thankskenpenders:Julie-Su and Archimedes both volunteer to sacrifice themselves to save Knuckles, bu
thankskenpenders:Julie-Su and Archimedes both volunteer to sacrifice themselves to save Knuckles, but we all know this is a job for one personIt’s LockeLocke gets to explain why he did what he did here (and also a bit more later in the scene), and Julie-Su sympathizes with him pretty much immediately. I think this could very easily come off as Locke being “redeemed” for all his horrible actions at the drop of a hat, but I don’t think this sequence quite falls into that trapThis feels different from previous Penders stories where Locke would say how people were totally misjudging him. He’s explaining his reasoning here (in part to get newer readers up to speed), but his expressions and his decision to sacrifice himself make it clear that he realizes how bad he’s fucked up. And this entire arc is about how Locke’s parenting turned Knuckles into a supervillain, so the story isn’t saying he was right. Instead it’s more like the climax of Return of the Jedi, where Vader realizes what a monster he’s become and decides to finally do one selfless thing and save his son. So it’s not like Locke’s suddenly this perfect little angel. He still sucks. He’s still explicitly, in canon, labeled as the cause of all of this. I don’t sympathize with him. But I pity him. His life didn’t have to turn out this way, and he’s only now realizing it when it’s too lateSimilar to how Tommy Turtle’s death was handled, I get that this scene needs some pathos to work. It can’t just be treated as this guy we hate kicking the bucket. A lot of us might hate Locke as readers, but the characters aren’t all going to be dancing on his grave in-universe. (In particular, Julie-Su and Sonic barely know the guy, and Knuckles has clearly always wanted to have a normal father-son relationship with him.) And I appreciate that this story delivers that pathos without totally justifying everything Locke ever didI also think this is kind of a Schrodinger’s Characterization, if you will. There are multiple ways to read this. If you hate Locke, like me, then this scene isn’t gonna tell you you’re wrong to criticize his actions. But if you like Locke (and, believe it or not, there were readers who liked Locke), then he’s going out with JUST enough dignity here for it to not come off as character assassination. As much as I would love to watch the guy suffer more so I could point and laugh like the petty bitch I am, this is probably the smarter optionAnd with this, there’s only one thing left to do… -- source link
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