#My mom has a name that is a simple mashup of two names.

[kelpiemomma]

"if people can pronounce x and y they can pronounce x"

People can't even pronounce my name and it's one (1) letter off the regular spelling

[scarlet--wiccan]

(1/?) The MCU is going on a specific direction and might touch Wanda's history of mental illness. Maybe talk about that when you have the time? Wanda was going on a nice direction before all that happened.

Whew! Sorry it’s taken me so long to answer this— I have several super-long message chains like this one in my inbox and they’re hard to parse through and harder still to write a real answer for. I’m gonna try through a couple of these today.

Well, I think you hit all the important points here-- the optics of a mixed-raced family of first- and second- gen Holocaust survivors committing mass acts of terrorism, becoming rulers of a fascist, supremacist regime, and then, finally, committing pseudo-genocide, are, you know, not great. These are complicated characters whose representation can easily swing in either really positive or really, really negative directions, but this goes beyond the pale for me, especially given the proximity to 9/11.

The portrayal of Wanda's mental illness during this time, while not wholly unsympathetic, is wildly inaccurate and generally played as a horror motif. I'm not an expert on schizophrenia, but I think we can all agree that it's high time we moved past exploiting sick and disabled people's experiences for cheap scares. It's especially frustrating because Wanda, as a character, does have ground for poignant stories about mental illness-- she's had numerous traumatic experiences, starting with generational trauma and a lifetime of violent discrimination, and ending, at that point, with the deaths of her young children and the abrupt dissolution of her marriage. Her mental health should be addressed, but not in a way that demonizes illness or characterizes sick people as villains. One thing I appreciate about Robinson's Scarlet Witch is that it represents her mental illness in a very human, matter of fact manner and gives her the power to take control of her own wellness. She has realistic symptoms and pursues realistic treatments, instead of, you know, making hallucination constructs and getting mind-probed by Charles fucking Xavier.

Wanda is simultaneously infantilized and vilified in these stories-- she's denied agency at every turn, and yet, Wolverine and the other "heroes" of this saga view her with unbridled contempt, and most of them are immediately ready to murder her in the name of justice, even before the "no more mutants" spell was cast. You wondered how Bendis was able to inspire such a long lasting hatred of Wanda, and I think the simple answer is that almost every character in House of M hates Wanda. The characters you root for, the characters whose perspectives dictate the tone of the story, direct palpable fury towards her, and even those who aren't out for her blood don't extend any actual empathy towards her-- most are ambivalent to her wellbeing, while Xavier and Strange are incredibly paternalistic.

The final spell, "no more mutants", has baffled me for years. You're spot-on in saying that Wanda here represents a self-hating minority, but it's really hard for me to understand how she could have reached that point. It's not consistent with her previous characterization, nor is it thematically connected to the factors which led to her breakdown. Bendis places the onus of her condition on Erik, alleging that he abandoned and abused his children in his fanatic commitment to the mutant cause, which, besides being a willful misinterpretation of canon, has nothing to do with Wanda's current circumstance-- she's like this because Agatha Harkness altered her memories, because the Avengers continuously gaslit her, and becaue Mephisto killed her kids in the first place. It has nothing to do with Magneto, and Wanda's breakdown has nothing to do with mutant politics. She and Pietro were raised in a loving family until their adoptive parents were killed by racists. Erik didn't knowingly abandon them, and while he did mistreat them during the Brotherhood days, it wasn't parental abuse because he wasn't a father figure to them-- neither party had any idea they were related. Bendis is evoking specific forms of trauma that never actually happened, while ignoring the ones that did, and the effects of the spell itself are vague and seemingly random.

~~~~~

Young Avengers does call back to Wanda's circumstances in Disassembled and HoM, but it doesn't execute the concept of reality-warping in the same way. The driving force in YA is the spell which Billy casts, and Loki tampers with, in the first issue. It is a spell which distorts reality, but it has specific parameters, and neither party is characterized as "crazy" the way Wanda was. The spell was intended to bend space and time so that Billy could pull Teddy's mom from the past, before she was killed, into the present-- it's not dissimilar from how Wanda "retroactively reincarnated" her kids. Due to Loki's interference, however, the spell was hijacked by an interdimensional parasite called Mother. The Mother virus appears primarily as a construct of Teddy's mom, but as her influence over the Earth-616 dimension grows, she's able to create constructs of other dead parents, and even mind-control living adults. All of the ways in which reality is being warped hinge on the specific conditions under which Mother was summoned, and while it is Billy's magic that's fueling these constructs and distortions, they aren't symptoms of psychosis-- Billy doesn't lose control of his magic because he's losing his mind, he loses control because he's too young and inexperienced to protect himself from predatory forces. Those forces do take advantage of his depression and anxiety, but his condition is never the cause.

Loki's magic is wrapped up in the spell, too, but rather than conjuring dead parents, it emerges as a construct of their former best friend, Leah. Loki, in Young Avengers, is a mashup of two personae-- the reincarnated child Loki, and Ikol, a phantom of their past life who is carrying out the previous Loki's evil will even though their heart isn't in it. Ikol has mostly overshadowed Loki, who has been reduced to a ghost that torments Ikol by acting as a constant reminder of their guilt. Ikol is haunted by their past, but it's important that this haunting is a nuanced metaphor and not literal hallucination, as Wanda's condition was in HoM. Because Loki's power is part of the spell, Kid Loki's ghost is able to hijack the reality distortions to summon the construct of Leah, who, in turn, is able to summon the Young Avengers' other exes, the same way that Mother, in the form of Teddy's dead mom, can summon other dead parents.

Loki does raise the question of whether or not Billy might be subconsciously influencing Teddy with his powers, but this is clearly illustrated as a manipulation tactic and disproven several times. Loki's original goal in summoning Mother was to draw out Billy's full magical potential so that they could steal his power for themselves. Driving a wedge between Billy and Teddy, and causing Billy to question his own sanity, were devices to make Billy more susceptible to having his power stolen, and they worked-- Billy is not able to divest his magic from the spell and banish Mother from Earth-616 until he overcomes his self-doubt and start exercising mindfulness. Loki, in turn, is not able to divest their power from the spell and banish Leah and the other exes until they own up to their guilt and admit everything they've done. Both characters are experiencing symptoms of exacerbated mental illness-- Billy's depression and suicidal ideation, Loki's disassociation-- but their mental illness is not the source of their magic, but a challenge which makes it harder for them to live as their fully realized selves... just as it would be for any normal person.

I know that was a long-winded explanation, but I wanted to illustrate what sets Gillen's take on "reality warping" apart from Bendis's. It's based on clearly though-out ideas of how magic works and what defines "reality" in a world populated by parallel universes and living myth-forms. Gillen affords Loki and Billy a degree of sympathy without denying them agency, and Loki is held accountable for their decisions without being painted as a total monster. Bendis, meanwhile, characterizes Wanda's magic as delusion made real, and completely vilifies her for her illness in spite of the fact that she's given no control over her actions.

[duchessmegs]

What other quotes from the reception did you love? They released a lot that day idk which ones are true.

Ooo there’s a few that I really loved but these are all that I can think of right now.

From Meg’s friend Janina Gavankar:

“In the end, this was a wedding, an actual wedding, between two people, who are real people that fell in love. And people who know them know that this is a private moment that was not allowed to be private.”

“We all danced until the wee hours. We partied and celebrated and ate sliders at 2 in the morning, it was such a beautiful day and a carefree night, and it was a very powerful day in history. And I think everybody felt it across the world.”

Each table was named for a food that is said differently in America and the U.K. “Potato, potato, tomato, tomato, oregano, oregano. It was so sweet. There were so many nods to the beautiful mashup of two cultures.”

“The speech that Harry gave was so funny, self-deprecating, filled with love, and that guy just has her back. I left feeling so solid for them.”

“I walked away feeling so confident that these two will put their combined power into the world for good. They did it apart. They’ve done it apart their entire lives. Imagine what they can do together.”

Clare Waight Keller:

“He (Harry) came straight up to me and he said, “oh my God, thank you, she looks absolutely stunning.”

Suhani Jalota (founder of Myna Mahila Foundation & worked with Meg):

“Prince Charles was joking a little about Harry not following a traditional path. I think he was basically saying [that Prince Harry] has now become a really noble gentleman and somebody that the world honors and looks up to. He doesn’t listen to everything he says, but now he listens to everything Meghan says. That he’s changed his diet, because Meghan’s really healthy.”

“In his speech, Harry was thanking everybody and thanking his wife for agreeing to this proposal, and he thanked Meghan’s mom for agreeing to marry off her daughter to him. He was very respectful toward her mom.”

“When Prince Harry was referring to Meghan for the first time as his wife, that’s when everybody was teasing him. He repeated that sentence like four times, and every time, people were cheering.”

“I got to speak to Meghan during the reception, when she and Prince Harry were meeting everybody one by one. Even after she has become the Duchess of Sussex, she hasn’t changed. She’s still the same old Meghan I met in New York and after that in India. I gave her a hug, and I congratulated her and thanked her for this opportunity, and she thanked me for coming. We talked about her future work with Myna, and I invited her back to Mumbai again.“

“Meghan looked very simple and elegant and beautiful. She really maintains that in her personality as well. She looked gorgeous, and Harry mentioned that many times: ‘I’m standing next to this gorgeous woman;’ ‘I’m so lucky to call this beautiful woman my wife now.’ I think everybody thought she looked beautiful.”

I also love the little tidbits we got about how their first dance was to Whitney etc.

[galadrieljones]

82 & 85 for the trope mashup for HZD please! :)

82. Second Love/85. Innocent Physical Contact. A little piece for Aloy and Nil–this is early on. Well before anything has developed between them.

Contents Under Pressure

They were cold and so they went toLone Light for a single evening. There was a stupid tavern there with a roomoverhead, and it was owned by this pretty Carja girl that Nil seemed toknow—but she was younger, like younger than Aloy and she owned that placebecause it had been left to her by her father who had died in Meridian duringJiran’s war.

Nil regarded her quietly and asked how her mother was doing,whether her lungs had cleared.

“She does okay,” said the girl. Thetavern was humble and everything was simple. There were pretty wreathes ofmetal and blue leaves and berries on the walls beside the oil lamps. There were not many customers. Nil gaveher a little velvet bag of shards, and the girl peaked inside but seemed totrust he was good for it. “It comes and goes. I’m not sure.” She shrugged, alittle hopeless. “You know.”

Nil smiled. “This is my friendAloy,” he said.

Aloy blushed. The girl became verynervous. “You’re the Nora?”

“That’s me,” said Aloy.

“She doesn’t bite,” said Nil. “Imean, not unless provoked.”

Aloy elbowed him in the ribs. Hesort of doubled over, half-laughing, half-pained. She was a strong fuckingredhead. “See?”

The Carja girl laughed. She saidher name was Mila. “The room upstairs is clean and there is a good breeze,” shesaid. “Let me know if there’s anything you want.”

“Thank you, Mila,” said Aloy. Shesmiled and Mila smiled. She said one more soft thing to Nil as Aloy wentupstairs and Aloy heard Nil say behind him, “My best to Sara.”

Upstairs, there were two beds withpretty blue fabrics for covers, and it was conventional for them. Aloy unpackedsome of her things and took her hair out of her braids, and it was like adesperate relief for her scalp. She and Nil did not really talk about their oldlives—just little things. Like he knew that she had been an outcast. She knewhe had been to Sunstone Rock, that he was basically as good as an outcast aswell.

“Hey,” she said. He was lying onhis back already, on one of the beds. It was like he had to do so little to put himself at ease in any place. He justtook off his jacket, and there he was.

Aloy, meahwile, had to do fifty thingsto prepare herself for sleep. At least forty of them involved her psychotichair.

“Yeah?” said Nil.

“You know that girl,” said Aloy.“How?”

“I once dated her older sister,”said Nil, no hesitation.  “When we wereyoung—teenagers.”

Aloy sat down on her bed with thepretty blue covers. She placed her hand on the fabric. She looked out thewindow. The moon was big and open in the sky. “That’s Sara?”

“Yes. She’s married now. They livein Meridian.”

Aloy nodded. Nil had not moved oropened his eyes the entire time he spoke. He had one hand under his head. Heseemed entirely calm. “Their mom is sick?”

“Yes,” said Nil. “She always hasbeen.”

He didn’t say anything else on thetopic. He did not seem disturbed or even moved by what he had just told her. Heseemed to recall some things from his childhood well enough, as if they soothedhim, or put him in a simple kind of trance where the world was not so evil andcomplicated. Where there had not been a war, or a Mad Sun-King. Other things, however, he did not speak of.

One might think this was all becauseNil was at peace with the harsher terms of his reality. Aloy had a feeling, though, that it was just the many compartments of his heart, opening and closing in rapidsuccession of one another. Sometimes he felt things, sometimes he put thefeelings away and lie motionless saying nothing at all, everything bottled upinside as contents under pressure.

“Aloy,” said Nil then. He hadopened his eyes. His voice–it had startled her out of a trance.

“What’s wrong?” she said. She had beenclenching her teeth.

“Nothing,” he said. He was smiling, like it was no big thing. “Iwas just going to ask what you’re thinking.”

[man-i-dont-know]

BNHA Chpater 177 & 178: Thoughts and Spoilers

Alright, I really haven’t been meaning to do these double chapter reviews, but I’ve been busy. Unfortunately I will remain busy for the next 3-4 weeks. I will try to get out posts of manageable size or possibly just post more diverse content but I’ll figure that out later. For now, let’s get right into these chapters.

Old man with awesome, blocky character design saw the tail end of the accident and is surprisingly chill with it. La Brava tries to throw him off by saying they are just filming something (with a land of quirks, minor explosions could legitimately just be written off as something normal). Despite this, La Brava knows the ruse won’t last long and wants Gentle to retreat. Deku and Gentle are in a “stand” off in the construction site, and they strike up a conversation. Gentle still wants to continue with the operation and Deku wants to know what he plans to do. La Brava eventually gets there and believes that Gentle is “begging for his life.” As the conversation geos on, Gentle just digs himself a bigger hole while trying to barter his way out of the situation. I say that like he is putting in genuine effort but really he’s saying “nah we won’t ruin the festival, we’ll get in without setting off the alarms and everyone wins.” When they realize neither side will budge, the fight really begins.

Gentle makes the whole construction site elastic, and is bouncing around so erratically that Deku can’t predict how Gentle will move. Gentle gets a pot shot or two off on Deku and loosens a girder that may fall on the old guy who is still around watching the “movie.” Deku intervenes and catches the falling girder (damn, like even with One for All Full Cowl, Deku is really getting jacked). Deku is appalled by this action but Gentle says he really wasn’t planning on hitting the old man, but he knew that the hero wouldn’t be able to take that chance. Even though Deku is jacked, it takes a lot of effort to hold the girder, and Gentle takes this opportunity to put some distance between them and head towards UA. The scene then cuts to what is happening at UA.

The band is nervous (Bakugou hasn’t put on the Class 1-A band shirt yet), the dancers are in their costumes, and Aoyama is in his hero suit (probably easier to handle his quirk that way). Several of them are taking not of the fact that Deku hasn’t come back yet. 15 minutes until the start of the festival.

Gentle has launched himself and La Brava towards the school, and Deku pulls off a rad move. Lifts the girder above his head with one arm, and with the free arm lets off a finger flick shock wave after the two airborne criminals. They manage to dodge, but they are both worried by his persistence and La Brava feels like she may have to use her quirk. Dun dun daaaaaa! Cliff hanger ending. The only good thing about these double chapter posts is I can step right over some cliff hangers.

We start with more festival happenings. Class 1-B is there meeting Kendo who is not participating in their mega-movie-mashup play because she is in the beauty pageant. Monoma is making fun of her a bit but there might be a compliment hidden in there somewhere? Kendo and Nejire show some great sportsmanship and hope the best for each other. Then that other girl that Nejire mentioned some chapters ago who won last year shows up, her name is excessively long so I’ll call her Eyelashes. Eyelashes is confident. We see Mirio, Aizawa, and everyone’s favorite, Eri (well at least mine, and I will fight you on that), are in a taxi headed to UA, and Eri is excited to see Deku. Honestly, Eri just needs to be adopted right now. Hatsume is ready for her robotics exhibit. All Might and Midnight are talking about how Deku got a permission slip to go off campus to buy some last minute supplies.

Deku gets out from under the girder successfully and continues his pursuit after he left sufficient evidence for the next person that something weird has happened here (put some rods on one of Gentle’s midair trampolines). Gentle tells La Brava not to use her quirk, not yet, it is for the escape. Deku switches into ultra high alert mode and Gentle is shocked that Deku closed so much space so quickly. Gentle puts up a barrier between them, and here is what I mean by ultra high alert mode: Deku remembered the placement of the trampolines as Gentle made a safe landing, and uses them to propel himself forward so quickly that Deku is behind the two of them hardly before either can react. Unfortunately, Gentle does react and puts up another barrier. Fortunate Deku is so freaking smart that he bounces the shock wave off the  first barrier in an incredible bank shot that gets around their defenses and knocks Gentle to the ground. Deku switches around and pounces on the two of them and manages to restrain them with his Full Cowl strength (like I know he’s jacked with a powerful quirk, but Deku, a freshman in high school, is restraining a full grown man with one hand and maybe a leg. Gym goals). As this happens, we see some La Brava back story.

She was a recluse. She at least finished middle school, maybe high school(?), but was crushed by the insensitive rudeness of someone she genuinely liked. It went beyond insensitive and calling her a stalker, but because of the framing of the back story, we aren’t totally sure if that is a valid comment or not, I’ll let y’all decide based on your own opinions of Brava. While she was a recluse, she stumbled upon a video made by Gentle, and she was immediately attached to him. We’ve already seen how she approached him, out of the blue saying that she was a huge fan, but we also see a bit of slice of life. Making tea, working a camera, teaching Gentle how to use the internet, running from cops, you know, normal things. We even see that Gentle changed his style to match La Brava’s, but this I mean he just straight up sharpied his eyes to match La Brava’s eyeliner (at least I believe it was a sharpie, I don’t think eyeliner comes in marker shape but I don’t know). In the present, Deku says he is going to turn them in right this instant, and La Brava takes this opportunity to tell Gentle that she loves him. And her quirk activates.

Love. As simple and metaphorical (and maybe a bit cheesy) as it is, La Brava’s power allows her to infuse power into a person she loves. Gentle has been granted a boost of strength equivalent to how much La Brava loves him, and with this strength, Gentle frees himself and Brava from beneath Deku and goes onto the offensive. Gentle is giving off smoke that we had seen before when he was first introduced, and I’ll be honest, I do love it when a character has so much strength that they radiate it in some way, smoke, aura, electricity, etc. Gentle has heart smoke. Gentle flipped Deku like a pancake and goes to knock him out with a chop to the neck, saying “love always wins.” Deku is curled on the ground, but he blocked the chop with his arm, Deku ain’t having none of that love power-up BS, he isn’t gonna let a trope defeat him. Deku will not only twist fate, but he will destroy tropes as they come at him. Deku has a shock wave attack ready and is very much still in the fight.

So here are my thoughts. I am worried about this fight. I have no doubt that Deku can win, but with the power up, I’d say that Gentle has quite a bit of physical strength over Deku right now. Sure Deku isn’t using all his strength, but he limits himself to prevent physical injury. at this point, I don’t think Deku is getting out of this without a broken something, and a broken anything is gonna keep him from participating in the festival. I am also concerned about how Deku is reacting to his shock wave attacks. After each one he noticeably lets out a grunt or there is some sound effect about throbbing pain. I think the gloves might be keeping his hands functioning, but he is putting too much strength into it and is hurting himself already. But let’s say Deku gets back up, because that old man may have called for help. Deku getting back up is the best case scenario, it means that he may not have to injure himself drastically to win, but the risk is that his back up is heroes from UA, which means that even though nothing occurred on campus, they may still cancel the festival. Best-best case scenario is Deku gets back up, Gentle is suppressed, and the heroes take advantage of the fact that nothing happened on campus and they let Deku run on over to Class 1-A where they dance and party and the school no longer hates them and Eri is there and Deku’s mom or Aizawa agree to take Eri on as their adopted daughter and everyone is happy and Shigaraki turns himself in and Deku becomes the symbol of peace. But that is the best-best case scenario.... I’d be happy with about half of those things.

I also want to discuss Gentle’s and La Brava a bit. I really like their dynamic a lot, I think La Brava may be obsessive, so that the guy she had a crush on years ago may have had a point in the “stalker” comment, but her intense adoration meshes incredibly well with someone like Gentle who want’s his name carved into history. I believe their relationship is pure (I’m only saying that because I’ve seen one or two posts where people are weired out with their relationship) and it takes the form of an intense fan and a celebrity. La Brava genuinely loves him and is grateful to be with him at all, she is grateful that he pulled her out of her recluse life style and “accepted her as who she was.” And Gentle feels similarly, he is greatly appreciative to La Brava and her devotion, he was something like a starving artist who finally found a critic/person who supported his work. They understand that without each other, both of them would be much worse off in the world. They are lifting each other up and supporting each other, and reading their backstories, I can’t help but feel attached and root for them. It also goes beyond that a bit for me, because neither of them seem like bad people. Their motives are love and justice (maybe fame), however the injustice they fight is in a hard place for the law. Some of the previous villains (Stain) were obviously bad people, but they had a point, others are obviously bad people who don’t seem to have any redeemable point to their actions (most of the rest), however Gentle and La Brava fall under neither of these categories for me. Gentle has seen a genuine problem with the heroes conduct and wants to act to change it, making his name known in the process (the fame part is the only thing that gives me genuine worry). But they----

I was about to say they weren’t bad people, but I’ve been burned in the past with theories like who is good and bad (I didn’t trust Mirio at first and I turned on Aoyama immediately). In truth we don’t really know what they plan to do at UA. I don’t want to say with total authority that he won’t do anything major, just cause some distress in the media and cause trust issues between the public and UA. I still feel that Gentle and La Brava have a good and pure relationship, but I will remain cautious about what they plan to do at UA.

So that is about it. I apologize for writing that last paragraph only to cut away and say something different. I realized during my writing it that swearing by these villains intentions may have consequences. For now I think of them as some lovable goofs with good intentions. I thought about deleting that thought paragraph, but that wouldn’t really be genuine, it was stream of conscious in a way (though I really hate stream of conscious in literature). Thank you for reading this big post, if y’all have suggestions besides “stay on top of it,” I would appreciate some tips on how to manage a blog properly.But for now, during my busy weeks I’ll leave it as is. So thank you for reading and following and in general working through my scattered thoughts. I hope you have a great day.

[rollertoasteroflife]

Hey get ready for more info abt me than you prob wanted to know

Tagged by @katyaton heyyy I was gonna sleep but you know I love oversharing so here we go!!!

Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people. <—pah yeah we all know i’m gonna tag two people...

LAST…

Drink: water, it’s hot and I’m dying

Phone call: Err dunno hang on. apparently it was a missed call who i ddin’t know the number of and didn’t leave a message so I ignored it. Actually spoke to was my Grandma.

Text message: My friend who I’m meeting with tomorrow as I want to drag her along if I get my ear pierced.

Song you listened to: Beyonce’s Flawless. I was having a mid beyonce binge on youtube ok

Time you cried: I was cryingwith laughter earlier because of my research...i posted one of the funny things on here and then the rest were jst stories that I find hilarious. Humanity is a disaster

HAVE YOU…

Dated someone twice: I’ve been on precisely 1 date so nope

Kissed someone and regretted it: Nah

Been cheated on: Have never dated so nope

Lost someone special: Yes

Been depressed: *shoves my nearly 7 years of depression under the rug* no why do you ask??

Gotten drunk and thrown up: Yeah twice. First time I let my drunk friend get me a drink and she just poured abput 7 types of different straight liquors into a pint glass and I drank the whole thing. to be fair it tasted nice but yeah violently sick. 2nd time was after my meds were upped and I didn’t realise it would affect me so badly...I was still drunk and throwing up the next day which was unfortunately my last day of work...my boss didn’t mind though thank god. but yeah i have since learnt that i can have about three drinks and then i have to stop.

Made new friends: Yeah, for someone who is antisocial I have a surprising amount of friends

Fallen out of love: no

Laughed until you cried: All the time. I am very emotional,,,

Found out someone was talking about you: I can’t think of anything but probably? dunno i have an awful memory

Met someone who changed you: Well yeah everyone helps shape you

Found out who your friends are: Don’t really agree with this as a concept, yeah I’ve lost friends but if it wasn’t right for them then no worries. 

Kissed someone from your Facebook list: Does this mean like list of facebook friends? If so yeah, I kiss my friends a lot (not on the lips just like forehead kisses etc i’m affectionate when i want to be shush) and then have also had drunk friends kiss me and just been like aight ok then

Kissed a stranger: One of said drunk friends kissing me I think was the first night I met him?? Not sure

Drank hard liquor: yep

Lost glasses/contact lenses: All the fucking time D: I lost my glasses for over a  day and then found them in the glasses case which i never put them in...i am dumb

Turned someone down: 1 person

Sex on the first date: Nope i haven’t

Broken someone’s heart: I don’t think so?

Had your heart broken: Yes.

Been arrested: Do I seriously seem like I lead that interesting a life??

Cried when someone died: Yes.

Fallen for a friend: ahahah I have this fun thing where once I am very close and comfortable with a friend I can’t work out if I am romantically or sexually interested in them or not as well as caring about them as my friend??? It’s weird and I don’t know how I feel about it. Usually I just ignore it but yeah if any of those friends initiated something I’d probs go with it out of curiosity. I kind of wish it didn’t happen it’s confusing.

Kissed on the first date: no i haven’t

GENERAL

List 3 favorite colors: blue, red and purple

How many Facebook friends do you know in real life: most of them, except like a few friends of friends

Do you have any pets: A dumb cat, an overly excited dog, and 5 chickens

Do you want to change your name: I used to want to change my sirname, I went by a different one when I was younger but as it’s not legally my name we stopped using it. I was going to chage to it when i was old enough to not need parental permission but by then I have wayyyy too much paperwork in this name to be bothered to change it. But yeah my name is annoying and people get confused by it but at this point it’s just fun to mess with them :D 

What time did you wake up: somewhere between 9 and 10??

What were you watching at midnight last night: this damned laptop screen

Name something you can’t wait for: when i can see my dumb cat again

When was the last time you saw your mom: we skyped a few hours ago

What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: I wish I had more control over the symptoms of my illnesses.

What are you listening to right now: my fan whilst my brain is relentlessly singing a mashup of Formation and Flawless-it’s catchy but like i wanna seep in a bit shut up brain

Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Yeah one of my childhood friends is called tom, we catch up now and then

Something that is getting on your nerves right now: My inability to actually relax and do something fun for simple enjoyment?? I am actually incapable of it

Most visited website: This shit hole

Mole/s: no

Mark/s: I accidentally stabbed myself in my thumb so that has a lovely scar on it as it went through to the muscle. I also have two scars on my face from when I was a toddler but one people don’t really notice as it’s under my nose and the other is mistaken for a dimple as it is literally a small gauge out of my face. i think that’s it?

Childhood dream: Apparently I wanted to play violin to the sharks...I was an odd child...

Do you have a crush on someone: No

What do you like about yourself: I like to think I’m mildly amusing at least

Piercings: ONe in each ear lobe but I’m actually planning on getting another in the top of my left ear tomorrow. shall see if I actually do it hah

Blood type:I don’t actually know?? And apparently you can’t just get them to check despite the fact that I’ve had a blood test so it should be on record?? But yeha I dunno

Nickname: abby is a nick name, also abs, and hoenstly just make a sound near me and I’ll probably answer! I have a lot of very bizarre nicknames and I also respond to insults...i respond to mos t things weirdly

Relationship status: Single

Zodiac:Leo

Pronouns: She/her

Favorite TV show: pushing daisies, yuri on ice, merlin, brooklyn 99, parks and rec, god so many...i watch too much tv....

Tattoos: None but I like them. However have chickened out each time I had an opportunity. I frequently daydream about ones I woould like though.

Right or left hand: Right handed but i can actually use either hand for most things which i great wehn I’m working and one hand gets tired, my uni friends all hate me for it!

Surgery: nah

Hair dyed in different color: Have tried it but my hair doesn’t hold onto dye for more than about two weeks at most. who knows why? not me

Sport: I used to row but not anymore. I practise archery but haven’t been since christmas as I wasn’t well enough to drive there. I want to start up again as I now have a new bow

Vacation: I’m debating joining a friedn in spain for a few days near her birthday but dunno if it will plan out. but like a proper vacation pahaha what do you take me for?? an adult with money???

Pair of trainers: Only have one I actually exercise in as finding ones thta fit is hard as i have odd feet. i also have hiking boots and converses

Current and all-time best friend name: I have had best friends in the past but none have ended well so instead I simply have quite a few close friends ( like seriously I have a lot of poeple that are my friend sand I have no idea why becasue i am a disaster)

Eye color: blue

Favorite movie: errr so many....ever after, mulan, httyd, just so many i can’t think i don’t have favs ok?!

WHICH IS BETTER?

Hugs or kisses: have never really had a proper kiss so imma say hugs as I am secretly an octopus and will wrap myself around people when I want company (legit and I’m not a small person but people let me and it’s nice)

Lips or eyes: Eyes

Shorter or taller: *Both is good gif* both are excellent hugging options

Nice arms or stomach: *has just spent about 3 minutes randomly daydreaming about a variety of nice tummies and arms in detail* erm yes...

Sensitive or loud: Sensitive

Hook up or relationship: Relationship (though the thought of having a relaationship is also terrifying...)

Troublemaker or hesitant: errr fuck ok i am not good at deciding ok arghhh both is good D:

DO YOU BELIEVE IN…

Yourself: *looks at both my low self esteem issues and my tendencies to be supremely arrogant* juries out

Miracles: yes

Love at first sight: no

Santa Claus: Well i used to

Tagging *drum roll* yaaaa guessed it @showmethestarlight and @deaded123

overshare with me, my weird losers

[himitsusentaiblog]

Time for a more complicated question: Is Infra-Man tokusatstu?

The simple and flippant answer would be to say No, it was made in Hong Kong.

However, it’s not that cut and dried for a number of reasons. 

Infra-Man or The Super Inframan, is a 1975 Hong Kong science fiction/superhero film produced by the legendary Shaw Brothers studio. It was their first venture into the realms of science fiction as they were primarily known for their historical Kung Fu films such as the One-Armed Swordsman series and Five Shaolin Masters. They had tried their hand at horror before, most strangely in a co-production with the famous Hammer Studio in the UK to produce the kung-fu vampire film Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires. However, they were inspired by the success of the Ultraman and Kamen Rider films (though I think it was more likely the Taiwanese adaptation of Kamen Rider, The Super Rider) released in Hong Kong to try their own hand at those kind of sci-fi, high kicking, laser blasting superheroes.

They had never, ever tried anything like that before with the complex costumes, the technological sets and the outlandish monsters so they went to outside help.  Specifically, they hired the services of Japanese designers Ekisu Productions who has worked on some of the Toei tokusatsu productions that directly inspired Inframan. They also ‘borrowed’ music from Toru Fuyuki’s scores to Mirrorman and Ultraseven.

Ekisu were in charge of the costumes for the hero, the monster suits and uniforms for the Science Headquarters.  This gave them a very authentic feel that seemed much more a part of the tokusatsu genre than a mere copy of it. Just look a the evil minions of Demon Princess Elzebub/Princess Dragon Mom, they look like Shocker goons wearing horned motorcycle helmets and skull masks.

The whole production feels like a mashup of concepts from Ultraman; the science team, the high tech headquarters and Kamen Rider: the cyborg hero, the martial arts fighting with hordes of costumed minions.  However, to be uniquely a Shaw Brothers production, it also has a LOT of Kung Fu.  If anything, the fight scenes are where this film really excels and possibly even overshadows its inspirations.

It is not ashamed to wear its influences on its sleeves.  Inframan looks a LOT like a Kamen Rider and can fire beams from his hands ala Ultraman.

There is also one (though only one) memorable scene where he grows to giant size to fight a foe who has done the same, a very Ultra Hero thing to do.

There is also the matter of his name.  Infrared is on the exact opposite side of the spectrum from Ultraviolet, so Inframan is the other side of Ultraman.  It’s a clever name that reminds the audience of the other franchise without directly copying it.  Those are also the two sides of the spectrum humans cannot see but don’t make the mistake of not seeing this movie, it’s amazing!

Roger Ebert was even a fan of this one! His review is amazing and ends with the line “When they stop making movies like Infra-Man, a little light will go out of the world.” I couldn’t agree more and as long as the spirit of tokusatsu lives on via either the straight Japanese stuff or offshoots like this, the light will always be there.

So, is Inframan tokusatsu?  Yes and no.  It’s inspired by the Japanese, has some Japanese input and does everything it can to be like the Japanese series that inspired it but it still maintains a very Hong Kong cinema feel.  I had always referred to this film as the best tokusatsu hero ever created in Hong Kong or the best Hong Kong hero ever born in Japan.  You can see it either way but for my money, this one DOES count as tokusatsu in every way that matters.

Thanks for the ask, I LOVE this movie and I recommend it for any fan of Japanese heroes, just to see how another country takes inspiration and does their best to not only copy the heroes of Japan but make their own version.  It’s a Hell of a lot better than American attempts to do the same (Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills anyone?)