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#i really hope this helps those fans who disrespected her putting things in perspective
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mitski's response to the tweet asking people to put away their phones during her shows
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masterhandss · 3 years
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Forbidden fruit ask time: Keith x Katarina. I know people in western fandom are understandably wary of this ship, but apparently it's one of the favourites for the Japanese audience and based on what I heard it actually has some decent foundation in novels (not as much as GeoKata, but still). Since you read novels and are #1 hamefura blog on Tumblr and know so much I wanted to ask you to tell us how KeiKata is doing in novels if it's okay owo??
owo!! lmao, I don't know about being the "#1 hamefura blog on tumblr" (I-I... I thought I was an art blog... :')) I mean I just like to ramble about hamefura lmao but I'm always happy to answer questions!
Yeah... Keith x Katarina is a hard subject to talk about considering how violent reactions can be depending on who you're talking to. I remember when Season 1 was airing, people really doesn't like Keith as a romantic option for Katarina due to them being siblings, and I'm honestly waiting for those people to react to the S2 OP and S2 in general. I've talked to a few people who don't like KeiKata at all, and they have the absolute right to dislike any ship that they want, but it did make me sad to know how much Keith is hated by the EN Fandom considering how loved he is in the JP Fandom. He's pretty much the most favorite male character and the second most shipped with Katarina.
-> hamefura x(s2) & ln spoilers ahead <-
A lot of people's issues with Keith stems from the fact that he and Katarina are step-sibling and that it's really weird for Keith to be romantically interested in Katarina (a person who sees him as a little brother completely). People are accusing him of taking advantage of Katarina's trust in him to keep her to himself and that pursuing her romantically would destroy the familial bond that they've had for years. The thing is that Keith treasures Katarina as a person, not as a sibling. Yes, Keith sees her as family, but he also sees her as more than family. To him, being able to be together with Katarina doesn't mean that he'll have to love her differently, but that he will be able to love her even more deeply and honestly. You can even headcanon that the reason Keith calls Katarina "big sister" is because he's asked to do so, and because it's a symbol of his acceptance into the family, but maybe not necessarily how he sees her.
Some of the material that will be covered in Season 2 is about Keith, so I don't know how much I want to talk about that since most fans will be able to see it themselves. Keith has it the hardest because his position makes it so that he's the least likely to get his feelings across to Katarina due to their relationship. In one of the upcoming arcs in the anime, Keith will be able to break Katarina's baka shield in the same way Geordo does: by using actions instead of words, and by just literally finding the courage to take the risk and tell her.
That's where one of the interesting things about hamefura comes into play: one of the reasons why people dislike KeiKata so much is that they feel like the reveal of Keith's feelings would awaken disgust and betrayal in Katarina. Few fanfics of hamefura portray it that way, that Katarina would be weirded out by his feelings and reject them immediately. Maybe it's because Katarina is aware of Keith as not only a sibling, but also as a romance-able character in an otome game (also because of the nature of this series lmao), that in canon, she doesn't take his confession negatively and is flushed/embarrassed by it just like Geordo's confession. I know the "weirded out" reaction is the most realistic, but maybe Katarina also understands that their relationship doesn't have a clear label. They care for each other very much and whether that bond is romantic, familial or friendship isn't something they bothered to really name, maybe? Lmao I don't know, that last bit is just speculation on my part, I can't exactly get into Katarina's head and pinpoint what she thought of Keith's confession.
If I'm being honest, she forgets about Keith's confession more often than she does Geordo, mostly because nothing really changed after he made his feelings clear. I wouldn't say that she dismissed it, it's just that she's forgetting it because in her perspective being loved as a woman and as family by Keith both means that he'll take care of her and shower her with attention (aka no difference).
When I think about how "KeiKata is doing in the novels", for some reason the first thing that comes to my mind is the line "how they treated Geordo in the anime, from a JP perspective". I know that sounds confusing, but what I mean is that a lot of Arc 2 - FL2 scenes with KeiKata is kinda fanservice (aka the thing they tried to do for Geordo in the anime which worked for JP fans but made him hated by the EN fans) (not me trying to insert Geordo in a post about Keith hehe :V). Excluding all the Keith scenes that are coming in Season 2 of the anime and the current arc of the manga, the story really likes to test Keith's self-control when it comes to seeing Katarina as a woman.
Keith's scenes with Katarina aren't necessarily "hot and spicy" by any means, but people nowadays tend to be quite bothered and annoyed at typical japanese romance tropes being played out in modern anime series (such as bed-pining, surprised kisses and kabedons). I mean yeah I'd be bothered too if someone pulled those moves on me in real life, but for the japanese audience this is what their fanservice is like so that's the kind of stuff we'll see in hamefura. Just like Geordo, Keith is given a few scenes where he's put in a romantic spot with Katarina after he confessed, but it always just ends with him backing out and hoping that it at least could remind Katarina of how he sees her (like bed-pinning in LN6 & affectionate touches from Katarina in LN8). A lot of hate towards Keith stems from these scenes because people sees this as a disrespect towards Katarina and the familial relationship they have. These scenes helps reinforce how Keith sees Katarina as a woman and not as a sister, but depending on who you're siding with, you're either gonna be disgusted at Keith or extremely pissed off at Katarina's lack of propriety & density.
Like, people are getting angry at Keith for being a teenage boy who is being bothered by affectionate touches from the girl he likes who is also always approaching him with only a nightgown? I mean blame the author or Keith all you want but at least put some responsibility on Katarina as well :V People are really saying "well, he shouldn't be bot and bothered by it in the first place, they are siblings! that's disgusting!" well again, Keith sees her as a woman and Katarina needs to be aware that she shouldn't be so touchy with the opposite sex regardless if it's family. Keith kinda blames Katarina for the way he feels given how she acts around him despite being unaware of his feelings, which is also the cause of some hatred towards Keith.
People are saying that Keith is dumping *all* the responsibility onto Katarina because she acts in such an affectionate way towards him, but in reality Keith feels really bad & also hates himself for being so attracted to her when she doesn't even know about his feelings. He puts a lot of blame onto himself and thinks he's just as bad as Geordo sometimes (not saying Geordo is bad, more like Keith's "idea of Geordo" being bad lmao). Keith always walks on eggshells around Katarina because he doesn't want to disrespect how he feels about her and how she feels about him. It's just sad to see people hate him for the few moments where his self-control breaks so that he can act on his honest emotion, and accuse him of abusing Katarina's trust :((
Just like Geordo, Keith has made it clear how he feels and strongly desires to pursue her romantically, but his problem of being the step-sibling is still there. I haven't gotten my own copy of JP Volume 10 yet, I feel like I just wanna wait for the EN version instead of using GT, but multiple spoilers have noted that while Keith hasn't made progress in getting approval of his feelings from Katarina's side, he's at least able to get an approval from his family. Well, by that I mean Keith has already confessed his romantic feelings about Katarina to their father Luigi, and he replied by saying that he approves of whoever Katarina chooses for herself. Keith realizes that all he needs to do is get Katarina to return his feelings. When he does, his family wont hate him, but instead he'll be able to love them and be loved in the same, yet different way.
TLDR; a lot has happened to Keith throughout the light novels. He's progressing slowly and steadily just like Geordo, and is leagues ahead compared to the other characters. He has confessed his feelings and got reassurance of his relationship with his parents. Keith and Katarina's relationship itself hasn't really changed though, but it's nice to know that Keith is at least laying the foundations for his hypothetical future with her. Katarina doesn't really think about Keith enough to be able to tell how she feels about his confession or if her opinion on him has changed at all though, so take that as either an L or a W for Keith.
Thank you for the ask! I'm sorry if this isn't as elaborate as you wanted, anon. I like Keith and Katarina but I guess it's because they aren't my bias that I don't pay too much attention to the tiny details of how Keith is written in the books qwq
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romanticsuspense · 5 years
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Roger: An Analysis
Season 4 of Outlander has sparked quite a lot of controversy in the fandom and one of my favorite fictional characters, Roger Jeremiah Mackenzie, is being dragged through the mud by critics and fans alike. This was originally going to be a post in defense of Roger. But as I started thinking about what exactly I wanted to get off my chest, I realized that a defense of Roger would be really hard to do without first defining who Roger is. And defining the character of Roger is really hard because there are so many different iterations of him. There’s Diana Gabaldon’s Roger, the Roger in my head, the Roger in your head, the Roger in the show, and Richard Rankin’s Roger.  So, this post is not a defense of Roger, nor is it a comparison of showRoger vs. bookRoger.  This post is merely my way of reconciling the many iterations of Roger.  I’m compartmentalizing so as to avoid the uncomfortable cognitive dissonance that occurs when the Roger in my head doesn’t match the Roger on screen.   
bookRoger
bookRoger is the Roger that Diana Gabaldon writes. He is canon Roger.  bookRoger is intelligent, musical, wears his heart on his sleeve and is deeply in love with Brianna.  I love bookRoger.  Most of the time.  bookRoger is not perfect. He is flawed, and sometimes weird, and like most of Gabaldon’s characters has done some questionable and problematic things (what I shall call Gabaldon Garbage) that are troubling and hard to ignore. For example, in the books, both Jamie and Roger derive pleasure at the idea of spanking their wives (see Outlander Chapter 22 and Drums of Autumn Chapter 40) and have forced themselves on their wives when they’ve clearly said “Stop!” (see Outlander Chapter 23 and A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 6).  How can book readers, myself included, continue to read this series and care about the male romantic heroes when things like the above are canon? I can’t speak for all book readers, but the only way I can continue to read these books is if I attribute the problematic bits to Diana, and not the characters.  These passages reveal a lot more about the author than the characters themselves.  Diana has some weird, unhealthy fascination with intermingling pain, punishment, power and sex.  Diana also does not understand consent, and would benefit from watching this video.  It’s strangely horrifying that an author who uses rape as a plot device so often, is so blind to the other rape in her books.  She seems to believe rape is only rape if it’s violent stranger rape.  Someone should write an analysis on the way that Gabaldon uses sex and sexual assault in her books.  That would be an interesting read.
myRoger
When I filter out the Gabaldon Garbage while reading, I am creating my very own version of the characters. myRoger = bookRoger - Gabaldon Garbage + my own perceptions of the character.  One of the joys of being a book reader is that I get to use my imagination and fill in gaps in the writing. And I bring my own prejudice, bias, and life experiences into my reading. Which is why, even though there is only one bookRoger, there are a gazillion myRogers, because he turns into someone else inside the head of each individual reader. If Diana says that Roger and Brianna write letters to each other, but never shares any of those letters in the books, then it’s up to the reader to decide what’s in the letters. I could imagine that the letters are funny and sweet.  You could imagine they’re serious and philosophical. And another reader could imagine they’re full of historical research or cookie recipes. myRoger is not a sadist or a rapist like bookRoger because I’ve filtered out the Gabaldon Garbage. And I have my own ideas about what is in character or out of character for him. I can’t call this Roger bookRoger because this Roger exists only in my head. And when I’m critiquing showRoger I’m not really comparing him to bookRoger, I’m comparing him to myRoger.
showRoger
For the most part, the show writers have been very good about nixing the Gabaldon Garbage and sometimes even improving upon the source material.  In Season 4, however, the show writers have done a great disservice to both Roger and his relationship to Brianna by:
condensing several chapters of character and relationship development in Drums of Autumn into a single episode
not having Brianna verbalize her feelings about Roger before “Wilmington”
giving Roger lines that make it sound like his sole motivation is to wed and bed Brianna
not sufficiently explaining why Brianna changed her mind about marriage
improving Brianna’s character at the expense of Roger’s
showing Roger and Brianna together in only two episodes so far this season; both episodes ending with them fighting and Roger walking away
Most of this could have been avoided by giving Roger and Bree more screen time in the first half of the season.  But, there are nine different show writers this season, each with their own ideas of who these characters are. And I think they’re more preoccupied with hitting major plot points than capturing the nuances of each individual character.
Am I disappointed with showRoger?  Sometimes.  But, I have to say that I vehemently disagree with this harsh NYT Review:
At that point, his condescension (“ … maybe it’s time you listened to me”) and deflecting (“You’re acting like a child”) seem less like a character with human foibles than one with an emerging pattern of abuse.
The show did not need another sexual assault to prove the past was dangerous (Roger seems proof that men can be horrible in any era).
I think showRoger is arrogant, stubborn, a traditionalist, and occasionally disrespectful.  But is he abusive, misogynistic, and horrible?  Absolutely not.  
richardRoger
I love Richard Rankin.  I think he’s extremely talented and attractive.  I think he has great chemistry with Sophie.  And I have zero complaints about his casting or his performance.  All of my qualms about showRoger are the fault of the writers and editors and the costume department.  
Even though I think it’s ridiculous that he has to defend Roger’s actions and motivations after every episode, I have really appreciated Richard sharing his perspective on Twitter.  His responses are often quite humorous and insightful and he’s not afraid of calling out fans who cross the line into hateful and mean-spirited.  I always feel better about showRoger when I read his responses to fans (and haters).   
Richard and Sophie obviously take these roles seriously and do their best with the scripts they’re given.  They discuss their characters and make sure they’re on the same page when approaching a scene.  I highly recommend watching all the interviews you can find of him and Sophie discussing Season 4.      
I actually think that richardRoger is closer to myRoger than showRoger is.  Richard understands that Roger thinks with his heart, and not his head, when it comes to Brianna.  Richard understands that Roger not only wants Brianna to be happy, but wants her safe and out of danger.  Richard understands that Roger and Brianna love each other, but clash because of their differing views, and their tempers get the best of them.  Richard seems to both understand and love Roger.  And for that, I am forever grateful that he was cast on this show.    
In Conclusion
I hope I haven’t been too negative in this post.  My intent was not to pile onto the ever growing heap of Roger hate.  But, breaking Roger down into these separate boxes has really helped me process this season of Outlander.  Overall, I’ve really enjoyed this season.  It’s really exciting seeing my favorite Outlander book on screen.  I’m still going to critique the parts of each episode that bother me.  But, I’m no longer going to let fandom hate and negativity ruin the show for me.  And I’m no longer going to feel personally hurt every time I see someone call Roger a jerk.     
As a book reader, I’m used to having my Gabaldon Garbage filter on.  I’m used to being bored with or unhappy with entire sections of the books.  I’m used to ridiculous writing choices and convoluted melodramatic plots.  So, I’ll keep my garbage filter on both while watching the show and reading about the show.  I’ll  continue to enjoy the series for those moments when myRoger is on screen. And I’ll continue to enjoy Sophie Skelton’s and Richard Rankin’s performances and the work that they’ve put into these characters. Maybe showRoger will be closer to myRoger by the end of the season. The finale title, “Man of Worth,” gives me hope.
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tonystarkficrecs · 5 years
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hey could you rec some fics where Tony is paired with someone other than Pepper but he and Pepper are still friends? I love her and I hate reading fics where she's vilified. Thanks! :)
I’m not a fan of villified!Pepper, either! I adore her. I feel like they’d remain friends even if they ended up breaking up, such as in these fics (and it’s a long list of them, too, so hopefully there’s some new stuff in there for you). I’m sure I missed some, so at some point I might add more to the list! The extent that their friendship is portrayed varies from fic to fic, but none of them should have any negativity towards her.
My Son, My Sun by Wordsplat
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 70,151
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark; Tony Stark & Peter Parker
Completed: Yes
Just before the events of Iron Man, a baby is left on Tony’s doorstep. He wants nothing to do with it at first, but his time in Afghanistan changes his mind and Tony vows to become a better man for his son’s sake.
Anew. by IViv
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 130,567
Pairing: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Completed: Yes
In death, there was no glory, no redemption, no salvation.
Only darkness and ice—or that’s what Tony thought. He closed his eyes in a Siberian bunker and opened them again on his 41st birthday, with War Machine flying into the distance.
Still Alive by araydre, Menatiera, Neutralchaos, and yeppers
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 62,088
Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark
Completed: Yes
The Winter Soldier escaped from Hydra, and on the run, It needs a Mechanic to maintain the very efficient weapon attached to its body. It decides the best person for the work is the world’s best weapon expert: Tony Stark.Abducting him goes unexpectedly well. Then, complications come.
Paved With Good Intentions (I’m on the road to hell) by itsallAvengers
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 121,126
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Completed: No
When the mysterious group of vigilante assassins known only as ‘The Avengers’ are tipped off about the dirty secrets that lie within Stark Industries, Steve Rogers has his heart set on taking out Tony Stark for good in order to protect the rest of the world from his evil. He’s seen the footage, after all- Stark is a man who fights only for himself. And of course, when a job arises as chief bodyguard for Stark, to protect him from the growing threat of an ominously infatuated stalker, the opportunity is way too good for him to miss out on. It’s the perfect placement, and the perfect way to find out whether or not their tipoff is genuine.
But as Steve falls into rank as the new bodyguard for Mr. Stark and he spends time getting to know and protect him, his initial hatred begins to falter and merge into something different, something far more terrifying than the prospect of killing the face of Stark Industries.
Steve Rogers may just be falling in love with him instead.
Illuminate Me by Half_SubmergedinPurgatory
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 130,041
Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark
Completed: Yes
Tony isn’t a healthy man. He’s fine with that, really. It makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, he has a job to do that kind of has his health as a major requirement. So he unmakes himself, remakes the Accords, protects every single child super that enters his field of view, and hopes ferociously that the Avengers never come back to the US. He doesn’t spend any time at all rebuilding Bucky Barnes’ life. Not a single second. Anything he does that contributes to him is simply an accident.
Bucky is a patient man. It’s ok if Tony wants to ignore him for now. He won’t be able to forever.
(Somewhere in the world, a sense of dread crawls up the back of Tony’s spine)
Dig No Graves by miss-aphelion
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 142,844
Pairing: James “Bucky” Barnes/Tony Stark
Completed: No
“I’m here to kill you, Terminator,” Tony said slowly, “does that compute?”
The soldier looked up at him with wide blue eyes and no expression. “Okay.”
Tony froze. “Okay,” he echoed. “I tell you I came here to kill you and your response is ‘okay’?”
“I am being decommissioned,” the soldier said, and for one horrible moment Tony thought he actually seemed relieved. “I understand. I will comply.”
(Or; Tony learns the Winter Soldier killed his parents and goes on a search for revenge, but ends up learning how to heal instead)
Saving the World (Is Totally a Date) by Wordsplat
★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 64,465
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Completed: Yes
Tony discovers Stane’s betrayal while he’s still being held captive. When he escapes, he sets out to ruin Stane as completely and ruthlessly as he can, playing up his PTSD and quitting his job to destroy Stane quietly from the outside. He also picks up a teaching job-all Pepper’s fault-and oh, right, becomes a supervillain. Okay, that one was Tony’s fault, but it was totally an accident.
In the meantime, a certain Capsicle is defrosted a year early, and is assigned the task of capturing the notorious Iron Man. It’s not going particularly well, if the embarrassingly high number of times he’s been kidnapped in the past six months is any indication. When SHIELD decides to help him “adjust” by getting him a teaching job, Steve is skeptical; but then there’s Tony, and Steve finds he doesn’t mind the 21st century so much after all.
The Accidental Husband by panda_shi
★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 97,716
Pairing: Tony Stark/T’Challa
Completed: No
Tony Stark discovers, that during his lowest point when he had been almost-twenty-one, he had married the King of Wakanda. Except he doesn’t remember how. Now, trying to get a divorce is going to be one challenging thing – how is this his life, even? It’s almost unfair!
It’s Not Cosmetic by withasideofangst
★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 32,997
Pairing: Gen (pre Steve Rogers/Tony Stark)
Completed: Yes
After Afghanistan and Iron Man, SHIELD gave Tony a choice. He could out himself as Iron Man, or claim it was a bodyguard, and hide his face from the world.
Agent Agent never said anything, but Tony had hacked SHIELD’s servers and knew they wanted him to go the bodyguard route. Yes to Iron Man and no to Tony Stark, and all that.
That, as well as keeping Pepper safe, made him go with the bodyguard cover, and flimsy as he thought it was, no one questioned it.
Of course, why would they? Tony Stark was no superhero.
Although, it’s less easy to keep a secret identity with a bunch of superheroes and spies living in your house.
Journey To The Past by melonbutterfly
★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 67,329
Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark
Completed: Yes
Loki doesn’t know why he feels the urge to go to Midgard, but it’s strong enough that he, when a stranger offers him free passage in exchange for his pretending to be lost Prince Loki of Asgard, doesn’t hesitate for long.He really has no idea how much his life is going to change.
A Friend for A Week by LokasennaHiddleston
★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 159,969
Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark
Completed: No
A week before Thor’s coronation, a drunk and depressed Loki decides he wants a genuine friend of his own. Of course, he turns to magic to solve his dilemma.There are only two problems. First, he is very aware that his current form isn’t very lovable or trustworthy. Second, he actually needs a person to befriend.This is how Loki ends up in Tony Stark’s living room, minutes after his disastrous birthday party, and in the shape of a cat. What will our favorite genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist make of the mysteriously appearing feline, and how will it all affect their lives, and those of the people around them?
Case 623 by DannieU
★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 146,441
Pairing: James “Bucky” Barnes/Tony Stark
Completed: No
Tony was pretty sure that the small human left on his doorstep was just a (really fucking frightening) attempt at extortion, and mostly just wanted child protective services to show up yesterday. Then an extended trip to Afghanistan puts life, the universe and everything into perspective, and somehow, miraculously, Tony might be closer to happy than he’s been in his life. He’s even willing to accept the enormous pieces of the puzzle he’s obviously missing. He should’ve learnt long ago that what you don’t know will always come back to bite you in the ass.
Even the Light is an Illusion by Mizzy
★ ★ ★ ★
Words: 102,373
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Completed: Yes
Death threats are an unfortunate side-effect of being Tony Stark, so he’s learned to ignore them. The problem is, when someone really wants you dead, hiding your head in the sand just kinda exposes your ass.
But it’s not just Tony’s behind on the line. Whoever wants him dead wants him to suffer first, and they’re willing to do anything to make that happen. Tony knows there’s only one way out. To save Steve, the Avengers, and the general public, Tony has to die. Of course, death isn’t always the end, and Tony does what any other self-disrespecting scientist would do: he finds a way to fake his death and avenge his own murder.
The trouble is, terrible decisions usually have a terrible price, and this one is no different. Tony has a chance to save the day, but the cost may be more than Tony was ever expecting to pay…
Forged With Blood, Forged With Fire by agentsimmons
★ ★ ★
Words: 91,279
Pairing: Bruce Banner/Tony Stark
Completed: Yes
When Bruce looks over Tony’s blood work he notices an anomaly that sets them both on a search for answers and shows them just how much they mean to one another in the process. But when the truth finally becomes clear, it’s only the start of more obstacles and changes to come as they each find themselves facing new enemies and old.
And When It Does I’m Already Gone by qwanderer and roseapprentice
★ ★ ★
Words: 75,111
Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark
Completed: Yes
Eighteen years ago, Tony fell in love with a mysterious woman, all green eyes and wit. Now he’s given up all hope of finding her again, but with curiosity and a well-placed spider, fate has different ideas.
Loki lies and loves and loses and leaves things unfinished. But the people who love Loki back aren’t about to let the past go so easily. And Tony and Peter can dig up their share of secrets when they put their heads together. Biological Smartass Family.
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uomo-accattivante · 6 years
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I love this entire commentary below by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (contains spoilers)
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Recently, I went to see the new Star Wars. I know, I wanted to see it sooner, but I have babies. Anyway, getting home from the cinema, I was curious to see what people were saying about the movie, and what I discovered surprised me. While most critics and many fans loved it as much as I did, there was also a passionate contingent who decidedly didn’t.
I was intrigued. A lot of my favorite movies polarize audiences. Many, many voices had much to say, and I only got through reading a tiny speck of it, but right away, I noticed a recurring theme in the various objections. In fact, I noticed a number of recurring themes, and I’m tempted to write down my thoughts about several of them. But in the interest of brevity (and the likelihood that I actually manage to finish writing this), I’ll limit myself to this one:
What happened to Luke Skywalker?
Before I dive into what I think, forgive me for prefacing just a bit more. I should say, the writer and director of The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson, is a good friend of mine. I played the protagonist in two of his movies, Brick and Looper, and in fact, for the sake of some kind of brotherly streak, he gave me cameos in his other two movies, The Brothers Bloom, and this one. However, and this is important, I’m NOT speaking for him here. He doesn’t even know I’m writing this. I guess I should probably make sure it’s cool with him if I’m gonna post it publicly. I’ll worry about that later. But for now, I’m gonna repeat myself, because I want to be really clear, this is just my own opinion, and in no way do I carry any special authority on this movie. I’m probably biased in its favor, but then again, we’re all biased somehow, so there’s that.
I also wanna say, I’m not here to tell anybody they’re wrong. Personally, I don’t think it’s possible to be wrong when it comes to movies, or art, or literature, or whatever you wanna call it. In our ever more gamified culture, with endless awards shows, publicized box office figures, and the all-knowing Tomatometer, it seems conversations about movies are more and more often put into quantified terms of good and bad, best and worst, right and wrong. And then there’s the twitface-insta-fueled tribalism, people taking sides, pointing fingers and spitting venom at the other guys. There seems to be a lot of that going around right now from both lovers and haters of this movie. Dear oh dear, folks. This isn’t politics or sports. The fruit is in the subjectivity. If you feel differently than I do, I’m 100% cool with that. I think it’s often in these very differences of perspective that movies can be at their most enlightening, helping us learn something about each other and ourselves.
So, with all that said, I’ll ask again… What happened to Luke Skywalker?
The Luke Skywalker we meet in The Last Jedi is very different than the Luke Skywalker we remember from the original Star Wars movies. In the past, Luke was hopeful, an idealist, deeply driven to venture out into the galaxy, find his destiny, and do the right thing, no matter the cost. Now he’s apathetic, cynical even, hunkered down on an island and seemingly passionate about nothing but his own isolation. He’s wasting his talents on an eccentric day-to-day routine of laughable animal husbandry and death-defying spearfishing. When a young potential Jedi with profound aptitude, Rey, comes to find him seeking a mentor, he literally tosses her lightsaber over his shoulder into the dirt. And later, when facing said youngster in combat, he ends up on his knees, defeated.
And even worse than becoming personally weird and physically weak, he’s become morally questionable. The plot hinges on a moment from the recent past where Luke contemplates killing Ben Solo, his own nephew, in his sleep, sensing the young man’s attraction to the dark side of the Force, and fearful of the damage he might cause. I saw the point made several times that decades earlier, in Return of the Jedi, Luke is so righteous, so forgiving, he even refuses to kill the reprehensibly villainous Darth Vader. Clearly this is an enormous departure.
It makes sense that all of this might not feel very good. For so many of us, Luke is the epitome of a hero. He is what we strive to be. He’s also our access point into a world we love. We got to know Star Wars through the eyes of this character. And now, after all this time, we finally get to see him again, and he sorta sucks as a person. He’s disrespecting everything a Jedi is supposed to stand for. Ultimately it feels like he’s disrespecting us. Or, as some fans concluded, this just isn’t the real Luke Skywalker, but rather a bastardization perpetrated by bad storytelling or corporate interests.
And again, if that’s how you feel, more power to you. I think there’s a certain enjoyment to be had from taking a subversive stance against the biggest “Big Hollywood” movie of the year. And I know I couldn’t kill that buzz even if I wanted to. But if you’re feeling disappointed in the man Luke Skywalker has become in The Last Jedi, and maybe it’s getting in the way of you really loving the movie, and you’re kinda wishing you didn’t feel that way, because you want to love the movie… read on.
The way I see it, The Last Jedi takes two big risks in its depiction of Luke. 1) He’s different than he used to be. 2) Not only is he different, he’s changed for the worse.
As for the first risk, he didn’t have to be different. He’s one of the most iconic movie characters ever. A safer bet would have been to bring him back and make him just like he always was. This is what The Force Awakens did exceedingly well. For example, the Han Solo we meet in that movie is pretty much the same charmingly roguish character we loved in the original trilogy. Yes, he’s gotten older, had a kid, but it hardly seems to have changed him much. And that was fine by me. Seeing him again after so many years felt like a sweet reunion with an old friend. So, why not do the same for Luke?
Leaving Luke unchanged would have been a huge missed opportunity. Think about how rare this is. A trilogy of movies is made with a young protagonist played by an actor in his 20s. Then, no fewer than 40 YEARS LATER (A New Hope came out in 1977) this actor gets to play the same character as an older man. I don’t know how many times that has ever happened in the history of movies. Has it ever happened?
This gives the filmmaker and the actor an extraordinary opportunity to tell a story about one of the most universal truths in human experience — getting older. We all get older, and those of us who are lucky enough to survive our youth all face the joys, the terrors, the puzzles, the pitfalls, the surprises, and the inevitabilities that come along with doing so. Re-meeting our beloved protagonist decades after we last saw him, only to learn that the passing years have changed some of his most fundamental qualities, I’ll admit, it’s almost hard to see. But in that glaring contrast between the Luke of old and the new Old Luke, The Last Jedi offers a uniquely fascinating portrayal of a man’s life marching inescapably forward.
Time changes us. Go talk to anybody in their sixties and ask if they feel very different than they did in their twenties. The look on their face will almost surely speak volumes. As do so many such looks from Mark Hamill in what I feel is a beautifully nuanced and heartfelt performance.
The second big risk I mentioned was that Luke has not only changed, he’s changed for the worse. But to me, the obvious response here is that movie characters are usually better when they’re flawed. Speaking as an actor, when I’m considering whether or not I want to play a certain character, I’m always looking for a healthy balance of virtues and shortcomings. Otherwise, it doesn’t feel real. No one is a perfect hero or a perfect villain, we’re more complicated than that, every one of us. Flawless characters feel thin. And forgive me if I blaspheme, but the young Luke Skywalker always did feel just a little light to me, which is why it was so cool this time around to see him fill out into a more imperfect human being.
A flawed main character is one of the main distinctions between a story with substance and a gratuitous spectacle. It’s often through a character overcoming their flaws that a movie can really say something. Yes, when the movie begins, Luke has grown cynical. He’s lost faith in what it means to be a Jedi. He’s let fear of the Dark Side of the Force corner him into isolation and inaction. But he needs to start there, so that he can overcome this grave deficit.
To me, this is a story about not losing faith: faith in the outside world, faith in your allies as well as your enemies, in the future as well as the past, in the next generation that will take your place, and yes, faith in your own damn self. Luke has made mistakes that had terrible consequences, and his regret is so strong that he wants to give up. We need to see that despair, hidden under a crusty front of indifference, so that when he finally decides to put himself out there and make the ultimate sacrifice, it means something. It means more than just stalling the First Order to let the remainder of the Resistance escape. Our protagonist has arrived at the end of his journey. He’s re-found his faith, both in the past and the future of the Jedi Order, and even more importantly, in himself. Again, it’s in that glaring contrast between a journey’s beginnings and its end where we find a story’s meaning.
And so, speaking of faith, I’ll end on a bit of a meta note here. It feels to me like a good chunk of the backlash against The Last Jedi is about exactly that. Star Wars has a certain sanctity for a great many of us, and it’s understandable why current circumstances might rattle a fan’s faith. The ultimate authority in this world, its auteur, George Lucas, has recently passed the torch onto the next generation. The new owner of Lucasfilm is a massive media conglomerate. But I think the new Luke Skywalker of Episode VIII gives us good reason to feel reassured.
That a big Hollywood studio would take such risks on such a big property — again, to present their central hero in a drastically different light than ever before, to unflinchingly deliver the ominous message that even the most pure-hearted idealists can struggle through darkness and doubt — these are not the kinds of decisions that get made when short-term profitability is prioritized above all else. These are risks taken in the interest of building a world that is not only good for selling popcorn and action figures this year, but that thrives in the long-run on a bed of literary substance and artistic dignity. As a fan, I take it as a sign of respect that the movie was not only a good time, but a provocative challenge. A lot of studios and filmmakers don’t think so highly of their audiences. In the end, to me, The Last Jedi demonstrates not only that we can still have faith in Star Wars, but that Star Wars still has faith in us.
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hindsight222 · 5 years
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Worship begins in respect.
I feel that the definition of worship has a become lost on the masses. Worship is not blindly following and agreeing with someone or something, humiliating yourself or others, or harming yourself or others. Worship does not require you to go broke. Worship, at its very root, is respect. When ancient man saw the moon and the sun, they worshiped them as gods for they gave both light in darkness and sunshine to grow food. Ancient man regarded all things that added to their existence with some sort of great respect. (When I say “ancient man,” I mean all ancient cultures that predate modern religion around the world). There was respect of love, fertility, lightning, rain, crops and even war. Nowadays I think that our curiosity as an ever-evolving species, has strayed us away from respect. Why worship the moon? Why not study it? Question it? Understand it? Land on it. Claim it as our own. Colonize it. Our healthy curiosity causes us to smudge the line of respect. We don’t need to worship rain anymore, of course, however, in shifting our worship to curiosity of all things, we have caused harm to so many things that we once respected a lot more. Our earth should be the MOST respected — we live on it! Our oxygen should be highly regarded as important — we breathe it! Unfortunately, us humans have done a considerable amount of damage to our world, our oceans, our air quality. The damage does not just affect us, but every other living creature that has to live on this planet with us. Even if you take the spirituality out of worship, look at how much respect and reverence still remains. I’m having restraint and compassion for whatever we set our curiosity on, we can still have respect for life. Respecting & Worshiping Others. When a man opens the door for a woman, he is not worshiping her, he is respecting her femininity. Her returned gratefulness is her respecting his masculinity, and also knowing that he didn’t have to do that. I don’t know how others were raised, but I grew up knowing that no one uses foul language around my grandmothers and grand-aunties, no matter how “grown” you were. That was simply not done. You respected them as elders of the family, as Mothers, as queens that love you with all of the positivity in their heart, so you left that foolishness outside. When a pastor walks up to the pulpit and you stand up in church, you’re not worshiping the pastor, you are respecting the fact that this is the person that is going to attempt to deliver some love and positivity to the whole room, to try to relieve someone’s anxiety and pain the best way they know how. That is honorable. That is something to be respected. When the judge walks in the courtroom and you stand up, you’re not worshiping this judge, you’re not bowing to “massa;” you’re respecting the person that has put in enough years of interpretation of the legal system, that s/he is now able to deliver sentences, fines and essentially effect your freedoms. You and your freedom absolutely should respected in return at all times. We know our legal system does not always do a good job at this.. which trickles down to general distaste and disrespect for the “justice system” from those that it oppresses, but I digress. When a bride stands at the back of the church and everyone stands up, that is respecting the union that is about to happen. The reason you came was to watch these two become one family, you stand in respect of that. Traditions and manners have often been regarded as unnecessary. It doesn’t take much to turn on the news and see someone horribly disrespecting or, worse, harming someone else. The lack of the respect and civility will eventually reside in disrespect and an uncivilized society. Now the big one. God. I am a proud Christian so this will be according to my perspective. I also love studying other religions, so I will also do my best to be respectful to all readers. Where do I start? Okay, we have disrespected, chastised and executed followers of Christ, followers of Islam, followers of Judaism, and SO many of those that dare to have their own religion and gods. Who is anyone to tell another what can comfort their heart? Disrespectful and just wrong. On television shows, internet jokes, YouTube parodies, I see so many people make jokes at Christians’ expense. There are bands with names, plenty of lyrics that disrespect Christianity, or make light of it. Costumes that I won’t even go into. How messed up is it to be enjoying a TV program or listening to some music and then hear your faith disrespected? I believe God created the universe, planets, everything, my family and even me — I can’t just sing along to that! I can’t just act like I didn’t hear it. If you heard someone wildly disrespect your Mother specifically, you’d have an issue. Christians, like other religions, get a bad wrap because of extremists, but should still have their faith respected. All faiths can respect one another without accepting the same truths. I feel for the Muslim community very much. My father taught me the Muslim faith when he was married to a Muslim woman when I was younger. I got to spend a summer with them and learned so much. I got to wake up early and eat with them for Ramadan, I got to wear the headpiece and learn the prayers and movements. My Christian Baptist Mother allowed me to do this because she knew that I had always been curious about other people in general. I was also a pretty spiritual kid; me and Jesus were tight. She allowed me to explore my spirituality and I’m so grateful. I think Islamic culture is so beautiful! Have you ever seen a Mosque?! Come on now. Just beauty and details everywhere. Anyways, I just want to say that with all the stigma and stereotypes surrounded by your faith and tensions being so awful in America, I really do feel for followers of the Muslim life. I hope it’s not disrespectful to say I pray for the families, especially those that have experienced the extreme violence lately. When I was younger, I was told that all streams, no matter how shallow, have water. I may be quoting that wrong, but what I always took from it was that everyone has something in them that is true, that you can learn from. A lot of religions, both old and new, have very similar stories, and ask people to do the same things: be respectful to yourself and your surroundings, feel good inside and do good outside, be mindful, be grateful and be fruitful. There is no reason to disrespect anyone else for following those rules out of a different book, so to speak. Worship is different to different people. Think of someone or something that you respect the most. (God? Loyalty?) to worship is to just continue to build on respect. Egyptians built great pyramids to exhibit their respect and worship of their gods and royalty. Native Americans considered certain grounds sacred, built fixtures and sculptures. Some African cultures look at their elder and storytellers as royalty as they their lips hold the history of their people. Muslims do not pray without clean limbs. We Christians write songs, poems, do praise dances to worship God. If you’re Baptist, like me, you might even get a little loud with your praise, as if to shout your worship right up to heaven. It’s not necessary if it’s not your thing though. Your relationship to your Creator is your own. What’s Not Worship.
Celebrity and pop culture are ruining the line between fame and blasphemy. To respect the talent and beauty or whatever of a famous person is fine, to admire it is even good too. To support, be a fan of and be inspired by celebrities is all okay. What is not okay is to worship these people as gods. Celebrities are just famous PEOPLE. Just like you and I. You even put too much pressure on the famous people by overly loving them and wanting them to be a role model for your children, agree with what you believe in politically, and literally scrutinize every move they make! These famous people exhaust themselves to death to try to live up to an impossible standard because the masses don’t know how to RESPECT boundaries, within self or others. You shouldn’t love celebrities too much and wanna know everything about their lives simply because you like their songs or movies. You’re disrespecting their right to be a flawed human like you are. You’re disrespecting yourself by obsessing over the life of someone else. And you’re disrespecting GOD by giving that much energy over to someone who He made just like you! God loves you and made you special and you turn around give your self-love and self-worth over to someone else who is human just like you. God wants you to love Him and yourself. You gotta respect yourself too. Respect yourself. Respect yourself. You don’t need to worship yourself either. Comparing yourself to others to show how superior you are is... well it’s just silly, first of all. Second, it’s disrespectful. If you were born with fair skin or pretty feet or great hair, you can’t help that; you had NOTHING to do with it. If someone else was born with a learning disability, big ears, or something like psoriasis, THEY had nothing to do with that. If you’re the fastest person on your track team, that’s good for you, but that doesn’t mean everyone else on the team is just crappy. It means you’re the best, today. People that overly exalt themselves and brag on their talents, cause others to wish for their downfall. People that are humble about their many accomplishments, make others wanna exalt them for him/her and can’t wait to share in more of their victories. Don’t gas yourself up from your own headlines. Respect yourself.
Take care of yourself. Remember yourself. Pay attention to yourself. Who else is gonna be thinking about you, if you are never thinking about you? You can’t get mad at people for not considering you, if you don’t speak up for yourself when you should, if you don’t take care of yourself when you need care. It won’t even be intentional that you get disrespected or counted out, sometimes. You can’t forget about you and expect everyone around you to pick up the slack in your own self-love. Many of us are having a hard time with our own as well. Love. I think worship and love get confused, too. So many are obsessed with and even worship their partners, but they do not love them. If you’re obsessed with your lover, you need to take a step back. Being their biggest supporter, admirer, and genuinely just loving them so much, that is great. But can you imagine if someone just straight up told you “I’m obsessed with you.” That is terrifying! Men that are obsessed with their woman so much that they have to know where she is and what she is doing at all times, even hitting her when she steps out of line, do not love their woman. Women that are so controlling over a man that they don’t want him to have friends or do anything without her, don’t love him. That’s a human being. Human beings need friendship, love, community, alone time, freedom. If you wouldn’t want another human being trying to control those things in your life, think about if you’re obsessing over those things in someone else’s life that is not your young child. Then there are some women that lose themselves in a man so much that they end up disrespecting themselves in order to worship him. This is a sin against God, and, sis, it’s a sin against yourself. Willpower. Boundaries. As a “free spirit,” BOY do I struggle with those two words. I don’t like saying “no” to myself. Jackie Kennedy said that. I don’t remember the exact quote, guys, but she said it. I really don’t like stopping my joy. I struggle with depression and anxiety so much so that when I’m doing something that I like, that distracts me, I don’t want to stop. That doesn’t make it right, and it’s also single-minded. I’ve found that there is joy and great reward in having willpower. It goes without saying that you absolutely need boundaries in life, but typically that’s with others. 
In order to respect oneself, I feel that you have to set boundaries on everything. That sounds mechanical which is not my intent. I mean that you should pay attention to yourself in order to continue to enjoy your whole life the way you want to. If you love cheese, but know it can gum up your arteries, then you have to set boundaries on how often you indulge so that you can continue to indulge for as long as possible. I like alcohol, but if I want my liver to like me for the rest of my life, I have to set boundaries. Paying attention to the things you like, the things you need, and effects of those things all make it possible for you to set more reasonable boundaries for yourself. Love for yourself is rooted in respect, just like worship is rooted in the ultimate amount of respect that you can induce.
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emperorsfoot · 7 years
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I have mixed feelings about Omniverse. There were some things I liked about the series and some things I really, really did not like. Overall, I have to say that my opinion of the series is split 30/70 with the 70% being negative. So, for the most part, I didn't like it. But first let me discuss the things I DID like.
We got a stable Plumbers Headquarters in Bellwood and more regular Plumbers characters.
The Plumbers always stuck me sort of as the Green Lantern Corps., and just like with the Lanterns, the Corps. Comics are way better than the Green Lantern comics. Why? Because its about the whole Corps. The whole organization, not just a circle jerk for Hal Jordan (or whoever the Lantern for sector 2814 happens to be at the time). And that was what was nice about expanding the cast of Plumbers. We got to see a whole Corps of Plumbers, not just third-tier 'Plumbers Helpers' or single-episode cameos to remind us that other Plumbers existed. We had regular characters with names and backstories -many of whom weren't even from Earth. It was a good attempt at world building, and in a show that is constantly claiming to be about “experiencing what its like to be another species” or “learning how differences make us strong”, that's something that's very important. Because, as we all know (should know) UNLIKE Green Lantern Corps. (Blackest Night story arc) the Earth isn't actually the center of the universe. (Neither is Ben for that matter, although you wouldn't know it from watching the series.)
Gwen goes to collage and she and Kevin get away from Ben for a while.
For pretty much all their lives, both Gwen and Kevin's lives have revolved around Ben Mother-Fucking Tennyson. Gwen because they were raised more like siblings than cousins, she was pulled into all his absurd alien adventures -literally- from the moment they started, Ben is incapable of doing anything without her and when she does get out, he pulls her back in again -remember, it was Ben that went to Gwen at the beginning of Alien Force. If he hand't asked her for help, she might not have been a main character in the second series. And Kevin became obsessed with Ben when he was only eleven years old. When he was still in his formative years. Over the course of Alien Force and Ultimate Alien that obsession and thirst for revenge morphed and shifted into an uncomfortably dependent friendship. Seriously. Ben is Kevin's ONLY male friend Kevin has that's an actual friend, not a 'business partner' or 'tech-buddy'. Its good that Gwen went to collage and Kevin followed her, so that they could both get some time away from Ben to grow as individuals. Sure, we the audience didn't get to see any of that individual growth and development because the series was too busy being a circle-jerk for Ben. But then, I've come to expect that from this franchise.
Prince Looma and Tetramand marital practices (“Many Happy Returns”)
Same as with the additional Plumbers characters, this was a good way to add some easy world building. They took an existing alien species that the viewers are very familiar with and gave us a glimpse of their culture. It was mostly played for laughs, but I think it was one of the better episodes (and not just because it was also a mostly Kevin-centric episode). In one episode alone, we learn how Tetramand ask for/arrange their matches, engagement ceremony, length and traditions, how engagements are broken off, and even a little bit about the marriage ceremony itself. To someone who knows how to pay attention it was like a cascade of culture building, world building, and general information that expanded the world of Ben 10.
Rook -Kevin and Gwen in one person.
When they took Gwen and Kevin away, they had to replace them somehow, because -as the franchise has consistently proven- while the whole thing might be one giant Ben-wank, Ben Tennyson is also utterly and completely incapable of doing anything on his own. He needs a sidekick -usually one who's smarter and more skilled (read: more useful) than Ben himself, and doesn't mind playing second fiddle to the spotlight hogging, ego-driven, narcissist Hero of the Universe. Rook does that wonderfully while also making sarcastic quips that go over Ben's (and his fans in fandom's heads). Also, adding another species -and more importantly, showing us his home planet, family, and how his people live- was more great world building.
Basically, what I liked about Omniverse was all the wold building they tried to do.
Now, the things I didn't like...
I'll start small and shallow:
The dramatic change in artwork.
Where do I begin? First and foremost its inconsistent with the rest of the franchise up to that point. Ben 10 TOS, Alien Force, and Ultimate Alien were all drawn/animated in the same style. Something similar to the Young Justice cartoon style, proportionate bodies with realistic facial features (realistic for a cartoon). That style worked for an adventure series. It was good. But then Omniverse rolls around and suddenly everyone's got giant eyes that take up half their faces, but they're not cute anime eyes, they're weird cat-like eyes. Their body proportions are all weird so that some characters are 60% legs, or their arms are so long their hands are at their knees. Max doesn't have facial expressions anymore, Ben looks like he's ten years old again, Kevin's chin is so long they have to give him a giraffe neck to compensate... All of the familiar characters look mutated and gross. I almost wanna say Omniverse was the worst artwork decision they could have made for the franchise, but then, I've seen the new reboot and that one's even worse.
The whole series is just one big Ben circle-jerk.
Remember all those new Plumbers characters I was so happy about? We can't have a single episode about them that doesn't involve Ben. Either Ben having to rescue then while Grandpa Max vomits a small novella of exposition, or Ben trying to investigate their past for X, Y, Z reason, or them driving around Bellwood while Ben has seemingly endless battles around them that inevitably block their path, or Ben tagging along while they visit their home planet. There is no way to develop a single new character in the show without Ben having to be involved in some way. Look. I get it. The franchise is called “Ben 10”, so obviously its about Ben. But ya know what? Avatar is also called “Avatar” and they manage to have multiple episodes about other characters that don't even involve the Avatar at all. Believe it or not, it is possible to make Wester cartoons with a wide cast of characters, AND develop said characters without the title character having to stick his nose in every time someone farts.
They somehow made Ben 10 a harem anime.
Now, I like a good harem as much as the next sexually repressed and asocial nerd. Goodness knows Martian Successor Nadeshico has a permanent spot on my list of Top Ten Anime I Recommend to Everyone. But is just seemed kinda weird... Ultimate Alien ended with Ben and Julie seeming really solid. Then at the beginning of Omniverse, they're not even together anymore. Now, Word of God is that Kenny's mother is Kai, so obviously Ben and Julie couldn't be together forever. At some point they had to break up and Ben had to get with Kai. But Omniverse did not handle the inevitable facts of canon well. There was no real mention of reasons why Ben and Julie were no longer together when they seemed so solid at the send of the previous series, then, all of a sudden, Ben had a million and one women wanting to bone him. Looma, Ester, Lucy, (even his cousin Sonny in one episode and that was creepy), and yes, still Julie and Kai. And, like most protagonists in harem anime, Ben does absolutely nothing to deserve all this adulation from the distaff gender. Its very frustrating.
Kai Green -I like the IDEA of Kai, but I actually hate the CHARACTER Kai.
I really like the idea of Kai. I really do. I like a strong, independent, female, well educated, Native American character. To often in fiction Native characters are portrayed as “magical” in some way. Either as sages or spiritual guides, shapeshifters, mediums, or healers. Its very rare to find a Native American characters who's just a normal, down-to-Earth person with hopes and dreams, anxieties and fears, plans and aspirations, etc. Kai is none of the cliché tropes that Native characters are pigeon-holed  into. This is best illustrated by an exchange of dialogue between her and Ben when he comments on her hand-to-hand combat skills and asks if its some “ancient Navajo” fighting technique, and she scoffs at him and says she took after school classes at the mall -like any normal teenager would! Kai is a real person, she's not just a conglomeration of stereotypes and tropes. I really like the idea of Kai. I really do. That being said... THE WRITERS SEEMED TO HAVE DONE EVERYTHING IN THIER POWER TO MAKE KAI UTTERLY AND COMPLETELY UNLIKABLE! (Yes, I did have to shout that in all caps.) I like the idea of Kai, but Kai herself is condescending, and an intellectual snob. I don't like Ben, but there's one episode where he's at a museum (seeing an exhibit that Kai put on) and he makes a comment along the lines of “I didn't know aliens had old stuff!” and Kai responds to him like he's the dumbest piece of shit to ever crawl out of the public school system -and she does this in front of a crowd of his peers and strangers. Lets step out of the cartoon for a moment and look at it with some perspective. How would you feel if you've part of a tour group and someone in the group (you may or may not know) asks a silly question. What would you think if the tour guide responded with something like “How far up your ass did you have to stick your head to find that question, dumbass?” You'd think they were a terrible tour guide and should be fired, right? That's what Kai did to Ben. And that wasn't even the first time she showed a clear disrespect for Ben either. In the original series, she says she only like Ben when he was Benwolf (later renamed Blitzwolfer in Omniverse) because she wanted a “pet dog” that she could “train”. That's kinda understandable and excusable because she was ten at the time and kids are amoral assholes who don't know any better. But Omniverse is six years later, Kai is sixteen and she hasn't improved with age, she's become more of a bitch. I really don't understand why the show insisted on shoving them together and insisting that they both love each other and are happy together in the future. When we see her in the future, she's always with Ben 10,000 but she's still making disparaging comments about him or his arch enemies and Ben just smiles and cuddles and kisses her.
Kevin. Everything Omniverse did to, and took away from Kevin.
This should be a post unto itself. Anyone who reads my fan fictions will know that Kevin is my favorite character. So, of course the thing I'm gonna feel most strongly about is going to have something to do with Kevin Ethan Levin. So, sit down prepare yourself for a wall-o-text.
Osmosian. Look, I get that in the original series the PLAN was for Kevin to be a mutant and NOT an alien. But then Alien Force and Ultimate Alien changed that. They established that Osmosians were aliens. They established this so solidly that Omnivers' attempts to ret-con Kevin back to being a mutant makes no sense. Take a moment to seriously think about just how large that conspiracy has to be in order for “Osmosian” the alien species to really be a mutated Earthling. Max, Kevin's, and Kevin's mother's memories were altered, Aggregor is an experiment to replicate Kevin's powers, Ragnarok was really a Rooters agent, the Osmos System is an uninhabited system that Servantis altered the records of in order to supply a “home planet” for his fake species. And all of this was done without the Magistrata or any other high-level Plumbers stumbling across the conspiracy or finding out. Its just so far fetched. Its to much of a stretch for it to be a legitimate explanation -and yet, its canon. What it is, is absurd. This is not good story telling.
It makes the world smaller. Remember way up at the top of this post when I was listing the things I liked about Omniverse and most of it was me just gushing over the world building? Well, the Rooters story arc and subsequent ret-cons are the exact opposite of that. Its not 'wolf building' its 'world shrinking'. By making Kevin a mutant Earthling instead of an alien-human hybrid, they robbed the Ben 10 universe of a planet, a species, and possibly a culture to explore. If they really wanted to make Kevin a villain again so much, they could have had a story arc ret-conning Devin instead. Make Devin an Osmosian double agent who was supposed to infiltrate the Plumbers because Osmosians could be aggressive and warlike aliens (seeing how Kevin's so naturally obsessed with revenge, and Aggregor was determined to attain the power of a god, I think that's a plausible assumption). But, Devin accidentally fell in love with an Earthling -Kevin's mother- and quit his mission. The story arch could have been Devin's old war-buddies coming to enlist Kevin to finish the mission his father couldn't. Kevin might go along with them as a way to get to know what kind of man his father really was. They could play it the same way they did in the Rooters story arc and have him just pretending to join the baddies in order infiltrate them and help Ben defeat them and save Earth. Or they could make him OD on energy and go crazy and become a legit villain again. Either way, keep Osmosians as aliens would have been a better story than making them mutant Earthlings AND it would have been another great opportunity for more world building.
Ret-conning Kevin's backstory was cruel. Kevin has almost no positive male role-models. Thing about it. Think about his life. When Kevin was young, his male role-model was his step-father, an average human with nothing special or noteworthy about him EXCEPT THAT HE WAS TERRFIED OF HIS STEP-SON. Think about that. Kevin's first male role-model was afraid of him. How positive an influence could Harvey have been if he was scared shitless of an eleven-year-old child? Then Kevin was trapped in the Null Void and sent to prison where he met Kwarrel. Now, Kwarrel was shown to be a fairly decent guy. But lets also keep in mind that he is in an maximum security prison within the Null Void, so he must have done something pretty bad to be sentenced there. Also, keep in mind that we only got to see a few short flashbacks of Kwarrel and they were all through Kevin's point of view -usually of Kwarrel mentoring him. But we also know that Kwarrel was “top dog” in the prison. The only way to stay that was in jail is to rule through strength and intimidation. We saw Kwarrel being all nobel and empathetic, but that doesn't mean he wasn't also sometimes aggressive, violent, or even cruel to the other inmates. Omniverse gave Kevin NOTHER super-shitty role-model in Proctor Servantis. Amoral, self-serving, uses children as experiments and puppets, fucks with people's minds, and devotes his entire life to destroying one single human boy. The only truly positive male role-models Kevin has in his life are Max Tennyson and the memory of Devin Levin -except Omniverse made it so that Devin never actually existed. That was just downright cruel.
So, that's what I think about Omniverse.
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akria23 · 5 years
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I love your posts on Chloe. It's so refreshing so see some nuance. I have to preface everything I saw by saying I'm bi or else people will roast me for supporting a trash cishet. It's absurd. Lucas is really messing with her head and she was completely right in the gym! He needs to swallow that bitter pill of reality. His constant lies have caught up with him. Chloe has every right to be angry and she just wants him to gtfo and leave her alone. But he won't
People’s need to pretend like you’re an enemy and invalid if you’re not in the group (or don’t state that your amongst the group) is tactic any arguments. There’s always conversations that those who don’t being to certain groups can’t engage in because they don’t have the shared experience but this is def not one of those conversations. You should’ve have to reveal your truth to validate your opinion. It can be used to explain your attachment to a perspective but it shouldn’t have to be at the pleasing of another - you know.
Like I said to someone else - I’m apart of the lgbqt community but I’m also a female so sometimes seeing how fandom decides to discuss female characters (def the female fans) is often shocking, disturbing, and in my opinion disgusting. That’s to say maybe I’m more sensitive to it because I am a female who has seen this trend take place across many fandoms and def in homosexual tropes like this one. But I’d hope even as a guy I’d understand where that boundary should be.
Chole is not trash. She’s not some terrible human being that deserves fandoms derision. And that’s what I’m saying - okay you think she’s wrong for this reason . Leave it there. But when they feel the need to carry that bone further and use it to justify how they then decide to disrespect the character is where I go 🤔😬. When fandom talks about guys that do bad it’s he’s trash but he’s my trash (it’s saying the character is wrong but you don’t care). It’s not cancel season at all. Characters like Chloe don’t even have to be terrible they just have to do the slightest thing and it’s over - people wait for them to mess up so they can cross that line. Girls def girls in these type of stories have to meet a criteria and the one that’s most liked is the one most in help to the liked male. I don’t feel like any character to be cancelled that’s what they exist for - to take us through this journey of lessons/experiences.
I’m personally like you. I feel that Lucas has gotten himself in a pickle and that’s not Chloe’s fault - like she said she’s not accountable to him. That’s a harsh reality but it is a reality. She was the one pulled into a role she didn’t sign up for - not him. But I don’t agree with the concusses that what she said was a implication on some big plan to put him or back him into a corner. I just think it was her being exasperated and honest - you have no say over what I think or say I don’t have to run my thoughts/words through you (I don’t have to be accountable to you Lucas). I def think the audience is choosing to blow it more out of proportion than it’s meant to be but hey I could be wrong. I don’t think so but it’s possible. But even if we were to debate on that the notion that it’s never right to put someone is gray space to me because I’ve seen a lot of bad situations where women got stuck in situations they didn’t agree to because someone else using them to cover having to deal with their own shit. Even in story Luc tells Chole (therefore outing Lucas to someone) but if she hadn’t Lucas would still be using and manipulating her to undo his ‘situationship’ with Elliott - all unbeknownst to her. There’s a difference in agreeing to something and being in the know and being played/used. So did Luc cross some line that makes her terrible? I guess to some people. Not so much to me personally. Because I don’t think anyone’s homosexual secret holds precedent over someone else’s feelings and worth. And when people kept telling me that women have to play that role because the unfairness of society I was like…wtf let’s not do this.
And that’s why I’m not trying to have those two conversations together because they’re both complex and there’s a lot to unpack in both and trying to do that at the same time is just a place for mess. I agree Chloe ain’t feeling it she clearly wanted to be left alone - just like he’s not here for Elliott currently she’s not here for him. Understandable so imo on both sides.
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themermaidstar · 7 years
Text
The Case of Ariana Pt. 2: YbraMihan or YbriAna?
So last night's episode caused an uproar within the Enca fandom in a negative way because Ariana was daydreaming about Ybrahim while she was helping the damas, and in her daydream, she was wearing Amihan's old royal gown, something that felt like a betrayal and disrespect to Kylie/Amihan according to fans. Not only that but she also had a "Cinderella" moment during the celebration that night, and it looked like Ybrahim has become attracted to her as soon as she stepped out in her blue gown. But the topping of the cake was that "Abangan" scene where Ybrahim and Ariana shared an intimate dance, nearly leading to a kiss, and Ybrahim starts reminding himself that he should not fall for her because she is not Amihan. It's obvious that most of the fandom has not accepted Arra as the new "Amihan" yet. And honestly, I can't really blame them since I myself am critical about her currently disappointing acting skills and the fact that Ariana's "pabebe-ish" personality is shining through moreso than Amihan's old self. I do not like how the show is making Ariana more concerned or more focused on only Ybrahim every time she appears onscreen. Not that she can't have her moments, but it also should not be overdone even if it's for the sake of the YbraMihan fandom. That's one of the reasons why YbraMihan worked... their slow-burnt love was subtle, mature, responsible, and not "In-Your-Face" in every episode, which made every romantic moment they had together even sweeter and more precious. Like that scene where those beasts were attacking Lireo, and Ariana showed only concern for Ybrahim and even laid out her feelings for him to Deshna even while in the midst of danger. I thought that scene was very out of place. There's a time for everything, and that definitely wasn't the time for confessing when your main concern was supposed to bring people to safety, especially since "Amihan" used to be the Queen of Lireo and is concerned about her people's well-being than herself. Ariana's actions have proven more and more that my Theory #1 about Amihan's soul giving life to Ariana, but Ariana will always be Ariana through and through until the end, is the one that's happening. The old Amihan would never daydream so goofily in the midst of cleaning, or at least while in a public place, and she definitely would've stood up for herself in a "classy" manner against those Damas who thought lowly of her. Despite all my complaints, I will admit that I felt "kilig" at that "Cinderella" moment, and contrary to what most netizens think of, I liked that Abangan scene where Ybrahim and Ariana shared an intimate dance and he began questioning his feelings for her. I never really felt excitement in Ybriana scenes except during their first meeting, and that's mostly because of the Kylie flashback. But in this scene, I could almost imagine Ariana being Amihan, and that it's not Ariana who's dancing with Ybrahim, but the old Amihan. I'm sure that Ybrahim is attracted to Ariana not only because she's beautiful just like how everyone in the room thinks, but because he could see Amihan's image and felt her presence as soon as Ariana came out. But of course he doesn't know that Ariana is Amihan, even she herself doesn't know it yet, so of course he would start doubting his feelings. Sad to say, a lot of the netizens did not share the same sentiments. Some are angry that Ybrahim is growing romantic feelings for Ariana and is starting to "move on" from Amihan, which they think is a betrayal. Others are still critical of Ariana mostly because Arra isn't Kylie or because of how the writers are portraying her love story. And then there are some who still prefer AleBarro. Look, you guys. I love Kylie too, and I desperately want her to come back in Enca even if it's in the last episode only. Or if we're lucky, if Enca extends till late 2017 and she's already given birth and has enough rest at that time, I'm praying that she'll be able to return even for a short amount of time and even without heavy scenes just to give Amihan the happy ending she deserves AS HERSELF. But people by now should fully accept that reality at the moment cannot allow Kylie to come back. And people should not bash Arra for it because she's only doing her job. The person who you guys should be blaming is not her, or the writers, or only Aljur alone, but Kylie as well. It is her own fault for not being careful that these results came out which caused her to give up Amihan's role and ruin the YbraMihan plans that DMR has planned. At the end of the day, Encantadia is only FICTION. Even though Kylie wants to continue on, it's still better to be safe than sorry. Her baby's safety is the most important thing and should be considered a blessing, however wrong the timing was. At the end of the day, Amihan's story has to go on, even if Kylie cannot continue as her. And if there ever will be that sliver of a chance that she can return as a cameo, the only way to do that now is if Arra continues her role as the new "Amihan". And the only way to make YbraMihan canon until the end is if YbriAna happens. Amihan's soul is already in Ariana's body, so even if it'll never be the same, the fact still remains that YbriAna becoming canon will essentially make YbraMihan canon because it is truly Amihan and Ybrahim's hearts that are pulling them back together. It is what it is because we can no longer go back in time and make Amihan stay put in Devas to wait for her loved ones. Our only hope now is to wait and see if Ariana fully embodies Amihan's old self eventually. The writers are already doing everything they can to keep Amihan and YbraMihan's story going, and although some decisions are questionable like their treatment of Ariana's attraction to Ybrahim, we should show appreciation for their efforts instead of cursing them for something that is not within their power. And to those saying that they'd prefer AleBarro to happen instead of YbriAna, unless you're through and through an AleBarro or a GabRu fan, please stop. AleBarro's story has long been over. Returning Ybrahim to Alena just because you can't accept YbriAna is not enough as an excuse to erase all the development Alena has gone through because she chose to move on from her first love. It is not set on stone that Alena should have a love interest or that Ybrahim and Alena should get together just because they are both single or because of pity for Alena's unreciprocated feelings for him. Ybrahim is obviously not romantically interested in Alena anymore. Heck, even as an ally or a friend, he has not shown much concern to Alena or her absence more than he does with Danaya or Pirena even after so many years. So to have him suddenly develop special feelings for Alena maybe as a way to distract himself from Amihan would just be so far-fetched and selfish of him. I'd rather they forget about prolonging that subplot because it's already overdone and only makes Alena more pitiful. Even if you don't see chemistry between Ruru and Arra, story-wise, it is only natural for Ybrahim to start falling for Ariana because he feels Amihan's presence within her. So to those who felt like they're "betrayed" by Ybrahim moving on, try to look at it in another perspective instead of still holding on to Kylie's nearly impossible return. It is completely normal for a single man who lost his true love to move on. I think that's a whole lot better than being grumpy for the rest of your life, and it's completely selfish to wish him that. And even so, Ybrahim is falling for Ariana because of Amihan's presence within her, so in a way, you can believe that Ybrahim has not fallen for "another woman". When you observe their scenes, Ariana's aura in front of Ybrahim lean more as Amihan's instead of her own, so it's only natural that Ybrahim's feelings become confused because he knows she's supposed to be "Ariana", but his heart keeps reminding him of Amihan. What I'm trying to say is that the fans should try to keep an open mind and stop bashing Arra incessantly just because she's Kylie's replacement. You can criticize her acting and her character's portrayal, and you might not see chemistry between her and Ruru like me. But please remember that Arra the actress is only doing her job. Ariana is essentially Amihan even if it doesn't show all the time. After all, she IS in Ariana's body and has Ariana's memories instead of her past life, so of course by instinct she'll have her "Ariana" moments as much as her "Amihan" moments. Think of the characters, not just the actors. Because at the end of the day, the characters' stories are more important than the actors playing them. If you are a true YbraMihan fan, you should realize that the only way now for our ship to become canon is to support YbriAna. And that's exactly what I'm going to do, even if I'm a KyRu fangirl and not an ArraXRuru fan. I'm holding onto this ship for the sake of YbraMihan, because this is the only way for this ship to keep sailing according to how the story's laid out now. At the end of the day, we can only hope that the writers know what they're doing. And who knows, maybe by the end of the series, we might just get our reward for our patience and loyalty to the show.
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deathtouch · 7 years
Text
⋆ femfeb day 17 // my femfeb masterpost ⋆ xposted to ao3 ⋆ d.va/pharah // 3k // gen ⋆ canon compliant, concerts, cute, fun, established relationship ⋆ hana and fareeha go see lucio live in concert 
12 Hours
12:07 PM
“When do the doors open, again?” Fareeha asked, squinting through the lenses of her dark Ray Bans sunglasses at the line. There were quite a few people already queued up ahead of them, all wearing neon green or frog emblems on their clothes. Someone even had one of those ridiculous frog helmets only it wasn’t quite as nice as Lucio’s.
“Six thirty.” Hana told her, settling down on the pavement with her legs crossed. She started turning up the edges of the foil lid on her Chipotle to-go bowl. Brown rice, black beans, chicken, corn salsa and pico de gallo. Yeah, she payed extra for the guac too. She was ready to dig in. She usually ate lunch earlier than this.
“Six thirty?” Fareeha repeated in shock. “What are we doing here so early for?”
“We want a spot on the barricade, duh!” Hana explained, mixing up the burrito bowl with her plastic fork.
“We don’t have seats?” Fareeha asked. “Don’t our tickets say like… barricade or something?”
Hana lifted up her head and laughed. “Oh, oh my god. No. We have standing room tickets. We’re garunteed a spot on the floor but if we want a spot on the barricade we’ve gotta get here early and fight for it.” She cocked her head back and squinted up at her girlfriend. The sun was high overhead and it made Fareeha look like a dark shadow. “You’re ready to fight for my honor, right?”
“Huh?” Fareeha looked down at her, a perfectly confused expression on her face. “Of course, babe. But, uh, what was wrong with those VIP tickets Luc gave us?”
“Ugh, VIP boxes? Are you kidding?” Hana stuffed a forkful of food in her mouth and chewed for a moment. “If I wanted to sit that far away I’d have bought a twenty dollar ticket all the way up on the third mezzanine in the back of the arena. I want to be front row center!”
“Oh, sure.” Fareeha agreed, going along with what Hana was saying even though it was clear she didn’t quite understand what she was getting herself into here.
12:49 PM
“Birdy…” Hana sang in a sweet little tone, addressing her girlfriend.
Fareeha finished off the last of her burrito bowl, scraping up a few final grains of rice from the container with her fork. “Mm?” she mumbled, stuffing the final bite in her mouth.
“Will you throw our trash away? Pretty please? I’ll hold our spot in line.” Hana offered up her most adorable smile.
“Sure,” Fareeha laughed. She would have done it anyway.
1:13 PM
“Hey, smile.” Hana said, holding up her phone to take a selfie.
“No,” Fareeha put her hand up to hide her face. “Your fans hate me.”
“They don’t hate you.” Hana insisted.
Unfortunately, some of them were a little jealous. There were also plenty of people who were entirely too critical of the age difference between the two of them. If they had an idea how well Hana and Fareeha worked together as a couple they would shut their mouths though. A lot of fans were actually encouraging in regards to Hana’s newest relationship. Mostly her followers just didn’t care either way and they were excited to see new pics, snaps, instagram photos or tweets from Hana whether her girlfriend was mentioned or not.
“C’mon, please? I won’t use the dog filter, I know you hate it. It’ll be just a cute pic of us.” Hana reasoned with her.
It took a long moment but Fareeha eventually lowered her hand. She leaned in but didn’t smile, because she was too cool for that. Hana offered up a bright grin and a peace sign that just barely peaked into the corner of the picture. “Aw, that’s a good one! You look so tough!” She said excitedly, drawing her phone into her lap to add a caption and a few important emoji stickers.
Bunny and Birdy, #LucioInConcert  
3:32 PM
“Hana, seriously, what are we supposed to do for the next three hours.” Fareeha was sprawled on her back in the middle of the sidewalk. She had taken off her sunglasses in order to shield her eyes with her arm. She certainly looked comfortable but laying on her back on the concrete probably wasn’t much fun.
Hana was getting pretty sick of sitting on the ground herself. The hard sidewalk wasn’t doing much for her tailbone. The doors would be open soon, and they’d get a perfect spot in the front, and all this sitting and waiting would be worth it.
“Help me finish this Omega Ruby nuzlocke run.” She suggested, pressing through the prompts of a pokemon battle on her 3DS. It was a purple one that she had adorned with glittery stickers.
“Pfft.”
They both knew it wasn’t a realistic answer. Fareeha was fine at video games, and she was fun to play Call of Duty with, but there was really only room for one gamer in the relationship.
Hana relaxed back on the sidewalk stretching out her cramped legs. Her hair pooled around her on the ground. “Keep working on your tan?” she suggested, holding her 3DS up in the air in order to see the screen.
That was a more realistic option. Fareeha would have unfortunate tanlines from the basketball jersey she was wearing, but those would be better than the tanlines she usually got from wearing racerbacks everywhere.
5: 22 PM
“Why are we standing?” Fareeha asked, stretching her arms over her head a little.
“They’re gonna open the doors soon.” Hana explained.
Everyone who had been camped out in line for the past few hours had suddenly decided to get up and form a real line. The people who had been sitting or sprawled out on the pavement were up on their feet instead. It certainly closed some of the gaps in space and brought them closer to the door.
“Yeah, in like, an hour.” Fareeha pointed out after checking her phone.
“We gotta be ready!” Hana told her, squaring up for a fight. Fareeha held up both her hands, palms facing out. They made perfect boxing targets. Hana threw a few light punches, hitting her marks without any force. “Have you seriously never been to a concert before or something?”
Fareeha shrugged. “My battalion in the army had a band. They played a concert of Bruce Springsteen cover songs to boost morale once. It was held in the common area at base though, it wasn’t like an arena.”
“Oh my god.” Hana’s will to punch left her. She dropped her hands, dejected. “Bruce Springsteen? That’s so tragic, birdy. You’re so old.”
Fareeha reacted at once, reaching out to snatch an arm around Hana’s neck. They wrestled like five year olds, Hana laughing and trying to get out of the headlock to no avail.
"Don’t disrespect The Boss!” Fareeha told her, threatening a noogie.
6:21 PM
“I’m running straight for the barricade, okay?” Hana said pointedly. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Okay.” Fareeha nodded.
The event staff had apparently decided to open the doors to the venue a little early. The line was slowly moving as tickets were scanned and bags were checked. There were only about fifty or so people ahead of them in line, fans who had come much earlier than noon to get a good spot for the show.
“I’ll leave you in the dust, I mean it.”
Fareeha laughed. She didn’t doubt it.
6:41 PM
The Arena was huge. It seemed huge from the outside but being in there, seeing all of the seats, the open pit, and the massive stage really put things into perspective.
Unfortunately Hana didn't quite make the barricade. There were two full rows of people separating her from the from the four foot tall metal rail.
"There's space around the sides." Fareeha pointed out, literally pointing with with her finger. On the outer edges of the barricade there were less people clumped up.
"I want to be in the center." Hana said, huddling in close to the concert goer in front of her.
"Okay." Fareeha wrapped her arms around Hana's slender waist, holding her from behind.
"Just don't let anyone in front of me!"
"I won't." Fareeha promised.
She looked up at the stage. Someone's equipment was up there, a microphone and some sound cabinets and other a few other things. She didn't see Lucio's DJ equipment anywhere.
"Is there an opening act?" Fareeha asked, feeling it as ranks of fans closed in behind her. The seats were filling up in the arena on all sides. The noise of people filled the space.
"Yeah, two I think." Hana told her.
"What time do they start?" Fareeha asked, nuzzling Hana's soft brown hair.
Hana shrugged her shoulders. "Seven thirty or eight."
"What?" Fareeha face planted in the back of Hana's head. "This is too much waiting. Concerts are torture."
She could feel Hana's body shake with a giggle but the sound was lost in the crowd.
8:34 PM
"Is everybody excited to see LUCIO!?"
The opening act was a Jewish rapper who wore his hair in curls and had a yarmulke on his head. His music was fasr past, frantic, and full of hope. He was whipping the entire arena in a frenzy.
Hana tipped back her head and screamed. Her voice got lost with the thousands of others screaming with her. Everyone was excited to see Lucio.
9:02 PM
"I'm not hurting you, am I?" Fareeha shouted over the impossibly loud music the PA was blasting between acts. She was crushed up against Hana's body.
There was still two full rows of people between them and the barricade but they were closer to the stage than ever. All the gaps between the people in the standing room only section had disappeared. Every single body on the floor was smothered up against the other. It had gotten plenty warm. Hana and Fareeha both were starting to sweat.
Hana pulled the pink scrunchy from her wrist. She gathered up her long brown hair and pulled it into a bun.
"You're fine." She shouted when she was done, turning her head so that Fareeha could hear her. "This is part of the fun of being this close!" She insisted.
She was facing the stage so she could see Fareeha roll her eyes and smile.
9:17 PM
"LU-CI-O!" "LU-CI-O!" "LU-CI-O!" "LU-CI-O!" "LU-CI-O!"
The crowd had stared chanting spontaneously. Hana had her hands raised over her head, clapping along with the chant. Fareeha was chanting too. Goosebumps had prickled up all over her skin.
"LU-CI-O!" "LU-CI-O!" "LU-CI-O!"
9:30 PM
The lights in the entire arena changed. It went dark everywhere except for the stage. A green glow began to emanate from from seemingly nowhere. Curls of atmospheric fog started to billow out.
The crowd collectively lost their minds. Screams and frantic cries made a deafening roar. Fareeha was being pushed and shoved from all sides. She tried to cage her arms around Hana to keep her safe.
Lucio's equipment rose up from the center of the stage, up and up and up. The rising podium stretched nearly ten feet tall. He was standing in the center of it all, smiling proudly from behind his turntables.
It made Hana smile to see him.
The Jumbotrons on either side of the stage showed him at five times his normal size. Behind him an intricate LED light display lit up in curious patterns of green. Music erupted from the speakers as he began to play.
Everyone seemed to recognize the song from the first note alone. As if the crowd wasn't wild enough they went even crazier.  Fareeha found herself smiling. Being on the ground floor in the chaos was such a unique experience. Staring up at Lucio's bright smile was like looking at a thing of beauty.
10:12 PM
Neon green and yellow glow sticks lit up the crowd. Some were wearing them as crowns and necklaces while others were waving sticks. Fareeha couldn't tell if they had been thrown out from the stage or if fans had brought their own. Maybe both. Hana had a few of her own.
She turned, squirming between the bodies around her. "Will you put me up on your shoulders?" She shouted, pointing as she spoke.
They hadn't talked about this beforehand but Fareeha certainly didn't mind. She nodded eagerly. They had played chicken with their Overwatch teammates on the shores of Ilios a few times so the two of them were plenty familiar with this position.
Fareeha got down on one knee, dropping as low as she could go. She ducked her head down. She could see a hundred different pairs of shoes from down there, the crowd thick on all sides. It was oddly quieter down there while still being so loud.
Hana mounted Fareeha's shoulders with ease and grace. She squeezed her thighs tight, steadying herself as Fareeha rose to stand up. It was a quick fluid motion where they both found their balance.
Hana bent in half, leaning down to kiss the top of her girlfriend's head. "I love you!" She called out.
Fareeha couldn't hear her over the music.  
10:56 PM
Fareeha's back was aching. Her shoulders and the back of her neck were hot and damp with sweat. She had her hands wrapped tight around Hana's shins keeping her locked into place.
She wouldn't dream of putting her down though. Not with the entire crowd screaming for an encore. The lights had just kicked in again, brilliant green lasers that combed the stadium.
Lucio came happily skating out from a side of the stage. He left a trail of green light behind him as he went. He stood at the edge of the stage, taking it all in. Hana caught eyes with him and he grinned.
He played another song.
11:05 PM
Hana stood on the tips of her toes and stretched her legs as Fareeha reached her arms above her head and rolled her shoulders. Concert goers passed by them like moving water around a rock.
They stood staring into each other's eyes. They were both sweaty and messy. They were both sore and aching in different places. They were both grinning.
"Am I shouting?" Hana asked, definitely shouting. "I can't even hear myself, oh my god!"
"That was amazing." Fareeha shouted back. She leaned in for a kiss, capturing Hana's pink lips in her own. The five hour wait in line, the rush to get a good spot, the cramped crowding in the pit; it had all been worth it. "Thank you for taking me." She said as she pulled back.
"Thanks for coming with me." Hana grabbed Fareeha's hand and squeezed it.
11:43 PM
Thank God for twenty four hour fast food.
Fareeha leaned back in the booth she was sitting in, stretching an arm across the back of it. She had packed away a double cheeseburger, six chicken nuggets and an entire carton of fries all by herself.
Hana was still happily chowing down in her burger, and dipping her fries into her milkshake like the little gremlin she was.
"Disgusting." Fareeha shook her head as she watched.
"Noo, delicious." Hana corrected her. She reached across the table with a frosted fry in hand going for Fareeha's mouth.
"Don't you dare accost me with that food combination abomination." Fareeha warned before breaking into a fit of laughter and pushing Hana's hand away.
Both of their voices were raspy from all the shouting and screaming. Their ears were still ringing. They were probably talking a little too loud for how quiet it was in the restaurant.
"I'm glad we went." Fareeha said after a beat. "It was cool to see Lucio in his element, the whole thing was incredible. The stage, the set up, the songs; all of it."
Hana nodded in agreement, eating a few more fries. "Thanks for letting me sit on your shoulders." She said happily. "You know that's totally like true love right?"
Fareeha raised up and eyebrow. She was incredulous but still smiling. "Hn?"
"The fact that you let me sit on your shoulders for a full hour? C'mon. I know I look small but I'm pretty heavy. You have to really love me to do that."
"Please," Fareeha waved her off. "You know how much I like spending hours with your thighs wrapped around my head."
"Fareeha!" Hana squawked, face lighting up with an embarrassed blush. She tossed a fry at her in offense, laughing brightly. "I'm trying to be romantic here!"
Fareeha winked at her and grinned.
12:20 AM
Hana unhooked her bra through the cloth of her shirt. She pulled the straps down her arms and yanked it out through the arm holes of her tank top. The pink push up fell carelessly to the floor. She crawled gingerly into bed, clearly tired from their long night out.
"I texted Lucio and told him how amazing the show was." She said. Her pink cased phone was sitting on the bedside table, plugged in.
Fareeha's eyes were closed. She only hummed in reply, too tired to do more than that.
Hana crawled up next to her and cuddled into her side. "He's gonna be in London next. We should totally go see him there."
Fareeha let her arm come to rest comfortably around Hana's back. She hummed again, an affirmative sort of sound to show she agreed. They could go to London, that wasn't out of the question for either of them. They could even invite Lena and Emily to come with.
"Would you want to do it again?" Hana asked her. "Even with getting their early and waiting and the crowds and stuff."
"Sure," Fareeha agreed with her eyes still closed. Her voice cracked a little as she spoke, still recovering from the shouting. "I'll let you sit on my shoulder for the whole show next time, even during the opener."
"Are you being naughty right now or romantic?" Hana asked.
Fareeha cracked a smile. "Romantic." She clarified.
Hana stretched, and tipped up her chin to kiss her girlfriend on the jaw. "Oh good. In that case, I love you too."
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restlesswondergirl · 6 years
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Reality Check on Reality TV: Jax and Brittany from Vanderpump Rules
Reality TV Relationships from a Mental Health Counselor’s Perspective
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One show that I'm a fan of watching is Vanderpump Rules. While the show is entertaining, when looking at the relationships on this show, it shocks me how much abuse, cheating and disrespect is put up with by the cast. In this blog post, I will explain from my perspective as a mental health counselor what I am observing within these relationships. I am not their real therapist. I do not know these people in real life and I am basing my opinions off of what I solely see on the show. From these snapshots shown on the show of their relationships, whether they are true or not (although they are supposed to be “reality” - LMFAO to that), there is a lot of toxicity and unhealthy patterns being displayed that I believe is important to point out to others in helping them identify the signs of an unhealthy relationship in the making.
Let’s take a deeper look at Jax and Brittany’s relationship. Their relationship turmoil was one of the main storylines throughout this current season. Jax has a bad reputation when it comes to relationships, however it seemed as if this time he may have really figured it out given that Brittany has not left his side for 2 or so years. This season however displayed the chaos in their love life and how Jax was up to his old ways again. This week's latest episode was titled "lost cause" in reference to their relationship. Jax was shown breaking up with Brittany because of how much he has screwed things up and how "she deserves better" than him. While they were broken up in this episode, it is clear on instagram that they are indeed still together (which truly makes me feel sick!). 
Jax has a LONG history of lying and cheating on his girlfriends, and also lying in almost all relationships he has been in with his friends, bosses, coworkers, etc. Jax slept with his best friend’s girlfriend (Kristen), lied to his best friend (Tom Sandavol) about it, and then had a difficult time understanding that his behavior was deceiving and hurtful to others. 
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Now let’s look at his lack of remorse, his defense mechanisms and his manipulative charm. These have been consistent factors in all his screw ups. His lack of connection to and lack of understanding of his wrongdoings, his constant defenses when called out (example - deflecting blame onto others almost immediately after accused of something), and his charm in winning people over and saying what he can to gain forgiveness even when nothing has yet to be resolved.
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And then there’s Brittany, who is a typical example of someone who is manipulated or abused, and in denial to see the truth. She’s a good girl, with a good heart, who easily forgives and loves others. She cares deeply for others and has a strong set of values from her upbringing. She wants to be in a relationship, be in a lasting committed relationship, and raise a family of her own. Having her personality and strong family values would all normally be great, however acting at any cost just to check off the boxes of what she wants for a relationship on paper may be great, but in reality it is where things can go very wrong. Long lasting commitment, doing all you can for the one you love, and forgiveness seem to be the strong values that keeps her in this relationship no matter the cost. Brittany seems to want to hold onto these first before recognizing the realities of who’s really in front of her.
People who are manipulative try to find the “good ones” - the ones with strong morals and a strong sense of conscious - they know how to get to them by bringing out guilt or shame in their victims as tools for control.
Those with narcissistic personality traits are defined by always needing to be “right”. they deflect to things that they can point out as weaknesses in others so that they can get their way and still be right since they prove that the others are the ones who have really faulted them.
Jax points out whatever he can in Brittany that’s “wrong” to him, or that has wronged him, petty little picky things, and he does this when he is put under fire for his wrongdoings. 
“she sleeps in too long”
“she has gained more weight since the start of our relationship”
“Brittany has lost her ‘spark’ and motivation to do anything, I worry for her”
“Brittany, how dare you play that recording in front of everyone! they don’t need to be involved in our relationship” 
Jax uses these as excuses, and brings out vulnerabilities of shame and guilt in Brittany, when in reality Jax is the one making the mistakes that needs to be dealt with. Jax avoids any responsibility for his wrongdoings. He twists the narrative around from him to others very easily.
When that doesn’t work, he finds another outlet by telling people what they want to hear so that they can stay on his side. Once he figures out that they want him to apologize or state that he’s the one with the problem, he tries this route by stating things like “I have issues with myself, I guess I just hate myself”, turning from blame on others to blaming himself in a puppy dog kind of way, using his charm and sad story as a way to gain the sympathy and forgiveness from others who are able to feel bad for him. They then feel guilty NOT to connect with his sad story. Does he really believe this? well I’ll tell you my opinion - DEFINITELY NOT! He is saying all this as a way to manipulate others. Reeling them in to feel bad for him because he knows that they would want to forgive someone struggling with the story he is giving them. He locks into their strong values of forgiveness. And they lock into the parts where he admits it is him as the problem, not them, and that his self-esteem issues cause him to do the bad things he does so that they can feel better about what has happened. It is easier to believe that someone does these horrible hurtful things towards their partner out of low self-esteem instead of believing that they are selfish, manipulative and not capable of true love and empathy of others.  
Jax will “apologize”, and say what you want to hear, but then you will see him very shortly after make a contradictory or backstabbing comment about you when he was just so recently crying with apologies admitting that he was wrong and horribly out of line from what a friend and partner should do. Basically Jax will say what he can in the moment to get what he needs, but then later discredit these statements by contradicting the comments in some way or talking badly about the people that he was apologizing to.
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People like Jax just learn the equations they have to follow in order to get by in life. They don’t understand, nor care about the actual feelings and meanings behind anything. As another example, with a recent interaction with Lisa Vanderpump, Lisa was furious with and hurt by Jax showing up late to a bartending gig for her party that he committed to help her with. He decided to go get a hair cut, and take his time with getting ready which led to him arriving at the party over an hour late. He left others to fill in for him and bartend for the party when it was really his job. Lisa tells him “it is not ok, you are so selfish”. Jax says sorry a few times and thinks its ok when she assures him it’s not. He says “I said I’m sorry” and looks shocked that the sorry just wasn’t good enough for everyone to carry on as if it never happened. Jax then goes to make a comment about how the party is just a bunch of rich people anyways and that there are more important things in life. Again, Jax here tries to turn it around on someone else, Lisa, for being the selfish privileged one in getting upset with him in this situation, instead of him owning up to what he did and actually understanding it was wrong of him to be that late to his job. This behavior shows that he believes just a “sorry” will fix it, and that he can’t do no wrong. In this example, he displays grandiose, selfish mentality that It’s his world and everyone else just lives in it, so it is obviously horrendous and shocking in his mind when someone were to dare blame him for anything at all! Jax doesn’t see for even a minute how his behavior here was irresponsible and inconsiderate to others working the party, nor does he seem to care as he twists the story around on the party being “stupid” and “pointless”.
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During this last episode, his effort to break up with brittany was not about her being happy in my opinion. It was about him getting credit and sympathy and attention from others. Jax was made out to be the bad guy in his relationship with Brittany all season. Their group of friends were turning on him and he couldn't handle it. He knew that if he broke up with brittany for reasons to “help her” and "allow her to be happy", he would be looked at as a good guy again. However, then once again it was clear that he wasn't looking out for her in reality because he made sure to sleep with her one last time right before the break up, then begged for her back when he realized she was moving on fine without him and others were not taking much sympathy to him as he had hoped. If Jax really loved her maybe he would actually realize she was happier and better off without him and let her free. 
If you love someone, let them free!
Sadly... Brittany is in denial. During this season she has been:
Looking for whatever positives she can in order to make the negatives disapear
Looking for what she wants to see in Jax and the relationship
Hearing the words, but not really seeing the truth behind it
The reality is (from my opinion) that nothing can be trusted of what Jax says or does right now!
His true motivations and feelings are more complex than what he shows to others.
Although forgiveness is a value of Brittany’s - one can forgive without sacrificing their own needs. A person can forgive from afar while still making boundaries and decisions to be in relationships that better serve them.
values need to be balanced out - It is important to not just follow the rules, and not just act on emotional impulse either - instead finding the “wise mind”; making decisions from the middle, more balanced mindset.
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it can be confusing to figure these things out when you have a strong love and care for someone, and for what once was in the relationship. The reality is that love doesn’t mean the relationship is healthy. You can love someone and also be in a toxic relationship at the same time. Love and relationship dynamics can change over time as well. It is hard to face these truths sometimes - No one wants to go through loss and rejection - no one wants to accept things that may lead to experiencing tough emotions that will hurt, be uncomfortable, and will take time to heal from. Although, it may be better to make these tough choices and experience the hurt and discomfort in the long-run.
It is also difficult to go against messaging that may have been ingrained since childhood - such as - it’s best to make relationships work out, divorce is bad, if you love someone you make it work, forgiveness is important, etc. This therefore may mean “failure” if you disobey these messages. No one wants to feel that way if that’s what certain choices may lead to.
So of course it’s easy just to believe in what you want, and see what you want to see. It sometimes takes a lot of work in feeling bad and down and uncomfortable to make the right choices, and do the critical thinking in relationships that may ulimately be best for you in the long run.
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