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hannibals-hoe · 3 years

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Hannibal and Classical Music (Season 3/3)

Alright last one. Luckily my fam got Hulu so I can watch this lovely thing forever. Ok like before- spoilers ahead and a lot of obscenely pretentious explanations.

Ok first one-season 3 episode 1. Now this is a just a fun one to kick of the last bit of this series. The piece we’re looking at is my true love, Antonin Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings in E Major. This is played over the ballroom dance scene with Hannibal and Bedelia. Guys. Just listen to Dvorak ok. That’s all I ask.

Hehe ok serious time episode 3. So this one has me stumped honestly. The piece is Satie’s Embryons Desséchés movement 5, Fantasie Valse. This is played by Hannibal himself while he discusses Will and Bedelia. Now the best I can come up with here is the era of this piece. Satie was a major figure of the impressionist/20th century era of classical music. This is significant to Hannibal, since he is known to play harpsichord, an instrument of the early baroque era. These two eras sharply contrast, much like Hannibal’s character from season one to three. This music he plays symbolizes his change. Will did in fact change him. And his shift in playing this music represents it.

Alright moving along to episode 4. The piece is Greig’s Suite No 1 movement 2, The Death of Aase. This is played over Will’s imagination of Hannibal’s, his, and Jack’s last dinner. Yeah the one where he plans to kill Jack with Hannibal. So this is fun because the play this suite is from is quite simply one about (get ready from a quote I found on some dude’s essay) “the title character’s struggle with procrastination and immaturity.” Take what you wish from that, but I’ll say that quite literally matches Will’s hesitance on joining up with Hannibal in that season two finale. But more specifically the movement is for the death of the title character’s mother. So in it’s simplest form, Jack is a paternal figure for Will, Will imagines his death, boom, the piece chosen makes sense.

Right now we have episode 5. So this is easily one of the best musical choices I’ve ever witnessed. The scene is at the very end, where Jack and Hannibal are fighting and a beautiful, energetic opera overture plays. It’s Rossini’s La Garza Ladra or The Thieving Magpie. Basically it’s about a “devilishly clever magpie.” Yup I know- Hannibal is the magpie. That’s it. Okay!

Episode 6- my love, my life, “Dolce.” Ugghhhh sadly I can’t pull out any classical pieces from this but the beauty of the original composition “Bloodfest” by Brian Rietzell playing over the Uffizi Gallery scene is EVERYTHING. That piece itself is actually based off of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (aka Hannibal theme). But NOW they’re together so it’s BOTH OF THEIRS’ THEME AAAAAAAAA I’m in love.

Okkkk Episode 7- Definitely a stretch here but basically during the scene where Will and Hannibal are eating with Mason and Will bites off Cordell’s face- Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5 plays. Alright with Tchaikovsky himself being chosen is cool not just because he was an amazing composer but also because he was gay!! We love that. But anywho that implies things on its own. The piece itself was actually dedicated to another man- a sort of mentor to Tchaikovsky (hmmm in a way Hannibal was a mentor to Will in the ways of murder). So yeah Hannibal smiling proudly at Will after his little scene with this playing is just marvelous.

Oh damn. The last one. Episode 13. There is only one piece that I wish to bring to attention. And once more, it is the Aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Good lord this plays as Will and Hannibal share wine before the final bloody fight between them and Dolarhyde. It all has come full circle. Our first scene seeing Hannibal, and the last, this piece plays. Only now, Will has joined him. It is the musical representation of their union. Hannibal is not himself without Will anymore. And the theme that originally belonged to Hannibal is now their own.

Wow what a ride it has been. If any of you have specific questions or pieces you want discussed that I skipped over, then please reach out.

Here’s Part 1: https://hannibals-hoe.tumblr.com/post/642744735285542912/hannibal-and-classical-music-season-13

Here’s Part 2: https://hannibals-hoe.tumblr.com/post/652836109378830336/hannibal-and-classical-music-season-23

#what a day #I love this show #hannibal #hannibal and classical music #hannibal music #classical music #classical music in hannibal #will graham #hannibal lecter #hannigram #nbc hannibal #netflix hannibal #will x hannibal #doctor lecter #dr lecter #hannibal x will

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misscrawfords · 3 years

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17+32, Catherine and Henry (Northanger Abbey)?

War AU + Pregnancy fic

My anon, are you sure about this? Because this sounds hella angsty and if Catherine and Henry are anything, it's not angsty!

So I'm really sorry for completely ruining your desire for angst here.

Catherine goes to war in maternity leave.

Not literally, don't be ridiculous. She's an English teacher; what on earth would she be doing in a war zone? (She did once fancy herself a member of the Royal Navy but she had been 13 and mostly inspired by going on a high ropes adventure course on a school trip. The craze had not lasted.)

No, maternity leave is simultaneously boring and freeing. Since she started as a teacher, she's never had so much free time to just think. Henry's around some of the time, of course, but he has sermons to write and parishoners to see and tedious parish council meetings to chair. She flits in with cups of tea (waddles, really, at this point) and homemade cake that they at least pretend to like. (Sometimes she likes to give in to all the stereotypes of a vicar's wife. It makes her feel strangely cosy.) But when she isn't baking, she's at war.

At war on the internet. With the dog over her feet and a cup of tea at her side.

It started with a fun looking show on Netflix. Henry pointed it out to her one evening. "It's aimed at people who really loved Twilight when they were teengers and now lead depressingly generic lives in suburbia. People like you," he added pointedly.

Catherine narrowed her eyes and didn't let on that she'd already seen the trailer. "You're going to make fun of it."

"I mean... yes... obviously, but also, I really want to see whether the Dawn Angel gets together with the..." He squinted at the summary on his phone. "Immortal Night Demon or with her high school ex-boyfriend turned firefighter, Jordan. Golly, tough choice there, right? It's going to be compelling drama - breathtaking fight scenes, symbolic dark and light imagery, the epic highs and lows of high school football. You name it!"

They binged the whole thing in two days. Henry's next sermon, on the possibility of redemption even for demons and the devil himself, had been written in a fever dream by both of them at 2am after staying up far too late on Saturday arguing over the fate of the Night Demon and other related topics.

Old Mrs. Evans was heard to mutter sourly to her daughter Carys after the service, "That'll put the cat among the pigeons, that will alright. Too much Milton, not enough St Paul!"

"I always find Milton very inspiring!" Catherine replied bravely and loyally, as she helped them to a cup of tea in the church hall. She smiled at Carys, whom she'd taught Paradise Lost to at A Level a couple of years earlier. "St Paul too, of course," she added quickly, quailing under the mother's righteous glare. "Very inspiring."

But without marking or admin or driving to and from the high school in the large town half an hour away and without groups of teenagers to debate books with on a daily basis, Catherine found herself bored.

So she booted up her tumblr once again, abandoned since teaching had taken over her life and spending time with her wonderful, clever, funny, loving husband had seemed more interesting than scrolling aimlessly through social media, and discovered to her gleeful pleasure that fandom had not changed much and neither had she.

Or so she thought. Nowadays, she realises, everyone is moralising. The prevailing view seems to be that teenage girls in fandom aren't capable of distinguishing fact from fiction, that if they want a fictional heroine to rule hell with a sexy demon overlord at her side that must mean that that's what they want in real life. That the only moral thing to do here would be to marry the nice but boring guy who's been there for ever.

Catherine is an English teacher married to a vicar. If anyone knows anything about morality and fiction, it's her. This is all sounding very similar to the male critical outrage at women's novels in the 18th century. It seems nothing ever changes except that this time it's girls doing it to each other. Catherine writes several essays explaining all of this. She gets sent death threats and called an abuse apologist.

"It's so strange," she muses to Henry, as they eat homemade Thai curry in front of the aga.

"What is?" he replies. (She's told him everything, of course.) "The teenagers sending you anonymous death threats on tumblr? Because-"

"Nah, that's just standard for tumblr. I mean, it's so strange that anyone would want Griselda to be with Jordan. He's just so... normal and not in a good way. Just always going on about football and how great he was in high school. He really peaked then and he's a firefighter so that should make him brave but he never seems to actually do any fire fighting. He just talks about it as if we're meant to be impressed. We all know a Jordan and nobody wants to date him."

She'd know. Her first boyfriend had been a Jordan. They'd dated for five minutes. (Literally five minutes. Then she'd realised she'd been asked out and not to do a singing gig. Thorpy had been so subtle as to be unintelligible. Then she'd run for the hills, more disappointed in not having her vocal talents finally recognised than in being asked out by such a bore.)

"So a literal demon is a better bet?" Henry asks. "Just asking for clarification. Next year's Halloween costume depend on it."

"He's interesting and sexy and treats Griselda as an equal. What more do you want?"

"Well, speaking as a clergyman...." Henry begins with faux pomposity as he often does, his expression very fond.

She leaves him to do the washing up and lecture the dog. (She frequently hears him discussing doctrinal issues with the dog from the other room. It's adorable. She wonders if he'll be like this with the baby too. She can't wait.)

Back in her study, she boots the kitten off her chair and settles down for a long evening of defending a fictional relationship against antis, maybe reading a bit of a 52 chapter fanfiction where the Night Demon owns a tattoo parlour in New York City, and continuing to work a little on her new scheme of work for Year 9 when she eventually returns to work. It has the working title of "Sexy villains through history and why we should stan them".

She might need to edit that before she pitches it to her Head of Department.

There's a wonderful smell coming from downstairs: Henry is spontaneously baking apple cake. If she glances behind her computer monitor to the window, the graveyard looms dark and comforting in the autumn night, illuminated just by one of the outside lights on the old church. On a cushion by the bookcase, the kitten is lightly snoring and twitches in her sleep. She feels the baby shift slightly within her.

Shipping wars and the thrill of being so engaged in a fandom once more might fill a current space in her life, but goodness, she knows the difference between fact and fiction! Why would she want anything other than what she already has? Life is good.

#northanger abbey #jane austen #fanfiction #henry tilney #catherine morland #henry x catherine #i am strangely overcome by emotions at this sickly sweet and fluffy slice of life for modern married Henry and Catherine #I LOVE THEM SO MUCH #and sorry not sorry for the fandom meta #i actually love how modern AU Northanger Abbey just has to be about fandom #and attitudes towards certain kinds of YA fiction #and it just blows my mind that anyone doing a modern NA might think it was about anything ese #*else #rose writes

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something-very-special · 3 years

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they ran over the seals

More Replicant playthrough observations and general nonsense under the cut. For reference, up to the keystone quest; completed the Forest of Myth and Junk Heap.

This fucking game I swear to god.

A vaguely coherent ramble about sidequests An observation about sidequests in general in this game -- and I don't recall if I ever voiced this somewhere public or it was just a personal observation from my time with the original -- is that the quests in the first half of the game are all relatively easy to complete. There's that one asshat who wants 10 goat hides, but other than him, most of the sidequests are either very much based on finding characters, or gathering a sensible number of items that are either relatively common, purchasable, or given a guaranteed spawn for the duration of that quest.

The sidequests everybody remembers having to do are in the second half, where everybody is demanding and awful and I'm sorry ten MACHINE OILS do you know how goddamn rare those are? They're goddamn rare.

(We'll not discuss Life in the Sands.)

This is generally agreed to, in the technical vernacular, 'suck'. And it's always funny that the most interesting sidequests are the ones with very minimal requirements (Yonah's cooking, getting Popola drunk, the Lighthouse Ladoh my god everything's gone blurry I'm not crying you're crying who am I kidding we're both crying). That particular aspect of the design also feels intentional, not really gating your ability to progress the really meaningful or funny sidequests behind an unreasonable number of rare items. The other aspect of the design is that these quests are not meant to be completed in a single playthrough; most of them are single-stage and just absolutely unreasonable, but if you're going through the game four times you have a... reasonable chance of getting everything you need more or less naturally.

Nobody does that but I think that was the intended design. I think it's a good idea, although the execution of expectation is flawed so I don't really blame people for saying those sidequests suck. (Although I will in turn blame people for saying the sidequests suck as a blanket statement. Yeah getting that guy who burned his kitchen down a billion Broken Motors is aggravating but did you not find that old man's dog? Speak to Ursula on her death bed? Solve a murder? Then again I think tracking down that rotten son who's trying to get away from The Family Business only to learn his father is a con-artist and get literally no reward is the height of comedy so maybe I'm not the greatest point of reference.)

But that asshole in Facade can get bent. I can't exploit my garden properly, jackass! I am no longer a god of time. (I kid, of course.) (This guys sucks even when you can fix your clock.)

Forest of Myth It didn't even occur to me to wonder how they would incorporate the comprehensive voice acting into the Forest of Myth. I like how it plays out, although I wish the voices maybe had a fade as you went deeper into the dream instead of just cutting out at some point, especially for the lines where the characters are being ascribed actions by the narrator that they themselves aren't doing near the start of the Deathdream. But it's just delightful to go back to it. The second half of the game really sticks in your mind both for emotional reasons and because you play it at least three times per full playthrough of the game, but the first half is just so much fun.

Protip: Talk to everybody after you've finished the dream sidequest. Weiss tries to dissuade you. Don't let him dissuade you. I'm still delighted by the Mayor; "We're building a statue of you, made of solid gold. I know you don't own a horse, but we're going to put you on a horse."

I forgot about Yonah being a disaster chef Papa Nier's reaction to the stew is better. Brother is still funny but Papa Nier just expecting to die is comedy gold.

For anybody curious, the joke about the cakes is that Yonah made 'fruit cake' using some of the worst possible fruits for cake-making. If only she'd thrown a tomato into the mix, too.

Lighthouse Lady Every time. what the fuck is a canal I'm aware of the addition of the new-old content but it didn't occur to me until Popola suddenly starts nattering on about fixing the canal when I'm expecting Yonah to talk about a penpal that oh, yeah, I guess Seafront would have had something going on the first half that would play into the second half? (I assume it does. Be weird to introduce these characters just to have groundwork for an added sidequest. ...but it was a cute sidequest.) But look Popola my boy is supposed to be in the next area I visit could we-- I mean he's on the way could we just-- no-- fiiiiiiiiiine. (It was short and sweet, though, and I appreciate that the couple's love is exemplified by them both calling Weiss a floating magazine in tandem.) On a related note but was I the only person suddenly concerned when the sidequest completion maxed out at 50% and not 51%? I had to double-check with a guide just to make sure, since I've spent the last decade telling people to make sure you hit 51% before going on to Part II.

MY BOY I love that nowadays, Emil is everybody's son. But I really wish I could go find somebody only familiar with Automata and just watch their reaction. (I'm guessing there are streams out there that fulfill this but man I'd love to get it in-person.) If you're only familiar with him from Automata this has to be a mindfuck.

Personal anecdote, but I've had the privilege of playing NIER with somebody else almost every time I've gone through it. I had a wonderful experience of doing a replay some years back with somebody who had experienced it with me before but didn't have the most solid memory of the beginning (and had actually missed the entire weapon's lab the first time through). I get to the boy at the piano introducing himself and the 'Wait, what?' was a thing of beauty.

MY ANDROID This was a welcome mindfuck for me; finding Sebastian and having him 'reactivate' in such an unnatural, mechanical way. I don't recall if it was ever officially confirmed that Sebastian is an android (I know that it's just understood that this is the case but I'm not I can't recall a specific one) but the little flair they added to his animation caught me completely off guard. I liked it!

Destroying the food source A lot of people will cite a major inciting incident for the game as being when the protagonist heading back into the village and killing the child Shades just outside the entrance. This moment is such a great bit of subtle foreshadowing that's so easy to miss... but kind of joining that, just before the Knave of Hearts attacks, I realized that the Shades out on the Northern Plains are clearly ramping up for an assault of their own by murdering the sheep. The sheep population at this point is decimated (which is great when you realize you haven't gotten the Sheepslayer trophy and you're about to enter Part II and you don't know if the boar drifting minigame got carried forward with the inclusion of 15 Nightmares). You go out onto the Plains and you will find not only small clusters of sheep left behind instead of the vast, terrifying herds from the start of the game, but until you get their attention the Shades are prioritizing killing the sheep. (Also annoying because that doesn't count toward my sheep murder number.) The Shades will be out there also killing sheep earlier on, but since the whole map is in Overcast mode after talking to Yonah it's especially prevalent to go out to the Northern Plains and seeing the slaughter. And I realized-- they're cutting the Village off from a primary food source. Shades don't eat and they don't have any beef with the local ungulates (at least, no more so than anybody else does), so why are they hunting down the sheep? To deprive their enemies of resources. Sheep are extinct by the timeskip. It's actually really clever of them, and a really clever indication of their sentience and intelligence before it's fully verified.

"Let's get these shit-hogs!" Everything about the way Kaine and Emil interact across the entire game is perfect I will brook no argument this is objective fact.

Emotive Rectangles I wrote an essay about this before but it really bears repeating that the job the original animators did with this scene is just phenomenal. The way Weiss drifts, flits, flips, fans his pages, drunkenly swerves, shoots around the room in defiance... He's a goddamn rectangle, but there is so much emotion and personality in this scene just based on the movements conveyed through a what is effectively just a box. Ten years later and triple-A titles with full facial capture don't have this much seething personality. I really have to give props to the cavia animators, wherever they wound up. That studio could really put some subtle love and care into their titles, utterly unnecessary and easy to miss but you can tell that whoever was working on it was giving it their all. The books are probably the exemplification of this, but every time I go into Seafront and visit the seals I can tell that the guy on seal duty was having just the best day. They made Emil so pretty There's an FMV cutscene right smack in the middle of the original game after the battle against Noir. I understand why it was a necessity on a technical level, but it always looked pretty out of place and a little uncanny valley compared to the rest of the graphical fidelity. That's no longer a necessity so this cutscene is rendered in-engine. I admit I was actually curious to see it redone this way and it looks fantastic. I single out Emil since he is the focal point of cutscene and because his particular high-poly model had some pretty weird difference from his in-engine model, but he and Kaine both look great. But, like, it's almost mean how pretty he is.

They made Brother Nier so pretty Yeah okay you got me he's kind of hot. Kaine's expression when she wakes up and looks him over is... significantly easier to read now. Good voice, too. (Ancient rumors tell that one of the issues with international releases of RepliCant was that they couldn't find an English VA with a voice that 'fit' Brother Nier. He sounded good out the gate but hearing him growl "Let's go TAKE CARE of those KIDS" during the thief sidequest-- I got chills. It sounds so silly but there's a kind of percolating fury to that delivery. Papa Nier was like frustrated but mostly disappointed dad; I felt like Brother was going to take care of those kids, and nobody was going to find the bodies. Younger Brother Nier just never stops looking goofy to me but Older Brother just looks great in motion, between the alterations they made to the movement and just the entire weaponry system. The distinction between the two halves of the game was always a little odd in the Gestalt version-- not odd enough to really raise eyebrows if you didn't know about RepliCant, but of course you can tell that this age gape between the optimistic doe-eyed dogooder and a man largely ruled by his fury and calloused by tragedy is what the timeskip was going for. Swab me down and call me Ishmael, it works. Younger Brother wasn't quite clicking with me-- not because of any writing or voicework issues, but I've got Papa Nier on the back of my mind and it's impossible not to compare and contrast the delivery and dialogue between the two. I know that this is intentional, too; Younger Brother is supposed to be that happy-go-lucky video game protagonist, always doing the right thing and helping people, in order to contrast against the man he becomes. Even just edging into Part II the effect is dramatic and it recontextualizes Younger Brother into a much more effective overall character. And let me reiterate, I enjoyed my time with Younger Brother just fine, I have no issues with him. But he's up against Well Meaning Big Dummy Part I Papa Nier. No contest. And I'm excited to see where Older Brother goes from here.

Speaking of voices I mentioned this before but the delivery on the character's lines is different. The entire game was re-recorded and quite a few lines are still pretty similar to the original, but there are some that are... definitely different. Part of this is a difference in the relationship between characters based on their life experience and ages-- Weiss is much more of an ass to Younger Brother but has a much more even respect for Older Brother (neither of which are like the rapport he established with Father). Some of Kaine's lines feel more aloof, dismissive, and almost tired in the front half of the game. I haven't really gotten to a point to dig into Emil's rapport with the other characters, but the delivery feels more hesitant and uncertain (which I think is more in line with his Japanese VO, but I'm prefacing that on an untrained ear and a presumption rather than recent memory). It's been interesting to see not just where hey adjusted dialogue (and how-- there are some lines that didn't need to be rewritten), but also how they adjust tone and delivery. Dealing with Younger Brother is one thing, but as I said, I'm very excited to see what's different in the second half, especially being much more familiar with that part of the game. Speaking of Voices! Halua got dialogue! I... preferred when it was inferred (and the implications of "I'll always be watching over you" are borderline malicious given the results of their fusion dance, yeah THANK YOU HALUA this is GREAT). Halua's delivery also felt a little too innocent and upbeat both for the situation and when compared to her narrative voice in The Stone Flower, where she comes across as much more cynical and cold. But given what she's been through and the nightmare she's finally escaping I guess she's allowed express happiness. She's certainly earned the right to having a spoken line. No matter what. Every fuckin' time.

"Here we go." This was always a great line to kind of ease in to the officially-official start of Part II-- every time you start up a New Game+ you're greeted with Emil musing about his conflation of Halua to Kaine, and then the phrase "Here we go". There's a lot in that one line. On a personal level he's grounding his thoughts in the moment and steeling himself for what comes next and pushing through his pain and sadness and fear. Whatever Nier told him in the facility he's still terrified, desperately terrified, that Kaine -- who was the one who told him his life had meaning -- is going to reject him. And why wouldn't she? Ultimately they don't know each other, not really. He understands at that moment that his relationship with Kaine is based on confused memories of his sister, that maybe the bond he thought they established isn't actually real. As soon as he frees Kaine he's going to have to confront her, like this, and how could she ever-- she won't-- but he can't just leave her. Whatever happens next. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. (God it matters.) "Here we go." On a meta level, that's our introduction into the second half of the game. The first half is all prologue. This is where we'll be spending the rest of our time, even to the point that 'New Game+' skips straight ahead to this moment. Now that we've finished the establishment, this is where it all builds and where it all matters. Here we go, audience. The ride starts now. You get up to this point now in Replicant. You get the same lead-in. My dumb ass even whispered "Here we go", because I can't help myself. And he says, of course he says--! "Anyway." ... ...a-anyway? What the hell kind of line is that? "Here's some deeply personal musings that are also an indication of my own discomfort as I babble to myself just to fill the void so I can stave off thinking for just a few more seconds. ANYWAY." What a... bizarre decision. Just bizarre.

Upgraded melee combat The introduction to the armored Shades always feel kind of rough-- the defenses on those Shades are significantly higher than anything you've faced and the new weapons you're given to combat them just aren't that good. (If you got lucky you could have a fully-upgraded Faith by now, which is nearly three times as powerful as the 'heavy' two-handed sword you're given; if you downloaded the 4 YoRHa pack for Replicant you've probably been able to upgrade one of those weapons once, which are also a really nice strength boost that leaves the freebie heavy swords and spears in the dust). As an introduction to the new weapon types it always feels like rough going. But then you get a chance to get decent weapons and the combat system truly opens up, and compared to the first game you really feel it. At this juncture I would always just bustle off to Facade and grab the Phoenix Spear and never look back-- the raw power compared to the rest of your arsenal coupled with the triangle dash is basically the bread and butter of the rest of the game. It's not exciting, but it's effective. No more triangle dashing, which was deeply disappointing... but both weapons definitely feel good. I am also somewhat ashamed to admit that it wasn't until now that I realized attacks weren't just about rhythmic input-- you can hold the attacks down to do different charged hits and combos depending on when you execute them in your combo, similar to Automata. I, uh... I felt a bit dumb. But hey, wow, it's a welcome adjustment and it makes all of the weapon types feel equally valuable for different purposes. I never liked using the heavy blades in the original release because they just felt too slow for the damage output they did, even if their 'point' was mostly to sheer off armor (and they definitely felt too slow for use in crowd control). Now they're still heavy and slower, but not to the point that you're basically leaving yourself open just trying to attack. Spears now do crazy sweeping combos and multi-hits. Both of these properties were borrowed from Automata and I find myself prioritizing melee combat and almost forgetting I have magic because honestly it just feels intuitive and fun. I feel like Kaine and Emil might have gotten a power boost as well? Not that I can really confirm this but going into some of the Junk Heap rooms I'd focus on killing a few robots in the corner and then turn around and just see a field of item drops and no more robots. Don't take my word on that, of course, but they felt a little more effective, and a placebo effect is still an effect. "You're staging a protest? That's fun!" Emil. Rebel without a cause. Will not hesitate to kill you if you trespass on his property. (Might explain the statues in the courtyard, actually.) I'll have to double-check this dialogue because I definitely remember more of a melancholia before we get to roasting marshmallows. I think Papa Nier actually offers to talk to/implicitly threaten the villagers to let them in the Village whereas Brother offers to sleep outside with them... which is actually kind of funny. In the former it comes off as Emil and Kaine maybe kinda-sorta not wanting to be allowed in the Village for their own reasons (they're not happy reasons but they're reasons nonetheless) and reassuring Father that no, it's okay, it's fun! The latter is almost telling Brother to stay inside because he'll ruin their sleepover.

(They're absolutely having giggly girl talk about him outside the gates, 100%.) they ran over the seals All I want in Seafront is to enjoy the music and run out to the big beach and hang out with the last living seals and they put a fucking pirate ship on top of them. Oh, wow. Gideon. Wow. OG Nier featured a Gideon that tried to keep himself together and then had fits of mania. You'd be concerned about him during some of the dialogue but generally speaking he came across as... functional. The delivery on all of his lines is now so insanely murder bonkers, like every line he's addressing you like you're already chained to the wall of his serial killer dungeon and it's glorious. I don't know if the distinction between the games is deliberate (in that Gideon in Gestalt was just more even-keeled between his 'rip 'em apart' snarlings and was always just totally nutso in RepliCant) but I do appreciate it. It's a good mirror to Brother Nier's own anger, which only ever seems to be mollified when he's talking to his friends (even kindly accepting sidequests there's a pretty consistent -- not universal, but consistent -- air of barely-bridled frustration). The other characters that Brother encounters are various reflections of himself if things had just been a little different-- Gideon was a representation of the kind of obsessive madness that would have eaten Brother alive if he hadn't had his network of support. Gideon's constant fury and bloodlust even bleeds into him just saying "What can I do for you?" He has no anchor to keep himself sane, nobody to stay human for; he's all mania, all anger, and he only takes any real interest in Brother on his return because he sees an opportunity to act out his vengeance. After defeating Beepy and Kalil he even goes so far as to not only blame Beepy for killing Jakob, but for also killing their mother, which is patently insane but really speaks to how far his justifications and fury have taken him. Papa Nier responds to his anger toward Beepy by basically backing away slowly and saying "Oookay then". Brother, however, actually commiserates; "That's enough. [...] We get it. We really do." This is definitely one of those moments where Brother's context works better than Father's; he absolutely sees himself in Gideon. He completely understands him and sympathizes. He recognizes the madness of his own quest, he sees where it could take him, and there's a resignation when he speaks to Weiss: "Revenge is a fool's errand." "...yeah." Papa Nier has a similar delivery and similarly implies that he understands how terrible his quest is, but there's something decidedly haunting in Brother's sympathy. Also just verifying something on the wiki and this bit of 'Trivia' really jumped at me:

Gideon is the only character to only cause the deaths of other characters. In his case, he caused a platform to crush Jakob and ordered the deaths of P-33 and Kalil, with P-33 surviving.

Metal AF.

#NieR #NieR Replicant #Rambling #He will always say 'here we go' in my heart #And that's probably a serious medical condition

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yourdorkiness · 3 years

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More Fire Force Opinions That Literally Nobody Asked For (pt.2)

Guess who finished the manga~ Guess who finished the manga~ This gal~ I’m surprised that my Fire Force rant/essay meta was so well received by the fandom, thank you guys so much!!! Anyways, today I’ll be discussing some a lot of my ideas, opinions, thoughts, future predictions, and commentary on moments from the Fire Force manga.

Warnings: Spoilers for future Fire Force Season Two arcs, and for the Fire Force manga. Read at your own discretion! Now that the warnings are over, onwards! ヽ(ヅ)ノ

(I’m actually trying to order my opinions via arcs, but I feel that this is really important, so I’m putting it first.)

1. There are no iPhones in the Fire Force.

This is so sad? My favourite characters don’t know the joy that is staying up late, scrolling through social media, watching YOUTUBE, having MEMES, KNOWING👏THE👏GREATNESS👏THAT👏IS👏VINES!!!

I’m slightly disappointed that Vulcan, who is literally named after the god of forging himself, who can make frickin’ HOLOGRAMS, didn’t bring back any of the pre-Catalysm technology to recreate, improve, or experiment with. As an expert engineer (I say this 0.2% seriously, with the two years of high school engineering course experience under my belt), I would’ve been interested to see what kind of gadgets Vulcan could whip up. *insert ‘Inspector Gadget theme song*

Please have this very sad Jigglypuff to show how sad this is.

2. Sister Iris and Religion in the Fire Force Storyline

In the beginning of the Fire Force series, I’ve accepted the fact that Iris' role as noncombatant, meant to act as the religious and public face of the Eighth Company. I think it is a fascinating role, because it allows the story to explore the idea of religion and belief in depth, which I was really looking forward to. I was excited how the author would handle Iris’ character, but I’m somewhat disappointed that it took so long for us to see Iris and other side characters like Maki and Tamaki become more fleshed out (I’m not counting Iris’ and Hibana’s backstory in Season 1. I felt that was more backstory to flesh out Hibana’s character rather than Iris’).

Throughout Fire Force’s story, some of the things I looked forward to the most were the religious elements, motifs, themes, and questions that are sprinkled throughout the story, one of my favourites being the portrayal of the dichotomy of religion. In Joker’s backstory, we see the darkness of the Holy Sol faith, and what happens when any religious belief is taken TOO far, without any regard for human life or rights. This idea of viewing humans as a collective, no regard for the individuality and feelings of a single person in the pursuit of faith is embodied by the captain of the Shadow of the Holy Sun, Joker’s former captain and abuser. However, we also get to see the goodness religion and belief can achieve in Iris’ mini arc, which focuses on Iris’ internal struggle as she struggles with her faith after being informed of the Evangelist’s part in the founding of the Holy Sol’s religion. Shinra and Huo Yan Li, the bucket hat 1st Brigade lieutenant (Seriously, which is the correct way to pronounce this guy’s name? Huo Yan Li?? Foien Li???) interaction in the Iris arc really summed up the arc and Iris’ character beautifully. Religion and belief gives people closure, hope, and strength to keep on moving forward. Seeing the anime adaption was an amazing experience. Fire Force’s animation was the reason I decided to watch it in the first place (before staying for the intriguing plot and religious side plot), but this particular episode?? Pure art. The colouring, ambience, storytelling? So good＼\ ٩( ᐛ )و /／

Like, the little detail of the burning nun in Iris’ eyes? (lmao sorry for the extra trauma, sweet child) *chef’s kiss*

The importance of belief is also hinted in the Asakusa arc, where all the district’s inhabitants believe in Benimaru, and expanded upon in later manga chapters, when we learn that Adolla is linked to humanity’s perception and beliefs about the world around them.

I would’ve liked Iris a lot more if we got to further explore her character and the affects of religion on others more deeply, perhaps see Iris visiting the Infernals’ families and loved ones, trying to help give closure through the nation’s (mostly) shared faith in Sol. They mentioned offhandedly in both anime and manga that Iris visits the deceased’s families, and I felt it would’ve given the deaths more significance and depth if we get screentime of how families are affected by the death of their loved ones. It would have also given the Holy Sol’s religion more depth and meaning if we saw believers of Sol’s actions due to their religion, (also giving more impact when we learn surprise surprise! The Holy Sol temple is founded by the Evangelist!) since belief without actions is just lip-service.

I would have also liked to see how Iris’ prayers affect others in the Eighth company. We do get to see this, 140+ CHAPTERS LATER in the mini Iris arc does Shinra (finally) mentions how Iris’ prayers helps him not lose sight of why he serves as a firefighter and kills Infernal. I’m glad that we got this scene, because better later than never, especially since Iris’ and Shinra’s discussion and overall the entire Iris mini arcs shows the power of prayer, but I would’ve like to have this topic discussed sooner.

2. Obi’s Sole Flaw

I think that Obi was an okay character, but they kind of pushed the boundary of his “normalcy” when we saw him topple pillars and rip railways out of the ground with “brute strength”. There are limits to the human body, it is fragile, and it doesn’t matter how much conditioning or “going beyond your limits” you do. People do experience boost of adrenaline, which is probably what the very anime-like titled “Pressure of Death” is based on, since life or death situations can heighten your performance and strength. However, I do understand that this IS shonen, and it isn’t meant to be realistic.

What made Obi’s sole flaw (and a physical flaw, at that!) was his “normalcy” while surrounded by more powerful individuals then he, and having to make up for something he can’t help by working twice as hard as everybody else. Now, although I was disappointed that Obi didn’t have any character/moral flaws, what made Obi’s character mediocre to me wasn’t the choice of Obi’s sole flaw. In fact, I could see how this could be an interesting character narrative IF WE LEARN MORE ABOUT OBI’S BACKSTORY, THEREFORE EXPLORING HIS CHARACTER MORE!!! (We only know Obi was a regular firefighter, being decorated twice, and then having his titles revoked for prioritizing the lives of citizens before becoming the captain of the Eighth.) No, what I didn’t like about Obi’s character is that we never see him STRUGGLE with his flaw, how others were born “superior” to him thanks to there invulnerability to flames, how he lives knowing one day he could just burst into flames. There’s SO many interesting things about Obi’s character, that could explained further, making him so much more interesting!!!

On the other hand, Obi’s character is a great role model for what a “normal” person can do (while jacked up on adrenaline, and when they manage to overcome flight reaction in fight or flight). He works hard, training to the best of his ability, doing what he CAN do, pushing his limits so that he can go above and beyond, overcoming the “Pressure of Death”, and staying true to his ideals, something very hard to do in a world where you might burst into flames at any given moment. I know that if I were to wake in a world where I could die any second (I mean, I could die tomorrow in Real Life™, but what are the chances of that?), I would definitely find myself struggling with my faith, and staying true to the morals I admire and was taught by my parents, especially if I was putting myself in danger despite of this weakness.

3. Asakusa Showdown Arc and Shinmon Hibachi

The Asakusa Showdown arc. Yes. Just yes. I-

It was amazing, periodt. The art, the overall aesthetic, the storytelling. *Cue violent fangirling* I took SOOOO many screenshots of the fight between Benimaru and Hibachi, I’m pretty sure my camera roll is 95% manga caps now. I love how the author actually gave a (fairly) valid reason for the cool Japanese aesthetic of this arc, in that Adolla is slowly gradually colliding with the Fire Force universe, causing people’s perception of the fight to seep into the universe. Overall? It. Was. Amazing. Albeit not my favourite arc, (that honour goes to the mini-Iris arc) I think that the Asakusa Showdown arc is easily in my Top 5 Fire Force arcs.

The Asakusa Showdown Arc mirroring and showing the ideals taught in the Mini Iris Arc was quite clever, though I’m not sure if this was purposefully done Okubo, or if I’m just scrabbling at crumbs.

In the Mini Iris arc, we see how religion and belief gives closure; a stark contrast to Asakusa with its proto-nationalist/atheist values. In THIS arc, centering around Asakusa and it’s proto-nationalist inhabitants, we see what happens when there isn’t enough effort to emphasize or give closure in what happened to Hibachi, and his subsequent death.

Shinmon Hibachi, as the leader of the neighbourhood fire watch, understood the significance of killing Infernals; of taking somebody’s life. But because of the unwillingness to let others (i.e. the inhabitants of Asakusa, that one kid who stabs him) understand the weight of killing Infernals and gain closure through understanding the reasons behind his harsh actions, Hibachi shoulders the consequences of both his and the actions of his predecessors’ ALONE, therefore leading to his demise.

The kid who stabbed Hibachi was still a CHILD, and children don’t always have a comprehensive understanding of death and the consequences of responsibility (no matter how much that kid believes he was ready to be an adult and support his mother).

3.5 Extra Worldbuilding Questions About Asakusa

I also have so many questions about Asakusa in general! How is Asakusa powered without being supported by Amaterasu, which is the country’s (and isn’t that mind boggling, that a whole country is supported by one power source with no backup source or other forms of energy/electricity, because of patriotic pride in a machine that might one day shut down, cough manga readers where u at?) I’m assuming that Asakusa mainly use coal, candles, and lamps for energy and lighting, since we did see one example of lighting in Asakusa (an ancient oil lamp), but I’m not sure if that would be sufficient to support a whole district of people. People were able to do that in the olden days, but back then there was a smaller concentration of people, and power necessary to support them.

Is Asakusa a district that is mostly atheist or polytheist? Do the inhabitants believe in no gods, not just the Sun god brought by the White Clads and Raffles I, including the Shinto or Buddhist gods from before the Catalysm, or do they believe in multiple gods/ancestor worship and they just don’t want to worship the Sun God like the rest of the Tokyo Empire because they’re unwilling to accept the new culture, immigrants and religion caused by Amaterasu, wanting to keep up the old Japanese traditions?

4. Arthur Deserves Better Parents 2k20 (Hint of Arthur’s Secret Ability?)

When Team Vulcan + Arthur found Arthur’s parents in the sewers Nether... Honestly, I don’t want to touch on them much, since I want to be (fairly) logical in my opinions on them, not letting my personal feelings twist my hypotheses for what may happen in the future of the Fire Force storyline.

Putting aside Arthur’s parents obvious neglect and bad parenting, I’m curious if Arthur's dad is actually a prophet or did he just get lucky with his delusions. Is this related to how Arthur can notice the difference between dopplegangers and real people? Perhaps because Arthur’s delusions of knighthood are so different from how he truly is (an abandoned child who deluded himself as a knight), therefore allowing him to notice the difference between dopplegangers and Adolla, as they are created by people’s perception of a subject.

5. Let Sho Be a Normal Kid at the End of the Show 2k20

Please let the small child be happy at the end of the manga. I mean, being raised by a cult underground isn’t exactly a Hallmarks childhood. For example, in the beginning of chapter 231, look at how Sho looks longingly at those kids on scooters and was so happy when he got a balloon from the firefighter mascots! (bruh, same balloons bring me so much joy)

I hope that in the end of the manga Okubo lets Sho, Shinra, and Eighth have some quality time. In one of the early arcs (with the first speaking demon, Minamoto?) Shinra saw some kids going to school wearing school uniforms, mentioning that if Sho was still alive, he’d be old enough to go to school. I’d be so sweet if at the end of the manga, Sho would have the chance to go to school, maybe the Fire Force academy (if it’s still running if by the end of the manga they’ve discovered the reason behind Human Combustion), makes friends and beat up anybody who badmouths the Eighth.

6. Cool Combat Medics!

I’d love to see more of the cool combat medics from the Sixth! We only saw the captain, Kayoko Huang, in action with her Asclepius staff pyrokinesis, which, might I add is a fascinating and terrifying ability. Think about it, she’s controlling CELLULAR DIVISION!!! She could start creating tumors in the bodies of her enemies! Could disintegrate people cellularly and no one would know, because fire snake, so no fingerprints!

Anyways, that is all I have right now. Thank you for reading my opinions about “Fire Force”, and for the nice response I got when I published my first opinion piece! Bruh, it took so long for me to edit this... 😔 I’m thinking of doing another meta going more in depth with my theory on Arthur and how he’s able to distinguish the difference between people and their dopplegangers, but that’s for another day. Feel free to discuss about your own ideas or thoughts in the chat, or tell me what you think! I promise I don’t bite. Have a wonderful day!

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your-turn-to-role · 4 years

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hi okay i hate sending asks to people without knowing them but you seem kind so im trying: during the break, i’ve been working my way through VM, and i’m at episode 75. my question, because i’ve read some of your more recent meta, is “what’s Percy’s deal?” i know he’s loved by the fandom, but i can’t find myself relating to him, and i find his assertions that he’s the only one with a plan offputting. is there more context you can give to me about percy’s character that explains his motivations?

aww, thank you!

(and yeah, asks like this are totally fine, i totally get that anxiety, good job on sending this!)

i mean, first off, you don't have to like a character everyone else does? if you don't relate to percy you can just, not relate to percy, that's fine

(and to be fair, as much as i love him as a character, i would not want him as a friend, because he's a very flawed person that has a lot to work on, but in fiction those traits are interesting to watch rather than difficult to deal with)

but, percy's deal! the short answer is people generally like him because taliesin's funny and charismatic and he does morally grey right, which is rare and a fun thing to explore (also in his relationships with other people, the entire vex-vax-percy-keyleth square is full of neat parallels and opposites and interesting things and i have whole essays in my head on all six combos there)

i don’t know which posts you’ve read so i’ll link this one here too, just to cover a couple more of the generally unnoticed aspects of his character, and things i like about percy

he’s also far from perfect, as you’ve noted, he does tend to believe he’s the smartest person in any given room, because he’s young and clever and used to being that, which you’re allowed to find off putting, but i will say i find he does that less than a lot of characters of his general archetype? he listens to pike, he listens to keyleth, he listens to vex, he respects when they have more knowledge than him on a particular subject, he’s not above asking for help. and generally most of the arguments he has with keyleth on that subject aren’t him asserting he knows more than her, but more a matter of principles and values (they’re a really interesting pair that way, they have similar backgrounds, both children of royalty running away from the crown, but they’re such opposites. percy is a natural leader who would rather anyone rule than him, keyleth fumbles her way through all of it but sticks to it because she doesn’t want to let anyone down, percy is a pragmatist, keyleth is an idealist, they both are too focused on the big picture but in two completely different ways, i could write a whole other post on this, but to get to my point, they wouldn’t be such good balances for each other if percy didn’t absolutely respect where keyleth is coming from)

for the long answer, i’m gonna break this down into parts and try to get to the core of percy's character and why he is the way he is

(under the cut bc this gets long)

1 - heavy trauma

like... this is the really really big one. percy, at age 17 or 18, had his entire life up to that point completely destroyed. his family was killed, his friends were killed, people he trusted like family (professor anders, who was a more present figure in percy's life than his actual parents) betrayed him and helped the briarwoods, he was imprisoned in his own castle's dungeons and tortured for information, they threw his siblings' bodies in there with him to make a point, cassandra helped him escape but as far as he knew she died helping him. he has two years of his life after that he straight up doesn't remember, his hair turned white from the stress of it.

trying to go after ripley the first time didn't work, he was captured and left to starve in a prison cell, for the first few months of travelling with vox machina he genuinely believed it wasn't real, because realistically no one was gonna come save him, this was just a hallucination of his dying mind. returning to whitestone he was forced to confront the fact that literally everyone he ever knew growing up (with the sole exception of archibald) was either dead or working with the briarwoods, and even after retaking the city there's a lot that can never be repaired.

and he's just... never really dealt with any of this? like, he gave vox machina the technical details of what happened to him in the briarwood arc, because they needed to know that information, but the first time he actually started processing his trauma, the first time he admits it out loud to anyone, is the final episode of campaign one. before then it had been occasional snide or handwavey comments, and like, he'll let himself feel the anger over it (in the beginning of the story he encouraged it, because then he didn't have to feel anything else), but he's never processed the grief, never admitted to himself how badly that affected him

which means he's got a lot of pent up emotions in there that he just keeps burying, and sometimes they come out in unhealthy ways. having so much taken from him also makes him really motivated to keep the things he does have - he’s got some deep set abandonment issues and takes any kind of betrayal really badly, don’t know if you’ve got up to the scanlan stuff by the time i post this, but that’s something to keep in mind as to why he acts the way he does there. (and it’s not more explicit because percy was raised nobility, keeping a brave face through anything is part of who he is, he tends to cover emotions he’s insecure about in snark or indifference or, for the intense ones, anger, because those are the things he thinks he’s allowed to show, but the real emotions show up occasionally, when they’re particularly strong, or if you’re reading between the lines. he really does care a lot about vox machina)

2 - legacy and loyalty.

speaking of nobility, it's hard to do a character study on percy without mentioning whitestone and the house of de rolo. this is the number one thing to percy. he was raised to respect title and name, and most importantly, raised to respect the people he represents - both the townsfolk of whitestone and also percy's ancestors and future de rolo generations. whitestone is more important than any one life, he has a duty to protect and serve it, and that comes before any personal wants he may have. it's also important to him for family reasons - he was a pretty lonely child, but he loved reading about the history of the city, all the weird ghost stories whitestone had even before the briarwoods. it probably made him feel more connected to all of that, this is the place he belongs. and after his family dies, it becomes even more important, because this is his connection to them. the soul of a city lives as long as its people, by protecting what's left, he keeps a little bit of what came before

(and also in just tidbits to understand percy's character, he sees all cities and man-made things the same way - in a world where some races live for centuries or millennia, their history exists mostly by word of mouth, you can physically talk to people who were around 500 years ago and get their take on things - humans don't have that, they get 100 years at most, so the things they build are vital to their heritage. this is how you keep people alive long after they're gone, by honouring what they created. and especially for someone so concerned with legacy and history, percy literally says abandoning westruun would be blasphemy, because the place people grew up is important, yes it's better that they live, but letting the city be abandoned and destroyed would be an irreparable act of violence.)

this is the number one thing on percy's mind when evaluating anything about himself, where do i come from, and what do i leave behind? which is a question that has a lot of moments to be tested, because of my next point...

3 - pragmatism and terrible thoughts

when it comes down to it, percy is a very ends justify the means kind of person. he finds it very easy to square away any kind of collateral damage as long as it gets him to his end goal. see: trial of the take, where he's fine to catch his friends in the blast radius of a new bomb design because he's so excited that it worked, preparing to fight vorugal and resigning himself to potentially having to kill innocent people to kill the dragon (he wasn’t okay with that, but he would do it), also his conscious decision to let ripley go, knowing she would lead to the deaths of thousands because it was her or the briarwoods and he wanted revenge

(this is by his own admission his lowest point and worst mistake, because as mentioned, he thinks about the consequences of his actions near constantly, he knew she would reproduce his guns and they would lead to a whole new form of warfare. but in that moment he was just blinded by grief and way too emotionally burnt out and did not have the capacity to care. and he spends the rest of the campaign and honestly probably the rest of his life trying to make up for that one)

he's also, by his own admission, someone who has a lot of bad thoughts he doesn't act on, he's very clever and creative and ideas for ways to use those skills for violence or vengeance come easily to him (like, percy as an actual villain would be ripley but worse, ripley's intelligent but a very direct point a to point b kind of thinker, percy has multiple times criticised her lack of imagination, a percy with her lack of morals would be terrifying)

(honestly this is why i was seeing percy so much in taliesin's narrative telephone, because "sometimes i wake up having dreamed of a terrible thing, and normally i just file that away for things that i would never do, because i wanna maintain friendships, but then LIAM did something to me." and the whole being absolutely fine with throwing the rest of the cast under the bus just to enact revenge on liam was quintessential percy)

but we’ve seen the pragmatic anti hero everywhere, anyone can be a terrible person, and have reasons for it, that alone doesn’t make an interesting character (at least not for me)

what does, is my last point

4 - trying to be good

i still vividly remember when i first watched campaign one, being really surprised at how much percy asked for help? like, i went in expecting the usual full on demon possession storyline, i expected percy to hide how bad it was, i expected him to make poor decisions without realising he was doing it until he was in too deep to back out

and like, he had some of that. but at the first sign of things being out of his control, he asked his friends for help. he let pike greater restoration him. he told vax to kill him if things ever got too out of hand. he was really, genuinely scared about what he got himself into and what he might do because of it. there was never a point where he pretended, even to himself, that making a deal with orthax was okay. the minute he realised there was a demon involved, he was working to stop it. and yeah, by the time he realised it was already a bit too late, there were already some things out of his control (and also taliesin kept having the worst rolls against the whitestone corruption which was really fun on a meta level), which is how things got as bad as they did. but honestly, all things considered, there’s very little to criticise about the way percy handled himself in the briarwood arc.

and he keeps doing that, trying to get better. he struggles with it, he struggles a lot, against his anger issues, against all the trauma, against the fact that he really doesn’t want to be here and things would be so much easier if he were dead. but he recognises he holds grudges too easily, so he starts actively trying to forgive those who’ve wronged him (this is something he and vex have in common, and something they were working on together before they were together, which probably helped a lot in getting them to that point as well). he recognises he makes poor decisions when he’s angry, so he starts learning to step back in those moments and leave the decisions to someone else. he has never not owned up to his mistakes, he takes responsibility for everything he’s done, and if he notices a problem he can’t solve himself, he asks for help.

and i find that fun to explore. like, percy’s been likened to hamlet in the actual show, and i was the kid who got super obsessed with hamlet when i was like 15 because i was in that same mental space of suicidal self hatred and existential melancholy but also thinking i was the smartest person in any given room and being too young to have gotten over the arrogance that makes you ignore everyone else’s needs for the sake of indulging your own problems. and then i got older and realised there are smarter ways to go about things, like having empathy and appreciating the light in the world and not being a dickhead to people because it makes you feel better, and maybe hamlet can be justified and in the wrong at the same time. and while there’s some stuff i won’t spoil for you, percy after ripley kills him is definitely starting to learn that, which you rarely see in the hamlet archetype, bc everyone’s like “ah yes so Deep so Important who cares what bad things this person did they had Trauma and are Clever”

well, percy cares about the bad things he did, and cares about not doing those anymore. so like, he’s still a disaster of a person bc he’s like 23 and no one has their life together at 23, especially not someone in percy’s situation, and honestly i find that fun to watch as well bc i like watching characters make stupid mistakes and do stuff i’d never approve of in real life, and as i mentioned at the start, taliesin makes captivating and funny characters. but yeah, that’s generally where percy’s at, most of the time

#would you believe me if i said this was the second shorter attempt at answering this ask?#i honestly tried to pare it down but this hit at least 6 or 7 separate essays in my head that all wanted to be included #and then i had to figure out how to combine them #my brain keeps giving me more things i should add but i think this is enough to be going on with for now 😂#but hey anyone who likes listening to me talk about percy know i can keep going #this is my word MINIMUM #(and it's still over 2k im so sorry)#but yeah hope this helped!#cr1 #percy de rolo #cr thoughts #text #meta #ask #megabees3

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celialestial · 4 years

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Okay. Well, if I’m being honest, this episode was not the greatest. This is also the first analysis I’ve made for a show, at least that I’m posting. We’ll see how this goes. Strap in, this is going to be long.

I think we have all learned by now that Jamie-focused episodes are never the strongest. I find it a bit ironic that in a show called Jamie Johnson, the least interesting character is Jamie himself.

We finally saw the end of the, dare I say, idiotic Under-13s subplot. The classic “arguing friends are trapped in a room together until they make-up” trope was used to its, not fullest, but decent potential. The greatest part of this episode was the fact that their eighth-grade drama was resolved; that and the ten seconds of screentime Dillon received. Liam continues to prove that he has still not grown. Here’s my analysis of his development:

[I was going to insert a clever chart of his nonexistent growth, but I’m too lazy, sorry. Here’s a paragraph about it instead:]

Liam needs to learn that manipulating people and pretending to have changed is not maturity, it’s being an asshole. He has a terrible father, that’s true, but Dillon managed to change. Nothing has ever truly been at stake for Liam. He’s been able to lie and manipulate others to get out of all the trouble he’s caused. He was given a second chance to play with the Under-13s and has continued to use those around him in order to seem, I don’t know. Big? Powerful? All he has done is made the Three Musketeers dislike him even more. He has done absolutely nothing to earn their trust. I could go on and on about Liam Simmonds, which I suppose proves he’s an interesting character (that’s more than I can say about some people *cough* Jamie *cough*).

Eric learns that Aisha has feelings for him too. Yay! He also learns that Aisha is much smarter and more mature than him, choosing to step back and give him time to be with his friends. Yay? Freddie has been incredibly weird this season. I can’t tell if he genuinely liked Aisha as more than a friend, or if he thought he was supposed to, given how much Eric liked her. This entire storyline comprised of way too much unnecessary drama. Looking at Instagram comments, however, it seems that it was very popular among younger kids. I suppose I am a bit too old to be criticizing middle school relationship drama in a children’s show. Poor Alba was practically thrown to the dogs in favor of a petty love triangle. All of their problems were wrapped up so neatly, it felt a bit uncomfortable. Like they didn’t deserve this ending.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but something about this episode seemed off. When comparing it to other episodes with similar premises, the lack of emotion and genuineness becomes obvious. Take episode 10, for example, there were many (and I mean many) subplots. It was a little all over the place. And yet, the end of the episode left me feeling bittersweet, intrigued, and wanting more. This episode didn’t do that. I am sick of Jamie’s bullshit and tired of this dumb love triangle. Thankfully, the latter is complete now.

Onto Jamie’s storyline:

1) I told y’all Jetpac11 would be Jethro! These are some big brain hours.

2) This boy is supposed to be the TITLE character. His storyline is meant to be the most in depth, the most interesting, and, above all else, the most entertaining. It is none of those things. The stakes are supposed to be high, and they are, but they don’t feel like it? He supposedly lost his place at Hawkstone over a goddamn video game. Why don’t I feel anything except contempt? If not frustration at Jamie, then frustration at Ian, who I suppose I should be used to by now. Everyone says Jamie should know better than to trust him after all he’s done. That he should just listen to Mike. Obviously that’s true, but Ian was on his side, not the other way around. Ian enabled Jamie and allowed him to make a stupid decision, one that has huge consequences. Ian didn’t tell Jamie to keep playing for his own gain, well, kind of. He let Jamie keep playing because he though it would make him happy and regain his trust. It’s the same reason Mike lied to Hawkstone. Both adults displayed extremely poor judgement, Ian just far more so, as always. I must admit that I have zero interest in video games. I also have zero interest in soccer (or, rather, football). Yet this show keeps me interested in the matches and invested in the characters. They have failed at maintaining my interest in this video gaming storyline. Part of this could be because I find Jamie boring and repetitive, or maybe he simply seems that way due to the plethora of vastly more compelling side characters. All I have learned from this is that Jamie is a pretty terrible friend, a poor judge of character, and impulsive. These are all faults he has had since season 1, except he used to be a genuinely decent friend. He has grown more self-involved and one-sighted (and one-sided, as in one-dimensional, or you could take it literally, seeing as one leg is currently out of commission). I get that he was hit by a car and his leg is broken. He doesn’t see a future in soccer for himself anymore. Mike is right, though, he should be focused on getting better and being able to play again. I don’t even like Mike most of the time -- I honestly find him fairly annoying, although this may be due to the acting -- but he is the only sane one in the Johnson family right now. Both of Jamie’s parents are enabling him and Mike has too, though only for around an episode and a half. I am so happy this storyline will be resolved next week. I am sure we will still be left with a cliffhanger at the end, as with every season.

Dillon also got a bit of screentime in this episode (wow, a whole twenty seconds!). I really do like the way the writers are portraying how conflicted he is. He is torn between living a lie or risking his future as a professional player. I understand why they introduced Elliot. He was Dillon’s first crush and I think he was necessary for Dillon to come to terms with his sexuality. Where they messed up with Elliot, however, is by entirely removing him from the show after he fulfilled his purpose of giving Dillon the strength to come out. Just as @mcustorm said, he was a plot device and it was out of character for him to out Dillon. I could probably write a whole essay about how dirty both Elliot and Kat were done. The only way using exclusively Ruby to further Dillon’s storyline would’ve worked was if they kept the whole “Ruby has a crush on Dillon” thing from season 4. Doing that would likely ruin their entire dynamic as best friends and make things awkward. If they had done that and made, say Harry or Michel his first crush, they wouldn’t need Elliot to be Dillon’s first real crush. Although, Dillon was only around 11 or 12, and most real crushes don’t hit until 13-14, at least in my experience. Also if they had ruined Dillon and Ruby’s dynamic, then Dillon would have no real support system. I can’t really see Ruby abandoning Dillon over this, though, even if she had an unrequited crush.

Next week should wrap up both Jamie’s and Dillon’s storylines. It will also be the final episode of season 5! A lot to look forward to and a lot to be absolutely terrified of, not to mention the fact that season 6 production has been postponed for obvious reasons.

TL;DR:

It’s the end of the Under-13s drama! And possibly the end of Aisha, knowing how JJ deals with its newly irrelevant characters.

Jamie is being stupid and probably lost his chances of getting into Hawkstone. Or maybe not, considering he’s the protagonist of a kid’s show. JJ does have a habit of dealing out real consequences, though, so who knows.

Dillon got... something? He’s feeling conflicted, which is entirely natural, especially at this stage in his coming out.

Next week is the last episode! Stay tuned for more, I guess. Let me know if you guys enjoyed this type of proper analysis.

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aprincessofdaxam · 5 years

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So here's the thing. When the Supergirl S3 finale aired, I absolutely hated it. And it took me nearly a year to be willing to watch it again. Because not only was I just flat-out upset because I ship Karamel and because my two favorite characters were written off the show (although at least they have each other - wait, do you hear that sound? It’s the sound of Imra screaming from the 31st century as Mon-El and Winn drive her nuts) ...

But Mon-El’s final scene? With the speech about how for a minute he thought maybe, just maybe, this was his place? Gutted me. Absolutely gutted me. We all get set off by different things, and I kid you not, that scene gave me a wicked surprise attack of homesickness and I literally cried until 4 a.m. (sometimes I hate you and your emotive acting, Chris Wood).

(complete gifset from @the-karamel-blob here)

But you know what, a year down the pike? I don't hate it. Don’t get me wrong. I'm still pretty bitter about the Karamel bait-and-switch, I still miss our outer space stray puppy terribly, and I call total BS on the "it was always a two-year arc" thing, but I actually think it was a really beautiful and meaningful send-off for Mon-El in that moment.

And anyway, it's been awhile since I've written a literal essay about Mon-El and our space puppies so LET'S CHAT. Novel on the S3 finale beneath the cut, for dash prettiness.

(also included: Why I still think Karamel is endgame, why I think Mon-El will be back, what I really think went down behind the scenes, and what Winn's appearance in S5 might mean)

Tagging @peggystormborn and @facepalming-since-chernobyl because why the heck not, you all like character/plot analysis

When Kara first creates her superhero identity, she spends a LOT of time comparing herself to Clark. And others also compare her to Clark - and she internalizes all of it.

"What, Metropolis gets him, and what does National City get? Some rookie superhero?"

"It's funny - that was the first thing he did. Save a plane, I mean."

"If she's anything like him, she's a hero."

"What are you waiting for? Superman would've blown it out by now!"

"Why do you keep criticizing Supergirl for trying to save the city? When Superman started, it was he, he, he. Him, him, him."

"My cousin didn't have a get-out-of-jail-free card when he first started. Neither should I!"

"I was supposed to be the one saving him, not the other way around. How am I supposed to really become a hero if Superman has to keep saving me?"

"If I was in Metropolis, Clark and I could protect the city and keep each other safe. And there's still so much I want to learn from him."

Now, this isn't about whether it's valid to compare Kara to Clark, or about the layers of problems that come in when you start comparing women to men - that's a whole other essay. It's about Kara's feelings, how Kara defines being a hero, and the standard she feels she needs to live up to as a hero. And since this show is built around Kara, Kara's standard for heroism become the show's definition of it, and the standards the other characters in the show should be held to in their various pursuits of goodness in the world, as well.

And that creates a very interesting comparison between Kara's arc through the first two seasons of the show (S1-S2) and Mon-El's arc in the two seasons he's appeared in thus far (S2-S3).

When Kara starts out in her journey, at the start of S1, she is in this headspace where she is constantly comparing herself to Clark. But she learns so much and accomplishes so much and shows so much strength, that by the end of S2, they have moved her to this point in her hero's journey where she is Clark's equal or superior - not only in terms of physical strength (when she defeats him after Rhea brainwashes him with silver K), but in emotional strength, as she chooses the greater good over her own personal self when she has to let Mon-El go. And her status at that point is by Clark's own admission - the person she was trying to live up to all that time.

"I think it goes far beyond 'the right thing.' I couldn't have done it, Kara. I'm humbled by you. Yeah, I'd like to think that if it came down to a choice between Lois and the world .... but I don't think I could."

So how does that relate to Mon-El's journey? Because there are a lot of parallels between Kara's hard decision at the end of S2, and his hard decision at the end of S3. And if, at the end of S2, we're supposed to see Kara as a fully-realized hero, a true champion, then that's how he's sent off as well (I'd definitely argue that Mon-El showed brave and heroic qualities even in S2, even while on a steep learning curve, but go with me here, because the parallel is really meaningful when you get to it)

Just as Kara held Clark up as her bar for being a hero, Mon-El holds Kara up as his ideal and his definition of a hero when he starts off on his journey - to the point where he eventually founds the Legion in her image.

"And whether we're together or not, being near her, it makes me a better person. It makes me the person that I want to be."

"I think we could all stand to be a little more like you. More optimistic and brave."

"I mean, you do that every day. I don't even understand it. You make it look so easy to do the right thing that you wouldn't even guess that it's that hard. But it's hard. You sacrifice a lot for everyone else, and I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record here, but I admire you.

"I promise I'm going to be the man that you thought I could be. I promise."

You inspired me. So when I founded the Legion, I chose to use you as an example of what we could be. Of what we aspire to be."

"We base the entire philosophy of the Legion on Supergirl. Have you considered that she might have the right approach here?"

And just as Kara faces that harsh decision at the end of S2 that she needs to give Mon-El up for the greater good, Mon-El faces an identical decision at the end of S3. And, just like Kara (who made a decision Superman himself says he couldn't have made, who is a true champion), Mon-El makes that hard call.

And just as Clark told Kara when she made that hard call that he was humbled by her, validating her admiration of him, Kara gives Mon-El her hero's blessing of his decision, too. Now, I don't think these writers are particularly clever or good at continuity :P But they use the word "admire" so consistently between Karamel that I have to believe it's a deliberate choice. Mon-El tells Kara throughout S2, as he's learning, how much he admires her. And his journey takes him to a place where Kara is able to return that word to him, sincerely and meaningfully.

"There wasn't much to inspire me on Daxam." "What about the prince?" "He wasn't worth admiring. But I wanna be."

"I mean, you do that every day. I don't even understand it. You make it look so easy, to do the right thing that you wouldn't even guess that it's that hard. But it's hard. You sacrifice a lot for everyone else and I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record here but I admire you."

"You wouldn't be the man you are, if you did. The man I admire so much."

(Tacking on to this because there’s plenty of other things to read and link to here - there was an excellent discussion we had a long time ago about Kara’s emotions and reactions during this scene where @emarasmoak and @i-am-aci01 had some great catches)

The other thing that strikes me as a parallel between Kara and Mon-El in those two season finales is the dissonance between the two of them, who have made the hard, heroic choices, and everyone else.

At the end of S2, everyone seems happy except Kara, who proceeds to isolate herself. Alex and Maggie get engaged. J'onn and M'gann are (temporarily) together. Winn and James are currently successful in their vigilante superhero forays. Clark goes home to Lois.

And at the end of S3? Mostly, our characters are happy. Kara says she's decided where her true home is, but knows her mother is safe. Winn is setting off to the future, where he knows he's important and needed. Imra has her sister back. Alex has her new role and plans to pursue parenthood. J'onn has lost his father, but is setting off on his new path. James reveals himself as Guardian. And Mon-El makes a decision out of duty that guts him. @sweeter-than put it very well: "Everyone else in this episode got an optimistic season’s end coda. Meanwhile, Mon-El is leaving the love of his life to go fight a dangerous war. ... [He] is the only character framed as being separated from his ideal destiny, where the destiny and the obligation have no middle ground."

Now we've talked about what this show wanted to tell us here. Are they saying you can't have it all - which, in Kara's case, is an inherently more complicated discussion because she's a woman? That heroes are always doomed to sacrifice? That work-life balance is a joke?

I think what's MORE IMPORTANT though, and the real message, is what Cat tells Kara (and hell, the title of the S2 finale itself). It applies in both cases. It really applies.

"You, my dear, are on a hero's journey. And yes, you have hit an obstacle, but you will soar right over it."

That's the message.

MOVING ON!

.....

I think that applying that statement to Mon-El is part of why I feel so strongly that his story isn't over yet. Because he's on a hero's journey. The story the show was telling with this character was someone evolving into a hero, someone who is a sympathetic character, someone we're supposed to root for. And how could the final picture of him we have at the moment, where he's so sad and so weighted down, be our final picture of that character? Yeah, the innermost cave, belly of the whale, whatever you want to call it, is part of the hero's journey. But just as Kara goes into those depths and then emerges to find triumph and happiness again, I have to believe they're not going to leave another character they spent so much time investing in that unhappy. We're going to see him again, and they'll give him a happy ending. Or, if they can't work out another appearance for him, because we're talking about real people with a lot of moving parts, we'll get some sort of confirmation he's happy (more on that in a second). They're not going to leave him at loose ends if they can help it.

Now when I talk about them investing in the character - think not just about the storytelling, with this slow burn they had going with Karamel throughout S3, but about the level of promotion during that season, especially the back half. They had Mon-El in the CW midseason sizzle reel, and in a number of promotional posters/photos. They built up to the red-and-blue suit SO MUCH, and why do all of that if it was something you were only going to use for a literal handful of episodes? Some of those pieces of evidence, plus the slow burn/abrupt shift storytelling, plus how open-ended they left things with the relationship, makes me call TOTAL BS on the "it was always a two-season arc thing," and makes me keep believing Karamel is still endgame.

IMHO, Karamel has always been written with that endgame-ish type of storytelling - enemies-to-lovers trope, true love's kiss, spending so much time re-building the relationship between them, etc, etc, etc. You all know what I'm talking about. ((And please note, even though this could be another essay entirely, just because I think they're endgame doesn't mean I think neither character should ever be in another relationship again. I think you LEARN things from every relationship you're in, and Mon-El and Kara were both relatively inexperienced relationship-wise when they got together - Mon-El came from a planet of hedonists where he had flings, not relationships, and Kara had crushes that she couldn't really act on because broken noses, amirite? There were things I genuinely loved about Mon-El and Imra. And I'm not freaked about the possibility of a midgame LI for Kara - it wouldn't lessen my feelings about this being endgame))

Anyway - the story they were telling throughout S3 pointed to Karamel reuniting. They really dialed it up through the final episodes with the robot-cockblocked conversation on Argo (actually everything on Argo - Mon-El with the kid and Kara's heart eyes, the double date, etc, etc, etc), Mon-El pulling out the necklace at opportune moments to remind the viewers he never forgot her, Kara’s multiple conversations with Alura about him (there’s a cut scene from the finale, as well, where Alura tells her that love stories are never simple), Mon-El’s conversation with Winn about not being able to lose her again. They point at it, and then do an abrupt about-face in the finale. I really think that they were heading toward a reunion. We’ll never know exactly what happened behind the scenes, and I know people have different theories, but my gut feeling is that they were discussing behind the scenes whether or not Chris would be back for S4, the writers headed toward their planned ending (a Karamel reunion and a relationship in S4) while hedging their bets with the slow burn, and Chris ultimately made the decision to leave late in the game, and so the writers threw the switch in the finale.

Again, this is entirely me speculating, but I think that Chris made the call to leave not only because he's a multifaceted person who had other behind-the-scenes things he wanted to pursue in the field, but because he walks the walk with his own mental health, and we all know there is a LOT of bullshit that flies around with this show on social media, etc. I'm reading a LOT between the lines here, but the S3 finale aired on June 18, 2018, so I'm assuming they were doing some editing and locking down of the things in May. Chris posted this the first week of May 2019. Excerpts -

"Well look at that: it’s Mental Health Month again! And what interesting timing for me, personally… let’s talk about it. This year has tested me in so many ways." "And while you’re at it, use this occasional toxic and negative platform for something positive and good." "Sending love and kindness to everyone, even the trolliest of trolls out there."

BUT ANYWAY.

Faced with the resources they had and the information they had, the writers still chose to leave things SO OPEN between Karamel. The original draft of the finale - which was shared by @emarasmoak + @snarkymonel ages ago, had a line from Mon-El, “Part of me will always mourn that our paths did not align … But I will always cherish knowing you.” That, to me, suggests a much more FINAL goodbye - and that line was cut, in favor of what we got - where there wasn't really a goodbye, because it might not be one. And the ring and the “In case you ever need me” is definitely a door left WIDE the hell open. The ring is a deus ex machina in case they ever want to use the character again.

My gut feeling - and again, with no inside information - is that Chris didn't want to be a regular anymore, for a number of reasons, but that he didn't leave on bad circumstances, and that he'd be happy to do a guest appearance because he wouldn't be walking into an ONGOING shitstorm (especially if it was something toward the end of the series run).

And regarding the other news we're starting to get about S5: I don't think the fact that Winn and Mon-El left together, and we've heard about Winn coming back but not Mon-El, means he WON'T be back. They could be dribbling out information a bit at a time to keep people interested as a marketing strategy - the Crisis crossover is the most ambitious thing they've EVER done, and you know they'll want to keep ramping up the excitement up all the way from now until December. They could have finished negotiating with Jeremy first while they're still working on Chris for that, or for another event down the line. Supergirl has a lot of "big event" potential coming up, between the crossover, the milestone 100th episode, Melissa's debut as a director, and they've got to be thinking ahead down the line to the eventual end of the series. All of those are things they'll want to really build up excitement for and maybe have some familiar faces around for.

I DO believe that Winn's appearance will tell us something about if, or how, they intend to use Mon-El again at any point, however. Look, the two of them are close. I wasn't that cranky when Brainy didn't mention Mon-El much last season - I got the impression they were more coworkers than friends, things were tense between them for a solid chunk of time over Brainy's role in Imra's secret plan, and then there was some SERIOUS snark thrown between them in the S3 finale in a cut scene (as for Brainy's one mention of Mon-El and his comment about "microagressions," we all dissected that here). I will be cranky if Winn, who has always been a close friend to Mon-El and is coming directly back to the story from working with Mon-El, doesn't mention him. But again, I think that mention will tell us a lot about the future of the character. He could tell the Superfriends (and thus, the audience) that Mon-El has reconciled with Imra, or has moved on to someone else (side note - in the comic canon, Mon-El's pet name for ShadowLass is "Shady" and I think that's adorable). He could even have some sort of tragic news about him, which seems less probable to me, because why go through the trouble of bringing him back from the dead in the S3 finale and then leaving things so open-ended if you were going to kill him offscreen? On the other hand, if Winn tells Kara Mon-El says hey, or he misses you (she misses him too!) or if they have some sort of heartfelt conversation about him, then that's obviously a positive sign.

I mean, who am I kidding, I have epic trust issues from their bait-and-switch with this story and I don’t trust any of the writers/showrunners as far as I can throw them and I am about three inches from FLIPPING OUT over this entire situation :P But I don’t feel so bad after some deep analysis.

#mon-el #mon-el defense squad #otp: comets #karamel #chris wood #supergirl #supergirl speculation #and all that jazz

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alchemist-shizun · 5 years

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As expected, Dealing with intrusive thoughts is now one of my favorites

Here I come with almost all of my reactions on the episode, even though I tagged the spoiler warnings I put everything under the cut just in case. Enjoy the emotional rollercoaster while I'll probably go and rewatch it again.

Okay kinda expected one or two of the warnings but all of them together what is gonna happen???? (Though they make sense after reading the title)

HELLO FRESH BACK AGAIN

"I'm awesome and I can do this" there goes my boy. *said boy falls flat on the floor* ...come on

I felt that yawn bc I stayed up all night waiting for the video but it dropped at 8 am, I'm an idiot who should've gotten more sleep

"help me" why is he such a mood "everything is going wrong in my life" same but YOU SHOULDN'T SAY THAT LET ME HUG YOU

They're all sinking up so fast god I missed my bois. Also the general awkwardness of Virge and Pat, greeeeat something will go wrong

Virgil just ignoring everything and touching the railing, a mood

ALSO PLEASE LET ROMAN IN THE SITUATION

SECRET SECRETS ARE NO FUN TELL ME NOW OR ELSE WE'RE DONE

wait why does Ro want to be deeply troubled- man are you okay-

LOGAN'S HERE

"your most extreme reaction is an eyebrow raise" "FALSEHOOD" "I stand corrected" omfg

"what are you ta- what are you talking- what are you talking about?" I loved that whole take it made me feel complete

"Look I barely got any sleep" this can apply to a lot of us and I love just how we're all always like "TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF" but in the end this is where we all end up anyway

Okay I'm very curious about these troubling thoughts though

"so sushi" FUCCC I DIED RIGHT THERE

"Don't act like that was an accident" "everybody, Virgil. Let's give it up for the Purp Man" these speak for themselves. Also the purp man is my new fav nickname and I'm gonna use it.

4:17 Patton is adorable bye

"if you continue to push this we're going to end up in really dangerous territory" AND THAT'S WHERE THE TENSION STARTED TO BUILD UP

great flick

"am I delirious or is this the funniest video I've ever made" I felt that

YOU HIGH-JOCKED

okay but when Thomas starts disassociating I also feel really weird like as if there was something blocking my own hearing for real?? And not just the audio edited like that?? Maybe I'm just too tired

WHAT WHO WHHH first intrusive thought making its way what is gonna happen

OH MY GOD ROMAN WATCH OUT ALSO THAT'S DEFINITELY A NEW DARK SIDE OR SMTH LIKE THAT

W HO THE FUCKLKDSL IS THAT A MOUSTACHE IS THAT GLITTER WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HE WEARING WHAT IS HE DOING THERE PLEASE- okay but he looks crazy af I like that

"-evIL" "-SHOW UP"

First time I watched the scene where Ro gets knocked out I literally just screamed "ROMAN" in a high pitched sound I was shook wtf my bOY

Patton and Thomas's yells in unison plus "YOU KILLED HIM" I just I JUST

"Ah, he's the Duke" "....... boo" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Okay but his voice is so on point with his character portrayal he's so weird it's awesome?

SONG SONG SONG and oh goodness the visuals I can't fathom how much editing work must have gone through this, they're all so talented.

"aunt patty naked" A G AI N??

"IM GONNA WHIP YOUR BUTT"

a snaKE IT'S DECEIT oh my these silouhettes are so great this is my favorite scene

this is gonna be stuck in my head all day

THE COOL MIRROR EDIT.

god i hate him so much already but i'm super intrigued he's so chaotic the whole team made a wonderful job i'll never stop saying this

"i'm really stupid right now" just how much out of context relatable content are we going to get on this fine day?

omg the dark version of creativity, which can be associated with intrusive thoughts, that's very clever

THE JUICY STUFF DANCE

"Repression can be very bad indeed" I mean he's right tbh it leads to never solving the problem at all

GO LOGAN GO HAVE YOUR TIME TO SHINE FINALLY i missed him

"i can't hear youuuuuu" much like "I don't understand what you're saying I don't know anything about words" THE DARK SIDES ARE ALL SASSY LITTLE BITCHES

pattonnnn did a real good job

THE BRAVE HANDSOME UNBEATABLE ROMAN and mashed potatoes

"scary" and Virgil just gives Thomas a look idk I live on the little details (Im ten minutes into the vid and look how long this post already is)

GEE Remus (already using his name bc it's shorter) looking so offended at the label and then pointing out it should be a Virgil problem whAT DOES THIS MEAN IM SHAKING

WHY WOULD HE BE DECEIT AGAIN IM DYING. "Idk if you guys can tell but I'm a little silly"

"then why are you lying" no everybody I don't need angst

THE BLACK AND THE WHITE THEORY I SAW GOING AROUND good job to whoever thought of that

JOAN

the forbidden dance

INTO A BUTTHOLE WHAT IS IT WITH HIM AND BUTTHOLES

there u go thomas said it too

haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate FHDSLAKLFD

irresponsible parenting, Logan completing the parental unit of the sides

"maybe there's hope for you after all!" me looking at all my wips

REMUS' LAUGH IS PERFECT. also "BITCH WHAT IS *YOUR* DEAL"

"you've never been one to soften the truth" OH BOI HERE WE GO

"do we have some case of brain swap???" I legitly said "maybe" in unison with Patton the first time

Vee pls stop putting Thommy boy down he's having a bad time

Logan trying to put some sense into the situation is my only spark of hope for this to turn back good

REMUS IS SO DRAMATIC

That lick was ....... let's pretend it never happened

"you know who can help us with that???" DECEIT'S SONG COMING UP that was great, imagine the chaos that the duo would create

"THATS WHAT REPRESSION IS?"

gasp Remus trying to make Virgil angry at Logan shall not stand DON'T PUT THEM AGAINST ONE ANOTHER HE'S JUST TRYING TO HELP

"you all are not listening to Thomas" this is the development I needed

"you're just para-" and he cuts himself. You all know what I'm talking about. Foreshadowing probably? This happened too back then when Roman was almost calling him the same. And then Virge looks so hurt I- "thank you for being on guard" that made me want to cry idk

the whole speech Logan gave? Pure gold. That was perfect.

HE SAID FIGURATIVELY *CLAP CLAP CLAP*

"UH RECORD SCRATCH?"

"does this make me cool?" djslagrkglhf also the teeth thing right after what the

... the deodorant eating ...

DUKEY

The first time I watched I thought his name was spelled Remis that's how dumb my Italian ass is

Still I love his name bc I'm a nerd for ancient culture, ESPECIALLY Roman (and ancient Greek but it isn't mentioned here) and I love the little thing they did with both Creativity names, super clever and very much liked on my part.

"I would never hide anything from you" and he looks at Virgil JUST ALL THIS FORESHADOWING

LOGAN SHOWING HIS TEETH BACK UP

"how about you shut up" Roman what the hecc man

THAT THING INTO LOGANS HEAD UNSETTLED ME A BIT

what are they doing to him today let him rest

double blow

"can we logic our way out of that?" everybody nodding was so pure

"shit"

THAT FUCKING JUMPSCARE I'M SORRY WHAT THE FU

"not all thoughts are meaningful"

He's go- no he's back again

THE CALLBACK MENTION AND PATTONS REACTION... probable foreshadowing to what Joan said about there being a part two of SvS?

"When are you actually gonna jump out of a moving car I've been bringing it up for years" so it's not just me..?

"it is okay if the thought happens to cross your mind"

"everything is okay" I'm going to cry I needed that

I love how Logan touches the topic that there is no problem in seeking help from therapists. There's a lot to say on this, but I was really glad that was pointed out since the are a lot of stereotypes on the matter

why did Virgil look like he was about to cry

Patton I love you

Thomas going to rest is what everyone wanted to see

Virgil confronting Remus I'm living you're doing amazing sweetie

"you tickle me emo"

"it was just like old times" then Pat and Lo's looks in this essay I will

ROMAAAAN

VIRGILS SMILE

"YOU'RE ALIVE"

"I LOVE YOU" ME TOO!! ME TOO ME TOO

"are you good?" "are you hurt at all?" I love when the sides look out for each other

"I'm sorry Logan" right through the heart. Another development.

I need y'all to look at Virgil in this exact second because. he.

that's my point.

All those smiles while Logan's talking are making me alive

"No seriously, you're ... really ... cool" I started tearing up right here. Twice. And then Logan sinks down cause he's not at all used to this and he's feeling t h i n g s please keep on being appreciated you deserve it

Also Patton always learning from his mistakes and understanding them when he does something wrong or he thinks in the wrong direction, that's something I think a lot of people need to learn, including myself. Like, it's okay to be wrong and make mistakes, just do your best to make sure you're improving yourself afterwards, instead of dwelling on it too much

"I don't like him" makes two of us

"Soooo you have a brother?" oh boy

The m i r r o r it's making me cry

"He's gone now and he's never coming back!" "I don't think that's-" "BYEE" what was all that talk about repression for if you contiNUE TO DO THIS ROMAN please I beg of you let us hELP YOU he's making me die inside

Oh boi the big moment. I already expected a bomb to drop since Virgil was the last one remaining.

"You okay buddy?" "Huh?" op somehow was already found crying

"I'm a little disappointed in myself" istg all that foreshadowing mixed with me wanting to hug him

The music picking up tension, this is poetic cinema let me tell you

I noticed how he calls them "the others", all these tiny details is what I'm living for

"I should know better" I couldn't beLIEVE IT, also how he seemed to be so frustrated made something inside me break

the pause and then "Because I was one of them", the music stops for a second, a little second in which you can hear my distant screaming "GOSH HE SAID IT IT WAS TRUE"

Thomas is speechless and just stares at him while the music picks up again and then Virgil's sigh and expression sinking down like "there you have it. that's the truth. and you can't do anything about it" he looks so defeated I'm breaking down.

Did I already mention poetic cinema? I just love angst and this scene was perfect

First time watching I, too, barely understood anything I was listening to in the last parte because all of that was really a lot to take in.

"Those thoughts that you may have thought do not define you"

"[the thought] may simply be that we are really okay"

"Go to bed!" me

no im not in the mood for food because for some unfathomable reason I had anxiety before the video dropped yay me

WHY ARE U DRINKING RED WINE WITH THAT DISH

GAVIN BEST BOY EVER

and last but not least: are you fucking serious Remus

THERE'S A SNAKE IN MY BUTT FANDFKJL

I didn't expect this topic at all and I am so glad it was talked about, thankfully my intrusive thoughts do not bother me as much as I realized other people's do. And I never saw anyone talking about this before, which is why it makes this video so important. I saw a tweet recently about someone saying that it is okay if you think about weird things, the important is that you never act on them, that's what makes you a good person. But I think this video really explains it far better and I never realized how common something like this was? So yeah another time in which I've been educated and couldn't be happier about it. These people really are bringing light to the world gah I LOVE THEM.

oKAY guess I'm done this was a wild ride and yeah I tend to point out EVERYTHING, so here you have it, as I already mentioned if you feel the need to geek out too, I'm here for ANYBODY! (pls I have no friends)

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davinciandwilde · 5 years

Text

God of Dust and Paper

I try to imagine you, on occasion

I am not unique in this; we have been trying to depict the God of Creation

For generations. Paintings by Michelangelo, Giovanni and so on

Show an old man with flowing robes and white beard drawn

With that near blinding backdrop of light that washes out any details

This is consistently the image that prevails

How much is interpretation or carefully sculpted commissions doesn’t matter I guess

They are all piss poor pitiful representations that can’t capture your essence

I wonder if paintings and sculptures aren’t the only places where your essence gets missed

But that’s a different conversation so let’s not drift

Consistently you have been depicted passive and watching with bold sharp strokes

I remember the first time I saw a version of you when I still went to church with my folks

I was still a kid, listening to a fire and brimstone sermon under your sketchthin narrow eyes

Only true believers get through the narrow gate to make it to that place in the sky

Make sure you are one by following the rules and properly-staying inline

I remember my crooked bare feet and straight back spine

Trying to understand all those lines and keep away from any one side

All of these laws I was scrambling to obey and categorize

Imagine my anxiety and fear when I couldn’t fit in any of this unyielding framework

It wasn’t until years later when I started ironing out these odd quirks

That even you couldn’t possibly fit in the form or proportions of this visage

If we were created in your image

I wonder if there is any flesh to you that yields under touch

I wonder if there is any fat to you that I could clutch

Any softness I could press into and find some small amount of comfort

Do you bruise or ache from the work suffered

Or are you some Adonis from muscle and stone

Unyielding, omnipotent, omniscient creator on an equally hard throne

I think about hands hard enough to leave craters and impressions on this earth

And question if we, your creations, leave any impression on you, any at all since the first birth

Created in your image. But what shape of eye, what color, what form would be worthy to mimic you?

Is it even possible to touch you, assuming your form isn’t a light that’s too bright to see through

Or a fire that just burns like searing stars or sweltering suns

Or a live coal pressed to the lips to cleanse an unclean tongue

I imagine you drifting across the cosmos, expanding universes, decorating galaxies,

I try to imagine the world before it understood the meaning of causalities

Like a child, exploring color, heat, gravity, these cycles and rings, and halos

Breathing stars and gathering them on the tips of your fingers, refracting the light just so

These particles of darkness warping around the pureness of your light

Even black holes, insatiable for something hearty and bright

Do not have the audacity to reach for the hem of your cloak

I imagine your finishing touches on this solar system you invoked

The Spirit moving over the face of the waters

It was here you decided to add to your titles: The Potter

These particles not yet formed, but you saw our shape

And decided yes, in this nothing, I will create

A being with purpose and meaning and love and in my image

Not even the angels of heaven had such a privilege.

I wonder what the angels were thinking or if they wanted to ask your reasoning

When you swept up a pile of dust and dirt and decided it was worth something

May I be honest with you, can I leave it all on the floor?

I swear that there is an atom, some lingering molecule deep in my core

That knows that this is what we were formed

This clay, this dust, this dirt it is just transformed

We were meant to be kicked up and pushed aside

Swept and collected into the trash to be tossed outside

Cleaned and scoured away in a great flood

Staining clothes and smudging skin we were meant to be washed away

We were meant to unwanted, to be less than nothing

But you gathered all these atoms up and decided that we could be something

Collected the dust of the ground and created Adam. The first person

Created knowing that we would be stupid enough to listen to a serpent

So, you formed these bodies and called them temples

Created in your image, these were assembled

Honestly, there are days when that feels like blasphemy

The audacity that holiness could be mimicked in this anatomy

You knew we wouldn’t house you in here either

You knew we would turn to smaller gods, creatures, and clever deceivers

Easier ideas and concepts that we could comprehend

Things that took less time and energy to love and tend

Can we be honest? There are days you hard to understand and hard to love

There are days when this world you created is hard to love

When your people, your precious children, are hard to love

When this body of Christ, this temple that is supposed to be peace and grace gifted from above

Is really hard to love?

Be honest with me, tell me we are hard to love.

Can we be honest that love is hard

Why did you think we could handle the ability to love?

But you did it anyway, only you know why

Broken bones, dust, clay, maybe kilned in holy fire or stardust, I’ll ask when I die

You created these temples then made it an option to house you

Some of us try to create a place worthy enough

For our Creator, Worldbuilder, and celestial maker who causally breathes star stuff

When we can only work from that which we were created

Insecure and fumbling, arguing to understand the basics of the sacred

Do you hear the joints creek, these stones grinding under thin plaster

Do you feel the columns sway sometimes with natural disasters

Do you know why there is no ceiling

I am constantly looking up to see if there is any sense to my kneeling

The only thing stable here is the dirt floor

The impression of our knees side by side the only thing I have of your presence to account for

I try to imagine the temple erected by Solomon gilded in gold and bronze and iron

I think about your throne, of cherubim, ophanim, and seraphim choirs

I think about how if ethereal beings of light and star and fire are beneath you

If the Holy City will be paved in gold and thousands of precious stones imbued

What does this temple of mine have to offer?

What devotions, what praises, what love could I possible sing

There is nothing on this earth worthy enough to bring

What could I possible place upon this flickering heartsized alter

These graceless inadequate words that the fill air isn’t even mine to take

I’m just filling it, filling it like all these empty pages with essays and poems I make

These prayers acting more like letters and conversations

Is there any worth to these lengthy exchanges?

Hoping that something of value might span the generations

There were offerings here: lacethin smoke deliberations

The curlcrush edge of careful consideration and investigation

But even these will fade, reaching back to where they began

Dust back to dust, before there was earth, sun, moon or man

The temples of old were stained with blood and mine is as well

But the blood is not mine, and I could not conquer hell

Smeared on the altar and the door frame

Your lion turned lamb son sacrificed and slain

Dark skies, earthquakes, resurrected saints, weeping angels, is this how you grieve?

Was it you tearing your own cloak, when the curtain of the temple was cleaved?

There are days when I wonder if the tears that dot these floors are yours or mine

If maybe there is a reason one of the best known miracles was turning water into wine

Are there days when you really look at what we are and what we’ve done

And the reflection it makes, however distorted, about you, the holy spirit, and your son?

Made in your image and I’m told you never regret it

That you love us still, no matter if we do or do not commit

The only thing I have to offer is my life, my heart, my soul and mind

To a being that literally, not even in images, can be confined

All temples will fall. To ruin, to destruction or to time

Even Moses, David, and Elijah left only blueprints behind

I’d like to think, after this temple of mine falls

No imprints in the sand, just shelves filled in the walls

That somebody might still pass over and say

“This is holy ground, this space of paper, dust, and clay

Love lived here, and though its alter is cold

The offerings and gifts given have been increased a hundredfold”

When they run their hands over the edges now flush

And the corners powdersoft in the climbing brush

I hope they find the core of you and all the details you adorned

I hope they say that I was well-loved and not well worn

You are a God of Love and Creation and Majesty

Glory be to the hands that weaved the tapestry of humanity

But you are also my God, a God of dust and paper

And I wonder what will happen when the efforts of my labor

Are blown away as softly as golden sand in the blazing desert

Will you collect those pieces as delicately as Adam in the dirt

Made in your image, but if I am completely honest

Of everything we have spoken of, may I have one small promise

If, in the end, I only return from that which I was created

Dust back to dust, it would have been worth it if I just could be designated

These particles of mine just placed in your brilliant light

To dance and float and shine. It would be worth every fight

Made in your image, let me see what that meant

Until then, I will do what I can with what little I understand, to represent.

#my poetry #original poems #poems #free to reblog #one more for the night

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obscurehistoricalinterests · 5 years

Text

Repossessing the Body: Transgressive Desire in “Carmilla” and “Dracula” (III)

By Elizabeth Signorotti (1996)

Part I - Part II

Thesis: Carmilla is a story of female empowerment, and Dracula is a patriarchal response to it.

Repossessing the Body: Transgressive Desire in “Carmilla” and “Dracula” (part III)

Laura’s father is equally ineffectual as a protector of women. On the evening Carmilla disappears from the schloss (another breach of the separate sphere ideology, in which women are “expected to isolate [themselves] within the home” [Senf 55]), Laura and her maids “grew frightened... [and] rang the bell long and furiously. If my father’s room had been at that side of the house,” Laura says, “we would have called him up at once to our aid. But alas! He was quite out of hearing.” The physical remoteness of her father’s room mirrors his removal from all transactions involving either Laura or Carmilla. Le Fanu emphasizes Papa’s ineffectuality by locating him at the schloss’ perimeter as well as the narrative’s edge. Realizing his disempowered state, Laura “began to cool a little, and soon recovered [her] sense sufficiently to dismiss the men” she had summoned. They, like Spielsdorf and Papa, can offer nothing vital.

Carmilla’s sexual possession of Laura foils Papa’s attempts to marry her to General Spielsdorf, a match that could reestablish the male bond and the male exchange of women. By the time Spielsdorf returns to Styria, Laura’s illness is visible. Her father laments, “I wish our good friend, the General, had chosen any other time; that is, I wish you had been perfectly well to receive him.” Laura’s father fears her malady will reduce her value on the husband market, yet he still hopes Spielsdorf is “thinking of claiming the [Karnstein] titles and estates.” Her father says this “gaily,” Laura tells us, “but the General did not recollect the laugh, or even the smile;... [instead] he looked grave and even fierce.” Spielsdorf realizes that Papa has no right to “transact” his daughter, who has already assumed that right and made an exchange with Carmilla. Although Veeder argues that Laura laments her exclusion from the “relationship among males” in which her father participates, no evidence for this exists in the text. On the contrary, Laura relishes the liberating feelings resulting from her alliance with Carmilla: the “gentle, and somehow not unwelcome possession” and the “peculiar cold thrill [against her breast preceding] a sense of exhaustion.” Rather than envying the relationship among males, the two women enjoy the power of female alliances.

Laura’s and Carmilla’s female alliances result in a rejection not only of marriage but of motherhood as well. Senf notes that “during the nineteenth century [it was assumed that] motherhood was a woman’s highest duty.” Their transgressive relationship disrupts the laws of procreation necessary to maintain social order. Le Fanu, however, refrains from making them culpable for their procreative transgression and from condemning his vampiric representation of lesbian desire, leaving “Carmilla” more open-ended than may at first appear.

“Carmilla”‘s resolution follows the traditional means of vampire extermination, but the neat resolution “fails to contain the larger forces of which Carmilla is only a single manifestation.” Realizing that Carmilla is the vampire responsible for the mysterious malady plaguing Styria, Spielsdorf and Papa enact the obligatory staking scene (significantly termed “transfixation” - literally, nailing down something gone wild - by the Catholic church) then burn her body and scatter her ashes in the river. This scene, however, only ambiguously ends Carmilla’s existence. Since Le Fanu suggests “that a vampire’s victims must become vampires themselves,” he raises questions in the reader’s mind “about the ultimate fate of both Laura and Mlle. Rheinfeldt.” Indeed, we learn that “it is the nature of vampires to increase and multiply... according to a ghostly law... [and that a vampire] spectre visits living people in their slumbers; they die, and almost invariably, in the grave, develop into vampires.” Moreover, in the prologue to “Carmilla” the editor of Laura’s story informs us that he “was anxious to reopen the correspondence commenced by Doctor Hesselius, so many years before, with a person so clever and careful as his informant seems to have been. Much to my regret, however, I found that she [Laura] had died in the interval.” By the time the tale reaches its readers, both Laura and Bertha have died, yet presumably they continue to live as ressurected vampires, perpetuating the chain of female alliances begun by Carmilla.

The conclusion to Laura’s tale is as ambiguous as the extermination of Carmilla. During the spring following Carmilla’s transfixation, Laura’s father takes her on a tour through Italy. The year-long tour represents his attempt to reinstate Laura in the male chain of exchange, to reinscribe her into the world of her father and cure her of the lesbian desire she still maintains. But his attempt fails. Laura has tasted the sweet fruit of self-determination and fulfilling desire and does not wish to return to her pre-Carmilla life. She writes that, despite the passage of time, “to this hour the image of Carmilla returns to memory with ambiguous alternations - sometimes the plaful, languid, beautiful girl; sometimes the writhing fiend I saw in the ruined church; and often from a reverie I have started, fancying I heard the light step of Carmilla at the drawing-room door.” Laura ends her account fancying that Carmilla is poised to enter the drawing room. This image suggests her longing for Carmilla to re-enter her, to penetrate her once more. By this point, Laura has changed as a result of her vampiric love. No longer a mere “sign,” she has become a fleshed-out, desiring woman. Far from restoring Laura to her father’s systems of exchange, the conclusion of her narrative confirms the reader’s suspicion that everything Carmilla represents, if not Carmilla herself, remains loose and desirable in Styria.

Like the unframed Karnstein portrait, the entire “Carmilla” narrative is incompletely framed. In the brief prologue the editor comments: “upon a paper attached to the Narrative which follows, Doctor Hesselius has written a rather elaborate note, which he accompanies with a reference to his Essay on the strange subject which the MS. illuminates.” Yet the narrative ends without presenting either Dr. Hesselius’ note or the editor’s concluding remarks. Instead, “Carmilla” ends with Laura’s reverie. The frame that opens the tale is never closed, recalling the lack of closure around Carmilla’s effigy. The prologue’s editor also informs us that Laura was Doctor Hesselius’s “informant,” but Laura’s pointedly addressing her story to a “town lady like you” eliminates the male link between her and her reader and provides a direct route from one woman to another. Le Fanu’s incomplete narrative frame supports the perception of “Carmilla”’s women as free from male systems of control or exchange. Laura’s relationship with Carmilla is not sandwiched between an editor’s and doctor’s comments and then exchanged with the reader; rather, like Spielsdorf’s and Papa’s failed attempts to contain these women, the editor similarly fails to frame them in his narrative. Laura addresses her female reader directly, eliminating any intervening male agent, just as she and Carmilla eliminated the middle-man in their own exchange.

Dracula is Stoker’s response to Le Fanu’s portrayal of female empowerment. If Le Fanu frees his female characters from subject positions in the male kinship system, Stoker decidedly returns his to exchange status and reinstates them in that system. Stoker’s female characters are “supreme gifs” (Levi-Streuss 65) whose exchange finally binds Dracula’s “little band of men” together. In Dracula, Stoker creates what Frederic Jameson would call a “laboratory space” to carry out “experiments” on female characters, ultimately achieving an “imaginary vengeance” against the rising power of women, particularly against women who assert control over their own sexuality. It is usually assumed that Stoker sought vengeance against women in Dracula because of his hostility toward prostitutes who had infected him with tertiary syphillis (see, e.g. Robert Tracy 46). But the root of Stoker’s struggle with women’s sexuality can be traced to his relationship with his wife. In 1878 he married Florence Balcombe, who one year later gave birth to their son, Noel. Stoker’s granddaughter believed that Florence “refused to have sex with Bram” after Noel’s birth, which has led to the perception of her as a “cold,” “aloof” woman who was “very anti-sex” (Farson 213,214). Whether or not she was sexually frigid is debatable. What is clear, though, is that her behavior toward her husband was unconventional - that sexually she did not fulfill her part of the marriage contract. In creating Dracula, then, Stoker was probably less concerned with achieving vengeance against a particular group of women who had infected him than he was with asserting control over a whole range of women, who, like his wife - indeed, like women throughout Victorian England who welcomed the New Woman movement - had violated conventional expectations about women’s sexuality. Rather than embrace sexually self-determining women such as Laura and Carmilla, Stoker placed the women of Dracula firmly under male control and subjected them to severe punishments for any sexual transgression.

Part IV can be found here.

#carmilla #dracula #j sheridan le fanu #bram stoker #vampire #vampire mythos #feminism #empowerment #women #erasure #compulsory femininity #feminist reading

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swan2swan · 6 years

Text

The issue of bloodlines and their burdens is not limited solely to Star Wars. Another story that tackles the issue perhaps even better than the Original Six (and a heck of a lot better than the Sequel Trilogy) is Avatar: the Last Airbender.

I know you’re all thinking of the same character, but we’ll get to him in a bit, because first, we need to study our Original Three protagonists, starting with Aang.

1. Aang is the Last Airbender, but he’s not some Air Nomad Prince; we still have never met his parents, and their legacy is irrelevant because of the monastic order he was raised in, but his heritage is one far more significant than blood: he is the Avatar. He is a reincarnation gifted with the ability to push past the boundaries of those already deemed exceptional. He can bend all four elements, he can enter the Spirit World at will, and he is capable of communicating with his past lives for advice and counsel. This is power people would kill for...and the theme of his story is coming to grips with it. Throughout his story, he rejects it, embraces it, runs from it, succumbs to it, and finally finds a way to balance it with himself. He decides that he is both the Avatar and the Last Airbender, the protector of all four nations and the one responsible for preserving the culture of Air. During all of this, he also balances himself with his titles, retaining his connection to his friends and his love for his family. We learn in the next series that it was a struggle up until the day the died, but he managed to do it...this is what makes him an Epic Hero. From the day he was born, he was destined to save the world, but he did it his way, and never allowed his responsibilities to erase his identity, or his personal attachments to let the world fail. He trusted in those around him and was able to save the world by sharing the burden.

2. Said burden, of course, falls on the shoulders of Katara and Sokka--or rather, into their willing hands. They are, amusingly enough, royalty themselves: Sokka is the son and heir to the chief, and Katara (like Luke) is the last practitioner of a power she inherited from her deceased parent (of course, Kya wasn’t ruling the Fire Nation, but we’ll get to that later). What does this royal lineage get them?

Absolutely nothing. When the Fire Nation ship rolls in and the soldiers storm their village, Zuko doesn’t go around saying “I need to speak to the chief!” and then sit down in a tent with Sokka for a diplomatic discussion: he has the villagers all lined up and bullied without regard for rank or status. It’s highly doubtful that Hakoda even had any royalty in his bloodline--he was probably just a big, strong man with a smart head on his shoulders who a lot of other villagers decided “hey, let’s follow him and listen to him and let him protect us,” and that’s how he became the chief. With some good strong genes and excellent parenting, he was able to raise his children to be strong, too...and that sums up what those two have going for them. The Northern Water Tribe doesn’t let Katara train because she’s a fellow princess; she fights and claws her way to the top (and then is trained anyway because Necklace Ex Machina, but the fact that it’s a Northern Water Tribe tradition and her grandmother’s migration are all well-done plot points makes it work), and her superpowered healing abilities are also something she masters with a lot of hard work...okay, so Katara’s a little OP, but she works hard, and she’s an example of someone who comes from nothing becoming a superhero.

Sokka, on the other hand, waltzes right into the first derelict island village he finds and says “Wassup, ladies, I’m the most powerful warrior among my people, feel free to ogle!” and is promptly trussed up and tossed to the floor...where he then returns to beg for forgiveness and training, because he learned that his rank, privilege, and power don’t mean a thing in the real world, and if he’s going to survive, he needs to be willing to humble himself and learn. And learn he does--studying hunting strategies, making traps, shadowing guerillas, infiltrating cities, protecting princesses, doing chin-touches, strumming guitars, faking diseases...all until he goes to train with a master swordsman, who does little more than help him to produce a weapon, because by this point Sokka’s seen so much action and drama that he’s a full-fledged warrior. Sokka’s journey is one of a boy earning his position as the heir to his father’s seat: he’s left with almost nothing, but keeps learning and adapting until he’s strong and clever enough to rescue his father from prison. Sokka began with the responsibility of having to inherit his father’s position, and he earned it.

3. Toph and Suki, the other members of Team Avatar, are also special, but neither of them really has responsibilities; Toph is wealthy and privileged, but her privilege is a cage, and she chooses to reject it to pursue her own goals. She trains Aang, she fights for freedom, and eventually opens a school and forms a security group...and then dumps all that on her daughters and runs away to a swamp, but that is yet another essay. Suki, on the other hand, is very similar to Hakoda: she’s in charge of a bunch of fighting women on some shanty island off the coast of the Nowhere Peninsula, a place so worthless it was the final tidbit on some ancient conqueror’s wishlist, and then it just broke from the land and moved away so it didn’t have to be involved with any drama. Suki runs the gym there. That’s literally what she does. She’s a part-time fitness instructor, part-time policewoman, and eventually she decides that she’s going to go off and help police other parts of the world, because what the heck else is she going to do with her life? Then she hijacks an airship and rescues other heroes during the apocalypse or something. The point is, Toph and Suki could have both stayed home and done nothing the whole time if they’d wanted, but they chose to do more.

4. All right, now it’s time for the one you’ve all been waiting for: Azula! Oh, sorry, were you expecting Zuko? Nah, we’re starting with his sister. Because she is everything Lucasfilm wants a bloodline legacy to embody: wealthy and privileged, proud of her genes and her talents, taught by the best, raised to be the best, and completely ruthless and uncaring...even cruel. It’s Azula who delivers one of the greatest speeches in the show, the speech that sounds like it belongs anywhere besides a Nickelodeon Cartoon: “I can see your whole history in your eyes. You’ve always had to struggle, and claw, and connive your way to power. But true power? The divine right to rule? Is something you’re born with.” The creepiest thing about the speech is that it uproots the classic literary promise of “Anyone can be a hero!” while still maintaining the theme of the show. It can be argued that Azula is right. She’s a main character, one with her own design and color palette, with more than two outfits to her name; the world isn’t going to be saved by Chong the Nomad or the hapless cabbage merchant, and it’s not going to be destroyed by one of the Rough Rhinos or Fire Nation Soldier 13. She coldly delivers a smackdown and leaves not only the lesser villains, but the audience questioning everything: are there those born to lead, and those born to serve? The grim answer the show provides...is yes.

5. This is where Zuko comes in. Prince Zuko. Royalty. Strength. Discipl...disciplin...dis...hehehe...”Discipline”. Zuko. HA. *ahem* No, but really, when we meet Zuko, he’s a fantastic villain. He has a giant metal ship, glittering armor, rippling black hair...and a menacing, terrifying scar. Fire comes from his fingertips, he seethes with rage, and he is Prince Zuko of the mighty Fire Nation: all of the world will tremble at his coming. But for a moment, a soft moment, we see his armor hidden by a cloak in the middle of the night, as he quietly seethes to his uncle about finding the Avatar and restoring his honor, and we hear him muse about his father to Aang, and see hints of a person beneath that.

Everything becomes clear in the third episode. Prince Zuko’s ship, which dwarfed Sokka’s village, sits timidly in the shadow of a line of much larger vessels. Commander Zhao towers above Zuko and wears much fancier armor, and then outplays Zuko in a mindgame. We see suddenly that Zuko’s status as a prince is all but worthless...his own father has rejected him. The scar on his face is not some amazing battle scar, but a mark of shame from a duel he lost--a duel we later learn was lost to his own father. Zuko triumphs in a fresh duel, showing honor and restraint, and a glimmer of kindness and mercy...but he continues to try and defeat the Avatar throughout his journey. Time and again, we see Zuko, this privileged prince, try to overcome the heroes...and he loses it all. He barely escapes being collected by his smarter, deadlier sister, and spends a whole season on the run, forced to conceal his true identity from everyone he meets out of fear and shame. He bears witness to the crimes his people have committed: broken villages, scarred legs, starving refugees. He’s given a choice, then, to stay among them...or to betray them all and return home. In his fear and impatience, he chooses the latter: he rejects goodness and chooses the privilege and power. He returns home, he is a hero, he has his father’s respect, his girlfriend’s love, everything he ever wanted...and this is a story that could not be told if he were anyone else.

Because then he realizes that this isn’t making him happy--he, too, has responsibilities. So he throws it all away, and marches to his father and tells him, straight-out, that he cannot live in safety and comfort while the rest of the world cowers in terror. He won’t turn a blind eye to the suffering of others. He leaves, flying off, and risks death time and time again, until finally he fights to win back the crown...and almost loses it to save the life of one of those peasants he’d tormented back in another life. Then, he stands tall and takes his place on the throne, and vows to use his privilege and power to better the world...and we see that he does. How? Because he’s royalty. The story is not about how “a good person can make a difference”, but that “people who can make a difference need to be taught how to be good”. Azula boasted about the “divine right to rule” giving power...yet Zuko’s mind was swayed by a peasant girl with a scarred leg, a boy who decided to fight soldiers with a knife, and a young rebel who couldn’t stand the sight of starving refugees. The core of power can be swayed by many who work together...and that’s the point of the show. Everyone has power. It’s how you use it that matters.

#atla #the world isn't saved by lee the earthbender who threw some rocks and started an avalanche #I may do a part 2 where I talk about yue mai and ty lee who are ALSO privileged individuals who contrast one another #especially yue because princess and sacrifice and blessing and SO MUCH #but this will do for now #my brain just died #tlj #tlj criticism #long post

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listoriented · 6 years

Text

2017 wrap-up

like xmas in july

It's July! 2018! Traditionally July is about when games websites publish their best-of-the-year-so-far lists. I'm bucking the trend by posting my very belated personal wrap-up of the last calendar year. Betcha didn't see this one coming. Fuck I'm just astoundingly clever.

(and/or I wrote this months ago but never posted it and now I’m stalling on finishing Broken Sword so consider this filler, or whatever)

List Oriented for 2017 was bookended by Bioshock 2 at one end, and A Boy and His Blob at the other. I managed to get through (just) twenty games. No primary letters were finished. We moved but one vowel or six standard letters along the second slot.

There were a few noticeable phases. The two big shooty franchises, the Bioshocks and the Borderlands, both threw their own wrenches into the gears. In between these I had a good run of breezing through (and largely discarding) a bunch of indie games in March through June, which made up maybe half of the years total. Botanicula was probably my favourite list-game of the year, although I'd already played it so that probably shouldn't count. I enjoyed Bioshock 2's DLC, Minerva's Den, and playing through the Borderlands Pre-Sequel with Lauren had some redeeming points. Black Mirror caused me to write the most words in frustration. But all in all I didn't get much reward from the list, so I'd like to spend the bulk of this post acknowledging the (non-list) games that kept up my love for the medium in the background of this and everything else.

2017 spat out a lot of quality games. Owing to budgetary reasons (we all know I'd rather just funnel all my money into Humble Bundles and ergo, hundreds of games I don't actually want to play rather than just outright buying the few games I really do) and holding off on getting a Switch til very late in the year, I think I barely scratched the surface of what came out.

I really enjoyed Tacoma, the well-realised space station setting, the quiet exploratory moments it afforded, its compelling method of storytelling, its considered examination of labour and technology. It's one of the most immersive, transportative experiences I've had in games in recent memory - nearly a year on I still feel like I can taste the sense of being in it. Night in the Woods similarly (although technically I didn't actually finish it 'til early this year) I thought really delivered in narrative and art - it has some really great, poignant writing, very believable dialogue and friendships and problems. Even though coal-town America is geographically and psychologically pretty far away and the characters are a good decade younger than me, its concerns felt very close and real.

Hidden Folks afforded late-night respite for a good few weeks. I found working my way through its quirky, Where's Wally scenes an incredibly calming way to clear my head before bed, even if the incessant mouse-clicking the game urges was repeatedly infuriating for Lauren (probably unrelated: we've since parted ways). In a broader sense Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles - a pacifist trading/crafting adventure - also went a long way to settling my nerves right when I needed it (as did we all need it for the entirety of last year). Despite early misgivings, I really enjoyed my time with it, particularly the subtle ways it encouraged exploration and its (unexpectedly) soft environmental beauty. I think about it fondly now even while knowing I'll probably never go back to it.

Dead Cells, despite being in early access, was probably my 2017 Game of the Year. I found its roguelike driven gameplay loop, slow unlocks and cute exploration mechanics to be fantastically addictive, though these were all just dressing for the meaty, twitchy platforming biffo at its core. I'd read about it first over at RPS where literally all of their writers seemed to be talking about it for a couple of weeks; perhaps unsurprisingly it ended up being their GOTY too. Let us never say I am above sheepdom. I'm looking forward to going back to it when it hits full release next month, and tbh I'll probably end up grabbing it on Switch too because that sounds just conceptually perfect.

In other "early access" accolades, my friend James bought me Player Unknown Battlegrounds aka PUBG aka PLUNKBAT aka Plunky B, out of friendship and kindness, and then again out of friendship and kindness he suffered having me disappoint him by getting killed and getting him killed over and over again. At other times I played with old-mate Roy, who gleefully but fairly nicknamed me "Backpack" (which stuck), and a casual, sprawling discord group we'd entered into through our good-at-all-kinds-of-networks pal AJ. My first chicken dinner happened on an otherwise genuinely awful-in-life weekend: my squad of four saw and fired on literally no-one except for one lonesome straggler to close out the game, in what felt at the time like some sort of transcendent miracle. I got fifty hours out of Plunky and enjoyed a good amount of that, even while being terrible. I really liked the rain and fog variants, but the developers have apparently ditched those for now, sadly. Or not? I don't know. I think I'm done with it.

Starcraft was remastered and relaunched. I played it for a little bit, enjoyed the nostalgia/feeling like I was 13 again, and then stopped playing but continued to enjoy watching Korean pros duke it out as they have done for twenty years, only now with more visually acceptable textures.

Characteristically late to the parties, I also enjoyed catching up on a few great titles of 2016. All are fairly familiar to the canon at this point, I guess, but here's the honour role: I celebrated the purchase of this laptop by playing Firewatch, which gave me a lot of ideas about mystery and narrative for an essay that I never got around to writing. I also quite liked playing with sharp and interesting dialogue in the surprisingly nervy supernatural realms of Oxenfree, although my memories of it have cooled a bit since. I thought Hyper Light Drifter was superb: really wonderful pixel colours and an excellent glitch-synth soundtrack, twitchy, difficult but rewarding top-down action gameplay, a beautifully ambiguous adventure narrative. Kathy Rain closes out this group - a fun and thoughtful suspense point and clicker that really nailed its 90's setting/themes/aesthetic, where despite getting needlessly stuck a bunch of times I found myself really invested in it.

It would probably also be dishonest not to mention to these records that I continued to play Rocket League throughout. Or not? Who really cares <3

So that's that, hey. Games are cool. 2017 was a cool year for new games, and for checking out games from the year before, if not really all that much else.

#2017 in review #tacoma #night in the woods #hidden folks #yonder: the cloud catcher chronicles #dead cells #pubg #firewatch #oxenfree #hyper light drifter #kathy rain #botanicula #minerva's den #black mirror #rocket league

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theproofinthisong · 4 years

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fine line review

oh my goooood i just finished listening to the album and i NEED to express my thoughts:

golden: didn’t know what to expect with this one but it’s?? so beautiful?? harry was so right saying it was a driving song it makes you want to go to california and watch the sunset from the car?? also the sun theme is so poetic and beautiful the way he uses it to talk about louis, his beloved?? the melody is quite simple but it’s so effective and these little da da da sounds the choir make in the background...heavenly. this part reminds me of another song but i can’t remember which one. what i love about this one is that it’s first time i’ve listened the lyrics seemed a quite sad (but riddled with hope still) and now the second time the meaning changed totally?? like it’s witchcraft how much the meaning can change once you look at the lyrics closely?? i know harry was talking about adore you when speaking about that feeling of bliss when you first meet the love of your life and fall completely but this is also what golden is about?? like being afraid but diving deep into it knowing this is right. i’m emo. in terms of vocals, it isn’t as BOOM as in other songs (in the sense that he’s not belting, using falsetto or a very low intonation that differs from his usual tone) but i love it!!! it’s very calm and peaceful and dreamy.

watermelon sugar: miss watermelon sugar is still as iconic as the first day she came out. it’s such a wonderful tune. my impressions on this song will never change and i will listen to it for another 30 times round without even hesitating. it just feels very summery and sensual and sexy without being too explicit (even though there is nothing wrong with being super explicit...see medicine). the chorus is just super catchy. the lyrics are so nice and i love the melody. very old pop and i’m a slut for this genre. also i know this has been HUGELY talked about before but i need to say it again. the way he’s saying belly!! the softness of the breathe me in/breathe me out parts!! the last watermelon sugar i don’t know why i’m obsessed it JUST SLAPS

adore you: oh darling. a treasure. 8 days ago, first time i’ve heard it, it took me by surprise because i wasn’t expecting that sound...but six seconds in and i was SOLD and already cherishing her with all of my heart. this song is JUST PERFECT. it’s probably the song that is the closest to 1D mixed with HS1 in terms of sound, like it’s super modern but at the same time has these very old school vibes i’m in LOVE WITH?? this is such a sweet joyful sappy song about his soulmate and i :’) also the rainbow paradise line i haven’t recovered from bitches. i will never. this is such a certain and blatant declaration of love i wanna die!! i feel acknowledged as a romantic bitch who lives for this kind of grand gestures. thanks harry. also during some parts he sounds like old harry (i mean harry from 1d days) and then 2019 harry takes over and it makes me CRY

lights up: the first single and song from the era will always a soft soft in my heart. i listened to the track so many fucking times the words are tattooed onto my brain. this song was just so needed and so important. it’s so deep and means everything to me really. all of us wanted a song from him about identity and self discovery and lights up was the gift he gave us. never in my life i would have have dreamed of this song and it happened for real. i’m just so grateful. his voice in this is just so soft and delicate and so fitting for the song like it DEMANDS that tenderness and sweetness. also the choir gives me chills, like when they scream SHINE i just feel overwhelmed it’s!!! fuck!! i could write an essay about lights up because this song is just it. it makes you feel seen and understood and i just feel so lucky harry was able to share something as intimate as this.

cherry: lmaoooo. this one will be a skipper sorry. it’s far from being a bad piece because harry’s voice is always amazing but i can’t get over the voicemail. when the news came out i was just so appealed and angry but know i’m just cackling?? i’m french and what is this slander?? THE COUCOU AT THE BEGINNING IS RIDICULOUS!! and the ending sounds so rehearsed there is literally nothing naturel about it. thank god we hear harry’s laugh in it. I JUST KNOW it was added because there is no way he would have laughed irl at one of her jokes lol. lyrically you can see some parts were put there to make an allusion to the stunt (the accent & friends part, the gallery...) but others are just about louis?? like him being jealous of course it’s about the hubby. his voice is still beautiful but the melody doesn’t speak to me (and i would have telled you if it was the case) being objective, it’s the weakest one out of the album.

falling: OH MY FUCKING GOOOOD. i wanna say it’s my favorite song but i feel like it would diminish the love i have for the others but god...this song is breathtaking and out of this world. in terms of lyrics it’s the best HANDS DOWN. like period. fuck this song just BROKE ME. all that ache and heartbreak you get what he’s talking about when he said to zane lowe he hit rock bottom then. fucking hell. it just hurts knowing he hated himself that much like i can’t even fathom it. and his voice bloody hell?? i never heard him sing like that!!! it’s just so desperate and full of hurt and the high notes? please annihilate me. when i heard it i would at first sight i would be my favorite out of fine line. it was just so obvious. that kind of magic doesn’t happen a lot...like. i can’t pinpoint what part hurts me the most because the whole song is TORTURTING ME. when we’ll hear live i will be bawling for the rest of my life. i’m already am. my god it’s just so raw and honest no other artist can make me feel like that. you are experiencing the hurt with him it’s??? i have no words. and please this song makes no fucking sense if you don’t link to his relationship to louis like?? the i’m well aware i write too many songs about you?? hello??? i’m glad he doesn’t feel like that anymore because it hurts. it’s crazy how this song can pull you back to ancient memories and you just forget about the world. oh my god.

to be so lonely: i almost fell out of my chair (or bed, rather) because this song did not fit at all what i was expecting but it’s?? gold??? i was so sure it was going to be a full angsty ballad but it’s so catchy and it has those beatles vibe? like PLEASE. king of defying expectations. it’s so english. and it’s so smart because when the melody and rythm makes you think it’s gonna be corny (in the best sense of the word) but it’s kinda passive agressive? AND ALSO THE SWEARING. DON’T, STYLES. UR MY SON. i’m kidding. him hearing him say arrogant son of a bitch is THE PINNACLE of my life. also am i the only one that feels like if you change the beat a little and accelerate it on don’t call me baby ever again it would sound a bit like never enough? loved the throwback nonetheless. it isn’t a favorite yet but it’s already growing on me.

she: bloody fucking hell. first this song is timeless. it feels like it came straight (gay!!!) from the seventies. i had eagles vibes first listen but some said pink floyd and it’s SO TRUE. there are tons of rock influences in it but it’s so harry and manages to still be super unique?? just incredible. the writing of the song is the smartest out of HS2. it reminds me of woman (not in the way i was expecting...i had one supposition it was going to be about being envious of a woman while dumb people are tricked by the title) so much not in melody or lyrics at all but in the sense that it has a double (triple...and more) meanings. once again stupid hets think it’s about singing about the ideal girl when really it’s...on another plane of existence. like jesus. bitch i was right!!! it’s either a song on gender identity (harry singing about his feminine side that he was ashamed of for so long and tried to hide) or the closet and my god, the whole thing is just so clever. A MASTERMIND. and the switch from the third person to the third KEATS you’ve been beaten. what a writer. it has thousands of interpretations this is just a trip. holy shit. the whole song carries so much guilt and repression and wishing be free of those feelings it’s?? i’m speechless. it’s so complex and intense. and fuck the guitar solo outro IS HISTORIC. in decades it will be praised as a masterpiece by all. i just know it. mitch you’re a genius. it gives just so much resonance and impact to the piece and it already had everything... i’m in heaven. or in hell. don’t know.

sunflower vol 6; cutest and weirdest song on earth and it’s A FAVE. it’s so colorful and nothing like he ever did before i’m living for it. it’s SAPPY AS FUCK and we stan sunflower in this house. also the part where he’s singing about wanting to kiss his lover kinda sounds like a lullaby and an alphabet song mixed together it’s ADORABLE!!! it’s such a being young and in love track i’m giggling!! it’s so precious!!! very poppy and gives you joy for days!! also super summery!! i wanna dance and twirl to it!! AND THE ENDING IS SO FUCKING LEGENDARY. BIG HIGH ON CRACK ENERGY. BITCH. it’s so uncanny like is he imitating a bird? calling someone?? trying to sound 5? i don’t know but it’s endearing. just so lovely.

canyon moon: another one i was expecting to be slow and it wasn’t. very country. thanks kacey for the input!! also him putting “jenny” in that sound is he trying to be adopted by dixie chicks and dolly parton? I LOVE that he’s trying new things with this track like country is such a hard genre to tackle and he nailed it. AND OH MY GOD THE LYRICS. it makes so emotional he’s literally creating a safe place for him and his darling?? could you be more in love?? this song belongs to the gays. san junipero without the angsty feelings. we deserved that. also he really mentioned the two weeks rule i’m weak. THIS IS INFURIATING.

treat people with kindness: the group part just sounds like a sitcom from the 80s. i’m dying. he really did that. and he named it like that :’) ALSO A GAY ANTHEM I CAN’T WAIT TO SCREAM THOSE LYRICS. big end of the days vibe. it’s just so healing and reassuring. it’s so empowering and i love the contrast between the very catchy happy bits (the high notes and the part where he kinda talks at the end reminded so much of mika which is a huge compliment as far as i’m concerned!!!) and that part where he’s singing very slow and soft you can see it’s very personal with him gaining confidence thanks to us during hslot <3 i’m dying this is such an exceptional gesture to like dedicate this to your fans? it’s so universal while being about his own journey (just like home..i’m sobbing) and that is like the mark of great music. also the instrumental is godsent.

fine line: i can see why it’s his favorite and why it is ending the album and giving it its name. i said falling was my fave but honestly fine line might be it too? the only difference is that i didn’t fall in love instantly, it takes time to escalate (it’s very similar to sott in that sense) beginning softly and almost whispered (also the high tone?? i almost didn’t recognized harry but at the same time it’s just 100% percent him but HE NEVER SANG in THAT TONE i’m!!! my jaw is dropping all the way to mars) like you can see it BUILDING to something superior and never made before... it’s a moment, it’s an experience, it just suspends time. like when music can do that for you...it’s infinite stuck in a few minutes. the two last minutes are purely angelic and the most beautiful thing i’ve ever heard. it has very few lines and words but the one there are so meaningful. when the song ended i just stayed a bit in silence without moving i could not believed what i just witnessed. and the album ending with we’ll be alright...it’s so fucking special. and that word doesn’t even give it justice.

fucK. this album is just...i’m trying to find words but how can you. when you make an album as ambitious and as outstanding as HS1 it’s hard to go back to the studio and find a way to equate it (i’m not saying top it because both can’t even be compared...) but he somehow did it?? i had no doubt but holy shit it’s unreal. it’s crazy because fine line is so different from the first one while being as rock and pop but there is a level of maturity and vulnerability that feels just so? different?? i can’t seem to find the right expression but i’m am purely in awe. i dk how harry finds a way to exceed my expectations every time like... it’s?? i’m sorry i’m just so moved and... it just means everything.

two years and a half after and the feeling is the same. an album changing me and my life at first listen and 48 minutes that felt like a lifetime and a second at the same time.

#fine line #my posts

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princess-zzuko · 5 years

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The Fall

I could not think of a clever word play that would combine the idea of film adaptation with the actual film itself, but that’s okay because I love this movie so much I don’t care.

The Fall

Director: Tarsem Singh

After a young immigrant worker (Alexandria) and stunt double (Roy) take a fall that land them hospitalized, they form a bond through Roy’s storytelling skills.

Before I get into why I love this film and why no one else’s opinions matter (lol just kidding), we talked about some things in class.

This film has allegory and connections to history. The epic portion of it mirrors the Wizard of Oz as it features a group of misfit bandits on their journey to find someone. In the film’s case it’s “the evil governor Odious”. It’s an extravagant and visually stunning film. Even more (and my favorite element of the film) is that Alexandria becomes a part of Roy’s story. She adds the childlike, whimsical, and comedic elements of this epic story.

When it comes to films this large, and with so many stories to tell we wondered who is the author? Or who gets authorship. As far as the film goes, there is a diverse cast. But the white hero is the one who not only tells the story, but the only one of the bandits to survive by the end of it. So is it just diversity for diversity sake? Or does the diversity of the movie lead to a greater connection of the film and audience?

We also discussed an essay by Shelly Cobb, “Adaptation, Fidelity, and Gendered Discourses,” Adaptation. Cobb claimed that the language used to discuss film adaptation is culturally constructed and biased. And it is biased particularly against femininity. For instance, films that are considered cliché, or overdramatic are associated with women. Such as movies from the Lifetime channel, or drama movies in general. When we think of cliché films, we think of middle aged stay at home moms, because that’s the audience they gear towards. These films are considered low class and of no value. Oh and they are super formulaic (which adds to the no value meter). But films with a heavy male authorship rarely get coded as such, even if they are just as formulaic as Lifetime films.

For instance, Marvel movies. A fellow student even said that Marvel films are just as formulaic as Lifetime films but Lifetime films actually give their female characters agency.

And films geared towards women are less likely to get awards, whether or not they stood up against the competition in the box office.

Even the language we use to describe people who obsess over a film or figure gendered.

Fan girl

Over emotional

Low class

And that’s not to say that films by men can’t be considered low class either, we’ve just noticed a correlation between how films with female authorship are treated versus films with male authorship as a whole.

Cobb also analyzed the morality of adaptation critiques. A good, pure film is one that stays loyal to the original text. A cheap, low quality film adaptation is unfaithful. And this is what we believe today. Take Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, and Avatar the Last Airbender for example. Those two film adaptations are considered lowly, cheap, terrible. Fans of the original text spit on these movies. Even the author of Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan, hates the film adaptations of his book series.

Which makes me wonder if it’s possible for an adaptation to be good, even if it’s disloyal to the original?

We also discussed authorship and how males tend have authorship over films and females have authorship over books.

Men worked back in the day and women weren’t really allowed to do much but they could read and write and that is what they did and that is how they made it through the day. At least that’s how I imagined it to be like back then. And by back then I mean Charlotte Brontë back then.

Then film came about and that had technological aspects to it so that quickly became a men’s world, and still is today.

And what about the idea of the auteur? How these male filmmakers will adapt films from novels by female authors, yet the male will get the credit for being an auteur because he revitalized it into a work of moving genius?

Then there’s the idea that you can’t love something and be a critic. Your love for that film will filter what you say about it, and your critique is not valid. I don’t agree. I think it’s important to see a film through an objective and subjective lens. It is difficult, but very possible.

Now back to the greatest film I’ve watched all year, The Fall.

This film has two voices, Alexandria and Roy. Our professor asked us if we thought it did a good job at telling multiple stories. I think it does a wonderful job of telling both of the main character’s stories, and it does it so masterfully too.

The movie begins with a slow motion, black and white sequence detailing the event that leads Roy into the hospital. I liked it because it showed but didn’t tell. Even the movie doesn’t explicitly state his injuries in the beginning but leads you to certain clues through clever dialogue that flows with the story.

The same is for Alexandria’s story. One of my favorite scenes in the film is when she (a five-year-old girl) translates for her mother, who only speaks Spanish. Here we not only get a glimpse of how grown up she has to be even for her tender age, but the difference between how others treat her versus how Roy treats her (and btw he treats her like she’s her age).

And here is my other favorite scene.

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Then there’s the spectacular of Roy’s story. We deep dive into an adventure tale mirroring that of a historic epic. This features an ex-slave, an Italian explosive expert, a dude named Darwin with a monkey, Roy as a mask wearing bandit, and a mystic. Oh and a female love interest.

This is where the storytelling gets spotty for me. Although diversity of the bandits is very cool and I love diversity and want more of it in media, I’m not sure what it’s connection is to the story. I’m not sure if it’s trying to make a statement or if it’s just being a great movie with great actors and a great plot. Although we learn about the bandits’ origins we don’t hear much from them afterwards. Then it appears that their stories are being filtered through the white male point of view. And that their stories have little to no use to the overall plot except for the fact that they were all wronged by governor Odious.

And then there’s the female love interest.

She’s literally so useless I forgot she was in the movie at all. And this says a lot about the male perspective as well. I couldn’t tell if her character was supposed to be a satire on how women are treated as props in the film industry. Because she is literally used as a prop the entire time, and dressed like one too.

Okay but also props to the costume designer for this movie, Eiko Ishioka. What an excellent job seriously. I love the costumes of this film.

But back to the princess. She’s surrounded by all these female conventions:

Soft spoken

Good with nature

Pretty

Doesn’t talk much

Is kidnapped

But falls in love with the kidnapper

Passes out

They use her to get to governor Odious

Turns out she ain’t loyal

It’s fine we didn’t need her anyway

She does nothing omg

It’s actually hilarious how useless she is.

That was my biggest problem with the movie. The use or lack thereof of its ONE older female character.

Lol, but I still love it.

In fact, I was more so connected to the main plot than the epic story. Roy and Alexandria formed a beautiful connection in the film mirroring that of a father and daughter.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cry when Alexandria fell while attempting to retrieve morphine for Roy (not knowing he was trying to kill himself), hit her head and was rushed into surgery. Upon waking up she sees a tear-ridden Roy, and she apologizes for failing her mission. Then he tells her the truth and tries to end the story with the death of his comrades and himself until Alexandria says it’s her story too and that Roy’s character will live. The despair and triumph of that scene messed me up man.

Lol, but my classmates didn’t like the movie.

Thank you for reading.

Pictures used: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460791/

http://www.itsmugambi.com/blog/44filmsday14

https://www.tor.com/2018/06/01/ten-years-later-theres-still-nothing-like-tarsem-singhs-the-fall/

http://sanchezmaddie.weebly.com/blog/the-fall-roy

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/327777679105397729/?lp=true

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news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog · 5 years

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Taylor Swift says fans figured out the name of her album. Here are their best theories.

Swifties are known for their CIA-level code-cracking skills. It may have just paid off.

In a new interview with Zach Sang and Dan Zolot of the Zach Sang Show, Taylor Swift takes 10 whole minutes to talk about her latest era in music. With the release of her seventh studio album imminent, Swifties have kicked into high gear with theories, much to Swift's delight.

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SEE ALSO: Taylor Swift's video for her new song 'ME!' is one very, very colourful duet

"I like to plan things out, I like to plan little fun clues for people," Swift tells Sang over the phone. The songstress goes on to describe her process for releasing lead singles. "A lot of the time I'll pick a first single because I like the feeling that it conveys, knowing that there's a lot more on the album that's very different from that first single— which is something that I think the fans have picked up on at this point."

Finally, Zolot asks the question: "Has anyone found the name of the album title yet in the music video?"

"Yeah, definitely! There are a few people who have gotten it," Swift says, giggling. "I'm not gonna tell you who!"

Zolot's question is based on the fact that Swift herself tweeted her "Me!" music video with a caption confessing that the album title is indeed hidden somewhere in it.

So... the new album title is actually revealed somewhere in the video AND so is the title of the second single, but I haven’t seen people finding them yet... 🕵️‍♂️🕵️‍♀️ #MEmusicvideohttps://t.co/cdxQ6dFiar

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) April 26, 2019

The record-breaking video has been viewed over 100 million times, so it's not too surprising that someone guessed the album title correctly. "The fans have been so clever and so eagle-eyed— it made me want to put more clues in the video," Swift says.

Which leads us to the theories, one of which may actually be correct. And if they aren't correct, they're pretty darn convincing. Especially since Swift has been teasing everyone with pastel pictures featuring flowers, butterflies, and rainbows all bathed in pinky hues on her post-Reputation Instagram feed.

1. "Daisy"

This theory, like many in the Swift universe, is from Tumblr. Essentially, there are a lot of daisy-related clues that could point to it being a potential album title.

First, Tumblr user tinmanclin points out that there is the stack of books from her "Me!" video. Out of the three, only one is distinguishable: Cartier's in the 20th Century.

In the description for that book, a list of "arbiters of taste" is topped with the name "Daisy Fellowes."

If you look up Daisy Fellowes, you'll find that she died on Dec. 13, 1962 in Paris. Depending on how much of Swiftie you are, you'll know that Swift's birthday is Dec. 13.

Moreover, the "Me!" video even has a couple of blatant daisy cameos. At one point, Brendon Urie, who duets with Swift on the track, offers her a bouquet of them while wearing a suit that is covered in, you guessed it, daisies.

Blatant daisy imagery!

Image: youtube

Swift even sports a dress with alleged fabric daisies stuck on to it. Can we get a florist on the phone to identify, please?

The floral name recalls a a lyric from Reputation's "Don't Blame Me:" "I once was poison ivy but now I'm your daisy."

Of course, this theory wouldn't be complete without a couple of The Great Gatsby references drizzled in. In Swift's essay for Elle UK, she writes, "It’s something F. Scott Fitzgerald did so well." And in a lyric from Reputation's "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" Swift sings, "feeling so Gatsby for that whole year."

And who is the main character of The Great Gatsby? Daisy!

Swift's recent butterfly wing mural in Nashville also features daisies.

View this post on Instagram

So... @kelseymontagueart helped me pull off the best surprise clue reveal today in Nashville!! Thank you to everyone who showed up, I’ve never been more proud of your FBI level detective skills. Next clue: I’ll be joining the magnificent @robinrobertsgma for a chat tonight on ABC live from Nashville 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Apr 25, 2019 at 11:30am PDT

Last but not least, Swift's newly stocked online merch store includes a tote. Do I even need to tell you what's printed on said tote?

This daisy bag is proof, people!

Image: www.store.taylorswift.com

2. "Home"

Perhaps one of the strongest theories of the bunch is "Home."

Apparently, there are a lot of similarities between the "Me!" video and The Wizard of Oz. It sounds odd, but it checks out. Here's a video that explains the correlations:

Plus, a lot of Swift's recent activity focuses on the idea of "Home."

The Wizard Of Oz THEORY 🌈🏡💗 🚨ASKDJSKAK it’s happening!! “THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME” ... ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’!#taylorswiftapril26 #taylorswift #TS7 #TS7iscoming #thewizardofoztheory pic.twitter.com/4s8KpfZr1T

— #MEoutNOW (@swiftiealyce) April 22, 2019

View this post on Instagram

All the reasons why I believe "Home" might be the album title💜🌸 - I'm also open to it being titled Kaleidoscope but it feels a bit long to me #Taylorswift #TS7 -> corner not former lol anyways (@taysforgetmenots posted a comprehensive theory about this so check it out!)

A post shared by Taylor Updates <3 // Jehlé (@mustlikeme4me) on Apr 26, 2019 at 11:32pm PDT

Additionally, Tumblr user Taylors-rainbow points out that the connection between the portrait of the Dixie Chicks in the "Me!" video and something Swift wrote in her Elle UK essay: "To this day, when I hear 'Cowboy Take Me Away' by the Dixie Chicks, I instantly recall the feeling of being twelve years old, sitting in a little wood paneled room in my family home in Pennsylvania."

So that's why the Dixie Chicks are randomly on a painted in the "Me!" video.

Image: youtube

It all just makes sense.

3. "Forever"

Tumblr user Youareinlovex went deep with this one and we're glad they did because it's a thinker for sure.

To begin, Swift's Reputation tour movie on Netflix contains an odd tidbit in the credits:

Image: netflix

You'll notice that it says "sequel to '...More.'" What it's a sequel to, nobody knows. However, in Reputation's very last song, "New Year's Day," Swift sings "you and me forevermore."

Next, there's Swift's recent segment on ABC that aired during the NFL draft in which she revisits one of her favorite places: The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. After talking a little bit about it, she finishes by saying, "I hope it stays this way forever." And then gives the camera a smirk, after which the video ends.

There's also the palm trees, one of the first images of Swift's that sparked these very investigations. Since she posted a photo of seven palm trees to Instagram back in February, fans have speculated that the tree is somehow a part of her new music. Most recently, they can be seen in her "Me!" video. Apparently, the tree represents eternal life. And eternal life means forever.

Lastly, the "Me!" video features a scene in which Urie flicks open a heart on his lapel, and viewers are transported through winding hearts to a stage set. On 1989, Swift's fifth album, the song "Welcome to New York" features the lyric, "Kaleidoscope of loud heartbeats under coats." So, Urie literally opening a heart that leads to a whirling transition screen feels like those lyrics come to life. Also from "Welcome to New York" is the lyric, "It's a new soundtrack I could dance to this beat, beat forevermore."

It does indeed look like a kaleidoscope...

Image: youtube

Which brings us to the next theory:

4. "Kaleidoscope"

This is the only theory Swift has actually acknowledged, albeit sparingly. In an interview with Australian radio show Smallzy's Surgery, Swift was asked by the host if "Kaleidoscope" was the title of the album.

“I’m not gonna comment because I really do respect those theories so much, but I’m going to tell them all the information when I tell them [the fans]!” Swift said with a knowing laugh.

Given the multiple meanings for the word "kaleidoscope," it's certainly a possibility.

I will tweet this again!!! A group of butterflies is called a KALEIDOSCOPE #ts7theories #ts7 @taylorswift13 @taylornation13 pic.twitter.com/QYe1CgdXxH

— Mollie... but with an IE! 🦋ME! Out NOW🦋 (@swiftarmy1989) April 29, 2019

"Ever-changing" is very on brand for Miss Swift.

at this point, i am convinced that @taylorswift13's next album is kaleidoscope pic.twitter.com/HPzhG5895r

— STREAM BET BET (@_cyrilalvin) April 30, 2019

Also, multiple visuals in the "Me!" video are similar in nature to a kaleidoscope's.

One of the theories about the title of TS7 is kaleidoscope and that is absolute genius!! 1. There are obvious kaleidoscopes in the #MEmusicvideo. 2. Swarm of butterflies = kaleidoscope 3. Kaleidoscope can be used as a metaphor for change!! @taylorswift13 @taylornation13 pic.twitter.com/rdemke0Nwg

— Laila 🦋 (@LailaHannoun) April 30, 2019

One Swiftie even inverted a still from the "Me!" music video and it appears that the word is "Kaleidoscope" written on its skin.

UMM HAVE @myheartofmusic AND I CRACKED THE CODE???? DOES IT SAY KALEIDOSCOPE ALL JUMBLED UP ON THE SNAKE???! OR AM I A CRACKHEAD WHOS LOST HER LAST TWO BRAIN CELLS??? @taylorswift @taylornation #MEOUTNOW #TS7theories pic.twitter.com/vVPvUNLqBY

— nat | (@ontheroadt0ruin) April 27, 2019

5. "Heart"

While Heart is super simple, it is a shape we keep seeing in Swift's recent imagery. It's a doubtful and somewhat boring possibility but definitely not off the table.

Or is it much more easier and simpler and the #TS7 is called HEARTS and that’s why they speak French?! Because French is like a language of LOVE?!?! AND THE PARIS IS A CITY OF LOVE?!? IS IT LOVE?!?!?!?!?!? AND THE 70s WAS THE ERA OF FREE LOVE?!?!? WHAT WAIT @taylorswift13 pic.twitter.com/SgL7sG7YYh

— 4.26 (@snake_lungs13) April 28, 2019

6. "Rainbow" (or "Spectrum" or something to do with colors)

This theory hinges on all of the literal rainbows featured in the "Me!" video. If Swift is trying to be obvious (though I don't think that word is in her vocabulary), this would make a lot of sense.

Elaboration on my rainbow theory 🌈❤🌈❤🌈❤ @taylornation13 @taylorswift13 #MEmusicvideo pic.twitter.com/lDiHgDcgHr

— Christy of House Tyrell 🏵 (@pdlinbooks) April 27, 2019

Also, the word "rainbow" has seven letters and this will be Swift's seventh album. Additionally, most rainbows consist of seven colors. Hmmm.

Sooo why the album could be called RAINBOW is because the rainbow has 7 colors and as we all know “TS7” also she’s hinting at it with “like a rainbow with all of the colors” and all of the rainbows in the MV @taylorswift correct me if I’m wrong @taylornation #streamME #ts7 #ME pic.twitter.com/tIkjvATiQb

— dutchswiftie (@dutchswiftie2) April 28, 2019

7. Something in French

A Taylor Swift album with a French title might seem unlikely, but the opening scene in the "Me!" music video could be a huge clue. In it, Swift and Urie go back and forth, arguing with each other in French. And knowing Swift, it's bound to have some sort of importance that isn't clear just yet.

what if the speaking French and Cartier pointing to the title of #TS7 being a French word ? Amour for love ...or Coeur for heart ...or archive en ceil for rainbow? @taylornation13 @taylorswift13 #MEMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/65IV7eD8KK

— Taylor Swift Ireland 🦋🌴 ME! (@TaylorSwiftEire) April 29, 2019

So... the word Iridescent in french is irisè ! If you break up the word, its ~I RISE~... Maybe she is hinting by the way she jumps over steam, and is lifted in the 'spelling scene' @taylorswift13 @taylornation #ts7 #Frenchconnection #MEMusicVideo #irisè

— JanusMaximus -Jane (@j_lovelock) April 30, 2019

Phew. So, we potentially know the name of the album. When it drops, though, is another case. If their track record of crunching numbers is any indication, we're sure the Swifties will crack it in no time. Until then, we'll all be here, twiddling our thumbs to the tune of "Me!"

WATCH: Taylor Swift reveals songs that helped her through breakups

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