A little bit different from my usual posts, but I’ve been reading some John Walker comics and I’ve been trying to figure out — is this guy really a racist right-wing conservative? I’ve seen a lot of people say that (comics) John Walker is. So this post is gonna be like a deep-dive of John Walker’s character (mostly his comic counterpart — 616 — but a little bit of his MCU counterpart too.)
First of all, his backstory is kinda insane. His parents are kidnapped and killed in front of him, his brother died in Vietnam — but was later retconned to dying in a chopper crash to keep up to date with our timeline. He was left alone in a fire by his family and was then rescued by his brother, but this made him feel abandoned by his family. He volunteers himself to the power broker to get pumped with Super Solider Serum (SSS).
Dude did not have it easy, I’ve gotta say.
Georgia is a swing state but is definitely more republican than democrat (doesn’t mean that he’s a conservative though, republican ≠ conservative).
He’s called racist several times, but the only actual racist thing he says is more from ignorance as I’ve read it to be. (Do tell me if I’m reading this wrong, I am no expert in racism.)
He assumes an Asian character is Chinese and a communist. Is called a bigot in later panels. (US AGENT Vol. 3 Issue #1)
Here he calls a guy a facist and then is called a racist. Funny thing is, is that he never denies it.
Earlier on in Volume 3, in a flashback showing WHY he quit/got fired from STARS was because he refused to allow people to shoot at peaceful protesters, and then destroys several million dollars of government property protecting them. He’s called a facist by the protestors and then a whole fight ensues.
John Walker is a nationalist, that’s for sure. He loves his country so much, but he also cares for American citizens a whole lot. He even says that the peaceful protesters had a right to protest.
He’s not one to betray his country, probably not betray the government— but he does and would disobey orders that don't follow the constitution or his idea of "american rights".
Gonna go into a bit more of his personality rather than his beliefs here for a minute—
In his brief time as the leader of the west coast avengers, he’s viewed as a jerk in the beginning, and he himself thinks that the members are not as qualified as they should be. But he still says they’re good people, that he sees the good and them and is willing to help the team become better.
He’s a big proponent of structure and discipline. Same with MCU John. (This can be interpreted because of his military training, or because of trauma/ocd, I personally believe it’s a bit of both.) He doesn’t let himself be soft, probably because of the military and toxic masculinity things. (Boys don’t cry and all that.)
John’s been written to be a foil character to Steve Rogers. They both fight for — at face value— the same thing. But they don’t, not entirely at least. John Walker is a character that shows that even if you are qualified, even if you fit the bill of “Captain America”, no one can be Steve Rogers. But anybody can be Captain America.
In the MCU John Walker said that he’s “trying to be the best Captain America I can be.” — of course what he was trying to do, despite repeatedly saying he wasn’t, was trying to be Steve rogers. But that’s not just because he wanted to be Steve, but because the public expected him to be Steve. Same with Sam Wilson in FATWS, he knows he’s not Steve (in more ways than one), and that nobody can be.
The whole point of the comic run of The United States of Captain America was to show that Captain America wasn’t a person, but a value. The American Dream is something that is supposed to be real, to be something everyone can aspire to. But recently, and in the past, it’s failed on that. But the Captains America were fighting for their values, their own ideals, not just those of America, but those of their own.
John fights for the values of America, but it’s the government’s values. The constitution’s values. Not his own. John isn’t just a brazen asshole or a facist, he’s been taught to follow orders.
The MCU John Walker was much more explored in this area, to say the least. Comics and their characters are always going to be convoluted, which is why when we think of marvel characters we tend to think of their MCU/Live action counterparts. They go into some detail about John and Lemar’s backgrounds in the military, and how John felt guilty about what they did out there. How many people they killed on orders, how what they did in Afghanistan felt wrong.
“Three badges of excellence to make sure I never forget the worst day of my life. We both know that things we had to do in Afghanistan to be awarded those medals felt a long way from being right. Being Cap is the first time I've had the chance to do something that actually feels right.”
Not to mention his whole crash-out when they take away his mantle of Captain America.
“I lived my life by your mandates, I dedicated my life to your mandates! I only ever did what you asked of me, what you told me to be and trained me to do, and I did it! And I did it well!"
Honestly such a powerful moment. I don’t know anybody who’s taken any tours in the military, but I know damn sure that changes you. You’re killing people, hurting people, because you were told they’re the enemy. And, at least MCU John Walker, felt that was wrong. He wanted to be better, to be a symbol like Steve Rogers, to uphold what he thought was right.
And of course, both Comics John and MCU John work for and with the government, while Steve Rogers doesn’t. That’s not just cause he understands that governments have sanctions, rules to follow, that superheroes who are trying to do their jobs can’t just stop and think about it, but also because he’s seen governments be corrupt (Nazi Germany). He saw what happens to people who are following orders blindly. Comics John Walker doesn’t follow that same principle.
In fact, in Maximum Security, John gets praised by Steve and instead of allowing himself to let go of his anger for once, he stands by his beliefs.
And he's rightfully mad, I mean the whole situation of Earth becoming a "prison planet" and having any criminal from the galaxy being put there was because of the resentment other planets had towards humans. They would just come into planets and change things with little to no regard of what their actions would do, would change.
John quite literally almost gave his life while fighting Ronan the Accuser, all because the avengers had intergalactic enemies.
Back to beliefs now, from what I've read, John isn't just a leader, but also a follower. He does what he's told, and so his beliefs are what he's been told to believe. When he's left STARS and does his final battle in US AGENT Vol 3 Issue #5, when we see him next in The United States of Captain America, he's drunk and upset. He's got no place to be, no place to belong. And that's obviously upsetting him. He's got nothing to follow.
John's just generally a violent person, but given majority of the media I've seen him in, he's not a facist, racist, or a conservative -- just a nationalist. Maybe not an extreme nationalist, but definitely a nationalist.
Have some extra John Walker Moments I find kinda funny/sweet.
Please tell me any of your thoughts on this lil rant of mine! I've got homework now...
Wish I could write as passionately for school like I do here.
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so currently am genuinely so fixated on loving the nuance of Deltarune and OFF with each characters interaction with the player. And this is all based off of my personal viewing of these things:
in Deltarune Kris seems to really hate the player, or at least dosent like them at all. We know that they need the player, the soul but we don’t exactly know what or why. Ralsei knows about it and no one else really adresses it, other than kris needs it for some reason. They need it to seal fountains and other things but like they make it real clear they don’t like this situation.
In OFF, the batter has the player to guide them from the start, hes never really existed without the player and theres mild religious themes with him kinda seeing the player as his god (if im reading it right) and all the main npcs you interact with that you spend time with. they all know your there.
The merchant does not sell to the batter he sells to the player. And its just such a fascinating thing to me
we don’t know why exactly kris summoned the soul but i think they very much regret it. or at least they like that the first day it made their life better but susie and ralsei are still more friends with the soul but think (at least susie) is with only kris. For someone who’s lived a whole life before, both the soul and Kris are cages for each other. It’s maddening and isolating for both. Both are prisoners of circumstance. Both fight for control while never having it entirely. No matter how much we want to help we are an opposing force for Kris.
While the player is the batters everything, his god, his partner and not a moment goes by without them other than perhaps AFK or solving puzzles, or just the game being off. For all we know, he was summoned that day. He was created then, and the player is the one constant. The once certainty. Someone he can trust.
kris beats up the soul a lot, and pretty sure they obviously hate the soul, but batter talks directly to the player like his first line is “you can move my body with wasd”
batter is so single minded deviations don’t really matter and beyond that likely thinks that we have a good reason for everything, but so long as his job gets done eventually he's chillin.
from what I can tell Kris wants to deviate as much as they can to spend as much time away from the soul as possible
but I feel like the Batter would be a bit unsure or at least terribly confused maybe even be frightened without the player as he's never spent any time truly alone, which is questionable in itself but oh boy is it fascinating
I would love to see these two interact
it would be so interesting to see them both have like negative opinions on each other for one liking the player and the other hating them.
There's a Hondo post making the rounds again. It starts with a gifset of Rebels-era Hondo reminiscing about the Jedi and how he was friends with one of them- or thinks he was friends. It's followed by a deep dive into Hondo & Obi-Wan's relationship, and his relationship with the Jedi in general. Thank you for that, blue-sunshine-mauve-morning, it was indeed a bit tragic. I wanted to do a dive of my own without stomping over everything.
Hondo is one of those classic villain types who appreciates a good challenge. And the Jedi are definitely a challenge. Very do-good, very upright, and very much a necessary part of a healthy-functioning universe. When you have Bad Guys like Hondo you need Good Guys like the Jedi to push back, or what's the point?
Some Jedi are too stiff-necked, making it easy to pull one over on them. That can be fun, in a way, because you're using their own goody-goodness against them.
Some Jedi, however, are tricksy little bastards who can give as good as they take and can sometimes beat Hondo at his own game, all while still being goody-goody. That is FUN! It's a challenge! Now you have to find a way to trick someone who expects your tricks and is probably planning a few of their own.
Hondo is NOT a good person. He's killed innocents, he's stolen supplies, and he can be really malicious if he chooses. But sometimes he can also be convinced to be less bad. Or at least give others a chance to make him be less bad while still trying to pull a fast one over them, just in case it works.
He appreciates being outplayed, but he'll also keep trying to win because that's the point of the game. If you earn his respect (and very few have done that), he might be willing to give you a little more rope- to hang yourself, of course!
It's all something of a game to him, I think. Losing the Jedi means losing some of his favorite playmates. That isn't just bad for Hondo, it's bad for the whole galaxy. Who's going to stop pirates like him? Who's going to help people in need? When the whole system becomes absolute corruption and control it means Hondo is no longer the worst thing to happen to someone, and that's very rude! Why, it practically makes him a good guy! Wouldn't his Jedi friends laugh at that! Too bad they aren't around anymore. Even little Katooni wasn't spared. Such a spitfire! She would have made a good pirate if he'd just had more time to convince her...
Anyway, Hondo absolutely considered Obi-Wan (and maybe a few select others) friends of his, and he misses them keenly. Can you imagine his absolute delight if he found Obi-Wan alive? Or if he ran into Katooni somewhere? It would be a cause for celebration! And recruitment. I mean, he might try to turn one or both of them in for the bounty, but he might not try very hard and he'd help them escape again afterward. For a suitable price.
So Heather Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn is a character with very little screen time but as Fire Emblem's first 100% canon lesbian she has always had a special place in my heart even before I was out or really looking for representation I was drawn to this woman and her affection for other women. Today, I want to dive into her character, my reading of her and why I think she is a really great character who has potential to be a truly amazing character if she was ever given the spotlight and focus she deserves in some kind of Remake.
Heather is a poor woman, raised in the rural areas of Crimea which of the Beroc [This world's humans] nations is one of the more peace loving but least wealthy nations. Heather has a sickly mother at home, one who she cares for deeply. In her caring for her mother her job a thief has a strict purpose, bring money home for mom, take care of her, even if you have to get into riskier situations to get that money. It is in her mother's illness that Heather knows she must go out boldly and runs into the events of Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn.
If she dies she cries “Mother... Forgive me... I...lied... I stole... And this...is my punishment...” showing her mother doesn't know how she cares of her or the lengths she goes to to tend to her mother lying about how she makes the living for the pair of them. This speaks to a core element of the character, she is a soft hearted woman, she cares for her mother a lot and would do anything for her and she learned that in this world she needed to lie and steal to survive. Heather is a compassionate survivor who wears the masks she needs to wear in order to make it in the world.
As mentioned earlier one of the most notable things about Heather is her position as Fire Emblem's first canon lesbian a positioned she would be alone in until Fire Emblem Three Hope's Monica entered the screen 15 years later. This means something in her own world as well though, while the land of Tellius more certainly seems a little more inclusive in terms of women's places in society that does not mean queerness has been elevated into being a norm. For the most part we don't know much about queerness in the continent of Tellius we see through Heather that there is still heteronormative expectations at work for common women. Kyza's supports also imply at least a small pressure for people to be a bit more private about their sexuaity and gender.
Heather is hit on by men and likely has been hit on by men as a fairly traditionally attractive, unmarried adult woman for some time. She learned how to manipulate men into getting meals and other things from them outside of just robbing them but her manipulation is totally harmless, it is men doing things for the expectation of something Heather has never promised or even implied, simply a man's expectations for women. We know Heather has no history of abuse from an interview question where it was also affirmed she is simply a lesbian, that is just her nature and that she was never abused. So this kindness comes not from a place of trauma but in a place of solidarity with other women. We can see that the harassment of men is a factor for her though from her ability in the fire emblem TCG "Buffoonish men are in for a thrashing!" which shows how much she is just done with men being an asshole to her.
Unlike the men of the world her love for women comes with no expectation that they'll romance her, she likely thinks she is the only woman who likes other women, that she will be alone in her desires. So she simply works to make pretty women happy, content to give them a small flirt and a gift then leave them to do their own thing. Just getting to see a pretty woman is what she wants from a desire to see Princess Elenica and see if she lives up to the stories to wanting to help women like Nepheene and Illyana. She knows both that her taking care of her mother most come first but also that she's unlikely to be able to meet another woman to love.
I don't think it's an accident that the two women we see her be most into are bother fellow commoners when you look at Heather a a woman who is focused on solidarity between women. Heather's mechanics in Fire Emblem Cipher tend to lean on her attraction to women as well having women based abilities. In fact one of her abilities is called "For the smiles of girls!" showing that what she is doing is simply to see another woman smile. The end goal isn't marriage, isn't sex, isn't a relationship but just to see other women smile. This places her as a woman who is deeply rooted in community with other women and solidarity with them.
All of this comes from so little in the game and card game but I think together it paints a picture of an extremally kind woman with a roughish slant. She can be a scoundrel but only to people who deserve it and she is willing to steal and blackmail but it's always for a woman who is in need. At the end of the game Heather returns home to her mother, she lies and says she won't go be a thief again but she makes sure her mother is taken care of for the rest of her mother's life. She has no paired endings and is left alone at the end of it, proving that her own assumption is correct that she wouldn't find love so instead she would settle for smiles.
I want the best for Heather and I wish her love with many women. In my head she has a nice polycule to go see and helps nurse her mom to good health but regardless I think she has so much potential that was not explored thanks to Radiant Dawns bad support system and in general just being a minor character in a very massive cast. I love her and I hope I showed a bit of what draws me to her and why I think she is so special. If you enjoyed and want more, let me know and maybe I'll do more character deep dives. And of course Patreon and Ko-fi are always great ways to support me slash get me to do what you want.
Little ending note here, I wrote this before Heather got announced for FEH! I am so excited and I will totally be listening to her voice lines and stuff and seeing if there is any more gold about her, maybe I'll update this if they have something I feel adds to my reading but as it looks like now it's same old lesbian Heather being gay for Nephenee and women in general.
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Passing Days Chapter 107: Lost Day 9: Different Perspective, a fate/grand order fanfic | FanFiction
Or when the author's entire maternal side of the family devolves into political arguing over Lunar New Year, the author needed stress relief.
The orange carrot still sucks ass, but talking about him is exhausting enough. Debating makes it worse.
So with rereading the SERAPH manga adaptation on MangaDex on the flight home at the tail-end of January, friends (@partialdignity, @withanina, @avicebro, @fatedtime, and @xviicprc, especially, shout outs to you all because you're great) encouraged me to take a break from LB7 to write for stress relief and character exploration.
Here we are. Exploring the consequences of two Robin Hoods being present on Seraphix.
AO3 link here. OST playlist here, with all the new songs included.
Character Dive of Wednesday Addams, The conflict of Purposeful Miscommunication
So I had a college assignment about conflict and the questions ranged from the problem to the resolve. I choose the character Wednesday Addams as the subject of this because quite frankly she was the first to come to mind.
If you guys would like to discuss this further I'm more than happy to (I literally rewatched Wednesday for the 4th time for this assignment to make sure I covered my bases :) please enjoy)
P.s. I also just wanted to write about Wenclair :3
What is one example of a conflict situation you have seen in films, television shows, or books?
I live by the old saying, ninety percent of problems are caused or indirectly caused by miscommunication. There is so much truth to that statement. One of my favorite conflicting scenes in media came from the Netflix show Wednesday. The show follows Wednesday Addams, from the Addams Family, as she navigates through her journey of murder mysteries happening around the school and newly discovered abilities.
Wednesday is an interesting character to say the least, she’s portrayed as this very stoic and standoffish girl. Deeming emotions as nothing but a liability. While we follow the strange murders of a monster, we see Wednesday get increasingly driven to solve who is behind them. She’s stubborn and prideful, not wanting to let anyone have a one up on her.
Where this all comes to a head and where a lot of her inner conflict begins is when she tricks her roommate, Enid, into going to investigate a house that might have some clues. Both girls get ambushed by the monster while investigating, nearly getting killed. Obviously, Enid is angry by the events. Sparking an argument between the two, Wednesday not seeing the problem as they both made it out alive, causes Enid to snap at her. Telling her that she has tried so hard to be her friend, support her, stick up for her, and be there for her when she needed someone, but Wednesday is never going to understand that. So, Enid leaves, telling Wednesday that if she wants to be alone so badly, she can be alone.
How could you apply restorative practices in the situation?
Luckly for Wednesday she does begin to see her mistakes, even if she is very reluctant about it in the beginning. Enid, luckily being the more emotionally inclined girl that she is, does go out of her way to still check on Wednesday. Knowing that the stoic girl tends to sulk in her solitude, more so now a days with that monster coming around. Although both are still angered with one another they we can see that being away from each other is getting to them.
The girls up to this point have built a friendship between them, a trust that quite frankly Wednesday isn’t used to. That’s why it takes her almost losing another person close to her to realize that she needs people in her life. She cries, something she hasn’t done for years because that fear became so real then. She does care about the people in her life, she is just very reluctant to let them in. At one point the girls do resolve their issues, Enid taking the first step after hearing of the unfortunate events. She moves back in with Wednesday and the two talk about their differences as individuals, contrasting each other but do accept one another as friends. Slowly taking down those invisible barriers, one duct tape at a time.
How could being vulnerable, having an open mind, and considering others help with navigating the conflict identified in the situation?
In this instance we had a case of purposeful miscommunication, which is equally if not arguably worse than accidental miscommunication. The root of the problem though comes from a seed of mistrust in people that the person of target had no fault in. And that is just life sometimes, we carry bad experiences with us into new stages of our lives and hurt the people that try to help us. Having the chance to be vulnerable though and open to new ideas of repair with the right set of people could be a solution for the miscommunication.
This idea does tie back to opening that wound of mistrust, of being honest with the feelings that were buried so deep. It is hard for some people to achieve these steps, but they just have to see that there are people out there willing to take that extra for them. Whether that stems from respect or love, those people are going to be there for them, no matter what mistakes they make, no matter the type of person they are. But you have to meet halfway. Compromise, and respect one another’s individuality for we each have our own strengths in different categories of life.
A/N: Set late season 6, or early season 7 after Kensi and Deeks have been together for a little while.
***
Soft
Life had taught Kensi long ago that vulnerability was to be avoided at all costs. Vulnerability, softness, made you weak. Softness got you hurt.
With Jack, she’d thrown herself into the relationship with everything she had. She’d built a whole life and future in her mind, and started to in real life too, or so she thought. For the first time in years, Kensi had thought she had a family, and a chance to move beyond all the misery of her past.
She was happy for a time.
And then Jack left, nearly destroying her. After that, Kensi built up a veneer so thick and hard, no one would ever get through and hurt her again, and convinced herself she didn’t need anyone.
She made herself so unlikeable, sometimes she could barely stand herself.
Dates certainly never made it past a first dinner. If Kensi couldn’t find something wrong with the man in question, then her competitiveness or slightly too cruel jokes did the trick. She wasn’t looking for affection, for the intimacy and familiarity that came with a relationship, she told herself. That was for other people. People who didn’t risk their lives every day. People who hadn’t been broken.
It was lonely way to live, but it kept her heart safe.
Then along came Marty Deeks. Irreverent, silly, brave…charming Deeks woke something long hidden in her. It was terrifying and annoying at first, her heart out of practice in caring for someone beyond the role of partner. No matter how hard she tried though, Deeks eased his way in, obliterated the shell around her, and earned her heart.
Despite her fears, nothing scared him off either, at least not for long. Not her teasing or mild threats, her chronic messiness, or absurd cackle. Even when she treated him abominably, he didn’t leave. And little by little, she began to trust again.
Kensi glanced to the side now, watching Deeks change into a pair of loose boxers and toss his dirty clothes in the hamper. The bed dipped as he slid in next to her, a familiar, welcome weight.
She turned onto her side, and Deeks curled around her, tucking her body into his. Just like he did every night. Closing her eyes, she relished in the feel of his nose just under her jaw, the sound of his gentle exhales.
She felt safe, secure. Loved.
***
A/N: I was playing with the idea that Kensi has grown softer over the years, but that it isn’t a sign of weakness. This is what came of it.
