#They have a lot of empathy and sympathy toward young heroes because they were young heroes once with dreams

[amethyst-chan4]

Y'all better be ready for a yap session on here when I cross post my villain!Mic design (His villain name is Ear Piercer). It's gonna go over his support gear and some facts about him. Oh and he still has a tooth gap and freckles (don't worry he'll always have them in some capacity)

I'll preface with this -

If I ever am very vague about Ear Piercer's dislike of the media especially around younger heroes (and the unfortunate ones that may lose their lives young) think about two things:

Remember how Aizawa didn't want the kids to get bombarded with interviews after the final war when they got requests?

Remember also how Aizawa and Ear Piercer (when he was Present Mic of course) were teens who were involved in a tragedy that resulted in media coverage and interviews?

It only takes one too many questions and too many times prying for someone to break. For someone to completely snap and suddenly go MIA. To make a scene.

Even when you think it's over, when you think nothing bothers you, something can and WILL snap.

[foundouthatdabiistouyatodoroki]

Endeavor's true feelings.

When we got Endeavor's backstory it finally tells us what Endeavor is as a character but my biggest gripe is the fandom's misinterpretation of this.

One thing I wanted to analyze is this entire scene

That was never meant to evoke sympathy but to highlight Endeavors' preconceived notion of this scene.

A lot of people point out in meta posts that this is about Endeavor's preconceived notions, it's not made to make him sympathetic but explain his reasons.

This scene starts with his younger self looking down on him.

Endeavor's young self is what Endeavor actually feels, Endeavor was always a loser hiding his weakness by putting up a facade Which revealed just how pathetic Endeavor is from underneath all this.

Endeavor will never be a superhero or a superhuman.

His envy and comparison towards people

that are his origin are stated in that scene.

The important thing when you look at this is how Endeavor himself perceived that scene, the recollection of how exactly he felt at the time. What came to mind is Endeavor's interpretation of the scene, someone pointed out how Endeavor perceived that scene.

He didn’t empathize with the father's feelings about what the father was trying to do and express sympathy or empathy towards the father's sentiment. He didn’t account for what the father was thinking to why he would do this feeling and consider what the father felt at the moment just his ego to what he ended up as.

There was never any language that expressed admiration and empathy towards the father's sentiment but the thing that stuck the most is how the man turned into a lump of meat. There was no empathy for the father's feelings, only the fate of what happened to him, just his fate.

His younger self categorizes sentiment as a weakness, The father who acted on sentiment got himself killed, the very same sentiment can get you killed like the father. He didn’t want to be the weak father who got himself killed saving his daughter. That's why he avoided his family because he viewed sentiment as a way of getting killed.

He didn't consider other factors or think about the father's feelings but what he felt at the scene is that it's more Him afraid that he would end up like that. It's not about the ability to stop these deaths, losses, and grief of innocent suffering thanks to weak heroes But to prevent this same death from happening to him.

He believed that weak heroes didn’t arrive at the scene even if someone did have the power they couldn’t prevent it, no matter how much power one has they still wouldn’t be able to save anyone. I’m sure the father didn’t know he was going to get killed when he was trying to do it and the father had nothing to do with weakness but a situation that is out of his control it wasn’t strength that didn’t save the fact that it was a situation that was beyond his control Endeavor didn’t consider that situation is something that's just a complex network of interrelated forces beyond anyone’s control. He still wants to blame it one something instead of thinking that.  

Everything happened all because of a preconceived notion of that scene; it didn't change anything about Endeavor, just how he perceived this scene at the time. If there is one that revealed to us about Endeavor is just how his preconceived notions of that scene ruined others and himself.

The preconceived notion highlighted Endeavor's ego: he's someone who cares about results which are seen in his breeding program with his children. Someone who views feelings as weakness and he categorized others from strong to weak by comparing other people like All Might and Izuku who were true superhumans

in comparison to a human whose mindset is flawed is the root of his inferiority.

Endeavor is someone who wants to have the power to prevent the same thing from happening to him running away from his emotions and his humanity like the father who got himself killed by saving his daughter.

That's what Endeavor was avoiding which led to him ruining his life. That's just him trying to avoid that fate he 's running away from his emotions and humanity like a complete pathetic coward. He is a very pathetic man who is afraid that he would end up like the father in that scene, a pathetic lump of meat.

it wasn’t the father's weakness or weak heroes or villains or feelings but endeavor himself that's what endeavor realizes, Endeavor's true enemy is himself It's not that villain or weak heroes or all might but himself he is his own worst enemy.

The last thing Endeavor is choking his young self and his young self is not afraid of continuing to Endeavor is this,

how he compared himself to izuku and All Might and his accountability and atonement of his sins and not letting him forget it. That Endeavor that No one will ever congratulate him for doing his job or atoning or change or even by being forgiven for his sins not by anybody, his family or himself but instead will continue facing the weakness he is running from.

[queerchoicesblog]

New York, At Last (SC Titanic, Zetta x Adele Series)

So, folks, here’s the new chapter of the series. Thank you so much for your support, hope you enjoy it!

Little disclaimer-favor: especially since the tags don’t seem to be working anymore, if you do enjoy it, please consider supporting the author & sharing this. A little gesture that means a lot!

Word Count: 3000+

Zetta x Adele Tag: @storyscaped​ ​ @storyscapefanficarchive​ @marmolady​ @animus-and-anima​ @hayley-carter19 @escako​  @everlastingchoices​ @indescribablechoices​ @ahrielstuff​ @bornonawdnsday​ @nazario-sayeed​  @h-doodles​ @adele-serda​ @marlcasters​ @brightpinkpeppercorn​  @michelleconnoly​ @charliejane-blog​ @ghost-of-yuri​  @choicesgremlin​  @lanzhansguqin​ @orange-elephants​

Zetta x Adele Series Tag: @eternal-langdon​ @nydeiri​

➡️ Ch. 1, Ch. 2/1, Ch. 2/2, Ch. 3, Ch. 4, Ch. 5, Ch. 6, Ch. 7, Ch. 8/1, Ch. 8/2, Ch. 9, Ch. 10/1, Ch. 10/2, Ch. 11/1, Ch. 11/2, Ch. 12, Ch. 13

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A thick fog rises and surrenders our ship as we sail towards New York. It lingers there, night and day, as if it's escorting us to our destination. We can hardly see the ocean anymore, we acknowledge its presence by the murmur of the waves, the breathing of the cold water beneath us. The captain must have given order to be careful because we proceed at low speed, "like in a funeral march" I find myself noting one day. I refrain myself from saying that out loud though. We are asked to stay below deck as much as possible as storms are announced. We sail through troubled waters: some of us get sick, others are too shattered to even register the rolling of the ship. The morale on board has crashed since our first day here. Both the crew and the passengers of the Carpathia have offered us help, sympathy and support. Some gave us their coats or whatever clothing item could keep us warm after we lost everything. They didn't ask for anything in return. Others helped searching for missing people: now a list of names is pinned in one of the halls. People check it regularly with a mix of hope and dread: hope to see their friend or loved one again, dread to spot a black cross by the name so dear to them. If someone cannot be found here on the ship is declared perished in the sinking. Unofficially, obviously, the mourning ones can still try and search them when we reach shore but most surrender under the weight of those tiny scribbles. Those black crosses are not just a quick sign on paper, they pierce through their aching hearts.

As our rescue journey is coming to an end, we are all mourning. The lucky ones who were reunited with their families and friends keep a low profile in respect of all those who lost their loved ones. Their grief is overwhelming, you can sense it, even breathe it in the grim silence that fill the night. Poor souls... I feel almost guilty when on our last day on board I accidentally bump into two familiar faces. I was looking for a steward when I collided with...Lawrence. Felix is right behind him. My heart skips a beat as I call out their names. Lawrence smiles at me and I am so relieved that we met again. We hug each other and I inhale the faint perfume of his eau de cologne. They survived, they survived... I repeat those words in my head as I pull Felix in for an embrace too. They both survived: I don't even start imagining what sort of pain would have tortured one of them if the other didn't make it. They wouldn't have allowed it: if there had been no way to save both of them, they would have gone down with the ship together. I know it, I saw it in their eyes when we parted on the deck. They told me how they stayed until there was no time left. Many of those who are here now owe them their lives: they kept directing women and children and even some men to the boats before jumping on the very last lifeboat at the very last minute. I couldn't be more proud of these two unaware heroes I am honoured to call friends. They are going to visit the little boy they rescued and his brother: the woman they entrusted them to is still taking care of them. Others passengers are helping too. No one has understood what language they speak or where they're from, where their parents are but at least they're safe. "That's all that matters now", Felix notes and I agree. If only the world could see what shining beauty my friends hold... Before parting, they ask me about me: could I find a spot on a boat fast? Did I succeed in speaking some sense into the thick skull of that officer? Is James with me? I share my last moments on the ship with them and when I am still in the middle of my answer, Lawrence reaches for my hand and gives it a squeeze. "Did you find Miss Carrem? Is...is she here?" he asks, concern written all over his face. Felix is grimacing too. Their expression relaxes only when I assure them that yes, we were reunited on the deck and she's now resting with her sister. Lawrence's face color up again as he lets out a deep sigh of relief. "We were so worried, Zetta! When we spotted her on the deck we immediately directed her to the lifeboats and to you...but we weren't sure if you two could find each other in the midst of all that chaos or get on a boat" he explains. "Yes, we pictured the worst...we're so relieved, Miss Zetta, so incredibly relived" Felix continues, smiling. I wonder what I did good in my life to have men like them on my side. Their affection and empathy soothe my troubled soul and make me wish to never part from them. I should invite them more often when we reach shore, yes we should see each other more often...things can change and will change now that we'll be all in New York. I ask them if they want to see Adele: I can wake her, I'm sure she will be more than happy to see them. They assure me it's fine and beg me not wake her. They will visit later maybe but for now they're just happy "she's here safe and sound". "And that you are together again" Lawrence adds with a tired smile. The soft warmth in his voice tells me what I already know: he knows, they know. How could they not? But my secret is safe with them and I am grateful to them for the genuine care they showed to Adele. And well, me. I hug them both one more time then we part ways. I hope to see them very soon. I must invite them over once our lives will slowly go back to a new normal. Maybe this tragedy will make us closer. When I finally find a steward, I am informed that we are approaching shore. "We'll be in New York tonight, ma'am" he announces with an encouraging smile as if to say that our troubles are over. I go back to my group and share the news. Adele and Hileni are still sleeping, only Teo, Jaime and Sabine greet my announcement with a nod but keeps quiet. I know what's going on in their heads, their thoughts are my thoughts: it feels so weird to hear these words after all we've been through. It almost doesn't feel right when so many of us are not here. Even when the news spread among the other survivors I hear no cheer, only sighs: could it be relief or grief, it's hard to tell. Maybe both. A silent question echo in the room: now what? Sabine shakes her head and gives a grim laugh. "I thought I would have been buried in work today, instead..." She looks down at her empty hands: my little Napoleon so efficient and fond of schedules must feel lost now. No scrupulous packing to do, no checking if our belongings are properly gathered or something is missing. She takes her job very seriously and - I realise it now- her job is her life. "Consider this a free day" It's Matteo speaking, he sounds absentminded but then he turns towards Sabine and meets her gaze. "Allow yourself to be the one being served, for once" he adds. He tries to smirk, one of his signature smirk I saw on his face so very often, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. He looks tired and troubled just like us. As if on cue, a waitress approaches us and asks if we would like a cup of coffee. I see Sabine barely refraining herself from reaching out to help her: it feels almost unnatural to her being on the other side. The waitress is a young girl, I wonder if she's even twenty. She's chatty: she comments how nice coming home must feel after a journey like ours. She has relatives in New York but never visited the city properly although "it is truly gorgeous, isn't it?". She asks us if it's our final destination and wishes all the very best. She parts from us with an encouraging smile: she will come back later to bring coffee to Adele and Hileni when they wake up. It's evening when we enter the bay and proceed towards the pier, escorted by a scout cruiser. We move to one of the decks only to find it crammed with other survivors. We have to fight our way through the crowd once again to get a spot near the railing. We are all to see with our own eyes if our journey has truly come to an end. If we're truly safe. The lights of New York flicker in the distance despite the heavy rain. Now I know it's over, all the horrors and fears are finally over. A lump forms in my throat at the sight of my city, my home but I shake it off. I reach for Hileni's hand and guide her upwards, pointing her the sea of lights on the shore. "There, sweetheart, look! See those lights? It's America" Three long blasts of the ship horns frame my words. The young girl squeezes her eyes to see better; after a moment, a tiny smile crosses her lips and relief washes over me. "It's...shiny!" she notes. "Shiny is definitely one word for it" I agree, smiling at her naive awe. For a moment, I am reminded of myself, my young self when I first saw the city that eventually became my home. I wager I was around the same age of Hileni. And just like her, that sight filled me with a mix of wonder, adrenaline and vague hope. "Adal, come here, come see! It's New York!" she says, turning and calling for her sister. Adele is right behind. Hearing her name, she immediately approaches us. "So, this is it?" she asks, placing her hands on Hileni's shoulders and pressing a quick kiss on top of her head. "So unimpressed, huh, Adele?" I tease her but when our eyes meet a soft smile is on my lips. "I promise it gets better, give it time" Without thinking twice, I wrap my arm around her waist and move a bit closer. "Welcome to New York" I add and for some reason I feel my eyes welling with tears. My love keeps quiet but a weak smile draws on her face. She rests her head on my shoulder and we both look into the distance, towards our new lives to come. There is a grim irony in how bittersweet the end of our journey is. We were supposed to make a glorious arrival, a triumphant march towards America on the "Queen of the Sea" but there is nothing of that fantasy now. The Titanic sleeps at the bottom of the ocean with many poor souls, too many poor souls and we're proceeding towards our initial destination sombrely in a cold rainy New York night. The fog hasn't lifted completely so we must look like a ghost ship. A ghost ship approaching in the mist filled with us, ghosts among ghosts. The darkness around us is lit up only by the city lights at the horizon and the flashlights of cameras of a bunch of photographers on a tug boat following us to the pier. It goes without saying that the Titanic tragedy will be the talk of the town for weeks, months maybe...but I wish those vultures could have refrained themselves until we reach shore. We proceed in front of them in mournful silence, indifferent to the flashlights hitting our faces. When we finally dock and the vibration of the engines beneath our feet subsides, we all stand in disbelief. It's over, it's truly over now. We're in America. The Carpathia passengers are disembarked first: the Captain is afraid the scene will become tumultuous as we survivors, the main attraction for the press, will appear. His concerns are well founded judging by the loud buzz coming from beneath us. When it's our turn to go I take a deep breath and give one last grateful look to the crew waving us goodbye and whispering good wishes as we pass by. Heavy raindrops run down my face as I walk down the gangway but I hardly notice. As my feet touch land I shiver: I'm home yet...I feel like in a dream. I hold Adele's hand tight and we move cautiously forward into the crowd. I look around and all I see is a multitude of lost souls and flashlights. I don't hear what the men of the press are shouting, what the land officers are shouting back: all around their voices blend together and I can't distinguish who is saying what in this dissonant choir. "Let them pass, give them space for Christ's sake!" "What can you tell us about the sinking?" "A few words for the Tribune, please!" "Blankets, warm blankets, let me give you blanket, Sir" "How many people died?". I keep walking under the rain, following Sabine and Hileni proceeding arm in arm ahead of us. I think back at all those we left behind, like Charlie, my love's poor brave friend, and Mr. Andrews, defeated by his sense of guilt yet fighting till the end. All those desperate people screaming in the icy waters before surrendering to their grim fate. I think back of the upset young woman who was searching for her beloved Henry: I wonder where she is now and I pray a kind soul is taking care of her. We stop to let the medical personnel pass. They're holding a stretcher with a man buried under a pile of wool blankets. There are bandages around his head and his eyes don't seem to register what's happening around him. Another follows with a woman begging through tears the midwife holding her hand to call her husband. I shake away those thoughts before they can pierce my soul and I let my eyes wander through the crowd as we proceed. James is not far and so is Matteo. A few months ago I was standing on a pier just like this one, maybe this one waiting to start my journey. I was so relieved back then to get a break, to run away for a while...to see James again. So curious to see the "Ship of Dreams" everyone was talking about on my return trip. It all feels so hollow and distant now as if it happened in another life. Or maybe it's just me...I feel changed. I turn to Adele. My love looks like a stranded and forlorn Robin Crusoe setting foot on a foreign land: she keeps walking but she's lost, almost afraid of these new chaotic surroundings. She looks so fragile and different from the bold girl who stepped into my suite not so long ago. I feel like I could break her now if I hugged her too tight. I give her hand an encouraging squeeze and it seems to make her snap out of her misery. "Madam, the officers need to get the passengers names before letting everyone go, we asked around" Sabine's voice ground me. She and Hileni are looking at me, both getting soaked with rain. I'm grateful to my ever efficient little Napoleon for taking charge of the situation. "There are so many of us" Adele's sister notes grimly and she's right. No matter how few of us survived the sinking, the pier is packed and the press pushing in is of little help. "It will take hours to clear the pier" I sigh. That's when I notice Hileni trying and failing to hide a shiver. I am eternally thankful to the fan giving me one of her wintry coats on board as tonight New York is getting colder and colder and the rain keeps wetting our clothes, making it harder to fight the chill. I must reward my generous fan, I got her name and address I think... Adele's hand adjusts into mine and it's as cold as ice. She still has her blue jacket on and a thin blanket completely soaked around her shoulders. "You're cold" I wince. She tries to avoid my gaze, dismissing my concerns. She's just fine, she assures me but I know her well enough to detect a lie when I hear it. Even a white lie. "You too, poor thing" I add, addressing Hileni who wraps her blanket a bit tighter around her in full response. Maybe she wants to say she's fine too but I anticipate her. "No, no, we'll do something about it. We have to wait for a while here, huh? No sense in freezing us all in the meantime" I turn towards Sabine and add, with renewed resolution: "They're passing around warm blankets, right? You two stay here, Sabine and I will get some then we'll see what to do next" My little Napoleon gives me a firm nod and addresses some comforting words to Hileni, adjusting her blanket. "You don't have to, we're fine..." Adele voice is low and somber even if she's doing her best to conceal how shattered she feels inside. Her soft yet unconvincing smile makes my heart ache. She'll be good again when we'll be away from this chaos...it will take some time maybe, but she will be fine, truly fine again. I hate the idea of parting from her side but I'll be damned if I won't take care of her and her sister. Please allow me to, my sweet love. I cup her face and caress her damp cheek. She instinctively leans to the touch as if a little warmth was all she needed. "I won't hear it, love. Stay here, I'll be back before you know it" I whisper, a tender smile on my lips. Before taking my leave, I press a quick kiss on her forehead. Then I venture with Sabine through the messy crowd. With one last look above my shoulder I see the Carrem sisters holding hands and sharing a weak smile. Surprisingly, finding stewards with blankets is tougher thanI first thought. People are gathering and looking for other passengers and missing ones, indisciplined photographers pushing their way in to get a shot of the misery of the survivors. As we fight our way through and keep searching, I try to come up with a plan. "Once we sort all this bureaucracy out, we'll find a way to get out of here" I reason out loud with Sabine. I barely hear her answer. "I'm sure your fiancée Mr King is right here waiting for you, Madam-" "Adele and her sister can stay in the blue and green rooms...they should be comfortable there, what do you think?" My mind is racing as I scan the crowd. "The blue and the green rooms sound perfect, Madam. I'll have them ready in no time whe-" "Oh no need to, Sabine! I'm sure they're already in excellent state if I know you" We stop as an officer kindly asks if he could get our names. He smiles when I say mine. "Who wouldn't know your name, Miss Serda? It's good to see you here, safe and sound" A fan, obviously. After Sabine drops hers and he checks both on a list, we ask him where we can find blankets or coats for our friends. Apparently, we're not far from his colleague! We speed up following his directions and I think I can see a man handing out wool plaids to shivering passengers. "This way, Sabine, I see him!" I cheer. Then, out of the blue, a familiar voice calls my name. "Zetta!" I stop and turn towards the sound to see... "R-Richard?" I...completely forgot about him. I don't know how but I forgot about him. It only makes sense he would be here, I would have been to even if... I- I just erased such thought. He pushes his way through the crowd and runs towards me. He's crying, it's not just rain wetting his face. He pulls me into a tight embrace and bury his head in the crook of my neck. I feel awful for forgetting about him when he starts sobbing like a child, unafraid to show his feelings, his vulnerability. I hug him back and whispers words that I hope will make him stop crying and feel a bit better. No need to cry, I'm here. I'm here, Richard. It seems to work as he loosens up his arms and face me. It's the first time I see his face in months and vice versa he mine. I wonder what he sees. His hair are soaked, dark circles loom under his eyes and his lower lip still trembles a little as he cups my face and bring our forehead together. "I was so scared when I heard the news, Zetta, so scared..." his voice is shaky as he speaks. "I-I pictured the worst, I couldn't sleep, I-" "Oh Richard..." I wince. "I tried to get in touch with the Carpathia, to send Marconigrams, I only wanted to know if you survived but the communication lines were overcrowded-" I brush away a strand of wet hair from his face. "It's fine, darling, I'm here, I'm alive, we-" "You don't know how happy and relived I am that you are, Zetta! I don't know what I would have done if you weren't on this ship, if you died that night...I truly don't know-" He embraces me again just when flash powder ignites around us. Journalists. I don't even have to wait for their shoutings to know it's the greedy press. "Zetta, Zetta!" "A word for the press!" "Would you make a statement about the tragedy?" "How is it to be back?" "Is it true that the Titanic collided with an iceberg?" No, I can't do this. I don't want to. I hear Richard groaning like a wounded animal before turning towards them. "Please, leave her be, she's just arrived-" he says but his plea goes unanswered. Journalists are a famelic species and awfully stubborn. "Oh c'mon, you have no decency? Go away, I beg you" Richard rises a hand towards the cameras to protect us from the flashlights. His voice now betrays hints of anger but he's so broken that his words sound more like a prayer. I doubt this will work, knowing those vultures. He reaches for my hand and turns towards me, leaning close to be heard over the shoutings. "Come with me, lets get you out of here. James and his valet are with John, follow me" He pulls my hand gently but I freeze. I freeze as my mind race towards Adele. Adele waiting for me on the pier with Hileni. Adele to whom I promised to be back 'before she knows it'. "What?" It's all I can manage to say. My breath catches in my throat. Richard must think I couldn't hear what he says. He repeats his words and pulls my hand again. I don't move. "No, no I-I can't, I must go back, my...my friends are wait-" I mutter but I'm cut short by those vultures again. A flashlight blinds me: the vivid light hurt my tired eyes to the point I can't see for a moment, I cover my eyes and I'm momentarily surrounded by darkness only. I hear Richard shouting back at the journalist, he's angry and exasperated now. Then he wraps an arm around my waist and guides me away, shielding me with his body from the cameras. "This way, Zetta, Mademoiselle Sabine...." My feet move against my will. I don't wanna leave the pier yet I'm too exhausted to resist. I try though but my attempt is weak and can nothing against Richard's desperate determination to take us away from this mournful chaos. When I finally gets my vision back, I'm standing in front of two cars. John, Richard's right hand, is right there, holding an umbrella for Teo and James. He tips his hat respectfully and say words I don't listen but that I presume are some kind of welcome back, so glad to see you here or things like that. My eyes fall on my travel companions: Matteo displays a dignified yet somber demeanour -I wouldn't expect nothing less from him- and winces at me as I meet his gaze while Jaime...the expression on his face is completely numb. He's distant, somewhere far away from this pier and awfully quiet, the quietest I've ever seen him. Richard encourages us all to go before the journalists are back and guides me and Sabine towards a car, Teo and my nephew will ride in John's one. He opens the door and help my little Napoleon in then me. I throw one last look to the pier before taking my seat but I can't distinguish a single face. The sky is getting darker and the crowd is slow to disperse. I stretch my neck but it's useless...I can't see my love even if I know she's there somewhere out of view. Richard hurries in after me and hastily gestures at the driver to start the engine as the lights of the cameras approach fast. When the car cautiously moves towards the boulevard, he takes my hand into his and rises it to his lips. "It will all be alright, my love, I promise you. I'll take care of you..." I register the kiss on the back of my hand but I can barely hear him. I'm not here. I am sitting here in this car disappearing into the night but I'm not here, not truly. My mind is empty. All I can think of is Adele. My Adele waiting in vain for me in the rain. My Adele...

[geek-gem]

I’ve Rewatched Joker 2019

It’s my 2nd time seeing it before it could possibly make a billion dollars, and I was by myself this time. I did make a tweet about it and took a while to start making this. Because after seeing it a 2nd time. I wanna give a more in depth thoughts on the film itself. Especially after this month I’ve reblogged a lot of stuff about it. It’s been on my mind still and still for a month. 

This is gonna be my honest thoughts and I’m glad I saw it again. Especially this time it’s more clear to me. Also no spoilers here because I wanna be careful of spoiling anything to any followers who haven’t seen it.

Also a funny but amazing thing because I thought it was 4:40 but it was 4:30 pm for it to come on. I got in a minute before the movie started which was amazing.

Just like I said on Twitter. Joker 2019 is one of my favorite films. But also one of my favorite comic book related or comic book inspired films. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack(Mainly the main theme and the bathroom dance music) non stop in a way. Including right now I’m listening to the main theme right here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxRHyRXqkSc

Joker 2019 is truly one of my favorite movies this year. Maybe my favorite possibly. It is like I’ve said before a brilliant piece of a film making. 

The acting, the score, and the writing as well. Many things really shine from this film. Basically I feel the same way Film Gob feels about it in this video or so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH8Cw-Zd13g 

It is a dark and tragic film. But not just that, in a way it is also a thoughtful, and quite a mature film. Especially because it deals with it’s themes quite maturely and other things. Including it even felt emotional. While I didn’t shed tears at certain parts, I wanted to. Because the film does feel emotional during Arthur’s journey into becoming one of the most iconic villains in comics and pop culture. Including Batman’s arch nemesis.

While it may have only used The Killing Joke as a basis but mainly 1970′s character studies from Martian Scorsese were the inspiration for this film. But the film to me feels like it is a Joker movie. This version can definitely be how the Joker could of ended up of how he is. Besides to me personally if you want more comic accurate versions in live action. I’d recommend Jack Nicolson and Heath Ledger and just watching films like Batman 1989, and The Dark Knight. Because those two to me represent the Joker quite well if we are going with more comic accuracy. Despite some changes but it depends on how you view them.

Including I have mentioned before. I like the Joker, but before this film I wasn’t the biggest fan of him. There is nothing wrong with him as a character he just didn’t appeal to me at first. Also I know before seeing this I was praising Jack Nicolson as Joker Batman 1989. It’s just I was more of a fan of villains like Bane and Scarecrow(Which I still am) from the Batman mythos.

Yet this film got me to appreciate the Joker as a character. Which sounds kind of crazy. I basically like him even more. It is probably because of Joaquin Phoenix’ s acting as Arthur Fleck. I do praise other actors such as Heath Ledger(Another one of my favorites), Jack Nicolson, Mark Hamill, Troy Baker, and whoever else. But I feel like how many who praised actors such as Heath Ledger and Jack Nicolson with their takes on the character.

Joaquin is basically I guess is one of those interpretations I keep thinking about is the Joker. What I’m trying to say is like how in 2008 Heath was Joker to a lot of people. In a similar way Joaquin feels like my Joker of my generation. Which may sound just weird and stupid. Despite to me this is kind of like a prototype version of the Joker because this is his origin. Yes I know about the theories and what I’ve read. Yet let me keep talking.

it was mainly because of the humanity that Joaquin brought to the character compared to other versions. Including I hope people don’t hate me for saying this. During the first time of seeing the movie and even this time. Kind of like how Ping Pong Flix said. This story feels like Joker or Arthur is the hero of his own story. I felt happy for Arthur when he did the things to the people he thought that deserved it. Even towards the end and I don’t wanna spoil anything. All leading up to his transformation into the Joker.

But that’s also tragic, Arthur was a man who needed help. You felt sad for him, you wanted to help him. But society kept throwing him away and other things. A weird comparison I wanna make is to Jason Voorhees from the Friday The 13th franchise. 

You can feel sad for them, feel sympathy for them. But you can’t help them. Because they’ve gone too far. Where this may seem harsh. The only sort of peace they can have is probably death. I always wanted to mention that about Jason. Unless I did already.

Basically you don’t want him to be become the Joker and whatever else. Yet it’s gonna happen and what people have talked about. The film is kind of like a countdown(Especially if you listen to the soundtrack) to just Arthur just snapping and becoming the Joker.

I also wanted to mention what I took away from this film. Including I wanna mention in that post I talked about the possibility this film could make a billion dollars. I wanted to see this again before it could happen. Basically contribute to it more as well when I think about it.

But I edited this part out because it seemed too personal. This film made me realize I’m a pretty good person. That sounds weird but some stuff about my self esteem but don’t worry about me. 

Yet the big take away and the point of this film. Or how I see it. From what I’ve read and heard from Joaquin Phoenix yet I think I should mention Todd Phillips because I thought he said something like this too. It depends on how you view the film. I do feel like that is a double edged sword but I can be okay with that.

The point of what Joker 2019 is trying to show and from what I’ve read, a lot of people have thought this too. Is that society should be concerned and just more nice to people who don’t have it all. Have some empathy towards other human beings, and what I have thought or so.

Just be fucking kind to people. 

Basically don’t be cruel and other things. Or else and what Todd Phillips has mused about this movie of more Jokers after Arthur. If society doesn’t change of how it is. Your gonna be multiple Jokers that were like Arthur Fleck.

I also wanna say that’s why I was surprised in this reblog I made finding out that in 1980 this whole heath department thing that happened with Regan or whatever. Which made me realize no wonder this film takes place in 1981. Also other reasons as well.

Including there is also the fact Arthur had a choice with the things he did. Yet just be considerate towards others. Just show some humanity or like the film showcases you might get what you deserved. 

I just wanna say my favorite scene of the entire film or one of them. Yet it’s a scene I like and I don’t wanna spoil anything. It’s the scene with Arthur/Joker on the Murray show. The final act of this movie this third act I love. it’s a payoff and the conclusion of everything that’s happened.

The point is I seriously loved this film. I want more DC Black movies like this. Whether characters studies or whatever. But character studies is probably something I might like more. 

Yet also because I have talked about this before. I know this film is a stand alone it’s meant to be that. But with the talks from Joaquin and what he’s said. I want to see this version of Joker again, I want to see Arthur Fleck.

But I do realize the problem with that. Because if a sequel happens, it might ruin the theories and the unique thing about what the film set up to be. I think I also wanna see more because I loved watching Joaquin as this character so much. That I don’t want him to go away yet.

I have thought of a sequel idea. It’s been in development and it’s well fan fiction. But to me as I look at it. I have talked about it before. Yet to me it feels like it’s part, “This is a Oscar winning film” similar to Joker. But it’s also part comic book and well I’ll say this super hero film. Which might bother people who loved Joker 2019 so much. 

Mainly it’s the addition of too many characters I feel. Especially with certain references. But the whole point of it being while it feels like it’s the third part of a trilogy. My sequel idea so this doesn’t turn into a franchise but the DC Black Label can be a franchise thing focusing on different characters. My story idea bring a conclusion to Arthur Fleck and his journey as Joker. A epilogue for him that has Batman/Bruce Wayne as a main character as well. Both being the points of view of this story. A proper send off to Arthur Fleck as Joker.

In a well epic but deep way like the line, “This is how the Batman died” from Batman Arkham Knight. It’s a story of how the Joker died. 

I've rambled on too long. I really wanted to talk about this movie. I also wanna talk about in another post of what were my predictions of what I thought was gonna happen. Especially during my viewing of the film. There were three young girls to the left while they did talk a bit and laughed at a certain part. They seemed alright but I seemed bothered or whatever. Also a couple left during the movie, I thought I heard a child but I think it was the lady.

Including there was this mom and her kid. He seemed to be a preteen or young teenager. They left but many minutes later they came back for the third act . It was weird.....I don’t like seeing the fact children or possibly young children watched this. Sorry I’m sounding weird like because it’s R rated. Unless they know how to process it. I’m glad it wasn’t a younger kid. 

Also I felt it was cool seeing a guy who his mom and dad it seemed. They were big and the dad asked was it good, I told him it was very good and it was my 2nd time seeing it. That it was still very good or whatever. Hope they enjoyed it. I saw them after I was leaving the theater room I was and the son was holding the door opened.

That’s something I wanted to say. Especially my Uber driver who took me to the theater saw it and liked, and my Uber driver who took me home heard about it and I told him it was very good, and that it was my 2nd time. Again rambling just little moments. 

Hope you folks don’t mind my big post about this film.

[frederator-studios]

Graham McTavish: The Frederator Interview

At the moment, Graham McTavish is in Malta getting his head torn off by a Werewolf. Jack Bauer once rammed a fire poker through his chest then slit his throat. He’s been set on fire, drowned, strangled, stabbed, speared, knifed, shot - not to mention, kneed in the balls, punched in the face, even slammed over the back with a log by an over-eager young performer. All in a day’s work for the Scottish actor, who’s played the baddest of baddies on a slew of excellent dramas-with-a-twist, from Preacher to Outlander, 24 to Castlevania. But Graham himself doesn’t view his characters as ‘villains’ - just passionate, complex people, of which Dracula (though he’d resent to be called “human”) is the embodiment. Read on for Graham’s take on playing one of literature’s most iconic, dangerous anti-heroes—from the relative safety of a recording studio.

Are you in LA long?

I’m flying out tonight actually, back to New Zealand. My kids are there, so I split my time. I’m doing Lucifer at the moment for Netflix as well as Castlevania, so I had to come back for a day, yesterday - I flew back just for that. (wow whaaa?) Yeah. I do a lot of traveling, but even for me that’s insane! It’s also unusual for the scheduling to work out perfectly, which it does the next few months. I have an episode gap now, then in October, I do a film in Malta, and the day that wraps, come back to LA to finish Lucifer, and the day after that, fly to Canada to do a film with Willem Dafoe about the Iditarod. I’ve got to learn how to mush a dog sled.

That’s awesome. It’s like getting sponsored to learn a cool obscure skill.

It’s definitely a nice side effect of being an actor. What other job would allow you to learn how to mush a dog sled, unless you were actually becoming a professional dog sled musher? It’ll be great.

How is it for you to switch between characters, with so little time between roles sometimes?

It really depends on your approach to acting. I approach from the point of view of a child. I have two young children, and the great thing about being that age, is they can switch from one thing to another in an instant. Very fluid. I think because I’ve never trained as an actor, I can see work as play. Some actors live as a cobbler for 5 years to play a cobbler, and that’s what works for them. Personally, I pretend. When I'm mushing dogs, I will give the illusion that I really know what I'm doing. That’s what acting is: an illusion that the audience willingly participates in. And everybody is complicit.

You didn’t have professional training?

No. I used to write comic sketches at school with a friend of mine, and we didn't trust anybody else to perform them, so we did. The Drama teacher at school asked me on many occasions to be in a play, but I always said no. Then on one occasion, he asked me to step into a play called “The Rivals” by Sheridan, filling in for an actor who’d fallen ill three days before the production was due to be performed. I said yes. To this day, I have no idea why I agreed. But I did the play, and was of course bitten by the acting bug.

After that, a local Dramatics company asked me to join them, so I did amateur theatre for a year. Then I attended Queen Mary College London University and majored in English literature. I was lucky enough to have a professor who loved Shakespeare and Jacobean drama, and he cast me in all of those plays. As an English Lit major, I was doing two or three Shakespeare plays a year, performing roles that I never would have been given if I'd been at Drama School. I'm not against it, but I don't think it's for everyone. I got my union card in Britain after doing a Beckett play, and then just started working professionally. I also did a lot of Repertory Theatre in the UK, which I think is a great training ground for actors. So it was all slightly accidental, the case with a lot of people.

How did you choose to play Dracula? What about that part compelled you?

I played him onstage once, a great experience. Dracula is the sort of character people love guiltily. If you get the opportunity to play that, it's a no-brainer. Just reading Bram Stoker’s book, your sympathy is with Dracula, in many ways. You live the story through him. It's such a wonderful ride to be playing a man whose been alive for hundreds and hundreds of years. Dracula plays to our secret desires, our secret fears. I think in all of us, there is a fascination with the idea of living forever. Fear of living forever, and fear of death; the Dracula myth plays on that edge. It’s so powerful because it takes something that we all have to face one day and says, what if you didn’t? But in gaining immortality, you lose something very important. Dracula is very enviable in some ways, but is also deeply sad and tragic.

How is it, playing tragic characters?

Among the few advantages of getting older is you have more life experience, including with tragedy. It’s inevitable. And you can draw on those memories. But you can also draw on your fears as well. I did a scene in Outlander, toward the end, where my brother is dying. I thought of my own father, and all the things I never said to him. Those emotions definitely informed that scene. When tragedy and death and loss touch your life, you carry those feelings into your future.

Are you an animation fan?

I love animation, I grew up with it. Along with books, it was my first experience of storytelling. Cartoons, as we called them; they fired my childhood imagination. It’s like how we were talking earlier, about children, and the profundity of animation to them. The first film I saw in a theatre was Walt Disney’s Peter Pan. I was five and had no question that those characters were real. To such an extent that when they took the posters down at the cinema, I got upset. I was like, “But where’s Peter? Where’s he gone?” Because I thought Peter lived in the cinema. I still get absorbed into great pieces of animation, when the artistry is powerful, and it’s part of my attraction to doing animated work. And this show, Castlevania, is particularly beautiful.

How were you introduced to the project, and did you have expectations going in?

I knew it was going to be great. I was recording Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when the Voice and Casting Director, Meredith Layne, pulled me aside. She said she was on a project and couldn’t tell me much, but she thought I’d be a fit, and would I like to be considered? Meredith has great taste, so I said “Of course” and sent in a tape. And when I heard that Warren Ellis was the writer, that was a huge attraction. I love his comic book work, and fiction as well. The Crooked Little Vein is one of my favorite books. Really, it couldn’t not be great, and the more I learned of the creative team behind it, the more sure I was. Everything put into the show - the casting, directing, producing, animation - elevates it so hugely above anything comparable. I love that it occupies this unique space.

What do you feel Castlevania’s Dracula uniquely brings to the character?

It’s his being human that makes it so interesting. When I portrayed Dracula onstage, there was no suggestion that that version of him felt love, or experienced empathy. But in this production, a woman, Lisa, takes him by surprise. She makes him feel, and turns his life around. I love that, because everybody can relate. You think your life is one way, then you meet someone who changes everything, opens your life up, makes you think about it differently - and makes it more enjoyable to be alive. And since Dracula is essentially dead, that irony is very clever.

Do you have a favorite representation of vampires in Media?

I'm a little biased, but I love the portrayal of Cassidy by Joe Gilgun in Preacher. It’s so unconventional. Herzog’s Nosferatu springs to mind, just incredible. Gary Oldman’s Dracula is wonderful. And I loved Let the Right One In, the original Swedish version. It’s genius. It took something familiar as a vampire story and gave it a whole new spin.

You work so much in the fantasy genre - is that purposeful?

Oh yeah. I love the variety. I've been a Viking, a Roman - twice - after always dreaming of playing one, I got to be one for a whole year. Growing up in the UK, you never imagine yourself getting to be a cowboy. On the first season of Preacher, there was a scene I rode into a western town: the whole duster coat with the Stetson guns, surrounded by horses and wagon trains, all the paraphernalia. I had to look cool and unbothered. I wanted to jump up and down in excitement. I was so, pathetically excited. I did a season of 24, and I’d been a huge fan. Every day I’d go up to the producers telling them I was a huge fan. After a while, they’d say, “Yeah, great, we get it. You like the show. You’re in it now, so if you could just be the character that’d be great.”

And I still get a pathetically childish enjoyment out of playing Dracula. What kid doesn’t want to play Dracula?! I once talked to Lance Henriksen, and he said one of the reasons he went into acting was to be thousands of people. You get to be a cowboy and a vampire and a dog musher and a Highlander in the 18th century and a dwarf in Middle Earth. I'd definitely rather do any of that than put on a suit and do a courtroom scene. Not that I wouldn’t! I’ve just never been asked. No one’s ever looked at me and said, “Let’s cast him as The Dad.”

Have you ever played a “Castlevania” game?

I am a terrible game player.

But, but - your voice is in like every game of the past decade!

Yes, I have done loads of video games. I did a franchise called “Uncharted”. Award-winning; incredibly popular. Never played them. I played one game years ago with my friend, called “Gears of War”. I was so bad at it. I'm the guy that shoots in a circle around his feet. I’m useless at them.

Your character's bad-assery makes up for it. Anything to say to fans of the show, in advance of season two?

I just really hope you enjoy it and get carried along with the story and and want to see more. That’s always the greatest thing, if you can get the fans to clamor for more ❀

Follow Graham on Twitter and Instagram

Thank you for the interview Graham! Without a doubt, you’re the kindest chronic bad guy I’ve come across. 

- Cooper ❀

(Craving another CV interview? Read Richard Armitage’s here.)

[trashqueenkyloren]

Longass Meta on Kylo Ren’s Redemption Arc/Rey and Kylo

SO, to begin, this is something I’ve wanted to write literally since Dec 2015 but the fear of being hated on has been so strong that I’ve just recently felt confident enough to post it and I really just want this out there before The Last Jedi comes out so I can compare although it’s so close to the release date this is all probably irrelevant now oh well

So I went into The Force Awakens basically as a blank slate (I’ll explain later) and I really just want to point out a few thoughts I had while watching it the first time that point to a potential Kylo Ren Redemption arc and the possibility of Rey and Kylo at least teaming up (this is mostly just my opinion, feel free to disagree!)

(way more under the cut guys, read on if you like!)

To begin, let me explain a little bit about myself

PART 1: BACKGROUND

When I went to go see TFA in theaters, I knew almost nothing about Star Wars. I had seen the originals like once when I was like 5 and had not really gotten into it. In fact all I knew was that 

1) The force and the light/dark side are a thing

2) Darth Vader is Luke’s father

3) Han is Leia’s love interest and Luke is her brother (and even this I had to ask my friend to clarify/make sure I had it right)

and obviously I knew the names of yoda and r2d2 and other really basic knowledge, you get the idea

The Force Awakens is what made me become a Star Wars fan (don’t worry, I have since then made up for my mistakes by rewatching all the movies and such)

but anyway what this means is 

I went into TFA as basically a blank slate, meaning I had no biased Star Wars thoughts to cloud my judgement 

I saw what the filmmakers wanted me to see

In addition, being a person who currently studies Literature, Psychology, and Film Studies at college (yeah, yeah, I fit the stereotype, kill me), if there is something I know well it’s Storytelling 

The only things I really knew about TFA before going into it were that 

 1) It was a sequel to the originals 

 2) Rey and Finn are the main characters (had seen pictures and was already lowkey shipping FinnRey) 

 3) The bad guy was some masked dude

That's it. I wasn't a huge fan so I hadn't bothered to look up anything else about the movie and hadn't seen any spoilers. But enough about me .

PART 2: THE CHARACTER OF KYLO REN

Now, while viewing TFA, one thing that struck me and captivated me in a way that no other Star Wars movie had was the character of Kylo Ren. I had definitely not expected to like this character at all. Two things changed this for me

1) The reveal that he is the son of Han and Leia

Never before (in the movies) had Star Wars had a character that was so clearly torn between the two sides. Him being the son of Han Solo and Leia gave him a legacy and a reason for us to want him to be good. We want Han and Leia to get the happiness they deserve. Honestly, if you don’t want a Kylo to be redeemed just think about poor Leia losing her son and still having hope for him (Do it for Leia!!) .

2) His feeling the pull to the light

This scene surprised me because the fact that Kylo is talking to an old helmet about his inner feelings means that 

a) he has no one to confide in so he is withholding a lot of strong mixed emotions and feelings, which is unhealthy

b) he is tempted by the light side while being on the dark, which is very, very different from most villains, who (it seems to me) disregard the light completely. Which means despite wanting desperately to be bad he can’t even do it because of an inborn light side like a teenager going through a rebellious phase

and c) he is being honest about his call to the light because he has no reason to lie if he’s not talking to anyone, which means he really does still feel a compulsion to be good

Star Wars, being a family-friendly film saga, usually has a pretty clear dichotomy on good and evil (hence, light and dark sides). We root for the good guys, not the bad guys. It’s always been sort of a black and white morality going on, but Kylo is one of the few characters that enhances the Star Wars universe by bringing to light (heh) the potential for gray morality in an otherwise black and white world (as it is) 

He is a person that really should be on the light side because of his family and such, but because of Snoke’s constant manipulation and unfortunate upbringing he’s been struggling with the dark side his entire life. It’s really a sad thing to think about. 

Additionally

While initially hating him, I ended up feeling a great deal of sympathy for him throughout the film, so much so that I wondered why they had even made him a villain at all

He was not a weak villain like I had heard in reviews, just a conflicted one. A lot of people don’t like it when villains don’t fit perfectly into a “pure evil mustache-twirling-type”. I found Kylo infinitely more interesting because of this.

He’s no Darth Vader. But that’s the point. Both he and the audience, in a sort of meta twist, know that he’ll constantly be in the shadow of Darth Vader. So, instead, he’s younger, more volatile, more emotional, uncontrollable, unpredictable. He’s contrasted from all these villains to show how he stands out as different. He seemed to me separate from the Hux/Snoke kind of evil that didn’t have any sort of redeeming qualities at all. Evil for the sake of evil, if you will

The viewer’s sympathy for the villain and how obviously they showed his flaws and potential for good is the crucial foundation of a redemption arc

I liked him a lot as a character pretty much up until he killed Han Solo. Then, I obviously believed he was a lot more evil than he looked, although the fact that he definitely didn’t seem happier or better or more dark-side oriented in any way after this still suggested that he didn’t become completely evil 

After this, it hit me that the ONLY sure-fire way to make people absolutely hate Kylo Ren as a villain and squashing people’s complaints that he was too wishy-washy or not bad enough as a villain was to have him kill off one of the most beloved characters in Star Wars history (who also happened to be his father)

He was so obviously drawn to the light and not bad enough throughout the first half of the movie that the writers had to take a huge step in order to get him to the actual level of villain and add a lot of unlikeability

PART 3: KYLO REN AND REY

(My favorite part of the movie ^ Has been my laptop’s background wallpaper since Dec 2015. I would get a poster of it if I could)

In this section, I will describe some things I picked up both about Kylo’s characterization around Rey and their interactions between them. I think that Kylo’s actions towards Rey played a large part in getting the audience to think he was “too weak” of a villain (Something I heard in reviews a lot after watching the movie)

1) The infamous bridal carry scene

Okay my first thought when I saw this was that he was way too gentle with her. Honestly, Kylo, you need your hands to use your lightsaber and the force, so this is much you rendering yourself completely useless on unsafe territory

He could’ve slung her over his shoulder? Or passed her off to a Stormtrooper? So this struck me as very strange, to say the least. To think that he would carry her so gently. But then we see this 

Now, the importance of the combination of the bridal carry and the crossing of the threshold was not lost on me 

It reminded me a lot of a movie a had scene only a few months earlier (which I would highly recommend), Crimson Peak.

While the bridal carry itself could indicate romantic interest between the two characters (somebody already wrote a really good meta about this so I won’t go into it here) the additional crossing of the threshold is a step in the traditional “Hero’s Journey,” a set of steps in a literary work that star wars loves to rely on, where the hero’s journey begins and the hero’s life is changed

Typically, it’s the point of no return for our hero, as things change in a permanent sort of way for their journey moving forward

2) The Unmasking Scene 

I was shocked by this scene for a few reasons which I’ll go into here

a) First off, I was shocked by how youthful he looked. I was expecting a creepy looking old dude or someone with a bunch of scars on their face, but instead we get this young, handsome boy. (Yes, I find Kylo Ren attractive, but does this somehow invalidate my thinking in this meta? No. I can put aside attraction for an objective analysis.) But what I also realized is that he doesn’t need the mask to live, like Darth Vader did. He needs a mask for the entirely opposite reason, in order to make him seem intimidating. Without it he just looks like a lost child, he needs the mask in order to be taken seriously.

b) The second thing that shocked me was that this is the first installation of a trilogy and they’ve already unmasked the main villain. This speaks volumes to them wanting the audience to humanize him as early as possible. Darth Vader didn’t get unmasked until the later part of the last movie of the trilogy. If they wanted him to remain purely antagonistic, they would would have left his mask on. This means that they aren’t going to want us to view him as the one-dimensional cardboard cutout villain, they want us to view him as a human with flaws.

c) The final thing I want to touch on is that Kylo’s unmasked came directly after Rey’s quote “That’s what happens when your being hunted by a creature in a mask”. When Rey said this, my reaction in the theater was, So just take it off! And then he did. And I had really not expected him to actually take off his mask for her, as this meant he did not want her to view him as a “creature” or a “monster,” but he wanted her to see he is a human, just like her. He wanted to create empathy between them. This move, along with me noticing that Kylo was much younger and more attractive than I thought, coupled with his attempts to reassure her (tells her he doesn’t know where her friends are, “you’re my guest,” “don’t be afraid, I feel it too”) led me to believe the Kylo Ren might actually be Rey’s love interest, instead of Finn. It seemed like a unique plausible twist and it was just kind of an instinctual gut feeling that hit me. Of course, the thought of this went out the window when Kylo murdered Han, but, after reviewing the movie a couple more times, the thought kept coming back to me.

(Okay quick side note, my friend and I came across a Kylo Ren action figure for The Last Jedi that says different phrases in Barnes and Noble recently, so I pressed it, and one of the phrases is just Kylo saying “Don’t be afraid” in a gentle tone and my friend and I were laughing because what kind of villain just says “don’t be afraid” even in their action figure? That’s like, the least threatening thing, so anyways...)

3) The Final Fight 

I really, really liked the fight at the end, aesthetically it was beautiful. I really liked that neither Rey nor Kylo seemed to overpower the other, even though Kylo should’ve easily been able to overpower Rey because he’s physically stronger and has had more experience and training. 

The fact that Kylo says “It’s just us now” clearly to Rey honestly made me laugh because Finn is standing literally right there, but Kylo clearly doesn’t view him as a threat because he knows that Rey is strong with the force and therefore, she is more of a threat to him. A lot of what Kylo says can actually be applied to Rey too, which I find interesting. When he says “Han Solo can't save you,” yes he’s talking to Rey but he’s also talking about himself, as he believes Han Solo was unable to save him.Then he’s obviously not trying to flat-out kill Rey in their fight, he’s trying to get her to join him because he believes he can train her (“I can show you the ways of the Force”) which also surprised me.

It was interesting to see Kylo weakened by his wicked act, instead of strengthened as he thought. This, to me, meant that he still had the potential for light and redemption in him, given enough character development in future movies. I’m excited to see what The Last Jedi and Episode IX holds for him, and what they decide to do with his character. All I’m saying is, he has a lot of potential for a good redemption arc, as the foundation has already been laid for it.

PART 4: ENDING THOUGHTS

I think that both reylos and “antis” have a lot of valid points, but miscommunication seems to be a main problem. 

I guarantee you that literally no reylo wants Kylo Ren and Rey to make out, like, right now, as it stands with the ending of The Force Awakens that we know. They need Kylo to go through a redemption arc FIRST and there needs to be a lot of things that need to change for this to occur. If Kylo Ren didn’t threaten Rey in any way in this movie then they would not be enemies, and there would practically be no plot. Also, I’m pretty sure no one wants Rey’s story to be eclipsed by Kylo or her story to revolve around saving him. This should come about through Leia/himself. But also, love does not make a character inherently weaker.

Right now, Rey and Kylo are enemies, on opposite sides of a war. But they have a lot of potential for the “Enemies to Allies to Lovers” classic trope (with TFA as enemies, TLJ as allies, and then ep 9 as Lovers) But things must proceed in this order for this to occur. There is no skipping stages here. It is their potential for more which intrigues reylo shippers so much.

Personally, I am intrigued by their yin and yang, with one person in the dark being drawn to the light, another in the light being tempted by the dark, and I want them at least to team up (it could remain platonic) to bring balance to the force. To me, seeing this play out would be extremely satisfying, and be something unlike what Star Wars has done before.

Now, if you don’t ship reylo or don’t want Kylo Ren to be redeemed, awesome. That’s your opinion and you are free to have it. I don’t wish to start arguments or discourse, I simply wanted to vent some thoughts. This post shows my opinions, which I am also free to have. Thanks for reading about it!

[awed-frog]

Why do you think JK never made Snape care about Harry? I always expected thats where the story would go at one point but then it didnt at all... like at least a moment of effection or something

Several reasons, I think.

First, as I said in the other post, it was too late for Snape. He is the antihero, much more than Voldemort ever was, and he was set up to fail from the start. He would die with his unresolved issues deep in his soul - the guilt, the rage, the inability to trust and love another person (perhaps for fear of what that love would do to them, because look at what it had done to Lily). By the time Harry crashes into his life, Snape has find a modus vivendi - it’s dark and unpleasant and it keeps him in a lot of pain, but it’s all he knows, and we’re all afraid to let go of things that have kept us safe for years - even if those things are chains and cages. So, even at this moment when Snape would have the chance to start over and teach Lily’s child in the way he wishes he himself had been taught (the fact he was disagreeing with old textbooks at the age of sixteen shows quite clearly what he thought of the whole system) - well, that’s not something he considers. Consciously or subconsciously, he must have worried about what would happen if Harry refused him and mocked him, like James had done. What his colleagues would say if he suddenly changed his demeanour. What Harry himself would know about him - Snape doesn’t know how Harry grew up - what if Petunia had told him everything about ‘the Snape boy’, the weirdo who stalked her younger sister, the kid with the drunk father who was never quite clean and never quite tidy? I sort of believe that’s why Snape was so harsh on Harry during that first lesson - not only he saw James on his face and that hurt him deeply, but he was probably terrified Harry would know things about him - things only Lily could know, and what if she’d told Petunia, or if Harry had found her letters? So no, Snape never tried a different way, because the one he was walking - that was painful, but he already knew that pain he could bear. What if a new path brought him a pain he couldn’t bear?

(Which would have been the case, because if Snape had allowed himself to care about Harry, to love Harry, even, in this clumsy, childish, unfinished way that seems the only way he knows how to love people, how could he have let Harry die? He would have turned against Dumbledore, would have done anything to keep Harry safe like he’d done for Lily, and Dumbledore’s plans would have failed, and Voldemort would have won.)

Second, books need conflict, and since this was (allegedly) a children’s book, it needed conflict kids could easily get. The greasy, bullying teacher was a perfect character many kids could understand at once - and also an uncomplicated way to teach kids than life is not literature, and not all conflicts are resolved. If HP had been written in the Victorian era, then, why not, Snape would have had a dramatic change of heart and sobbed in Harry’s chest, begging for forgiveness; but personally, I like that JK Rowling chose to create a modern world full of real people, and this is how it works - Snape would probably have learned to get along with Harry, even to appreciate him - in time. And time is something he wasn’t given.

Third, what I really liked about including Snape, especially in the context of a war and the Order, is that this is how it works and we should tell children the truth: in difficult times, we need to make allies, and those allies will sometimes be - unpleasant. How much we’re willing to ignore, or forgive, when fighting side by side with someone - well, that’s mostly what defines groups and countries. Because the stupid thing is that we’re surrounded by war stories (mostly, movies about WW2, and enough) and yet those stories tend to be blissfully simple. Good guys on one side, bad guys on the other. Right. As if. In reality, what happens when you face a powerful enemy is that all of those who’re threatened by it need to decide if they can work together to bring it down. We’re never reminded enough of the fact the British government chose to do nothing against Hitler so that Hitler would crush trade unionists and the workers movements in Germany - they bet those left-wing groups would be much more of a threat than Hitler to Great Britain, and boy, were they wrong. Much in the same way, Communists and Anarchists tore each other apart in Spain, never realizing that Franco’s army would burn them all to the ground and impose a fascist dictatorship in the country that would last for decades. In Italy, on the other hand, Communists and Catholics worked together in the Resistance, and only returned to their ‘natural’ state of animosity after the war, when it could be expressed in Parliament, without guns and violence. So, well - the Order and Snape - I liked this idea that this man is on the right side of history, but he makes no concessions to it, because, on the whole, he’s not a nice man. He risks his life to save other people’s, but he will bully his students and he will actively dislike Harry and that’s not going to change. 

And this brings me to another point: one of the most important messages of the book, to me, was what Sirius said to Harry, Ron and Hermione: “The world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters”. This is a crucial teaching, and something that particularly young people, with their tendency to see things in black and white, should hear. It’s ironic it was Sirius saying that, since it’s debatable how much of a good person he was - I mean, don’t get me wrong, I adore him, but here’s someone who, like Snape, was never given the chance to grow up emotionally and is still blinded by the mindframe of his class (in Snape’s case, that was the deep-seated resentment of a working class kid, while in Sirius’ case, the careless, impatient privilege of the elite). Of course, Snape stood out in this category of people who’re supposed to be on your side but are still awful, and, again, the fact JK Rowling refused to redeem him by forgiving Harry for being is father’s son - that’s okay with me. It wouldn’t have felt right. It was too soon, things were too complicated between them, and - crucially - Snape never knew enough about Harry (never bothered to find out enough) to understand this was someone he could like. To him, Harry was always the child and and teen (I always read Snape as someone who was not particularly comfortable around either), the spoiled brat, the one who needed to get his way, who disregarded orders, never put any effort into anything, and would one day get his friends killed, just like his father. Because we know Harry, and we understand why he does what he does and we love him even when he’s not perfect, but to Snape, Harry was the guy who was so self-involved he didn’t even notice Hermione was time-traveling for one full year, the one who got to play Quidditich before everyone else just because he was ‘special’, the one who never bothered to study Legilimency just because he didn’t like being told what to do, the one who deliberately accessed Snape’s most private memories (and, come on, whichever way you look at it, that was a dick move) and probably laughed at what he saw for weeks afterwards (Snape never realized Harry was profoundly disturbed by those memories), and, finally, the one who almost killed a fellow student with his arrogant, reckless use of magic he didn’t know. So, as I said - Snape is still at fault here because he never bothered to get to know Harry, just decided to hate him on principle, but from is (warped) point of view there were reasons to objectively dislike Harry, and they didn’t have enough time together to correct those impressions of each other. I like to think Harry spent some time with portrait!Snape after the final battle, that they became friends this way, but who knows.

And finally, there’s no getting away from it: these are profoundly Christian books. JK Rowling’s faith shines through in the best possible way - and I say this as a non believer and as someone who doesn’t have a particular sympathy towards Christianity. There was, of course, the whole point about questioning God and raging at God and losing your faith, which basically was the theme of the entire seventh book and, even as a non religious person, I found that very moving and relatable; and Harry as a Christ figure, sacrificing himself to save humanity. But one of the most amazing things was something else: the whole ‘love your enemy’ message that was such an important part of the books and led to Harry winning and saving the world. Because here is where you really see how exceptional Harry was (especially if we consider he was a teenage boy): over and over again, he lets go of his pain and his anger and his fury, and chooses empathy instead. He never truly hated the Dursleys, despite everything, and saved Dudley’s life when he could have fled on his own. He spared Sirius’ life when he thought Sirius had killed his parents. He spared Pettigrew’s life when he knew Pettigrew had killed his parents. When he realized what Draco was actually going through, he felt pity, at once, for someone he’d solidly disliked for six years. In that train station, he managed to feel worry and compassion even for Voldemort, whose soul was an ugly, sad thing no one had ever wanted or loved. And, of course, he forgave Snape so thoroughly he ended up naming one of his sons after the man. I know some people were outraged by this, but I think they were simply missing the point. Harry is a Christian hero, and his special power is to do this incredibly difficult thing: to love unconditionally. To understand. To feel others’ pain (this was expressed, on a symbolic level, by his unwanted ability to feel his parents die). This is Jesus at his best, teaching us that it’s not the healthy man who needs a doctor; that loving someone when it’s easy to love them - that’s good, but it’s not enough. We rarely mention this part of the Bible nowadays (I guess ‘real’ Christians are having too much fun refusing to bake cakes for gay people to stop and reread the Gospels), but this was, and still is, a disturbing, revolutionary teaching. Because the thing is, you have the right to hate those who wronged you. It’s human, and it’s fair, and they deserve it. But ultimately (and this is where you see Eastern influences on Jesus’ thought), where does that hatred lead you? What good does it do? “What about my soul, Dumbledore? Mine?” Harry didn’t name his kid after Snape because his own pain didn’t matter; on the contrary, he did that not to redeem Snape, but to heal his own soul. Forgiveness, love, compassion - that’s the way forward. And it’s not just fiction, either - Harry chose to use Expelliarmus against Voldemort, and okay, but when Carlo Cattaneo, a philosopher and one of the leaders of the Italian 1848 revolution against Austrian occupation, saw a group of his own people about to lynch a collaborationist, he stepped in and told them, “If you kill him, you will be doing a justly thing; if you don’t kill him, you will be doing something saintly.” - the man was spared.

So, well, to wrap up this overlong essay - this last point, I feel, is crucial to understand why JK Rowling didn’t want Snape to have an easy way out. Harry needed to learn about trust and faith - as Lupin said, trusting Dumbledore meant trusting Snape, unconditionally - and Harry’s journey was not about being thanked and people changing his mind about him and recognizing he’d been a great guy all along; no, his journey was about learning to love even when it was difficult, even when it hurt, even when his whole soul turned into angry storms at the injustice of it. And Harry succeeded. He chose to bury Dobby rather than securing the most powerful weapon in existence, he chose to forgive Dumbledore for his many failings, and he chose - incredibly, saintly - to feel pity and compassion for a man who’d wronged him and tormented him for seven years, because, like his mother, he understood the way out is to love everyone, especially those who do not deserve our love. If Snape had been kind to him, had had a change of heart, Harry’s decision to forgive him would not have been as strong and meaningful as it was - and since this was Harry’s story, not Snape’s, Harry’s need to evolve as a character trumped Snape’s possibility of redemption. 

[currentlylurking]

DannyMay Weekly: Mistakes/Regret

(This isn’t late I just haven’t had internet for a week.)

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Danny would get immunity from Dash for as long as this lasted, Star would make sure he got an A in physics, and once they had finished he’d get two free dates with whatever member of the cheerleading team he chose. The A-list had power, and as long as they needed Tucker, they were happy to use it for whatever he wanted.

But this? Tucker hadn’t signed up for this.

“I roll to seduce the elf king,” Dash said, and rolled his twenty-sided die as Tucker watched in horror.

.-. 

It had started off simple enough.

He’d found a note in his locker asking that he meet some mystery person behind the school during lunch. Learning that it had come from Dash, Kwan, Star, and Paulina had been slightly terrifying, but he’d worked past it.

“You like nerd stuff, right?” Paulina had said, and like an idiot, he’d said yes.

The four of them had fallen in love with some story about Dungeons and Dragons and wanted to play. However, they needed someone to run the game for them. Kwan thought Tucker would be easier to bribe than Mikey to keep quiet about it.

Tucker had resented that, as true as it was. He’d added in Dash having to avoid Danny before being swayed, and agreed that the four could meet him in his attic on Saturday. Tucker had no experience with tapletop RPG games, so Paulina had given him a guide on how to run a game of Dungeons and Dragons, and an almost threatening bit of advice. “You’ll be our Dungeon Master, and a good Dungeon Master always says yes. Don’t you agree?”

Confused and slightly terrified, Tucker pretended he did. That had been his first mistake.

His second was allowing them all to design their own characters.

Paulina had brought a professionally done drawing of her character, which was just her in a medieval-fantasy-esque dress. “Her name is Princess Melody Treble, she’s a lawful neutral high elf noble and wizard.”

Tucker had stared at her. “She’s not a bard?”

“Of course not!” Paulina had looked appalled, “You can’t judge people based on their names!”

Really, that should have been Tucker’s first clue that this would end badly.

Star had written a fifteen-page backstory because, well, that’s what Star did. “This is Sympathy Hellforge, a tiefling rouge with an urchin background who is lawful neutral.” Tucker had nodded and turned to get Kwan’s character, but Star was faster. She’d flipped open the first page of her backstory and cleared her throat. “Sympathy and her twin sister, Empathy, were orphans by age nine…”

Half an hour and a box of tissues later- Kwan had been deeply moved by the tale of the two fictional siblings- they were finally ready to move on to the next character.

“This is Timothy Green,” Kwan had said, and held up his tear-stained stick figure drawing. “He’s a neutral good gnome cleric of Pan with the entertainer background who likes being picked up and warm hugs. He used to be a dad.” He’d turned to Dash, “Who’re you playing?”

Dash, who’d suddenly looked embarrassed, gave Tucker his character sheet.

The first thing Tucker had noticed was that every single one of the character’s stats were 19. Secondly, was that Dash was playing a chaotic good human fighter with the folk hero background- a bit cliché. But the third, and arguably worst thing, was the name.

“Your character’s name is Dan Phanta.” Tucker had stared at him, “You’re playing as Danny Phantom, and all your ability scores are as high as they possibly can be.”

“I’m really good at rolling dice,” Dash said.

Tucker opened his mouth to inform Dash that that’s called cheating, but was stopped when Paulina cleared her throat.

“Remember what I told you about being a good Dungeon Master?” she said.

Unsure whether he should be more terrified by the name Dungeon Master or Paulina’s possible wrath if he didn’t perform it correctly, Tucker only nodded.

So really, there’d been a lot of mistakes on his part from the start. Tucker was perfectly fine with admitting that. But this? This wasn’t fair.

He’d sent them off on a quest to rescue a princess, since that seemed ‘fantasy’ enough. “You enter a hall, and sitting in the middle on this fancy throne is a gaudy-looking elf man-”

Dash smashed his hand on the table and threw a twenty-sided die on the table. “I roll to seduce the elf king!”

As Kwan nearly fell off his chair from laughing- and Tucker from pure shock- he faintly registered both Dash’s shout of ‘natural twenty!’ and Paulina’s terrifying, judgmental glare.

Tucker adjusted his glasses and looked over his notes. “Uh, he is… charmed? Yeah, he’s charmed by you. And thoroughly seduced.”

Paulina’s glare relaxed as Dash pumped his fist in the air.

“Nice,” Star said, “I’m going to say to him ‘Excuse me Sir, but we’re looking for a young woman who was taken from her home by orcs. Could you help us?’”

Tucker stared at his plans, and the battle he’d set up, and wondered how Danny and Sam were spending their evening.

.-.

As the horrible, horrible game continued, Tucker was almost positive that he’d angered a ghost. Maybe last time he’d gone with Danny to visit Dora he’d offended one of her subjects. Maybe the gem of fantasy was actually a ghost with a grudge. Either way, he had to have upset something supernatural for this to still be happening.

“So, the four of you have found a map,” he said, any trace of enthusiasm deader than his best friend. “And you feel a pull towards the town with a dagger stabbed into it, but it’s not necessary. Aside from the river, it’s the only thing on the map-”

“I vote we check out the river,” Star said.

“So do I,” Paulina said, staring Tucker down. “But before we do, Melody’s also going to grab the dagger. It was stabbed into the map, it has to be good for something, right?”

“Oh, yeah, right.” Tucker had not planned for this, and now stared blankly at his notes.

Paulina tapped her nails on the table. “What does it do?”

“It… gives you plus one on survival checks?” Tucker said as he tried and failed to pretend he knew what he was doing.

“While they’re doing that,” Dash said, “Kwan and I are going to loot the bodies of those orcs we killed for better armor.”

“Wait,” Tucker started to say, “they’re not wearing any-”

“I rolled a nineteen on armor finding.”

“Is this a wisdom or intelligence roll?” Kwan asked, and Star started to give Tucker an annoyed look.

“Wisdom,” Dash said, “so seventeen for you.”

Star crossed her arms, “When are we heading to the river?”

Distantly, Tucker heard his phone ring. That settled it; there was definitely a ghost out there who hated him.

.-.

“You arrive at the river,” Tucker said, almost completely monotone, “it looks deadly.”

“How deadly?” Kwan asked.

“Very.”

“I’m going to make a survival check to see if we can cross it,” Paulina said, and rolled her die. “…That’s a nine.” She gave Tucker a pleading look. Star narrowed her eyes.

Tucker stopped slouching a little bit. A nine was… a fail, wasn’t it? So he didn’t have to get them across the river? “With a nine, you can see that the river is super deadly, and you want to go to the town.” Dash and Kwan were whispering to each other. Tucker ignored that.

“I’m going to persuade her to stay,” Star rolled her dice, “that’s a fourteen, so I tell her ‘we’ll be fine, it’s not that bad.’ And I’m going to take a running start and leap across it.”

Tucker stared at her. “What?”

“Before she does,” Kwan said, “I’m going to tie my rope around her waist and to one of the trees behind us. And I’m going to tie Dash’s rope to that and the tree. And then I’m going to hold them there!”

Tucker was still staring. “Why?”

“And then I’m going to leap across too,” Dash said, giving Kwan a fistbump while Star nodded approvingly. Before Tucker could say anything, he’d rolled his die and another natural twenty stared up at them.

Tucker stopped functioning. He had the mental image of an error screen and just stopped functioning. He had no idea what anyone else rolled; at this point, it didn’t matter.

“Sure,” he said, “yeah, sure- you leap across the river, and guess what? You go so far and so fast that you just break the sound-”

Tucker’s window shattered and Danny Phantom slid across the table, taking character sheets and dice off the other end with him.

“Hi, Tuck,” he said, weakly waving a hand as he pulled a piece of paper off his face, “nice to see you, could really use your help- why is almost my name on this piece of paper?”

“Ghost boy!” Paulina shouted, and Danny scrambled to his feet.

“Hello-” he cleared his throat and lowered his voice, “hello, citizens! I did not mean to interrupt… whatever this is.” He motioned to Dash’s character sheet. Danny lost his superhero voice for a moment, “What is this, anyway?”

“Dungeons and Dragons, Phantom!” Kwan said excitedly, shaking the shoulder of Dash, who looked like he was experiencing an error message of his own. “Do you want to play with us?”

Still holding Dash’s character sheet, Danny looked over at Tucker in confusion.

“I regret everything, dude,” Tucker said, “everything.”

[oltnews]

Small fires everywhere is an adaptation of the novel by Celeste Ng which I saw people get carried away for the first time when I worked at the Strand bookstore. It was adapted from a Hulu mini-series starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington respectively Elena Richardson and Mia Warren - two mothers from different socio-economic backgrounds who met in Shaker Heights, Ohio in the 1990s, and whose lives merges. The show has proven to be a master class on race, motherhood and class, but one of its most courageous actions is to make the protagonists at once so deeply unsympathetic. (Spoilers for Small fires everywhere) I know we often talk about allowing women to be hateful in the media, but I think even with that in mind there is a desire to turn malicious forces into girls. Again Small fires knows that you can take stock of race, class and other issues without making someone a clear "hero" or a clear "villain". Elena is the well-intentioned white woman who probably voted for Donald Trump because there was something about Hilary Clinton that she didn't like. Elena recounts how she "walked with Dr. King" and that her mother helped integrate high school into their town of Shaker, Ohio, but when she comes into conflict with people of color, they instantly become "them" and "other". "They infest his perfect world and instead of being someone with emotional and social empathy, he is someone who smiles at someone's face and tells them that they are garbage. her lesbian daughter, whom she has clearly isolated in their family unit, she does not see how her actions harm her own child. What makes Elena interesting is that she is not one note. When she first sees the situation of Mia and her daughter Pearl (and assumes that they are homeless), she indeed wants to help them. However, the darkness is that she wants to be praised for this. Her selflessness is supposed to be rewarded - if not by her peers, then absolutely by the person she helps. Elena is also frustrated in her career because having four children, back to back, prevented her from achieving her own journalistic dreams. It is a person. Kerry Washington's Mia Warren (née Wright) is also an incredibly complex character as she is also deeply not very friendly. We spend a lot of episode six "The Uncanny" to see the story of Mia as a young woman. She was the child of Jamaican religious immigrants who half supported her artistic dreams in New York. She thrives in the city with her art, her teacher (who becomes her lover, a lot to unpack there, but not yet), and has her beloved brother as the only family link. When Mia is asked by a black couple, the Ryans (played by Jesse Williams and Queen Nicole Beharie) to be a surrogate for them because of her resemblance to Mrs. Ryan, she agrees. Then a series of tragedies led her to decide to keep the baby, lying to the Ryans about what happened to the child. The relationship between her daughter Pearl and Mia is difficult to break. Mia clearly loves Pearl, almost as stuffy as Elena, and it is clear that Pearl is a well-groomed and intelligent young woman. However, the transitional lifestyle to which Pearl was subjected as a way for Mia to maintain her artistic independence and not risk losing custody of her daughter is emotionally abusive. In addition, despite Mia's progressiveness and racial awareness, she clearly did not pass this on to Pearl, who is easily sucked into the Richardson white suburban domesticity despite the way the children speak to her. May's decision to keep Pearl will undoubtedly divide people, especially because surrogacy, especially for the money, is a complicated issue. For anyone not familiar with the Baby M case of 1988, it was a case where a woman agreed to be inseminated for a family but then decided to keep the baby after birth. Finally, the baby was placed in the care of the family of his biological father, his biological mother having been visited. Years later, when "Baby M" reached the age of majority, she was able to decide for herself the identity of her parents. Surrogacy is controversial for reasons like this, due to problems with the reproductive organs and the fact that if you are poor and need money it may seem like a promising thing. It does not prepare you for possible emotional consequences like postpartum depression or the risk of attachment. Even in the situation where the Ryans were black as well as Mia, their class and Mia's financial desperation put her in a position where it was difficult to refuse this kind of money. Author Celeste Ng spoke of the fact that she did not initially specify the race of the Warrens. "I knew I was involved in race and class," said Ng Buzzfeed. "And I had lessons in there [Mia is an artist and makes ends meet as a server at a local Chinese restaurant] and they literally come from outside of Shaker, and they behave differently. But then run, you look at my face, and people tend to think I'm not from here. There is this visual impairment. " But Ng did not want to do the Warrens Asian American, because of the central scenario involving the adoption of an Asian American baby and also because she "did not want [she] was the person who could give life to a black or latina woman. " The change occurred when Witherspoon and Small fires co-producer Lauren Neustadter raised the idea of ​​launching Washington. "I don't want to do JK Rowling and pretend that, all along, I thought about it. I thought of her as a white character, but I always explored these more important power questions. With Kerry, you have a way to explore the racial dynamics that I have not been able to explore in the book. And that, for me, told me that they looked at the show in the same way that I looked at the book. these questions of power. " Mia's failures as a mother do not detract from the racism Elena has toward her and the character of Bebe Chow, another low-income woman of color. This is important because people like Elena are not only racist towards the "wrong" types of people of color, they are racist towards everyone; they just pull exceptions to add to their circle. Because when you live in a reality of privileged white decorated with taste, a little color does not spoil the decor. Elena's own difficulties with a sexist world have not made her a nicer or more compassionate person, because she thinks that the lack of struggle she gave to her children means that she is a good mother. . His abandonment of a promising career to have children is the "right" thing, while berating someone like Bebe who had to abandon his child because otherwise they would both starve. Watching the last episode with Bebe Chow fighting with Linda McCullough was a perfect example of how the series manages to highlight the complexity of motherhood with tough choices. Both Linda and Bebe sympathize with me. Linda has dealt with infertility and she loves Mirabelle / May Ling. However, Bebe's situation of abandoning her daughter in a fire station is tragic because she was alone, poor and suffering from a postpartum episode. She did not have the capacity to take care of her child and abandoned her in order to protect her baby. However, she did not stop looking for her child. When asked how she plans to maintain Mirabelle / May Ling's cultural ties, you can see that this is a problem of which Linda only slightly understands the importance. It was an impactful moment for me because even though "race is not everything", the McCulloughs total inability to empathize with Chow, their own micro-attacks and their ignorance (like having fortune cookies) on the girl's first birthday), show that while they have a lot to offer this child, they are not at all prepared to face the race. Given the absolute contempt with which they treat the biological mother, are these people ready for the day when someone treats their Chinese daughter with contempt because they do not immediately see her wealth? Are they ready for their daughter to be different? Having to endure the same micro-aggressions as the Warrens? It's a complicated question and there is no easy answer, that's what makes the show so complicated. There are no heroes, just people who do their best and sometimes it is not enough. All filled to the brim with melodrama, Small fires everywhere uses this element to expose the limits of sympathy for fictitious female characters and ask: do you need to love them so that they have a valid point? (image: Hulu) Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site! —The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that prohibits, but is not limited to, personal insults to anybody, hate speech and trolling.— Do you have a tip that we should know about? tips@themarysue.com (function(d, s, id) var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); https://oltnews.com/little-fires-everywhere-explores-race-and-micro-aggression-the-mary-sue?_unique_id=5ea072a19e4b5

[anautisticdragon-blog]

Atypical

Sigh.

Where do I even begin with this? So, Netflix wants everyone to believe that all autistic people are these violent monsters, prone to rape, stalking, physical abuse, and worse. That might be true of manipulative sociopaths, but usually autistic people just mind their own business and don't make a habit of punching women. I want to just point out that from the autistic people I've spoken with who've been involved in long-term, loving relationships versus the neurotypicals I know who break up every three months or so? Yeah. And is it autistic people who're the people you usually find involved in domestic abuse statistics? No.

This is the kind of thing that plays on my mind's desire to be tribalistic. I have to take a very, very deep breath and remind myself that whilst it's true that some neurotypicals can be vapid, hollow-minded, manipulative, borderline, and nauseatingly parasitic, that's not really true of the majority.

I want to think that. I have to. I can't keep falling prey to the kind of tribalism that results in these smears being used against us. It's the golden rule. So, do the sordid examples of humanity responsible for Atypical fit the descriptors above? Yeah. I'd say that's true of the actors, too, for going along with it. Is this true of most people? Nah. And yes, there are autistic people who can be like that too. The problem is is that reality can be twisted by the 'default state.'

This is something I've talked about at length. At length. And I'm going to again. I'll do it until I'm blue in the face. I'll do it until I die. I'm sick of it. It's such an innate flaw with teh human condition. I actually think we need an AI to conquer and nanny us because we can't get over something so easily conquered. If I can be aware of it and fight it, why can't others? Why would a show like this ever make it to Netflix? I'm not being unfair, I don't think. Do you remember the premiere of 'Neurotypicals,s' a series about the self-proclaimed "beautiful" zombie-vampires who prey on the unwitting by being degenerate manipulators? I didn't think so. That's because that never happened, of course.

And yet here we are, Atypical. A show that's doing basically that with autistic people, putting every horrible autistic stereotype front and centre. And why aren't we getting 'Neurotypicals?' That's because neurotypicals are the 'default state,' the correct way of being. That's how they view themselves, because they're taught to think that way, and they don't realise why it's wrong. That's why we have entitled white men who think that prejudice is 'those filthy plebeians who talk about me behind my back.'

This reminds me of Dreamfall Chapters.

I had a lot of faith in Ragnar before this happened. I still remember just how disappointed I felt in him. I wasn't angry. It was just sad. What did he do, what did Dreamfall do? It had a scene where someone was verbally stripped down and abused for being autistic. Ragnar's excuse? "If people in the real world can be so terrible, so can people in believable stories. Grow a spine!"

Lovely fellow. I really had more faith in him than that. You see, the problem was actually not that the prejudice was there in the first place, but the self-congratulatory air with which it happened.

No one called it out, there was no one to chide the abuser and speak up against a rather obvious social faux pas and taboo. It normalised ableism and made it appear okay, normal, and acceptable. It no doubt made ableists happy, to feel normalised by this game. That's just sick. What was Ragnar's response? He knew that this was the reason that people were objecting, but he stuck to his original argument and spammed it across the Internet in the hopes it would just go away. Eventually, of course, it did. Mostly because Dreamfall Chapters was a massive disappointment in and of itself, as a package, going far beyond just the autistic slight. It was forgettable, so I suppose that's a small blessing.

The thing is? This kind of thing keeps happening. Now it's happening with Atypical, which Netflix thinks is okay. Would Netflix have greenlit 'Neurotypicals,' do you think? I don't think so.

No, autistic people have to deal with this shit all the time. Frankly, looking at the current climate, things haven't improved much since I was young. And when I was young I was physically abused beyond measure just for being autistic. I think that things for autistic people right now are worse even than for people of colour and women. It's unfortunate that I have to say that, but look up the Judge Rotenberg Center and tell me I'm entirely off the mark. In fact, have a read of this letter.

When was the last time this happened to a neurotypical? And this is what fires my brain to get tribal about it, to despise neurotypicals. Because NTs are blind to this, because they never take notice, because they think it's funny and cute to take the piss out of autistic people? It creates this division, this tribalism, and it's really difficult to fight it. It feels like a one-sided fight. I feel that, as an autistic person, I am fighting my own mind -- day in, day out -- to not despise neurotypicals. And every day I see new examples of neurotypicals abusing us, treating us like shit, or just having a 'good old laugh' at our expense.

It's really tiring, you know?

The whole 'default state' thing sickens me. If you're white, healthy, cishet, privileged, good for you! You're the 'default state,' you're neurotypical, you're 'normal!' That's great! Now look around you and see how many people are weaponising that to make the lives of others miserable. I'm so detached from humanity that I've even become sensitive to the prejudices in fantasy settings, which I've discussed in prior posts. Often I feel more sympathy for and open empathy towards non-humans than humans.

The humans in fantasy settings just always come across as the abusive, nasty examples I've had to deal with all my life. The non-humans feel like autistic people, persons of colour, and those others who're outside of the 'default state.' I mean, when a neuronormative person who's a part of the 'default state' and not aware of it, when they look at a picture of a bunch of 'heroes' ganging up on a dragon, it comes across as 'epic,' to them, it's 'heroic.'

I see a bunch of looters and bandits, who've burst into someone's home with murder in their eyes. I see the dragon as someone who's found themselves in a position where they have to defend themself against invaders, against people who'd kill them for no reason other than that they're a dragon. That makes me feel a little ill. This is the world I live in, where even fantasy prejudice affects me. I can't help it. When I live in this reality, one where Atypical is a thing, can you blame me?

I'm going to end this on a more positive note and give a shout out to my favourite boys, the McElroys. They've been making strides in trying to be inclusive. What I will say is that if you really want to do that, one thing I'd love to see in The Adventure Zone is a believable autistic character. One that isn't just all about the stereotypes. I'd really love to see that. One that isn't portrayed as sociopathic (which is wrong) just because they have so much empathy it short circuits them sometimes and they have to withdraw, and so on. I'd really, really appreciate that.

This is why I'm glad I don't watch 'normal' TV any more. Fuck 'normal' TV. Fuck Netflix, frankly. I'd prefer something that's inclusive and doesn't make money off of ruining the lives of others. So, yeah. Fuck Netflix. I'd prefer to give my money to people who choose to be inclusive and permissive. That's something I truly value about the McElroys, and they're a constant example to me that neurotypicals aren't all terrible, awful, parasitic, exploitative people. Whenever my mind wants to fall into that pit trap, I remind myself that they exist.

Could be that they're all as autistic as fuck, of course. Heh. But I doubt it. I'll just take them as examples of good neurotypicals, proof that they can exist.

I know this has become a bit of a thing to say about them by this point but... They're good boys. I wish that more people could create entertainment founded on the truly inclusive ideals that they have instead of othering people for entertainment. That shit is harmful. It's going to just reinforce negative stereotypes of autistic people, and autistic kids are going to grow up to another generation of people who aren't self-aware enough to realise that Atypical and shows like it aren't accurate depictions of autism.

At the end of the day, though, I don't hate neurotypicals. I won't. In fact, I categorically refuse to let tribalism win. I want to reach them rather than just turning this hate back on them. So I'll just say that I wish that more of them were aware of this 'default state' is really toxic, and how miserable it makes the lives of others when it's weaponised for their entertainment. It's really not cool.

Not cool at all.

Edit: So, I've done some more reading about this and the autistic community at large seems to be in consensus about Atypical. It's generally just neurotypical writers creating a 'ha ha, look at the idiot' show for other neurotypicals. It's quite painfully obvious in how they did their best to avoid casting autistic actors for the main role, as that may have -- oh no -- resulted in someone calling them on their evil BS.

It gets even better. Check out this review from TV Line. The excuse this reviewer gives is golden. Apparently, for not being the default state -- O Glorious Superiority -- autistic people are unfit for television. We need neurotypical actors to humanise us. What the actual fuck? This is precisely the kind of ableism shows like Atypical promote. It's pure exploitation.

It really is just exploiting us for NT yuks, pure and simple. It's awful, honestly. I watched bits of it here and there and I couldn't stand it.

I saw one post on Twitter that had the following exchange:

"So, you're going to marry your best friend..." "Edison?" "No, not your turtle!" "But you said my best friend!"

And this was followed with 'Atypical is my new, favourite show.' Why? Because it's funny to laugh at the poor, sub-human, troglodytic autistic retards? Oh, poor little hobgoblins.

Sigh.

My brain wants to give into the hate so badly, I can't convey to you how difficult this fight is when all I see are neurotypicals talking about how fantastic Atypical is.

It fucking hurts. It just makes it all the more difficult to not just blanket hate neurotypicals. I am trying, believe me.

I am trying. But Atypical is also trying, it's fraying my last nerve.

That TV Line interview, god. Why do neurotypicals hate us this much? I can't get over it. I try not to make blanket statements but I don't exactly see neurotypicals talking about how bad Atypical is for us. Like I said, generally they're just being vapid all over Twitter and Facebook about how much they love it.

I'm trying so god damned hard to not blanket hate neurotypicals, then something like Atypical has to come along and make the fight against my own darker urges all the more difficult. I don't want to be responsible for that kind of prejudice. It's just so difficult.

I don't even hate them, I guess. I just... I hate them in a way for what I have to be, and the kind of fight I have to fight against myself to not hate them. Which may sound illogical, I know. I admit to having hated neurotypicals for the longest time for precisely this sort of thing. It hurts. It hurts a fucking lot.

I just feel that as much as I try to not hate neurotypicals, they want to hurt me back for trying to hate them twice as bad.

Why? Why is that?

I'm just going to leave this as another shout out to the McElroys, I'd love to see them talk about this. I think it'd do me good to hear neurotypicals actually decry this kind of thing. I just hope they happen to see this, I really do.

That TV Line interview... FML. I'll just leave this at that.

[promomagazine]

Charles H.Traub has an Eye for Everyday Beauty

By:  Anna Hilderman

Charles H. Traub’s oeuvre spans decades of street portraiture and multi-disciplined visual projects. His recent publications include Lunchtime, a vivid, sunlit assortment of 1970’s lunch-goers, and No Perfect Heroes: Photographing Grant, an interactive iBook that combines black-and-white stills with audio excerpts of the president’s memoirs. Herein, true to his body of work, Traub explains his motivation.

Q: Your photographs, particularly in your Lunchtime, are known for being up-close snapshots of pedestrians who are rather eccentric on their own. Do you photograph your subjects with your own dreamt-up character in mind for them?

A: The times were slightly different in the late 70’s. People were less guarded so one could approach them fairly openly. I photographed people because I was genuinely curious about who they were and I delighted in the projections they made. I was guided by the famous book, Presentations of Self in Everyday Life by the sociologist, Irving Goffman. My premise was and still is that people pretty much are what they are on the surface. I’m referring to a line now by Oscar Wilde: “It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible…” What one finds in the real world is as magical and probably more fanciful than anything anybody could dream up. The coincidences and ironies of the real world are perhaps more enigmatic than anything one could fictionalize. Frankly all photographs are a kind of fiction, what I call a taradiddle: a little white lie, a little absurdity. Like life itself, we fake it til we make it.

Q: How does shooting on the street in the late 70’s compare with today, when people go out with the expectation of being captured by street style photographers? Was there more room for the photographer’s vision?

A: There may be more room in making of what we call a “social landscape” image. But being able to go up to people with the question, “Can I take your picture?” may be more difficult. People are in a rush and are more sensitive about being exploited. You have to be honest in your approach! There’s a famous story I’ve often told; standing in 1979 at the corner of 5th Avenue and 57th Street, across the street at Tiffany’s was a gaggle of paparazzi surrounding a limousine. I was on the other side, sort of aloof, telling people I’m not with them. So who walks by, the most famous woman in the world, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, who stops in front of my camera and says, “If you need to take my picture, please be quick.” I said, “Mrs. Onassis, I’m not here for that purpose, thank you very much.” I’m laughing at myself and all those paparazzi across the street going after Charlie’s Angel Jaclyn Smith getting her wedding ring. So no sooner did that happen than John Lennon and Yoko Ono walk by and do exactly the same thing. I didn’t take their picture either…The truth is that everybody wants to be noticed, wants to be photographed. They have that coat and tie on for a reason and a sloppy dress that is more consider red than not. I believe, what’s worn is a deliberate decision. That’s what I’m interested in, the social fabric of the human condition.

Q: Is there an image of yourself that you hope to project?

A: I try as best I can to be put-together and, at the same time, I think people probably say: “He does something interesting, he’s a creative person” from the way I look. Consciously or unconsciously, I think we all dress in a manner that anticipates how we want to be perceived.

Q: How does the photographer-subject paradigm shift between shooting in Italy as an outsider vs shooting in Chicago or New York as an American?

A: If you’re really making serious observations through the camera, you have to always be an outsider, because the minute you try to be an insider, you’ve lost some kind of perspective on the subject. You’ve got to stay outside of it. Though I can try to express sympathy and empathy, I still have to remain objective about what I’m seeing.

Q: Our next issue is themed to unexpected perceptions. When revisiting your collections from the 70’s and 80’s, what stands out to you as “unexpected”?

A: I think the unexpected are the performers, the by passers. A photographer of my type has the means to acknowledge people and to give them a kind of dignity, a timelessness. There’s a certain baroque quality to my work. I like that; today I more consciously look for that kind of configuration, and I see it in the posing of people all the time. The character, the role-playing of people is what interests me. There are such things as stereotypes. My work aims to make collections of such and in order to create a body of work that tells us that something close to true.

Q: As the Chair of the Photography, Video and Related Media department at of The School of Visual Arts New York, how do you keep an eye towards digital innovation?

A: When I started the program almost 30 years ago, we were the first digital program anywhere. Frankly, all lens and screen arts education has to be digital. Aspiring creative image makers have to be multi-talented, transdisciplinary, and able to work in the dialogue and the management of the imagery that is constantly engaging us. I totally believe in the digital, in the idea of being an image manager, somebody who rethinks what an image can say: what I call a creative interlocutor. Using imagery as data, computational photography and understanding these means not purely in the technical sense or in the scientific sense but in their potential as a creative form of expression is the concern of the artist.

Q: What would you say to a visual arts student who lacks the resources to travel?

A: The cost of higher education is pretty ridiculous and hopefully a better government will help students find the resources to do something about their loans. Everything we do in the world is influenced by the lens and screen arts. We need to train a generation of people to be adept at it. If you are engaged in the creative possibilities of the digital, you have the ability to be employable. Young students who come from all over the world seem to manage the travel pretty well. Maybe the short answer is you can travel pretty much anywhere through everyone else’s pictures. The corollary to your question is that a lot of students are caught up in the personal world. The self, the memories of my childhood, and all of that overly preoccupy young students. This is a little bit narcissistic: “Oh, I have to explore my desktop.” I wish they would step out into the real world a little more. To give witness. I’m not sure they want to. It is not just the cost of travel, it’s the lack of curiosity and interest in the other.

Q: You can, as you said, stay in other people’s photography, stay so insular your own room exploring the computer and taking still lives of your own possessions.

A: Yes, I think people are more insular because the world is more complicated and threatening than it once was. The lack of curiosity comes from somewhere else. For example, if you make a reference to a student and later ask them about it, they often say: “I haven’t looked it up yet. “ Ironically, because it’s so easy to do in the realm of the circuit, they sort of slough it off or forget to actually do the research. What I’m talking about is a kind of generational slacking. Of course, I’m generalizing and perhaps acting a like an old fart.

Q: It’s certainly an excuse not to go further. Are there any old, unpublished collections of yours that you would like to see released?

A: There are several. There’s one called Bowery though I’m changing the name to Skid Row. It is a collection of portraits I took in the Bowery in New York and uptown in Chicago in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Then there’s a whole body of digital work, Still Life in America and several iterations of Taradiddle, which have yet to be published. I’d like for Still Life in America to be in a public space where people can interact with it and keep adding to it. I would do it both ways [digital and analogue]. I think working with big screens and having people be able to work with the images themselves is where we should be at, because everyone has their own dialogue and their own means of how to arrange it.