#(it changes context about their 'bed' to the entire relationship as a WHOLE)

[koushirouizumi]

(Because I'm still really happy about this discussion and I need to rewatch Fiddler on the Roof while cross-checking the full Yiddish script---)

For reference, there's Yiddish version of "Do You Love Me?" at that link (if slightly off sync), the English version of same song is here, and the full Yiddish script can be found here! (If the links die down the road, please check the script!)

The fundamental difference between Fiddler on the Roof and Fidler Afn Dakh:

English Tevye: Tradition!

Yiddish Tevye: Got iz a foter un heylik iz zayn toyre!

[velvet4510]

Incredible to think about how - as if he hadn’t already gone through enough - Erik spent the first 32 years of his life with absolutely no idea why he had his powers or where they came from.

He didn’t know there were any other mutants out there. He didn’t even know that mutation was the reason he had those abilities. All those years, he must’ve really thought of himself as a freak and an anomaly. This probably gave Shaw’s cruelty that much more sway over him, since for so long he really believed something was wrong with him. It very well could be that he mentally associated his outburst of power upon his mother’s death with Shaw so closely that he came to believe it was Shaw’s experimentation that increased his abilities in the first place. Maybe he thought this weird anomaly within himself would’ve gone away in time if it weren’t for Shaw. Frankenstein’s monster indeed.

The fact that Edie shows no surprise or confusion at his efforts to move the coin for Shaw is a significant detail, because it indicates that she was aware of his abilities. Most likely he accidentally moved metallic objects around the house when he was most afraid or upset. (I imagine he unknowingly bent the headboard of his bed while having nightmares as a kid, and his mother saw this while comforting him.) Contrary to popular belief, Erik moving the gate at the camp was actually NOT the first time his power manifested.

And it’s quite clear that Edie, though probably just as confused about his powers as he was, accepted her son just as he was and never feared him or thought of him as a freak. I do wonder if this contributed to the closeness of their relationship, especially in comparison to Erik’s relationship with his father, who isn’t mentioned nearly as often and doesn’t even appear in Erik’s happiest memory that Charles uncovers. Perhaps Jakob never knew about Erik’s powers, as Edie decided to keep it secret. Or perhaps Jakob did know, and his reaction to it was not so positive. Who knows if Edie and Jakob discreetly had conversations about it, if their marriage was possibly strained by their differing opinions on what was happening to their son? Who knows if other, more superstitious people in their community found out about it and accused Erik of being some kind of demon? We can only speculate. But it would certainly have deepened the bond between Edie and Erik if she was in fact the only person who knew about and accepted his powers.

This adds such weight to “I thought I was alone.” He really did. For so long, he had no context or knowledge to understand why he could control metal. He learned to accept and use that part of himself, yet he still didn’t understand it. Nobody else could do that. Why could he? He had no answers. And the loss of his mother perhaps meant the loss of the only person who didn’t judge him for it. The old N*zi in Argentina asks him “who…what are you?” reinforcing his thought process of being a thing rather than a person.

And this is such a crucial component of how much Charles really changed Erik’s life for the better, and explains why he fell for Charles so deeply. Charles gave him the answers he’d been longing for. Charles showed him that his power was not an anomaly, not a sign that he was a demon, not something wrong with him at all. It was, in fact, a scientific miracle, the next stage in human evolution.

Imagine thinking for so long that you were born some kind of one-in-a-million monster, and then suddenly a beautiful man with eyes that the sky can only mimic saves you from drowning and tells you you’re not alone and he’s written an entire thesis about how you are actually one of many and a sign of growth, of improvement, of evolution.

It’s really no wonder that Erik becomes so obsessed with mutant superiority. The fact that there is a whole subspecies of mutants in the world who have evolved beyond human normalcy is something he clings to. It comforts him. It’s the antithesis of everything he always believed and feared about himself before he met Charles. He’s determined to ensure that no other mutant feels as alone and confused as he was for all those years.

[greenqueenhightower]

How did Olivia and Fabien’s interview- where they’re clearly talking about a scene that got scrapped this season, snowball into Team Black and Alicent haters believing that they meant season one?

https://x.com/marebarrow1929/status/1799861473969160237?s=46&t=a2c3OPYBKMaDot90jYoK4A

Now they’re stating it as a fact that when Aemond got his eye sliced out, Alicent was sleeping with Criston. She is therefore a bad Mother and an even worse Mother if they’re having sex during blood and cheese (because she and Criston totally knew it was happening that night and said fuck Helaena and the twins).

It’s even become a fact to them that Alicent and Criston have been sleeping together before Rhaenyra even slept with Criston 😂😂 They’re saying it’s a 16 year affair and Daeron is definitely Criston’s son and I’m like “What about Aemond??” Would he not be their son too?

They seem to have forgotten that someone has been posting season 1’s script and some of Alicole’s interactions definitely show a mutual attraction and devotion- but they’re also all PG…. There was no “beautiful, messy, scrappy” sex scene anywhere in the scripts amongst the deleted scenes. There is nothing to allude to them having a sexual relationship. An inappropriately close relationship that blurs the lines between the Queen and her Guard, yeah that’s there but we already knew that from the scenes that did make it to the screen.

They’re holding “Hiding under your cloak of righteousness” and “Now they see you as you are” close to their chests right now.

Desperately grasping at straws to make Alicent sleeping with Criston after her husband is cold and dead, comparable and worse to Rhaenyra having 3 bastards with Harwin’s skin coloring, hair color, hair texture AND face while being married to A biracial Valyrian man, claiming they’re trueborn. Placing them in the line of succession for the IT and DWT, gaslighting and lying through her teeth about it. Something that causes Vaemond Velaryon to be murdered fighting for it to remain in his family. Let’s also not forget that Rhaenyra is seen on screen having sex with her uncle at on the night of his dead wives funeral, on her ancestral lands. While her parents and her daughters grieve.

It can’t be compared. Alicent went to her marriage bed a maiden, she took care of a man who didn’t care for his own children while Rhaenyra abandoned him for years. She was faithful to him and gave him 4 Targaryens. He’s now dead now and her job is done. Her son is on the Iron throne and she crowned her Daughter, Queen. She even gave up her rooms to her. If there wasn’t a war going on and if she hadn’t been scared for them their entire lives, her duties would be passing the reigns to Helaena. Mentoring her but mostly just living a life of leisure and comfort as the Queen Mother. She could even go back to Oldtown if she wanted or anywhere else. She could marry again if she wanted. She is a young woman still, in childbearing age.

Apart from it being out of wedlock, which is hypocritical but we already know her to be a hypocrite, just like we know Rhaenyra to be a hypocrite- it’s their thing that they do. It’s still not the same and definitely not comparable to Rhaenyra’s great big screw up.

I've honestly concluded that some of the TB stans lack media literacy, are eager to jump to conclusions, do not have the patience or willingness to discuss matters peacefully or educate themselves about the other person's POV, are content with stirring up drama and spreading misinformation, and take things out of context. This time is no exception.

I watched the whole interview of Olivia Cooke and Fabien Frankel with Jonatan Blomberg from MovieZine (he is a Swedish interviewer) before he made it private on his YouTube channel, and it is clear that they are talking about S2. Before he asked them about the experience of filming intimate scenes together, they had been talking about S2 for quite some time and how their characters' dynamics changed this season. Then, Jonatan (knowing about the leaks obviously) asked them about the experience of filming intimate scenes and how they approached it.

So there clearly was NO MENTION OF S1, and neither did Fabien nor Olivia talk about the experience as something that occurred in the previous season. Olivia literally says: "We know each other so well at this point," meaning the time they started filming scenes for S2, and Fabien adds: "We have this sort of added bonus of having worked together for a year and having developed a friendship and a trusting relationship."

So they are clearly talking about S2, for which they shot a "beautiful, messy, scrappy sex scene" but which did not make the cut for reasons known to the producers. They did make it sound as if they filmed other sex scenes though, which we will again see this season.

For my take on why Alicent and Criston could have started sleeping together in S1 only after Viserys' death, and why the "Daeron is their love-child" theory holds no ground, see here.

[hopefull-mindset]

How do you feel about the difference in Nagito's confession in Japanese and English?

In Japanese he kinda pauses saying something along the lines of 'in love with y...' before going on about hope inside.

But in English it's straight to loving the hope in Hajime.

I was hoping I’d be able to talk about this! If anyone needs a further explanation on the translation error, I recommend reading this first. It’s my favorite explanation because it deconstructs the Japanese to English process thoroughly, and the ambiguity of the whole thing really explains why Hajime was so confused. I’ve seen doubt as to fan translations being right at all, so I hope this helps out.

Now there isn’t many new things to say about a game this old with a large fanbase like this, but with new fans means more information to be spread (and misinformation respectively), so I’d be happy to speak!

UMMM I have no idea if anything I said down below is even what you were asking me, maybe you were just asking me about the decision of changing it, which um I don’t blame the official translators for going straight into it because it’s a fairly ambiguous line and most japanese fans go straight into it too when they qoute it, but official translators are not credible for their care of finer details that could be clearly translated into English, so it’s whatever I guess. Japanese fans also shouldn’t be our guide to consuming media of their language since they’re also just people, and I think it’s probably just easier to quote it like that without it sounding confusing the way it does in text.

This has been practically common knowledge by now to know that it was an aborted love confession, meaning there isn’t much to be said on its own. With all that’s been spread about this, a common misunderstanding is with the use of “Aishiteru” (愛してる) being “more romantic” than any other form of “I like/love you” (Suki/Daisuki), which is not true. It’s much more intense than the other two because of it directly using “Ai” (愛) and in turn used less compared to them because of its intensity. In same line of thinking, usually it’s reserved for serious occasions like marriage, a loved one on their death bed, a final goodbye for someone you care for deeply, etc. but none of it makes it anymore romantic because all three can be used platonically. It’s solely dependent on the context it’s used for.

It’s just like how we use “I love you” in English and how many things it could mean at once, albeit we don’t have three separate ways to express it. Well there’s actually more ways to express love, but you only really need to know these three. I know a lot of sources tend to say “Aishiteru” (愛してる) is romantic, but that’s most likely because you’re looking at sources that are talking about it in a romantic context. It’s not platonic in the sense that you’d go up to your friend and say it, that sends a lot of mixed messages and real odd to attempt, but platonic in that someone you truly have a deep connection with, family member or otherwise.

On the contrary, it’s much more common to use Suki/Daisuki (好き / 大好き) in a love confession and everyday life. Usually you wouldn’t even use “Aishiteru” (愛してる) in your entire life, that isn’t uncommon. So typically the most you’ll see or hear “Aishiteru” (愛してる) used is in fictional japanese media or songs. Using it in a confession like Komaeda almost did is like… imagine going up to someone and telling them that you want to spend your entire life together, meet their parents, fully commit to each other, raise children (if that’s what you want), and die together before you’re even in the relationship or even had your first kiss yet. Like obviously you’re not saying all of that, you might not even mean that, but it’s implied with the intensity of it. It’s that extreme and would definitely confuse someone if you tried. It’s not exactly for someone you just started dating either.

Why does “Ai” (愛) make it so intense though? Compared to other ways of saying love like “Koi” (恋) for example (not gonna explain that one), it’s the purest, most heightened form of expressing love verbally in japanese culture because of the giving and profound nature of it. It’s loving in a way that encases a warm feeling all around you, so painfully genuine yet committed. Its something that’s formed over time with much care, and doesn’t ask for anything back. It’s that big to use, but siamotainously it’s awkward and a little embarrassing to use because it’s practically unsaid irl. There is a lot to personal reservations and such, but as a culture, japan is more reserved with their verbal expressions. This doesn’t speak for the entire country, but just in general actions speak louder than something as literal like “Aishiteru” (愛してる).

I had to go over that before I talked about Komaeda because I don’t want there to be a misunderstanding with what I’m about to say. Sorry to break the news to anymore who was star-eyed after learning what “Ai” (愛) meant in context, but the reason I went over that first with extensive context is because Komaeda is not at all liberated when he uses it. Not only does he use it here in the infamous error of all errors in sdr2, he uses it when he talks about hope, talent, and Junko. Shocking I know, but that’s why I had to go over that “Ai” (愛) is not just romantic love so this will be less awkward for all of us.

Ignoring the oddness of it and how dramatic this usage is, it’s incredibly in-character for Komaeda to use it like that considering his sincere and devoted nature when it comes to hope and talent. He says himself that what he feels is selfless, so that’s going to reflect in his speech, but he uses it so casually that it feels like a joke. It’s a quite poetic expression of love, even with all the cultural context, so it’s fitting. He’s pretty no filter with how he talks about it, but with anything else with Komaeda—it’s more complex than that. While being 100% honest with everything he says, his deep connection with hope and talent is borderline obsessive and that brings into question his relationship with love.

I have many thoughts on how his hope/despair stuff works, but let’s stay on topic this one time because a lot is intertwined. With his usage of “Ai” (愛) with reference of Junko, we should all know he doesn’t love her. He doesn’t love the embodiment of despair and despises it in the same breath he even expressed love for it at all. What he feels for Junko is obsession through and through, but what he feels is still genuine connection, it’s just absurdly twisted. It’s why he still uses it, even though at most what he feels for her is contempt. He “loves” it because it’ll be destroyed for what will truly shine in the end. The connection is deep enough for him to take her hand and finally become one with it.

Junko didn’t twist his concept of love completely, it was already a little off, she exploited the potential of it. I’ve mentioned this point before in my twitter thread, but when faced with the motivations in trials 1, 2, and 3 he cannot see past their motivations other than their “hopes”, rather than their actual reasons: various forms of love. My immediate thought while writing was, “was it not really absolute hope that he needed or wanted, but instead the selfless love people like Naegi or Hajime could wield for others?” I can’t tell you how correct that is, but it holds close to when he said what he wanted was somebody’s love before he died.

To really talk about that with more depth, I’d have to do a separate post about his view of people in general. If you’d like to see that, just let me know. I really would like to stay on topic, and you weren’t exactly asking about that.

Now don’t be weird guys, it doesn’t make his confession any less genuine just because his concept of love is kinda fucked due to only being able to feel it through his obsession with hope since all genuine connection is very limited (non-existent) for him, it just puts into more context as to why Hajime was confused. He’s said something similar about his feelings of hope as early as chapter 1.

Does this mean he really did just meant the hope that sleeps inside Hajime? Well obviously not, otherwise I wouldn’t be talking about this. It also doesn’t mean that his love for Hajime is on the same obsessive level as Hope, talent, or freaking Junko for the matter. Junko was a whole other situation when his mental stability was at its worst. Here’s what actually happened: right when he admitted he wanted somebody’s love, he immediately backpedaled that claiming everything he said was just something he lied about because he started to see that Hajime might want to grow closer and forgive him, and then then started rambling about total bullshit about Hajime killing him and the potential hope in him, even though he just said that he didn’t get the same feeling from him as other ultimates.

Very funny Komaeda, though I don’t think he wasn’t being genuine there. Maybe he did think that regardless of the “both miserable bystanders” comment because he also thought he himself could be ultimate hope in chapter 5. I feel like we knew this part well enough, so I’ll talk about the confession finally. I don’t know what compelled him to try and confess like that, but maybe he was trying to be more honest after what he did to derail him and backtracked again? Who knows.

He was starting with an actual confession, but why did he backtrack the way he did? I have two potential answers. First answer was that he didn’t want to weigh Hajime down with the burden of his feelings, and made it sound like his typical Komaeda bullshit instead. Second answer is that Komaeda doesn’t know how to express his love for Hajime and derailed it to Hajime’s hope instead because that’s the only context he’s used “Ai” (愛) in and is used to that. Him using it here doesn’t make it less sincere in his almost-confession, it’s just… complex.

Maybe if this was his only hint of loving Hajime, his feelings for him would be more controversial as “canon”, thankfully it isn’t! Maybe both answers are right in their own right, it would definitely correlate with my own thoughts about his stupidly complicated justification’s for getting closer to Hajime and making excuses for him. If you haven’t read it, I said that while Komaeda was catching feelings for Hajime as an individual, he made excuses for himself that the reason he cared for him was because he was an ultimate (meaning someone who carried potential Hope), but the only reason he let himself be close to a “supposed ultimate” was because we felt that they were similar and that he had “an air unlike the others”. Which was probably why he was so confused as to why he still cared after finding out what he did in chapter 4 because his justification no longer worked.

Although we know that Komaeda absolutely does love Hajime, I am relieved that they used different expressions of love here (both Suki and Dasuki) to make sure we know he does love him. Can it be used platonically? Sure, but the context does not position it like that.

That’s my um opinion I guess?? Hope you got more than what you were expecting? I wonder why I keep making long posts when it’s not going to get that much attention…. I was originally going to say that what’s important about him using “Ai” (愛) is the genuine intent there and not the romantic implication of it since context matters more, and that hasn’t changed at all, but this turned into a completely different conversation. My bad.

[skepticalarrie]

What do you think about this theory? https://youtu.be/h9P-D5XeKfo?si=SYUixGz1jR9yXjyW there’s also some interesting comments under the video, including the one where someone thinks that Harry’s house is a chronicle of L and H’s relationship.

Not to forget about this vid of harry saying “the first time he broke up with me”: https://youtu.be/mYoJs54gwwg?si=TEFypP-BlyT0z0ao. And I remember that one interview (pretty sure it’s this one: https://youtu.be/vW58mqY0G7c?si=shICPVTOQZOMc7Xp), where someone supposedly Liam is saying that harry wanted to remove his tattoos(?) and Louis looked heartbroken. He actually looks miserable throughout this entire vid, as it was around the time when H and Taylor started “dating”. Honestly, it all matches with some of their lyrics and I can imagine Louis not handling the pressure of this entire thing that well and “running away” from it somehow.

I believe that they are stable now, but for me there were some clear break ups.

Now let me analyze their lyrics according to those theories:

(Before I start, it’s gonna be a long run, because I found so many interesting things)

Louis:

“When you don't want coffee in the morning. I know I'm in a hole. It's hard enough to get you sober. Got no chance if I'm hungover”.

“Hey, babe. It's written all over your face, say it. A hurricane behind the door. So I've come ready for a war (…) So when you find out what we're fighting for. I'll be ready to talk”

“And we can't even be on the phone now. And I can't even be with you alone now. Oh, how shit changes. We were in love, now we're strangers”

“And I'm sorry I let you down. I guess that I know what I already knew. I was better with you. And I miss you now”.

“You let your pride hide all your beauty and your kindness. So fast to judge in error, you thought you knew me better”

“I call you but you never even answer”

Harry:

“I'm in my bed. And you're not here. And there's no one to blame but the drink in my wandering hands. Forget what I said. It's not what I meant. And I can't take it back, I can't unpack the baggage you left”

“Test of my patience. There's things that we'll never know. You sunshine, you temptress”

“And I’m just an arrogant son of a bitch. Who can't admit when he's sorry”.

“I don't wanna make you feel bad. But I've been trying hard not to talk to you”

“Sittin' in the garden, I'm a couple glasses in. I was tryna count up all the places we'vе been”

“Only callin' you when. He don't wanna be alone”

So… What I get from this is that Louis might’ve broke with Harry one time because of their difficulties, and he tried to contact him, but Harry couldn’t even bring himself to talk to him over the phone (idk it might be after the band ended). Harry admits that he has communication problems and can say too much, or judge something too soon, which might be the reason Louis left him one more time (maybe it was the first breakup??) And there’s this whole thing of them both drinking their problems away… (Not to mention, that some ppl believe that Harry isn’t sober in that 3rd video I linked here, scrolled trough the comments and there are some theories like that).

Also one funny little thing (off topic, lmao): did you notice that Louis stars Chicago with “I saw you had a baby, did you?” And Harry sings “I’m having your baby” in Kiwi. That could be their insane joke or smth like that.

Quick addition: Harry also has an a entire song that feels like a reassurance (“fine line”) & Louis mentions his supposed love interest trying to be positive during the hard time (““I come runnin' to you like a moth into a flame. You tell me, "Take it easy," but it's easier to say”).

Sorry for such a long text. I know that we can’t interpret everything literally, but honestly… there could be smth to it all.

Hi, anon. "First time he broke up with me" is very much taken out of context, he's talking about Rob Stringer.

I don’t believe in that theory, love. Maybe they did break up at some point or spent some time apart, but I think it’d be impossible for us to really know. It feels like such a stretch to try and connect dots like that. Personally, I don’t see any signs of a breakup (especially when these things were happening in real time) and I think they’ve been consistent with their signalling, plus I don’t interpret any of the songs that way. You're more than welcome to believe it if makes sense to you and I’m not saying you shouldn’t interpret lyrics however you want, but if you’re curious about my take, check out my LYRIC ANALYSIS tag. I also have a THEY NEVER BROKE UP tag for more of this topic, which... trust me, gets discussed endlessly in this fandom (for whatever reason!)

[avonne-writes]

Fic Ask Game

If anyone wants to play, I cut a list of questions together from various ask games. Send me a number from this list and I'll answer in the context of Reverie. 😊

How often does your character "brush over" conflict instead of facing it head on? Is there something specific they don't like to face, or do they avoid conflict as a whole?

What's one minor moment your character regrets? A small mistake, but something they "can't erase"?

What was your character like when they were four years old? Were they loud? Shy? Were they the resident "weird kid" or did they get along with others their age?

What is this character's most expensive habit or hobby? Do they ever feel guilty about the money they spend on it?

What's one way this character has changed over time? Either over the course of their story, or over the course of designing them as an author.

Are there any scenes in this work that take place at nighttime? Is this significant, or just the passing of time?

Do a find-and-replace on the word "smirk" and share any lines that pop up.

Are there any moments in this work that you think could scare a reader? Are there any moments where the characters themselves are profoundly scared?

Is there anything that scares the main characters about their friendship/relationship?

Are there any moments in this work where a character's clothing or accessories play a major role?

Share your favourite kiss scene from this work. If there's no kiss scene, share your favourite moment of intimacy (romantic or platonic)

Does this fic incorporate any symbolism based on religion, theology, or mythology? If so, give an example.

Are there any characters you've had to "cut" from a story? Are there any moments/chapters/stories you've had to "cut" entirely?

What was the moment when the main characters realized they were in love?

Who is more stubborn?

When they are having a fight, what is it about and how do they deal with it?

Who causes the most arguments?

Do any of them have bad habits that the other can’t stand?

Pick a physical attribute that they love about each other.

What are their most prominent memories of each other?

What are they like when sharing a bed?

How open are they with their feelings?

Do they have pet names for each other?

Does their view of themselves differ from their partner’s view?

Do they get jealous?

What are their ways of expressing their love?

Do they ever disappoint each other?

Is there any moment that happens between them and just makes you melt?

How does their love change as they get older?

Share anything you would like about the couple!

[apocalypticavolition]

1,000 Greatest Films: The Kid

I am having a doozy of a time responding to this one, folks. On the one hand, I do love Charlie Chaplin films. Hell, I even love Jackie Coogan comedies! On the other hand, this was Charlie Chaplin's first feature length film, one he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in all on his own, and it really shows! It's barely a feature at all, really, only an hour and eight minutes long.

Part of the problem might be that even with this chronological approach to the greats, I'm still pretty divorced from the context this film would be watched in. It features Chaplin as "The Tramp", a character he would often play and who had originated seven years before this film. Sometimes a Greatest Hits approach just doesn't work without the context of the stuff that's good but not exceptional, you know?

Part of it might be my divorce from other aspects of the contemporary. Charlie Chaplin was not living his best days when he made this movie. He'd have said that his happiest days were when he was making a new picture every week perhaps. Certainly he would have preferred not having to make this movie during his divorce, which...

*checks Wikipedia*

Met when he was 29 and she 16, pregnancy scare, marriage, arguments about her film career and massive disrespect for her because she wasn't his "intellectual equal", actual pregnancy, one-year anniversary, kid dies three days after being born, movie starts production ten days after that...

*closes Wikipedia, chugs drink*

So that's a lot and at least some of that drama I can extend sympathy to him for-

*remembers something else I read on Wikipedia, checks that*

...his future second wife, then age 12, worked on this film in the role of "flirting angel", they married four years later.

What the fuck, Chaplin?

This isn't even a "they had lower ages of consent in the past" deal, California had statutory rape laws at the time, he just wasn't charged with them. I'd say this started the grand tradition of Hollywood sex predators but let's be real it was probably already going.

Okay but seriously it still sucks his kid died. So naturally, a lot of his performance in this film comes from the fact that he imprinted on little Jackie in his grief. Thus, a lot of their scenes together have a rawness that most fake parents don't really bring to the screen, and since this movie's dramatic bits rely entirely on the weight of their relationship, this really helps the film.

That's not to say he's got the only good performance in the drama side of things. Edna Purviance, playing the unwed mother who is forced to abandon the titular child due to being an unwed mother in the 1920s, manages to be quite heart-wrenching in turn. The movie does a good job of putting the viewer in the awkward position of rooting both for the Tramp, who is the Kid's "adoptive" father, and the Woman, who wants to be reunited with her child after the intervening five years have given her the resources to care for him. And since I've talked about changing moral standards, I approve of how the movie portrays the Woman very sympathetically instead of writing her off as a whore or something.

Instead, Chaplin goes for social commentary by making several of the antagonists in his film government workers. The recurring policeman is mostly played for laughs, but the sequence of the social workers dragging the Kid from his home and tossing him in the truck bed while he begs and pleads to be left with the Tramp is quite upsetting. (It's also barely subtitled - a real highlight of this film is the way it relies on the audience understanding the motions and facial expressions of the cast and reserving text and dialog for situations when it's more necessary.)

Mistrust of government agents certainly isn't a central theme though; the Tramp fights another impoverished guy in the second act, the whole reason he even gets the Kid is a car theft, and of course the flophouse owner is the one who successfully separates the pair, tempted by the $1,000 reward the Woman posted. (She's still not a bad guy here as the movie ends with a policeman tracking down the Tramp at her behest and bringing him to her mansion to reunite the family.)

(Actually I'm sympathetic to the flophouse guy too. $1,000 in 1921 money is nearly $18,000 now. You bet your ass I'd kidnap some street urchins for that kinda cash.)

Unfortunately, while the movie blends its dramatic main plot with various comedic moments, I'd say they're not particularly integrated. Depending on which half you prefer, you might see the plot as merely an excuse to justify the situations the characters are in, or see the comedy as a way to fill in the runtime. Might; you could still like both well enough because they're both done well.

The last act dream sequence, which absolutely exists only to pad this film out to six reels and which features that flirting angel I mentioned earlier, is just kinda there though. This is sort of a Chaplin thing, pointless dream sequences, and I wonder if he helped establish the derision modern audiences feel towards dreams as a whole. The less said about this part, the better.

Instead, I'll circle back around to Chaplin's grief elevating the film by noting that this story was already very autobiographical. As best as I can determine, Chaplin grew up in one of the less happy Charles Dickens novels and the poverty that permeates the film reflects his experiences quite well. His escape into American vaudeville and from there the silver screen is really one of those great American dream success stories, a shining example of how this country once had the potential to elevate any person to fame and fortune. No doubt he hoped that this film would provide the same path for Jackie Coogan, whose cruel parents helped him method act the crying sequence in this film by threatening to send him to a workhouse if he didn't get the take right.

Sadly, cruelty works and this film made young Coogan the first child film star ever! Like most prototypes, his path into adulthood was a little different than most of his successors. Rather than being sucked into a world of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, then tossed aside once he was no longer cute, he emerged relatively decently psychologically speaking... and absolutely penniless, because his stepfather spent all of his earnings. This led to California passing the Child Actor's Bill, which mandated that at least 15% of a child actor's earnings be put in trust for their future (and another 15% be spent on hookers and blow so that they die as young as possible).

So... what do I think of this film? I definitely like later Chaplin better, but hey! It's still good slapstick and good drama, and there's something very real and raw in this film that a lot of modern film lacks. Shame that this movie taught me so much about Chaplin's dark side.

[alfgifu]

Fic analysis 54. As the Wave Hesitant

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58428883/chapters/148831711

Word count: 13,560

Chapters: 2

First posted: 24th August 2024

Last chapter up: 25th August 2024

Summary: 

Cliopher doesn’t dream of kissing. Except once, after watching the Moon Lady attempt to seduce his Radiancy.

If he thought to mention that on the vaha, some things might have turned out very differently. Others, exactly the same.

How and why this came about

A friend reflected on a discord channel that it isn’t quite true to say that Cliopher doesn’t dream of kissing, because in Hands of the Emperor he has a dream of the Moon Lady and his Radiancy that leaves him aroused and “very much in sympathy with his lord”.

So, would anything have been different if Cliopher remembered that on the vaha in Sky Ocean in At the Feet of the Sun?

The question struck me as incredibly compelling because I think it gets at the heart of the ambivalence we see in Cliopher as a character. He tells us that he has had lovers and prides himself on being good in bed (in a slow, considerate way). We see him on page masturbating after the incident with the Moon Lady and his Radiancy. We see him accepting an invitation to have sex with a friend, Vho Suzen. We see him admiring his Radiancy’s body in a whole host of ways (“like a story of creation” indeed). But we also see that he doesn’t think about the possibility of kissing Fitzroy or consider that Fitzroy might want to have sex with him until a long time after all these things have happened. He doesn’t think of himself as somebody who wants sex, he doesn’t mind not having sex, his great desire is for a committed and publicly recognised friendship/partnership, not for a physical union.

It struck me at once that if something alerted him to the fact that Fitzroy wanted to kiss him, or have sex with him, there was every chance that he would happily fuck Fitzroy boneless without thinking twice about it. It’s not unimportant to him, exactly, but it’s not perhaps important in the sort of way that would (to Cliopher) be a defining moment in their relationship.

The inspiration plunged me at once into liveficcing the scenario. I wrote the whole of the first chapter in chunks over several days, mostly in the early mornings or on commute. The second chapter took a lot more time and thought, because I had brought my scenario back round to dock into canon and wanted to see what changed about the vaha scene with this different context.

Bluntly, how important was sex/whether or not these characters had had sex to the articulation of their commitment to one another?

Not much at all, I thought. But I had to work through it step by step to see if at any point it did give rise to a difference in direction.

What worked and what didn’t

With the first chapter I was deliberately trying to write a different sort of sex scene from most of my other works. I wanted it to be soft, slow, and tender. There are several authors in the fandom whose smut is so gorgeously evocative and I wanted to see if I could learn from them and do some of that. This was a situation where it helped to be writing over several days in discord-text-box chunks, because it helped me think about the very small movements or shifts I wanted to make slowly, and to set each one out with deliberate care. I really liked the result and definitely want to do more of this.

The second chapter felt like an entirely different beast. I ended up sitting with At the Feet of the Sun open and simply typing out the whole of chapter fifty-four, The Song of the Breaking Waves, asking myself with each paragraph, “Has this changed?”

Most of it hadn’t. There is still a misunderstanding, because the noodles hadn’t actually discussed what they were doing and because they have such different perspectives on what it meant. It took longer to think and work through, even though I only made small tweaks, than it had taken me to write the entire first chapter from scratch - but I’m very pleased with where it ended up. It does feel a bit cheeky, hewing so close to the text and yet making such significant changes, particularly with a scene that means so much to many readers, but it’s also the kind of experimentation with narrative that fanfic is uniquely suited to support and I’m proud of it.

This was another fic where I explicitly sought out beta readers and benefitted from their thoughtful advice. 

What I learned from writing it

An interesting effect with the first chapter was that I often ended one short section with the start of the next one hovering in my mind, but when I came back the next day and picked up I invariably went in a different direction and didn’t feel like that was a loss. The best next line changed on me without any particular reason, just that alfgifu on Tuesday went in a direction that hadn’t occurred to her on Monday, and so on. I don’t think the version I would have written if I had jotted down and stuck with all my ‘next best lines’ when they appeared would have been any worse than the one I ended up with, but it would absolutely have been a different story.

There’s a reflection in there about the contingency of history and the impact of a butterfly flapping its wings, etc, but there’s also a reflection in there of growing confidence as a writer. There were multiple good ways I could write this fic and I didn’t need to stick to the first one that came to mind. I could just go with whatever felt right at the time I was writing and not worry about missing some better option.

This fic, like In every heart, is also directly referencing the conversations in the fandom about Kip and Fitzroy and the role of sex (if any) in their relationship. I don’t personally find the question itself particularly weighty but I can see how much it carries for other people, and it has been interesting and informative to be part of those conversations.

A long-term committed relationship that includes some recognition and promise to one another certainly does not have to include compatible and mutual sexual desire, or actual sex. But it’s also tricky when one person wants sex and the other doesn’t. And it’s even more tricky when one person wants sex and the other isn’t really fussed either way but idealises a relationship that doesn’t have to be about sex. 

That’s a crunchy interesting conflict, because character B is putting their love of an ideal of what a relationship looks like above figuring out the dynamics of the actual relationship they are in. With this fic, though, I think I’ve finished saying all the things I want to say about it - at least until there’s more relevant canon.

[santaclaushohoho1]

writing blog 4 you little bitch:

i got a lot of worldbuilding and basic plotting done in my head. motivations, archetypes, names, landscapes, architecture, races, culture, and images are swimming around in my head. most have been written down

tomorrow i am hoping to draw a map and start expanding on races and cultures in my notebook. writing draws ever closer. the cultures will probably change as i move on through the story, as i am sure the (college (subtle brag 😎 (shut up xxprogamerxx)) anthropology class i am taking will give me so many ideas i want to include.

george r.r. martin, stephen king, and andrzej sapkowski are providing a large amount of inspiration but it is not a crossover fan fiction where Jon Snow fucks Geralt and a mother, mother, daughter, son, and weird fucking uncle relationship forms between yennefer, sussanah, ciri, jake, and eddie (i listed them in their respective roles).

this is entirely original

i swear

i plan for the map to be super detailed and i would like to start tonight but i am wiped out so instead i am going to watch the click in bed, sleep, and start on it in the morning

if i dont wake up early enough to do mapping before i start school i will work on basic plotting and maybe design a couple languages

some will be ancient and out of use, but somehow still relevant to important things (fucking latin) and others will be used regularly, though most humanoids will speak my version of common

i also have 12 religions to create

this will be a lot of fun, and considering how much of my time i spend thinking about this stuff, i am hopeful i finish quickly

i ALSO developed a schedule that i will do for writing when the time comes around. my goal is 95,000 words, and i have mathed it out so that if i can write 3,750 words a week (not that much, 750 words, 5 days a week or 536ish words a day) then it will be completed in in less than six months. this is doable and also gives me a LOT of wiggle room, both to get extremely ahead of schedule (if i get really into it) or really behind schedule (if i can only bring myself to write 500 a day for a week, i have another 2 days to write that extra 1250) (for context, this is over 400 words, so i will need to write less than 2 of these a day, this only took me maybe 20 minutes but that's including going over a couple times with my eyes and with Grammarly to fix any spelling mistakes and grammar errors (as well as adding tags and this side note, we are more like at 547 in this whole thing, including the tags), i will not be doing that on my rough draft because that shit is supposed to be rough and editing it will kill my motivation so hard)

i got my shit together raccoon!!! woohoo!!!

[ambiguous321]

AITA

Am I (27f) the asshole for taking everything from the apartment I shared with my ex (28m) for 2 years. For context, my ex and I were together for almost 3 years. We had a good relationship but the past 6 months he was pulling away. We went on a trip to see my family at Thanksgiving and got into an argument about possibly moving out of state. When we got home, we had a conversation about our differing views, me wanting to move and him wanting to either stay or only move closer to his family. We settled our differences and applied to a house out of state. We had the green light to get through all the paperwork and right before closing the lender came back and said due to changes in my credit we would either have to put a larger down-payment or they couldn't approve us. We backed out because we couldn't afford to put a larger down-payment at the time. We continued living where we were at and I worked 3 jobs to pay down credit cards and my car loan. He got a second job for a couple months to afford getting a PS5. I was able to pay off my car loan and got my credit cards paid down significantly but we had booked a vacation out of state and because I had put every cent I earned to bills and paying off my car loan and credit cards I hadn't been able to save for the vacation. So I had to use my credit cards I just paid down to cover it. The plan was after we got back from vacation, I would move in with a friend in the state we tried to buy the house in to get an established job there as my job wouldn't transfer and his would. The entire vacation he hid in the bedroom, or played on his laptop. He barely spoke with me and only came out of the room for food and prearranged outings. When we got home, I hurried and grabbed a some things that were not already packed for my move to my friends house. I was upset with how he acted on vacation so before I left, I only gave him a kiss on the cheek and not one on the lips. The whole next month he gave me the silent treatment. I drove to see him twice and he would barely speak to me. Finally after visiting again and seeing family, he finally texted me that he wanted to break up. I didn't feel like fighting and arguing after almost 2 months of silent treatment so I just agreed and said I'd get a storage unit and get my stuff from the apartment. Now for the part that I may be an asshole for... all the furniture in that apartment is either mine or given to me from friends. And the gaming PC he has I purchased for him for our last anniversary, and all the tvs and both A/Cs are mine. Basically when I go to get my stuff, if I took everything that was mine or given to me he would be left with very little except his own clothes, a PS5, a 32 inch TV, and some dishes. The beds are mine and my friend's, the couch is my friend's, the chairs and dressers were given to me by my parents. So would I be the asshole for taking basically everything from the apartment?

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

Solarpunks and companion animals

Or, learning to become their kahu.

There are two cats that live with me. I brought Louie home in 2019, and Nutmeg recently joined us in mid-November of this year. But I’ve wrestled, for the past few years and even before the arrival of Louie, with the concept of pet ownership, especially in the context of solarpunk values.

Cats can provide companionship, mental health benefits, entertainment, act to defend their humans, act as emotional support animals, and more. (I’m not saying all cats are like this: that would be like saying all humans are good at math as like, a base fact about our species. Untrue.) However, caring for a cat means that you could very well be subsidizing strip-mining, supporting industrial agriculture, buying tons of non-recyclable plastic in the form of toys, polyester beds, and litter boxes, the decimation of wildlife in your local ecosystem, not to mention all the carbon spewed into the atmosphere by shipping litter, toys, food, and other paraphernalia across the world to your doorstep. That’s difficult to reconcile. A lot of other people have written articles wrestling with this and I don’t really want to do an entire lit review, so just take my word on this. It’s hard.

What I want to talk about in this article though might be the toughest issue of all to tackle when it comes to pet ownership, though.

And that’s pet ownership.

Say you’re a solarpunk, or you think of yourself as acting pretty decent on the whole. You’re kind to the people around you, you’re caring to the animals in your life, you have concern for the environment and you paying loving attention to your ecosystem. You either don’t eat meat/animal byproducts or you wrestle/d a lot with how you were raised to consume other living beings, beings who demand our respect and valuation despite (or perhaps because of) not being human.

But you also are the owner of that other living being. Perhaps several. You violate their bodily autonomy on a regular basis. You decide when and what they get to eat, where they eliminate and the quality of their toilet, when and how you pay attention to them, or leave them alone, whether they get to access the outdoors or encounter other non-human animals, and more.

Maybe this doesn’t bother you at all! Maybe you’ve thought about it, but it’s really not the biggest issue in your life right now, so it’s easily dismissed. Or maybe you’re like me and constantly overthink every aspect of your own life, so you have been avoiding this truth by using phrases like “companion animal” or “cat parent” but not changing your behaviour in any fundamental way. Maybe you’ve thought about it and shrugged because hey, this is just the way things are, and at least Mr Kitty isn’t out on the street / in the pound / in a hoarding situation or slated to be euthanized.

It might be the way things are here. But not everywhere.

I want to propose a re-framing of western humans’ relationship to their pets. The ethical dilemma of pet ownership is one peculiar to a philosophical mindset that sees animals as less than humans, an unequal binary embedded into western (and many other) cultures for thousands of years,* in a very different light. To refute a binary, or work against it, is to re-invoke it, even if it is now on the other end of the moral horizon: instead of a neutral or good axiom, the animals=less-than mindset is now considered by most in our society to be an evil. But it still is. And so my thinking (and, I’d warrant, that of most readers of this article) operates within that mindset, carrying that framework of inequality forward. Using the language of “ownership” to describe humans’ relationship to their companion animal(s) assumes a subject-object relationship, or a hierarchical binary that positions all human animals as superior to non-human animals.

Instead of the baggage-laden term of “owner,” then, I propose we start to use “kahu” instead.

According to Wehewehe Wikiwiki, kahu is defined as: “n., Honored attendant, guardian, nurse, keeper of ʻunihipili bones, regent, keeper, administrator, warden, caretaker, master, mistress; pastor, minister, reverend, or preacher of a church; one who has a dog, cat, pig, or other pet. According to J. S. Emerson; 92:2, kahu ‘implies the most intimate and confidential relations between the god and its guardian or keeper, while the word kahuna suggests more of the professional relation of the priest to the community.’”

This fundamentally reorients the relationship into something that, while still describing a slightly hierarchical relationship, nonetheless acknowledges the equal footing on which human and non-humans stand and share. Importantly, kahu is a word describing someone who has humbled themselves to serve an other, one who may depend on this potentially symbiotic relationship. The Benjamin Project https://www.thebenjaminproject.ca/blog/kahu-hawaiian-word-one-what-has-a-pet uses the language of a “mutualistic relationship with a pet.” The pet may depend on the kahu for food, water, hygiene, and comfort, but the kahu may rely on the pet to provide mental wellbeing, amusement, and companionship: these are intangibles that are difficult to quantify, but exist and should be honoured nonetheless as factors that make for a fuller life experience.

I’m not saying this is the antidote to all the squishy feelings and ethical dilemmas spawned by living with a companion animal. As I pointed out above, it’s pretty easy to just use synonym words without internalizing the actual different meanings (subtle as they may be) so that they affect your behaviour going forward. You can use the language of kahu and not take on its posture. You can also just not care about this issue at all and go on living your life the way you were, I guess.

Yet I think using kahu can be a tool for many who struggle with their relationship to their companion animals. The fact is, they aren’t human and thus we cannot have a human-to-human relationship with them: they have different desires and needs, and for us to truly respect and value them for who they are, we need to acknowledge that reality. But neither are they things that we own. It was during the Enlightenment that the idea of the animal as mere machine came about (thanks, Réné Descartes), stripped of any mystery and classed as biologically inferior and thus it was no great evil to perpetrate against them. We are still using the philosophical framework developed in 17th-century France: that was over 400 years ago.

Maybe we should update things a little. As Christina and I discuss, cultural change isn’t some sort of sweeping revolution (most of the time); it consists in the roots of the grass, a swell of the ground, the small actions of individuals coming together to form a greater whole. Will changing our language change our relationships to reflect solarpunk values? I’d argue yes, but only if we want it to.

*For a more articulate elaboration of this, check out episode 3.2, “Thinking About How We Think About Animals, with Dr Chloe Taylor”.

[thecoddaughter]

GUTS as QSMP

Hey, yall! Quinny back with yet another album breakdown. This time: Olivia Rodrigo's 'guts'

(read below the line <3)

song: all-american bitch

characters/context: jaiden and baghera, general characterization

key lyrics:

“I pay attention to things that most people ignore” “And I am built like a mother and a total machine. I feel for your every little issue, I know just what you mean” “I forgive and I forget” (hahaha yeah they forget a few things… like their whole lives!) “I don't get angry when I'm pissed, I'm the eternal optimist I scream inside to deal with it, like, "Ah"”

song: bad idea right?

characters/context: foolish about mariana (only in the meme sense, i swear…)

key lyrics: 

“Yes, I know that he's my ex but can't two people reconnect? I only see him as a friend. The biggest lie I ever said!” “And I told my friends I was asleep but I never said where or in whose sheets”

song: vampire

characters/context: baghera about the federation 

key lyrics:

“I used to think I was smart but you made me look so naïve. The way you sold me for parts as you sunk your teeth into me!” “You're so convincing… How do you lie without flinching?”

song: lacy

characters/context: foolish about jaiden and cellbit being the federation’s favorites

key lyrics:

“Aren't you the sweetest thing on this side of Hell?” “Like perfume that you wear, I linger all the time, watching, hidden in plain sight.” “The sweetest torture one could bear” “Like ribbons in your hair, my stomach's all in knots. You got the one thing that I want.” “You poison every little thing that I do”

song: ballad of a homeschooled girl

characters/context: jaiden, general characterization (i kinda wanted to put juana but this is more funny)

key lyrics:

“Cat got my tongue and I don't think I get along with anyone” “I broke a glass, I tripped and fell. I told secrets I shouldn't tell. I stumbled over all my words.” “I laughed at the wrong time, sat with the wrong guy. Searchin' "how to start a conversation?" on a website. I talked to this hot guy, swore I was his type, guess that he was makin' out with boys, like the whole night. Everythin' I do is tragic. Every guy I like is gay.” (she’s literally in a qpr with a gay couple but still funny to me) “Don't let me out at night! I'm shocked I'm still alive!”

song: making the bed

characters/context: dapper, general characterization

key lyrics:

“Want it, so I got it, did it, so it's done. Another thing I ruined, I used to do for fun.” “I thought it, so I said it, took it 'cause I can. Another day pretendin' I'm older than I am.” “Push away all the people who know me the best but it's me who's been makin' the bed.” “And every night, I wake up from this one recurrin' dream where I'm drivin' through the city, and the brakes go out on me. I can't stop at the red light, can't swerve off the road. I read somewhere it's 'cause my life feels so out of control.” “They're changin' my machinery, and I just let it happen.”

song: logical

characters/context: idk????? Part of me wanted to but fit and spreen but I know nothing about their relationship.

key lyrics:

song: get him back!

characters/context: (i want put 4halo again but i shouldn’t so you are getting nothing. Listen to the song still its a banger)

key lyrics:

song: love is embarrassing

characters/context: badboyhalo and forever

key lyrics:

“And now it don't mean a thing! God, love's f-----g embarrassing” “And I consoled you while you cried over your ex-girlfriend's new guy. My God, how could I be so stupid?” “I placed my bets and it's not worth anything. I give up, give up but I keep comin' back for more!”

song: the grudge

characters/context: slime to mariana (i’m mean, sorry! this is in the context of juana)

key lyrics:

“I have nightmares each week about that Friday in May. One phone call from you and my entire world was changed.” “You took everything I loved and crushed it in between your fingers and I doubt you ever think about the damage that you did but I hold on to every detail like my life depends on it.” “And I know in my heart hurt people hurt people and we both drew blood, but, man, those cuts were never equal.” “But even after all this, you're still everything to me and I know you don't care, I guess that that's fine.”

song: pretty isn’t pretty

characters/context: leonardo, especially the day before being taken

key lyrics:

“Bought a bunch of makeup tryna' cover up my face” “'Cause there's always something missin'. There's always something in the mirror that I think looks wrong “You can win the battle but you'll never win the war. Fix the things you hated and you'd still feel so insecure.”

song: teenage dream

characters/context: eggs, general characterization

key lyrics:

Pomme - “When am I gonna stop being wise beyond my years and just start being wise?” Leo - “When am I gonna stop being a pretty young thing to guys?” Dapper - “When am I gonna stop being great for my age and just start being good?” Richas - “When will it stop being cool to be quietly misunderstood?” Tallulah - “And when does wide-eyed affection and all good intentions start to not be enough?” Dapper - “When will everyone have every reason to call all my bluffs?” Ramon - “And when are all my excuses of learning my lessons gonna start to feel sad?” Chayanne - “Will I spend all the rest of my years wishing I could go back?” JUST IMAGINE THEM SCREAMING THIS LINE: “​​Oh, they all say that it gets better. It gets better the more you grow. Yeah, they all say that it gets better. It gets better, but what if I don't?”

[piratesandexplorers]

Well, some time last year I said I was going to watch the not-so-new-anymore Swallows and Amazons film on Netflix, but apparently it's taken a dose of Covid to lay me up in bed and actually get me to do it.

I have lots of thoughts, as I promised I would...

(Spoilers ahead I guess, but nothing big that's not fairly obvious from trailers etc., I don't think.)

There were a lot of little nitpicky things that annoyed me, but I could probably have got past those (actually, no I couldn't, but never mind) if the whole thing had been good enough to carry me through. I'm obviously biased, and it did have its good points, probably fun enough as a kids' film, but I genuinely just think it was poor storytelling, which is extra disappointing as it was based on such a good story. Some of the bigger things that I had problems with:

The Spy Plot. I don't really have that much to say on this one because it's obvious that the second they decided to go with this idea, it stopped being Swallows and Amazons. The modern thing is to believe everything needs Super High Stakes and Lots Of Action or kids will be bored. I think they're wrong, but there we go. (Sorry, Andrew Scott, I'd watch you in anything, but you didn't belong here.) But even accepting that for what it is, I just don't think they did what they were trying to do particularly well, so on that note...

Character development and relationships. So much went wrong here, I don't know where to start. Obviously they butchered both John and Susan (presumably because they lazily read them as boring and, rather than read any deeper, just changed them entirely), as well as Mrs Walker and her relationship with the children. Genuinely, what's wrong with writing families who like and trust each other? Captain Flint was already ruined by the spy plot, but his eventual switch to being the nice fun uncle didn't work well even in the context they gave him - it felt like they just went "and actually he turned out to be nice, which you should just accept and not question because it's just a kids' story so it's not that deep". Which does such an injustice to the original writing. Then there are the Blacketts, who need a third point all to themselves:

The Blacketts. I was so disappointed with Nancy and Peggy. I feel bad criticising children, but I didn't think the actors playing them were good at all (compared to the Walkers, who could all act). But the real issue I had with them was their lack of screentime?? They barely appeared, we had no time to get to know them, to care about them, or to see any sign of genuine friendship between them and the Swallows. There was no spark to them at all, no sign of Nancy's charisma, or sense of them as the wild rule-breakers. Mrs Blackett was a non-character too, which is forgivable as she was sort of a non-character in the first book, but given that they did give her extra screentime, they could at least have given her some characterisation?

The Pacing. I feel like this point wraps the previous ones together, because the cause is the spy plot and the result (or one of them) is the bad/non-existent character-dev. There's no time for the characters to unfold, no time for them to sit and talk to each other, no time for extra scenes that show relationships, no time for fireworks on the cabin roof or parleys around the campfire or Vicky/Bridget's birthday or fishing trips or Octopus Lagoons or Nancy bullying policemen on John's behalf. Even the Black Spot gets delivered in a moment at the dining table, with no explanation of what it means. And it's mainly because most of the time is taken up by the Big Plot, but it's not only that - those small but important scenes are also replaced by things like losing the food hamper, and John shouting at Roger, and Roger falling in the lake. Things they obviously decided were more Dramatic and Exciting, but actually do nothing meaningful at all. It all just feels completely rushed, which is the opposite of Ransome's vibes. And not only that, but the piling on of difficulties, and problems, and fights, and things going wrong, just makes the whole island camping expedition seem entirely depressing, rather than a taste of joyful freedom.

The Aesthetic. Related to the last point, but I did think that the one thing we would get from this film, since they filmed on location, would be the feel of the Lakelands and the scenery and rural Northern England in the 20s. I got almost none of that. Again, probably because the only things they cared about were spies with guns and ramping up the sense of danger and difficulty at every turn.

It sounds like I hated the film, and I didn't hate it. It was fun to watch, I thought the kids playing Tatty (whose name change I do get) and Roger were particularly good, and I liked the Billies (although less so the fact that Susan and Roger didn't even meet them, and Tatty screaming the place down over the adder).

I just didn't think it was particularly good as a film, let alone an adaptation of Swallows and Amazons. Which, as a Swallows and Amazons fan, is just really sad.

What's funny to me is that the Netflix synopsis says: "When four siblings camp on an island in the middle of a lake during their vacation, they fall into a whimsical turf war with two boisterous rivals." Which is... far more of a description of the original plot than of the plot of the film.

[squealing-for-harusono-sensei]

Hirano to Kagiura Ch.11 Analysis: Then vs now

The fan translation of the ch.11 title is "For a long time now." I disagree with that translation. (Note that my Japanese is very limited and this stems from google and dictionaries.) The Japanese title is "前よりずっと." If one googles the entire phrase, the translation "Far more than before" shows up, which I think fit the chapter much better.

(It's understandable why they would translate it like that, though, even if it's entirely different meanings. 前 (read as 'zen' or 'mae') means (among other things) "before." より ('yori') in this context likely means something like "since." ずっと ('zutto') is likely where the disagreement stems from, as it can both mean "continuously" or "much more," among other things. Broken down, every single word in this title have several meanings. I'm trusting the "Far more than before" translation as 1) the fact that an online dictionary even has it as a phrase indicates that it's a relatively common phrase with a specific meaning, 2) it fits the chapter really well.)

What this chapter shows us is how much Hirano has changed since the beginning of the school year, even though he hasn't changed much on the surface. Or rather, how much the reason behind his actions towards Kagiura has changed. As much as I love the entire flashback about Hirano asking Hanzawa for help, I think there is one panel in particular that justifies the entire flashback's place in the chapter.

This is why Hirano did so much for Kagiura in the beginning. Hirano doesn't want problems, so he's avoiding conflict by making things easier for Kagiura. The descriptor Hirano uses in the original Japanese is 楽 ('raku'), the meaning in this context most likely being easy/without trouble. And the scenes both before and after the flashback shows different ways that this very much isn't the case anymore.

Before the flashback, there's a scene where Hirano thinks about how staying in the same room is easier for him because it would be harder to fix any problems between them if Kagiura had another room he could run away to. But there wouldn't be any trouble if Hirano didn't pursue a continued relationship with Kagiura. Staying with him IS the troublesome path, even if Hirano doesn't think about it in that way.

After the flashback is the scene where Hirano thinks about why he does so much for Kagiura and concludes that it isn't weird at all. Which is of course frustrating as he's clearly doing way more than one would normally do for one's roommate, but I do think that he has a point in so far as it's a natural progression for Hirano specifically. Because Hirano, despite his scary looks, is naturally a caretaker (most clearly shown in the vol.2 extra 15.5 "A story about a busy-body"). He's caring and when placed in a situation where he's supposed to take care of someone and that someone very clearly appreciates it a lot, of course it would end up like this, with him doing way more than necessary. It's not to make their time as roommates go smoother, it's because Hirano genuinely likes it.

But I think the last scene of the chapter shows just how much kagihira's current relationship doesn't fit Hirano's original goal of making things as easy as possible for both of them.

At the end of the chapter, Kagiura is studying in bed even though Hirano had turned off the light for them to go to sleep. The time is 10:15 PM. Kagiura says it's only to the end of the page.

Next page showed a clock showing that it's 5 minutes past midnight. Kagiura is still studying and Hirano is still awake worrying about Kagiura.

The first time I read the chapter, I had realized that Kagiura wasn't stopping at one page, but since I hadn't noticed the time on the first clock, I hadn't noticed that it had been almost 2 hours. Which also means that that's how long Hirano had been worrying about Kagiura instead of sleeping. So the whole situation is now causing both of them to lose sleep. That's pretty far from getting through it without trouble.

[wndaswife]

in secret and thérèse raquin spoilers under the cut (ik a lot of you are planning on reading it and haven’t yet!! i’ll talk ab the book and the movie here,, and im really really rambling here like a huge huge nerd u can VERY much completely ignore this if u want)

jeeeeesusss fucking christ that movie was so much more than i remember fuck.. that fucking part with thérèse coming and just babbling out “thank you thank you thank you” LIKE SHIT… FUCK

camille is a very unfortunate man but.. and u can stone me for this i would forgive u but he is actually very easy to sympathize with??? like he’s so juvenile and so naive, very unfortunate person like that haircut is just tragic and it’s so icky he’s always sick but im sorry he’s a poor kid, that nativity and constant hopefulness is just… idk

im sorry even as im typing this it sounds so stupid, but in the book he really is just naive, and i find he’s exactly like that in the movie too i feel bad for him

EXCEPT FOR THAT ONE PART IN BED WITH THÉRÈSE that was really shitty but idk was wrong with the ppl putting this movie together because bitch no one was ever supposed to love thérèse or laurent.. i mean u totally can but it wasn’t supposed to be written as them being tragic lovers who just wanna be together n you feel super sorry for them. and i feel like they wrote that in for that exact reason.. doesn’t make it any less stupid and shitty tho. zola probably would’ve rly disliked the way this story was carried out in this movie

and fuck laurent seriously that mf wants to be so profound and mysterious so fucking bad yet he paints most times because he gets a hard on watching naked women like goodbye and im never going to forget the part in the book where he ogled a dead girl in the morgue who literally sewerslided

i really hate that man

gluttonous incapable coward god he’s terrible

i mean,, okay honestly if u never read the book or if you do read it and don’t care about its portrayal it’s not even a terrible movie, it’s not bad at all besides the typical morally questionable acts

the architecture and costumes and lightings and colours were all so beautiful the entire movie, i love watching it and taking everything in i mean it’s rly gorgeous, and ofc so is lizzie so i mean my eyes r rly never off the screen

so that was a huge thumbs up for me , the whole thing is really really pretty

i mean there r obvious things wrong ab the movie, it was written like thérèse is horribly mistreated and did what she did because of the emotional distress she was under, which okay like i said if u didn’t read the book totally totally fine makes sense like okay then she’s a relatively likable character and in that case this story is ab her reactions to her circumstances, a story like that is fine, so don’t get me wrong and think im saying it’s not

but the book and what happened in it from a naturalist perspective meaning that circumstance has little to no effect on someone’s natural way of behaving and reacting- put thérèse in any other environment she would still be the kind of demure person easily set aflame by small passionate sparks, she goes all-in bets everything and cares little about what happens if and when she burns out. that’s why she started the relationship, not solely bc she was neglected or distressed, tho im sure it also had a minor hand in it

in the book it said she was patient and able to stay relaxed n lithe like a cat because of how she had to help her aunt around n camille, and how quiet and in the background she had to be, but that did nothing on her temperament and natural way of being

even if her being quiet and patience changed, say she grew up in a different environment, she would still be one to start a relationship with laurent the same way she did canonically

i do not like how this was changed because it’s taking the whole thing out of context, rly changing all the bases of the characters and the book, and most importantly.. in the movie ur supposed to LIKE them together and see their relationship as romantic

not gonna lie there are only four solid pages in which i liked them together and u BET i came with receipts- page 38-42 (oxford university press edition translated by rothwell bc ik page formatting can differ based on book versions)

to some extent OFC i did feel bad for them in the book like the stuff they went through including thérèse being domestically abused and dozens of other things they went through is not something i’d ever feel apathy towards, but rly not once after finishing the book did i think aw man that end shouldn’t have happened and they were such a good couple

tho that is the response the movie seems to have been looking for

i think what happened at the end of the book was always always always going to happen, just like how laurent and thérèse ending up being super annoyed by each other would have always happened. once they started arguing with each other it was never going to stop and they simultaneously would never be able to live without it. that’s kind of the interesting and maybe to some ppl problematic part of naturalist literature

it’s totally FINE and really like it doesn’t matter that much if u read the book or not, you can enjoy consuming only one, or consuming both and liking only one of them! and you don’t have to care at all that it’s different from the book, the movie is pretty great on its own if you’re not comparing them

but my personal opinion comparing them… not the greatest portrayal of the book (massive things were changed!!!!). the book was rly good but the movie also has its perks too

lizzie is so incredible in this movie, not a single movie of hers that i’ve seen is disappointing, i love seeing films through her eyes and i find they’re all really centered in people and their struggles and motivations etc etc, and i rly love that

i do get pleasure out of watching in secret, it’s a very pretty movie and it’s entertaining to hate laurent and judge their relationship and lizzie is such a talented actress, i love their descent into insanity and their stupidity, it’s a movie i rly do like watching (and none of this is sarcastic i really seriously do like seeing them act like idiots at times, even in the book it was pretty entertaining)

this is a weird review i have to admit bc it seems for a majority of it that im bashing the movie,, ITS A GOOD MOVIE it’s entertaining and has a great cast and it’s pretty the soundtrack is great, so r the aesthetics it’s a great movie, it rly is

but in its portrayal to the book!!! not as good

but that doesn’t mean i don’t enjoy the movie, i do!!!

and here is one more observation i took from comparing the book and the movie: where the book did not go into detail with the sensual relationship between laurent and thérèse like the movie did tho it was still a huge part of the story, the movie also did not go into detail with the relationship that developed between them through the naturalist perspective. thus, in secret is an erotic romantic drama with not many mentions of naturalism and the book is huge on naturalism while talking no more than a collective page of their actual sexual interactions. i think MAYBE the directors n writers of the movie intended for naturalism and overt sexuality to be.. sort of synonymous? which is rly interesting i think. they both played similar roles with these characters (mostly thérèse) who store and shroud their sexualities like precious innate things as one would their natures. i thought that was kind of cool if that was the intention, and even if it wasn’t i think it was inadvertent but very clear statement either way

im not sure ab my options on that yet,, tho i kinda wanna read more about that from somewhere

i want to ask if anyone agrees with innate nature and sexuality being synonymous but idk if anyone has read this far it’s just me rambling like an idiot lmfao

ANYWAYS

i wish lizzie did more book adaptations it’s so fun to read books her movies are based on and watch her interviews and know she read the book too

it’s just so fun to analyze u know???

i need a literature pal T_T

[thephantomcasebook]

yeah alicent and daeron give heavy norma and norman energy lol

I would go that far ...

But I would say that the show has an opportunity to give context that the book never really gives.

In the book, Alicent and Daeron are very close. He is her sworn shield after "Blood and Cheese" and for most of the war till he is sent south by Criston to take command of the Southern Theater. He is unabashedly named Alicent's favorite child (and person) in the world. But they never actually explain why he is Alicent's favorite, nor why they're very close. They ... just kinda are. And when Daeron is away she pines for him.

However, for some reason, I can't say that it's creepy in terms of how other mother/son relationships are portrayed in media and literature. He's not entirely a momma's boy, because, he goes it alone twice. He is a fixture among the commons in King's Landing and Oldtown as a boy and teenager. He is the most valiant member of the whole Targaryen family - both Greens and Blacks. And he's a master swordsman and tactician as stated by the books.

He's just ... really close with Alicent. A bit too close? Probably. But I guess it doesn't come off creepy, because, Daeron isn't a milk-sop. If Alicent said jump, Daeron would ask why and then maybe or maybe not do it depending on her reasoning ... and, weird as it may be, part of the reason I just don't find it all that creepy is that both Daeron and Alicent are super-attractive in the book. I know it doesn't make any sense as a reason, but their attractiveness is a factor in the ick factor. Both Alicent and Daeron are considered the most beautiful woman and the most handsome knight in the realm according to "Fire & Blood" in every edition.

Which, you know, if you want to go A+C=D route ... Alicent and Criston would have the most beautiful babies ... just keep that in mind.

As I said, in the show, they have a chance to redress and contextualize this relationship with the golden opportunity from the absolute fuck-up of not mentioning him in Season 1.

If you make him an adventurer and veteran of the Stepstone Wars who was ripped away from Alicent at a young age and basically given a long sword and a saddle for Tessarion and sent out into the fighting, I think former child-soldier Daeron would worship a soft, silky, and beautiful Alicent as a living Angel after being in Hell for so long. And I think that Alicent would circle the wagons around Daeron, the child they took from her - her baby. They would have a shared trauma of being ripped away from one another and would cleave to each other upon their reunion. Alicent would help him with his PTSD from the war and the horrible things he had to do and Daeron would lean on Alicent as a source of primal strength.

I'd like Alicent to be a moral conscious or mentor to literally the most heroic and noble character in all of the Dance of the Dragons. Perhaps she doesn't adhere to her own lessons, but she is invested that Daeron does not repeat her mistakes. Sort of what Otto was to her as a girl, but teaching altruism rather than ambition.

(Mood Music)

I imagine a scene at night where Alicent is in a nightgown, getting ready for bed, when she hears something. When she walks out onto her balcony she smiles softly to come across Daeron who is lounging on the railing with his back against the wall, leg drawn up while the other is stretched out on the railing. She watches him looking out at the stars across the horizon of Blackwater Bay.

He tells her about looking up at the stars and dreaming of home on the Stepstones, how he missed everything about this place and the people in it. Aegon's bad jokes, Helaena's smile, and Aemond's cleverness, Criston's protectiveness, and Alicent's warmth. But now that he is home, it doesn't feel as it should or how he dreamed of it. That he can't tell if it's him or this place that has a changed. But it no longer feels like home, not to him. And that he's afraid that after everything he's seen and done in the war that he'll never feel at home nor fit in anywhere ever again.

Then, Alicent, with teary eyes, without her adornment and jewelry, in a simple satin negligee and her hair down - not a queen but a mother - takes his hand and places it on her bare chest. With a emotional voice, she tells him that this - her heart - is his home, where he has and will always belong. That no matter what he sees or where he goes in this world, he can always return to her and be at peace.

Then, after a long pause, he gently leans his head into her bosom as she hugs his head squeezing her eyes shut as she kisses the top of his head.