fighting the rain

John always felt to me as the chosen champion of a goddess from ancient Greek myth. But at the same time, bound by the Moiras and Destiny.

As the sign that he not only accepted but welcomed his destiny to be a hero, I took his desperate fight to hold onto the coin Halsey gave to him. He fought feraly to keep that quorter, even breaking three of the fingers of the marine holding it, until that grown-ass man collapsed to the floor in pain.

i know she's blonde in like... every other adaptation, but fall of reach describes her as having dark hair, so that's what i went with.

bonus:

there are a couple things I basically hold true wrt the Lannister twin dichotomy:

Cersei does not need a redemption arc or indeed 'redeeming features' to be a compelling female character, and is in fact more compelling than many female characters with more redeeming characteristics

Swapping Jaime and Cersei's arcs would essentially render both a lot less interesting, and if anything risks a more misogynistic portrayal of Cersei (à la Game of Thrones)

however, I wanted also to point out that asoiaf is .... not exactly bereft of female redemption arcs?? I'd say they're not as easily recognised as such because men's redemption arcs tend to register more readily w audiences bc we're a bit more used to their trajectories. and the arcs are basically: man wields power within a violent institution/follows orders within a violent institution > suffers > is disillusioned > changes sides > fights for good. this isn't actually me deriding this as a common format, I think it exists for a reason, but still, their familiarity is why people tend to recognise these arcs more readily for what they are (which is why Jaime's, Theon's and Sandor's have all been clocked).

the thing is that a woman is a whole lot less likely to find herself in a comparable position, particularly in asoiaf where violence and power generally rests in the hands of men. I think Cersei's story is in conversation with that, though not via redemption as a story lens.

again though: i do think there are female redemption arcs in asoiaf. at least one and a half anyway lol. imo, they belong to Sansa and Melisandre.

I think the claim that Sansa has had a redemption arc gets people's backs up on both sides - on one side because people love to make Sansa out to be some nasty kid 'in need' of redemption, which I don't believe she is. on the other side bc they do believe she's a nasty kid in need of redemption lol and they don't believe she's achieved it 😭 but to me, in her own way, Sansa appears to fit neatly within the typical redemptive trajectory I described above - but translated as an arc fitting for an eleven year old girl with very little autonomy or understanding of the world around her. and fucking figures that this results in swathes of the audience crucifying Sansa: because people here hate little girls and also hate being made to understand redemption arcs

Melisandre doesn't get quite the same treatment just bc she largely falls under the radar, but I think her story could likewise be loosely fitted to that redemption trajectory I described, maybe with a few steps shuffled around. she suffers, she becomes part of a violent institution, she will become disillusioned, she will change sides. etc.

my point being that I think when it comes to the female characters, people are essentially looking for the male redemptive story in female characters, but it doesn't translate so literally. and Cersei's story is not not redemptive because GRRM doesn't want to write redemptive stories for women and girls, but because her story is just not about that. Cersei's story is (at least in part) about how a woman can try to wield power within violent male institutions, and how those same institutions punish and abuse even the women at the very top of them.

It’s that Halsey knew she was going to hell, in her mind, and hates herself with such a loathing fervor and yet she still pressed the metaphorical button on those spartan augmentations. That’s fascinating!! It’s the core of her character, that she has this moral core that won’t leave her the fuck alone!! That she goes through all that guilt and loathing despite it all. You cut those human qualities and she’s just a boring monstrous ego maniac.

There’s smaller moments like Haverson killing an huragok, a civilian by all accounts, and justifying it under the greater good of preventing the covenant from gaining more advantage then they have already.

Halo is at it’s best when the awful and deplorable actions are done with the implicit understanding of the stakes, that kidnapping those kids or signing up those orphans somehow ended up in a net positive of lives saved—that the savior of the galaxy being the child soldier adds a grim post-hoc justification to his traumatic experiences.

Halo Envoy is a good example of this gray morality too, the entire book. It humanizes the ex-covenant by making them the victims, by putting them in the shoes of the countless human rufugees they created.

And need I mention Thel? The staple of Halo’s “how am i going to live with myself after what I’ve done?” plot beats.

Well, Halsey was written so well, even in the less nuanced Paramount show, that I was surprised that she wasn't a gender bent variant of a canon character. Yes the Woman as Architect , as Alchemist is so rare in fiction, that I believed that something as old as the HALO franchise must have had Halsey as a man.

Also, from the point of view of most people, myself included what she does is wrong. But she adheres, at least cognitively to an utilitarian code of ethics. She is not amoral,she has her own code that she doesn't break. If she's a demon, she's a noble one.

John: ....

I've wanted to upload a drawing of them for a long time, as a representation of an important part of their lives and mine. It may not be the best illustration I've ever done, but for me it means a lot about my present and my past. I hope you like it.

Also, she trusts that is not too late for him to learn to make his own moral judgements.

The thing that's especially heartbreaking about this is John does ultimately make the choice Halsey wishes she could've made. He refuses to sacrifice one innocent for unprovable millions that "might" be saved.

....But John cannot turn around and condemn the actions that created him. He cannot see himself as an innocent sacrificed. He can't turn that last corner. Halsey did injure him in a way that she absolutely cannot undo, he will have to get there himself one day and he may never get there at all, and she has to live with knowing this.

Also, in one of the first books he associates her with home. Maybe the affection is not a one way street. Halsey being maybe the only human who calls him John, makes her a keeper of his identity. For the other adults he was trainee 117, then for the rest of his life he was THE Master Chief, but Halsey knows the human inside the armor. The irony is that she put him inside that armor.

I am new to the fandom, making my way slowly through it, after I found my way here via the Paramount series, but from what I've glimpsed from the first book trilogy and from the games cutscens until now, I get the impression that John -117 considers himself LUCKY that he guessed the way that quarter landed. I even wrote a sad little story where he compares the son of Halsey who saved the Galaxy with the useless John who was glassed with his parents.

If I were to guess how Halsey would exit the story, I would say that by sacrificing herself to save John, possibly saving all the remaining Spartans II.

I am not mad that Halsey is imprisoned for what she did. I am mad that she is the only one imprisoned for it. I am mad that so many see Keyes as a hero, or Parangosky as the more moral counterpart to Halsey.

TLDR: John might know the truth, but have a different lens to interpret it then we have: he might see the children that Dr. Halsey didn't select as the unlucky ones.

If it is important, you AS AN AUTHOR  put it in the text of your manga, book or whatever.

If the text doesn’t speak for itself it’s the author’s problem. I souldn’t have to sift trough interviews of dubious translation quality, from a language I do not now and would take half a decade to learn.

It reminds me of when she who must not be named, said that Draco Malfoy was attracted to Hermione Granger, that Dumbledor is gay etc. If it’s important  you put it in the text. But what do I know, my literature diploma, not being earned in an anglo-saxon country probably means nothing.

For me, the text supports an ichiruki reading. Why should I need more to enjoy and ship? Some ships are born out of fewer heartfelt interactions than those two have.

You know in the Ilyad, the long discussed nature of the relationship of Patroclus and Achilles? Ancient commentators, yes literally ancient commentators, as in the lived in Antiquity, were wondering if it was love or just strong friendship. It has been shipped from antiquity ‘till present day. But then again Homer didn’t give any interviews. I am sure that if he clarified the problem people would have stopped shipping them.

Or not, because the text itself supports that interpretation.

OK, if you want to show me why you ship something you can give me textual evidence.

And reading the text of Bleach yes, I tend to see ichiruki in it. And yes, I might be mistaken, but so can the people that support OTHER  readings.

Some people aren’t happy enough that they’ve won the future, they want to go back and win the past too. Go ahead, but how can you not understand that giving me a reading list of interviews the length of Daenarys Targaryen’s titles, is just boring to me? I am in fandom because I want to do fun stuff not to do work.

And I asked you why the ship appealed to you personally, subjectively, what moved you, why it makes you happy to ship it.I didn’t ask for a five pages dissertation that proves that this  is the one true ship, and that it ever was, and that will ever be in the author’s mind, so  I must bow before it, as if it were The One Ring .

Please still it away. Yes I think that it applies to any ship that has enough textual support, even if it’s not canon.

Just shut up and watch

Rukia had to live in one of the worst districts in Rukongai, mostly without food and water. Rukia didn’t faint.

Rukia witnessed her childhood friends dying. Rukia didn’t faint.

Rukia had to kill her mentor, probably her first love. Rukia didn’t faint.

Rukia almost got killed the night she met Ichigo to save him and his family. Rukia gave her powers to him, didn’t faint.

Rukia was manipulated by Gin a cruel way. Rukia cried in agony but she didn’t faint. 

Rukia faced execution. Rukia didn’t faint.

Rukia was pierced by Aizen who took the Hogyoku from her. Rukia was concerned for Ichigo and Byakuya, she didn’t faint. 

Rukia almost lost her brother who was protecting her from Aizen. Rukia didn’t faint.

Rukia was pierced by Grimmjow. Rukia didn’t faint.

Rukia almost died crawling in her own blood in HM to save a “friend”. That’s probably the only time she came close to fainting because SHE WAS DYING!

Rukia saw everyone around her die in the first Quincy invasion and sensed her brother’s reiatsu dissappearing. Rukia got hit, didn’t faint!

Rukia faced her worst nightmares during her As Nodt fight. Rukia didn’t faint. 

Rukia witnessed her dearest captain die to save SS. Rukia didn’t faint.

Kuchiki Rukia doesn’t faint. 

And that’s the only Rukia I know. 

Also, she trusts that is not too late for him to learn to make his own moral judgements.

But the thing is ... I don't think she did.

In her younger days , Halsey did despicable things for the greater good. Now as humanity is maybe rightfully ungrateful for her previous acts, as she suffered the pain of loss after loss, she might just start to put the few people she still cares about above anything else, including the survival and the evolution of humanity.

Also, let us not lie to ourselves. John and Cortana have a beautiful story, but they also had behind them the years when John bonded with Halsey. Cortana chose to look , sound, have the cadence that Halsey had during John's formative years. During those years, from the Spartan perspective Halsey was like Athena and John was her favorite champion, her Odysseus.

If it is important, you AS AN AUTHOR  put it in the text of your manga, book or whatever.

If the text doesn’t speak for itself it’s the author’s problem. I souldn’t have to sift trough interviews of dubious translation quality, from a language I do not now and would take half a decade to learn.

It reminds me of when she who must not be named, said that Draco Malfoy was attracted to Hermione Granger, that Dumbledor is gay etc. If it’s important  you put it in the text. But what do I know, my literature diploma, not being earned in an anglo-saxon country probably means nothing.

For me, the text supports an ichiruki reading. Why should I need more to enjoy and ship? Some ships are born out of fewer heartfelt interactions than those two have.

You know in the Ilyad, the long discussed nature of the relationship of Patroclus and Achilles? Ancient commentators, yes literally ancient commentators, as in the lived in Antiquity, were wondering if it was love or just strong friendship. It has been shipped from antiquity ‘till present day. But then again Homer didn’t give any interviews. I am sure that if he clarified the problem people would have stopped shipping them.

Or not, because the text itself supports that interpretation.

OK, if you want to show me why you ship something you can give me textual evidence.

And reading the text of Bleach yes, I tend to see ichiruki in it. And yes, I might be mistaken, but so can the people that support OTHER  readings.

Some people aren’t happy enough that they’ve won the future, they want to go back and win the past too. Go ahead, but how can you not understand that giving me a reading list of interviews the length of Daenarys Targaryen’s titles, is just boring to me? I am in fandom because I want to do fun stuff not to do work.

And I asked you why the ship appealed to you personally, subjectively, what moved you, why it makes you happy to ship it.I didn’t ask for a five pages dissertation that proves that this  is the one true ship, and that it ever was, and that will ever be in the author’s mind, so  I must bow before it, as if it were The One Ring .

Please still it away. Yes I think that it applies to any ship that has enough textual support, even if it’s not canon.

Toshiro starts off his conversation with Aizen by talking about Aizen’s screwed-up morals, about how swinging a sword out of hate isn’t conduct becoming of a captain. He’s trying to assert some sort of moral high ground, I suppose, but Aizen knows just how to bring him down to his level.

I can believe that Toshiro took the bait, what I can’t believe is that Aizen took the time and energy to bait him in the the first place.

I loved Gin calling him out when Momo took to the battlefield.

He is also insecure and wants not only to beat you, but for you to recognize his superiority. He wants to be affirmed and respected by the people he unwillingly admires like Hirako and Urahara.

Sometimes I feel like Aizen was the nerd of the Seiratei and Hitsugaya was the cool kid. : ))

Do you have a head canon for Aizen’s origin story?

Sorry I can’t manage to imagine Aizen afraid of Toshiro at the level he was at FKT.  If he has to have a protracted and inconclusive battle with the third espada, and he needs time and help with the temporary sixth espada, Luppi or something,LLuppi  who is weaker than Grimmjow, Gimmjow who last to  Ichigo.Then Ichigo was even stronger after he beat Ulquiorra, and this Ichigo, pre-dangai was blitzed by Aizen. I don’t think that he’s beating Aizen.

But I don’t think that it even matters since Toshiro is not immune  to KS. Agree to disagree.