I got the wonderful opportunity to see Labyrinth on the big screen last week (thank you Fathom Events) and I think this time around really helped me nail down one of the things that makes this movie so special to me: the ending message.
A story with a somewhat childish sixteen-year-old girl who immerses herself in magic and fantasy worlds who goes through a journey and a transformation and comes out the other side more mature could very easily have ended with the message of "Now that the adventure in the fantasy world is over, our heroine has grown and matured enough to leave magic and fantasy behind and become an Adult."
But Labyrinth doesn't do that.
Labyrinth says: "You might grow up a little. You might put away your costumes and your music box and your crown. You might give your teddy bear to your little brother. But that doesn't mean you have to leave it all behind. Every so often in your life, for no reason at all, you might need a little magic back in your life. And your friends in the fantasy world will always be there for you."
Rian Johnson doing his favorite thing again: playing with point of view. Compare how Jud thinks he sounded saying these lines to how he actually sounded, as recorded on camera.
Clearly he didn't do as good a job holding in his anger as he thought he did.
Bonus:
Check out the barely-legible top comment on this video.
"As a journalist I find videos like this to be incredibly misleading. How do we know he's actually a priest? Could it be aliens??"
Chapters: 3/?
Fandom: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Hosea Matthews & Dutch van der Linde, Hosea Matthews/Dutch van der Linde, Hosea Matthews & Leonard "Lenny" Summers, Hosea Matthews & Arthur Morgan, Hosea Matthews & Molly O'Shea
Characters: Hosea Matthews, Dutch van der Linde, Leonard "Lenny" Summers, Arthur Morgan, Molly O'Shea
Additional Tags: POV Hosea Matthews, Hosea Matthews Lives, What-If, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, Video Game: Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018), Chapter 4: Saint Denis (Red Dead Redemption 2), Mentioned Angelo Bronte, Minor Hosea Matthews/Dutch van der Linde, but they're still an old married couple, so basically exactly how they are in the game lol, Red Dead Redemption 2 Spoilers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags May Change, Introspection, Morality, Deep Conversations, Molly O'Shea Deserves Better, Mission: Urban Pleasures (Red Dead Redemption 2), Mission: Country Pursuits (Red Dead Redemption 2), Mission: Revenge is a Dish Best Eaten (Red Dead Redemption 2)
Summary:
“You get ten seconds,” said Milton. “Ten… nine…”
Hosea could glimpse movement from inside the bank. Bill rushing to the back of the room. Dutch handing the saddlebag over his shoulder off to Micah.
“Eight… seven… six…”
For as long as he had known him, Hosea had known Dutch’s greatest strength and his greatest failing to be one and the same. He was willing to do anything.
“Five… four…”
What would be the consequence this time? What new direction would Dutch send the gang spinning off in? Hosea couldn’t predict it. He never could.
“Three… two…”
When it came down to the wire, when all other options were exhausted, when lives were on the line, what would Dutch van der Linde do?
“One.”
A what-if alternate universe in which Hosea survives the St. Denis bank robbery, lives to see the downward spiral of the gang, and knows he has to do something.
Finally coming back to this work after so long! More chapters to come soon!
One thing about disco elysium that really intrigues me is how it doesn't exactly break the fourth wall, it bends it. It doesn't have anything explicit where either the narrator or Harry acknowledge that "hey we know we're in a video game", but Harry's video-game-y-ness is still acknowledged and either explained by Harry's character or acknowledged that this is a weird thing that Harry does and not how Normal people act. Real life people don't constantly zip from one "interactable" object or "container" to the other, but Harry does because that's just the preferred method of officers in his precinct. Real life people can't/don't run everywhere they go, but Harry does/can. Because he used to be a gym teacher. On the other side of the "weird", it's a total mystery to everyone else how Harry can get people to just reveal anything he wants to know. That's just how Harry is. It's weird, and people acknowledge how weird it is. He literally has a reputation as the "human can-opener". Real life people don't speak in "lists" or "trees" of questions, and Harry can even acknowledge that he only has a limited number of "options", to which everyone replies "What the hell are you talking about." Many people can even remark how much Harry loves questions, which Harry usually just chalks up to being a cop, but that's never the full answer. So Harry is either the weirdest person in the world because Normal people don't act like video game protagonists, or he's the only normal one because he's the only one who's actually acting like he's in a video game (which he is).
Beyond their secret identities as Kira and the detective who's chasing him, beyond their intricate cat-and-mouse game, I want to talk about L and Light's thoughts and feelings about each other and their relationship.
Even before Light and L meet, a connection has already been drawn between them. The first person who draws this connection is L himself.
"Kira is childish, and he hates losing."
"But how do you - just what do you mean?"
"Well, I'm also childish and hate to lose. That's how I know."
(The fact that L says this before he and Light have even met, before Light is even considered a serious suspect, says a lot.)
The second distinct connection (also made before L and Light meet) and the first that Light hears is made by Naomi Misora, who worked with L in the past and, when asked by Light why she felt she could trust him with information meant only for L, responds:
"I'll be honest with you. It's because you remind me of L. There's something about you that's just like him."
It is at this moment that Light does something out of character. He does not react whatsoever. The entire format of the anime relies on Light's inner monologue constantly informing the viewer of his thoughts and opinions. Light reacts to everything, either through a silent inner monologue or dialogue with Ryuk. It's how the viewer can always stay on top of what's going through his head, to help us understand his thought process and reasoning for doing the things he does.
So why doesn't he react to this piece of information that is surprising for both for the viewer as well as himself? Instead of giving us his thoughts on this idea, or even contradicting it, his only response, after a brief pause, is to press on even more strongly with his plan to get Misora to reveal her real name and kill her to tie up a loose end.
This isn't the only time this happens, either.
"You're not Kira. That is, it would be a problem if you were Kira... Because... I feel you're the first friend that I have ever had."
Look at Light's face after L says those words. Light is exceedingly rarely surprised, but this remark from L has left him stunned and at a complete loss for words. This isn't even a look of gleeful surprise, as in "I've achieved my goal, I've gotten close enough to L that he considers me a friend, one step closer to finding out his true identity." No, this is a look of total blindsidedness and possibly even a little fear.
And again, Light has no reaction. Of course he says something, he has to reply to L; he awkwardly spits out a line about them having a lot in common (notably not voicing any reciprocation of L's feelings of friendship) and, when L turns around to look at him, remarks that he has missed seeing him at school and that they should play tennis again soon. But he has no inner monologue response, no hint as to what he really thinks about what L has just said to him. Even later, when he and Ryuk walk home and Ryuk presses him about it -
"A friend? He's your friend? That's a good thing, isn't it, Light?
Light flat-out ignores him.
"That damn Ryuzaki, he had no problem figuring out Kira and the Second Kira had made contact with each other. I've got to eliminate him right away."
It's not until much later, after Rem agrees to kill L and Light is alone with Ryuk thinking over how best to kill him that Light even acknowledges L's remark.
"I see. I thought perhaps you were hesitating [to kill L] because he said he thinks of you as a friend."
"A friend? I just gave him what he wanted. From the start, I've said if it's my friendship he wants, I'd give it to him as a way to win his trust. Ryuga and Light Yagami appear to be friends, but L is Kira's enemy."
This is exactly what both Ryuk and the viewer expected him to say. But why does he only say it now, when he is directly asked about it, and not immediately after L says this to him?
I want to reexamine the conversation between L and Light before L tells him he sees him as a friend, after L determines that Kira and the Second Kira have made contact. It's a thinly veiled "what-if" scenario centered around what Light would have made the Second Kira say "if" he were Kira.
"This is also one less reason to suspect that Light is Kira... If Light is Kira, I don't think this is the message he would have had the Second Kira send us. It doesn't fit. He would have made the Second Kira go through with his plan to have me appear on TV. Then, deny that they ever made contact, letting the Second Kira shoulder the blame for my death. He'd make him say something like: "Although I agreed not to go through with this, I have come to realize that it was not Kira's true intention that I stop. I'm positive that the real Kira would want L to die. There's no way he'd make me stop."
"I think you're mistaken. I would never do that if I were Kira. If you're L and I'm Kira, then I'd already know your personality pretty well. L would never agree to appear on TV, no matter what threat he was facing. And he wouldn't allow someone else to die in his place. The L I know would find some way to escape the situation."
"So, you figured it out."
In typical L fashion, this was a test. Here, Light is purposefully contradicting a situation in which L is providing reasoning for why he is not Kira. Light would have benefited from simply remaining silent and letting this opinion go unchanged. Instead, he refutes L's statement, showcasing both of their understandings about each other. Light knows L well enough to know that L's proposed message wouldn't work, and L knows Light well enough to know that Light would never stand to hear an incorrect perception of himself.
And in turn, Light knows how well L knows him. Because Light figured it out. Light figured out that L would never say something so inaccurate about Light unless it was a test, a trap set by L to see if he would let the incorrect statement slide to lessen suspicion of him. So he corrects him, even going so far as to imply that he is Kira to do so.
Which is exactly what L undoubtedly expected Light Yagami as Kira to do.
Behind that, though, there is still Light Yagami and L himself, two people who have now been proven to know each other better than anyone else likely ever has.
I believe that the sentiments L voices to Light at this point are genuine. What does L gain by saying that to Light? He had already suspected Light of trying to get close to him to reveal his true identity, so confirming that he had succeeded in that would only push Light further towards eliminating him. He also knows that Light, or, more accurately, Kira, wouldn't respond emotionally to a confession like this. I can't think of any reason why L would say such a thing unless he really meant it.
Let's switch focus back to Light for a second. As previously mentioned, Light's inner monologue tells us all of his thoughts and feelings about what's happening around him. So the fact that he has absolutely no response to the idea that he and L might have some sort of connection proves that this is something that he does not want to think about. In fact, the reaction that Light does have to this idea, to push even harder with his plans, to seek to eliminate the source of this thought, says to me that Light views this idea as not only unappealing, but threatening.
I'd like to bring up one more scene, Light and L's final scene alone together, on the roof in the rain and on the stairs afterward.
Some interesting things to point out:
Despite the fact that they are completely alone, without even any cameras on them, and that Light knows full well that L will die in a matter of hours at most, Light still keeps up his facade of acting friendly toward L.
Tell me, Light, from the moment you were born, has there ever been a point where you've actually told the truth? Although we don't get Light's inner monologue in this scene either, after L asks this question the ambient noise of the rain cuts out for a moment, which implies shock and surprise on Light's part.
In answering this question, Light says the phrase "Humans just aren't meant to be perfect like that," a statement that gets dangerously close to contradicting his own philosophy on how the world should be.
L apologizes to Light a total of three times in the span of about five minutes.
There's the question of whether Light dried L off as a kind gesture or just because he was dripping on him. I think L's response to him doing this - I'm sorry instead of "Thank you" - gives us the answer to that question.
There's also something about the image of washing feet (or drying off, close enough). It's an image heavy with significance and symbolism - it's a symbol of reverence and supplication. Light has been craving his victory over L this whole time. To have L perform this subservient gesture toward him should make Light practically giddy with satisfaction and triumph. So why does he seem to hate the idea so much?
Furthermore, why does L do it in the first place? I think the answer to this lies in something that both he and Light know at this point - and that L knows that he and Light are both aware of - that L has lost and is about to die. I think that, whatever the reason is that Light hates L performing this gesture for him, L knows that he hates it, and does it anyway. He's saying: I know I've lost. You know I've lost. Here, I'm showing you how much you've won over me. Don't you hate it? To me, this is further backed up by L's last statement to Light before getting called back to the investigation. It'll be lonely, won't it? You and I will be parting ways soon. This line all but confirms that L is fully aware that Light is going to kill him. If the line had just been You and I will be parting ways soon, that could have implied that L believed Light would soon be caught and executed. But the addition of It'll be lonely, won't it? shows that L knows that Light will still be around, while L himself won't. And to me, what he's saying to Light in this line is You're going to regret this. This isn't what you want.
A sentiment that Light seems to take great offense to.
Light and L are both outcasts in their own ways, L in the more traditional sense of being isolated from the world and having poor social skills, while Light is popular and respected but has no genuine relationships in his life. And so because of this, both L and Light have gone possibly their whole lives having no one who truly understands them.
And then, all of a sudden, they're presented with exactly such a person. To Light, the very idea goes against everything he believes and everything he's used to. And so it has to be shut down.
As Light Yagami is, I believe he is incapable of real, genuine connection with another person. But, if there is anyone who would have been able to change that I believe it would have been L. And, evidently, he got a lot closer to doing so than Light would have liked.
My poor FLPC has been through the absolute wringer these past few weeks: I need a mirrorcatch box filled with irrigo light to restore Furnace’s face, so every week my character delves into the Cave of the Nadir, absolutely riddles herself with irrigo and wreaks havoc on her psyche, only for me to not pull the damn card I need and have to leave before she is lost forever. Then she gets to wait a real-life week, slowly losing pieces of herself, before getting fleeting recollections and breathing a single irrigo-free breath before going right back into the Cave again.
