And instead she said. “Oh yeah, I always thought that.”
Like. ????? WHAT. WHY DID SHE NOT EVER SAY ANYTHING???? Also, she was a teacher for years, and she knows how much I struggled in school so I am just. I’m honestly not sure if this is better or worse than her trying to say I couldn’t possibly have it. Like, at least she acknowledges that I struggled I guess? :/ Anyways, how’s it going with you?
I mean, I'm a big fan of repression.
That's only partially a joke. I'm not a big fan of repression but I do believe in trying to correct negative/damaging thoughts when they can't lead anywhere productive. I'm not a "think positive" person per se, but...
Yes, I am angry I didn't get a diagnosis earlier, particularly since it's not like my family was ignorant about the issue. But meditating on that just makes me more upset, and discussing this with my mother is not going to be cathartic for me or productive for either one of us. Even if I just wanted to take out my anger on her, which is a childish but understandable impulse, it's not like she did it maliciously. She was doing the best she could alone with three kids to raise and she desperately needed at least one of them to be "normal", for reasons that have much more to do with her upbringing and mental health than anything to do with me or my siblings.
And that's all a fucked up situation, but there's nothing to be done about the past. So when I feel annoyance or anger, I stop and think, okay, but there's no point in lingering. Get it out if you have to, but then let's move on to how you can repair that damage. Then I talk about it on here so other people will feel okay about it, and I try to practice compassion, to remember that my parents tried to give their kids a good life with the tools they had and with their own disabilities to deal with.
It sounds like you're in a different place than I am, so I don't know how helpful this is. Not that you really asked for help, it's sweet that you just asked me how I'm doing, but I like to be helpful anyway :) I think the anger you're feeling is normal; the "oh yeah I assumed you had a disability and DID NOTHING" situation is actually quite common, you're not the first person I've spoken to who's had that experience. But part of managing the anger is making a conscious decision about what to do when you feel it.
Pema Chodron, a Buddhist nun, wrote a book called Start Where You Are that I read about five years ago and which I've found useful in managing emotions about things I can't change. I think it gets overhyped as a self-help book, but that's not really how it functions; it's more about explicating a specific line of Buddhist reasoning and using Buddhist practice to accept the difficulty of the world without buying into helplessness over it. Part of that is learning to sit in the pain of unhappiness -- to acknowledge an emotion, experience it, and move into either using it for a productive purpose or letting it go. It's a practice that doesn't come easily, but it does seem to help, at least for me.
Funnily enough, I started writing the Shivadh novels before I had a diagnosis but I knew from the first novel that Jerry was neurodiverse. Writing him with ADHD, even as a supporting character, has been very helpful for me because like me he can't really talk to his parents about it, with a father who has passed and a mother who is in denial. But he's still a fundamentally likable person who gets to demonstrably mature over the course of the books, to achieve things he couldn’t before and be praised for it. It's very satisfying to write about someone who got a late diagnosis and that made his life measurably better. Because it has, for both of us! I would rather have this diagnosis at forty than never have had it at all.
So yeah I'm sad, and angry, and struggling, but crucially I'm not taking it out on myself or others, and I know that this is a temporary situation. These are feelings that will fade in time because they arise from grief for could-have-been, and it's worth the sadness and the anger to have the diagnosis and to finally have help. I can't help the failures and bad relationships and mistakes I made because I had a disability I didn't know about, but I didn't know about it -- and now that I do I can improve my life going forward. What I'm feeling now is passing; what caused those feelings is permanent, and from now on I'll understand myself better (and, at least in theory, have access to bomb-ass medication to help raise my quality of life).
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I got possessed by spirit of drawing and did more of my RGG x TES crossover. I should make a tag for it. Again, some lore under the cut, now about Majima (Goro), Taiga and Makoto
This one is more lore heavy than the Kazuma and his siblings. I'm afraid all of this would seem like the actual RGG characters' backstories but with TES skin on it, but hey, I like their actual story and yeah maybe I lack originality so what, it's my crossover, I can keep any part of RGG cannon I want. Also I'm keeping the Taiga stuff more vague as I'm still playing Y4, where Taiga makes his first appearance and I'm not on his part of game yet, so I can still change stuff
Goro is an Ashlander from a small tribe that was wiped out by mainland dunmer. He was spared because the killers wanted to take him as a slave (Goro was a child when that happened). But then he was rescued (accidentally) by a strong and powerful orc. Goro wanted to follow that orc, but the orc just shoo'd him away, for now. Then Goro met Khajiit siblings, Taiga and Yasuko (who themselves were escaping being trafficked), and ever since travelled with them.
The boys were offering themselves as mercenaries in their teen years and did a lot of dirty jobs, until they met that same orc, who then accepted the boys into his outlaw group called The Dogs of Shimano. The orc is Shimano himself, of course.
While things were going alright for three of them, the boys wanted more and did stuff behind Shimano's back for additional cash. They had a plan to have enough money to live a normal life without crime. But, when they were ordered to do a hit on a group of people, it turned out it was a wrong move to make. Both of them were punished, Goro had his eye gouged out but Taiga was sent to Deadlands. The mage that sent him away mocked that only he knew where Taiga is at all time
Goro made a plea and was spared but basically became a slave to one of Shimano's friends (yes, Sagawa). If he ever wanted to save Taiga, unfortunately he had to endure everything and ask nicely later. So, Goro's master turned out to be a vampire. Goro had to put on a show, entertain other vampires and sometimes be fed on by his master. One day he was given a mission...
Makoto is half bosmer half dunmer (her mother is bosmer). Her parents were vampires and after having two children, the mother wanted to cure the whole family and live a normal life. The father disagreed. Anyway, the mother took the kids with her. Eventually she managed to cure herself and Makoto but the eldest child ran away, still a vampire. Even though Makoto is mortal, her blood is still powerful and would be beneficial for any vampire to drink. Makoto moved to Morrowind when she grew up. One day she was kidnapped. He took her to place with other people, where all of them were going to be sold. She was forced to drink something and then, after all the stress and the poison, she became blind.
She was rescued and lived relatively normally, until suddenly she became a target for vampires.
Goro was tasked to bring her to his master, so he would feast on her blood, but Goro just couldn't do it. They ran away with a whole big story to tell in which both Goro and Makoto ended up relatively fine. Goro was no longer a slave but returned working for Shimano (also Shimano confirmed that Taiga is still alive somewhere in Deadlands). Makoto was no longer chased by horde of vampires and regained her sight back, also got in touch with her brother again. Unfortunately, Goro and Makoto had to be apart and never meet each other (it relates to the plot I have in mind, which deviates a little bit from canon reason why these two can't see each other)
#sorry i can't draw khajiits but Taiga had to be a khajiit it's just perfect for him#yakuza#rgg#the elder scrolls#RGGxTES crossover#RDD DRAWS
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Not to demonize Cat but the woman literally said Arya was a trial and she wanted her to be like Sansa; she admired Edmure’s efforts to look after his people but at the same time she saw them as useless mouths to feed; she wanted 14 year old Jon out of his own home in Winterfell. How is that supposed to be similar to him? Same with Sansa being Ned 2.0 just because she’s in the Vale. She doesn’t recall any of his lessons like his other kids do. He is a man who lived and died for his family and was overall well liked by his people. He carried Lyanna’s secret to his grave. Sansa snitched on her family (bitterly regretting it) because she was in love with the little psycho who tried to murder her sister and she barely had any contact with the smallfolk. The math doesn’t add up. Just reads like a Jon/sa fetich of NedCat 2.0, same people who insist Jon longs for Cat’s love and approval since he has oedipus complex or whatever. But one can not erase canon and none of the women Jon felt attracted to had anything to do with Cat. They need milk of the copey.
Yes, I agree with you.
Comparing Catelyn saying that Arya was "a trial" while the latter was missing to Jon gifting Arya the Needle, it's clear that those two characters view Arya's behavior differently.
Arya herself was doubting that her mother would want her ( which mind you wasn't true, Catelyn wanted both her daughters back. But it says a lot about the impression she had given to her child through her behavior). Meanwhile, she was certain that Jon would want her even if no one else would. Jon's acceptance is wholeheartedly, he doesn't criticize Arya's parts their society considers unwomanly ( and in fact, all the girls he finds attractive share those traits of hers).
Here is the thoughts of Catelyn when her brother gives shelter to innocent people in Riverlands war zone:
Only my sweet brother would crowd all these useless mouths into a castle that might soon be under siege.
ACOK - Catelyn I
Jon Snow in ADWD is doing exactly what Catelyn is criticizing her brother for, he gives shelter to "useless mouths" ( aka all the Wildings that can't contribute to the fight against the Others).
Jon's worldview, beliefs and behavior is so different from Catelyn's that it's laughable to claim that "he's Catelyn with Ned/Lyanna's characteristics". Do they have a couple of things/ traits in common? Surely, but so does almost any pair of pov characters. That doesn't mean all of them are copies of each other.
Moving to Sansa, I disagree with the fandom's notion that she's Ned 2.0. As you said, she doesn't recall his lessons like his other children do. That's not to condemn her because Ned taught mainly the boys and Catelyn was responsible for the girls ' education ( Arya is the exception here because we know that she liked to follow her father and see him performing his duties as the Castle's Lord).
And then there is the scene where Sansa tells Cersei her father's plan. Again, I'm not gonna codemn a 11 years old for making a silly decision but considering that a major theme in Ned's story is that he never revealed his sister's secret, preferring to soil his honor in order to protect it I fail to see the similarities between father and daughter in terms of personal values and priorities.
As I often say, Sansa was way closer to her mother than she ever was to her father and she shares some core beliefs with her ( plus her narrative comparison to Cat is important due to the Littlefinger obsession with both of them). So if the fans want to link Sansa to any of her parents, Catelyn the correct choice imo.
On a side note, I'm sure that you probably meant no harm but I don't like the word "psycho" to describe awful characters. Joffrey was a little shit but that was because he was spoiled by his mother and neglected by his father. He didn't have any psychosis. Mental illnesses affect real people and that's why I don't like seeing them being used as slurs.
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The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato, Episode 1.
I like how, back in Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, I said they should just stop the movie halfway through and end it on everyone settling into the new reality and accepting this world as it is. But the movie disagreed with me.
But then they cancelled the show and when they brought it back they decided that they want to make a show in the new reality instead of going back to the original canon.
So I feel kinda vindicated by that.
Anyways, Yuki show on Crunchyroll with screenshots provided by shady piracy website, let's go!
I am so confused by the status quo of Yuki World. Specifically Kyon. But also specifically the continued existence of Yuki World post-Disappearance.
Melancholy was always pretty up-front with the fact that it does not operate on Multiverse Theory. There exists only one timeline, with time travelers moving back and forth between points on the single line - and, in fact, the presence of people from the future in the past is already baked into the present.
Kyon had to travel back in time to meet Kid Haruhi on Tanabata and give her the idea to go to North High because that's how the history goes. Kyon was always there on Tanabata giving Haruhi the idea to go to North High.
So I am already baffled about what this world is. Kyon is part of the Literature Club and has dinners with Yuki and Ryoko, which implies that he remembers the events of the movie. We don't know much about Alt Kyon but we do know that he and Yuki never spoke two words to one another.
So it could be, like, a What If scenario if Kyon chose to stay and not end Yuki's new reality. But this can't be Original Kyon because he's on good terms with Ryoko. Our Kyon was quite understandably freaked out by the girl who tried to stab him with a knife.
Are we in "Out-of-continuity Loosely Based On" territory? Because they're making references to the movie in the first two minutes so it feels like a direct spinoff. Even though it's metaphysically impossible to be a direct spinoff, because this reality doesn't exist anymore.
(Also Haruhi made her intentions pretty clear that she wanted to form an SOS Brigade on this side of the temporal fence so the fact that Yuki World still has a Literature Club is another mark against a direct spinoff.)
I dunno. My mind is spinning.
RUN YUKI
RUN LIKE HELL
"But she has no powers in this reality--" SHE'S STILL HARUHI
Wonder if Yuki still has Haruhi's powers in this reality? Huh.
Also, I like how Yuki Show begins where Disappearance was. This world was created in the days leading up to Christmas, so it figures that a Christmas Party would be the first thing we're doing. The chronology is consistent.
Which. Again. Makes it so baffling. Are we spinning canonically out of Disappearance or doing our own thing? Make up your mind!
That being said,
New Yuki is such an neurodivergent disaster girl. XD
Yuki: I want to be able to experience a full range of emotions and feelings.
Monkey's Paw: I mean you're like 15 which is a pretty overwhelming time hormonally but sure. Here you go. Unlocking full range of emotions to process for the very first time ever in your life.
I wonder how much Ryoko knows? Her appearance at the end of Disappearance implied that she retains at least enough understanding of the situation to kill Kyon with a knife without even questioning why he was trying to shoot Yuki full of science gun.
I don't think she's still a Space Robot because if she had Space Robot powers that fight would have been much different. But she fully understood the situation when she showed up with knife in hand. And I think we can be pretty sure that she did that on her own; Yuki did not intend for her to kill Kyon.
But also, it's not clear how much of Disappearance actually applies to the reality of Yuki Show since Yuki doesn't remember meeting Haruhi and Haruhi hasn't formed this world's version of SOS Brigade.
One way or the other, at least she's still secretly vicious. I love her. Ryoko is making a compelling argument for Best Character and we're only six minutes in.
And then they put a knife in her hand hahahahaha.
Spinoff or alt continuity, they at least know exactly what they're doing with Ryoko.
I like how Ryoko is filling our Crazy Asshole quota but she's a very different flavor of Crazy Asshole from Haruhi. Haruhi was a gleeful crime person while Ryoko (who I think I recall being Class President?) is Lawful Menace. She'll stab you, sure, but she's not about to permit a hot pot on school premises. That would be inappropriate.
And she ships it.
Yeah. Okay. Ryoko is definitely Best Character. She isn't my character, of course; My character's Haruhi. But she is quickly making a name for herself as this show's MVP.
She ships it so hard that she's prepared flirtation cue cards. Everyone should have a bestie like Ryoko Asakura. She reels in the crushes and knifes anyone who looks at her bestie the wrong way.
Oh shit it's them.
I guess it was too much to hope that Mikuru and Tsuruya still hated Kyon's guts in this reality.
How does he even know these two? They're upperclassmen. He only ever met them in our timeline because Haruhi violently abducted Mikuru.
I would like to have a moment of silence for Mikuru.
Because Tsuruya just got her stabbed. She is so stabbed.
The "Yuki vs. Mikuru" fight is definitely going to end with Yuki, Kyon, and Mikuru going out for lunch while Ryoko and Tsuruya resort to street brawling each other.
They have the space heater!?
The one they got for performing in Haruhi's film? The absence of which from this reality was specifically one of the ways it deviated from the original?
...come to think of it, they don't have the computer. The presence of which was one of the ways it bizarrely did not deviate from the original.
This really is a continuity-free Loosely Based On, isn't it?
Lawful Menace. Ryoko found just the right hoops to jump through in order to obtain formal permission to violate the rules.
I love how she brings just enough Haruhi-esque attitude to the show while still being so distinctly separate from Haruhi in personality and behavior.
AWWWWWWWW They kept that! YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Oh no, she is going to be part of the show.
Yuki. Yuki, run. You have no idea. You have no idea. RUN.
^_^ This show is so cute. I think I'm going to have a good time with it.
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You are really good with words REALLY, so you may help me a bit there is something eating my brain: Some people have said that the only way to close Ricky's arc is to make him go away once he graduates and leave Salt Lake. And I disagree I can't point yet why, I guess a part of me feels like Ricky's arc about change is connected to his parents and he reflected that on Nini, letting her go and dating Gina was a step. I don't think going away will solve his problems I guess. What do you think?
You: “You are really good with words […]”
Me:
— but thank you for saying that lol, it means a lot, though I’m afraid I don’t always live up to that expectation.
I’ve never actually seen anyone say that Ricky needs to move away (for college or otherwise) from SLC as a sort of capstone to his arc of accepting change after he graduates high school. It’s an interesting idea and I’m not opposed to it, but I agree with you, I don’t think it’s necessary.
College is a big life adjustment in & of itself. Ricky’s going to be surrounded by & bombarded with change regardless of if he goes to a university across the country or 20 minutes outside of his hometown. No matter what, it will be a new place with new people and new responsibilities, so it’s not as if Ricky needs to “go away” & completely sever ties with SLC to experience any of that.
Besides, it’s Nini whose arc has always been tied to a place, not Ricky. It’s her who craved that external change, who needed it. At one point in s2, she tells Ricky something to the effect of “being in Denver didn’t feel right, but I liked who I was there.” Not because she thought that being in a new city had the power to fundamentally change her as a person (no one place can do that for you, you have to do that yourself) but rather because she had already changed and, I think, being in a place where everyone had all these preconceived notions about who she was & what she wanted, where they only ever saw her as this “old” version of herself, was stifling for her. Growing up in the same town, going to the same school with the same people, there is always going to be some pressure to be the person you have always been. It’s why Nini needed somewhere without a past, where she didn’t feel forced to be the Nini everyone had come to know, the Nini that everyone expected. She could just be all of herself, without restriction.
Ricky’s fear of change has always been less external than Nini’s desire for it, less about the place, specifically, and more about the people in it. It’s been about learning & accepting the fact that people, including himself, change & grow. No matter where they are.
& aside from the fact that moving away for school isn’t a necessity for Ricky’s character growth, it’s also not particularly logical. Out-of-state universities, public or private, are typically very expensive and we know, given the fact that he had to move out of his childhood home because they could no longer afford it, that Ricky’s dad doesn’t make a lot of money. There’s scholarships, but we’ve been told, on a couple occasions, that Ricky doesn’t turn in or finish his assignments and he’s on the verge of failing at least one class (English, I think? They mention it briefly in the Quinceañero episode) so it’s not likely he’d qualify a lot of those, at least not on the basis of academics.
Ricky’s a smart, talented person, who’s been going through a lot, emotionally, this past year, so I’m not trying to put him down by suggesting it’s impossible for him to get into an out-of-state college, I just wanted to throw out the idea that it might be more realistic if he went to a state school — but, hey, Troy Bolton managed to somehow avoid making a decision about what college he’d attend until they were literally at graduation (which is not a thing you can do, he would’ve lost his spot) and (again, somehow) got into the very competitive UC Berkeley, despite not being perceived as a very booksmart guy, so realism isn’t always at the forefront of storytelling.
I think Ricky could really thrive in college, wherever he goes, but I get the feeling that he doesn't see it that way -- I'm excited to see that change in s4, for him to believe in himself as much as Gina believes in him.
EDIT: @blues-valentine has a much better answer than I did! (here)
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SHAPE OF PAIN : LUNA LOVEGOOD
A PICTURE — a single image reminding you of someone or something you’ve lost, something you don’t want to live without. You can’t seem to move on, to accept life has changed, to live again. You’re trapped in the picture, in the past. Maybe this was a lost family member or friend, maybe this was a sickness that isn’t going away, maybe this was a sinking into depression. But, you can’t help but remember how life was before, how life after will never be the same, and can’t help but feel that nothing in the future will be able to fill the hole the past left. Nothing lasts forever . . . right?
— — — — — — — — — — — — —
TAGGED BY : @yinseal ( bless u )
TAGGING : @daerhael , @lonerebor , @littlewoodlandguard ,
@caninhisstecd / @killedinstead , @secondscn , @cursecarried ,
@songteller / @dualglaived , @iaurhael + you !
#series : harry potter ( hp ).#* luna : character study.#i'm dying on the inside because of this#luna's capability to retain & recall memories and events in her life is astounding#she's very memorious#if i could describe her mind to you / it would be as if memories were hanging on the wall like art in a gallery#except all the memories are hung like collage style / with no direct symmetry or space between them#and all the art in the gallery is hand painted by her#such a mind is how she really compartmentalizes everything / and why she seems so unbothered & aloof#by some traumatic things#it started happening soon after her mother died tbh#she was exhausted from grief & pain so she just started painting the imagery in her mind / hanging it up on a wall / and move on from it#which is why i disagree with the part where she can't move on or accept change / because she can ( it depends on the event / situation )#haha i hate this#: )
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okay finale has aired, it is time for more incoherent Wheel of Time screaming, and book spoilers rife throughout, apologies to show-only fans. This is about the first season as a whole but with special focus on the finale. (Also my book knowledge is about eight years old and a ton of details are fuzzy, forgive me that much friends). Got way longer than I meant it to but YOLO. Sure hope the cut works.
Alright, first and foremost, RAND AL'THOR YOU PRECIOUS DRAMATIC WOOLHEADED IDIOT YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO FAKE YOUR DEATH UNTIL THE END OF THE SERIES, GET BACK IN THE MAIN STORYLINE OR SO HELP ME
Anyway
There have been a lot, a LOT, of changes I've disagreed vehemently with in season one, top of the list being Everything Going On With Perrin's Love Life (dead wife, crush on Egwene, could be seen in that last episode as actually having a crush on Rand, which would be very cool actually, if Machin Shin hadn't specifically named that Perrin loved another WOMAN more than his wife and as far as we know Rand isn't a woman...unless I misheard Machin Shin, which is possible, I haven't done my s1 rewatch yet okay), close disgruntled follow-up being Everything Going On With Mat (with special shoutout to Moiraine sending the Red Ajah after him WTF THE F/CK RAFE JUDKINS), the changes to Rand and Egwene's relationship (to discuss later), and Where TF Is Thom Merrilin You Hacks (and also where is his colorful gleeman cloak and why are the patches on the INSIDE).
Okay, first and foremost on my mind, Rand and Egwene's relationship. It puts a sick taste in my mouth even if I understand the changes they're making; giving them a deeper relationship as a point of character motivation for them both was a good call, but especially with Min being cast as an older woman, I'm afraid of what I was afraid of in the beginning: Egwene taking the place of one or all of Rand's lovers. Given what Min said for his Viewing, and what Rafe Judkins himself has said, I think our polycule is more or less safe, but I am worried about swapping Min out for Egwene, which is...argh. No. Robert Jordan was not a romance writer, but what Rand's relationships with Min, Aviendha, and Elayne did was serve deeper narrative purpose outside of just character motivations. Min represents Rand's connection to the Pattern and to his roots as a salt of the earth commoner, which is something Egwene can do in part but she can't really be a stand-in for what Min represents as a sort of embodiment of the Dragon's relationship with the Age Lace itself, how he acts as a sort of linchpin to all its weaving and bends the threads of the Pattern around him just by existing. (Aviendha is his connection to the Aiel and his responsibilities to people outside of just his own continent and world, Elayne is his connection to both Caemlyn and the continent as well as leadership and diplomacy itself, and can we take a minute to appreciate the fact that Aviendha and Elayne loved each other so much they basically got sister-bonded/married/whatever? And the implications of that in terms of what they represent in the narrative? Beautiful.) I adore Egwene, I have waxed so very eloquent about how much I love Egwene, but what she and Rand have in the books is childhood infatuation that falls away when they grow up and become different people. If they stick to that script in the show, it's going to hurt so much more because of the impact that these beautiful moments the show has given them ultimately falling apart. Which, admittedly, the show is setting up--giving Rand the vision of Joiya instead of Egwene (wonder if she's going to face the same thing when she's raised to Accepted), the constant fear and theme of leaving and choice when it comes to the two of them despite how much they clearly love each other, how their relationship is not smooth sailing in the least but they keep trying to choose each other. It's beautiful, it's moving, but it's...sigh. I dunno. If Egwene is joining the polycule alongside the other three, I'd be down, except Min already named three beautiful women for the Dragon Reborn and I will be Pissed if they booted Min from that roster.
However. I'm still engaged enough to sit and wait and see where things go with season 2 and beyond. If we put it all on a scale, the things I love outweigh the things I'm upset about by a considerable margin, and now I'm going to scream about them and make them everyone else's problem.
First LAN SAID THE THING, HE SAID IT, IT WAS SO SAD AND SWEET AND I DIE. Also can we talk about Lan and Moiraine's reunion for half a second bc h e c k, them figuring out what to do with themselves while Moiraine can't channel is gonna be so good. Also, theory: Moiraine isn't stilled, she's Shielded, with the weave tied off (because, of course, they knew how to do that back in Ishamael's time, and yeah, that was Ishamael, who's gonna be the one to tell them bc uuuuuhhh someone ought to), and isn't that a kick in the head, folks?? Still hoping we get to see her rugby tackle Lanfear into another dimension but at this point all bets for what's gonna happen to her are off and I am Afeared.
Okay, I know I hate everything they're doing with Perrin's love life with a fiery passion, but what they're trying to do with his character arc is actually really cool. Perrin is such an introverted and internalized character that in a visual medium, it can be hard to get the audience to connect with him. And out of all the main characters, his arc is definitely the weirdest and I'm still not sure I really understand it or its purpose (bc Rand? Chosen One, got it. Mat? Reluctant Hero, taking on part of the Arthurian Legend that Rand is also shouldering part of. Perrin? Wolves, leadership, choosing between the axe and the hammer as a metaphor for his own struggle with violence versus protection, no clear correlation to the other two, but I'm sure I'm missing something there). Perrin gets such little screen time compared to the rest, as well, about as little as Mat, which I understand was out of people's control given the state of the world and Mat's original actor and such, but I'm hoping for more in season 2, because that confrontation with Padan Fain? Incredible. Side note: SOMEONE CHECK ON LOIAL, HE IS NOT OKAY, THAT IS THE WORST POSSIBLE THING TO GET STABBED WITH. Because if Loial doesn't also get more screen time, I am going to scream. His whole conversation with Perrin about wanting to help but not knowing how, so just ask was IMMACULATE, and such a beautiful character moment, but I'm afraid that show-only fans don't have the same foundation to love Loial and understand how true to his character and his species that simple statement is (though to be fair, that simple statement should do a hell of a lot of building, what a powerful sentiment in a frantic scene). I've strayed from my point but I love how they're using the Way of the Leaf as a major thematic element for Perrin, because it is a very neat way of trying to illustrate what Perrin's true arc is all about at heart: his struggle between violence, which is inherently a part of him, and gentleness, what he strives to be and has MADE a part of himself. My mans needed no romantic entanglements until his true wife comes along, thank you RJ, but if we get Faile and don't try to stuff Egwene into THAT role either, much will be forgiven.
The visuals of the women burning out as Lady Amalisa drew in too much? EPIC. I don't remember much of what happened with Agelmar and Amalisa in the books, but they sure as hell got a fantastic sendoff in the show. Borderlanders: they get the job done. Although. Um. Did they also kill Uno??? Can they NOT???? I'm curious about if Egwene healed Nynaeve, or if something else was happening, because it didn't seem like something conscious Egwene was doing or aware of. Which the show has shown that channeling isn't always a conscious choice, explicitly stated it in Moiraine's conversation with Rand (side note, Liandrin was who she was talking about, bet money on it), so it's not outside the realm of possibility that Egwene healed her, but something about it felt a little fishy to me. Also NYNAEVE YOU BRILLIANT BEAUTIFUL FIERCE INDIVIDUAL, HOW DARE YOU SAVE EGWENE'S LIFE WHILE RECITING TO HER THE WORDS OF THE EMOND'S FIELD WOMEN'S CIRCLE CEREMONY AND MAKE ME CRY. Anyway. That image of Amalisa just before she dies is gonna haunt me, it was macabre but strangely beautiful and I especially love that she was wearing her ancestors' armor while she did it. It's a weird point of despair and strength all rolled into one.
To touch on Mat a bit: I understand why his story is so wonky, and I can't say that I'm a big fan of the idea to make Mat's story about resisting darkness, because that's more Rand's bag, tbh; Mat's story is much more about stepping up to the plate and doing what needs to be done, complaining all the way. It's interesting, at least, to have the character who prefers joking around and drinking and carousing become the character who cares for his loved ones with fierce determination but is still seduced by darkness, but, again, it's not really Mat Cauthon's story. Time will tell where it goes, but the emphasis on darkness within him being what helped him survive the dagger rather than his own inherent strength is not a framing I enjoy. But, again, it's more Moiraine's point of view, and Moiraine is not infallible. She doesn't know Mat well enough yet to know that inner strength, because MAT doesn't know about it yet. It'll come to light later. If the Red Ajah doesn't make a smear of him first. It's interesting that he was so focused on the White Tower in his final appearance, because Mat can sense the location of the dagger from Shadar Logoth, and the dagger was definitely nowhere near the White Tower anymore, unless some time heckery was going on and we're going to see Padan Fain steal it and Mat try to interfere. Season 2 will tell.
CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE GLIMPSE INTO LEWS THERIN TELAMON AND THE PAST THAT WAS SO FUTURISTIC AND BRIGHT, THE CO-ED AES SEDAI THE WAY THEY WERE MEANT TO BE, THE OLD TONGUE BEING SPOKEN SO FLUENTLY, RAND THE CLEVER CLOGS USING ISHAMAEL TO LEARN HOW TO CHANNEL BEFORE WRECKING HIS SHOP, THE REPURPOSING OF THE EYE OF THE WORLD AS POSSIBLY ONE OF THE SEALS ON THE DARK ONE'S PRISON AND IT BREAKING, HOW ISHAMAEL IS PRESENTING AS SOME DUDE IN A SUIT DESPITE THAT SUIT BEING OBVIOUSLY FOREIGN TO BOTH RAND AND THE AUDIENCE, THE LITTLE TOUCHES ABOUT RAND STARTING TO REMEMBER THINGS ABOUT HIS FORMER LIFE AND INTERPRETING THAT AS MADNESS (side note, what WAS he talking about, when he said he could feel the madness already? was it Lews Therin's memories? Was it the whole showdown with Ishamael itself? EXPLAIN YOURSELF, KID). I ADORED IT ALL SO MUCH, THE PARALLELS BETWEEN LEWS THERIN'S LIFE BEFORE HIS UNDERTAKING TO TRY AND BIND THE DARK ONE AND WHAT RAND WANTED WITH EGWENE, HOW RAND'S ENTIRE TURNING POINT WAS ABOUT FIGHTING FOR WHAT EGWENE WANTED AND NOT WHAT HE HIMSELF WANTED, THERE'S MY GOOD SWEET BOY, YOU FIGHT THAT DARKNESS.
THE SEANCHAN. CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT. CAN WE TALK ABOUT THEM AND THEIR FANTASTIC VISUALS. CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE PAINTS AND THE COSTUMES. CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW THE DAMANE CHANNEL IN SUCH A ROBOTIC, SYNCHRONIZED WAY THAT IS SO EERILY DIFFERENT FROM THE ATLA STYLE BENDING WE'VE BEEN GETTING FROM EVERY OTHER CHANNELER. AND THE WAY THEY'RE MUZZLED. I'M SO READY. I'M SO READYYYY. EVEN THOUGH WE WILL HAVE TO WAIT A LONG TIME FOR TUON AND MAT'S EXCELLENT DYNAMIC. Look I know the Seanchan have some pretty abhorrent slavery practices but also they're the main engine for a lot of the more interesting conflicts in the series and I'm excited to see them, GONNA BE SO COOOOOL.
Okay, final thoughts, because this is so long: it's different from the books, and we are losing so many precious and small things for the sake of the larger goal of trying to introduce the story in a new medium, but it still feels pretty on-track for Wheel of Time, and I'm kinda excited to see if there's going to be a new opening for each season revolving around the Wheel Weaving as the Wheel Wills. I'm starting to want the show to be good for its own sake and not just because I love the books so much, which I think is the mark of a good show and a good interpretation, really. On board and ready for season 2!!
#wot prime#wot prime spoilers#wot book spoilers#wheel of time#phew this took me a while to type sorry#it is very very long#i have many thoughts#and more that i'm sure i'll remember later
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Tbh, if taxian- jun had stayed out of 2.0 ranwan I would be fine, but the way things turned out in the end the fact that Chu Wanning 0.5 didn't get a chance, was like erasing him.
Oop we do have to disagree here anon. Not sure if you've read meatbun's explanation for it but chu fei did get a chance bc the soul he left behind in chu wanning and mo ran actually merged within chu wanning and became a part of him, like mo zongshi and txj. The reason chu fei doesn't show up as a distinct personality the way txj does, as explained by meatbun, is basically that chu wanning's core personality wasn't really that different in both lifetimes so the merge was... smooth, so to say. But chu fei is truly there, as well.
In fact, meatbun emphasized that she wanted mo ran and chu wanning to have their past selves' memories and give them a chance too (otherwise it'd be sad) so that's why the soul merges happened.
Also, I don't think you can separate txj from mo ran and ranwan. I have Opinions on this. Like. I don't wanna generalize but from what I've seen (mostly on twitter, and it's a huge peeve of mine actually), the constant fandom divide between txj and mo zongshi seems to have made some ppl believe they're completely different characters when they're not. The one who was reborn was txj, mo zongshi IS txj and book 1 couldn't be more explicit about it. The reason behind mo ran's split personality is that not all of his souls were reborn - one bit stayed in his 0.5 corpse, that one didn't get a chance to go through the same character development as the rest hence why after all of mo ran's souls merged, the difference in development between the souls caused the split. But ultimately, they are the same person and mo zongshi does not differentiate between txj and himself, despite the split (birthday extras even mention they share consciousness sometimes).
0.5 timeline was the original, no matter the way it turned out. And maybe I'm giving meatbun too much credit but I do think mo ran's split personality might be some commentary on how we can't/shouldn't forget where we came from and what we did in the past, but that doesn't mean we can't move on and accept ourselves. Mo ran himself had a lot of hang ups regarding the things he did as txj but by the extras, he's reconciled with it and accepts it as part of himself which I think is narratively important. And well, by sacrificing himself for chu wanning, 0.5 mo ran did kind of indirectly kickstart 2.0 so 2.0 ranwan wouldn't really exist without 0.5 ranwan.
Anyways, the point of this long ass rant: 2ha ending is not perfect but chu fei got his second chance to be with the man he loved in a healthy environment, txj is not butting in 2.0 and I really recommend reading the birthday extras!
#oh man this got long sksndjdjdjd#2ha spoilers#2ha#tp#replies#long post#like i get why 0.5 ranwan and txj might make ppl uncomfortable/have mixed feelings but#they're still part of the story (the catalyst of it really) and part of the characters themselves so#btw this is not meant to like. change your opinion or anything anon just giving my own thoughts about it#i do have some issues with the ending but i made peace with it
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AARON SORKIN'S "WOMAN PROBLEM" AND THE NEWSROOM
After binging on The Newsroom (and loving it) created by Aaron Sorkin I got to thinking about his reputed "woman problem" when some YouTube commenter described all the female characters on the show as "twits." That's a characterization I strongly disagree with, and will show why, but also can't shake the intuitive sense that his portrayal is rightly controversial. By that I mean it is right that it should be a matter of discussion, not that it is necessarily wrong. The people holding the discussion need to decide that for themselves.
First the bald facts. Women in this drama hold power: Leona founded and still owns the company, Mackenzie is the Executive Producer of the network's flagship news program with a male second-in-command and many male staff, Sloan is the acknowledged smartest person in the company with far more lucrative prospects awaiting her should she choose them, Maggie is promoted instantly from a personal aide to an associate producer by a woman despite her youth and inexperience. Women are in leadership roles with real power that they do exercise.
In their relationships to men, the women in The Newsroom engage in give and take.
Mackenzie may look at Will like a doe-eyed schoolgirl at times but she's in love with him and is self-recriminating about previous behaviors. She isn't like that with any other male characters. Even with Will she frequently takes charge and makes him follow her direction, which he does. Mac exercises real power in her relationship with Will from episode one on. When Will doles out his "punishments" she only takes them to the degree that she believes she should. She holds the power at any time to say, "That's enough!" which she does in regards to the engagement ring. When she does that he realizes he's gone too far and changes his behavior.
Maggie coddles Don in most of the scenes we see of them and breaks up with him mostly in scenes we don't see. I'd venture to guess that the early breakups happen because the relationship has no room for her passion and she gets tired of soothing his ego to make things work. In contrast, Maggie's drawn to Jim because he awakens and allows room for her passion. Most employees who confront and yell at their bosses as much as she does with Jim would be suspended and/or fired. He lets her get away with it to a degree because he recognizes that that same passion drives her to become an excellent journalist. And because he likes her. Both are true. Every once in awhile he has to reprimand her in public to assert authority over his team or it gives permission to his other staff to behave the same way. Maggie is no shrinking violet. She is strong and self-directed and refuses to allow a man to control her. Most of her errors come from inexperience and human frailty. None of them occur because she's a woman.
Sloan clearly wears the pants in her relationship to Don which, to his surprise, he doesn't mind. Ever once in awhile, though, they switch roles or just relate as equals. Don goes from dating the young intern who part of him wants to dominate to dating the highly intelligent, self-directed professional who no man can dominate and becomes a better version of himself as a result. Sloan's errors in her first broadcast about Fukushima occur not because she is scared by Will as a man but because she's scared by him as respected professional. His gender doesn't matter to her. When Charlie yells at her about it she tells him strongly, "Do not call me 'girl,' sir!" And that's to the head of the News Division.
Leona clearly rules the roost and fights with Charlie as an equal or as a subordinate, never as a superior. They fight the way old friends do.
In no respect are women as a class portrayed as inferior or subordinate to the power of men. So why do I get that intuitive itch that there's something old-fashioned about Sorkin's writing on gender relations?
I think it's that some of the male characters in The Newsroom tend to be the carriers of logic and reasoning while the female characters tend to be the carriers of emotional expression. This isn't always true: Sloan is highly logical (while also passionate) and Charlie is highly emotional (while also reasonable) and Neal carries both in balance. It's certainly true, however, of the Jim & Maggie relationship which is intended as a reflection of the older Will & Mackenzie one. Remember how, in episode one, Mackenzie points out Maggie to Jim and tells him that she's a younger version of her before she grew into herself and got hotter with age? And why has Jim long been Mackenzie's choice for supervising producer? Could it be because he reminds her of Will? I think so. I also think it's fair to assume that Sorkin does not intend for that rational/emotional dichotomy to typify all gender relations since he gives us alternate examples. More likely it's because Sorkin is a brainy guy who prefers an emotionally expressive woman to bring balance into his life. When he writes romance it comes out of who he is, what he likes. That's how he connects to the material at a feeling level. Some viewers may prefer a flip on those traditional associations and the Don & Sloan relationship may have been his attempt to provide that. It's not where Sorkin feels at his strongest or most natural, though, so he writes what he knows.
There ARE problems with The Newsroom, though, that I think if addressed would have reduced criticism. In no way should bosses be allowed to date subordinates over whose careers they have an influence. The producers decide what stories are aired. The career of a journalist rises and falls with the number and quality of stories they get aired. Dating a subordinate in this environment is a breach of ethics and most professional workplace standards. To be fair, Maggie was first an intern then a personal aide and only became an associate producer (journalist) as Don was on his way out so it wasn't a total breach; definitely in the gray area, though. The sexual tension between Jim and Maggie, obvious to everyone (as Sloan pointed out in the finale), often broke out into open conflict. Mackenzie should have addressed this conflict as their supervisor but instead encouraged it. As Jim points out it was Mac's idea for him to get together with Maggie in the first place. Again, it was Mac's advice to Jim to "gather ye rosebuds while ye may" that led to his and Maggie's first kiss and then Jim deciding this was wrong. Mackenzie's regrets about her relationship with Will colored her judgment and led her to offer advice that may have been okay coming from a friend but was inappropriate coming from a supervisor. She could have been rightly disciplined or even fired by HR if found out. Jim does decide that he can't date a subordinate however he feels but Mac should have intervened and threatened to move one of them out if they couldn't handle the tension in a professional manner. In the series finale Jim offers the Supervising Producer position to the woman he's in love with. How is that not an HR violation? How would Maggie's career not be dogged by rumors of "sleeping her way to the top" if she accepts it?
The other thing is the way emotional conflicts between several of the characters break out into office wide battles. Talk about an unsafe working environment! I can't see how the entire management staff wasn't fired on an almost weekly basis. And when Mackenzie commends Maggie for her loyalty by saying she wouldn't complain to HR if her hair was on fire I cringed. Is that the message you want to send out in a #MeToo world?
Aaron Sorkin says he likes to write "very romantically, very idealistically." The chaos in the newsroom is intended for laughs, not to be taken as a serious reflection of a workplace. The characters are flawed and frequently do not do what they should. The lack of HR supervision is even mentioned by a character in season one so there's awareness that liberties are being taken. I don't think there's an inherent woman problem here, just a production not as sensitive as it might be to the struggles women face in the workplace. There are good reasons why "no dating" policies are in place, why it's unprofessional to carry your personal life into the workplace. Workplace comedies routinely feature HR nightmares for the sake of laughs: Brooklyn 99 is a good example. We don't take them seriously. It's the sheer intelligence of The Newsroom and the realistic setting that may make the comedy part seem more serious than it is. Personally I see the show as a kind of joyful fantasy; Sports Night without the canned laughter. If you can separate the fantastic from the realistic I think you'll find that The Newsroom is actually very empowering for women.
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How do you think Şah Huban and Ibrahim's relationship really was? We've never been given insights about it and while I would have loved flashbacks, the way it is also fits well imo. Şah has an air of mystery around her, part of why I love her so, because I love unravelling ambiguous yet clear characters with hints but not insights to their backstory. I've always been drawn to them and Şah Huban is another one of them.
Personally, I can see why they would be drawn to each other at first. They are both shown as appreciative of art, very intelligent and pragmatic and have a similar personality, but in the long run I can't see them working as both prefer to be the dominant partner and Şah is very prideful and always maintains a power balance with those not from the family, whereas Ibrahim is quite insecure. They'd clash.
Even Hatice's reminder of his status hurt him so much that he started an affair with Nigar. According to him, it was a loss of innocence between them and for sure Hatice's innocence, purity, and nativity is what I think drew him to her, and I can see why. Among all the darkness of politics, power plays, his own insecurities and early loss of innocence, Hatice would have been the one ray of light to him..Their entire early interactions and love was so pure and free of darkness and I don't think he ever had that with Şah, who I don't think was ever innocent.
Şah also told Hürrem that Ibrahim is quite difficult to control and I thought that was maybe hinting at the past. It always seemed to me that she was the one who ended things with Ibrahim, judging by her and Ibrahim's interactions ( I really wish we had more of those ) and I have many theories why.
Also, my personal interpretation is that she did move on from Ibrahim and only had vestiges of her feelings for him, his memories to be more precise, left by the time we see her. Unlike many people, I don't think her unwillingness to be with Lütfi sexually or romantically has anything to do with Ibrahim. I just don't think she loves him or wants him and I can see why tbh. While he is a decent enough politician, he doesn't have much personality to be attracted to nor demeanor lmao. even the way he read her that piece of poetry was quite dry, and he is visibly much older than her.
What do you think?
{I also love Şah's character for much of the same reasons you do. Her lack of a backstory and more simplistic design that isn't put through a deconstruction for a character arc in the way Hatice's was during S02/3 bring us one of the most unique characters in the whole franchise. These aspects of her personality complement her motivation and I find her motivation to be the most fascinating element about her that makes for an interesting, contrasting duality in all her relationships. Revealing more backstory for her risks throwing all this out of the window, that's why I'm usually okay with that the show not delving deeper into her past.}
Still, in the case of Ibrahim, I agree that we could've seen a few more flashbacks. I feel Şah's distance and tiny resentment of Hatice stems from her previous feelings for Ibrahim and more flashbacks would put that distance and resentment into more context, which I don't think would harm her character all that much. It would actually help flesh out Şah's relationship with Hatice on a deeper level and that's always welcome for me, since I found their relationship to be the epitome of where Şah's character shines the most. All these delicious contrasts, the way her ambition goes with the care she has for the people she's closest to.... I love it! sorry for the blabbering
I also pretty much agree with your view on Şah and Ibrahim's relationship. They definetly wouldn't get on all that well - their ideals would clash right out of the gate and Şah isn't a person that would pull rank out of ignorance, it's not something she wants to detach from, no, she's living with her position and she's proud of it. Anytime Ibrahim would disagree with Şah, I feel she's going to pull rank instantly. And that's not something that Ibrahim would bear - Hatice did it one time and that one time was enough to make him doubt his whole relationship with her, I believe with Şah it's going to be an even more reccuring conflict and it's going to make things even worse.
I believe that in Manisa, in their past, Şah didn't have hopes for so long when it came to Ibrahim. Maybe she learned very quickly that he didn't have any feelings for her. Maybe Ibrahim didn't pay all that much attention to Şah and if she tried to give him subtle hints, he didn't catch on them at first. If Ibrahim and Hatice indeed had tiny crushes on each other that just hadn't had the chance to flourish yet in Manisa (as the flashback from E58 implied) and Şah became aware of this? All these factors could've contributed to Şah moving forward, along with her ambitious personality. Even her older self isn't a person who would fight what she views as a pointless battle (she didn't want to fight Mihrimah, she didn't get why Hürrem was such a problem at first, she could hold her part in the decisions SS made for Hatice off for so long) and her love for Hatice was apparently present even when they were kids (the whole horse situation), so these would be decent enough reasons for her to want to step out of it.
Her getting to know Ibrahim more personally after he could've gotten the hint is very likely, too. Her "he's difficult to control" line is definetly something to ruminate on: maybe she decided that they wouldn't get along despite of all, because yes, she would like to be on the more controlling side of the relationship. Not only is Ibrahim very insecure and wouldn't handle it when someone is pulling rank on him, this line could hint that a part of Ibrahim has had that ambitious side of him back in Manisa. Not as much in terms of power, but rather as in his sharp mind and dreams he had together with SS to conquer more than Alexander the Great and maybe Şah felt this aspect of his ambition whenever they've interacted. That means he could have exerted some amount of control in the relationship, and maybe Şah wouldn't be so okay. Both could be very dominating and that could very well show even earlier. There wouldn't be any innocence in their relationship, it would only result in clash of personalities and philosophies and probably both of them got aware of this. While with Hatice it was possible for both of them to get over their extremely idealistic delusions, because they both were able and willing to reason with one another deep down, you wouldn't get that with Şah. It's probable she would consider herself right and not realize what's wrong, especially in terms of pulling rank, because well, that's what the tradition and law stands on and for her, Ibrahim's only role is to fit the mold.
Yup, Şah definetly had some of her feelings for Ibrahim remaining, because that's what moved a lot of her conflict with Hatice. Maybe she felt some jealousy that Hatice succeeded to make this work and that could be also a part of why she wanted to stop Hatice from grieving and didn't tell her where Ibrahim's grave was, but on the other hand, she had accepted it to an extent, as seen by her reaction when she learned about the infidelity. One could argue that she got irritated because of her own feelings, but I feel she felt bad for Hatice, too, and was really surprised that he pulled something like this. Yet both circle back to her own feelings anyways. Another reason why I think she didn't get over her feelings for him completely is that (most of) what she does is driven by personal desire and attacks directed to her personal bonds and attachments. It's Hatice's suicide attempt that drove Şah to act against Hürrem, but it's also Ibrahim's death that made her at least think whether should she act, in my opinion, because of something so surprising happening to a personal attachment of hers, seemingly all of the sudden. (in E84, she also said in front of Ibrahim's grave that she wouldn't let his blood stay on the ground) Şah's actions are driven by feelings more than anything else, but she tries her best to mask these feelings and only use them as fuel to her more pragmatic plans, if that means letting go of them or discarding them completely. She puts mind over emotion not because she doesn't have emotion or vulnerability or feelings lingering from the past, it's more because she considers pragmatism and careful planning the better, more effective way to achieve her goals. Just like the dynastic views and the elitism, it's something engrained in her she's proud of, but in the case of her feelings, when she's alone or with Hatice she can open herself a bit more. But because she has gotten over Ibrahim, she would never admit outright she has something for him in front of him or Lïtfi later.
I also don't think Ibrahim has ever had feelings for Şah to begin with. I don't think he forgot their experiences and memories completely (the "did your love turn into hate?" line) , but he has definitely left them behind him, even more than Şah herself.
While I think the love for another (Ibrahim) was a part of Şah's distaste for Lütfi, especially because the first hint of conflict between them, as far as I recall, was him sorta shading on Ibrahim in E82, it's definetly not the only factor. He just isn't a guy she could fall in love with, no matter how much he seemed to love her (more like tough love, but still), I'm sure she has gotten to know the more shadier aspects of his character, since they've lived together for so long. (even though the situation around the prostitute surprised her, since she hasn't ever seen such amount of disrespect, Şah may have seen other skeletons in his closet. He seemed to be very authoritarian in the relationship. She also said in E101 that the divorce was a long time coming and I don't think it all originated from the show, the situations there were simply the peak of previous issues.) It being a forced marriage made things even worse, no one would like a forced marriage. I actually admire Şah for keeping up with this marriage for so long and finding advantage in it, being as composed as possible. (when she is) Their daughter is most probably what kept them together all these years, on a personal level outside of Şah's ambition.
#magnificent century#muhteşem yüzyıl#muhtesem yuzyil#sah sultan#ibrahim pasha#ask#illusorybeing#i know I detracted from the topic quite a bit more than usual here and I'm sorry#but Şah is just so interesting
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Me: doesn't know anything about Witcher and so didn't read your post about it; I mainly follow you for RWBY takes
Also me: reads an anon call you an idiot for having the 'incorrect' Witcher opinion
Me again: goes back and reads your Witcher post even though I don't know anything about the material because now I want to know what's wrong with this 'Yen' person
Ooooh yikes, that character sounds emotionally abusive as hell. I guess, it's good to know that RWBY isn't the only fandom out there where you're "supposed" to ignore and deny that a character *has flaws* and you're considered "wrong" if you *personally dislike* them for said flaws.
I don't understand why some people can't get it through their heads that no single character/show/story is perfect, and that some people like/dislike different things. There's nothing wrong with a character who has flaws. Those flaws don't need to be 'dismissed' and 'denied' in order to like a character (like you said with the John Mulaney voice; liking a flawed character is fine) but no viewer should be forced to like a character and told that they're 'misreading things' or 'misrepresenting things' or are just 'too stupid' for not pretending those flaws never existed and forcing themselves to like a character anyway.
I guess there really is a 'Yen' for every 'Yang.'
That is a god tier level pun, anon, fabulously done! 😂
More seriously though, I think the closest comparison I could make (which, admittedly, isn't a great comparison but I'm doing my best here) would be to Weiss. Yen improves in the later Witcher books. Weiss improves in the later RWBY volumes. Yet some fans are still uncomfortable with Weiss' racism. So imagine for a moment (actually we probably don't have to imagine, I'm sure this drama exists somewhere online lol) that someone disliked Weiss because of where her character started out. It could be any reason from the complex "Sorry, RWBY didn't give her development enough nuance. I can't back the character who once compared the minority to a trash can and then just... forgot about her racism I guess??" to a simple "She's so arrogant and snobby. Yeah, I get that that's her thing and it's meant to just be a mask or whatever, but it drives me up the wall." Now imagine that whenever you mentioned disliking Weiss fans came out of the woodwork to remind you about her amazing character development. And nothing else you might say matters. How RWBY handled that development, or how much content we got with Weiss' flaws on full display, or how that development fits into the larger themes of the franchise, or that you're just not inclined towards the Ice Queen type characters... if you don't adore her now that she's developed you clearly didn't understand her. She's best girl! The whole point is that she moves from unlikable to, you know, the best. So you're like no... I get it... I understand how characters work... but that doesn't mean I have to like her. But they're not listening. It's two different conversations going on. A "I just don't like this character" vs. "I do like this character, so if you disagree you must not know how to read a story 'correctly.'"
Now take that very generalized situation and apply it to a character who is not an abused teenager, but rather a nearly 100yo sorceress; not spewing rhetoric taught by her abuser, but pulling informed stunts like taking over her future lover's mind to seek revenge on others; not improving very early in the series, but rather working against a franchise where, roughly, 4/5ths of the material keeps her in that pre-growth state. All wrapped up in a love story that hinges on non-consensual magic tying these people together for all time. There's a lot to unpack there! Personally, I think there are a lot of reasons to dislike Yen and I'm constantly surprised that so many in the Witcher fandom don't, as you say, just shrug and accept that as a given. She's a polarizing character. People are likely to either love her or hate her, with little in between. Yet one of the most common arguments (in both Witcher and RWBY) is that this character is The Best because they're so well-rounded, complex, nuanced in their development and flaws... but the flipside that few acknowledge is that this complexity/flaws/need for development can lead to just... not liking them. Precisely because of those things. Yen is a great character. That's not the same thing as her being a character everyone has to like. "But she's not supposed to be likeable! That's part of the point of her character." Well then congratulations, the author succeeded in making me not like her. Why are you mad again?
Honestly though, the Witcher and RWBY fandoms both suffer from that need to dismiss all flaws. Yes, even while simultaneously insisting that those flaws are what make them a great character. We've seen that with Ruby: she's not perfect, of course she's made mistakes, look she's so upset about how things have turned out... but also no, she shouldn't have done anything different, ever, how dare you criticize her. I'm not neck deep into this fandom so I definitely can't speak to all pockets, but I've been watching the Shadow & Bone adaptation (read the books a while back) and it has been SO REFRESHING to see discussions where people just... talk about how much they love The Darkling while also acknowledging how very messed up he is. Like, rather than bending over backwards to absolve him of everything to justify liking the Darkling/Alina ship (because purity culture, I guess?) fans are just going, "Oh their relationship is a mess I'm so here for it 👀" I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd bet everything I own that the same drama exists because what fandom doesn't have it? But it feels like if you grabbed an average fan, shook them by the proverbial collar, and went, "But don't you know he's manipulating her? Don't you know that relationship is abusive?!?!" they'd be all, "No shit, that's why they're interesting as a fictional couple." I have no idea why I personally latch onto some "problematic" ships and despise others, but I honestly think I might have been at least slightly more keen on Geralt/Yen if the books and fandom acknowledged the problems in that relationship more, rather than painting it with a generalized, "But they love each other, and are meant for each other, so everything else is fine" brush. When you point out things like, "Geralt was sure that Yen was going to attack him with her magic for disagreeing with her... that's kind of not great..." the reaction tends to be an essay detailing why that's not actually a problem, you ignorant person, rather than just going, "Oh yeah, the relationship has so many problems. That's one of the reasons I love it."
ANYWAY what I love is that you're out here reading nonsense posts for a franchise you know nothing about, anon lol. I'm the exact same when I see people I follow going on passionately about fandoms I'm not in. I've got the imaginary popcorn like, "John Doe did what now? Oh yes, spill the tea."
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TOPPAT!CHARLES PART 6
HEY! HEY, YOU!
Don't scroll past this!
Why, you ask?
Simple.
TIME FOR TOPPAT!CHARLES PART 6!!!!!
Sorry if I scared you there, I'm just über excited for this one, I sincerely am, you have no idea!!!
If you haven’t read the previous parts, you can find them RIGHT HERE:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Part 5:
Previously on Toppat!Charles: Our pilot friend learned the hard way it's not a good idea to say 'no' to the Right Hand Man, and has accepted his offer. Meanwhile, Henry has been having nightmares of his different end selves disagreeing with his decision and chastising him for letting Charles get taken by Right.
HEADCANON/THEORY FOLLOWING OF THE CHAPTER: Watch this theory by Two Left Thumbs, and you'll know instantly. A hint, though, Ellie is dealing with this in her own way; she and Henry ARE connected in more ways than one😉: https://youtu.be/LjOCfKOqkic
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Got that? FANTASTIC!!
LET'S DIVE RIGHT BACK IN!!!!
Henry walks down a hallway and toward a break room for breakfast; he, Ellie, and Charles do have an apartment, but the general wants them to stay until Charles is back home safely.
It has been at least a few weeks since part 5, and that time, in addition to the nightmares, has taken its toll. Henry’s hair is messy, his clothes are wrinkled, and bags have formed under his eyes.
As he reaches the doorway, someone is there to greet him.
“Morning, Mr. Stickmin.”
Bill Bullet sits at one of the tables, having just finished his own breakfast and is now fidgeting with his empty coffee cup.
Henry takes a seat across from him and rests his head on his hand.
“You doing alright? You look like Hell in a hand basket.”
'Hard time sleeping,' Henry signs as he yawns.
"Well, don't go sleeping on me. We're moving today."
Henry looks up at him, now awake and alert.
"Some of my men saw movement from the orbital station on oir satellite. They might be paying Earth a visit."
Henry pulls a newspaper ad out of his pocket and uncrinkles it and shows it to Bullet, tapping on it.
It's an add for a museum exhibit in a neighboring city close to the one Henry robbed in StD, said exhibit being a sapphire, like a large sapphire, like the size of the diamond, ruby, and emerald. It's tempting for Henry to not steal the sapphire and slip back into old habits.
This is an excellent target for the clan.
'The Right Hand Man should be, too.'
Bullet smirks and nods. "I've got a team ready for you. We'll leave on your call."
TIME JUMP TO THE MUSEUM!!!!!
Henry and his team and Ellie enter the museum with little to no problem; Henry brought Ellie for emotional support and so he could show her the sapphire. (A small gift to her for everything she's done as his friend)
They have some close calls like Ellie almost getting seen by a guard, one of the CCC men almost shoots another guard "just in case," and another guard almost falls on yet another guard.
After that, they get to the sapphire exhibit and take out the guards in a way that doesn't get them (the guards) killed. After that, they all sit down and play the waiting game.
The CCC men do a sweep of the area and ready themselves at different parts of the exhibit, hiding in spots and ready to strike. Ellie and Henry take a seat near the sapphire itself, admiring it before focusing back on the mission.
Henry lets his mind wander, thinking about how once they save Charles, Henry will take his place in the CCC. It's the kind of thought that gives them a sick feeling, but all he can think is 'As long as Charles is safe, it'll be worth it.'
He remembers Terrence's words about how life is for living and bites his tongue.
I've seen families live together just fine with no riches, no crime, and no Toppat Clan. We really meant that little to you?
He gets a tap on his shoulder and looks over to see Ellie holding out a cup of coffee to him, a thermos, maybe two, next to her.
"I thought you could use some, since we're gonna be here for a while."
Henry shakes his head and tries to push it away. 'No thanks. I don't really like coffee. Gives me a headache.'
Ellie gives him a withering look. "When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?"
When Henry doesn't answer, Ellie smirks and holds out the coffee once more. "Yeah, thought so."
Henry rolls his eyes and takes the cup, signing with his free hand, 'Fine. When did you become my mother?'
"When you became a child," Ellie barks as she lightly bonks Henry on the head. "And when you came back from visiting your father." She leans back and puts the back of her free hand against her eyes, looking as dramatic as possible. "What they say is true: A boy really needs the love of a mother."
Henry scoffs and shakes his head with a smile before writing on her palm again with his finger. 'I already have a mother.'
Ellie sits straight, now intrigued. "You don't talk about them a lot. Your parents, I mean."
Henry raises an eyebrow and points to her as he nods, gesturing either, 'You don't, either' or 'Neither do you.' Same message, different phrasing.
It's Ellie's turn to shake her head. "They're not people I want to talk about. I doubt my dad would let me visit him, even in a situation like this."
Henry pauses from drinking his coffee.
"Your dad said life is for living. I can't say he's wrong for saying that." She turns her head to Henry, looking him in the eye even those he's staring off into outer space/zoning out. "It's just hard to live life when..." She looks away again, lowers her voice, just so the CCC men don't hear her, and clenches her fists on her knees. "When you can't stop living."
Henry nods as he goes for another sip of coffee.
Then he stops.
'It's hard to live life when you can't stop living.'
Those words make Henry slowly lower his cup and turn to Ellie, looking at her both incredulously and with fear.
"What?" He asks under his breath.
Before Ellie can answer, something is thrown into the exhibit and EXPLODES, filling the room with smoke and no one really getting too injured.
The CCC men fall one by one from being grabbed from behind and put into a sleeper hold, and the toaats responsible run over, mostly undetected because of the smoke.
Henry is seemingly tackled down by Ellie as the two hear glass breaking above them.
The sapphire's case is open.
Henry sees a toppat get close and shoots him in the shoulder, not enough to kill him but enough to get him running away.
"Good shot!" Ellie yells between coughs because the alarms been set off.
Henry points to his gun, then to his hand as he shakes his head with a "Mh-mm." 'I was aiming for his hand.'
The two go toe to toe with a pair of toppats like in the very beginning of this series, but something's different. When Henry kicks his opponent away, the toppat scurries away from the two. And Ellie's just runs when she's just started fighting.
"What's going on?"
Henry shrugs and then looks over at the sapphire.
You know that face and stance he does in Toppat King when the rocket takes off without him? Weeeeellll...
Henry's face drops completely as he holds the sides of his face, gasping loudly.
Ellie is equally flabbergasted, and a little annoyed at how well this plan actually worked in the toppat's favor.
A little too well, I'd say.
"What do we-"
Henry runs after the toppat Ellie was fighting before she can finish asking him.
The three race through multiple exhibits, the toppat throwing down trash bins and benches in order to slow them down.
Henry, however, has the power of friendship and adrenaline and keeps up with him evry step of the way.
"Stop!" He yells. "Where is he!?"
The toppat fumbles, but still continues running. Ellie picks up her pave unitl she's in front of Henry.
"Where's Charles!?"
The chase takes the two of them outside, Henry falls behind, where the toppat makes a sharp turn to the wall.
Ellie sees this a second too late as she is hit in the nose with a cybernetic hand, knocking her down, but not knocking her out, even when a cybernetic foot is put on her freshly healed rib.
"'Ello. It's been a while, 'asn't it?"
Ellie glares up at Right and tries to move his foot.
"Last time I saw you, you had to get carried in a stretcher."
"And you took our friend," Ellie sneers.
Right rolls his eyes; these kids do not play around, which he admires, but it does get annoying when he's in a playing mood.
"Charles. Our friend. What did you do with him?"
Right smirks and looks over his shoulder. "Looks like this one missed you, after all. You'll fit in perfect with the two of them now." Right moves his foot and approaches whoever he's talking to, and Ellie takes this opportunity to try to get the jump on him.
The toppat sees this INSTANTLY.
🤨... I don't know anout you guys, but I feel like I'm forgetting something here.🤔🤔
OH, YEAH!!!
Henry runs out just in time to see this toppat shoot Ellie in the hip.
If this was a movie, we would hear nothing, no music, no talking, just the sound of the gun firing and echoing as the bullet either gets lodged in Ellie's hip or goes THROUGH her hip, close to the joint of her leg. We would get a shot of Ellie's face, eyes wide, brows furrowed and widely arced, like those despair looking anime faces, and lips slightly parted as shock sets in. We would also get three more shots, one from her perspective as she sees the toppat lower his gun,one behind Ellie as she falls back, and the third being on the ground and slightly in front of her as Henry freezes where he is and watches her fall.
BUT HE DOESN'T STAY THIS WAY.
"You BASTARD!" Henry screams as he charges toward Right, who steps back and throws him into the toppat.
The sight of him not only snaps Henry out of his rage, it completely throughs him into a despaired shock.
He's lost a lot of weight in his captivity, and Henry can feel it through his suit and see it in his cheeks, jaw, neck, and eyes, which are blood shot, empty and glassy. His hair's grown longer to where it is past his shoulders and kept in a low ponytail, the rest held back by gel and his own top hat so it stays out of his face. He's gotten pale from his time in space and not being exposed to sunlight and vitamin D.
For a second, neither recognize each other, but Henry is the first to as his chest goes hollow.
"Charles!" He quickly embraces his friend, who is still quiet and nit exactly reacting, but the gears start turning in his head as he realizes who's talking to and hugging him.
Right watches ans his smirk widens as Henry let Charles go and turns to him, tears pouring down his cheeks and now angry as hell.
"What did you do to him!?"
Right looks back at Charles, prompting Henry to do the same.
"Henry?"
A smile grows on Henry's face as he helps his friend up.
"Charles, I'm so sorry! I should've-"
BANG!
Henry falls backward, but doesn't die. Instead, the ground melts away beneath him and he gasps as the bullet wound heals on his forehead. You know that feeling you get when you're falling asleep and feel like your mattress is floating on the ocean waves? Henry feels that until he's back looking up at Right.
This time, he looks at Charles to see Charles is literally about to shoot him, but he hits and throws it away before Charles flips him over and smashes his fist into Henry's face repeatedly until Henry throws him off and stands back up, Charles standing as well and glaring at him, absolutely livid.
"Why'd you do it?" Charles growls. "Why didn't you help me when I needed you!?"
The hollow feeling in Henry's chest worsens as Charles stares him down. Part is him is more than willing to break down into tears, but all the time watching the tapes Right showed him in Part 5 have made his body producing tears next to impossible.
Right only stands back and watches because, as you probably put together, THIS is plan. Not only to take a friend, Charles, away from Henry, but to have said friend destroy him.
"I'm sor-"
Before Henry can finish, Charles punches him again.
"TELL ME!" His voice is a little broken, but he keeps yelling out of frustration and sheer anger because, yes, while Henry sent the destroyers and the government to help Charles, he didn't stop Right in the jungle during the mission. "WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP THEM!? WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP ME!? YOU JUST STOOD THERE AND LET ME GET TAKEN AWAY!"
Henry doesn't have the fight in him to stop Charles from yelling at him or punching him. He doesn't even have it in him to look Charles in the eye.
And that bothers Charles immensely.
"Why won't you say anything?" Charles asks. "No matter what, you've always stayed quiet."
When Henry still remains silent, Charles swings a punch into his face hard enough to make Henry fall down.
"SAY SOMETHING!"
Henry holds up his hands, revealing how much he's been crying and how hard Charles has been hitting him; Henry's nose is broken, one of his eyes his swollen shut, his lips are split, and a tooth is loose.
Physically unable to speak, Henry signs to Charles instead, 'I'm sorry.'
Charels quickly kneels down and snatches Henry's hand.
"I want to hear you say it."
Henry tries forcing those words out, but his throat tightens up and leaves him unable to speak. He tries again and his crying becomes worse as he shakes his head.
"SAY IT!" Charles screams.
Henry breaks down as he shakes his head again, signing and gesturing as much as he can.
Charles rises to his feet, his eyes going glassy and his face expressionless. "I figured as much." He kicks Henry in the mouth and turns to Right. "We're done here. Send a message back to the station. We got the sapphire."
Right nods as his smirk becomes a smile. "Yes, sir."
Henry stands up on shaky legs and stiltedly walks towards his friend.
"Ch-Charles."
Charles shuts his eyes and heaves a breath through his nose, his top hat in his hands.
"Charles, w-wait-"
Charles wheels around as he watches Henry stumble toward him.
"I... I-"
"Don't bother."
Charles holds the hand gun Henry made him drop and aims it at Henry.
"I've heard enough."
When Charles shoots, Henry does not feel the bullet when it is lodged into his waist.
Henry is standing long enough to see Right, Charles, and any remaining toppats be beamed up to the orbital station with the sapphire.
The glare from Charles stays in Henry's mind as he falls, eyes locked on the night sky as Charles's words replay over and over in his mind.
Ellie groans as she crawls over to Henry and falls on her good side, where Charles didn't shoot her.
"We tried," she says as she breathes shakily and hold his shoulder, more his shirt, but I digress. "We tried."
The CCC guards do eventually wake up and get Ellie and Henry back to the government base. Both get immediate medical attention, which leads to Henry getting surgery to get the bullet out and seeing Ellie suddenly begin to panic and shout repeatedly, "I can't feel my leg!"
TIME JUMP TO AFTER HIS SURGERY!
Henry wakes up in his own room and finds that Galeforce is sitting in a chair, hunched forward, fists shaking, and his hat off.
"General?"
Galeforce puts his hat back on and sits straight. His eyes are red rimmed and have bags underneath them now. "Morning, Henry. How're you feeling?"
Henry holds his hand out and sort of tilts it on a way to say, 'Fine.'
Galeforce forces a smile and sighs.
"Ellie's still in the infirmary. That shot form-" He gulps and coughs a little bit. "-From the toppat... did a number on her leg. She won't be on the field for a long time."
Henry sits up, even when his body aches, and picks up a pen and notepad on his bedside table.
'They got the sapphire.'
Galeforce nods. "I know."
Henry shakes as he writes on the notepad again before dropping both and resting his forehead on his knees while loosely hugging his knees. Galeforce hangs his head and lets Henry cry; he doesn't really have much to say anyway.
'Charles,' the notepad reads.
HOLY SHIT DID THIS ONE TAKE FOREVER!!!!!
But that is a really good thing😁!
I hope you all enjoyed this one because I certainly did!!
I'm probably going to take a break from this for a little bit because of how much of an emotional roller coaster this is, and so I don't get burn out. I will come back to this because I love this series, I guess you can say I'm letting my cake cool down before adding the frosting or letting the pot sit so it make good caramel or fudge.
Thank you, thank you, thank you all so much for following this series. I appreciate each and every one of you so much!
I hope you all stay safe this season, thank you again for reading and following, and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!
#henry stickmin#toppat!charles#ellie rose#ellry#angst#gun tw#blood tw#violence tw#theory#charles calvin
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Jean Pierre Polnareff's true purpose
So, let's talk about Jean Pierre Polnareff.
The "silliest" of the Stardust Crusaders, the "clown" of the group, the "immature one".
Except he's really none of those things. He may not be a genius, but he is smart. People really don't give Polnareff the credit he deserves. I personally do believe, that out of all of the Crusaders he is the one with the worst fate.
All of the Crusaders have been through some form of trauma, yes, they all have faced Dio and have lost friends along the way, but Polnareff has had it especially hard, because people just seem to ignore/forget all he's done, and we tend to put him down as that silly, funny guy from Part 3.
It is true, Polnareff is very dorky and jokes around a lot, and just generally seems to be very at ease in an almost naive way. But this has it's reasons, and Polnareff is so much more than just this.
The people who smile the brightest often hide the worst pain in their hearts.
What I'm trying to say is, Jean sort of uses this goofy, happy facade as a coping mechanism for trauma and grief. Only 3 years prior to meeting the other Crusaders he'd lost his younger sister Sherry. And she wasn't just killed by accident, she was murdered. Imagine what that must have done to him. Whatever it was, it was enough for him to seek revenge, not stopping before anything.
Furthermore, he'd just somewhat come to terms with Avdol's supposed death later on in season 1 of Part 3. Maybe Polnareff even blamed himself for dragging Avdol into this. Especially after going off on his own when he'd finally found J. Geil, which I still believe he did, to not endanger his friends unnecessarily.
Avdol was probaply his closest friend of the bunch. I love the bond these two shared. And I believe that Avdol wanted Polnareff to realize that it's better to have friends to rely on, and that it wasn't his fault.
Still, Polnareff likely blamed himself for being responsible for Avdol's death, having seen him die right in front of him, because he was protecting him..
And later it turns out Avdol didn't really die, he was still alive all this time, and all the Crusaders knew about it. All of them, except for Polnareff.
They didn't tell him, because they didn't trust him to keep quiet about it in front of the enemy.
This is the one desicion I disagree on with Kakyoin and the others. How could they. Not only did they basically end up telling Polnareff that they didn't fully trust him, they left him blaming himself, feeling incredibly bad and traumatized for WEEKS.
And then not ONE of them, not even Kakyoin, really apologized to him. It can be argued that what they did was not to hurt Polnareff on purpose, regarding the dangerous situation they're in. And that makes sense. But it did hurt him. And that's sort of unforgivable in my book. Jean puts up this happy act, and no doubt he does have fun with the other Crusaders, it's not bad all the time at all. But when nobody's looking, the sad, pained look on his face is obvious enough.
In the end, Polnareff really loses three of his friends, two of them because they protected him, and gave their lives for that yet again, but this time for real. He's essentially left with what he'd believed to be true before.
He is alone again.
Having only survived because others protected you and died for that, can make you feel so utterly desperate and worthless.
Despite this sorry state he falsely sees himself in, here is where it truly shows, just how noble Jean Pierre Polnareff really is.
Instead of leaving all of this behind when given the chance, to go back home to France, he continues investigating the Stand arrows, and the problems Dio's actions caused, even after he died.
While Jotaro was on it too, Polnareff eventually decides to further investigate alone, probaply because he wanted to avoid losing another friend because he couldn't protect himself alone. It shows that he's grown. And it shows that Polnareff really doesn't hesitate to risk his life for this.
This causes Polnareff to run into none other than Diavolo, who is after the arrows for his own, twisted reasons.
Which in turn, gets him into an even worse situation.
Not only has Polnareff spent his youth, from the age of 19 (when he lost his sister) to age 36, chasing after the Stand arrows and Dio to seek revenge and prevent even worse things from happening, he's also severely injured and left disabled for the rest of his life at only 23 years of age.
On top of all of this he is now the potential target of one of the most dangerous Mafia bosses in the world, forcing him to live in solitude for over 10 years, unable to contact ANY of his remaining friends or family because if he did so he'd risk getting them and himself hunted down and killed. Thus Polnareff is yet again alone.
Just.. take a moment to let all of that sink in. All of what Polnareff has been through.
And DESPITE all of that, he still pulls through, he still keeps going, stays strong and continuously puts his own life on the line to try and stop Diavolo from obtaining the Requiem arrow.
Because he knows that if he fails, everything the Crusaders fought for in 1989 will be to no avail. And even if he can't do much himself, he finds a way to contact Bucciarati's group after what I can only assume are weeks, if not months of research on them.
(It is almost scary to see how much Polnareff has changed, from the mostly happy, outgoing and talkative guy we've known, to this serious, more mature and collected man, operating from within the shadows to reach out to Bruno.)
Now we, as the reader, know all of this about Polnareff, but to Bruno and his gang, he is a stranger, somebody they don't know if they can trust yet. They also only meet Polnareff very briefly before Diavolo finally reveals himself and kills Polnareff for good.
Jean Pierre Polnareff, spent his live almost constantly facing some sort of trauma. I can't begin to imagine what he must have felt like in the end, knowing he's dying, before having finished what he started, what he fought for.
Yet he spends his last living moments thinking of his friends, the things he's been through back in Egypt, and atleast he knows that what he's done is not in vain, because he can safely place this mission he's dedicated the last 10 years of his life to, in the hands of Bucciarati and his gang.
This has an almost poethic value to it.
(It is also interesting to note that the Stand, Judgement, from Part 3 shows up in this panel. Think back, this Stand had the ability to grant "wishes" in form of illusions that turn against you. That was when he wished for his sister Sherry, and Avdol, whom Polnareff still believed to be dead, to come back to life. This always strangely touches me, because it's so naive to believe in such a thing, yet, it shows just HOW much Jean cares for those two, that he still had hope left, and was unable to let go, as of that time. The pain in his eyes as he realized that this last bit of hope he had was foolish, wronged, he had to accept and move on, which he does for the most part, but the fact that Judgement is something that he remembers in his last concious moments before dying shows that what happened on this particular day never really left him..)
Somehow, Polnareff is given a second chance, in form of his soul being kept alive within this bizarre Stand ability of Coco Jumbo. His body is dead, he can never go back, but Polnareff's spirit lives on. Atleast for now.
And Polnareff did so much. He sacrificed everything, not even hesitating to lay down his life.
He deserved so much better. He deserved a happy, long life, a family, love and friends.
While he may not ever get some of these things, he's with Giorno now. He's made it out, somewhat, alive. He can rest easy now and that is what counts for me. His sacrifices have not been for nothing, and thus, his friends dying to protect him back in Cairo also have not died for nothing. Polnareff carried on their legacy, making their deaths count, moving on, but never forgetting.
It is somewhat ironic that the one who carried Polnareff's mission to the end was Giorno, Dio's son, and yet another Joestar. It seems that the fates of Polnareff, Dio, and the Joestar family were destined to cross paths from the beginning.
Again, as the reader, we know the whole picture, but Polnareff doesn't. And he still did what he did, and he deserves credit and gratitude for that.
This is why Jean Pierre Polnareff is one of the most important people in the storyline of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and a man who has ALL my respect and admiration. I truly think that without him, things wouldn't have turned out as well as they did, and we have him to thank for that.
The last thing spoken in the anime of Vento Aureo is said by none other than Polnareff:
"Let's go,
...to the Colosseum."
~Haru
#jojos bizarre adventure#jojo#jean pierre polnareff#polnareff jojo#stardust crusaders#vento aureo#vento auero spoilers#spoilers#golden wind#character analysis#stardust crusaders spoilers#jojo spoilers#jotaro kujo#kakyoin noriaki#giorno giovanna#bruno buccellati#bruno bucciarati#diavolo#dio brando#joestar#textpost
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I absolutely can't get enough of you analysis and I was wondering if you could do one of cloud and tifa after the plate fell and after barret hugged tifa? when sephiroth visits cloud again. like how'd that have been from tifa's perspective too?
Sorry this took a while to get to, Nonny. I would've had it done yesterday, but instead I wasted my time banging my head against a brick wall. Lesson learned lol
Ok, spoiler warning for ppl who haven’t played – do I still need to do this? Eh ok, (I tag FF7R spoilers as final fantasy 7 remake spoilers) and it’s gonna be reasonably long.
Also, this is one person’s interpretation of the scene, so if you disagree that’s cool and we’ll agree to disagree.
You’re also gonna have to excuse the janky quality on some of the screens, I’m grabbing them from Youtube and it’s frustrating af trying to get the exact moment I want.
Please check my master post to see if I've already covered your question, thanx
Recap time!
The sky has fallen and our brave failures have escaped by the skin of their teeth! Cloud watches over Tifa until she wakes up, then follows her until they locate Barret.
AH MY HEART! Cloud's so adorably concerned for Tifa. (also far too goddamn pretty! Someone shove mud in his face or something I can't stand it!)
Who knows how long he's been waiting for her to wake up. There's a couple of times it looks like he wants to reach for her – there's a definite twitch in her direction with his left hand – and then as she goes to get up, he takes her hand to her help her. Someone remind me, how often does Cloud offer Tifa his hand? A lot? Yeah, that's what I thought.
It's a very demoralised journey through the rubble to find Barret.
Well, I was aiming for a screen showing him punching the wall, but this is better. His rage and grief burst out. He's punching the wall with his actual hand and not shooting at it with the gun. This is because he wants to feel physical pain to dull the stronger emotional pain. Those were his friends. He should've stopped it. You can hear him sob Marlene's name once that rage is spent. He thinks they're all dead, including his innocent little girl. It's a powerful moment for his character.
Here's a hint of a grief stricken Cloud too. He cared about the trio. He wanted to save them. Nobody had to offer payment for his services. He tried to be the hero and failed. He doesn't know how to handle these emotions or how to comfort anyone either.
Tifa blaming herself is typical for her character. She puts a lot on her shoulders and keeps her feelings locked up tight. She sees the situation from the pov that if they hadn't blown up the reactors then Shinra wouldn't have dropped the plate. Barret sees it as, if Shinra weren't destroying the planet then they wouldn't need to blow up reactors. It's a pointless back and forth, round and round with no true winner. They have different povs, morals and principles and that's why Tifa just agrees with him in the end. Why argue on top of everything else that's just happened?
Tifa is very much the peacemaker, who doesn't want people to get into unnecessary fights. She'd rather back down than fight if there's a possibility of another choice. She says this in chapter 3 with her “I know we have to make a difference, but not like this.” And to the Shinra manager she says “I don't want anyone to die”
She's a goddamn sweetheart who can pack a punch, but doesn't need to rely on her fists first.
This is why later on with Elmyra, she stops Cloud from arguing to go get Aerith. It's not that she doesn't care. It's that she doesn't see the point in forcing your opinion on someone. By giving Elmyra time to think through their side of things she's letting the situation settle and everyone can approach it calmly and rationally. Which is exactly what happens. Elmyra had time to think and agreed with them. Because of Tifa. Because she’s the mature one.
The real!Cloud hand twitch lol we know what this means and I think I've already mentioned is plenty of times in other analyses.
Barret and Tifa's body language here is very placid, not romantic in any sense of the word. Her body is turned to the side and he has one arm around her shoulder. He's not got his head tilted down towards her and hers isn't tilted up at him either. Her arms are by her sides. This is minimum contact and barely qualifies as a hug. It's perfunctory comfort between friends. What it does is motivate Cloud – who harbours romantic feelings – towards the urge to comfort Tifa in the same way. He wants her to rely and find solace with him. Because his feelings are driven by romantic urges the way he comforts her is different.
And we're on our way to Aerith's house, where Cloud suspects Marlene is. Barret's highly emotional – shocker – and begs Cloud for hope, then admits it doesn't matter what he says he'd get mad. Cloud accepts this with a bland face, what else is there to say? He can't admit he might be wrong, but he can't say with all certainty that he's right.
He asks Tifa about the Ancients and then we get a visit from Sephiroth.
So after we see a future flashback of OG Sephiroth talking about the Ancients like before, Cloud gives us a blurry 1st person view and pan up of Sephiroth. Now, this one is a vision that only he sees, but that really doesn't matter to him. He sees that creepy ex-boyfriend stalker smile and freaks tf out. You can hear him whimper.
So, we don't get much of the scene from Tifa's pov. She's noticed Cloud freeze, probably heard that whimper. She's definitely concerned – you can see her frown just before we move back to Cloud – but she's unsure what to do about it. She's not a doctor after all. She has no idea if the right thing to do is insist on talking to Cloud about it, or pretend it didn't happen. She has to take his lead, which is to forget about it.
“Through suffering you will grow strong. Isn't that what you want?”
Cloud's a sweaty mess of fear at this minute, but you can still see this question on his face and his answer that no he doesn't want to suffer. The part of him that's real!Cloud definitely doesn't want to suffer, but it's too scared to do anything.
I find the possibility of this being a different aspect of Cloud's personality interesting. It's a vision, after all. So while we have real!Cloud in chapter 8 trying to encourage himself and repair the broken parts, we have this Sephiroth aspect that wants Cloud to remain broken and afraid. It's a good metaphor for how Cloud tackles his mental illness, and of the 4 different Sephiroths, the hallucination is the one that speaks the most and talks about Cloud as a person. It's the one that tells him to run away in chapter 2. It's the one that calls him a failure. It's the one that murders Tifa.
It's a manifestation of his mental illness. Not totally because there's more happening than just that, but of the 4 Sephiroths we see, this one is the one that causes Cloud to freeze the most. This one is the one he's terrified of more than the rest. The one that's not actually there.
I had to choose between this and Cloud looking terrified, but this one has Tifa edging into the frame with a concerned look on her face. Cloud's lost in his own head, probably overthinking everything Sephiroth just said to him. He dismisses Tifa again – remember, he doesn't want her to have a bad opinion of him, so he's pretending to be ok as usual. A lot of his reluctance to confide in her is his fear of her being disappointed in him. A lot of Tifa’s reluctance comes down to the aforementioned need to avoid confrontation. She doesn’t want to fight. If Cloud refuses to talk, she’ll respect that. She’s not pushy.
Conclusion.
Tifa and Barret have known each other for 5 years, give or take, but Barret doesn't even know the story of Nibelheim because Tifa keeps emotional things to herself. The way she's struggling to contain herself is mistaken by him as anger. It's not anger. It's self-blame. And because Cloud understands Tifa better than Barret – despite them having been apart for years – his real self has the urge to comfort her. He doesn't know how because he lacks social skills and emotional maturity, but after seeing Barret's example he understands this is the way he wants to support her.
I just added my suspicions about this version of Sephiroth to another post, so to sum that up, I think most of what he says is induced by Cloud's own feelings of failure and fear. The times Sephiroth shows up can be attributed to the connection Cloud has through Jenova, but the content of Sephiroth's speech comes across more like it's Cloud's inner self dragging him down. Sephiroth is the darkness within Cloud – the representation of his mental illness that won't ever become a memory, that's something he has to fight against every day. The fractured parts of Cloud's psyche aren't strong enough on their own, which is why the one in chapter 8 was chased away. It's only once they're reunited because of Tifa that Cloud becomes stronger overall to fight against his inner demons.
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Faedom Week Day One : Alternate Universe
Okay, here it is. A modern au (well, the rough outline for one anyway, lol. Didn't get a chance to write it out fully, but here's a general summary.)
This is for the 2019 Faedom challenge week, which is all about creating fanworks for @not-poignant 's Faetales verse.
Okay, so imagine that modern AU Augus owns a cafe. They make vegan fusion dishes. It's called Balance. Eran is the head chef, specializes in cooking directly over live flame and charcoal in an open - air cooking pit outside. The fact that they even were able to get the licenses for that kind of set up is suspicious. Other business owners in the area joke that Augus must have used some kind of mind- control powers to have gotten that zoning pushed through.
Mosk is homeless and squatting in the area. He meets Mikkel, who is doing homeless outreach for the local community mental health. Mikkel can get him a job, and a bed at one of the local shelters. Mosk doesn't want to stay at the shelter, he's got a system. Gym membership, laundromats for washing clothes, and if he does some sex work, it's nobody's business but his.
Mikkel reminds him that winter will be here soon, and if he works a steady job and saves enough, Mikkel says he can get him actual housing. Mikkel knows some people who are looking for a full time barrista/cashier. Best part? Mosk will eat for free while he's on shift.
Mosk reluctantly agrees. Meets at Balance, Mikkel introduces him to Augus, the owner. Augus talks to him for 5 minutes and is like, yeah fine. He can work for a trial period, we'll see how it goes. $15 an hour plus tips during the trial period, with a raise of he gets hired permanently, which is wildly generous for a barista. Mosk just stares at Augus, wondering if he's going to be expected to blow him for the job.
It turns out that Augus doesn't spend a ton of time on site, he spends most of his time cultivating and caring for the gardens and grounds of the historical manor his husband inherited, that they now rent out for events.
Augus introduces him to Julvia, the manager of the cafe, and then leaves. She shows him how the shop runs, starts training him a little bit, and has him jump on register then and there. Mosk is surprised that they already trust him with the money. But she does, and even stranger, she is kind to him. She doesn't seem to care that he's awkward and abrupt with the customers. Doesn't seem to care that his clothes are worn and a little tattered, that his sneakers have holes in them.
She tells him that Mosk will meet Eran, the head chef, soon. He's on vacation visiting his family, but he should be back in a week or so.
In the meantime, an easygoing and extroverted man named Ash is covering for Eran. Apparently he steps in sometimes to help with large catering orders, and covers for Eran sometimes. At the end of shift, Ash brings up an opportunity for Mosk to make some extra money on the side. Mosk immediately assumes that he means sex, and since Ash isn't unattractive at all and doesn't seem inclined to damage him, Mosk decides that he could use the extra money, and goes for it. It's a painfully awkward moment.
Ash clarifies that there are frequently events that Balance caters at the manor, and they always need servers. If he's interested, he should ask Julvia to put him in touch with Ash, who is apparently August's brother and the hospitality manager of the Manor.
Mosk is mortified but Ash handles it pretty gracefully and even winks at Mosk before he leaves.
Mosk settles in, and is cautiously hopeful that he might be able to get his own place, to grow a new life there. He's saving his money, keeps it on him at all times, changes out small bills for larger bills and keeps them tucked in his shoes.
Eran comes back and Mosk finally gets to meet him. Of course he's gorgeous. Of course he's a little bit of a hipster and his ass looks amazing in those jeans, the jerk. Of course he wears eyeliner (though Mosk thinks, resentfully, that his eyes do look beautiful to a nearly otherworldly degree when smudged with black and gold) .
Even worse, Eran is constantly condescending to him. I mean, isn't it obvious that's what he's doing whenever he is so persistently kind to Mosk? Why else would he be so nice? I mean, the nerve, always trying to feed him and asking him how his day is going and flirting with him. It has to be some kind of joke.
Mosk is flustered and, remembering his awkward encounter with Ash (and assuming Ash passed the story along), is caustic and rude back. Eran's food is 'hippy new age bullshit', Mosk obviously hates it (even though he eats every bite), and Eran can fuck off with trying to feed him that 'rich-bitch burnt grass garbage'.
Eran just laughs it off and keeps making him new dishes, until he finds a few that Mosk 'Doesn't hate, I guess'. It must be a coincidence when those dishes become regular offerings on the menu, allowing Mosk to eat them daily when he's at work.
One day, walking back to where he is squatting, Mosk is jumped and beaten up really badly. They rob him, beat him, and even take his shoes, which means his money is gone. He is found and taken to the hospital, and when they need to contact someone, Mosk gives them Mikkel's number. Mosk's leg has been broken, and several of his fingers.
Unbeknownst to Mosk, Mikkel can't come get him, he's out of town. He calls Augus, who is in the middle of an event at the manor. Ash is there too, and he can't leave either, so he sends Eran.
Eran goes to pick up Mosk at the hospital, Mosk argues. The hospital won't release him without a ride. Mosk finally agrees just so he can get out of there. The hospital gives him crutches which he can't fully use because of his fingers.
Eran takes him to go get his prescriptions filled, and then asks him where to drop him off. Mosk tries to get him to let him out several blocks away, but Eran insists that Mosk let him help him inside. Mosk gets angry and finally agrees, directs Eran to building he's squatting at.
Eran is horrified at the conditions Mosk has been living in, tells him that he's not staying there. Mosk is too tired to argue. They grab Mosk's backpack and Eran takes him back to his house.
Mosk doesn't want to stay there, only agrees to stay until he's well enough to leave on his own. Eran doesn't agree but doesn't disagree (plans on convincing Mosk to stay).
Eran puts Mosk up in his guest room. Mosk is terrified that he's going to lose his job. Admits that he's lost his entire savings when he got jumped. Eran assures him that he'll still have a job.
Augus and Ash come by the next day, and promise that he's not going to lose his job. In fact, in the meantime, Augus has a bunch of electronic files and paperwork that need to be organized, and Mosk can do that remotely and be relatively stationary, yes? He says that, factoring in the tips Mosk would have been making, that would have been roughly $20 an hour, so that's what Augus will pay him. Mosk is stunned. Augus leaves him a potted plant. Ash leaves him his old Nintendo DS.
Cue 'and they were roommates!' / sick fic bits, with Mosk being the WORST patient ever. Of course, Eran and Mosk start slowly bonding despite Mosk's resistance. Eran gets a little black cat, says it's for him but really it's for Mosk. Mosk pretends to hate it but secretly (and then not so secretly) loves it more than anything. Mosk names him Raven, and Eran jokes that Mosk treats him like a little prince. They start calling him The Raven Prince. Eran gets strangely jealous that Mosk loves on the cat so much, wishes that Mosk would pet HIM like that.
When Mosk starts getting a little more mobile, he starts cleaning the apartment, doing Eran's laundry, making his bed in the morning, etc. Eran tries to tell him that he doesn't have to do that, but Mosk seems ready to bolt otherwise, so Eran just starts praising him for it instead. Eran notices how much Mosk loves the plant that Augus brought him, starts bringing him home little succulents and plants. Mosk is flustered but accepts the plants, claiming that 'he'll take care of them for Eran'. Mosk asks Eran to teach him how to cook. Eran does. It's super cute.
Eventually, Mosk goes back to working at the cafe, and starts talking about moving out. Eran tells him that "The Raven Prince would be so sad if you left, he would be heartbroken." (Suuuure, Eran. TRP would be the one who is heartbroken. Suure.)
Mosk decides to stay a little longer, because who would do Eran's laundry for him if he wasn't there? Who would make sure that Eran's bed was perfectly made? Eran surely wouldn't do it for himself, considering the state of his apartment before Mosk came. Mosk is obviously doing him a favor by staying.
One day at work, one of his old clients shows up and gives him a hard time, tells Mosk he's going to show up at closing and fuck him in the alleyway out back. Mosk walks out without telling anyone, just straight up leaves without telling anyone. It is not great at the cafe, and Augus ends up having to come in and run the cash register. He is NOT happy. He asks Eran what happened, Eran has no idea.
Mosk doesn't come home that night, and Eran goes looking for him. Finds him back outside of where he was squatting before, but now that building has been knocked down and construction has started on new overpriced condos (Built by Davix and Olphix Associates, who seem to be buying up A LOT of property in the area. But that's neither here nor there). Mosk is pretty dissociated, but when Eran shows up, he's snaps back enough to be crushingly embarrasses and ashamed at what happened, and defensively lashes out at Eran, like is genuinely mean,and says some truly horrible things to Eran. Eran ends up leaving. Mosk doesn't come back to work. Doesn't go back to Eran's house. Just disappears. Eran lies to himself and says it's fine. It's not fine.
One day the next week, Mikkel comes in and asks where Mosk is. Eran tells him his version of the events as he knows them (which may be just a tad bit colored by his own hurt feelings). Mikkel demands to see the footage (of course there are security cameras. Augus's husband INSISTED on it. ) of what happened before Mosk left. He calls them all idiots for not checking it sooner.
Now they have to find Mosk, but he's not at any of his old haunts. Eventually Mikkel tracks him down to a very shady pay-by-the-week motel. He's almost out of his savings. He's been planning on going back to sex work. Mikkel tells him he could do that, or he could have his old job back. They watched the footage. They know he was threatened.
Mosk is humiliated, because now everyone knows about his history. Eventually Mikkel talks him into going back to the cafe. Mosk ignores Eran to the best of his ability. Eran is apologetic and tries to convince Mosk to 'come home'. He refuses.
Eventually Eran gets him to at least come over and visit with TRP. He cooks Mosk his favorite meal. He kisses Mosk for the first time. Mosk is the physical embodiment of Gay Panic, but he doesn't run. Eran has FEELINGS.
They start dating, though Mosk refuses to call Eran his boyfriend. Eran keeps trying to convince him to move back in, but Mosk refuses. Eran is worried about Mosk's independence, about his lack of protection, but he has to let Mosk do what he's going to do.
When Eran's family has a disaster (plane crash in Alaska, multiple family members killed), Mosk steps in and comes to take care of him. Eran is in a deep depression, is grieving. Mosk is strangely good at holding space for Eran. Eran begs him to stay. Mosk agrees, but won't share a room with Eran.
Eran slowly comes out of the deepest part of his depression, and he and Mosk grow even closer. Mosk gets another raise at the cafe. Eran goes back to work.
Cue some major drama with Davix & Olphix Associates trying to buy up Balance. It looks like all of their jobs are in jeopardy due to some kind of legal loophole. It looks like Balance may have to close its doors forever.
But wait! Mosk remembers some important piece of paperwork that he filed for Augus, and it's the critical piece of information that saves the day! Davix and Olphix give up (for now), and their jobs are safe. Eran tells Mosk that he loves him. Mosk…doesn't run away. Eran thinks that is enough.
Time skip, several months in the future. It's Christmas time, and today, the cafe is closed to customers, because Augus and Gwyn are throwing the staff a holiday party.
They have karaoke. Everyone gets tipsy, including Mosk. Mosk gets up on the karaoke machine, sings a love song to Eran (in a surprisingly sweet tenor). Tells Eran that he loves him. Eran is like, ohhh bby are you SURE you wanted to do this in front of all of our coworkers? And Mosk is like, you're an idiot, who do you think organized this party? And then…
MOSK PROPOSES TO ERAN IN FRONT OF EVERYONE.
ERAN OF COURSE SAYS YES.
Epilogue: Eran is hovering around the food tent at the manor. There's an event that's going on, and he wants to make sure everything is running smoothly. Ash tells him that it is, and promises that he won't miss the ceremony.
Augus comes and grabs Eran and tells him to leave the food staff alone, that he's not allowed anywhere near the food tent again for the rest of the night. It's Eran's wedding, after all. He shouldn't be be working. Eran agrees.
Augus is tipsy, regales him with the story of his and Gwyn's wedding. Gives him slightly - drunken, very TMI advice for his honeymoon. Eran just nods and manages to keep a straight face.
Eran gets ready to walk down the aisle, which is filled with his friends and what's left of his family. He sees his husband to be, and thinks about the life they will build together, about all they've overcome.
Eran and Mosk read their vows. Augus is crying. Gwyn is holding his hand.
They say 'I do' and kiss. And step into their brand new future. Together.
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