#Claire Nunez Criticism

[childofaura]

All right, it seems like I’ve got a lot of understanding and rational people who responded to my earlier inquiry about making a Claire criticism post. So I’m gonna go ahead and do it, since this is something that’s sat in my mind every time a new installment of the ToA series came out.

SO BIG DISCLAIMER BECAUSE I WANT EVERYONE TO READ THIS BEFORE ANYONE GETS MAD AT ME:

THIS IS ALL MY SUBJECTIVE OPINION. I MIGHT BE PHRASING THIS POST LIKE IT’S AN ABSOLUTE, BUT IT’S NOT, IT’S ALL ISSUES I PERSONALLY FEEL WITH CLAIRE’S CHARACTER. SO IF YOU LIKE CLAIRE, THIS IS NOT A PERSONAL ATTACK OR ME TELLING YOU YOU’RE WRONG ABOUT SOMETHING/CAN’T LIKE CLAIRE.

Now that I think I’ve got that out of the way, I wanna jump into the actual post of why I’ve never really liked Claire’s character.

If we’re being really really REALLY honest... I think the issue is mostly based off of “The writers didn’t know how to write Claire”. I’ve felt like every character in Trollhunters (specifically Trollhunters, we don’t talk about 3Below and while Wizards was pretty positive overall, that was also a lot of hit or miss, and that series plays even more into why I don’t like Claire) was executed pretty well to fulfill their roles as characters or to be compelling and pretty easy to grasp their personalities.

Except Claire.

Personality issues:

Her character’s inconsistent and flip-flops. To start off, her intro in the series is just “pretty girl that Jim likes”. We get the promising sense that she has some non-conforming interests at first, as she’s advertising try-outs for the play, but that’s just lifted from the Trollhunters book and we never see any interest in theater arts from Claire ever again after that. Her hair (and I’m sorry but I hate her hair with all the stupid hairclips in the front, it’s so distracting and it looks dumb) with the streak in it and the skull shirt she wears makes you assume she’s somewhat rebellious, maybe kind of punk, but she’s a straight-A trouble-free student who’s apparently popular with everyone, and helps her mom out with campaigning for her political career. There’s really nothing to her personality that shows itself consistently, besides the Papa Skull interest.

And then there’s how badly her character and personality was executed at first; When Steve’s about to beat up Jim, she tries to step in but gets shoved back. Great! She has a sense of right and wrong and she’ll stand up for others. But then later on, she scolds Jim for the crime of... standing up for himself? Which sends a really bad message that she’d have rather had Jim publicly humiliate himself and/or possibly get beat up. Then later she’s willing to go to a Papa Skull concert with the same guy who shoved her. That’s incredibly weak character right there.

She starts to show some more positive character when after getting mad at Jim for trashing the house, she puts two and two together and realizes something’s off, but then she just... sneaks into his house like a weirdo, even though nothing about her character suggests that she’d do something like that and she has no real reason besides “Jim wasn’t straightforward about the party”; it’s not something a normal person would do or what SHE would do given her current character development. And then this one’s a smaller gripe, but I hated her scoff in Wizards when the tournament was going on and the guards didn’t let her in, she goes “Ugh, boys’ club!”. UH HELLO, YOU IDIOT. THERE WERE FEMALE GUARDS CLEARLY EMPLOYED IN ARTHUR’S SERVICE. HELL, THE GUARD THAT BULLAR ATE WAS A FEMALE GUARD. GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE AND STOP PRETENDING LIKE YOU’RE BEING SLIGHTED BECAUSE YOU’RE A GIRL. YOU WERE CONSIDERED A CIVILIAN TRYING TO ENTER A TOURNAMENT FOR TRAINED KNIGHTS.

Now past all the character inconsistencies in those first thirteen-ish episodes, the second issue I have with Claire’s character is that she teeters pretty dangerously into Mary Sue territory. Everyone (I was almost gonna say “who isn’t a major villain” but EVEN MORGANA ends up liking her. So MOSTLY everyone) who isn’t a main antagonist ends up liking Claire in some way. Steve the bully? Tries to date her. Mary, whom she said she wasn’t really close friends with? Is friends with her and even has her number. Freaking VENDEL, the grumpiest character in the show, only has to hear her talk in Troll and he immediately likes her without her having to earn his trust (which also she just... never uses Troll again. Sure is convenient that she learned to speak fluent Troll just for one scene and one character to like her). Morgana takes a liking to her. Compare that to how hard Jim had to work to gain the trust of others: His bond with Draal, learning to prove himself to Vendel, engaging with Nomura in prison and befriending her. She too easily assimilates with other characters; I’d have less issues if she had to work like Jim did, but the only time she does is with NotEnrique.

Skills and abilities don’t feel earned or consistent:

And then the whole thing with her powers and her physical abilities. It was never explained in the show how she actually obtained innate magic powers not connected to the Shadow Staff itself (And no, if you have to explain it on Twitter as a writer, that’s not good writing, that’s forcing your audience to play detective). She’s just all of a sudden doing awfully-convenient high-level magic in the first two episodes (or maybe three, whenever she created that shadow-cover for Jim and the others to escape.) without explaining HOW she had got those powers, and then she performs it perfectly whenever the plot needs it (She’s literally shown to be more powerful than Merlin, how stupid is that?). Remember in the movie where everyone was like “Oh no Claire, don’t use your powers because it could hurt you!” and she does anyways and she faints for like three seconds and then has no other physical repercussions? Or how she’s somehow MORE capable than Jim when it comes to fighting, like how in the Chinese Trollmarket she manages to swipe one of the other troll’s weapons, which has an entirely different weight and size to her shadow staff and probably required extensive training, and she just uses it flawlessly to fight? The only times Claire really fails are when the plot calls for it.

Plot can’t happen without her:

And finally, she hijacks the plot constantly, more than her character should, and has more importance placed on her role in the story than anyone else. Even Blinky. She even took over the plot for Wizards, which was supposed to be Douxie’s story and Douxie’s character-focus. The poor guy took a backseat to his own story because the plot relied on Claire to move forward, literally nothing could be done without her. And I mentioned it before but even though Douxie’s character still managed to get enough development, it was hardly enough because Claire hogged up so much screen-time focusing on HER and HER magic development and HER relationship with Morgana over Douxie and HIS magic development and HIS relationship with Merlin.

And also the fact that it’s Claire who ends up either saving the day or taking priority over the others. Who was the one who defeated Morgana in Trollhunters? Claire. Who brought Jim back to life as a human, despite the fact that even Merlin stated it was impossible for him to make Jim a human again? Claire. Who was it that Jim made sure to establish his relationship with, but not anyone else? CLAIRE. That ending in the movie where he doesn’t seem to care about his relationship with Blinky, Draal, Strickler, etc, but oh we’ve GOTTA have his girlfriend!

Overall, even typing this, I don’t think it’s her fault even though I hate her character; it’s the writers’ fault for doing such a sloppy and inconsistent job because she’s boiled down to just a “girl empowerment”. Because in the book, Claire Fontaine is AWESOME. She’s a Scot descended from a warrior lineage which actually explains why she has weapon capabilities, she’s explained that she’s not really a “popular girl” but she’s super confident in herself and doesn’t really care what others think, and that’s what Jim finds charming about her, and she rips Steve a new one after hearing that he’s just trying to charm her to piss off Jim.

But Claire Nunez is a mess of a poorly executed character. And again, I blame the writers because I think Claire could have been great if they knew what they were doing with her and made her balanced.

[macrolit]

The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century.

As voted on by 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics and other book lovers — with a little help from the staff of The New York Times Book Review.

NYT Article.

*************

Q: How many of the 100 have you read? Q: Which ones did you love/hate? Q: What's missing?

Here's the full list.

100. Tree of Smoke, Denis Johnson 99. How to Be Both, Ali Smith 98. Bel Canto, Ann Patchett 97. Men We Reaped, Jesmyn Ward 96. Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, Saidiya Hartman 95. Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel 94. On Beauty, Zadie Smith 93. Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel 92. The Days of Abandonment, Elena Ferrante 91. The Human Stain, Philip Roth 90. The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen 89. The Return, Hisham Matar 88. The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis 87. Detransition, Baby, Torrey Peters 86. Frederick Douglass, David W. Blight 85. Pastoralia, George Saunders 84. The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee 83. When We Cease to Understand the World, Benjamin Labutat 82. Hurricane Season, Fernanda Melchor 81. Pulphead, John Jeremiah Sullivan 80. The Story of the Lost Child, Elena Ferrante 79. A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin 78. Septology, Jon Fosse 77. An American Marriage, Tayari Jones 76. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin 75. Exit West, Mohsin Hamid 74. Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout 73. The Passage of Power, Robert Caro 72. Secondhand Time, Svetlana Alexievich 71. The Copenhagen Trilogy, Tove Ditlevsen 70. All Aunt Hagar's Children, Edward P. Jones 69. The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander 68. The Friend, Sigrid Nunez 67. Far From the Tree, Andrew Solomon 66. We the Animals, Justin Torres 65. The Plot Against America, Philip Roth 64. The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai 63. Veronica, Mary Gaitskill 62. 10:04, Ben Lerner 61. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver 60. Heavy, Kiese Laymon 59. Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides 58. Stay True, Hua Hsu 57. Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich 56. The Flamethrowers, Rachel Kushner 55. The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright 54. Tenth of December, George Saunders 53. Runaway, Alice Munro 52. Train Dreams, Denis Johnson 51. Life After Life, Kate Atkinson 50. Trust, Hernan Diaz 49. The Vegetarian, Han Kang 48. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi 47. A Mercy, Toni Morrison 46. The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt 45. The Argonauts, Maggie Nelson 44. The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin 43. Postwar, Tony Judt 42. A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James 41. Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan 40. H Is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald 39. A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan 38. The Savage Detectives, Roberto Balano 37. The Years, Annie Ernaux 36. Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates 35. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel 34. Citizen, Claudia Rankine 33. Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward 32. The Lines of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst 31. White Teeth, Zadie Smith 30. Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward 29. The Last Samurai, Helen DeWitt 28. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell 27. Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 26. Atonement, Ian McEwan 25. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc 24. The Overstory, Richard Powers 23. Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, Alice Munro 22. Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo 21. Evicted, Matthew Desmond 20. Erasure, Percival Everett 19. Say Nothing, Patrick Radden Keefe 18. Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders 17. The Sellout, Paul Beatty 16. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon 15. Pachinko, Min Jin Lee 14. Outline, Rachel Cusk 13. The Road, Cormac McCarthy 12. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion 11. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz 10. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson 9. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro 8. Austerlitz, W.G. Sebald 7. The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead 6. 2666, Roberto Bolano 5. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen 4. The Known World, Edward P. Jones 3. Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel 2. The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson 1. My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante

[bitsmag]

Confira os indicados ao Critic's Choice 2023

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 03: Chelsea Handler attends the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 03, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy) Chelsea Handler apresenta a premiação Acontece este domingo, 15 de janeiro, a edição 2023 da premiação Critic's Choice. O prêmio, que acontece pela 28a vez, é escolhido por críticos de cinema dos Estados Unidos e do Canadá da CCA (American Canadian Critic's Choice Association). A comediante, atriz e apresentadora Chelsea Handler fará a apresentação. Jeff Bridges vai receber um prêmio honorário e a atriz Janelle Monáe vai receber o prêmio SeeHer Award. Esse prêmio celebra mulheres que lutam pela igualdade de gênero interpretando papéis com autenticidade, quebrando barreiras e desafiando estereótipos. Entre os artistas convidados que entregarão prêmios estão Benjamin Bratt, Quinta Brunson, Cedric the Entertainer, Misha Collins, Claire Danes, Diego Luna, Natasha Lyonne, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Aubrey Plaza, Jean Smart, Anya Taylor-Joy, Miles Teller e Kerry Washington, entre outros. A festa será exibida no Brasil pelo canal TNT e na plataforma de streaming HBO Max a partir das 21 horas. Melhor Filme Avatar: O Caminho da Água (20th Century Studios)Babilônia (Paramount Pictures)Os Banshees de Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)Elvis (Warner Bros.)Tudo Em Todo Lugar Ao Mesmo Tempo (A24)Os Fabelman (Universal Pictures)Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)RRR (Variance Films)Tár (Focus Features)Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)Entre Mulheres (MGM/United Artists Releasing) Melhor Ator Austin Butler – Elvis (Warner Bros.)Tom Cruise – Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)Colin Farrell – Os Banshees de Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)Brendan Fraser – A Baleia (A24)Paul Mescal – Aftersun (A24)Bill Nighy – Living (Sony Pictures Classics) Melhor Atriz Cate Blanchett – Tár (Focus Features)Viola Davis – A Mulher Rei (Sony Pictures)Danielle Deadwyler – Till, A Busca Por Justiça (Orion/United Artists Releasing)Margot Robbie – Babilônia (Paramount Pictures)Michelle Williams – Os Fabelman (Universal Pictures)Michelle Yeoh – Tudo Em Todo Lugar Ao Mesmo Tempo (A24) Melhor Ator Coadjuvante Paul Dano – Os Fabelman (Universal Pictures)Brendan Gleeson – Os Banshees de Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)Judd Hirsch – Os Fabelman (Searchlight Pictures)Barry Keoghan – Os Banshees de Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)Ke Huy Quan – Tudo Em Todo Lugar Ao Mesmo Tempo (A24)Brian Tyree Henry – Passagem (A24/Apple Original Films) Melhor Atriz Coadjuvante Angela Bassett – Pantera Negra: Wakanda Para Sempre (Marvel Studios)Jessie Buckley – Entre Mulheres (MGM/United Artists Releasing)Kerry Condon – Os Banshees de Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)Jamie Lee Curtis – Tudo Em Todo Lugar Ao Mesmo Tempo (A24)Stephanie Hsu – Tudo Em Todo Lugar Ao Mesmo Tempo (A24)Janelle Monáe – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix) Melhor Jovem Ator ou Atriz Frankie Corio – Aftersun (A24)Jalyn Hall – Till, A Busca Por Justiça (Orion/United Artists Releasing)Gabriel LaBelle – Os Fabelman (Universal Pictures)Bella Ramsey – Catherine Called Birdy (Amazon Studios)Banks Repeta – Armageddon Time (Focus Features)Sadie Sink – A Baleia (A24) Melhor Elenco Os Banshees de Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)Tudo Em Todo Lugar Ao Mesmo Tempo (A24)Os Fabelman (Universal Pictures)Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)A Mulher Rei (Sony Pictures)Entre Mulheres (MGM/United Artists Releasing) Melhor Diretor James Cameron – Avatar: O Caminho da Água (20th Century Studios)Damien Chazelle – Bablônia (Paramount Pictures)Todd Field – Tár (Focus Features)Baz Luhrmann – Elvis (Warner Bros.)Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – Tudo Em Todo Lugar Ao Mesmo Tempo (A24)Martin McDonagh – Os Banshees de Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)Sarah Polley – Entre Mulheres (MGM/United Artists Releasing)Gina Prince-Bythewood – A Mulher Rei (Sony Pictures)S.S. Rajamouli – RRR (Variance Films)Steven Spielberg – Os Fabelman (Universal Pictures) Melhor Roteiro OriginalCharlotte Wells – Aftersun (A24)Martin McDonagh – Os Banshees de Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – Tudo Em Todo Lugar Ao Mesmo Tempo (A24)Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner – Os Fabelman (Universal Pictures)Todd Field – Tár (Focus Features) Melhor Roteiro AdaptadoRian Johnson – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)Kazuo Ishiguro – Living (Sony Pictures Classics)Rebecca Lenkiewicz – Ela Disse (Universal Pictures)Samuel D. Hunter – A Baleia (A24)Sarah Polley – Entre Mulheres (MGM/United Artists Releasing) Melhor FotografiaRussell Carpenter – Avatar: O Caminho da Água (20th Century Studios)Linus Sandgren – Babilônia (Paramount Pictures)Roger Deakins – Império da Luz (Searchlight Pictures)Janusz Kaminski – Os Fabelman (Universal Pictures)Florian Hoffmeister – Tár (Focus Features)Claudio Miranda – Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures) Melhor Comédia Os Banshees de Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)Bros (Universal Pictures)Tudo Em Todo Lugar Ao Mesmo Tempo (A24)Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)Triângulo da Tristeza (Neon)O Peso do Talento (Lionsgate) Melhor Filme de Animação Pinocchio de Guillermo del Toro (Netflix)Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (A24)Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (DreamWorks Animation)Turning Red (Pixar)Wendell & Wild (Netflix) Melhor Filme em Língua Não Inglesa Nada de Novo no Front (Netflix)Argentina, 1985 (Amazon Studios)Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Netflix)Close (A24)Decision de Partir (Mubi)RRR (Variance Films) Melhor CançãoLift Me Up – Pantera Negra: Wakanda Para Sempre (Marvel Studios) Ciao Papa – Pinocchio de Guillermo del Toro (Netflix)Naatu Naatu – RRR (Variance Films) Hold My Hand – Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures) Carolina – Where the Crawdads Sing (Sony Pictures)New Body Rhumba – White Noise (Netflix)  Melhor Trilha Sonora Michael Giacchino – Batman (Warner Bros.)Justin Hurwitz – Babilônia (Paramount Pictures)John Williams – Os Fabelman (Universal Pictures)Alexandre Desplat – Pinocchio de Guillermo del Toro (Netflix)Hildur Guðnadóttir – Tár (Focus Features)Hildur Guðnadóttir – Entre Mulheres (MGM/United Artists Releasing) Read the full article

[motherofsquirms]

Fever Break: A Stricklake Short

"You are sunlight and I moon Joined by the gods of fortune Midnight and high noon Sharing the sky We have been blessed, you and I"

Walter padded lightly into the dimly lit bedroom wearing slippers and carrying a tray with a glass of water, medicine, and a plate of dry toast. Barbara was lying on her side under the covers, sleeping soundly on the far side of the bed. She was facing the doorway, one arm under her pillow, the other resting on it. Walt walked quietly over to her and set the tray down carefully on the nightstand. He gently checked the temperature of her forehead with the back of his hand. Good, he thought, the fever had broken. Thank goodness she had not needed to go to work, otherwise he’d have had to try to convince her to stay home, a losing battle if there ever was one. He had played the “this is your body telling you to rest,” or the “you would not want to give this crud to your patients” cards already a few times. The welfare of her patients usually won out, the exhaustion of her body and mind less so.

He ever so carefully drew a fingernail across her cheek, hooking and repositioning a stray lock of hair slightly damp from sweat back behind her ear. Her auburn hair reminded him of late summer and sometimes the bright colors of early fall; its radiance rivaled the sun, and her eyes when opened the color of an intensely blue and cloudless sky, which he was now unfit to enjoy. She was his sunlight now, as she had been and continued to be for so many, giving them life; a bright star that his world revolved around. He did not mind. Such a bright star; so bright in the darkness of the world. Were the decision to trade one for the other an uncomplicated choice for him and him alone, the warmth of sun versus the fiery incandescence of her whole person given generously to him, he would take that trade a million times over and without a moment’s hesitation at that.

They had learned to lean on one another, ministering to the other’s pain or discomfort, offering sanctuary from the storms of life. She and Jim must have been like that, he thought, but their relationship, his and Barbara’s, was more balanced, that of capable and responsible adults. Jim was capable and responsible, no question, but parents were supposed to take care of and watch out for their children, not the other way around; this era of human history had at least THAT part right. Walt sighed and rolled his eyes, because there was no telling Jim anything once he had made up his mind to do something. Must have been a Lake family trait.

No, he corrected, no that was not the case at all. The tenacity, the grit, the determination to stick it out, that was all Barbara’s side. James Lake Sr., that idiot, that insipid cur, that— that— Walt closed his eyes and took a calming breath else he may become apoplectic and snarl involuntarily. His loss, the blind fool, Walter concluded, calming himself. His momentous, egregious mistake; a reeeeaaaal piece of work, that James Lake Sr., wherever the hell he was.

Anyway, Jim was away frequently and often for long stretches these days, off with Toby, Claire, and the crew, handling the hiccups of troll-kind and valiantly trying to right the wrongs of the world, mend its ills.

He, Walter, was her *rock* now, Barbara liked to quip. Har har, he’d say, very amusing, knowing full well it was an exceptionally fitting Waltolomew Strickler joke. He adored her for that. They could riff off one another, each dedicated to their deadpan delivery, sometimes even darkly or mock-acerbically, until one of them broke, unable to stifle a laugh. Other times they were droll or punny, playfully bouncing cringe-worthy wisecracks between them like a ping pong ball. Goodness knows they needed the laughs, especially him; so unfamiliar a sensation it was in his troll form that his chest even ached in the beginning.

Walt belonged to her and she to him. Refuge, confidant, and lover; those things toppled his extreme cynicism like a house of cards. He had worked so hard and so long to build it up too, darn her.

Now in the cocooning, quiet darkness of the bedroom, Walter could not resist tenderly touching the smooth softness of her cheek and letting his hand fall to the side of her neck. He thought he saw her wince briefly before she noisily inhaled and stirred though still asleep. She smiled faintly and murmured a “Walt” sweetly, and almost longingly, her voice thick from deep slumber and a pillow denting her cheek. The changeling’s ears perked up, his maudlin smile and eyes nearly breaking his face at hearing her.

The euphoric feeling was short-lived, unfortunately. The wince bothered him. Had he really seen it or just imagined it? Had she felt a twinge of pain from that old wound because of his touch? Had he also at that same moment felt the same on the left side of his own neck? Was there still something remaining, some lingering fragment of the binding spell? Of the injury? His face fell and he panicked just a bit at the memory of her pain, a suffering which he had caused.

He had tried to forgive himself — but it seemed he never could, he reflected ruefully, despite how things had turned out, despite his sincere efforts to let go, despite her insistence that he should, she had forgiven him long ago— he sighed and tried his best to remember, to drill home into the bedrock of his mind that he could not change the past. “Silly Walt!” he chastised himself finally, shaking his head as he peered down at Barbara’s sleeping form. Even if Barbara had winced she was, in all likelihood, reacting to the coolness of his hand on her neck’s sensitive skin. His own extremely minor twinge a psychosomatic response, or a random nerve ending deciding to speak up at some minuscule outrage – a change in air pressure, perhaps - as they sometimes did inexplicably.

There had been nightmares, though; he did not hide them from her but he was reluctant to do much about them, as he considered them the most minor of penitence for all of the wrongs he had committed. Gruesome dreams plagued with scenarios where they did not make it to Trollmarket in time, Barbara did not survive, Jim getting crushed by the grief, and Angor Rott laughing, his sinister laugh rising in intensity after each breath from his gravelly growl to a high-pitched, ear-splitting scream. Walter would then abruptly wake to an alarm clock blaring it’s demonic electronic guts out.

He sucked in air and squeezed his glowing eyes shut, trying to rid himself of the sour taste of bile rising to his mouth. There may come a time when my debt is paid, he told himself, but not yet.

“I must bear this as a true Lake would,” he muttered resolutely to himself.

He relaxed and quieted the noises in his head by again peering down at Barbara, dreaming peacefully. How long had he stood there for? Too long. The toast on the nightstand had been patiently cooling, but it would have to wait a while longer.

Carefully Walt lifted the covers on the bed and cautiously crept in next to Barbara, slippers and all to keep from scratching her. He tucked his right arm under the pillow and deftly snuck his left under hers, wrapping it around her midsection, the palm of his hand cupping the space on her side above the right breast. Slowly and simultaneously he brought his head and horns down with deference to the pillow, burying his nose in her hair and nuzzling the back of her neck. Even now just after battling the illness she still smelled faintly of sweet, night-blooming jasmine and the tang of a weather-worn, wooden walkway along a sandy beach, baking in the sun.

She stirred again, moving the hand that rested on her pillow and wrapping it around his, lifting it and pressing it closely to her sternum, fingers lightly entwined.

“I love you, Walter,” she yawned softly, before her breathing quieted back down and became regular again. He gently kissed the back of her ear and whispered into it softly, “I love you, too, Barbara. So very, very much.”

[tristala]

Tales of Arcadia: Wizards

I’m so sorry. 

I didn’t like Wizards very much. Don’t get me wrong, I love most of the characters and there were some great moments not to mention stellar animation but I felt so little for this story. 

I really wish it was longer or at least they made another season for it but I guess there were budget issues or other problems. It was too rushed for me. The pacing was a mess and it ruined the flow (to me at least). It was like 3Below but much worse because now it was all crammed into a 10 episode season. 

This is an unpopular opinion but I really didn’t like how the time travel plot was executed. Especially with the time constraints of this season. It interested me at first but as the episodes went on it became quite tiresome. For example, how a lot of things just got resolved easily like King Arthur and how quickly he agreed to teaming up with the “monsters” he has hated for years. Everyone else too actually. Boy, they got over that fast. Sure it’s a cartoon but we need more slow burn. I was already rolling my eyes at that point. 

Other things that irked me:

Deya just casually not being puzzled or shocked by a phone (Actually others were also pretty chill about seeing technology but she was the biggest offender to me). Also she talks too “modern” compared to other characters of her time.

Another thing about Deya is that she got over her issues immediately (Then again, almost everyone did). I like her character but I wish there was more conflict. 

Vendel is the only character who they changed in character design. He’s the only one who was de-aged.

Out of all the characters we got to see again Draal was the only one I did not want to see, mainly because of his age and Jim’s reaction. I know trolls have long life spans but come on, at least make him younger. Kanjigar would have been perfect instead.

Speaking of Jim’s reaction (as well as Claire’s but mostly Jim). He has always shone deep sorrow whenever he saw Vendel and Draal in Trollhunters after their deaths. Now, he barely even reacted.

Aaarrrgghh’s past and his switching of alliances was too fast. His and Blinky’s relationship was cute but again, it was too rushed.

I am also not a fan of the time travel plot that makes the characters the one who caused the problems in the first place because when you think about it, who caused those problems in the very first time loop before any interference happened?

I love Steve but man, I really wish Toby was there with them instead, they probably wanted to switch it up but I felt like they did my boy dirty. Especially since he and Jim have been best friends for more than half of their lives.

Once again, Claire learned quickly with magic and everything else. Her voice actress improved but still mediocre especially with her angry battle cries or any yells at that. 

One thing that really really peeved me is that Claire was the main focus on Jim’s journey. Like his mom or best friend didn’t even matter much. It’s always Claire, Claire, Claire, Claire.

How nonchalant was Blinky’s reaction to “losing” his brother. In Trollhunters, he looked or felt very sad whenever he mentioned or thought about him.

Morgana went off the rails too quickly and just began to cackle maniacally. Her redemption was clumsily done as well.

3Below almost had nothing to do with anything, no buildup whatsoever. I’m aware they’re gonna have a much bigger role in the movie but it would be much better if they were acknowledged more? It felt like Krel was just there like a forced insert???

Also is it just me but did Steve get dumber? He’s funny but the other shenanigans he went though were too dumb even for him. Some of his jokes also ruined moments for me like when Merlin died.

All in all most of my complaints exist because of the rushed pacing. If we had more time then I would’ve enjoyed this a whole lot more.

The things that I did love:

The combination of magic and technology.

Douxie and Archie’s wholesome relationship.

The Arcane Order. Enough said.

Claire and Douxie’s teacher and bestie relationship.

The creativity shone in casting spells and the making of the amulet.

The whole moment when Douxie was in limbo(?) and Merlin’s talk with him.

The god tier animation and dynamic cinematography.

And of course, Jim becoming human again.

I still enjoyed this season. I just really wish that there was more. I love the concept of Tales of Arcadia and I am looking forward to the movie.

I’m just so glad that Jim is back to normal and he can have a long well deserved rest.

[naylar-draws]

She Giggled: Meta-textual Shit About That Time Merlin Flirted With an Underage Girl

So anyways, y’all know that scene? The one people really hate where Merlin flirts with Claire? When I first saw that scene, it made me really uncomfortable, and I had a hard time pinning down why. So I was thinking about that instead of sleeping and now I’m writing this instead of sleeping.

Disclaimer: This isn’t Merlin hate discourse or some shit. I know there’s been discourse about the hate train and this whole rant/analysis has nothing to do with it. I do my best to stay out of fandom discourse and I ain’t gonna ruin my streak because of a crusty old animated dude. If you’re looking for hate, it ain’t here. If you’re looking for analysis on a particular scene in the context of Trollhunters being a fictional text created by real people, then welcome friend. I also know this is an art blog, but I have other hobbies too dammit.

Anywho here’s my humble opinion/analysis on the scene and why it failed: (roughly 1300 word rant/analysis under the cut)

Objectively, it’s gross: an old man flirting with an underaged girl, referring to her as a “lovely creature”, touching her in a non-platonic way etc. these are behaviors that, in real life, shouldn’t be acceptable. These are behaviors that I can say from personal experience are not pleasant to be on the receiving end of. These are also behaviors that women experience regularly and are often told that they have to put up with. Stay with me I’m going more in depth.

So why is the scene within the show unbearable? I’d say because of the in-text reaction to it. (Now I don’t have Netflix this month so I’m going from memory and can’t pull up screenshots bear with me) The response that draws the most attention is Claire’s giggle. She giggles in response. She appears shy at first, Merlin walks up to her and gently lifts her chin, and her response is positive.

Now, one could assume that she was laughing out of nervousness. I could relate to that. The times when I was underage and being hit on by significantly older men, my first reaction was to giggle or chuckle politely, do nothing to upset them, and then extricate myself from the situation however I could. However that’s irl and my being uncomfortable existed with or without any external observation. Trollhunters is a fictional text whose job is to communicate everything it wants to to the viewer. Anything it does not communicate does not tangentially exist. That means that if the creative team indeed intended to have Claire’s giggle be one of discomfort, it would be their job to communicate it to the viewer via cinematography, her body language, dialogue, or an extra scene where she discloses her feelings on Merlin’s actions, that she did feel uncomfortable. All it would take would be a nervous side glance and a brief close-up shot of her face or something of the like. However, the scene only displays her reaction as a surface level giggle, which portrays a positive reaction.

The other reactions in the scene are Jim, Toby, Aaarrrgghh, and Blinky’s. The issue here is that they don’t react. None of the characters bat their eyes at this. Now there’s that screenshot that I’ve seen going around where Blinky is looking at Merlin with indignation while the wizard is ugh caressing her chin. The point being made, partially in jest, is that Blinky’s angry about it just like the viewer. But that screenshot is actually slightly out of context. During that part, Blinky was reacting to something Merlin had said that was entirely unrelated to the inappropriate behavior. Someone could say that maybe the Trolls don’t know about such human customs and that’s why they didn’t bat an eye, and Toby and Jim are uncomfortable but don’t feel like they’re able to speak up or some manner of such. But, again, nothing in the text shows or says this. Again, all it would take would be a shot of a nervous glance. If you assume that one of the characters did indeed feel discomfort, then feel free to assume it, idc. But at that point it’s a headcanon. And headcanons, while they can make canon more fun, are by no means a way of dismissing canon of the roles it failed to fulfill, or absolving it of issues with its content.

Okay, but maybe someone would say that you don’t need characters to tell the viewer what’s right or wrong. Obviously, the scene was meant to show Merlin as the unsavory sort and somehow also comment on society’s intentional obliviousness to the lighter forms of sexual harassment. To which I would respond by saying that if that were the case, then the creative team would have to communicate that message if not by the characters, then by the cinematography. For instance, a change in shot composition, lighting, camera movement, or by the sound design or the background music. To which that scene has none of that. It is something that happens and then is immediately forgotten about, no significance whatsoever is added to the part where Merlin flirts with an underage girl in the context of the episode or overall show.

If the creative team intended to comment on Merlin’s specific actions of flirting with Claire, then they failed, and it did not make it into the finished product.

People might also say that it’s fine because Merlin, a fictional character created by a group of people, is from the middle ages, and during that time Claire would have been considered an adult. This is an argument I have multiple problems with that I will not get into, but first of all, the show does not communicate this. If they really wanted to address the social changes Merlin has to adapt to, the creative team would have had Toby and Jim onscreen explain to Merlin that 18 is now the age of adulthood, slavery is no longer okay, and equal rights are a thing. Also on a storytelling level, they would need a way to juxtapose Merlin’s way of thinking with another character’s or by cinematography to show that the characters who grew up in modern times don’t think underage flirting is okay like he does. Which I’ve already established did not happen.

So at the end of the day, what does Trollhunters have to say about Merlin, an old man, flirting with an underage girl and, urk, gently lifting her chin like a goddamned creep if in its text all it has is non-reactions, no commentary, and a single positive reaction? Well, perhaps not an endorsement of, but most certainly an unintentional normalization of such an action.

And you know what, who cares? Right? Its just a random kids show. Why did I write all this down? Well, partially because I’m a film buff who over-analyzes fictional texts on my free time. But also because this is just a minor example of how fiction reflects even the less than savory aspects of our society. The creative team of Trollhunters probably didn’t see an issue with Merlin flirting with an underage girl, or if they did, it wasn’t a large enough one that is was removed from the finished product. And also, because this is a very good example of the greater issues of the show. Specifically why Merlin breeds so much hate: because the text of the show does not do enough to comment on his moral ambiguity (he is framed as a morally gray good guy who “looks at the bigger picture”, but not all of his eh, less than savory actions are addressed and it leaves viewer feeling as though some of those behaviors are then seen as normal which can leave a really icky feeling [see the Philadelphia Story to get more of those nasty feelings]). Also the fact that while the show is not overtly sexist, it is most definitely filtered through a, eh hum, slightly uninformed male gaze. Only uninformed males (and maybe some females with internalized sexism) would assume that an underage girl would have a positive reaction to an old man calling her a “lovely creature” and gently lifting her chin and leaning over her so the old man is effectively looming over her and ugh why did it have to be like that. (If people are interested I’ll do an analysis on Trollhunters and gender ‘cause boy do I have things to say about gender and sexual dimorphism in this show)

PS to anyone who says that the creators are just waiting to address these issues in Wizards, no film maker worth their salt would intentionally do that, what the heck? who wants to deliberately make a children’s show and add an underage flirting scene and then just leave it unaddressed for years like jesus mcfeezus I would worry about more than their capabilities as a showrunner

[infographicisminetocommand]

unless there's enough content in season 3 for a sad, thoughtful, and fitting jlaire amv that uses an entire song and can make me tear up like mad then i will stand by my position that jlaire isn't a well-written relationship and could have been better

[fantomcomics]

What’s Out This Week? 7/24

HOW BOUT THEM SDCC ANNOUNCEMENTS 

Archie Vs Predator 2 #1 - Alex De Campi and Robert Hack

Betty, Veronica, and Predator-Archie have been left in the wreckage of their town, all their friends dead. Normally, they'd just go down Memory Lane and get home again where everything's okay, but that's no longer an option. It isn't until they find an undamaged car and drive it down a different road where they can finally return to Riverdale-but their hometown feels different. And it's made even more bizarre when they come face-to-face with a few people they'd never expect: themselves. Only different, newer versions. Little do they know, Predators on Mars are watching them-planning their next attack.

Valkyrie Jane Foster #1 - Jason Aaron, Al Ewing and CAFU

JANE FOSTER STARS IN AN ALL-NEW NEW ONGOING SERIES! A new hero emerges straight from the pages of THE WAR OF THE REALMS! For years, you knew her as Dr. Jane Foster, one of Thor's most steadfast companions. Then you knew her as Thor, the Goddess of Thunder, who took up the mantle when no other hero - god or human - was worthy. Now Jane takes on a new role as Valkyrie, guide and ferrywoman to the dead! But her days of punching are far from over.

Batman: Curse Of The White Knight #1 (of 8) - Sean Murphy  

In this explosive sequel to the critically acclaimed blockbuster BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT from writer/artist Sean Murphy, The Joker recruits Azrael to help him expose a shocking secret from the Wayne family's legacy-and to run Gotham City into the ground! As Batman rushes to protect the city and his loved ones from danger, the mystery of his ancestry unravels, dealing a devastating blow to the Dark Knight. Exciting new villains and unexpected allies will clash in this unforgettable chapter of the White Knight saga-and the truth about the blood they shed will shake Gotham to its core!

Sword Master #1 - Shuizhu, Greg Pak, Gunji, and Kris Anka

You saw him tear through Fire Goblins in WAR OF THE REALMS with his big, damn magic sword! Now learn the mysterious origins of LIN LIE, A.K.A. SWORD MASTER, Marvel's newest Chinese superhero, in the English language debut of the original series written by Shuizhu and drawn by Gunji! Haunted by dreams of demons, Lin Lie hunts for his missing archeologist father - and for the secret of the black sword he left behind. And in a brand new story written by Greg Pak (NEW AGENTS OF ATLAS), Sword Master teams up with SHANG-CHI! What happens when an undisciplined, untrained kid with a magic sword tangles with the one and only, undisputed MASTER OF KUNG FU? (Spoiler alert: they will indeed drive each other crazy, with huge ramifications for the Marvel Universe!)

Fearless #1 (of 4) - Seanan McGuire, Claire Roe, Carmen Nunez Carnero & Various 

THE FIERCEST LADIES OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE - ON AND OFF THE PAGE! Straight off her silver-screen debut, Captain Marvel takes the world by storm! And speaking of the weather, Storm of the X-Men faces a problem only a goddess could solve. Add the Invisible Woman, and you've got an unstoppable trio in a story by Hugo-nominated novelist and SPIDER-GWEN: GHOST-SPIDER writer Seanan McGuire! Then, Leah Williams takes us back to the golden days of romance with Millie the Model! PLUS: Get your dose of herstory with profiles on classic and contemporary creators!

Star Pig #1 (of 4) - Delilah S Dawson and Francesco Gaston

Like many late-21st-century teens, geeky 16-year-old Vess gets packed off to spend her summer at Space Camp-which is literally in space. Tragically, a shuttle accident sends her and the rest of the passengers careening toward a cold, frosty death among the stars. But when a gigantic, space-faring water bear miraculously rescues Vess and her beloved retro Discman, it's the beginning of an extraordinary friendship and an incredible journey home, all set to the nostalgic tunes of Vess's 1990s-heavy playlist.   

History Of The Marvel Universe #1 - Mark Waid and Javier Rodriguez

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Marvel Universe - in one lavishly illustrated series! From the Big Bang to the twilight of existence, HISTORY OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE chronicles completely, for the first time, everything that was, is or will be! Lushly illustrated text tells the complete story of the Marvel Universe, revealing previously unknown secrets and serving as the ultimate reference book for Marvel fans! Witness the greatest tale ever told - and be prepared for some shocking revelations!

Marvels Epilogue #1 - Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross

An all-new standalone epilogue to the classic MARVELS graphic novel written by Kurt Busiek and fully-painted by Alex Ross! A "Marvels" look at the "all-new, all-different" X-Men of the 1970s. In this 16-page story, Alex and Kurt bring Marvel's world to brilliant, realistic life one last time, as the now-retired Phil Sheldon and his daughters, in Manhattan to see the Christmas lights, find themselves in the middle of a clash between the outsider heroes and the deadly Sentinels, giving them a close-up perspective on the mutant experience. Also featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this special story, and other bonus features.

House Of X #1 (of 6) - Jonathan Hickman and Pepe Larraz

FACE THE FUTURE! Superstar writer Jonathan Hickman (SECRET WARS, AVENGERS, FANTASTIC FOUR) takes the reins of the X-Men universe! Since the release of Uncanny X-Men #1, there have been four seminal moments in the history of the X-Men. Giant-Sized X-Men. X-Men. Age of Apocalypse. New X-Men. Four iconic series that introduced a new era for Marvel's mutants and revolutionized the X-Men. In House of X, Charles Xavier reveals his master plan for mutantkind...one that will bring mutants out of the shadow of mankind and into the light once more.

It’s a hefty week, so whatcha hauling home, Fantomites?

[poop4u]

http://bit.ly/2GS9Twu

Essay: Why Are There So Many Books About Dogs? http://bit.ly/2UksOrS

“What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass?” the poet Mary Oliver asks in her book “Dog Songs.” “What would this world be like without dogs?”

A world without dogs is impossible to imagine. Our relationship with them predates the written word, agriculture and civilization. They were our hunting buddies, bed warmers and, sometimes, if not much else was around, our dinner. As dogs crept into our homes, surfing kitchen counters and sleeping on the sofa, our focus was practical: managing the animal with which 60 million American households share space. (That’s about 13 million more households than the number cohabitating with the next most popular pet — cats.) Until surprisingly recently, most dog books were assiduously pragmatic: how to choose them, train them and care for them.

But the new millennium is different. “Marley & Me,” the 2005 mega-best seller by John Grogan, marked a subtle but important shift in how we think about dogs. It begins as a hilarious account of dog ownership in the 1990s. How do you get a large, muscled carnivore to sit nicely at a restaurant, remain tranquil during thunderstorms and not poop on the beach? But by the end of the book, Grogan is almost entirely concerned with his Labrador Marley’s interior life — the way he thinks, feels and apprehends the world. “I dropped my forehead against his and sat there for a long time, as if I could telegraph a message through our two skulls, from my brain to his.”

This somersault into Marley’s mental landscape involves what researchers call “theory of mind”: your thoughts, feelings and beliefs about the thoughts, feelings and beliefs of others. Theory of mind is at the root of some of our most profound experiences. Take love, for instance. It’s just an abstraction unless you are able to wonder, Does she love me too? What did he mean when he looked at me that way? Will she miss me when I’m gone?

Since 2000, books exploring dog minds have proliferated at an astonishing rate. Currently more than 70,000 dog books are listed on Amazon, including dozens of novels, many of them best-selling tear-jerkers, such as “The Art of Racing in the Rain” (2008), by Garth Stein, narrated by Enzo, an unfailingly wise and loyal Lab mix, and “A Dog’s Purpose” (2010), by W. Bruce Cameron, a tale also told by a dog — one that undergoes repeated incarnations as it arrives in a human’s life and dispenses important lessons.

The dog mind is also an increasingly prominent feature of literary fiction, from “The Door,” by the Hungarian writer Magda Szabo (published in English to acclaim in 2015), featuring, among other characters, a dog that is, as Claire Messud put it in her review for the Book Review, “as vivid and fully realized a character as any human, a truly great literary dog”; to “The Friend” (2018), by Sigrid Nunez, in which a woman develops a quasi-romantic relationship with a dead friend’s Great Dane. (Nunez’s book won last year’s National Book Award for fiction.) Now there’s even a thoughtful political book in the form of a human-canine mind-meld: “Don’t Label Me,” by Irshad Manji, a writer and activist, which unfolds as a conversation between the author and her dog, Lily, about divisive social issues like identity, diversity and religious politics. (“To do diversity honestly, we can’t be labeling all of diversity’s critics as bigots,” Manji tells her dog. “You disagree, Lil? You’re entitled to your opinion but you haven’t let me explain mine.”)

The spate of dog mind-focused books raises the question: After at least 14,000 years of living with dogs, why are we only now getting around to considering what goes on inside their heads? There are many possible explanations, but one is that in the last two decades science has discovered more about dog cognition than in the previous two centuries combined. From 1900 to 1999, most cognitive researchers dismissed dogs as uninteresting because they believed domestication had led to a hopeless dependence on humans. In 1931, the naturalist Frances Pitt scoffed that dogs lacked intelligence because “the rigorous tests imposed by nature, including that of ability to get a living, have been eliminated by human protection.” In 1971, the veterinarian Michael Fox went so far as to call dogs “Canis over-familiaris,” arguing that domestication had resulted in “psychosomatic symptoms such as depression and anorexia nervosa, asthma, diarrhea, convulsions or paralysis of the hind limbs.”

In the 1950s, cognitive experiments began to show the sophistication of animal intelligence. By the 1980s, a study found that dolphins could mimic computer sounds, then use these new sounds to label real-world objects. Pigeons could categorize objects from two-dimensional photographs.

And, of course, our relatives the great apes were found to be so mentally dexterous that their skills bordered on humans’. But when it came to dogs, the loudest message was overwhelmingly static. There is almost nothing about dogs in the cognitive literature from the 1950s all the way to 2000.

Then, suddenly, there was an explosion in the field of dog cognition, spanning the fields of psychology, anthropology and neuroscience. The psychologist Alexandra Horowitz’s “Inside of a Dog” (2009) was a landmark, providing crucial insights into how a dog experiences the world. Imagine being four feet closer to the ground, relying on smell at least as much as sight and picking up on every conscious or unconscious gesture of the person you love most. Horowitz manages to answer burning questions without being fanciful; from the point of view of a dog, she writes, “a rose is undistinguished from the rest of the plant matter surrounding it — unless it has been urinated upon by another dog.”

Horowitz’s book was followed by Gregory Berns’s “How Dogs Love Us” (2013), about his remarkable experiments involving his terrier mix, in which he trained her and other dogs to lie perfectly still in an MRI machine. Several months, and many sausages, later, Berns had the world’s first brain scans of conscious dogs. He discovered that the reward centers in their brains responded to praise just as much as to food — and, more surprisingly, some dogs preferred praise. Berns also found that dogs have a dedicated area in their brains for recognizing human faces, a skill cats, for example, are generally less good at.

John Pilley, a retired psychologist, turned the field of developmental psychology upside down with his book “Chaser” (2013), about his Border collie, who not only knew 1,000 words but learned them using a technique called fast mapping, something thought possible only by children. And the ethologist Frans de Waal, in his brand-new “Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves,” argues that dogs have a well-developed sense of fairness and other moral values. When pairs of dogs at the Clever Dog Lab in Vienna were asked to lift a paw to a human experimenter without receiving a reward, they readily complied. But if one of the pair was rewarded with a piece of bread, the other dog lost interest in the game and refused to play. De Waal likens such behavior to that of young children, “when one of them gets a smaller pizza slice than his sibling (yelling ‘That’s not fair!’).”

De Waal elaborated on the idea in a recent opinion piece for The Times, recounting how Bully, a dog belonging to the legendary animal behaviorist Konrad Lorenz, once bit Lorenz’s hand as Lorenz tried to break up a dogfight. “Even though Dr. Lorenz petted him right away,” de Waal wrote, “Bully suffered a complete nervous breakdown. For days, he was virtually paralyzed and ignored his food. … He had violated a natural taboo, which among ancestral canines could have had the worst imaginable consequences, such as expulsion from the pack.”

The shift in how we see our dogs is not unprecedented. When it comes to the beings with whom we cohabitate, we have a history of changing our attitudes. The way we once regarded dogs — not the cleanest creatures but useful to have around — is the way we once regarded children. In early-18th-century Europe, children were born to work. Parents had large numbers of them not just because birth control was generally unavailable but because parents needed help, and understood that not all of their offspring were likely to survive infancy. Those that did were sent off to coal mines, factories and up chimneys — or to live with relatives in need of a servant.

By the 19th century, more children survived to adulthood, and more were spared the work force. Parents began to regard their children not as potential labor but as emblems of purity and innocence to be protected and loved. As the 19th century was for human children, the 21st century is for the dog. Most dogs are no longer required to work long hours. Most are not required to do anything at all, except love us. And this they do very well.

‘Let Me Tell You About Fluffy’

Oct. 5, 2012

via NYT > Home Page https://poop4u/blog April 30, 2019 at 05:06AM DMT.NEWS, @VANESSA WOODS AND BRIAN HARE, @pooop4u April 30, 2019 at 06:09AM

[maihooty]

Trollhunters Theory:

That there is a connection between Angor Rot and Claire.

Okay, so first I want to start off by saying how amazing this show is, and if you haven’t watched it yet than you should, like right now!

Anyways to the theory, I believe there is a connection between Angor Rot and Claire. Don’t ask me how or exactly why, because I really don’t know yet. This basically me speculating after watching the show at least 3 times now, and seeing numerous examples of this link between them.

The first is in episode 16, Roaming fees may apply, where Jim, Toby and Claire are about to enter Trollmarket to find the first Triumbric Stone, she senses Angor Rot spying on them from across the canal. 

Another example is, Claire can wield the Shadow Staff. 

And what I think is the most critical piece of evidence, is that out of all the times Claire faces off against Angor Rot, she is the only one to have bested him each time. No seriously, think about it. Episode 18, the Shattered King, she takes his staff. In episode 25, A Night to Remember, she not only best him in getting the incantation but also kicks him in the grunk-nuts (and might I just add that I love that all three of them got to kick a troll in the grunk-nuks. I mean it was just absolutely perfect ^-^)  Okay now for the last, Episode 26, Something Rotten this way Comes, it was because of Claire creating a portal which Toby used to get into the Hero’s Forge that allowed Jim and him to defeat Angor Rot.

And that is my theory, now what this connection might be or why, I don’t know. It might not be  a link between Claire and Angor Rot, but one between her and the Pale Lady. The entity that  tricked and used him like a dog on a leash. After all the name Claire means light or clear, and the last name Nunez, while derived from different words, may mean nonnus. Nonnus means squire or chamberlain both are linked to nobility. The 2 names, coincidentally, coincide with each other, even though The Pale Lady has more than one name.

But like I said, I’m not sure, this is just a theory and my opinion. Hope you liked it!

[theoldandnewfirm]

I have Had Opinions about Claire but never sat down to try and articulate them. You've saved me the trouble, because all the points you made are what soured me to her character.

The only thing that gave me pause reading through was the idea of the issues with her character stemming from wanting to check the Strong Female Character box with her. To me Claire's issues feel like they stem from the problem of bringing her onto the team so late.

Specifically, to justify her being in the field with Jim and Toby she one, needed combat capabilities and two, (as you pointed out) needed to overcome the same trust and culture barriers that they did.

But the show didn't have time to build her and her relationships with the trolls up in an authentic way. The solution? Mary Sue treatment. She's instantly amazing at everything she does, everyone loves her, and she can solve any problem, no matter how impossible it seems. Sigh.

What really frustrates me about that is I do think Claire could have been a really interesting character. Like you said, there were hints in that direction when her character was introduced but they weren't explored and, for me at least, she never grew beyond being The Love Interest.

Re: your tags--

It's funny; You know who I feel like was the actually strong female character in the show? Well besides Nomura because I personally adore her but The strongest female character in Trollhunters is Barbara Her character actually blends well and it's easy to grasp; She's a naturally kind and nurturing person with a tendency to help others So she's a doctor; and she's hard-working and does her best as a single mom But that being said she's still very strong-willed and doesn't just step back; she's a rule enforcer and when Jim's sneaking out She lays down the law And it's even pretty clear that she wanted nothing to do with Strickler after she realized he was only using her (at first) to get to Jim If you ask me I think Barbara was the true female empowerment of Trollhunters. Not Claire. Not Aja. Barbara

100% agree. The downside to kids shows is that the adults are almost always sidelined, even when their perspective would add depth and nuance to the story. I've said it before in other posts, but I think a side plot of Barbara doing her own investigation into what's going on with Jim, that in turn led to her becoming an ally earlier on, could have set her up to do some interesting/valuable things even if she wasn't a major player on Team Trollhunters.

All right, it seems like I’ve got a lot of understanding and rational people who responded to my earlier inquiry about making a Claire criticism post. So I’m gonna go ahead and do it, since this is something that’s sat in my mind every time a new installment of the ToA series came out.

SO BIG DISCLAIMER BECAUSE I WANT EVERYONE TO READ THIS BEFORE ANYONE GETS MAD AT ME:

THIS IS ALL MY SUBJECTIVE OPINION. I MIGHT BE PHRASING THIS POST LIKE IT’S AN ABSOLUTE, BUT IT’S NOT, IT’S ALL ISSUES I PERSONALLY FEEL WITH CLAIRE’S CHARACTER. SO IF YOU LIKE CLAIRE, THIS IS NOT A PERSONAL ATTACK OR ME TELLING YOU YOU’RE WRONG ABOUT SOMETHING/CAN’T LIKE CLAIRE.

Now that I think I’ve got that out of the way, I wanna jump into the actual post of why I’ve never really liked Claire’s character.

Keep reading

[readingnerd22]

I kind of want to agree

unless there’s enough content in season 3 for a sad, thoughtful, and fitting jlaire amv that uses an entire song and can make me tear up like mad then i will stand by my position that jlaire isn’t a well-written relationship and could have been better