#but that is a controversial essay for another day
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So I know we all love Jonathan, and he obviously loves and respects Mina as an equal, and he's generally a good person, especially given the times, but we should also remember that he's a Victorian man of a certain social standing in a novel contemporary to the times, and adjust our expectations accordingly instead of elevating him onto a pedestal as an idealized exception.
I'm not saying you can't feel frustration or disappointment, and of course we're going to interpret things through our own modern eyes, and no one should like the paternalism, but I think some parts of the fandom took the wife guy thing past memes and ended up projecting an overly idealized image of a progressive modern man with feminist values onto him and the text - and I understand why, but considering he is a Victorian man written by a Victorian man during Victorian times within a Victorian social milieu, it's not surprising, and honestly, it would be far more surprising if he did behave like he was written by a progressive feminist writer today.
Also, this is not a defence of his attitude and behaviour, but putting things into social and textual context, his paternalistic protectiveness towards Mina would, at the time, be considered a genuine kindness and respect towards women from men, so if Jonathan is supposed to be a good man who loves her, it makes sense he was written this way in a contemporary novel. I've also written at length about how paternalistic misogyny is very much tied to race and class, which I won't get into here again, but suffice to say, amidst the misogyny, a white Christian middle-class woman is at least seen as worthy of protection, a consideration not afforded to women with even less privilege.
Likewise, from a character perspective, given his own experiences with Dracula, it's consistent with his character and trauma that while he respects her intelligence, bravery, and skills, he doesn't want her to be directly involved with the danger of confronting Dracula directly, though we see how that ironically works out for both him and Mina, unfortunately.
Finally, while Stoker is obviously a bigot in every way, and it shows throughout the text, it's also important to remember that surprisingly, he and the text do not always agree with the characters' thoughts and actions, and all of these characters - including Jonathan - are meant to be complex and flawed. That's not saying you can't be upset about it, but not every terrible moment by the heroes in the book is meant to be read as a good thing where Stoker is just out of step with his modern audience.
#dracula#dracula daily#jonathan harker#mina harker#mina murray#this is why people have to be careful about projecting memes onto the text#and projecting modern expectations of modern values onto contemporary characters#especially contemporary characters coming from a privileged background#you should be frustrated but also not surprised#also as a woman of colour#i'm really raising an eyebrow at how his misogyny is really upsetting everyone#but his racism is treated as haha jokes so silly lol#it really raises questions about how this fandom#seems to view racism and anti-semitism#as less serious than discrimination that affects white gentiles#but that is a controversial essay for another day
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Join me in reviewing Olivia Rodrigo's album GUTS. I've waited years for this!!
all-american bitch - 9/10, big fan. I love it when she screams because the world is unfair. same girl, same
bad idea right? - 10/10. I know this one is controversial but I LOVE her more punky songs, I think that's when she's best
vampire - 10/10. I'm not always a fan of piano ballads, but the bridge and outro really make it for me. The hurt turning into anger and despair is just so cathartic. And the video is one of my faves of all time
lacy - 1000/10. What the hell. Did not expect to feel this much emotion from that title. Uhhh... yeah, same. I super relate to that. Whether or not lacy is supposed to be a real person or a manifestation of the beauty standard, this hits. Also, idk if I'm making this up but I dig the romantic undertones, they sell it
ballad of a homeschooled girl - "I made it weird, I made it worse"/10. OLIVIA HOW DID YOU KNOW that I lie awake thinking about all the weird things I did and said, Olivia, did you write this for me specifically??? Every day I am alive IS social suicide. I'm sorry, this is my song, actually. "Can't think of a third line", she's so real
making the bed - "I'm playing the victim so well in my head"/10. How. Does. She. Do. It? I could write an entire essay about this song. Maybe THIS is my song?? She's so good at saying exactly how I feel. I already know that this song will play a million times on my phone. Also I love the drivers license references. Big fan of the making the bed metaphor
logical - 9/10. favourite crime vibes. She's good with these songs about bad relationships. Used to be my favourite thing she did, but now I'm more invested in the songs that are about her/other experiences. That being said this song is really fucking good. This is the Olivia I fell in love with and she's still amazing at doing piano ballads
get him back! - 9/10. Olivia having ANOTHER song with speak-singing where she wants to get back with her ex?? Yes, PLEASE. Bad idea right 2.0. Fucking obsessed
love is embarrassing - 10/10. I said it before I'll say it again, angry Olivia is the best. And she's right, love IS embarrassing as hell
the grudges - 10/10. She does the paino ballads SO WELL. I think this is my favourite one on here. Because, wow, yeah, that is how it is
pretty isn't pretty - i can't rate this/10. GOD, I love it when she talks about insecurities. And don't think I don't see that skipping lunch line. It's sp hard to articulate how this song makes me feel. Especially since I've been low key comparing myself to her, even though we have entirely different bodies and faces. It's nice to know she also struggles with this. And she's right, you could do literally anything to change your appearance and you'd still be unhappy
teenage dream - 100000/10. "Is it recording? Of course it is.", the way I gasped. Okay, I love the interpretation of it ending with a child to be about growing up and childhood innocence. But the line she says?? Especially combined with the meaning of the song it feels a lot like it's about taking away youth by recording it and putting it out there just like she was supposed to be everyone's teenage dream as a child actor and young musician. This feels so personal to her while also being relatable to others. I'm 19 too, Olivia and I are born in the same year. And this is exactly how I feel about growing up. I hope it gets better, my teenage years were crap, I'm tired of being young, but it's also the only thing I can hold onto. I'm honestly terrified of turning 20. But hey, Olivia did it, so... it'll get better, right?
#i should probably stop trying to give songs numbers#they're all perfect to me#or2#olivia rodrigo#guts olivia rodrigo#or
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So was taylor really cancelled in 2016 or was it more that she wasn't as popular as she was/would like to be?
oh she was absolutely canceled. buckle up because I have a lot of thoughts on this djsjsj.
if you were around in the fandom at all, you knew. things were BAD. that level of hate towards a celebrity is honestly rare these days. i would say the only thing that comes close in recent memory is like… idk, it’s actually hard to think of any because it was a combination of a few factors. it’s not that the general public decided to quietly boycott her and stop consuming her music. it’s that there were viral tweets hating on her pretty much every week. if she did anything in 2016-18, it was met with an absolutely asinine amount of criticism. twitter had a field day with things as innocent as her september cover and her post about having a good year in 2017. a lot of celebrities decided to distance themselves and take kanye’s side. there were numerous articles written about how she was finally going down and should apologize for being problematic. people were famously convinced the tour would flop and absolutely celebrated it. people literally told her she was dead. it’s genuinely difficult to explain the scope of this hate train to people who weren’t around at the time, especially because the news cycle is very different now. people get over news stories a lot quicker than they used to.
now, the main argument people use to prove that she wasn’t canceled is the first-week sales of reputation, which is sort of funny to me because all the coverage in 2017 focused on how its performance was lackluster compared to 1989. of course it still sold well compared to other artists’ albums in the first week, because there was still hype around her comeback, and most importantly, she has a huge fan base. none of the singles had longevity except delicate, which fans genuinely worked their asses off to campaign for. the radio did not play her singles like it used to, though this is due to other factors as well. sure, rep was not actually a flop, but it was nowhere near how TS6, the follow-up to one of the biggest pop eras of the decade, could’ve performed without the cancellation. it also got the worst reviews of her career, most of which generally didn’t focus on the music or the lyricism and were just mad at her as a person. yes, this sounds dramatic, considering the fact that it still got a lot of glowing reviews. the media made sure to focus on a lot of the negative stuff, although they were surprised that critics generally seemed to like it.
what’s funny is that, when she spoke about the kanye controversy in interviews in 2019, no one told her she wasn’t ‘really’ canceled, because a lot of people still hated her. they just told her to get over it. the level of hate was nowhere near pre-rep tour levels anymore, but she was still one of the most criticized celebrities, and it was widely believed that her peak had passed (people love to write revisionist history about the lover album and its performance that does not actually reflect the numbers, but that’s another story). now that more time has passed, and she’s even higher than she was pre-2016, people want to convince her that she’s actually wrong.
it’s almost insane to me to chalk up that level of hate to anything other than a cancellation. seeing articles like ‘was taylor swift REALLY canceled?’ and essays on why that’s just in her head will infuriate ANYONE who was online and didn’t hate her. none of the articles I linked here really convey the scope of that hate. taylor really played the long game and came out the other side of it, but she WAS canceled.
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What advice would you give someone who is writing poetry
Hey! I definitely have a lot to still learn myself as I'm quite new to my attempt at poetry (so I’d love to hear everyone else’s opinion/writing process in the comments) but since you're asking here's my take (sorry in advance if you just wanted a one-line answer..I’m not so good with that)..
In my opinion, poetry is all about provoking emotion..making you feel something..therefore “good” poetry is subjective due to the way individuals experience life and emotions differently.. In most cases (especially writing for fun/self-expression), it’s not something that needs to be technically correct (imo) like an academic essay, rather it just needs to make you feel something, so here are my tips/step-by-step process at this current time
Write for yourself AKA make sure that you like(love even) what you have written.. don’t write with other people’s interpretation/perception in mind (as “good” is subjective and you’ll never be able to settle on anything). You’ll feel much more motivated to write if you are encapsulating your own experience as accurately as you can (it feels productive to turn your pain into something more tangible).. Write the thing that you wish someone else had written that makes you think “damn.. that is so me” if you’re able to do that I’d call it a success. (My fav pieces still make me feel something each time I read them and make me feel glad I wrote them, as noone else had). I say this because we are all human at the end of the day if you’re feeling it, there’s likely going to be another human out there who is grateful that you have so accurately been able to translate a generally indescribable feeling into words.
To be able to do the above (make yourself & others “feel”) I’d start by reaching as far down into your emotions as possible.. Everyone knows about surface-level happiness, sadness etc. but what is it more specifically that you are thinking and feeling.. or what is something that you think you might feel or do if you were to become totally unhinged.. Imo poetry isn't the place to downplay your emotions or soften your language - say the things noone wants to say, the things that are “wrong” to say, don’t hold back, allow yourself to be violent, angry, sad, toxic, or pessimistic in your writing, even if you’re an optimistic/cheerful/kindhearted person irl (people are often SHOOK regarding the strikingly different persona I portray in real life vs my writing..we are all multifaceted creatures at the end of the day).
Now you might be wondering how to put the above into actual poetry..a lot of people will just “find the words” because they are talented like that, but for the rest of us.. Controversial (whilst beneficial)I don’t think an advanced vocabulary is necessary to write impactful poetry (my vocab is shit & has barely developed since I was 10 years old cause I stupidly stopped reading books until only a couple years ago).. So instead what I personally do is I write out in as much detail but in simple language, how I am feeling/what I want to portray..like you’re trying to express something in your diary or a text message you’ll never send… At first, this is going to look like a 10yro has written it and that’s so fine because you want a clear understanding of what you’re trying to portray in your piece.. now all your related thoughts are out, attempt to rewrite it in a way that is slightly more comprehensible (usually I’ll write it in notes app so I can still have the original versions to refer back to to make sure I am encapsulating what I originally wanted) and basically rewrite a couple times until it appears more refined
Then, your original wording might be perfect as is (I would say always go with your gut feeling) but the thesaurus and dictionary are your best friend!(bless google) If a certain word kind of “ruins the vibe” of the piece and it no longer feels “poetic” just google synonyms for that word, you can even search “synonym poetic” for further options. Don’t just use any synonym though.. If you’re undecided between a couple words I would highly recommend googling the specific definition of each word and compare, because usually definitions will have a very nuanced difference and that nuance can make all the difference in being able to accurately portray your point.
Have fun with the spacing, the lines the layout, the use of grammar (idk the terminology).. utilise these things to transform everyday sentences into an art form! Don’t get caught up in the right or wrong!
Now reread, you want that poetic rhythm of some kind, a state of flow.. Read in your head, then read out loud then read with your own experience in mind, then detach your mind from your own experience and read from an external point of view if you wish! Reading out loud will help you see if it’s readable (duh) and the wording problems, whether that be needing to change word or remove a word or add a word will likely fix themselves! I personally would focus more on emotional impact than aesthetic but ideally a bit of both is great!
This seems like an in-depth process but all this usually occurs within about 5-10 minutes per poem cause I don’t have the attention span to spend any longer on it (maybe oneday I’ll actually refine my work properly lol but for now it’s just my form of therapy). You’ve got this! <3
Other random things I’ve learned
-Keep a log of specific words, phrases, sentences, ideas etc. even if not at all refined in your notes app on phone as you randomly think of them so you can potentially come back to it later! (If you don’t you’ll likely forget and never think of it again lol)
-Sometimes the most simple thought/concept to us (based on the fact it has circled in our brains for a lifetime so we are bored of it) can be super impactful & significant to others, so just write it anyway
-Go with your gut feeling if you’re tossing up any of your ideas, words, expressions
-Remember that quote “art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable ” - you’re never doing toooo much
-personally ive had to drop the academic ego and learn to be more than okay with being shit..you’ve gotta just do it and accept most the things you’ll write could be shit but it’ll mean there is opportunity that you write something decent amongst it all.
-DO NOT compare yourself to other people writing poetry cause it can be so disheartening!!!! we are our own worst critics.. just remember we are uniquely ourselves, no one else can write the way we write.
-PRACTICE!!!! But basically just do that by writing as much as you can. I know it’s always said but seriously I started writing daily 4 months ago and whilst I wasn’t actively trying to improve there is a massive difference noticed by myself and others between the quality of what I wrote 4 months ago and now.. It’ll just start to click! I write every day but some days I don’t have it in me to write a poem so I’ll just write a thought or feeling or diary entry for that day to keep the routine plus you can possibly come back to it for poetry inspo.
-fake it til you make it !!!! poetry is expression !!! anything can be poetry if you want it to be :)
-I also read not long ago that writing isn’t something where you peak in your twenties (thank god for me) but rather a lot of writers become successful a lot later in life! So this gives me a lot of hope that things can only improve! Considering I was able to improve in 4 months, imagine 4 years or even 1!!(exciting! I hope I get much better!)
-If you want to know how to be more creative, more metaphorical or a lot more visual with your poetry.. Don’t ask me.. In fact I need tips myself!! I’m going to guess it has something to do with my shitty vocabulary.. I hope that I can challenge myself to improve with this overtime as well, but for now I find it cathartic to just work with my literal thoughts and emotions. Similarly, if you want to know how write about uniquely positive experiences hmu in the future when I’m more healed but maybe not yet lol.
CONGRATS if anyone actually read through all this… you deserve an award! (let me know if anyone actually did and if it was at all helpful) I hope you can find even just a component of this somewhat helpful??!! maybe it was all obvious who knows haha but also please remember I’m not very experienced in writing poetry myself, this is just my attempt at keeping myself sane :) All my love x
Edit: as someone else mentioned.. another great tip is to READ lots of poetry written by others, this will help immensely :)
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explanations under the cut
Elizabeth Afton is actually the Youngest Sibling - as @birdsareblooming pointed out, when we see her room in fnaf4, she has a torn-apart mangle toy. mangle was stated to be made to entertain toddlers. would also explain why she's not in the gameplay, she's at daycare/with her mom
The Vengeful Spirit is Michael Afton - another one where cori convinced me and I might have an entire essay that I will publish after I finally sit down and edit through the Security Logbook section but until then here's a bullet point post
Mimic = Burntrap - i dont think i have to explain this we're all talking about it i just know people are gonna be mad at me for it
The Girl in Drowning is representative of Charlie, not Cassidy - She's literally got gray skin, black hair, gray clothes, and neon green lighting, much like a certain gray-skinned black-haired pixel girl with a green bracelet who died in the rain (water motif). Her dragging Kara down because she doesn't want to be alone could be seen as a metaphor for Charlie trying to give life but instead kinda sticking them all in robots
FNAF AR had some BANGIN re-skins - come on. look at them. Clockwork Ballora? Bangin. Broiler Baby? Bangin. Catrina Toy Chica? BANGIN. Springtrap as an actual fucking clown???? BANGIN.
Vanessa is an Afton in the Gameverse, too – Cori's workin on a whole explanation diagram for this but the most BASIC evidence is "her last name starts with 'a' and she's a nepo baby." I dont think she's William's DIRECT daughter cause man died in the 90s and she was 23 in the 2030s so. grandkid or smth
If Edwin/David is a metaphor for anything it's William/CC and not Henry/Charlie – listen i understand the whole "single dad building the robots and then breaking one in a rage" thing from TSE but also the mimic likes to mimic its creator and child before all else and who is it mimicking? afton and the little boy in sb who happens to look a shitton like cc. also game!charlie is never indicated as having a special plushie that followed her everywhere but cc very certainly did and hey if mimic can grow and shrink to fit in anything whos to say it didnt shrink into the fredbear to repeat stock phrases to cc such as "tomorrow is another day." also in the character encyclopedia art of cc he is holding his fredbear plush the same way burntrap positions his arm to imitate holding something. an
They're not gonna pull the Charliebot twist again. Nobody's a secret robot – first off from a writing perspective that's not the kinda twist you do twice. second off with the... less than stellar reception to the twist in the first place i dont think theyre gonna pull it again
"Cassidy" isn't the Golden Freddy Kid's name, it's Crying Child's – the logbook has Crying Child communicate through manipulating the text, while the spirit he's talking to speaks in faint writing; the second spirit never has a confirmed identity, but CC is most definite considering the stuff referenced around him. The "ITS ME CASSIDY" is revealed through.... manipulated text. The clues are in........ manipulated text. "It's Me" is CC calling out to Michael. The other spirit says "My name is..." a couple times BUT they also ask CC if he remembers his name just a few pages before. Granted this might just be us not understanding something but also if Cassidy is CC's name then who the fuck is Golden Freddy Kid. is Michael Brooks still canon
The nightmare gas didn't "ruin the lore" it's just kinda funny – look guys literally all of this lore is fucked, the fact they just threw in "also William Afton was doing nightmare gas experiments on kidnapped kids and then abandoned it for shits and giggles" in the eighth book of their second anthology series and then moving on like nothing happened while the fanbase collapses in on itself is like THE funniest thing they could've done
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Dark Reflections is now accepting submissions!
Dark Reflections is an all-Trek zine focusing on the Mirror Universe and other dark universes. We welcome the dark, the macabre, the unsavoury and the morally dubious.
Please read the FAQ under the cut before submitting anything. Feel free to join our Discord server for quick answers to questions, hanging out with other submitters, beta reader requests, and work reminders.
Submissions close October 10th. Send submissions to [email protected]
FAQ
What counts as a mirror universe?
According to Fanlore, a mirror universe is any alternate universe which is a dark reflection (pun intended) of the original. Whether this is the mirror universe we see in the shows or in beta canon, or a completely new universe that is simply not as kind to our characters as the original is up to you. Keep in mind that this zine focuses on and embraces the more "evil" aspects of those universes.
What can I submit to the zine?
Writing (fic and poetry) and art (traditional or digital, including comics) can all be submitted. We don't accept manips, meta essays (essays written in-universe may be allowed), mood boards, or anything that can't be printed, such as vids and podfics.
Fics must not exceed 25,000 words, though depending on quality and number of submissions we may choose more, shorter works over fewer, longer ones. There is no lower limit for writing. Art must be completed, which means no sketches. Traditional art should be scanned, 300p. Written files should be .docx or .pdf, and art files should be .png, .jpg or .tiff. Links to Google Docs are also accepted.
Is there anything I can't write about?
Despite this zine embracing and encouraging potentially controversial subject matters, there are a few things we won't accept. Generally speaking, though, unless you're writing nazi roleplay erotica (for example) we're not likely to reject your fic on subject matter alone.
What show/ship/characters does the zine focus on?
Ideally, all of them. We'd like for this to be an all-Trek zine. However, if we get an overwhelming majority of one series we may end up rejecting a single work from a different one, even if it normally would have gotten in, just to keep everything cohesive. Either way, we will not accept OC-centric works.
Can I submit a work that has been published somewhere else? e.g. AO3, another zine, ect.
No. We only accept new works.
Does my work need to be beta read before submission?
Preferably, yes. We will edit works which have been accepted and which require it. All works in the zine will match in editing style, though we'll try to keep the author's style intact.
If I submit multiple works, how many are likely to get in?
We would prefer to give as many creators an opportunity to participate as possible, but if there is room or your works are particularly fitting, we will include multiple.
Do I need experience to submit works?
No. We will gladly accept works from new creators.
Do I need to join the discord server to participate?
No. The server gives you easier access to the editor, granting quicker answers to any questions you may have, as well as general accountability and greater sense of community, but that is all.
How do you match fic and art?
Ideally, we will have some solid matches from the get-go. If necessary, we will ask submitters who have volunteered to pinch hit for fics with no art. Art with no matches will separate poems or end up on one of the covers.
Will there be merch?
Possibly.
After the zine is published, can I post my work to AO3/social media?
We reserve printing rights for six months after publication (the day printed zines will be shipped). After that, you may do with your work as you wish.
How much will the zine cost?
This depends on a number of factors. However, we will endeavour to keep the zine as cheap as possible. We cannot legally make money off of fanworks, nor do we wish to.
A free pdf copy of the zine will be sent to everyone who has purchased a physical copy, and these digital copies will be available to purchase at a much discounted price.
I have another question that isn't listed here.
Shoot us an ask! All asks are tagged #qna to make finding them easier. Please check if we have answered your question there before sending a new one.
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the impossible heir episodes 1-4 ramblings
Last week was an eventful one for Lee Jae Wook, Hong Su Zu, and Lee Jun-young's The Impossible Heir. Not only was last week the premiere of the series, but Dispatch, the popular Korean tabloid, released "earth-shattering" news that Lee Jae Wook was dating aespa's Karina. This garnered controversy and scrutiny towards the show and could have contributed to its ratings. However, as a self-professed Lee Jae Wook fan, I tuned in to watch the show last week regardless of the news. The Impossible Heir is arguable Lee Jae Wook's first "adult" show. Much of his prior work involved dramas that catered to the YA audience and for the first time we see him essaying a far more mature and morally dubious character as Han Tae Oh. While the show is marketed as having three leads, in my opinion, Tae Oh steals the show.
In the first episode, we are introduced to a teenage Han Tae Oh. The son of a murderer, for the sake of his and his mother's safety, he's forced by himself to a small town. Unlike his peers, he has no legal guardian and rents a rundown house in the village. Before the first day of school, he manages to provoke the ire of Kang In Ha, the illegitimate son of the Kang-Oh chaebol family. While the two boys are initially at odds with each other and even end up having a dramatic fight in the school lunchroom, the episode ends with an unlikely partnership- Tae Oh offering to use his intelligence to help In Ha achieve the impossible- the opportunity to be the next heir of Kang Oh Group over his two legitimate half brothers.
Over the next three episodes, we see Tae Oh and In Ha grow up as college students and later employees at Kang Oh. During their college years, we see a blossoming friendship between the two as In Ha becomes Tae Oh's only companion during their time at Hankuk University. Alongside their internal scheming to take over Kang Oh, we see glimpses that their friendship is no different from any other peers. They have birthday meals, eat lunch together in the cafeteria, and drink late night beers from the convenience. In Ha constantly chides Tae Oh for working too many part time jobs, but remains the dutiful wealthy friend that is willing to book a tutoring gig for Tae Oh or drop him off at work to help him financially stay afloat. The dynamics between both men take a sharp turn with the introduction of Na Hye-Won, who both male leads end up falling for though she ultimately ends up dating In Ha, mainly because she views In Ha as her key to overcoming poverty and acquiring wealth and prestige.
Just as episode two ends, the show takes another five year time leap and both men are working for Kang Oh group. Hye-Won also becomes what appears to be a staff member for a political party. The three remain as co-conspirators in their efforts to take over Kang Oh Group. Of the three, perhaps the person who gets closest to the chairman, Kang Jun Mo, is Tae Oh, who ascends to the role of his personal secretary. Tae Oh becomes Jun Mo's greatest asset and trusted confidante. Through his role, he starts to move the game pieces that would create a clear path of succession for In Ha.
The weakest aspect of the The Impossible Heir 's writing has to be Na Hye Won's character arc. Nothing about her frankly makes any sense. During the second episode, we are introduced to Hye Won as both In Ha's and Tae Oh's classmate and Tae Oh's neighbor. While its obvious that Tae Oh may have developed feelings for Hye Won due to their chance encounters, In Ha's feelings arise out of nowhere- to the point that it almost feels like he only wants Hye Won because he wants to take a person Tae Oh cherishes from him. However, if this was the case, the intensity of love that In Ha develops for Hye Won makes no sense. Furthermore, its puzzling to see the two boys so readily accept a stranger as a partner in developing and implementing a plan they have spent years working on together. Exacerbating this poor placement of the female lead is her poor portrayal by Hong Su Zu. Hong Su Zu's acting has been widely criticized by the Korean audience since the airing of the second episode. While I could see others' complaints last week, it did not initially bother me as much. However, the poor acting has become glaringly apparent in this week's episodes. If Hye Won is supposed to be who she's written to be- a morally grey character who is willing to do whatever it takes, including playing with someone's feelings, to escape her present circumstances, I would expect her to be desperate, shrewd, cunning, manipulative, and charismatic. However, the version that is presented to us is so blasé, stoic, and mediocre. Hong Su Zu's expressions and delivery are extremely limited- it's hard to swallow the thought that she's supposed to be a crucial main character.
Conversely, Tae-Oh's arc is the strongest point in the writing. As audience members, we are gripped by the elusive question- what does Tae-Oh get from this partnership? Why is he fiercely loyal to In Ha? and Does he truly want the best for his friend or is he planning on throwing him under the bus? Lee Jae Wook excels in playing the ambitious yet guarded Tae Oh, who becomes the "catalyst" of the story. Without Tae Oh, there's no plot. While Hye Won is a disappointing female lead, I was surprised by the chemistry between Tae-Oh and Choi Hee Jin's Kang Huiju, the younger half sister of Kang In Ha. Huiju develops an obsessive never-ending one-sided crush on Tae Oh when he becomes her short-lived mathematics tutor. At first glance, it's easy to brush her off as a minor character, but the amount of screen time she receives on the show suggests otherwise and Choi Hee Jin excels in playing the "petulant spoiled brat who surprisingly may be the only person in her family with a conscience".
If Tae Oh is a volcano patiently waiting to erupt at the right time,Huiju is a raging forest fire traveling at 100 mph. Her love and desire for Tae Oh is all consuming and destructive- something she wholeheartedly embraces but Tae-Oh fears. When Huiju's spontaneity comes to a head with Tae Oh's restraint, we see an electrifying chemistry between the two and we see another dimension of Tae Oh. While he can be avoidant and harsh, he is also gentle, kind, and protective. Its this internal push and pull that makes their relationship worth exploring.
One of the highlights of the latest episode was when Huiji confronts Tae Oh in a parking garage adamantly professing that she will force her parents to agree to their marriage and that she "will protect" Tae-Oh. I found her confession interesting on many levels because so far, all of Tae-Oh's relationships are exploitative. The other characters including his closest friend In Ha are only concerned about what Tae Oh can do for them and this is the first time we see someone offering to do something for him with no reciprocity. It's unclear if Hui Ju is a red herring or someone who will grow to be an integral part of Tae-Oh's life. As a viewer, I have to say that this relationship is one of the main draws to the show and is something that the writers utilize appropriately.
Overall, Impossible Heir is a Malthusian and Machiavellian drama that wholeheartedly embraces the capitalistic jungle. It may not be a show that fans of prior Lee Jae Wook's dramas will love, but it still deserves to be given a chance.
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️.75/5
#the impossible heir#lee jae wook#lee jun young#hong su zu#han tae oh#kdrama review#kdra#kdramas#kang in ha#na hye won#choi hee jin#kang huiju
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Yet Another Summary of What r/196 is and the Current Reddit Drama
Some people in an apartment/dorm created a subreddit (a community on Reddit. Think a tag with its own moderators) for sharing memes called r/195, named after the room number. The only rule was that you had to post before leaving, which turned it into a shitposting subreddit and created the tradition of naming posts “rule”. After 420 weeks, r/195 was abruptly shut down and its users moved to r/196 (196 eventually had its own spin-offs like 197, 198, 19684, 196andahalf, etc).
For a subreddit with theoretically one rule, 196 was actually very moderated. Many rules got added over time like restricting certain controversial types of post to certain days, the ever changing rules about porn, and most importantly strong enforcement against bigotry. That made it one of the few mainstream shitposting subreddits with a largely left-leaning and/or LGBTQ audience.
Recently Reddit announced API changes that effectively end 3rd party apps. That forces users to use their horrible official app, which makes moderation harder, reduces accessibility for disabled people, and a bunch of other things people have written whole essays about. Users only have two ways to put any real pressure on the administrators running the site: negative media coverage (this has required multiple mass shootings by site users to be effective) and, more recently, blackouts.
All content on Reddit is made by users and posted to communities run by users. The main page is simply a collection of popular posts from these communities. A blackout is when the moderators of many large communities coordinate to make them private or block all new posts until a demand is met. This has been tried twice before and succeeded both times: one time to shut down the Covid misinformation subreddit r/nonewnormal, and one time to fire an admin who defended her pedophile father and banned any mention of her name. Also worth noting there’s a *lot* of history with Reddit admins and pedophilia that deserves its own write up.
People are less hopeful this time due to less participation in the blackout and the CEO quadrupling down on the API change. Again, there’s much more to that drama including lying about conversations, recorded phone calls, accidentally revealing he was using copy-pasted responses, and admitting the company wasn’t profitable to try and win an argument. Since it’s clear there will be no change and many communities will be gone forever, there’s an exodus of many of them, including 196, to other platforms like Lemmy, Mastodon, Discord, and Tumblr.
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The Duality of Woman: Anais
Nin
Vogue Magazine, Anais Nin talks about being a woman, 15 October 1971
Anais Nin is a woman of duality. It's been a well-known fact for those who know or love her that she is truly a two-sided coin. She said it herself in her book Henry and June,
"I will always be the virgin prostitute, the perverse angel, the two-faced sinister and saintly woman"(bookquoters.com).
From her intense marriages to two different men on opposite sides of the country, to her literary career, to even her personal reflections and essays, Nin was a figure bathed in duality. How does one split the image of Anais Nin ideally in half? You just have to find the seam between diarist and eroticist.
The Diarist
Anais Nin is most well-loved by her adoring fans because of her published diary. As a young girl, Nin wrote her father a letter begging him to return to the family he had abandoned (The Anais Nin Foundation). This was the beginning of Nin's diary, which would be published in seven volumes, with four unexpurgated diaries later appearing after their original publication.
Her diaries were incredibly personal, full of secrets and thoughts she never thought would come to light. The biggest secret within these diaries was that she was married to two different men simultaneously, something she would remove from the diaries upon initial publication. Years later, Nin compiled the removed sections into one volume, the first of her unexpurgated diaries. It was called Henry and June, and detailed the letters and writings the two shared. The duality of Nin stretched throughout every aspect of her life.
These highly intimate journals struck twentieth-century American women directly in their souls. As one journalist famously put it in an article for The Conversation,
Anaïs Nin dreamed, in all senses. She dreamed of lives and possibilities. She dreamed in slumber and allowed her dreams to leak into the day. As I regularly committed the cardinal social sin of recounting my dreams over breakfast, she seemed a soulmate across oceans and generations (Gorman).
These teenage girls and their daydreams were instantly hooked on Nin's likeminded wonder and splendid prose. She became a sensation after the diary publications almost instantly, giving her a decent seat in literary history.
It wouldn't be long until something else gave her another boost of fame.
Ramon Casas, Decadent Young Woman. After the Dance, 1899
The Eroticist
In the late 1970s, Anais Nine published three volumes of erotic short fiction, each containing approximately ten stories. Despite their popularity, the term erotic is a tad inappropriate. Although she wasn't a follower of the transgressive art movement like Georges Bataille, Anais Nin's erotic stories are more disturbing and controversial than actually arousing.
Nin wrote about such topics as sexual abuse, incest, pedophilia, and other forms of sexual violence within her stories. These works would go on to shock and challenge readers even today (Maza).
Lost Lenore Antiques, Anais Nin ~ Little Birds and Delta of Venus ~ 1st Edition Books ~ Vintage Erotica, 27 August 2021
Works Cited
The Anais Nin Foundation. “bio — The Anais Nin Foundation.” The Anais Nin Foundation, https://theanaisninfoundation.org/bio. Accessed 11 December 2023.
Gorman, Alice. “The book that changed me: journeying to the self with Anaïs Nin's sensual, transgressive diaries.” The Conversation, 25 April 2022, https://theconversation.com/the-book-that-changed-me-journeying-to-the-self-with-ana-s-nins-sensual-transgressive-diaries-176135. Accessed 11 December 2023.
Maza, Sarah, and Paul Herron. “Swinging: The Double Life of Anaïs Nin.” Public Books, 19 February 2018, https://www.publicbooks.org/swinging-the-double-life-of-anais-nin/. Accessed 11 December 2023.
Nin, Anaïs. “Quotes from Henry and June: From "A Journal of Love"--The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin by Anaïs Nin.” BookQuoters, https://bookquoters.com/book/henry-and-june-from-a-journal-of-love-the-unexpurgated-diary-of-anais-nin. Accessed 11 December 2023.
Further Reading
#absurdism#french literature#academic aesthetic#academic writing#dark academia#academia#albert camus#academia aesthetic#english major#french#anais nin#delta of venus#diary#writeblogging#literature blog
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By: Thomas Chatterton Williams
Published: May 19, 2024
We’d gathered that day at the cafeteria’s “Black” table, cracking jokes and philosophizing during the free period that was our perk as upperclassmen. We came in different shades: bone white, tan and brownish, dark as a silhouette. One of my classmates, who fancied himself a lyricist, was insisting that Redman, a witty emcee from nearby Newark, New Jersey, was the greatest rapper ever. This was the late ’90s, and for my money, no one could compete with Jay-Z. I said so, and the debate, good-natured at first, soon escalated in intensity, touching on feelings and resentments that ran far deeper than diverging claims about artistic merit.
“How can you even weigh in?” I still remember the kid fuming. “You ain’t even the pure breed!”
With that, there was nothing left to say. Friends separated us, the bell rang, and I headed home. A short time later, I went off to college, where I would meet a wider assortment of Americans than I had realized existed. But over the years, I have been reminded of that boy’s slicing racism, the lazy habit of mind that required no white people to be present but would nonetheless please the most virulent white supremacist.
Recently, two public controversies spirited me back to the suspicion and confusion of my high-school cafeteria. All spring long, an unusually nasty feud between the rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar has been captivating audiences, both for the quality of the music it has engendered and for the personal and malicious dimensions of the attacks it has countenanced. Much has been written about the fight, in particular about the two men’s treatment of women, which I won’t rehash here except to point out that it’s a little funny that they both portray themselves as enlightened allies while also acting as if the ultimate disparagement is to call another man feminine. Less has been said about the potency of the racial dimension, which feels like a throwback to a time before Drake’s pop-culture dominance—indeed, to a time before the historic hybridity of the Obama era—and like a distillation of the skin-deep racialism of the current social-justice movement.
Drake, who grew up in Toronto, is the son of a white Jewish mother from Canada and a Black father from Memphis. Since the release of his 2009 mixtape, So Far Gone, he has been not only the most successful visibly mixed-race rapper—and arguably pop star—but also the most visible Black male musician for some time now. Anyone at the top will attract criticism. But not even a white rapper like Eminem has been subject to the kind of racial derogation that has been hurled at Drake.
Back in 2018, the rapper Pusha T released a diss track about him for which the cover art was an old photograph of Drake performing in a cartoonish blackface. The image makes you cringe, but—as Drake explained—that was the point. Drake began his career as an actor, and he wrote that the photograph was part of a “project that was about young black actors struggling to get roles, being stereotyped and typecast … The photos represented how African Americans were once wrongfully portrayed in entertainment.” But presented without context, it appeared to be a self-evident statement of inauthenticity.
Another rapper, Rick Ross, calls Drake “white boy” again and again in his song “Champagne Moments,” released in April. In an op-ed for The Grio, the music journalist Touré explains why the insult is so effective: “We know Drake is biracial. He’s never hidden that, but many of us think of him as Black or at least as a part of the culture … On this record, Ross is out to change that.” Touré calls this “hyperproblematic,” but his tone is approving—he admires the track. “We shouldn’t be excluding biracial people from the Black community, but in a rap beef where all is fair as a way of attacking someone and undermining their credibility and their identity, it’s a powerful message.”
In a series of more high-profile records, Lamar has built on Ross’s theme, both implying and stating directly that racial categories are real, that behaviors and circumstances (like Drake’s suburban upbringing) correlate with race, and that the very mixedness of Drake’s background renders him suspect. It is an anachronistic line of ad hominem attack that is depressing to encounter a quarter of the way into the 21st century.
Lamar’s most recent Drake diss is called “Not Like Us,” and reached No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100. It goes after Drake’s cultural affiliations with the American South. “No, you not a colleague,” Lamar taunts. “You a fucking colonizer!”
It’s hard to hear that and not remember that Drake’s mother is Jewish, and that this is the same invective used to undermine Jews’ sense of belonging in Israel. Such racist habits of thought have become potent rhetorical weapons in the progressive arsenal.
The second (if smaller) controversy followed an essay on language and protest published in The New Yorker earlier this month. The novelist Zadie Smith, who is of European and African descent, argued—carefully—that it is too simplistic to regard the world as sortable into categories of oppressor and oppressed. “Practicing our ethics in the real world involves a constant testing of them,” she writes, “a recognition that our zones of ethical interest have no fixed boundaries and may need to widen and shrink moment by moment as the situation demands.” This was an attempt to take seriously the tangible fate of Hamas’s victims on October 7, the broader implications of anti-Semitism that can at times be found in criticism of Israel’s response, and the ongoing tragic loss of Palestinian life.
Despite praising the protests that have engulfed college campuses and describing a cease-fire in Gaza as “an ethical necessity,” Smith was derided on more than intellectual grounds. One widely shared tweet, accompanied by a photo of Smith, stated the criticism plainly: “I feel like Zadie Smith uses black aesthetics to conceal her deeply pedestrian white middle-class politics. People see the head wrap and the earrings made of kente cloth and confuse that for something more substantive.”
This was not the first time Smith had been regarded as a racial interloper. The author Morgan Jerkins once wrote of the emotional “hurt” she felt reading another thoughtful essay Smith published in Harper’s asking “Who owns black pain?” Smith’s transgression here, according to Jerkins, was “intellectualizing blackness” from a distance instead of feeling it. “Do not be surprised,” Jerkins warned, “if a chunk of that essay is used in discussions as to why biracial people need to take a backseat in the movement.”
The retrograde notion that thought and action necessarily flow from racial identities whose borders are definable and whose authority is heritable is both fictitious and counterproductive. “Something is afoot that is the business of every citizen who thought that the racist concepts of a century ago were gone—and good riddance!” Barbara and Karen Fields write in their 2012 masterpiece, Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life. “The continued vitality of those concepts stands as a reminder that, however important a historical watershed the election of an African-American president may be, America’s post-racial era has not been born.”
Of course, the first African American president was, like our nation and culture, himself both Black and white. One of the most disappointing—and, I have come to realize—enduring reasons the “post-racial era” continues to elude us is that it is not only the avowed racists who would hold that biographical fact against him.
==
This is why we call it neoracism, not "antiracism."
#Thomas Chatterton Williams#biracial#mixed race#racial identity#neoracism#antiracism#antiracism as religion#racialism#Drake#Kendrick Lamar#religion is a mental illness
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Generation loss, a horror comedy show, is an incredible allegory for being a content creator in this day and age. The main characters are all real content creators themselves and are discarded after they have broken from their kid safe molds; directly paralleling the YouTube algorithm and controversy experience. The medium it is produced in also directly ties back into the concept of content creation as it is canonically live with audience ‘interaction’. While some aspects of it do not fit one to one (as it isn’t a metaphor, but an allegory) overall the themes directly translate to one another and the main ideas and struggles of content creation are depicted even while exaggerated. The crucible, on the other hand, is NOT an allegory for McCarthyism at fucking all- in this essay I will-
#Read the crucible for my English final and.. man.#so glad genloss didn’t come out while school was still going on I would’ve wrote an essay and holy fuck that would have been embarrassing#genloss#generation loss#ranboo generation loss#allegory#the crucible#genloss brainrot#Yikes why was that already a tag#internetvoid
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A Future Return For O.W.C.A. Files? (Discussion):
A frame from the OWCA Files theme song sequence.
O.W.C.A Files is a 1 hour special that premiered on Disney XD November 9, 2015 a while after Phineas And Ferb’s “final” episode.
It was one of the possible spin-offs the creators thought about doing, but it didn’t really go anywhere. It followed the B-plot characters post Doofenshmirtz turning good which is a smart idea for a spin-off since most people tended to like the B-part of the story better while more were bored with the A-plot.
However, among the fanbase it is a pretty controversial episode. Some complaints are that Doofenshmirtz is too annoying in the episode, the character design isn’t great, animation is mediocre, the pacing isn’t good, and the existence of the “Bits of All Of Us” song which some found very pre-school-like.
It definitely could have used Norm or Vanessa to balance out the absence of another talking being while also toning down Doof’s annoying-ness over the course of a series, but I still think it was a pretty solid episode with other Phineas And Ferb level songs and shows the Doof n’ Perry action packed secret agent show spin-off that could have been.
Other spin-offs like a Fireside Girls one and Doof 101 were also contemplated, but out of many different show pitches, Milo Murphy’s Law would ultimately become the next show Dan and Swampy would work on instead, as well as the next Dwampyverse show.
But could O.W.C.A. Files still be?
Before the revival was announced the creators have always talked about how they might one day revisit the show in “the next summer”.
Since it’s starting to look more and more like the Phineas And Ferb Revival will take place in the next summer while also visiting other episodes of the characters in the future it is possible that we could see an O.W.C.A. Files like B-Plot in a future episode once again, especially since Doofenshmirtz might likely be good after he turned good in the Season 4 Finale and after the events of Milo Murphy’s Law.
Frame from Happy New Year (left) and Christmas Vacation (right)
Doof does return to evil in the timeline though.
When it comes to the episodes that Doof is still evil in, but take place after the events of the Summer, (the Christmas and New Years specials/ etc.), Co-Creator Dan Povenmire’s explanation was that sometime after the events of Doof 101 (the fall after the summer) and before or after OWCA Files (I forget) Doof relapsed to an evil phase again which is believable, but after the events of Milo Murphy’s Law where his new, less evil, destiny is revealed it is less likely the creators will want to make him evil again unless they decide to switch of the Dwampyverse timeline once again🫠.
Frame from Primal Perry (left) and Road to Danville (right)
Milo Murphy’s Law and O.W.C.A. files both proved the B-Plot does not rely on Doofenshmirtz to be evil for entertainment. Not to mention some of the most memorable moments of the B-plot in the series have Doof being pretty tame and actually working together with Perry to accomplish a task.
However, it still seems unclear whether the crew or executives will decide to make him evil again or not in order to capture the same charm of the original show. We’ll just have to wait for the next announcement of new details soon.
Overall, it’s probably about a 50/50 chance whether the B-Plot will be an O.W.C.A. Files like Doof n Perry duo fighting evil, or not.
Even if nothing like that appears in the revival, Povenmire did sign a deal with Disney to make additional shows for the Disney Channel, including properties for the Dwampyverse, which means something like O.W.C.A. Files could still be on the table as a future show.
How do you think they will handle the show?
Also, feel free to point out any details in the essay that should be changed.
#Phineas and Ferb#Blog#Essay#Opinion Essay#o.w.c.a. files#owca files#I listen to a lot of podcast episodes they go on#Phineas And Ferb revival#cartoons#disney channel#perry the platypus#Doofenshmirtz#fan article
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in response to an ask from @justpostsyeet about what Laws and Customs of the Eldar say about sexual assault
under a cut for non graphic discussion of this!
also thank you to @undercat-overdog for helping me find the relevant passage that I literally had memorized but could not find (seriously I spent like an hour reading through Morgoth's Ring and could not find the part I needed, my fault for researching when half asleep but anyways, Undercat saved this post!)
The ask: Hi, hope your having a good day/night (maybe this request doesn't worsen your day). I honestly love your posts and I've a thing that I want to ask to you.
Maybe you has done this before but what do you think the elves view on sexaul assault must be?
And even if it's true what must be the reaction of elves when the a) hear about such news, b) witness such cruelty, c) experiences such awful things themselves .
I know it's a very sensitive topic and I don't want you to feel uncomfortable so, ignore it if you want. I've my own headcanons but I just wanted to know your opinions.
My response: this does not worsen my day! I'm sure you know this from my posts but I write a lot of darker topics and I'm fine discussing this! Indeed, I enjoy discussing darker topics, I can find it very cathartic to write about
Thank you so much for the ask and for thinking of me!
The concept that elves cannot survive sexual assault comes from Laws and Customs of the Eldar, an essay style section of Morgoth's Ring, in the Histories of Middle Earth. In LaCE, as it's often known, Ælfwine, or Elfwine, a pre canon character in The legendarium is credited with the editing of this text as well as other parts of the histories of Middle Earth adding another aspect of meta to it.
LaCE is a controversial essay. Many consider it to be precanon or non canon. Others consider it an in universe philosophical or religious work rather than biological facts or universal standards for the elves. I think this interpretation is probably accurate
The relevant part you're talking about is a footnote in response to this line of LaCE
Even when in after days as the history is reveal many of the Eldar in Middle Earth became corrupted and their hearts darkened by the Shadow that lies upon Arda seldom is any tale told of Deeds of lust among them.
The footnote reads
...But among all those evils there is no record of any among the elves that took another spouse by force for this was wholly against their nature and one so forth would have rejected bodily life and passed to Mandos. Guile or trickery in this matter was scarcely possible even if it could be thought that any elf would purpose to use for it; for the Eldar can read in the eyes of another whether they be wed or unwed
I agree with you that it's probably not the case that sexual violence instantly leads to death.
I think it's fun to play around with whether or not LaCE is a, canon or b, strict biological law! Generally I go with it not being so but there is a lot of fascinating ideas that can be explored, if often horrifying ones, treating it like that! (the idea that elves can tell in the eyes of another if they're married or not is FASCINATING even if the idea that such a phenomena would prevent sexual violence is...troublesome...)
On the basis of LaCE not being biological law though, there are a few possibilities for this inclusion
(note: these are in universe possibilities, not a complete list of reasons why Tolkien might have included it)
a, an in universe narrator trying to mitigate or cover up the fact that this did indeed occur
b, as in most versions he appears in, Ælfwine is not an elf but a human, this could simply be an idealistic notion or misconception or even misunderstanding or mistranslation
c, sexual violence is a taboo subject in many human cultures, it's certainly not implausible that it was treated similarly the elves. Even if it's not an attempt to cover up actions by well known figures in the history of the Eldar, it could be a denial of cultural traumas or a refusal to reckon with a certain kind of pain
The fact that it specifically reads 'no record of any taking the spouse of another by force' is somewhat strange. Obviously, non married people can be the victims of assault (and people can be victimized by those they're married to; it's worth noting here that Tolkien did seem to realize both, some of the primary, and only, instances of rape in the legendarium are instances of marital rape)
A...generous reading is that it is worded like this because the footnote appears in relevance to the section about marriage and this is meant to discuss specifically how certain trauma affects the marital bond, something that LaCE defines as a spiritual and physical matter.
(Plenty of horror you could potentially explore there; spouses actually feeling the pain and trauma of their partners due to this bond, whether trauma from this kind of violence or other)
What I do think is true is that elves have a stronger connection between body and mind and soul and that severe trauma of any kind can lead to physical consequences up to, including and beyond death of the body. This is of course not unheard of in humans, stress takes a physical toll. But for elves I think this connection is perhaps more profound.
This is not limited to sexual assault and indeed most of the instances we see of this in canon are not related to sexual assault.
It's worth noting that there are some troublesome aspects of Tolkien's wording. Obviously the linking of sexual assault and lust is not entirely accurate. Desire and lust often do not play a role in sexual violence; power and control perhaps being more pertinent. Then of course the fact that it says 'no record of one taking the spouse of another by force' is also questionable as I talked about above.
In conclusion, I think like the rest of LaCE, it makes more sense as the philosophy of one group or individual rather than biological reality.
Finally, I'll note that the two primary examples I can think of in the works of victims of sexual violence who "choose" death or at least leaving body or life in some form or another are not elves but are Aerin, a human, and Arien, a Maia (Arien's example also not being strictly canon), both of whom choose fire.
(also I think that whether or not Aerin died is actually ambiguous and is certainly not definite, that being said the idea that she did is a perfectly plausible reading) Also why are their names so similar...
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Introduction
My name is Sebastian and this blog will mainly be about my artworks (although I occasionally will probably post things like character headcanons or random character analysis essays) I draw a lot of stuff but mainly fanart of my favourite shows, characters and video games such as:
Beavis and Butthead
Jojos Bizarre Adventure
Resident Evil
Gorillaz
Sonic The Hedgehog
South Park (I don't draw much fanart of South Park but this may change later)
Alice Madness Returns
Attack On Titan
Black Butler
Helluva Boss
Hazbin Hotel
Death Note
Saw (I don't draw much fanart of Saw either but again this may change)
What else am I gonna be doing? Well I really like Halloween and I may draw some halloween themed stuff even when its not October, I'm the type of guy who suddenly gets into the Christmas and Halloween spirit when its not that time of year yet, I especially like zombies and vampires
Rules about comissions
If you want to commission an artwork from me that's totally okay as long as my asks are open, but here are the rules
I will not draw anything too explicit like hardcore s3xual activities, I will draw things that are risqué like characters in revealing clothing or suggestive flirting, but if it involves nudity, intercourse or anything like that then I will not do so, if you're not sure about something you'd like to commission just ask in your... Well ask
I will draw gore but it will be mainly cartoony, and I'm a bit iffy when it comes to stuff involving torture, when I draw gore I mainly do zombie or Frankenstein's monster type creatures and not people being tortured or murdered
You don't need to pay me, I'm not interested in money this is all just for fun
I do draw ships, even most of the ones I don't agree with. However if the ship is illegal (sibling x sibling, adult x child, stuff like that) I'm not comfortable drawing it, I'm not big on the whole "anti-proship" thing (yeah its gross but at the end of the day I don't get too pissy about fictional characters, when I see proship content I just ignore it) but still I don't really want to draw that stuff
DNI
I think most DNI lists are a bit stupid because unless you block people it doesn't really stop anyone from interacting with you, for example if you put "DNI racists" I understand not wanting those types of people interacting with you but its not gonna magically stop a racist person from associating with your posts, if you see someone saying something racist or something you think is discriminatory just block them, in fact if you put DNI in your bio they'll probably want to interact even more just to troll you
However, I'm using this as a time to talk about something I do not want to see on my blog, politics, talk about it on your blog if you want, even if I didn't want you to talk about politics at all its not like I could stop you, but don't come onto my blog spewing political crap in my comments or asks
I do not care what your political views are if you're a leftist or a conservative or whatever, I hate all of it when I'm just trying to have fun on here. So please, no going on about how much you hate Trump, how society isn't fair to certain groups of people, the latest controversial JK Rowling tweet or whats going on in Palestine and Israel, I'll worry about all that when I'm not in a mood to draw stuff and have fun
About me
Well I don't really want to talk about anything too personal here like my romantic or sexual preferences, but here are some things I am alright talking about
I have autism, but I don't think this makes me special or anything like that, yes autism does make me quite different from most people but that is okay and I wouldn't be the person who I am today without it. I'm also not one to list my mental illnesses and disabilities but I'm just putting autism here in case another autistic person is reading and wants to know they're not alone
I have a lot of interests but you already know that
My favourite colour is green
My favourite YouTubers are DanTDM, Stampylonghead, Markiplier, Kub scoutz, LaurenZside, SML (Super Mario Logan), Memeulous, Saberspark, Phantomstrider, Superhorrorbro, Penguinz0 and Tuv
I'm a guy, but you've probably figured that out as well because Sebastian is a more masculine name
Ever since I read it when I was 11, my favourite book is Holes by Louis Sachar
Some of my other favourite music artists (apart from Gorillaz) are 6arelyhuman, Lady Gaga, Tuv (ik he is one of my favourite YouTubers but he does music too), Michael Jackson, Alan Walker (mainly because of nostalgia), Melanie Martinez and The Living Tombstone
I also like songs/soundtrack from movies/musicals like The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The Little Mermaid, Labyrinth, Anastasia, The Lion King, Mulan, Tangled, Aladdin, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Heathers and Little Shop Of Horrors
Despite many of my favourite movies being Disney movies, I hate modern Disney with their stupid remakes and dumb modern movies, heck they couldn't even get their 100th anniversary right, what kind of universe are we living in where a Disney movie is beaten by an Adam Sandler film?!
My favourite Beavis and Butthead character is Butthead
My favourite Jojos Bizzare Adventure character is Dio Brando
My favourite Resident Evil character is Leon S Kennedy
My favourite Gorillaz band member is Murdoc Niccals
My favourite Sonic The Hedgehog character is Shadow
My favourite South Park character is either Kenny McCormick or Eric Cartman
My favourite Alice Madness Returns character is Alice Liddell
My favourite Black Butler character is Sebastian Michaelis (guess why, lmao)
My favourite Helluva Boss character is Stolas
My favourite Hazbin Hotel character is Angel Dust
My favourite Death Note character is L
My favourite Saw character is Adam Stanheight (aka very fucking confused)
Anyways
Thanks for reading my weird introduction, I appreciate it and even if you don't want to commission anything or stick around thats totally fine, I wish you well mate
#introduction#art#artwork#comission#gorillaz#south park#beavis and butthead#resident evil#jojos bizarre adventure#hazbin hotel#helluva boss#alice in wonderland#alice madness returns#death note#saw#saw (2004)#black butler#sonic the hedgehog#zombies#halloween#spooky aesthetic
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"Fear and the World and People and Me: What was the Phenomenon of 'Evangelion'?" Text & Translation of CB 1997 Essay by Junichi Tomonari
My first entry into the Comic Box End of Eva Translation Project!
The Comic Box Magazine opens with an introductory essay by Junichi Tomonari, a japanese literary critic and novelist who specialized in horror works (and is big into scuba diving and lives in Bali these days, apparently). His work focuses on bringing an outsider, sociological lens to Eva as a work of media and cultural phenomenon. I will list a few of my ‘interesting takeaways’ from the essay first for those who just want a glimpse, then I will post a link to the full translation on my blog
Tomonari’s interview is a time capsule of the 90’s zeitgeist of treating anime as sociological diagnostic for the times. He, hilariously, repeatedly, states how much he hates Shinji, and yet ‘sees in Shinji the youth of Japan’, a youth passive & hopeless, unable to act for themselves and withdrawing from society. This passivity is seen as dangerous, particularly in men, “...they will not be able to avoid looking at themselves objectively in relation to others. When this happens, they suddenly display a violent temperament.” He is not alone in thinking this - the 1989 “Otaku Killer” Tsutomu Miyazaki, the rise of the hikikomori as a sociological phenomenon, and other stories launched an entire wave of writings concerning the fate & struggles of Japan’s youth in the 90’s, often with the anime subculture as a focal point.
Tomonari sees himself as having moved past anime, loathing Shinji for his weakness, and judgemental of an audience obsessed with Eva. “If I were a junior or senior high school student and there was such a jerk in my class, I would definitely torment him to death.” But he grows to appreciate Shinji - and Eva - as a way to see the struggles of a new generation in a more empathic light than the contemproary wave of hand-wringing normally permits (and of course, the sentiments he expresses are likely literary exagerations to communicate his ideas). This interview adds to the stack of evidence we have of Evangelion being a focal point for this sort of discourse, expanding the parameters of the “otaku as sociological phenomenon” discussion for the wider public.
Something I do find quite revealing is how much Tomonari in 1997 is repeating what western anime fans would themselves embrace in the 2000’s - Shinji as pathetic, as someone who should “grow up and be a real man”. Its a pretty alien perspective today! Hating a protagonist for being anxious and having struggles, that is half of all protagonists, who doesn’t have those traits? The machismo of the male media culture of the 2000’s is pretty dead and buried, or at least morphed, protagonists with anxiety and trauma are relatable and revered. In our modern era we perhaps forget how new it is for traits like these to be so standard, for characters to be so ‘relatable’ in this way. This interview really sells you on how controversial a character Shinji-as-protagonist was in 1995 (and in Japan), something that is much harder to glimpse now.
Other interesting notes:
At one point during the discussion of modern youth’s latent violence, Tomonari comments “Across the world, there are probably very few cases of children committing such murders [and yet we see them in Japan]. Perhaps this will become a unique phenomenon in Japan”. Alas for all of us, this prediction did not age well.
He compares Evangelion to horror manga author Hideshi Hino’s “splatter horror” works and stylistic designs, which is right on the money as his manga “Dokumushi Kozou/Bug Boy” is actually cited in the production documents for Evangelion, such as this End of Evangelion storyboard:
He does take time to eviscerate Shinji for being a self-insert surrounded by beautiful women who all dote on him in one way or another and it is extremely funny, that trait is both one of Eva’s best parts and also totally true.
The interview is quite long, a bit too much for tumblr but has a lot of interesting facts - I have put my translation & even the OCR'd Japanese text up for anyone to read here on my blog, which I really do need to do a better job of cross-posting things. Hopefully it is of interest to some, and I aspire to continue translating the documents as much as I am able.
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Dead Poets Society Blog Essay
By: Jillian Arnold
A quote from Mr. Keating, “We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion.”
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I first watched Dead Poets Society when I was sixteen years old for my sophomore year English class. My assignment was to find a monologue to memorize and record myself presenting it, as it was COVID during the time. As I was searching for speeches, I came upon one by Robin Williams and since he was in many movies from my childhood I thought, why not look into it? I chose that speech for the project and decided to watch the movie to get to know the speech better. I ended up loving the movie and it changed my life with its outlook on life and movement to seize the day. Unknowingly, I was the same age as the boys I connected with and would continue to grow with them as they remained the same age.
Dead Poets Society was released into theatre on June 2nd, 1989, and was both a critical and commercial success. The movie earned $95,860,116 domestically and $235,860,116 worldwide, making it the fifth highest-grossing movie of the year when it only had a $16,000,000 budget.
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During the release of this movie in 1989, George H. W. Bush was sworn in to become the 41st President of the United States.
I was not the only person affected by Robin Williams’s powerful speech in this movie. It was well-received by audiences, scoring 92% on rotten tomatoes. This movie appealed to the audience with its message of carpe diem or to “seize the day.” According to Dead Poets Society: A Summary by Faith Lord, “The story portrays a teacher named Mr. Keating who has come to an all-boys school that is steeped in tradition with boys who are expected to follow the rigid and unyielding expectations of their parents regarding their education. Keating's unconventional methods use poetry to help the boys regard their identity and desire with his lessons from literature and poetry.” This intended message reached out to the people who are stuck in a cycle doing meaningless things to them and to be an independent man who seizes the day and don’t let their life fly by them. The producers relied on reaching their audiences to have them connect with the film. They didn’t need big action scenes or a love story to touch people’s hearts. Another appeal to the audience was the famous actor Robin Williams, who starred as Mr. Keating in the film. As a beloved actor at the time, his improv and humor brought people happiness and made them laugh at previous films, making people want to see his role in this film.
The film does have some problematic elements for viewers that stirred some controversy when the film was released. The first is its outlook on suicide. Near the film's end, the character Neil Perry is forced to withdraw from his beloved school to military school and has to quit theatre, which was his newfound love. His last act was putting on his thorned crown from A Midsummer Night’s Dream before shooting himself. This suicide could’ve been seen as his last rebellion and could be praised biblically, but that may not be the case for all viewers. This glorification of suicide can cause more harm than good since suicide is the second leading cause of death for people. Another problematic topic could be the film’s issue with queer baiting. Although this may have not been an issue when the movie was released to today’s viewers, it may be a more current issue. There is a heavily alluded LGBTQ relationship between Neil and Todd in the film but there is no confirmation. This baiting takes away from the representation of a minority and can take a toll on the viewers in the community since they don’t see themselves reflected in films very often.
This movie is an unconventional movie with its deeper meanings and its non-blockbuster-type plot. The plot of this story isn’t conventional and doesn’t have an outlined story, rather it follows the ups and downs of boyhood and their struggle to break free from the status quo.
I chose this movie to write about for the first assignment of the class because it was a movie that stuck out to me growing up and I knew I would be passionate to write about it for this assignment.
When I first watched this movie, I didn’t see its problematic themes, I just loved the poetry and the outlook on life. After watching it this week and doing research on it, I understood its themes and why there were problematic topics. I never knew when I first watched it that it was such a huge film and is famous, but now that I’ve rewatched it I know that it is. Overall though, I still really enjoy this movie and it’s a go-to watch every time. I love the characters and see myself in them and can find solace in them. I have taken the movie’s main message, “seize the day,” and it has allowed me to find the things I love right now. If I hadn’t taken that step and seized my day, I wouldn’t have joined my love of theatre nor taken the time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Finally, a quote from the movie, “The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”
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