#It’s brilliantly done
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I studied something called Toxic Beta Masculinity for my Dissertation. I covered toxic fan culture, gatekeeping and incels, inspired by my experiences in the Star Wars Community. I could talk for hours about so much stuff, but I want to talk about Syril Karn.
I basically studied men like him, so seeing it playing out on my screen every week has been truly wonderful. TV and film only ever show the extreme vilified side of things when actually, it’s much more subtle and nuanced and harder to spot in real life.
(I’m gonna use some very broad statements here but I can clarify anything if people want. I want to make it very clear I am not defending anyone’s behaviour, this is just purely my take from an academic point of view)
What we’re seeing is something called Toxic Beta or Toxic Geek Masculinity. Masculinity is not bad. When you break down the core values of what makes a ‘successful man’ a lot of them are positive.
They’re things like “be able to provide for your loved ones”, “be physically fit and healthy”, “Protect your loves ones”. This translates to simply, have a partner, have a good job so you have money, have money so you can buy a house, etc. People who can do these things are categorised as Alpha males, those who cannot are Beta.
(Again, using very broad terms here)
Due to modern life, ‘Beta males’ are becoming a lot more common. A lot of us can’t afford our own place so we have to move in with our parents. It’s a lot harder to find any sort of job, and finding a good paying one is almost impossible. We’re stuck in bad jobs, living with our parents, making barely enough money to survive.
Just because you are in that situation, does not mean you are toxic. But it's very easy to fall into that trap.
Toxic Beta masculinity happens when these men realise that they do not possess the traditional masculine tropes. But instead of accepting that, they choose to vilify and blame those who do have them, or decide it’s someone else's fault. However, they’re not going to try and attack alpha males, because they are higher up than them. So, they instead project hate towards people who they think are below them (women, POC, Queer people) This is why the Star Wars Community has such problems with bigotry and it’s where gatekeeping comes from. (I’ll probably do a more in-depth post about this one day) Sometimes it’s malicious, but a lot of the time it is subconscious and they won’t realise they’re even doing it.
But, we’re not talking about that, we’re talking about Syril.
Going back to the living with parents and no money thing. Millennials and younger generations will very likely never own property or make investments. After our living expenses, we are left with very little money and very little time to indulge in our hobbies. So, we have the choice to try and save up, or, what mostly happens is, we invest our money and time into something that brings us joy or we deem important.
However, when we do this, we’re essentially deciding that our passion for something outweighs everything else and naturally we get defensive and over protective over the things we love. This passion can manifest itself in different ways, from a need to become an expert in it, to a need to lash out and be aggressive.
Syril is this situation now. His life has started to crumble and worst of all he can pinpoint the exact moment when it happened. He can see all the people who are to blame, Cassian for killing his crew, His mother for pushing him too much, Meero for not letting him get any further in the investigation. The fact that all of these people are minorities is subtle, but very important.
(He has nothing but respect for the older white men of authority he runs into, whether it be his old boss, or his new one, and always does as he’s told. But when it comes to people who are ’lesser’ than him, he feels that entitlement to take what he wants. Yes, he respects Meero as an officer, but not enough to respect her boundaries.)
We see he has figurines in his room, much like a lot of us do. He has become obsessed with justice and fighting for what is right in his own warped way and he has started to become fixated and defensive about it. His beta masculinity is starting to become toxic.
He is not an Incel, he is not a racist bigot or a raging misogynist. Yet. He has the capacity to be all these things, but that doesn't mean it’s set in stone. There are all the pieces for a truly great redemption story, or a truly powerful descent into villainhood. We’ll just have to see how the writers choose to go.
I hope Star Wars Fans watch Andor and see themselves in Syril, and view his descent as a warning. I am not ‘defending incels’ or playing devil's advocate, but there are a lot of stages before someone gets to that point that I think people need to be more aware of so that you can spot it in yourself, or in someone else and act before it’s too late. You can stop radicalization, but it is very hard to undo it.
Anyway, it’s truly wonderful seeing the thing you studied and nearly went insane over being portrayed on TV and being portrayed in such a brilliant way. People are not binary, there is no black and white, no one is 100% good or bad. Anyone is open to radicalization. Andor has captured this better than any piece of media I have ever seen and I am so grateful for its existence.
#long post#i could have made it longer tbh I could talk about this all day#star wars andor#syril karn#It’s brilliantly done#Oh the temptation to do a PhD#Urgh that moment when you get to use your niche topic of study 🤤
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BRIDGERTON LADIES APPRECIATION WEEK 2023
↪ Day Four: Favourite Outfit(s) / Hairstyle(s)
#mine#bridgertonedit#bridgertonladiesweek#i feel like i could do a thousand of these and still not have all of my favourites in aslkdfj#useralison#userabs#usermorgan#tuservaleria#tuserlana#usertina#userrin#alielook#userkimchi#userjessica#userarry#userelio#i worked so freaking hard to get this done and here i am at 11pm posting aslkdfjg#listen historical fashion is MY THING ok#and yes bridgerton is very much NOT historically accurate fashion#but holy shit they do historicalesque brilliantly imo#they way they play with the silhouette without losing it#the way they keep the fashionable pale colours#the way they use it to tell a story and build a character without it being obvious#all while still making the most gorgeous costumes#i am genuinely excited to see these crop up in period drama for the next couple of decades#i would sell my soul to work in their costume department#please i will hand sew all day i dont care
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SHINRAN AND THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES
acts of service II
"actions that make your partner feel like they can trust you to have their back, for the small and the big things - making life easier or more enjoyable for them"
chapter 6
chapter 33
chapter 86
MY HEART
chapter 141
chapter 150
chapter 182
chapter 188
chapter 194
ran helping shin get dressed because he's sick:
chapter 253
chapter 254
THE DETAILS YALL:
chapter 314
chapter 335
chapter 347-349
shinichi taking care of a sick ran:
BONUS: shinichi feeling inadequate when she ends up helping him despite being sick
chapter 351
chapter 354
akai: warns ran, tells her to get to safety
ran: doesn't care about the potential serial killer, decides to look for shinichi (DESPITE HAVING A HIGH FEVER BTW)
shinichi: carries ran back to safety when she inevitably faints
chapter 393
chapter 570
ran: is terrified of supernatural things
also ran: refuses to leave shinichi's side no matter what
chapter 611
RAN IS SO ATTENTIVE I CAN'T
chapter 650
shinichi 🤝 ran
doing first aid on each other
chapter 814
chapter 922
chapter 931
ran worries about kogoro:
shinichi:
visit the shinran library for more
#officially done with the love language analysis#i have so many other analyses planned though#including a few sub posts before i get into the crème de la crème#aka reasons why shinran is one of the most brilliantly written romances of all time part 4#looking forward to it#shinran#shinichi kudo#ran mouri#dcmk#case closed#detective conan#ship analysis
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How many cold nights have passed since we met again?
#7 days before valentine#7 days before valentine the series#jet somjet#atom nathaphop#7daysbeforevalentineedit#thai bl#thai drama#bl drama#bl series#my edits.#this was so brilliantly done#i love this show so much#i'm going to miss it
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“Claude in Hopes is exactly the same way he is in Houses! He’s always been like that and has the same feelings/morals!”
Claude in GW/Hopes:
Claude, literally, in Houses:
Let that speak for the fact that Claude was written with a 180 characterization in Hopes.
Claude wants peace and to bring everyone together; not to tear them further apart. That is his character.
#I’m still in the middle of answering this ask I got but yeah#even Edelgard noticed Claude really loves bringing ppl together in WC#when she says ''you really value that sort of thing don't you'' after the Eagle/Lion (+Deer >.> ) battle#like if Claude's goal was to destroy Fodlan and just leave a mess of it A+++ you did an astounding show stopping brilliantly done job#if your goal was peace well you fucked that up pretty good buddy#in Hopes too like he's literally arguing with Lorenz about it while Lorenz is like ??? bruh wtf ???#literally who cares what some politicians did 300 years ago certainly not Houses Claude#in fact Claude said fuck our history sideways with a cactus let's make peace and be friends#AND he got the approval from the whole roundtable and that's all we know on the topic bc it's all we needed to know#versus in GW where it's explicitly stated that it took some doing for them to allow Claude to be king#meaning the roundtable was not up for what he was suggesting and needed to be convinced#they needed it enough that Lorenz pointed it out to everyone and from a narrative standpoint#AM Claude doesn't need to say how the meeting went and all we need to know is that it worked out#but in GW it's told to us that the meeting was very long and it took some doing for them to trust Claude's judgment#the meeting is presented in a more uncertain light with how the lords felt abt it whereas in AM#it's not told to us how things went bc it's not important. a negative aspect (i.e. the roundtable not being able to come to an agreement)#is an important thing to note and if there was any negative aspect of it in AM they would've put it in there#meaning the roundtable trusts AM Claude's judgment enough when he tells them he wants to put their two nations together again#idk how else to explain that so I hope you get what I mean lol#I just find it completely baffling that people actually say both Claudes are the same person and that he was always like how he is in Hopes#like you can like his character in Hopes and enjoy that portrayal of him but at least admit he's written differently you know?#I hate when I see people say that Claude fans didn't understand his character in Houses at all bc they don't like him in Hopes#when you have literal staunch polar opposite sentences coming out of his mouth in these two scenes#the Claude we get in AM is the same Claude - the same person at his core - as he is in VW and all the routes#Houses Claude does not blame whatever the fuck Leicester and Faerghus did 300 years ago on the people living in their present#he also doesn't blame Dimitri or anyone else presently in power for Daphnel#GW Claude there is just grasping at unimportant and insignificant straws to justify his invasion#pretty sure AM Claude would be like ''hey dimi lemme borrow failnaught back real quick'' and smack GW Claude with it#then kindly hand it back to Dimi and smile and wave
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the rwrb movie not having the gut wrenchingly bittersweet sex scene after alex's "tell me to leave" is absolutely criminal
#like ahdueifurbr it was a brilliantly done and hilariously accurate movie but#just that one scene where alex thought it was the last time and “memorise everything about him hes too important”#SCREAMING INTO MY PILLOW??#rwrb#rwarb#red white and royal blue#firstprince#rwrb movie#rwarb movie#alex claremont diaz#henry of wales#henry and alex
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Okay, so I know we all hate him, but Mahito is a legitimately brilliant villain...
#He's what happens when the trope of 'Villain just wanting to watch the world burn' is done right.#He's the embodiment of 'Fuck around and find out'.#Does he do morally incomprehensible things? Yes. Is that what makes him such a good bad guy? Also yes.#There's no arguing either...#90% of the fan base can't stand him and if that isn't proof of him being brilliantly written as a villain idk what is.#I think what I like the most about it is that there's no attempt to humanise or moralise him - at all.#He's bad.#Full stop.#And instead of making this reduce his character to one dimension; he's jam packed full of personality instead.#He's fun and carefree and silly - trying to figure out what else he can fuck up in the world.#He still has motivations and wants... Fuck; he even learns fear when he makes the mistake of touching Sakuna.#(This fear is also then his ultimate downfall as we realise it's his most defining trait...)#Also he's super fucking fun to watch in fights; lets be honest.#And his technique is cool as fuck.#Is this me coming out to say I'm kind of down for a bit of Mahito?#- Everyone look away -#Yes. Yes it is.#Is he a horrific; gross little gremlin man that deserves the worst and is probably responsible for killing your fave?#Yes.#Do I want to squish him into a little bottle and keep him on a shelf so I can shake him when I'm annoyed -#and let him out from time to time to have a little fun with?#Also; regrettably; yes.
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DC needs to pick one person to write Jason for like 5-10 uninterrupted years. Let someone actually make a character with him. Y’know. A consistent personality, consistent traits, an actual moral framework to work with. It’s gonna be divisive and people are gonna piss their pants if he isn’t a tragic softboy victim who does no wrong but whatever, grow up. Commit to something. He’s just not anything and never has been post-resurrection, despite having nothing but interesting potential. Let someone do something with him, and make it stick.
#obviously i would love to do this but that’ll never happen lmao#the character’s biggest weakness is that he isn’t a character#just a vague collection of contradictory ideas and concepts that shifts into some vague form every months#often redoing what others have done or doing something new and brilliantly stupid#also i swear to god.#stop trying to make jason normal.#what is the fucking point of anything that happened with him if he winds up perfectly normal and chill.#he doesn’t have to be evil forever but christ it’s so boring and bland to see him fill this nuclear family role in so much content#if that’s what you want then i ask you this; what is the difference between that and him never having died?#it is the same end point and that defeats the whole narrative purpose#he can’t come back wrong and then end up normal. fuck off.#.txt#dc comics#jason todd#theo thoughts
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THE LAST WEEKEND
“I just need you to know that whatever happens, I never stopped thinking about you.”
#inside no 9#inside no. 9#steve pemberton#reece shearsmith#gif#in9eps#in9 spoilers#inside no 9 spoilers#justiceforchazz!#hard to do this episode justice because it's very dialogue heavy#but i thought it was brilliantly done even if it made me want to do a a little sick#stunning performances#that single tear when joe breaks his heart aaahhh#how did he do what he did and why because it was so much worse than the alleged crime
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Ow.
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eyes and sight in series five
eyes are a recurring symbol in series five of Doctor Who. nearly every episode has some sort of reference to sight and seeing; tying into the broader theme of appearance and reality in the Moffat era. most commonly, the motif is tied to the obstruction of sight. throughout the series, characters are blinded or otherwise prevented from seeing what’s right in front of them, this is particularly present in Amy.
it seems that, out of everyone, her sight is focused on the most; a perception filter keeps her from seeing the alien that has invaded her home, an angel climbs into her eye and she’s forced to navigate a forest while blinded, her eyes freeze shut in an early version of Amy’s Choice.
the connection between Amy and a lack of sight is compounded by the themes of appearance versus reality, considering that her character stands at the heart of the conflict. instances where she’s forced into blindness mirroring the forceful denial of her reality that she experienced as a child - what she sees in her youth is Not Real, and as an adult, she lacks sight all together.
#i used to see the future and now i see nothing. they cut out my eyes and sent me home packing. BTW.#this isn't written brilliantly but it's late for me and i just want to get it done#it's part of a bigger post series about appearance vs reality. maybe. so i need a tag.#Doctor Who#Amy Pond#11th Doctor#dw meta#motif: eyes and sight
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visual component for today's poem, so it'll be a screenshot rather than trying to reproduce it
#poetry#this one just hits so hard#because no matter which way you try to read it the grief is unavoidable#and it if you read it all together then it just gets hammered in#four times in a row#completely interrupting the forward momentum of the poem#the grief. the grief. the grief. the grief. to the rhythm of the beat of your heart#very powerful. brilliantly done
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yes it made me cry 10000 tears. yes i want a season 2. what's so hard to understand
#kotaro lives alone#i think its brilliantly done#and even as someone who wasnt abused by my parents i related a lot#via other traumas#perhaps i have projected heavily my own childhood traumas on this show?#idk but its simultaneously healing and stabbing me in the chest
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i don’t think the coffee theory is correct. (the theory being that metatron tampered with the coffee in some way that explains aziraphale’s decision. i can’t find where it originated, but that seems to be the gist.)
narratively, this is MEANT to be a mistake aziraphale is making. it’s meant to be an awful moment of miscommunication that displays both of their flaws. it’s meant to show how difficult it is to leave, say, an abusive family or a cult—how the person you were running from can show you a hint of the kindness you were starved for all this time, the approval you were always denied, and you think “maybe this time will be different, maybe they understand now, maybe if i give them one more chance it will be better.”
aziraphale & crowley eventually overcoming this is how they will grow both individually and as a pair.
if ALL the blame for this choice falls on metatron, it also robs aziraphale of the opportunity to have made a mistake that he can then grow from. and maybe more importantly, the chance to reckon with the abuse and trauma he’s suffered.
don’t get me wrong, metatron IS manipulating aziraphale and surely knew that this would break him and crowley apart. i just don’t think he needed poison or a miracle to do it.
#good omens#good omens spoilers#go2 spoilers#meta#it’s about the GROWTH (character development)#anyway i could be wrong but that’s just my gut feeling#their fight at the end was brilliantly done#two seasons of development made this feel inevitable in the most excruciating and perfect way#of course aziraphale would say that#of course crowley would react that way#both of them wanting to be together so badly and wanting each other to be happy and safe#and having polar opposite ideas about how to make that happen#it makes so much sense and it’s agonizing#this is the sweeping love story they DESERVE
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in real life agony bc i read these amazing peter parker fics in september of 2021 and now i can’t find them :(
#they were so brilliantly done#and made before ppl hoped on the andrew peter train#like during his renaissance
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The Accident / Channel 4 / 2019
#the accident#channel 4#this was honestly one of the most harrowing dramas i've ever seen#cannot believe sarah and sidse were in the same show#they are literally incredible#gonna be thinking about this for a while#but not sure if i could sit through it again#it hurt on so many levels#but it is brilliantly and sensitively done#sarah lancashire#sidse babett knudsen#crushermyheartgifs
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Last Seen Blogs
lastsonlost
Your worst fear.. A BLACK MAN WHO LOVES HIMSELF
yandere-romanticaa
-ˏˋ💌 ˊˎ
