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firstpuffin · 6 years ago

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The infuriating politics behind Captain Marvel (2019) [with spoilers]

I watched Captain Marvel the morning of writing this and to make things clear: I liked it. It was fun, I enjoyed her character (which I’ll expand on earlier) and best of all it wasn’t in-your-face feminist propaganda. I call myself apolitical, the “a-“ prefix meaning “not” so I am “not political”. I’m not a feminist because there is modern baggage behind that word and there are very few labels that I actually subscribe to. The ones I do usually have the “a-“ prefix, so that probably says a lot about me.

I hate that I have to bring this up but people, including people whose opinions I generally respect, can’t see past the politics of a situation. I’m not not a feminist because I don’t believe in the cause; I do. I’m not some kind of red pill manist or whatever they are called, because I’m comfortable in myself. I’m apolitical because I see the content first and the agenda second. And Captain Marvel has good content.

Yes there are issues. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t find problems with fiction. Where did Mar-vell get the Tesseract after Stark found it in the sea? Why did only Carol get powers from the explosion and not the others who were there? And it most definitely had the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s villain problem.

To make it clear this article is not about the film, it’s about people whose reviews repeatedly talk about the freaking patriarchy. Such as yes, Jude Law’s character is revealed to be a part of the conspiracy to suppress her true self. As a man he is clearly oppressing our female hero-

Or maybe he’s just a bad guy. You know, the bad guy. The villain. And we all know that if he had been a woman instead then the same people would claim there were too many women in the film thus feminist agenda. You know what has too many female characters? The Supergirl television show. But if you were to switch everybody’s sexes then it would look like an ordinary male-lead show. You could consider that as them pushing a bit too hard, but it is not only understandable but is also far from the worst part of that show.

So, our antagonist is suppressing the powers of our hero. Maybe that’s because as we see in the final part of the story (what is known as the Falling Action and is when the heroes turn things around) she is practically unstoppable. Maybe it’s because they are trying to use her. Maybe it’s because he shot her out of the sky six years ago and is responsible for the death of the person she admires most and is possibly the person who wiped her memory. Maybe it’s not patriarchy but assholery.

I started watching one review that said it was bad because it didn’t follow the Hero’s Journey, an old method of story-telling that he claimed is essential to a good story (which it isn’t, especially in our post-modern age) and while it seemed to follow it at the beginning it quickly departed. How? Well the mentor character (Jude Law again) wasn’t actually a mentor character, he just pretended to be one. Except he was a mentor, but the twist (admittedly a predictable one) was that he was a villain. And if you think that doesn’t count, then look at it this way: he’s training her to be a bad guy too. So he’s still a mentor.

And he claimed that there was no “call to action”, which is the reason why the hero ventures out to adventure, saying that she was just “sent on a mission”. And yes, that wasn’t a call to action (except maybe in the most literal sense), the call to action comes later when she discovered hints about her past and found out that everything was in danger if she, the only person in the position to do so, didn’t help; by which I mean she was the only member of her organisation on Earth for the next day. If galactic danger and self-discovery aren’t calls to action then just what is it that motivates most stories?

So clearly this guy wanted to dislike the film. I stopped watching less than half way through his video after he said patriarchy for the fifth time. Like, shut up about it already.

The next complaint that I’m going to cover is that apparently only boys like comics and so a strong female character is off-putting? I’m not sure, this guy confused me. Yes, comics were (and possibly still are; I don’t check demographics) aimed at young teenage boys, hence the silly action and terrifyingly bombastic female figures (like seriously, those proportions would be fatal). But you know what I like? To use my own terminology, capable characters.

I don’t use “strong” as an adjective without purpose because it has connotations of physical power, which isn’t what is meant by “strong female characters”. I use capable because I feel it is a better fit. Carol Danvers is capable, strong and generally badass anyway. Why? Well for one thing, she always gets back up. You know, that thing that Captain America always does? That is important to his character? She does it too, and it is hinted at all throughout the film so it isn’t just some cheap “drama” for the climax.

I’m going to go full nerd here and talk about anime. My favourite characters in the action genre have always been those who stand back up. They get beaten down (physically or mentally) and force themselves back up. It’s cheesy as all hell and it is done in anime better than I usually see in western comics or films and stuff. It’s cool, it’s dramatic and it works really well at getting you to root for the hero.

Many people probably know of Dragon Ball Z and we see it in Goku, the hero of that series. I’d also like to point out that when it comes to raw power, the Dragon Ball fighters are similar yet stronger than Captain Marvel. A character in the series who is less frequently called “strong” is Bulma. She isn’t a fighter and she doesn’t have all of the superpowers of Goku or the others, but she’s a scientist who often provides support. More than that though, she never lets her lack of planet-destroying power prevent her from standing side by side with the fighters. Heck, she stands up to literal gods when they piss her off.

She is what I think of as a capable female character, because she can’t kick ass but that doesn’t make her weak.

Growing up, Carol Danvers is obviously what we call a “tomboy”. She wants to do what the boys do and she pushes herself to do so, despite being condescended to regularly for it. She literally gets knocked down, she falls and she (again literally) crashes and she gets back up. Even more impressive for me is that she is mentally and emotionally shaken, but stands up again to protect others and to regain control of her life.

And there is nothing in that above paragraph that is uniquely masculine.

A girl can fall over and stand back up. A woman can be emotionally manipulated only to pick herself back up. And because they aren’t masculine actions, seeing a female character do so isn’t at all feminism. It’s just a person doing what a person does.

So, what else? Well there are complaints about her character being “snarky” or her being a bad loser (she is beaten in a sparring match and lashes out). Except I loved seeing her cocky mannerisms (which are common in male action heroes) and her obvious pleasure to be doing something, because it’s pretty clear that they haven’t let her do anything but train for the last six years. And this isn’t patriarchy again, she is in a military group with strict guidelines on when you are ready to go into the field (plus as we know, they are scared of her power).

She was bored, she was restless. She’s a character who obviously like to act, being held back. That’s why she lashed out; she was frustrated and angry at not doing anything and yes, it could be seen as a flaw. But it’s a humanising and understandable flaw if you just try to empathise with her instead of looking for things to dislike. And one last point, Jude Law’s character said that if she couldn’t control her power then she’d have to visit the Supreme Intelligence(SI), who is a sort of commanding officer (I don’t know the terminology). So what does Danvers do? She uses it. It is not a stretch at all to suppose that she may have intentionally lashed out so that she could confront the SI. Plus, they are all something that we see again and again in male action heroes.

Yes, I keep comparing her to male action heroes and that’s because she is also an action hero. They will have similar traits regardless of sex or gender. She is confident and willing to have a laugh and it is great to see.

And finally, and this may come across badly but hear me out first, I loved seeing her smile. I don’t mean that in the “give us a smile, love”, but in the “she’s excited” way. I love to see people excited and when she’s about to go on a mission or when she’s figuring out her powers towards the end, she is clearly having fun.

I’d love to see that in a male character too, it doesn’t matter. Seeing action heroes excited to do what they do, is great. Again, that’s something we see a lot in anime so it’s no surprise that I like seeing it here.

This has run longer than I intended so, to conclude: Captain Marvel is an action hero who is frustrated from doing nothing for six years and when she gets the chance, she acts. She is driven, her power is suppressed and she is oh-so clearly a good person. Oh, and she’s confident, which I suspect is a big problem for those who are not used to seeing it.

-Note= I found it interesting that according to the dictionaries I looked at, bombastic means flowery or pretentious language; think of people who use excessively complex language. But as soon as you look at how people use the word (including but not limited to Urban Dictionary) you see that is not only how people use the word. Language is fascinating.

-Note= Releasing these every two weeks isn’t working, I can’t keep it in mind and so I keep missing the upload date. Instead I’m considering releasing a short 500 word-ish between uploads, just to keep myself from slipping.

#first puffin #captain marvel #marvel #movie #opinion #agenda #feminism #thosetagswilldofornow

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jeanjauthor · 6 years ago

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Resting Writer’s Face

Just shared a post where black men have days & places where Resting Bitch Face is a thing...and it made me think of the fact that Resting Writer’s Face is also a thing, but I did not want to hijack that thread, because it is too important in tone and content, and this is like, veering away and doing a 270 loop to go off in a different direction.

With that said...

Resting Writer’s Face isn’t quite like Resting Bitch Face.

First off, what is Resting Bitch Face? Urban Dictionary and Wikipedia both list it as essentially the expression on a face (usually a female’s) that appears to a particular viewer to be mean, contemptuous, annoyed, irritated, cold-spirited, etc...when in actuality the person (again, the vast majority being female) is actually not feeling any of those emotions, or any other emotion, really.

It’s most commonly seen in females, because of Culturally Widespread Male Expectations™ that women are supposed to smile whenever a man is near, because females are supposed to be (pressured by culture & society) constantly pleasant and be upbeat and deferential and adoring and *gagging noises*...you get the point.

When a male does not receive this “beautification” of his world, he feels robbed of what he views as the “right way” that a woman should behave in his presence, or “the way that things are supposed to be.” And when he sees a culturally beautiful woman NOT smiling, he doubles-down on how “wrong” this feels...because doesn’t everything we consume in entertainment, media, culture, society, fantasy, etc, etc, all demand that Women Exist To Make The World More Beautiful For All (even the vast majority, and thust very mediocre, of) Men? *more gagging noises*

Resting Writer Face is...a little different.

It’s not really resting, for a start.

It can actually get pretty lively, even.

The “resting” part is still valid in the sense of unconsciously doing what it is doing. Because trust me, we writers aren’t always consciously thinking of what our faces are doing when we are, well, thinking.

Specifically, thinking about plots, characters, action sequences, dialogue, and the all important How Would The Character We’re Thinking About React In Such-&-Such Circumstances.

This. Happens. All. The. Time.

It happens at home oodles and lots (I’ll get to that in a moment), but mostly Resting Writer Face is a thing when it’s done in public. Because it happens when we’re out in public, walking around between one errand and the next, between car and work, work and lunch restaurant, work and car, car and dry cleaners, pet food store, whatever, wherever. And it happens simply because we’re thinking about, as I said, plotlines, character actions & reactions, dialogue, etc.

Talking to yourself in public used to be a shameful thing. Nowadays...not so much. So many people are conducting conversations on bluetooth headsets, into their phone at frikkin way too loud volumes that they’d never use to the person standing three feet away, but they use to the person on the other end of the phone three inches from their mouth, blah blah blah...but talking to yourself isn’t automagically a sign of mental health issues.

Besides, we’re usually talking to our characters, reciting bits of dialogue to test how it sounds out loud before committing it to a story, or we’re talking out our plotlines, or we’re poking at said plotlines or a particular scene to see where the holes are and whether or not we can patch them, or finding that perfect bit of clever dialogue that will goad one of the protagonists into slapping the speaker in outrage...

(My absolute favorite of that particular last one was from an old fanfic of mine, wherein one character goaded the other into slapping him by deliberately making their relationship derogatory by calling it nothing more than “a slap and tickle”...and ohhh boy, did she slap him! He honestly did not want to be horrid to her, but needed to get her to avoid him for a while out of pure plot reasons, so it worked very well. But I digress.)

However, even though it’s no longer publicly shamed, talking in public is still somewhat discouraged. So, a lot of us writers will go about our business thinking through the possible thoughts and dialogues and perfect one-liner quips for that dramatic moment in the story arc. We don’t say anything aloud, but we think it.

And that’s when Resting Writer Face comes into play. Because if we’re really invested in trying to find the perfect response, the perfect, “If ___ happens, then I (my character) would react in ___ way.”

And a lot of the time...our faces show those emotions, the grunts and grimaces, the scowls and grins, all in a mental rehearsal of our characters’ physical and emotional actions, reactions, and efforts...showing up unconsciously or subconsciously, or barely consciously, barely cognizantly, on our faces.

When we’re typing in front of a computer screen and another member of the household drops in on us and sees the Sometimes Very Scary Expressions our faces contort into during the mental gymnastics of feeling and thus recording the emotions we’re writing onto the .doc page (non-writers have no idea just how exhausting writing can be, for all it’s often “purely mental” in effort)...well, the first few times can actually be rather alarming for that other person.

I’ve had housemates and family members and friends all ask me if everything was okay, if I was mad at them, or upset at something they had done, and I”ve had to quickly break off what I was writing, give them a quick polite lighthearted expression, and reassure them, “No no, I’m (everything’s) fine! I’m just writing a really intense bit in my story! (No, really!)”

The first few times this has happened, I apparently looked pretty darn scary, and had to reassure them a few times that my Resting Bitch Face scowl or glare or whatever was actually Resting Writer Face, which is an actively emoting thing. That the emotions on my face weren’t my emotions.

By the fifth or sixth time I was getting interrupted...the other person usually just blinked, thought a moment, and asked “Writing hard?” and that was that, because yes, I was...and I’d usually stop and chat, or say, “Gimme a few moments” as I tried to get the thoughts in my head onto the page...which could sometimes stretch on to several minutes and I’d have to type some keywords to help me remember, or they’d say they’d come back later, and once I got it all out of me, I’d have to go look for them to find out what they wanted.

But that’s at home at the computer...so it’s obvious that I was writing. (clicketyclacking of the keyboard keys, etc, etc...)

When writers are out in public and our minds are busy with Writing Thoughts...we get Resting Writer Face. And by that, I mean Resting in the sense of relaxing our usual vigilance about Conforming To Cultural/Societal Expectations For Facial Expression Matching Publicly Acceptable Moods.

I’ve scared people by having Resting Writer’s Face about some fight scene, verbal or physical, while walking past those poor folks in public. Most of the times when I notice I’m scaring folks, I just quickly assume a more pleasant expression, or even say something along the lines of, “I’m not actually angry; I’m just thinking about something in a story I’m writing.” Which either gets me a “Ohhh, cool!” expression of relief or the Dubious Side-Eye of “Oookaaay, Weirdo” as they move quickly on their way.

...On the bright side, when I’m in dubious surroundings (catcalling males, or dimly lit sidewalks in less than safe areas, mostly), I will adopt a cross between Resting Bitch Face and Resting Writer Face. I will deliberately think about my protagonists being tough and badass and competently dangerous...and let those emotions and facial expressions take over. Not just my face, but the way I walk, the way I stand, the way I carry and present myself in a particular space. (I’ve actually even managed to get men to move out of my path by Doing This One Weird Trick.™ (lol))

I’ve also caught myself doing this to quell anxiety about things, like “What if a car crashes in front of me? How would I react to that?” or “what if someone tries to rob the bank while I’m in it?” or “What if someone at a nearby table in this restaurant starts choking? What is the Heimlich Maneuver again?” so on and so forth. These things are the stuff that isn’t even going to go into a book, but we’re still thinking it through.

Actually, a lot of people do this last one, not just writers...but I’ve found it’s most prevalent as part of what it’s like being a writer. And I’d definitely say the one group of people who are guaranteed todo it far more often than even writers do are actors. Because that’s their job, as actors.

So. Resting Writer Face. What it is, why it happens, how it differs from Resting Bitch Face, etc, etc.

Just remember that most of the time, we writers aren’t even aware that we’re doing it. We’re too caught up in the stories in our heads, both in trying to make them, and in testing how they play out, to see if any changes need to be made. And that’s not a bad thing!

I mean, if we’re working out a troublesome plot point (”How does my male protagonist get the female to ignore him for a month, so that the bad guys don’t try to kill her because of her interest in me? ...ooh, how about he makes her slap him, very publicly??”(or for whatever reason)), then it means we’re trying to make the story better.

And that’s a great thing for our readers...even if we make people a little wary of us at times during the story creation stages. At least, until they get used to the Writer Things™ we do.

...Also, this is why writing isn’t just what we do when we’re physically writing out the story. A lot of writing takes place in our heads before the words ever hit the page.

And because nobody pays us what everyone assumes writers get paid (not even 10% of what people assume, tbh), we usually are stuck doing all this hard mental word whenever we have a moment to spare...which includes when we’re out and about in public, doing our day job, running errands, buying groceries, you name it.

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babygirl06301 · 7 years ago

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Bleach asks: All of them (;

YES, BITCH! LET’S GOOOOOOO.

*I edited some questions/changed them to update the list since the show has ended and some were future tense or questioning about the future of the series*

1. Favorite male character:

Why is this such a tough question?!

Okay, I don’t wanna be basic and say that Ichigo is my favorite, but he is. At least, he’s my favorite main focus character. As far as supporting characters go, I’d definitely say Hisagi. I love him. Honestly, yum.

2. Least favorite male character:

Ōmaeda. 100%. He is my least favorite out of the main focus characters, the supporting characters, everything. He annoys me, he’s too incompetent at times, and sometimes he can be kind of an asshole. No to Ōmaeda.

3. Favorite female character:

Again, I don’t want to be basic, so I’m dividing this into main focus characters and supporting characters. They are Rukia and Rangiku respectively.

4. Least favorite female character:

This is kind of difficult for me, especially because there’s so many options to choose from. I’m gonna say Jackie just because she was probably the least interesting female character I can think of off the top of my head. I mean, her backstory was kind of interesting, but her personality didn’t hold my attention for long.

5. Favoritearc:

I’d probably say the White Invasion and Invasion of Soul Society arcs were my favorites. I really liked the aspect of seeing all the characters we loved fighting extremely tough adversaries. There were amazing battles in these arcs. That’s why I love both arcs equally because the second arc mentioned here contains the Ichigo vs. Aizen fight, which is my favorite fight of the series. It also contains my absolute favorite episode, scene, moment, whatever of the whole series: Ichigo’s goodbye to Rukia.

6. Least favorite arc:

I really didn’t like the Fullbring arc as much as I was hoping to because of the lack of beloved characters, but I talk about that later in this list.

7. Most attractive male character:

I think I’ve pretty firmly established that I love Hisagi. He is sex on a stick, as I often say. If you’d like to know my second choice, I’d have to go with either Ichigo or Renji, especially post-timeskip.

8. Most attractive female character:

I find Rukia quite beautiful, again, especially post-timeskip. She has a tranquil sort of beauty. I also found Nelliel very beautiful in an interesting way. So, I’d say one of those two characters.

9. Character I am most like:

Okay, so this is difficult because it’s difficult for me to describe or think about what I’m like, which sounds strange. I am quite sarcastic, cynical at times, I try to make lots of jokes, and I imagine I’m an overall kind person.

So, who does that sound like? Rukia maybe? I’m not as brave as her, though. I would also like to say that the deepest part of my soul is a mix of Byakuya, Tōshirō, and Ulquiorra. Just fed up, annoyed, and generally dissatisfied with the world around me (joking… mostly).

10. Favorite Captain:

This is so hard!

I love a lot of Captains, such as Byakuya, Tōshirō, and Kyōraku. However, my absolute favorite Captain is Kenpachi. He’s just amazing. Actually, I’m gonna cheat like I have with a lot of these answers so far and say that Shinji is also my absolute favorite Captain. I have two. So, there.

11. Least favorite Captain:

Mayuri is my least favorite Captain. I know a lot of people love him, and that’s great, but I just find his personality the least appealing out of all the Captains.

12. Favorite Lieutenant:

I mean… Hisagi. Okay, okay, I won’t answer “Hisagi” for everything, I swear. I’m gonna go with Renji for this answer, although Rangiku and Ikkaku are a very close second and third choice… and by second and third, I mean third and fourth because Renji is second because Hisagi is first.

13. Least favorite Lieutenant:

Again, I kind of answered this already, but Ōmaeda. I also didn’t like Iba as a Lieutenant or really as a character at all. He just never interested me.

14. Favorite Espada:

Out of the main Espada? Grimmjow, of course. I mean, who doesn’t love a little Grimmjow? (Ulquiorra is a very close second, though.) Out of any Arrancars that were ever Espada, that’s gotta be Nel. And, since I mention this in the next question, I’m gonna say that the Espada with the most interesting abilities is Baraggan.

15. Least favorite Espada:

Aaroniero Arruruerie would be my answer for this. I mean, his abilities were quite cool, but as a character, he was the least interesting. The Espada I find has the most uninteresting abilities (and coincidentally is another least favorite of mine) is Harribel. Her abilities didn’t seem as special as some of the other Espada, especially considering how high her rank is.

16. Favoriteopening:

My favorite opening can be located here. Ichigo and Rukia are just super cute at the end, and the song is really catchy.

P.S. - Please listen to the Kenpachi version. You won’t regret it.

17. Favoriteending:

I’m gonna go with this one because… *sobs*

18. Favorite Visored:

Gotta go with Shinji. His sass is legendary, plus he has hella style, and his Zanpakutō is bomb as fuck. I also love Hiyori and Kensei, though, if you’re interested in knowing.

19. Least favorite Visored:

I mean, I honestly like all of them, but I suppose Rōjūrō and Love are the ones I get the least excited over.

20. Favorite Fullbringer:

Chad. Is that an acceptable answer? He’s a Fullbringer. Other than him? I don’t know, Riruka, I guess.

21. Least favorite Fullbringer:

I said that Jackie was my least favorite female character, so you’d think she’d be my least favorite Fullbringer, but no, no, no. My least favorite Fullbringer is Moe. He’s a little shit.

22. Something I love about Bleach:

There’s a lot of things I love about Bleach. A lot of surface things like the battles, the character designs, the storylines. I’d say the key thing I love about it is the amazing connections that are made between the characters. I genuinely love each and every relationship between the main and supporting characters. There’s some really beautiful representations of love, as well as tension, as well as a million other things.

23. Something that annoys me about Bleach:

I mention this a little later, but I don’t like the borderline obsession that seems to exist with Tite Kubo when it comes to Ichigo’s character development. I know he’s supposed to be ultra-special as he’s the main character, but Ichigo doesn’t need to be every extraordinary being in the universe to be an interestingly complex and complete character. I’ll stop here as I explain it a bit more later on.

24. Character I would’ve liked to see get more development:

This question and the next are quite similar so I’m gonna get to cheat a little bit here and give a couple of answers. I would’ve loved to see Kira developed more. He’s got quite an interesting personality and an amazing Zanpakutō. Another one I would’ve liked to see developed more is Momo. She had an important role in the beginning, but that became more of a background piece as the series went on, and that’s a real shame. It would’ve been nice to be able to sympathize with her a bit more by knowing her better.

Also, Inoue. What. the fuck. happened? She had so much potential. She trained. She wanted to get stronger. She could’ve been an independent woman. She could’ve grown out of her childish obsession with Ichigo. She could’ve been a badass character, and I’m so bitter that she didn’t get the love she deserved.

25. Character I would’ve liked to see get a flashback:

Here is where I give my favorite answer. Are you ready? Here we go… wait for it… Hisagi. I mean, you can’t show us his introduction to Kensei as a child and not show us the rest! What happened afterwards? Did he decide immediately to become Shinigami? When exactly did he decide to get the “69″ tattoo? I know, I know, we do get like three flashbacks, but only one of them was actually, completely focused on Hisagi.

I. need. more.

26. My dream fight:

I would kill to see Renji vs. Ikkaku. Not seriously, obviously. I don’t want them to kill each other, but I want to see them fight in a setting other than sparring. They’re both very fiery fighters, they both have their Bankai, and their history together would make it really interesting.

27. Favorite episode card:

I have two, and they are very beautiful:

I’m so sorry, I have three:

28. Least favorite episode card:

There are a lot of bad ones, but this one:

I mean, did you even try?

29. How many times have I watched/read Bleach?

Just once. I have rewatched a few episodes that I really enjoyed, though. Also, I watched the anime up until it ended and continued it in the manga from there. I didn’t read the manga that corresponded to the anime.

30. Favorite Shikai:

I really like Kira’s, as I mentioned before. I also love Tōshirō’s as it’s kind of cool that it’s basically as powerful as his Bankai. I also like (guess who) Hisagi’s.

My favorite Shikai, though, is Shinji’s. I just find the concept of inversion really cool.

31. Favorite Bankai:

Again, Tōshirō’s is quite cool. Byakuya’s is also freakin’ awesome. However, I’m going to choose Renji’s Bankai. The aesthetic of it is very nice.

32. Who I’d like to see join Ichigo’s nakama:

According to Urban Dictionary, “nakama” means something like a friend group, but the people in it would be closer than just friends. I assume that means that Inoue, Chad, Renji, Ishida, Rukia, and maybe Ichigo’s family and school friends are already a part of it?

If that’s the case, then I’d like to see Ichigo get closer to Tōshirō, Hisagi (obviously), Kenpachi, Byakuya (that’s a big one), and Shinji (again, not surprising, and it’s also a big one). Other than Hisagi, Ichigo has developed interesting and unique relationships with each of these people and it’d be cool to see each of them grow.

I just want Ichigo and Hisagi to interact. You know, spar with each other, style their hair together, make serious faces at each other. They’d be beautiful as BFFs.

33. Something I would’ve liked to see as a part of the plot:

I mentioned earlier that I loved the relationships that were built in Bleach, and I would’ve like to see more interactions between Byakuya and Rukia. Seeing their relationship develop further or simply just seeing it with a wider lens would’ve been nice. And, just as an aside, you know who else I would’ve liked to see more with Rukia? Fucking Ashido. What the fuck ever happened to him?! I need closure!

Another thing is a little fucking clarification on how Souls work. Because they are technically another race. How did Isshin and Masaki conceive Ichigo? Does the very fact that they did conceive a child mean that Souls can reproduce? And does it have to be in a Gigai? The answer is no. I doubt Renji and Rukia did it in Gigai to have their kid, but the bloody source material didn’t tell me this, did it? I had to figure it out on my own! Is the answer that Souls can reproduce together, but a Soul and a human can only reproduce if the Soul is in a Gigai? Does the fact that Masaki was a Quincy make it easier for a Soul and human to conceive or does that not have anything to do with it?

Who gets to become Shinigami? Souls from people who’ve died? Are there even any other kinds of Souls besides the ones from the people who’ve died? Like… can Souls have little Soul babies?

How did Ichigo turn out to be human? Is he really half-Soul, half-human? No, he’s pure human (a Quincy, to be exact). It’s been said many times. But how? He has a human body, not a Gigai, but he can also transform into a Soul. How? Is it because Quincies can manipulateReiatsu so Ichigo can subconsciously use that ability to maintain his Shinigami form? Is it because he already has Shinigami in him because his father was a Soul? Does that mean that, in Ichigo’s Shinigami form, he’s only part of a Soul? Do his Hollow and Quincy powers combine to make up for the absence of a full Soul? But then, how could he be as infinitely strong as he is? Is the equation of 1 Hollow + 1 Quincy + ½ of a Shinigami really so powerful that it surpasses everything else in existence? Or is Ichigo a complete Soul when he’s in Shinigami form, and everything I wrote before this doesn’t apply? If so, how?

Souls obviously age because we saw Rukia, Renji, Hisagi, etc. all grow up from children to Shinigami, but were they once alive or were they Soul babies? Do Souls from people who’ve died age at the slow pace that the Shinigami age at, or are they permanently stuck at the age they were when they died? Do Souls just generate out of the blue?

How old is Isshin really? We learn how long ago he was a Captain and we know how old he looks, but if he was a Soul from someone who died, when did he die? If he just generated, when did he generate? If he was a Soul baby, when was he born? These are questions I need answered. It can’t be “just because.”

34. What is my ideal ending of Bleach?

I mean… let’s redo those final pairings, for one.

My ideal ending is just seeing everybody happy and healthy, as well as near each other. It’s also good to know what every character is doing after the end of the series. I really wouldn’t want characters to split and break off from each other never to see each other again. Everybody’s got to stay together, stay a group, stay a family. It’s important.

(Psst! This is me telling you how I would’ve written the ending and also being a little bit bitter because I know how it all actually ends.)

35. When did I first start Bleach?

Shit, I don’t know, a couple months ago? I watched through it as fast as humanly possible, so do the math, and you’ll figure it out.

36. Should Bleach have ended with Aizen’s defeat?

Ooooo, this one is interesting! As I haven’t finished the manga yet, I suppose I can’t accurately say, but I’m gonna give it a go.

Short answer: yes. Definitely the caliber and quality of the story was taken down a notch with the Fullbring arc. It could’ve been much more satisfying to have, essentially, a single villain for the whole storyline. Not to mention, after defeating Aizen, the Shinigami should’ve had next to no issues defeating some other adversary.

Long answer: no, if it had been done properly. I don’t think the arc that was done immediately after the Arrancar Era was awful, but I don’t really like the whole mentality of having to make the next thing bigger and more dramatic. I think it would’ve been nice to see the story revert or reset back to something nearer to the first arc where it was just sort of protecting the town, at least for a little while. I think it would’ve been a nice palate cleanser for the audience to sort of go back to the roots of it all. I think that could also be enhanced by developing the characters of Ichigo’s sisters (mostly Karin), as well as Inoue and Chad to become stronger and more in tune with their abilities.

Bleach had a lot of potential to keep going since there were many characters left unexplored or barely explored. It might’ve been cool to see the story shift its focus to be less about Ichigo solely and more about everybody all together, especially after you get Ichigo’s whole background story and there’s not much left to explore with him. Referencing the Fullbring and Quincy Blood War arcs here, a wider character focus would’ve been nicer to me over muddying the narrative by packing on more character traits, revelations, and abilities for Ichigo exclusively. Because, we know the story is about him, but at some point, his development could’ve comfortably come to stop in favor of focusing on some other characters.

37. Favoritefiller arc:

I actually can’t decide between the Zanpakutō Rebellion arc and the Reigai Uprising arc, so I’m going with both. They were very similar in that fighting your Zanpakutō and fighting your Reigai are sort of the same thing. They both know your fighting style, they both know the best uses of your Zanpakutō, etc.

I like the first arc mentioned because it was very nice to see everybody’s Zanpakutō manifested into their own characters and how each Shinigami felt about their Zanpakutō and vise versa. I also liked the storyline with Kōga and Muramasa.

I like the second arc mentioned a lot because of the relationship that developed between Kon and Nozomi. It was very beautiful and gentle, and I’m still bitter that Kon couldn’t have his own Gigai so he could be with her. Although, now she’s dead or moved or whatever, so… I also really enjoyed the history behind the Reigai and Mod Soul developments, as well as the ending of the arc where Ichigo completely Hollowfies and Rukia protects him from Ōko.

38. Least favorite filler arc:

My least favorite arc is the Bount Invasion arc, which seems to be most people’s least favorite. It just didn’t make any kind of sense, the characters were horrible, the abilities the characters had were horrible, I didn’t understand the characters’ motivations, I didn’t feel anything for any of them (sympathy, interest, etc.), all of it was bad. It also torched Ishida’s character for me for a long time, and I didn’t recover interest and love for his character again until the anime returned to the main, Arrancar storyline.

39. A theory I have:

Does it count as a headcanon to say that Ichigo and Rukia are in love, or is that just a given by now?

I mean, I do have a theory that Byakuya actually really likes and respects Ichigo. Which, I mean, you can tell that that’s the case when Byakuya says things that imply that Ichigo will save everybody or when you learn that he had enough faith in Ichigo to put his Reiatsu in a sword that gave Ichigo his Shinigami powers back.

But what I mean is that Byakuya really likes Ichigo. More than just as a fellow force of good. It’s difficult to explain, but I really feel like Byakuya thinks of Ichigo as almost a friend. At the very least, he thinks of him as an equal, if not a superior, which is a very intense praise for Byakuya to give as he takes pride in the superiority and power of his own skills quite a lot.

Bottom line, if Ichigo married Rukia (as he should’ve), Byakuya would 100% be proud and happy to have him married into the Kuchiki line.

40. Pairings I ship:

I’m gonna try to do all the fancy ship names, so bear with me.

I guess it’s pretty obvious by now that I ship IchiRuki. I’m also a multi-shipper with this series as I think ShuRan and GinRan both are very, very good ships. I also, obviously, ship HitsuHina primarily, but I’d like to note that IzuHina are an adorable couple as well. I ship ByaRen, but I also think ByaYoru would be a cute couple. However, I primarily ship UraYoru. I ship IkkaYumi hard. I love them so much.

I’ll wrap this up by saying that I do ship RenRuki, but not as soulmates as I see the IchiRuki ship. They’re more of a passing romance to me, although they are adorable together. I do not ship IchiHime, though. For Inoue, my ships would be UlquiHime (which isn’t meant to be a lasting relationship, but more of a heated moment of passion) and IshiHime. I really do believe that Ishida and Inoue would make a beautiful couple.

I ship other things, but I don’t want to ramble on forever, so these are my main ones.

P.S. - In case you don’t remember, I also ship NozoKon… and I’m still bitter.

41. Friendships I’d like to see:

I talked about some earlier when I discussed Ichigo’s nakama, so I won’t bring those up again. I’ll try to highlight characters that’ve never interacted before beyond combat or business or whatever. We’ll see how this goes.

I would’ve liked to see Tōshirō develop a friendship with Byakuya. They’re quite similar in personality, I think, so that’d be interesting. Maybe Renji and Kenpachi would be interesting as friends? Drinking buddies, at least. I don’t know, that’s all I got.

42. Series I would’ve liked to see Bleach crossover with:

I don’t know, fucking Attack on Titan. Let Ichigo and the gang kill some Colossal Titans. Why the fuck not?

43. Favorite Bleach movie:

Never seen any, don’t know that I plan to. Phew. That was a nice, easy, quick answer.

44. Best character design:

I think I’m going to use the character designs post-timeskip for this question, although, I was in love with both of Ichigo’s designs during the battle with Aizen.

It’s hard to pick just one character, but I’ve got to go with my boo, my love: Hisagi. Absolutely everything about him is perfect. From the blue stripe on his face, to the unfortunate “69″ tattoo, to the scratches on his face, to the explosive arm and neck bands, to his hair, to his sex appeal, just all of him. Yes.

I know I said I was going to use the characters that got a glow up after the timeskip, and Hisagi didn’t really have one, but fucking oh well (if the post-timeskip characters with glow ups were my only choices, I would have a tie between Rukia and Renji’s designs).

45. Worst character design:

This is a mean question, I feel. Oh, who bloody cares?! Ōmaeda. What the fuck was with that collar he always had and that God awful jewelry? I just really don’t like that guy.

Besides him, I didn’t like Kariya’s design at all. Actually, all of the Bount’s designs were crap. If you want something out of the manga, I wasn’t that big of a fan of Tatsuki’s glow up post-timeskip.

46. Shinigami, Visored, Fullbringer, Quincy, or Arrancar?

I added Quincy to this list, not because I prefer them or like them better or anything, but because it was a little rude not to include them. They have fucking awesome powers, bro.

But if this question is asking which I’d rather be as well as which one I prefer, then I’m going with Visored. You get the benefits of having Shinigami powers and a Zanpakutō (which is something I’d really want to have), plus you get all the cool Hollow powers, complete with your own, personalized Hollow mask.

47. Character I used to hate but now like:

You know, this question is interesting because my choice for this is Byakuya. He was painted as a villain during the Soul Society arc until the end, and I took the bait. I fell for it even though I knew he would become a cool character in the future, and I hated him. But now, he’s one of my favorite characters.

Another obvious choice for this is Gin, but I also love him now as well.

48. Character I used to like but now hate:

I don’t know that I’ve had this experience with any of the characters. I suppose I did like Aizen quite a lot before he “died,” and then I found out about his betrayal and hated him. So, I’m going with that. It was the same thing with Kōga, but I was trying to think of someone other than a filler character.

49. What division would I join if I were a Shinigami:

I would love to be a part of the 11th Division, but I’m nowhere near tough enough for that, so I’m going to say the 10th Division. Not that I couldn’t be proud of the other Captains, but I really feel like I could stand tall under Tōshirō. He’s a brilliant Captain, and I’m 100% convinced that he will become the most powerful Shinigami one day. Although, it’d be cool to be a part of the 6th and 13th Divisions as well, just to be under Renji or Rukia. And while I’m at it, the 9th and 5th Divisions would also be bomb as fuck because of Hisagi and Shinji.

I’m sorry, I’ll stop. I belong to the 10th Division.

50. Bankai I would’ve liked to see revealed or developed?

Um, everyone’s. There are so fucking many. So many. I’m just gonna list them: Hisagi’s, Shinji’s, Isshin’s, Rangiku’s, Kira’s, Yoruichi’s, Ukitake’s, Yumichika’s, Iba’s, Momo’s, Kaien’s, Hiyori’s, Ashido’s, even Zennosuke’s, the poor fucker who apparently wasn’t remarkable enough for Ichigo to remember his name, the list goes on.

And that’s that done! Thank you! This was so much fun! (And I definitely didn’t spend 5 hours on it.)

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latitudelongitudegratitudein · 8 years ago

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The alter ego I left behind in 2016

Hey boys! Who wants to go on a date with Satan? Come on down.

What would you think if someone offered to set you up on a date with a girl named Satan?

We’ve all heard about a girl that’s like Satan. She parties hard, drawing boundaries only around the things she has yet to do. She shows up in your life one day with her amazing shoes, brand new convertible, and whispers kinky things into your ear with her raspy voice (just like Elizabeth Hurley in Bedazzled) Who wouldn’t want to make a pact with the devil knowing that doing so would mean having the time of your life?

Let’s be real though, Satan is one of those “hot mess” girls (View Cobra Starship’s “Hot Mess” music video). A girl that is BFF’S with Ke$ha and vomits glitter for fun. The kind of girl who is a blast to be around but turns out to just be loose cannon after all. A girl whose life is a never ending party, always moving on to the next party, drink, bro.

She has been drunk for so long she can drink virtually anyone under the table, even men and her superpower is being insusceptible to hangovers (take that Batman). Basically, Satan has been avoiding responsibility all her life and is completely out of touch with herself.

Now, would a bro want to hang out with Satan? Hell yeah. Would a nice, responsible guy with a fully vested 401K want to go on a date with Satan? Probably not. Would she be someone they would take seriously? You guessed right. Nope.

Guys don’t want to date let alone “wife up” a girl who they think has seen, been, and experienced everything. Where’s the adventure in that, right? Not saying she has, but she makes it SEEM like it. It’s just the way the world works. Perception is reality.

Unfortunately for Satan, she seems all over the place. A party girl is...Well, let’s just take a trip down definition lane. If you were thinking Merriam-Webster you would be terribly wrong (she wouldn’t even have a shot in hell with Merriam or Webster, even though she runs the place). Say hello to Urban Dictionary:

A girl who will party hard anywhere, even if the party is shit she will get down and get naked. She likes to fuck, usually will either swallow or let you spray it all over her. Also prone to threesomes (including bi), and taking it in the wrong 'un.

A girl who simply likes to party. Every weekend she is seen at a party either drinking, dancing, or mingling. She may go home drunk or completely sober. Commonly associated with being whore, they are usually just 'wild childs', that party hard.

A girl who will hang out and have sex with a guy or guys who are sharing coke, ecstacy, crystal or other drugs with her.

Any female who constantly frequents nightclubs. She is entitled to always have a good time, with little or no responsibilities.

This is the general view the world has of party girls. Not a really good one. Satan is rarely seen as a girl who wants to settle down and change her lifestyle. She is not the type of girl who gives the impression she could be taken seriously in a relationship. Again perception is reality.

Well, hello there! I am Satan. Ha. Except not all the ideas that are used to define me are true. I do whisper into people’s ears with my raspy voice (mostly fart jokes), I didn’t develop an immunity to hangovers (still working on a formula). And most importantly, I do wanna settle down. It seems that I am a lot of things that I am not. I tend to give the wrong impression. I know.

I will spare you the gruesome details of how I got that nickname...let’s just say it involves many shots, lost shoes, frontal lobe damage, projectile vomit (not mine) and a tiny hat.

Let’s take another little trip. This one is down memory lane so you can understand the evil forces that caused me to be this way. (I say evil forces for dramatic effect don’t go and think I am part of some weird ass cult). And for all the Satan’s out there, don’t worry there’s hope.

When I was 13 I was a hopeless romantic, I always have, always will be, and don’t let me tell you otherwise. I believed Prince Charming was going to show up one day and take me on a magic carpet ride. (Yeah, I take the carpet over the horse any day. Plus having a tiger pet is cool as shit). You may be thinking “Alright Jasmin, relax!” But really, I believed he would show up, kiss me, and suddenly all the love songs would make perfect sense. (My boo, wherever you will go and I will walk a thousand miles follow). EW. If someone called me boo today I’d barf instantly. On their face. I wouldn’t be sorry.

Needless to say it didn’t happen. The prince flaked on me, found another boo and I remained single for the rest of my life. (With the exception of a two week boyfriend I had. He was a sweet kid but I broke up before I could develop feelings for him). Later on, I realized that I was terrified to bare my heart and soul to anybody. Yeah, I am a living contradiction. I wanted love, the whole shebang but I didn’t want to feel vulnerable. (Maybe the real reason why no one came).

Other than him, no other guy seemed to be genuinely interested in me. Boys noticed my body for the most part. I’d crush on my male friends on a regular basis, just to have them crush on my girl friends (no, I never went to them to confess my love. I’m much more chill than that and my pride wouldn’t have allowed me). They just saw me as their fun friend with a great sense of humor and a “hot” body.

So in my teenagey little brain I got what I thought was the message the universe wanted to send me (let the celestial trumpets blow here). “You are a girl to have fun with, your face isn’t cute but you can use your body. Boys don’t take funny girls like you seriously, they take bodies seriously though, so you might as well go out there and have fun.” And hell broke lose.

I decided that if love wasn’t going to happen to me. I was at least going to have a damned good time. So as a good rebellious millennial I said fuck love, fuck all those love songs, and fuck feeling unwanted.

I choose a bunch of badass bitches from movies and real life who had no fucks to give and I made them my role models. I did my best to model myself after them: Elizabeth Hurley, Angelina Jolie, P!nk, to name a few. I just wanted to be fun, attractive, and detached.

The thing is that at the end of the movie most of them did end up with the guy and I didn’t, but I didn’t care #thelieswetellourselves.

So I became Satan aka the party girl. I never prostituted myself for any substance, didn’t sleep with any dudes and I definitely never let anyone “spray it all over me”. I don’t judge anyone who has, I did my fare share of very wild things, but I am explaining my version of Satan. I am also explaining myself in case my mom ever reads this, please sympathize. (Sorry Mom).

Ultimately I have hid behind this Satan persona that I created. I tricked myself and built this fake confidence that turned into real confidence (fake it til you make it, right?). Still I always believed I had to rely on my body to get the attention I deserved from bros. A piece of advice that I should take is you get what you think you deserve so never sell yourself short. I slowly became a professional provocateur and flirtist (yeah, I make up words on a regular basis). I mean damn, I would have even flirted with my own shadow if I thought it was a hot bro.

In the love department I crushed on guys who were always unavailable and pushed some nice dudes away. I was too busy filling my kiss chart with strangers from all over the world to be bothered by nice dudes who actually saw right through me and wanted to take Satan out on a date. (I know right? Were they fucking crazy? I took my bad bitch role seriously). I know now that the crazy one was me. Haha (that’s me laughing at myself and the universe and irony).

I maintained this lifestyle for about a decade. Can you imagine how exhausting it was? Take it from me, worse than a 9 to 5. It felt great until it didn’t and then I had to make it great again, as all deals with the devil this lifestyle came with a price. I’m not proud of some of the prices I paid, some price tags included: too much alcohol, drugs, my dignity, my morals, and copious amounts of guilt and shame.

There were many times I felt depressed, lonely, exhausted and I just wanted to have a boyfriend like my friends. No one came and bad bitches are never sad, so I grabbed my tequila, put on mascara, played some house music and got my shit on lock. It didn’t take long till I found the next party. I lived in this vicious cycle.

Oh well, you can’t live in the past. Those days are over now. Now that I have grown a little, I realize I was too busy attracting situations and people that fed the beliefs I had about myself (my Satan self that is). Probably so busy that even if Prince Charming had stopped by with his magic carpet I would have either not noticed or looked the other way.

You may be wondering who hides behind the façade? Well, Hello, it’s still me. I can’t deny the wild and crazy parts of me, but they are not all there is to my identity. I disowned many parts of my authentic self to keep up with the Satan persona.

The parts I disowned never went away, I just never showed them. Qualities people never would attribute as mine but actually are. Like the fact that I am smart and yeah, sometimes I may have shown up drunk or hungover to class throughout high school and college but my grades were great and I NEVER failed a class. I graduated with honors. And even though I am relaxed I am extremely responsible, reliable and organized. It may seem that my life is a mess but I’ve got it more together than anyone thinks.

As an avid reader, I actually read about 10-12 books per year, including some poetry books.I know. Haha. I enjoy museums, playing video games, amusement parks outdoor activities, dirt bikes, go-karts, arcades and spending time around large bodies of water. But I strongly dislike bowling and beer (this should be my online dating profile). The list goes on but I wouldn’t want to bore you.

So yeah there is a lot more than what a person “seems” to be.

In the past year and a half I’d like to think I have grown up a lot, or enough to let myself be more me and less Satany. Also I have been going to therapy for 10 months with a cool, intense, brunette with amazing hair, and a dry sense of humor who sees right through all my bullshit. She makes me get real and raw (raw hurts by the way). She’s helped me expel the forces of evil from my brain, taught me about gratefulness, self-worth, and thanks to her I have gained self-awareness which is one of the most amazing gifts anyone has ever given me.

So let’s reassess yeah?

I am like all humans which means I have strengths, weaknesses, and I am working on myself to keep evolving.

Sometimes it scares me to think that people will never see past Satan, and by people I mean a decent guy (if he saw past Satan) who I could potentially be in a healthy long term relationship with. What If I meet a guy I really like and I inevitably project that image about me? It is really fucking scary and I go on panic mode sometimes...except I am aware. Woke if you will!

It’s not the same panic I have felt since I was 23 and I thought I was going to die forever alone, this one is much milder (like the green salsa). I no longer believe I will die forever alone with 10 cats (I don’t like cats anyways) and I don’t believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with me anymore. I just trust that I will meet someone when it’s the right time and that’s all. I don’t sweat it anymore. I am at peace and for know I enjoy the pleasure of my own fucking company.

When I do meet him, I just want him to see me and not just Satan (maybe Satan in the bedroom...Jk). So yeah I may feel a little worried about that sometimes but then I remember that I am super awesome, I have a bajillion things to offer, and any guy who locks me down should consider himself very lucky. (Yeah, yeah I will be lucky too but this is about me, not him and I haven’t met him yet).

To all the party girls out there, it’s cool to have fun but don’t let Satan become your identity. Don’t trade the good, funky and nerdy parts of yourself to keep this identity you made yourself believe is all there is to you. Remember your real friends and family will always know who you really are and so should you.

PSA: I’m going to repeat this don’t fucking sell yourself short and value yourself enough to walk away from any douche who just wants to “spray it all over you”. This may sound completely platitudinal but whoever you are wherever you are, you are worthy of love and respect. Learn to love yourself, know your value, and don’t put up with anyone who doesn’t.

P.S.S When I wrote this in September I feared that even though I had evolved, guys would always see me as a party girl. Thanks to the 10 guys from the post below I was able to understand what Michelle always told me. It was something like“ Jude, don’t worry. They will see you” ( Not just Satan).

I still worried. She was right, they saw me :)

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trendingnewsb · 7 years ago

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