#and being legitimately portrayed as attractive and cool

[charcubed]

Disneyland's Rogers: The Musical, propaganda that turns Steve Rogers into more myth than man, and revisionist history (possibly) to a purpose

Any of my thoughts in this post could just be me reading too far into things. I'm very aware of that, and please know that this post exists just because this sort of thing is fun for me! This is a thought exercise where we propose "What if we live in a world where the MCU is actually doing a cool and interesting thing as a longcon?" If you have anger at Marvel, that's valid and relatable, but please don't get angry at me or imply I'm an MCU stan who doesn't think critically about the mouse. Thanks!

Breaking news: I'm back on my bullshit!

A quick personal recap: I infamously hated Avengers: Endgame for a long list of reasons (and I even rewrote the movie). One of those reasons is that I've always taken issue with Steve's ending. But in the years since then, and as the MCU's phase 4 has evolved, my frustration at Steve's "ending" has turned into an ongoing and legitimate theory that the MCU could be slowly leading into a loosely adapted Secret Empire plot line. I know we've all been joking about Steve being trapped or about an imposter Steve since 2019, but uhhh, it's kind of not a joke to me anymore? It feels weirdly plausible at this point and so I enjoy discussing the potential.

You can find a full elaboration on that here, where I wrote out my "Steve was snatched by HYDRA" theory in 2021.

In that post, one of the things I mentioned at the time was Rogers: The Musical being in the Hawkeye trailer.

[The musical's] very existence is an example of how in-universe the stories of the lives of the heroes are being commodified, especially (in terms of how they’re framing it) for Steve’s. The heroes are no longer seen as people, if they ever were. They are, as Kate Bishop says to Clint in a recently released clip, more about “branding.” Sam Wilson will be redefining the shield moving forward in a Cap context, but simultaneously, the world is still enamored by Steve Rogers as a symbol in his own right. And that is ripe for manipulation as a Trojan horse to control public opinion… whether in the context of things like this by themselves (is the musical portraying Steve accurately, or is it painting an inaccurate picture of him the world accepts as fact?) or in future (is this propaganda that makes the public see Steve a certain way and continue to love him, to set up a fake or brainwashed Steve coming on the scene later?).

Now a form of the musical exists in full, at Disneyland and all over Youtube. Considering some of its baffling content – which I will break down below – this perspective seems even more strongly worth considering.

I have two main reasons for why I'm defending examining this musical so closely:

1. It is (arguably) an in-universe piece of media that has bearing on the MCU canon. It isn't like any other typical Disneyland attraction; its very existence is meta and it was in canon first. Obviously it's seen in Hawkeye, but there are also posters for it in several different phase 4 properties. It's lurking in the background indefinitely. So what can this musical tell us about what the wider public within the MCU is being told about the life story of Steve Rogers?

2. This Secret Empire graphic – which is animated in the center of the stage of a prolonged period of time – feels like a literal sign to pay attention.

Granted, this is obviously still ancillary material. 99% of the MCU audience will never see this musical, whether in person or on YouTube. But just because it isn't a vital piece doesn't mean it's automatically an entirely irrelevant piece.

They've given me an inch with that sign and I'm taking a mile.

So if you're interested, please join me on this journey :)

For the record, let me just say that I salute the creative team behind this show. It's pretty fun and the songs are catchy, the sets and costuming are cool, and the cast is overall very talented.

It's also fucking maddening. LMAO.

Why? Firstly, because of the seemingly deliberate ahistorical inaccuracies. We all know Ant-Man is wrongly shown in the Battle of New York, which originally "came from [the Hawkeye showrunner] and Marvel, as something to further aggravate Hawkeye as he watched the show, and also as a comment on how movies and articles and people always get something wrong." It seems like they expanded those meta nods, but most inaccuracies are now in service of glorifying Steve and Peggy's "love story." Yes, romance objectively makes for good theater; but again, I feel that this is worth examining considering the full context.

And secondly, Steve's ending is framed as an offer presented to him, convincing him it's the happy ending he deserves because he's tired. In my mind, these two big elements go together, and I'll walk you through the details of what happens in the musical before I tie the thought threads back around into some theorizing.

For your reference, here's a list of the main songs and story beats:

• "U-S-Opening Night" - the Starkettes (who are basically a Greek chorus) frame the show's story, and then it turns into an ensemble that loosely takes place at the Stark Expo. • "I Want You" – Steve's "I want" song about trying to enlist in the army. • "Star-Spangled Man With A Plan" – Steve performing on the USO tour obviously, and then there's a reprise with an added voiceover that (very briefly) covers the Howling Commandos' rescue + the war via comic book imagery. • "What You Missed" – Fury and the Starkettes tell Steve some pop culture things he missed while he was frozen, + they tell him about the Avengers. Then Fury goes down a list of other hero characters, including the Guardians? Doctor Strange? Wanda?? It plays loose and fast with time, because many non-2012 characters are bafflingly mentioned in this nonlinear Avengers list – including the Winter Soldier (???). • "Save the City" – this is the song seen in Hawkeye, with the civilians + the Avengers all involved, but it's slightly different here and expanded to also reference other battles. • "End of the Line" – Old Steve presents main Steve with the time stone as an opportunity for his happy ending, and they reflect on things together. (Yes, this is insane.) • "Just One Dance" – Steve and Peggy reunite and sing about their love. • And then there's basically a reprise of "Save the City," with the Starkettes and the whole cast closing the finale out.

Right out of the gate, let's address this: the main reason you're going to see some fans pissed about this musical is not only that Steve and Peggy's ~epic romance~ is made a pillar of the story... but also that Bucky's importance/involvement in Steve's life is minimized as much as possible.

And they took Bucky-related elements from canon and made them center more around Peggy instead.

• For some weird reason, Peggy is in the Stark Expo scene. When a soldier is hitting on the Starkettes ("hey sweetheart, I wanna dance!"), Steve tells the soldier to show the ladies some respect. The soldier grabs Steve and throws him down, and then Peggy swoops in to yell "Pick on someone your own size!" and punches the guy before walking away. So she's given Bucky's TFA line verbatim, and she is given the role he had of saving Steve from bullies. There is blatantly no reason they couldn't have had Bucky still serve that function and be truer to "history," because he briefly enters this scene in uniform less than a minute later to announce he's shipping out to the 107th – and then he spins off with a date on his arm. (We don't see Bucky on stage again until the full cast comes out for the finale!)

• After the Star-Spangled Man show, Peggy rushes in to talk to Steve. Steve is excited about his USO performance (???) but she urgently tells him to listen as she says that the 107th has been captured. Peggy apparently knows it's Bucky's division, and she knows Steve is going to go, so she tells him that she's already arranged transport for him. This is a subtle twist from the truth of how it went down in TFA, in which Steve recognized 107 as the number of Bucky's division, and his dogged determination inspired Peggy to relent and help his rescue mission. Here, Peggy is given a stronger role in the Cap origin story. And before Steve rushes off, Peggy sings a short untitled ballad hoping for their dance, so Steve pauses before he leaves to ask her to go on a date with her when he returns. • The most egregious Bucky-to-Peggy change of all is the song "End of the Line," in which the infamous Steve and Bucky line/promise (that broke Bucky's brainwashing...) is re-contextualized to be about ???? Peggy waiting for Steve in the past??? Old Man Steve and regular Steve sing it together. But we'll go back to that in a minute.

Again, I get it, yeah? It's for theater. Whatever. But in reality, the obvious logical truth is that Peggy is centered (to the point of taking elements from Bucky's story, and in turn Bucky is downplayed) because they needed to convince the audience that Steve going back in time to be with her makes sense. Steve's time travel ending had to be justified, so the Peggy and Steve "love story" had to be a pillar in this with everything else being given lesser weight.

And the inherent selfishness of him doing something as big as going back in time also had to be justified... which is why they do their best to convince you Steve fought so much he deserved it.

Let me elaborate on that by describing the lead-up to the "End of the Line" song.

So, right before "End of the Line" is "Save the City" – which includes Steve belting "I can do this all day!" repeatedly, of course. It's the 2012 Battle of New York as the Avengers come together to win.

As they begin to disperse, the song then transitions to a voiceover alert mentioning Sokovia being under attack by artificial intelligence (a.k.a. Age of Ultron). The Avengers group rushes back to center stage to say "Save the city! Help us win!" together for battle again.

And then things get fucking weird.

Because the next voiceover threat is "Washington DC. Attack: the Winter Soldier." This is not accurate to the order of events! The Winter Soldier events were before Age of Ultron; the public of the MCU would also know this.

And suddenly on stage Steve is now in the center while everyone else gestures to him. Instead of singing with him, they're telling him "Save the city! Help us win!"

Then, another voiceover: "Wakanda, under attack" (Infinity War) and again, Steve is centered while everyone else points to him. The ensemble says, "Save the city, help us win! Save us all from the state we're in! Got to hear you, got to hear you, got to hear you say..." as Steve is buckling to his knees under their pointing. And as the lights go down to one spotlight on him and everyone else leaves, he says "I can do this all day" one last time, but now it's subdued.

The implication is that Steve has been fighting and fighting, people leave him or he loses them, and he's tired.

And then fucking Old Man Steve arrives.

He says "On your left," because yes, they gave him Sam Wilson's line. BATSHIT.

So now there's two Steves on stage! There has been no mention of Thanos or infinity stones or anything up to this point! (I can only assume that's because in the MCU universe no one would want to be reminded of the trauma of "the Blip" – though it's pretty wild that they're allowed to know about magical time travel?)

Steve is baffled by Old Man Steve's arrival. I, too, was baffled by Old Man Steve's arrival.

As Steve questions how this is possible, Old Man Steve shows him the time stone from his pocket – and only the time stone – which Steve recognizes.

OLD MAN: "You've got to remember where you've been to know where you're going." STEVE: "Where am I going?" OLD MAN: "A date with destiny." STEVE: “Destiny. So we’re the hero till the end?” OLD MAN: “That’s the thing about endings, Steven. They can be rewritten.”

Lmao???????

Steve starts singing about how he hopes this means they "win" and calls himself a "tired hero."

STEVE: "But sometimes I wonder, who will save the savior? Can we really do this all day? So here I am, now and also then. Just a man, looking back at where he's been." OLD MAN: "The road is rough but wounds are healed by a thing called time. You can't forget what's waiting at the end of the line."

Me, watching this: the fact that he says this out of the blue makes absolutely no sense.

There's a bit more singing, including "end of the line" repetition, and then Old Man Steve pulls out the time stone to essentially show visions of... I don't fucking know. Past, present, and future?

That's pre-serum Steve, Steve with Mjolnir, and Sam Wilson as the new Cap. This is the only reference to Sam in the whole thing.

More singing, and then: Peggy's silhouette.

OLD MAN: "Can't forget who's waiting..." STEVE: "I can't forget who's waiting..." BOTH: "Don't forget who's waiting..." STEVE: "At the end of the line."

At this point I'm like, what in the hell?

Did Old Man Steve just brainwash normal Steve into thinking "end of the line" is now about Peggy? Because uhhhh, sorry, that's what it feels like!

Then Steve uses the stone to go back in time, reunites with Peggy, etc. etc. finale.

It's truly some crazy shit.

[drags hands down face]

Look... there's a lot to unpack here, and there's a lot that gets me about it. I know this is dramatized for the stage! I KNOW! But the fact that Old Man Steve shows up to convince Steve he should go back in time makes me want to gnaw on furniture.

Another person essentially uses the lure of a life with Peggy to tempt Steve into doing this, dramatized or not. That is how it's framed.

It's a hell of a way to frame it, and it makes Steve's ending stand in even starker contrast to so many other things in phase 4. Desperately trying to go backwards when you shouldn't or to bring back a lost lover is an evil temptation, and it results in a trap or negative cosmic consequences for basically all of the other characters in the MCU.

• In Shang-Chi, Wenwu is tempted by the Soul Eaters beyond the Dark Gate. They use the voice of his deceased wife to convince him to set them free. • In "What If" episode 4, Doctor Strange becomes evil in a desperate bid to save Christine and he destroys his universe. Along the way, he tries to tempt/trap the good Strange who's fighting him by using visions of Christine, but good Strange knows she isn't real. • Wanda's grief and desire to bring back Vision leads to – well, you know. • In No Way Home, Peter trying to undo things is what causes the multiverse problems.

And the fact that they frame it as Steve being tired, so basically the argument is he deserves that time travel ending (just like MCU fans who defend Endgame say in real life)... Well.

There's no way to make it hold up, especially because in "What If" they explicitly subverted that and had Captain Carter not go back in time despite how she felt she'd "earned" it.

Lastly, in this musical as Steve decides to pursue time travel as his course of action, he basically has the meaning or memory of "end of the line" rewritten for him. I refuse to not think that is some nefarious shit. Yes, it's not out of the realm of possibility that it's just some general Disney erasing Steve and Bucky nonsense.

But... this is on another level to me. I do think that it's a blatant choice that they had to be aware even general MCU fans would call bullshit on. Everyone knows it's inaccurate. "End of the line" is embedded in pop culture consciousness as being connected to Bucky. It just is! Surely that means it's not a stretch to theorize it could be deliberate meta commentary.

How, in the MCU world, would the in-universe playwrights even know the phrase "end of the line"? How the fuck would it be accidentally applied to Steve and Peggy? Not to sound like a crazy person, but who the fuck was rooting around in Steve and/or Bucky's personal business or their brains in order to obtain that knowledge and then remix it, and why? Neither of them would flippantly mention it in the public eye or interviews ever. So where did its inclusion come from?

And in the finale ensemble, this is Bucky's line when he comes out on stage and salutes + points to Steve: "Don't forget who's waiting..." And Old Man Steve completes it with "...at the end of the line."

What on God's green earth am I meant to do with THAT?

Smh.

The vibes are fucked, folks.

The MCU public wouldn't know enough to say the vibes are fucked. The MCU public wouldn't know the origin of "end of the line" as a phrase. But us? The ones who know the "true story" via the movies? We can call bullshit.

Whether the creative team behind this musical did every aspect of this consciously or not, in my opinion the fact that they had to tweak canon "history" to A) make Peggy's involvement in Steve's life more central and B) emphasize Steve as a tired hero all works as commentary on and almost a condemnation of Endgame's frustrating ending. In a way, it's also what Endgame did with the compass and 1973 moment with Peggy as well.

Steve's ending had to be convincing.

It's theater.

And so, maybe the same is true for the in-narrative perspective of this musical in the context of the MCU world. What purpose would it serve to tell the MCU public a feel-good narrative about how all Steve Rogers wanted was to no longer be a tragic man out of time and get to make a life with his best girl? To frame it as being about how he fought so hard for years and so he earned a happy ending? To minimize and nearly erase Bucky's importance in his life?

Who would want to do that sort of propaganda, and why?

The MCU civilians are given this happy explanation and maybe don't widely question it. Who cares about the details or logistics if it makes a good story, I guess. It's a stretch, but maybe they mostly applaud it. Maybe they're happy for "America's favorite son" (not unlike people who uncritically liked Endgame). In a way, it's even a rehabilitation of his image (after the Accords) like putting the shield on the Statue of Liberty. And maybe they'd even be ready and waiting to applaud if Steve ever made a dramatically selfless and de-aged return to the spotlight or a position of authority.

But mostly, the public is being conditioned to not know or to forget that anyone else like Bucky Barnes or Sam Wilson would possibly know Steve Rogers the person well enough in the modern day to call bullshit on any of this – or on his hypothetical miraculous future return.

So. Sure, it's probably nothing.

But what if it's not?

-------

UPDATE: @faeriecap added to this post with some incredible information and further behind-the-scenes context about the MCU/Marvel stuff at Disney parks! Check it out here :)

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Would you call Adrien “Gary Stu”?

Overuse of the terms "Gary Stu", "Gary Sue", and "Mary Sue" has created a bit of a semantic shift, turning a very specific concept into a catch-all pejorative for characters people don't like, but that the source property portrays positively. Because of this, let's start by going over the the actual definition of what it means to be a Gary/Mary Sue:

The Mary Sue is a character archetype in fiction, usually a young woman, who is often portrayed as inexplicably competent across all domains, gifted with unique talents or powers, liked or respected by most other characters, unrealistically free of weaknesses, extremely attractive, innately virtuous, and generally lacking meaningful character flaws. Usually female and almost always the main character, a Mary Sue is often an author's idealized self-insertion, and may serve as a form of wish fulfillment. Mary Sue stories are often written by adolescent authors. Originating from fan fiction, the term Mary Sue was coined by Paula Smith in the 1973 parody short story "A Trekkie's Tale", as the name of a character standing in for idealized female characters widespread in Star Trek fan fiction.

Zoe is the only character in Miraculous that fits the archetype of a Mary/Gary Sue. Adrien and Marinette are just poorly written non-sueish characters who get slapped with these labels under that general pejorative issue I was talking about before.

Adrien is talented in many areas, but he's implied to have been training in them since he was a child, so those talents are earned. Same goes for Marinette. Her skills may be overblown for her age, but that's normal for shows aimed at kids and it's not like she just started sewing yesterday.

Whether or not the story wants to address them, Adrien has legitimate character flaws and he's certainly not portrayed an "inexplicable competent." The show has gone out of its way to portray Adrien as weak and incapable of facing his father, things that would never happen for a Gary Sue. I don't think anyone looks at Adrien and wants to be him, but that's basically a defining trait of the Gary/Mary Sue!

If you want my two cents as to why we've seen a semantic shift in these terms, it's because of the feelings evoked by the characters. When a character has flaws that aren't addressed (Adrien) or gets roles that really should go to other characters because the writers are obsessed with them for some reason (Marinette), that can be extremely aggravating in the same way idealized self-inserts can be aggravating when you're looking for a more realistic character. However, the feelings being the same doesn't mean that the issue is the same. Adrien and Marinette are well designed characters that could be used to tell a story without any major changes. If you want to tell a story with Zoe where she reads as something other than an idealized self-insert fantasy, then you have to change her character. You can't work with the core version because Zoe is just a collection of cool skills with no flaws or depth.

(Quick reminder that Mary/Gary Sues are FINE!!! They have real value and are popular in many genres. I will defend them even though I rarely enjoy stories that feature them. Zoe being a Mary Sue is only a problem because Miraculous' story is ill suited to a Mary Sue.)

[madamegemknight]

How about MOTU hot takes? From any iteration (the 80s cartoon, the comics, the cgi reboot, the other serious reboot)

rubs my hands together maniacally. boy oh boy crispy you are ENABLING me here we go >:3

The 1987 movie really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. It's not great, don't get me wrong, but the people who made it were clearly passionate about what they were doing and it's a fun (if somewhat aggravating at points) ride. Dolph Lundgren is a good He-Man who understands that the character is just as much about his heart as he is his muscles, the way it and the Power Tour serve as sister experiences to each other with their incorporation of music and Earth storylines is fascinating to examine, and while Julie's subplot about her dead parents is utterly pointless, I think Kevin and Julie are two genuinely likable characters who deserve a second chance in the grander scheme of things.

The Greatest Show on Eternia is the worst episode of the Filmation series and should have never been made, but the way Masters of The Multiverse chose to "address" it was immature, childish, and nearly tipped the comic into edgelord territory for me. If something is bad, you should take the time to figure out what went wrong, then try and fix it - you shouldn't murder the only tolerable character in that episode and then have an aside about how the Eternian Circus is being thrown into chaos because of that murder that does nothing to progress the overall plot!!! wadda heck!!!!

CGI!Krass did literally nothing wrong. She was a deeply traumatized kid who was absolutely correct regarding pretty much everything (especially wanting to guard the Tiger Tribe instead of running off and ignoring it forever like Adam did, considering the later reveal that the Dark Masters kidnapped Justine), and the fact that the show is more willing to blame her flawed behavior on "evil rock that makes you evil in her helmet" than acknowledge she watched her parents die and literally cannot be in enclosed spaces without Adam as a result is legitimately disgusting. CGI tries so hard to have their cake and eat it too that they end up portraying Krass as in the wrong for wanting things to stay the same with Adam while ALSO establishing in one of the tie-in books that if she'd never met Adam she would have never even partially recovered from her trauma.

Speaking of which, considering that this IS apparently a hot take outside of my own little circle of incredibly cool and correct mutuals: CGI Season 3 is bad. It is so bad it makes the flaws of the previous two seasons, which I could mostly ignore up until that point, painfully obvious. It is genuinely upsetting to me that a series where the SOLE SURVIVOR OF A GENOCIDE BRAINWASHED INTO BELIEVING THE PROPAGANDA HE WAS FED ABOUT THE COLONIZATION OF HIS PEOPLE is made into a villain will be some kid's introduction to MOTU, ESPECIALLY considering how tolerant and accepting the Filmation series was.

Orko is a good character and plays a vital role in the franchise overall! Wow yeah it's weird to remember how that used to be a hot take in any non-tumblr MOTU fan community until like...2021. Crazy that huh.

Maybe not a hot take per se, but I don't personally think that Trollans have that different of a lifespan/age rage from Eternians. As far as I'm aware, the only implication of that being true is from the UK comics, and even there it's said that "it has been suggested" that Orko is over 500, not that he is - and this is also the same comic that said that nobody knows what Trolla is like, something that is patently not true, so I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that maybe the UK comics have some slightly incorrect information and possibly shouldn't be blindly trusted when determining major factors about a character! There are several times in the Filmation series that he either flirts with or shows a very clear attraction to adult Eternians (something that would be Weird if he was aging at a different rate than an Eternian), and while he does call Adam "kid" when they first meet, that's just how Orko talks - he says "atta boy" unironically for crying out loud. I have always envisioned Orko being around the same age as Adam, if a little bit younger, and while Trollans probably do age at a different rate on account of being a different species, it's probably not to that extreme of a difference otherwise it would have been mentioned elsewhere.

Netflix She-Ra is not special for having Adora start out as a brainwashed soldier who has a crisis over realizing she's been fed imperialist/fascist propaganda her entire life. That is literally the plot of The Secret of The Sword, which was released in 1985. I love Netflix She-Ra dearly and always will, as without it I would have never become a fan of MOTU in the first place, but head in my hands if someone calls it bold and innovative for doing things that the OG series did back in the 80s one more time, I am gonna wind up on the evening news 🙃

[sevenhundred721]

You can’t even make a basic post about misogyny without throwing in the fact you hate random women???? You truly don’t give a fuck about womens mistreatment

Went back and reread my post to see if this had any legitimacy, and I have zero clue what you're talking about. At most, I complain about a specific female character being read in a way that fundamentally misunderstands her for the sake of shallow aesthetics and basic tropes. Maybe I should have clarified that I don't find these tropes or aesthetics inherently negative and am more bothered by their misapplication.

Like. I didn't think I'd need to say this, but I think goth dominatrixes are really fucking cool. Because they are. But if you fail to see how an incredibly nuanced character being reduced entirely to the manner in which the fandom wants her to be of sexual service to somebody else is dehumanizing and misogynistic, I really don't know what to say. And I feel like, for a 2AM rant, I articulated it decently.

I feel like part of being sex positive is actively viewing the people you are attracted to as people outside of the bedroom. Everyone has inner lives, everyone was a child once, everyone has some kind of desire for peace with themselves. My post is more about how the oversexualization of a female character is still bad even when she is portrayed as sexually dominant. Because she specifically has a lot of really compelling character writing that goes ignored when all anybody cares about is who she steps on.

OH MY GOD WAIT IS THIS BECAUSE I SAID "TERFS FUCK OFF" IN THE TAGS? If so I stand by that and you literally base your entire identity on hating a type of women. You disgust me.

(If this was a legitimately good faith anonymous ask, then you do not disgust me, and I apologize for my harshness and will continue to examine how my words impact others. But if you are a terf/radfem then I hope you get some sense knocked the fuck into you by somebody at some point.)

[rightserve]

MEP Plans in Construction of Building and Industrial Projects

MEP plans are a 2D planar top perspective on building frameworks, i.e., noticeable electrical gear, parts and apparatuses in the structure, mechanical ducting, plumbing mains, and significant terminals. Routinely, an arrangement is a 2D planar top view yet on the off chance that we take "plan" from a plan sense, there is an idea of 3D MEPF plans as well.

MEP plans detail the establishment and activity of building frameworks, including the area, materials, and design of lines, channels, and courses. They additionally frame associations with different parts, energy proficiency estimates like protection and air fixing, and upkeep and fix rules for the frameworks.

A MEP plan shows the entirety of the apparent electrical gear, parts, and apparatuses in the structure, including mechanical ducting, plumbing mains, and significant terminals.

Understanding Each Component in Depth

Mechanical

The mechanical framework inside a structure could be partitioned into a few classifications. For the most part, mechanical frameworks allude to central air, lifts, and elevators. One extra class could be mechanical help behind water supply across the infrastructure.

Mechanical drawings are critical for any development project, including central air (warming, ventilation, and cooling) and MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing). They precisely recognize mathematical highlights of the machine part and incorporate orthographic perspectives, otherwise called symmetrical projections or multiview drawings.

Electrical

The electric framework is essentially the power backend of your structure. Every part in the electric arrangement of your structure is answerable for the circulation of force and the work being helped by the power supply.

Electrical drawings are significant for correspondence, investigating, and recording data about power frameworks on building destinations. They assist with guaranteeing that power frameworks run securely, effectively, and easily, and they can likewise distinguish potential dangers that can be stopped from really developing before they become an issue.

Hardware, for example, batteries, generators, cooling, and sunlight powered chargers. Legends give images, contractions, and depictions, while wall lines are normally drawn lighter than apparatuses.

Planning them in view of wellbeing and energy effectiveness is fundamental. Legitimate establishing, circuit insurance gadgets, and flood security are fundamental.

To make significant and precise electrical drawings, think about involving the inside design as a bedrock, doing a walkthrough, anticipating unexpected outlets, taking into account furniture situation, and utilizing changed lighting.

Thusly, you can get blunders that might have been missed and place outlets and switches in the best areas. Furthermore, think about the client's inclinations for lighting, for example, task lighting, highlight lighting, or surrounding lighting, to guarantee a sufficiently bright space.

Plumbing

The plumbing arrangement of a structure is liable for circling water for occupants' utilization and eliminating remaining wastewater outside the structure premises for treatment.

Utilizing official plumbing images and variety codes, a plumbing plan helps save time and costs, empowers better reasoning through the gig, and limits additional outings to the plumbing supply store.

To make a plumbing plan, attract all installations to scale, mark channel lines and vents, make riser drawings, show pipe sizes and the specific kind of each and every fitting, mark areas for valves, and determine the sort of valve.

Incorporation of key coding, channel squander vent (DWV) height, supply drawing, and supply drawing is an unquestionable necessity. The DWV height portrays the framework that will convey water, waste, and air out of the house, while the stock drawing shows the assessed length of supply lines and line size.

The purpose of MEP plans

As our structure prerequisites are getting complexier, the location to MEP plans are must! The workplace culture leads to structures that work with business as well as a strong labor force, similarly as the institutional and sporting structures have an enormous footfall.

The felicitation of essential administrations like water, power, and ventilation currently requires a mechanical methodology, and MEP frameworks are a result of this. For that reason MEP configuration is unavoidable in the present time. MEP configuration starts with MEP arranging, and everything revolves around architects and designers meeting up to devise MEP plans.

A streamlined MEP plan guarantees MEP plans are essential for building projects as they give an exhaustive outline of the frameworks used to drive, intensity, cool, and ventilate a structure.

[boiled-dennis]

i'm just so tired of people in fandom making art of fat characters, but not even bothering to try to properly draw fat people. people gush about these characters but then draw them having thin faces and defined jaws, double chin magically gone. not to mention limbs (most often arms) and hands being really disproportionate and looking like they belong to a thin person.

practice !! you don't have to post all things you ever draw. you can practice drawing fat people and it's okay if it looks bad at first. but it disgusts me so much to see people talking about loving a character so much, and then not even properly drawing them. consistently. it's disrespectful as hell.

and then with art that intends to portray the fat character in a sexy way, the waist is often narrowed for no reason at all. i've seen many people act like it's more 'tasteful' to draw fat people as "thicc" rather than just.... fat.... like do you actually care about the character? is the reality of the character something that is important to you? do you care about real human beings? it sends a message when you draw characters this way. other fat people will see the art and think "wow yet another person in this community who doesn't give a shit about fat people". not to mention how it disrespects the actual actors.

also using the word "chubby" is not as neutral and Kind as you seem to think it is. it feels infantilising and like you're too scared to admit you're attracted to -gasp- Fat people so you have to use a playful word that implies not a great amount of body fat., dont call people squishy. and there feels like a specific trend of saying fat people look kind and like they'd give nice hugs can i just say that feels very dehumanising and kinda objectifying .

[crystalclocktower]

Gleb is such an interesting character…man!

He’s motivated by…toxic masculinity and family expectations. Two insanely cool motives that run way deeper than Rasputin’s in the animated film.

Usually when a character is the way they are because of societal expectations they’re not really portrayed as a legitimate antagonist because there’s a sob story to them, but Gleb is portrayed as a very real threat, which is cool to see.

Another cool thing about him is that he has feelings for Anya…but they’re primarily romantic, not sexual. A villain expressing attraction for a hero that goes beyond the sexual? Say what? When he first meets Anya he comforts her and offers her a warm drink, he refers to her tenderly, he doesn’t objectify her. But Anya doesn’t want to be with him, and that’s that. It isn’t a narrative where being nice and harbouring pure love automatically gets you the girl, which is good because it’s not like that in real life. Unwanted sexual attention is awful, but unwanted romantic attention is often overlooked in media.

It’s also interesting that in the end, Gleb isn’t “defeated” like most villains. The thing with politics is that there really is no “right” alignment, they all have flaws. Gleb GENUINELY believes what he’s doing will help the Russian people, and Anya doesn’t lead some great battalion against him because he is not truly a villain at heart, and he hopes to bring good. Whether or not he does…Anya leaves that to him.

[cardboard-aliens]

BAS just feels like a wet dream trying to make Elizabeth look as sexual as possible

Legitimately, BaS is just a torture p*rn of Elizabeth. Like obvs part 1 continues the ante of oversexualizing this 19 year old girl by making her boobs even bigger than before wearing an outfit canonlogically from a sex shop in order to go borderline flirt with an alt version of her dad- WITH the added value of the scene where she moans over music as they continue to prove Elizabeth is designed around being attractive to their target demographic, and nothing else.

But then we GET to part two- and they make sure to go out of their way to weaken Elizabeth and portray her as such, keeping her at the mercy of other male characters. She is CONSTANTLY beat up and knocked over the head- going to the length putting her through a first person torture scene, while nothing that graphic has happened to any of our male protagonists on screen.

While they pretend this isn't misogynistic treatment of the one and only female playable character in the franchise, so they try to rule of cool her and make her outsmart all the other characters and be "The Reason" for the entire franchise. Even though her being "smart" is dumbing the rest of the cast down so Elizabeth can state the obvious to out do them, because it's clear Ken can't write characters more intelligent than himself. So she's able to orchestrate Fontaine's downfall while still dying to him b/c "buhhhh girl weak can't hit hard" when she was able to drag Booker out of deep water and onto the beach in infinite, so clearly she's not that weak if she can swim while carrying, like, what? 170 pounds of an alcoholic around? [X] to doubt Ken.

[miraculouscontent]

A genuine question, but do you have any theories as to why when Marinette is crushing on Adrien she's awkward, stuttering, and almost always anxious (I mean as soon as she started crushing on Adrien that's what happened), while with Luka she's pretty much her regular self?

Because she isn’t actually in love with Adrien; she has a celebrity crush on him.

Love isn’t about stammering or getting weak in the knees at the sight of the person. Love is about being able to be oneself around someone and feeling comfortable around them. That’s why Marinette is “normal” around Luka but “weird” around Adrien.

Many of Adrien's other fangirls act similarly around him to Marinette, with the only difference being that they pursue Adrien directly whereas Marinette is too nervous to approach out of fear.

And to touch on that specifically; with Adrien, Marinette is afraid of being rejected because she’s not good enough. She’ll go on and on about how much of a “disaster” she is, which tends to be associated with her crush on Adrien or her screwing up around him. Her “crush” on Adrien is damaging to her self-esteem.

Marinette in “Gamer”: Um, no no no, I... No, you're so good. I mean, I'm the one who's not good. I mean... I'm lucky, that's all.

Her crush should be making her feel good about herself; it should make her feel loved and respected, which is how Luka makes her feel.

Luka in “Frozer”: Personally, I think a girl like you deserves to feel more like this. (plays a happy tune) And whoever made you feel this way is nothing but a--(plays a bad tune)

Marinette: (giggles) Thanks, Luka.

He made her feel so confident in herself that she almost immediately felt okay asking him to come with her to the ice rink. Heck, in that same episode, Marinette says this about her crush on Adrien:

Marinette: Whenever I talk to him as a friend, I hardly stammer at all. That's a sign right there. Right?

Notice how the show never tries to add a “but...” to that or explain it away; the girls’ argument doesn’t even try to refute it outside of Alya claiming Sunk Cost Fallacy as if that’s a legitimate reason to not give up (it’s not).

For more proof, look at how Marinette talks to/about Adrien:

Marinette in “Copycat” at Adrien’s answering machine: Hey, hot stuff--

-

Marinette in “Animan”: Oh, [Adrien]'s such a—

Alya: Smartie, hottie, suavísimo, yummy-tastic spellbinder?

Marinette: All of the above.

-

Mylène in “Reflekdoll”: Are you okay, Marinette?

Marinette: Yeah, he's too hot— I mean! I'm overheating in here, aren't you?

Look how so many of those are about appearance. It’s about Adrien being attractive. The moment Marinette falls for Adrien in “Origins” is in the atmospheric moment of the umbrella scene where he’s saying nothing and just staring into her eyes while the lighting makes him look all “pretty” (because I’m sorry, her falling for him based on what he says/does makes next to no sense). The reason she has so many pictures of him isn’t even about obsession: it’s about thinking he’s the hottest thing since the sun.

“Captain Hardrock” didn’t do that with Luka. Yes, Marinette initially stammered at Luka because oh no, he’s cute! but then had calmed down after Luka opened up to her and showed her a piece of himself.

Marinette in “Captain Hardrock”: What? Luka? No way! You're being ridiculous! Pff! Sure he's cool and nice and everything... but there's only one statue that drives this compass crazy!

Cool and nice. See that? It’s not, “he’s cute,” or anything shallow like that. Cool and nice are direct compliments that reflect Luka’s personality.

And what about the webisodes; the things that should be able to contain as much detail as possible so there’s no room for error or slip-ups?

Marinette in “Marinette and Adrien”: [Adrien]'s so amazing that I completely freak out every time I talk to him! I mean, seriously…he's super smart, he plays the piano, he's a great fencer, he speaks Chinese, and he's so cute too!

“Smart” is the closest thing to anything personality-based (but is also something forced onto him by Gabriel because he has to get good grades); anything else is just something he does or - again - how attractive he is.

Marinette: Adrien is a model for his father, Gabriel Agreste, the best fashion designer in Paris, and probably the world. But he never brags about it, because he's perfect!

One would think we’d be getting somewhere with “he’s humble,” but then Marinette slaps on “perfect;” you know, that line that “Lies” seemed to reject from Kagami as if it’s like how dare you think that the boy we constantly portray as perfect isn’t actually perfect?

Marinette then goes on to say that Adrien’s “major flaw” is that he gets along with Chloe, but where did that lead in the show? Adrien scolding her and making her feel bad about herself for being happy that her bully is gone, because Marinette can’t feel like she’s more right than him because he’s “perfect.” He just makes her feel inadequate.

And the “perfect” line isn’t restricted to webisodes:

Marinette in “Reflekdoll”: Huh? Uh, sure! You're perfect— I mean, it's perfect!

-

Aspik in “Desperada”: I hope I don't disappoint you, Ladybug.

Ladybug: I know you won't. You're perfect--uh, perfectly capable of defeating Desperada!

And she’s fawned before over how amazing Adrien’s life is, even without the webisodes. Literally the episode that last aired (”Lies”) had Marinette sighing over Adrien and talking nothing more about him than how amazing his life is; nothing about his personality.

It’s not about Adrien; it’s about her being starstruck by his attractiveness and how much of a celebrity he is with all these things he was forced to be taught (meaning they’re not a part of his character that he wanted; he was forced to do them in one way or anything) and how incredible being him/his girlfriend must be. Even when she calls him “nice,” one has to recognize that Adrien has to put up a polite image. Look at the difference between Adrien and Chat Noir, the latter of whom has a mask of anonymity to work with? Adrien the nice guy suddenly becomes Chat Noir the “Nice Guy.”

Now, for comparison, let’s go back to the webisodes and see what Marinette has to say about Luka:

Marinette in “Luka as seen by Marinette”: You know, Luka is my friend Juleka's brother and one of the most talented people I know.

We start off with the “talent” thing again, but Luka’s talent for music is something he chose; it’s a part of him that he’s passionate about. That’s a huge difference.

Let’s continue.

Marinette: He also proved himself a great hero when Ladybug gave him the Snake Miraculous.

Marinette: But the thing I find most impressive about him is the way he can always tell how people are feeling.

Marinette: I may not be as intuitive as he is--

Heroic. Empathetic. Intuitive.

Those are character traits. They are integral pieces to Luka’s personality, and they bring Marinette comfort. She’s normal around Luka because their romance is normal: two people who love each other and just make each other happy.

In an age where media makes romance all about characters turning to mush or losing themselves around the person they love, Lukanette ends up feeling real specifically because it doesn’t do that.

Lukanette is as it should be: Marinette and Luka are friends first, crushes second. Their first priority is the relationship aspect that’s devoid of romance, which is why Marinette honestly considers her feelings for Luka in “Frozer” instead of blindly jumping in whereas Luka respects Marinette’s agency and simply assures her that he’ll be there for her no matter what.

[greycappedjester]

Hi I'm so sorry I'm just too shy to ask this on ao3 but I was wondering: how is Slade's relationship with Dick? I don't mind them as a ship in general but in the story sometimes I feel like Slade gets too close to Dick and I thought if there was something platonic on his side? I'm sure you wouldn't do that in the story that's why I'm asking if it's only on Slade's side. Sorry if this is a stupid question lol. Maybe it's just because I've read sl/adedick fics before. ^^D

Nah, I’ve actually been waiting for someone to ask about that. So....it’s complicated and will take awhile to explain so I’m putting it under a Read More before I get too long winded with my character headcanons:

This is going to get soooooo long, lol, so feel free to skim. Warning for Gotham in general and Gotham being naturally a bad place for kid vigilantes to grow up in. Also because this explanation gets somewhat dark in character interpretation....

Bonus short story at the end after a really long post.

-------

Alright, so first, I feel like I should mention again that I never watched the Teen Titans animated show past maybe the first two episodes and the movie my friends wanted me to watch that I don’t really remember. (I meant to watch that show, just never got around to it). I say this because I heard that the Teen Titans TV show portrayed the Dick and Deathstroke relationship much differently in a way that’s cool and fine but not something I can see myself really wanting to write about. I know their relationship more from comics where Dick was already an adult (albeit a young adult) when he first met Slade. 

So. Back to my After the Fall of Olympus universe and yeah, I’m slowly getting to my answer. The thing is....the story is entirely in Dick’s POV right now.

And Dick’s absolutely terrible at reading and picking up any form of affection others have for him. He understands it abstractly (he knows people care) but when assessing, he critically underestimates it if he remembers to account for it at all. This goes even worse with people he’s closer to--which is why it took him forever to realize why Jason actually did want to stay with him at the manor and why he still has no idea Barbara is in love with him. Even Kory who was really, really direct about liking him, it took him years to fully emotionally process and respond to that. He’s getting better...but remembering his own value (in others eyes) isn’t something he’s overwhelming good at doing.

My headcanon, he is abnormally good at reading people and picking up basic sexual attraction. He’s good at telling when he’s being flirted with or when people are attracted to him and, honestly, Dick’s charismatic and instinctively a flirt, too.With that, partly from growing up in Gotham with its weird and supremely dark villains, I think Dick very much divorces the two concepts of romantic attraction and sexual flirting in his mind--he’s aware they can go together, obviously with Kory--but he doesn’t naturally pair them as other people probably would. It’s also part of why he just doesn’t get the level of concern Tim has about Catalina.

Okay, back to my point.

The way I write Slade and Dick’s relationship is actually mostly done off screen. But, I think Slade started with approval of Dick’s skills and potential in a clinical/objective view, growing respect and interest (personal but not at all romantic) in him as a person, and much more recently in the story (as in that last conversation he had in Ch. 18), I think Slade realized he has some legitimate attraction and cares a lot about Dick in a way that’s probably romantic.

Slade also is very, very aware immediately that he’s not going to do anything with that and, in a way, doesn’t want to because Dick ever responding to that would be jeopardizing his relationship with his family, his team, his view of his morals (which are so integral to Dick) in a way that would be exceptionally out of character and concerning coming from Dick. In other words, something happening would be a lot more terrifying than nothing happening and Slade cares.

For Dick, it’s a lot more simple. He does not have any romantic feelings there. He does in a somewhat analytical, unconscious way recognize that Slade’s probably attracted to him (probably before Slade noticed honestly) but he’s....well, kind of used to that at some level. More so, Dick doesn’t connect it to emotional care and--like with everyone else--vastly underestimates that Slade does care about him in a way that’s actually pretty selfless for a mercenary. For a romance, your guess is absolutely right, it’s not going to go anywhere in this series but I wanted the undertones and implications to be there in the final third of the story

....But, that’s also more of a later/recent development in that relationship. For most of the story that’s posted so far, Slade sees his relationship with Dick as a lot of respect and even care but not as romantic in any way. I can promise no romantic undertones at all until Dick was already in his 20s because I really, really am not interested in writing underage. (for those curious about Slade’s age in the story, I think of him as mid-20s in his introduction in Year 3 and pretty early 30s here to Dick’s early 20s)

Above everything, they respect each other and would be almost friends if that were possible.

The team and his family doesn’t know any of this.

Anyway, that was long, so here’s a bonus short story from Slade’s view. I write a lot of After the Fall of Olympus short stories in other charcter’s views that I’m not planning on posting until After the Fall of Olympus.

This one’s between Year 5 and 6 and is titled “October 7th”:

-------

It’s October 7th, almost two in the morning, and Slade’s camped out in a somehow still standing bombed out apartment in a no-name village in the middle of a war-torn country.

He’s not exactly expecting visitors.

There’s a knock on the apartment door.

Slade cocks his gun and puts two rounds in the door before, for good measure, adding matching ones on either side of the frame.

He has two seconds to let himself pretend that’s the end of it before the door knob turns to the unmistakable sound of a skilled lock pick. 

Fuck, he’s too tired for this shit today. 

“Geeze, Slade, what if I’d been an innocent civilian?”

Slade’s hand stills on the gun in surprise then consideration before slowly slipping it back into the holster. 

“Kid,” he greets. “There’s no innocent civilians left around here. ‘Specially ones that can make it to my door without me hearing any footsteps.”

“I’ve been working on that.” Dick says, walking into the apartment. He isn’t even wearing his uniform, just plain black military style clothes with the lower half of his face covered by a piece of cloth. He pushes it down and smiles as he presses the door shut behind him. “You did tell me to get better, after all.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have,” he mutters without much heat. “You getting better almost left me out of a job.”

Dick rolls his eyes. “Please, as if both of us don’t know Luthor could’ve gotten out of those charges in months. If the Light didn’t erase them for him, anyway.”

Slade shrugs. Maybe another time, he’d find the energy to banter back. But not today. Never today.

“Why are you here, Dick? How’d you find me?”

The smile slides off of Dick’s face, leaving behind those far too heavy eyes to belong to an eighteen year old.

“You know I have your file, Slade.” Dick clears his throat. “I know what day it is.”

….Fuck.

It’s not like he expected anything else. Not since the moment he saw the kid. But, still...he doesn’t want to deal with this. Doesn’t want to deal with anything. Today, he just wants to crawl back into the worst, most deserted corner of the world he can find until the hours creep passed and he can find the energy to move.

Instead, he glares. “Good for you. Now get the fuck out, kid.”

Dick grimaces but shakes his head. “Not until you answer a question for me.”

Slade groans and, for a handful of seconds, honestly contemplates just killing him, considers it in a way that he hasn’t since before he even met the kid, back when he was first handed a file by a practically no name organization called H.I.V.E.

He’d regret it later. Sure. He has too much he wants to see out of the kid to kill him in a shitty, dusty apartment. But, that regret would come later. Later, once this day had finally passed.

That alone is almost enough to have him reaching for his gun. Almost

“Grayson,” he finally grounds out, “if you know what day it is, you know I’m not exactly inclined to play our game of hero and villain right now. You want information, find someone else.”

“Good, I’m not here to play either. Only problem is I can’t ask anyone else, you're the only one who knows the answer.” Dick lowers himself to sit on the floor across from him, like a particularly stupid mouse in front of a viper.

And then, he looks up and his eyes are too steady to belong to prey.

“Here’s the question: Do you really want to be alone today, Slade?”

The breath catches in Slade’s`lungs, harsher than if the kid had just punched him.

He pushes the reaction down, already knowing it’s too late, and says in the steadiest voice he can manage, “Yes.”

Dick stares at him, unmoving. “I don’t believe you.”

The air around them is too tight, too burning, and Slade’s being pushed down under it to suffocate. 

He can’t fight it, so he takes it and pushes it back into anger. “The fuck, kid! What do you know?  You said you have my file, yeah? How long have you had it? Because I’m betting you’ve had it since we first met!” He lunges forward. “So, why are you here now, Dick? What makes this year so special? What’s made you decide to pretend to care now? Because whatever it is, kid, I can promise you, I’m not worth it. So, leave!”

By the end, he’s gripping Dick’s shirt, pulling it tighter until the collar has to be digging painfully into his neck. 

Dick doesn’t look away. “No.”

Slade doesn’t look away either. “You know I really think I might kill you right now.”

“You won’t.”

 One of Slade’s hands moves until it’s pressing into the kid’s neck. A single sharp twist and he could snap it. “So sure?”

Dick nods.

“And why’s that?”

“Because I brought your favorite whiskey.”

A brown bag is pressed into Slade’s ribs and the man feels something rising in his chest that could possibly be laughter if it was some other time.

He drops the kid.

He takes the bag.

“Pretty sure heroes aren’t supposed to be contributing to alcoholism, kid.” He gestures to a half empty bottle of much cheaper stuff beside him.

Dick coughs, rubbing at his throat. “Please. With your metahuman metabolism, I bet you can barely feel it for an hour.”

“Depends how much I drink,” Slade counters, eyeing the bottle. “How’d you know my favorite?”

Dick shrugs. “Gotta keep some secrets to myself.”

He fishes out a spare shot glass from somewhere in the black folds of his outfit and pours a small glass for himself. 

Slade raises an eyebrow. “Last time I checked, you’re still 18, kid.”

Dick gives him an incredulous look in return. “Last time I checked, this place doesn’t have a drinking age...or a government, actually.”

Slade hums, amused, using a larger glass for himself. “True, but thought you’d be following the laws of your own birth city a little closer, hero. Gotham’s still at 21...on the record at least.”

“Technically, Gotham’s not my birth city.” Dick snorts and takes the shot. 

Slade tilts his head. “Where were you born?”

Dick pauses, thinking, before offering a sheepish smile. “You know….I actually have no idea. Somewhere in Europe, probably? I came early, the circus was still on tour. One of the lion tamers helped deliver me, used to be a doctor.”

“Always a surprise, kid,” Slade shakes his head, draining his glass. Tasting it in his mouth and pretending it’s enough to wash away the ash.

The next words come before he can stop them.  “...Adeline always wanted two kids.”

Dick goes quiet.

“Of course,” Slade says to his glass and fuck it, just fuck it,  “turns out we didn’t even get the one. Turns out I didn’t get either my wife or my son.”

Fuck, he hates October 7th.

He reaches for the whiskey, ignoring how his hand shakes. “Addy was a soldier, you know? A good one. Of all the stupid fucking ways she could go, I never thought it’d be childbirth. Maybe I should have. Always knew I’d kill her somehow.”

“You didn’t kill her, Slade,” Dick says softly.

“Sure. Whatever,” he agrees, too tired to argue. It’s not as if he hasn’t heard every variation sometime or another. It’s just right now, he can’t quite bring himself to debate about the cause when the end of it’s always going to be the same.

Dick drops the subject and the relief that Slade feels  is immense enough that it’s close to gratitude.

“What was your son’s name?”

“Grant. We were going to name him Grant.” He takes another sip. “If we had another one, we were going to name him Joseph. Or Rose for a girl.”

“Those are good names.”

He shrugs. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does.”

Slade doesn’t answer, looking up to eye the kid over his drink. Dick sees it, holding up his own glass in acknowledgement before knocking it back.

“Why are you here, kid,” Slade asks again. “We’re not friends, pretty far fucking from it last time I checked.”

“I’ve got my reasons,” he answers calmly.

“If you’re here to make your usual sales pitch about the virtues of heroism, I really will kill you. Whiskey or not.”

Dick shakes his head. “....is it so hard to believe I just didn’t think you should be alone?”

Slade thinks his skepticism is loud enough without him needing the words.

The look Dick gives him is steady in return. “Think what you want to, Slade, I know what grief feels like. It’s a poison. It’ll kill you unless you find a way to drain it.” 

Dick looks down at his own glass and Slade gets the feeling the kid’s no longer talking about just Slade. It’s still a tossup whether he means himself or the Bat.

Either way, Slade makes sure his next smirk is particularly pointed. “And, look at you. Tracking me all the way down here to try and save my tortured soul. Such a hero.”

“Oh, shut up,” Dick says with an eye roll, pouring himself another drink

Slade cocks his head. “Speaking of, don’t all the good little heroes have school right about now.”

Dick looks up, almost sheepish. “I’m ditching my classes. Don’t tell my brothers, I’m still trying to be a good influence.”

Slade snorts and takes a particularly long swig.

A good influence. As if a single one of his stupid, fucking team doesn’t think the fricking sun shines out of the kid’s ass.

Fuck. What is Slade even doing? Sitting in a run down apartment in the middle of a warzone drinking whiskey with a too trusting kid a decade younger and that he probably should have killed years ago.

But, then, it’s always been exceedingly difficult for him to do what he should---what’s the sane and logical thing--when it comes to Dick Grayson. And, one day--when he doesn’t have the burn of booze sitting in his gut and his chest doesn’t ache like he’s been shot--Slade’s going to take a hard look at why that is.

For now, he’ll just leave it like he usually does. The kid’s too interesting to die yet. 

Dick eyes his shot glass, contemplatively. “This whiskey’s way too overpriced, Slade. It’s practically aged vodka.”

Slade finishes his off steadily. “Shows you have little taste, Grayson.”

Dick laughs and slides the bottle over. “I brought another one anyway.”

....Far, far too interesting.

[verysharpteeth]

Tall Girl

Wow was this a train wreck of a teen movie. 

Jodie is the 6′1″ social outcast of her school. She has a supportive best friend and guy who has persistently followed her around since elementary school in love with her. But none of this matters because people make fun of her height. Enter Stig, the Swedish exchange student who is instantly popular but seems to like Jodie. Jodie likes Stig too, but through a huge amount of misadventures ends up realizing that Dunkleman, the dude who has followed her around forever, is really the guy she should be with.

First off, the message of this movie is weak because Jodie is more statuesque than anything else and a lot of the guys I know think tall women are hot. I’ve worked in a high school for 13 years and I’ve never seen someone aggressively bullied for nothing other than height. I suppose you can make this movie a message about being comfortable with who you are, but Jodie’s problems are honestly unrealistic. 

Second, Jodie’s parents are horrible. Her father legitimately asks her when she’s three whether she “really wants to have kids” when he’s told that a medicine he wants to put her on slow her growing could cause health problems including infertility. This is played for laughs. He recites facts about how tall people die younger. He and her mother make Jodie a member of the “Tree Topper” club without asking her. The movie plays everything as “being fine” at the end with Jodie and her parents, but I felt like there was no going back after the wanting to have kids comment. TO YOUR THREE YEAR OLD.

Third, the message about romance portrayed is that if you’re persistent enough, even after the girl you have harassed for years repeatedly tells you that you’re not her type, you will in fact get her. Dunkleman is truly horrible. Somehow him being obsessed with Jodie is what makes him worthy of her in the story. He aggressively tries to sabotage her budding relationship with Stig, he repeatedly gives Stig bad advice on purpose to hinder their relationship, and he ditches Jodie for the cool kids when he thinks it will get him somewhere. I wanted this kid to get hit by a bus. Yet somehow he’s the “hero” in the end. Because his meddling between Jodie and Stig caused Stig to lie to Jodie. And his meddling caused Stig to think he should continue being the popular guy rather than pursue the girl he really liked. And his meddling caused Jodie to get hurt repeatedly. But HA HA audience, it’s all okay because Dunkleman was really the guy she should be with. Because he didn’t care that she was tall. Even though Stig didn’t either. And if Dunkleman hadn’t gotten involved Stig would have immediately broken up with his girlfriend and gone with Jodie. The dude carries around a milk crate his entire school career waiting for the day Jodie will finally accept him. Like a creep. And he tells the nice girl who is into him and points out that it’s ridiculous to spend your whole life pining for someone who has turned you down that he just has to be more persistent and pine. He also sneaks into her bedroom and pets her hair while she’s asleep like an absolute creep. Yet THIS is the guy she should be with.

Wow. 

Fourth, Stig is portrayed unevenly. He’s a really nice guy. Genuinely likes Jodie. But to make Dunkleman the accepted beau, Stig is suddenly portrayed as a cad for no reason after he’d shown NO evidence of this before. Then he instantly goes back to being a nice dude. And even his bad behavior is partially under the advice of Dunkleman. 

I don’t know what the message of this movie is. If you feel like an outcast accept the only guy who was into you even after you start feeling more confident and attract a better guy? Because the original guy deserves it because he noticed “before you got attractive”?  What a mess. And what a waste of what could have been a cute movie about being comfortable in your own skin. 

[andrew49-blog2]

Would Our Web Designer Sell Us A Junk Design?

Trash just amasses dust

Site experts are in the matter of selling site structures. That is the essential guideline of business for a site engineering firm, all things considered for some various types of associations. There is old news here beside that the whole explanation behind a site is to make business for the owner, and a site essentially amassing dust doesn't do that web design company .

No one says that a site engineering needs to make direct arrangements for any business anyway it must interface with the business person's market and attract that market. If the site doesn't connect with the market it is essentially trash gathering dust. It may be a magnificent piece of work yet it's regardless of all that social affair dust.

A supporter of this issue is our obligation as business people. We didn't go to a site master and state, "I need a website proposed for my web market."

Or maybe, most business visionaries state, "I need a site planned for my business."

Our market couldn't think less about us

What makes a difference is about the inside our words make and the point that accommodates an endeavor. Moreover, when the consideration is on our business it isn't on our market. Thusly, we end up with something we are energized with in spite of the way that our market isn't charmed and couldn't mind less.

What our market thinks about is their anxiety, not the vibes of our site. They won't share our site with others since it looks cool, yet they will share when our business site causes them and shows them our industry and how to make the best choice for their prerequisites.

Is it precise to state that we are being instructed on our exhibiting decisions?

The chances are that our site pro might really not want to go there. Or maybe they skip legitimately in to giving us a nice look at their portfolio and suggesting how they could change and compose something totally special for us.

Additionally, our imperfection is that we go for this - not knowing any better.

Nevertheless, it's less our inadequacy. We go to masters to get the best information and consistently we are chatting with a specialist that has a beyond reconciliation condition. This is the spot the site master is inciting us about the very thing they sell. We may never get clear information about what all of our choices are.

For instance:

In case the conversations never addresses the straightforwardness, or no cost, of "Pull Marketing" by then we are not getting the whole of the open choices.

If the conversations never come around to inspecting the differences between a portion market and a virtual market then we are not seeing our veritable needs.

If the conversations never get around to looking at how to portray an exhibiting profile for our web market (not just estimating about our virtual market) by then we are not getting the chance to use the best of what a webpage can offer our business.

In addition, there are more if's that the site sythesis industry doesn't talk about. Site pros don't examine our market other than to demand that we portray them. It is such a lot of less complex for them to structure something for us. So most business people end up with a dazzling site that is set out toward the piece stack from the absolute first second.

To get ready for our web market a structure firm would need to acknowledge how to discover things about our virtual market that even we don't have the foggiest thought. They would need to consider virtual business parts and why they are special. Site pros need to understand our market's shopping inclinations, what our decently assessed valuations the most and which regards we share for all expectations and reason with our market. Regardless, site masters, snazzy or not, don't give us any of this.

The plan is in market division

This is essentially one more term for psycho-delineations. Division parcels a whole geographical or open market into 7 segments where each has a psychological profile that delineates the bits shopping affinities, qualities, preferences and hatreds similarly as expansive feelings. These are better contraptions to work with on the web.

Make sense of

We could similarly stay over from our own business and solicit that business a couple from requests to discover things about the market it serves.

Doesn't our business offer responses for a market?

Doesn't our experience consolidate the torture and inconvenience our market feels?

Would we have the option to name our market's most concerning issue?

At the point when we have put words to the plans we offer and to who we offer them to then we are well on our way toward knowing who our site should be expected for.

We don't have to recognize famous site structures that have no interest to our market. These just sit and amass dust. We need a site that associates with our market and this infers attracting our market.

Examine that last line again. It looks like stating, "If nothing changes... by then nothing changes."

If our site doesn't interface with our market it's essentially trash

Despite how great and fulfilling it is to our eyes.

Besides, we should guarantee that our site authority will consider our market and what may be best for our market yet we shouldn't by and large envision this ought to happen. The reason behind this is there is no one that get some answers concerning our business than we do, anyway we need to stop checking out the specialists who are simply thinking about us.

A specialist site authority may not justify all the issue for trash site, of course, really they are oneself communicated experts and they expect that we will listen to them. Thusly, the chief guideline of enrolling a web capable is to not let them structure our webpage.

There is, clearly, altogether more to get some answers concerning our virtual market and how they think, what their shopping penchants are, what their characteristics are and what they trust in. There isn't room in one article to cover the web as a virtual business community or market division to develop a market's profile. You will find this information in various articles.

[thecarmillacurator]

Four Walls (I Don’t Stand a Chance) - Carmilla Fic Review & Recommendation

*New Reviews Posted Every Saturday with one-shots and drabble recommendations Mid-Week*

Title: Four Walls (I Don’t Stand a Chance). Read it HERE.

Author: kitty_shcherbatskaya on Ao3 and @viele-kleine-leute on Tumblr

Word Count: 61K

Chapters: 10

Rating: Mature (For violence, not sexual content)

Ship: Hollstein

Tags I’d Assign: #assassin au  #jason bourne au #action #hollstein 

Author’s Synopsis: Carmilla Karnstein has one job... to assassinate mouthy journalist Laura Hollis. She can't screw that up, can she? 

Something between Erin Brockovich and the Bourne Identity. Featuring corporate cover-ups. Bare-knuckle fist fights. Car chases. Sexual tension. And a Carmilla who just wants her bike back.

Readability: Prose reads smoothly. Narrative flow is clean and well-edited.

Reviewer’s Plot Summary: Non-supernatural AU. Carmilla Karnstein is an ex-Eastern European special forces assassin, until her failed hit on journalist Laura Hollis and a subsequent refusal to finish the job turns her into a target herself. The two reluctantly decide their chances of survival increase if they forge an alliance. A high-adrenaline chase across Europe follows as the duo scrambles to prove a massive oil company has been knowingly poisoning entire towns in its quests for profits.

Recommended to Read:  Oh yeah. It’s a nice, one-afternoon read that grips the attention and never lags in pacing. And, it’s a good change-up from the normal Carmilla fics in that it dares to exist as a full-fledged action-intrigue story.

Review: Imagine a female action-thriller heroine who *gasp* remotely resembles an honest-to-God woman in thought and behavior, rather than being simply a male action-hero shoved into a body with boobs and hips and a tweak in pronouns just to sell movie tickets. Also imagine a female secondary-character who isn’t helpless, dependent, neurotic, or struggling to keep their head in the game but is *louder gasp* competent and shrewd and not-so-secondary. Yeah, so, that can be a thing, apparently. 

The story is written in third person limited, Carm’s point-of-view. 

The Good: There isn’t a dull moment. This is truly a fan-fic-turned-action-flick, and it’s a refreshing change of pace from the relationship-centric fics I usually read and which comprise pretty much 98% of our fandom fiction. The exact why of how Four Walls differs is that the development of the plot and action dominates the word count and informs the interludes of relationship growth, rather than simply serving as a genre backdrop for a romance story, or functioning as an excuse to exhibit sexualized adrenaline. And, be still my beating, movie-critical heart: The romantic development is done with a restraint that is more realistic given the circumstances. (Hey, did you know  women can make rational decisions in the middle of stressful situations? Did you know that even if two women are attracted to each other, they’re capable of controlling their hormones and prioritizing other things above sex? Did you realize characters in action thrillers don’t have to act like we’re-gonna-die-so-let’s-go-for-full-on-emotional-collision, but can actually still be thoughtful in analyzing whether a relationship is healthy under their circumstances? Yeah, so, that can be a thing too, apparently. Imagine that. Bravo, kitty_shcherbatskaya.)

A note about the ‘the hero’s a real woman’ comment I made above.  This is not a case where Wonder Woman sees a baby and runs up to it. (Which I thought was totally cool, by the way.) To the writer’s credit, it’s much more subtle than that.  It’s fleshing out how Carm adapted to a violent world by becoming cold, and yet her internal fibre still won’t give up the fight for her own moral conscience, even when it comes to legitimately bad people trying to kill her. It’s in allowing her to struggle with who she wants to be as a person even where retaliation or self-preservation are at stake and in a typical masculine-driven role, those issues would be depicted as easy, black-and-white, kill-or-be-killed decisions. She doesn’t assume she’s the answer to someone else’s problems and insist they follow her lead. Don’t read this wrong: She has blood on her hands, including innocent blood. She kills. She’s cocky. (Come on, she’s Carmilla!) But the beauty here is that she’s not some super-macho, simplistic character. She kills, but it stays with her. Sometimes, she decides not to kill, even where it makes sense. She’s arrogant at times, but she’s also internally struggling with the knowledge that Laura is competent and that Carm herself may not be the right answer to Laura’s problems.

In the end, I would definitely compare it to The Bourne Identity movie, except that both Carm and Laura have independent agency, don’t fall prey to stupid mistakes just to keep the plot moving, and are capable of placing attraction in its proper place like mature human beings. And that last bit there makes an otherwise quickly-formed romance carry some legit depth. 

And the ending. Ungh.

The Concrit:  Primarily, my concrit comes down to there being some physical aspects which push reality a bit, and also that in a few places the plot falls prey to ease of coincidence. Carm is a little too durable, physically. I think male action heroes are portrayed as too durable in movies today anyway, to be honest, and so the gap in believability here is a little wider for me considering she underweighs Matt Damon by probably sixty pounds. But, it’s definitely not something as glaring as it is in pretty much every Jason Staham movie ever. And with regards to the moments of plot convenience, I can’t be too harsh here either, because there are wildly more egregious examples of these violations in pretty much every action blockbuster I’ve seen in the last decade. Not to mention that the writing here was high enough quality that neither the plot or action required a character doing something stupid in order to propel things forward. 

Enjoy this for what it is: A Hollstein read that’s as much about the story and Carmilla’s internal growth as it is the romance.

NEXT IN THE QUE:  Fake Dating AU. (Probably, Undeniable Chemistry by peptobismolbird, standoutinacrowd). Further out: Monsters by andthatisterrible and Star Filled Memories by RunWithWolves.

[magnoliasandbeardedtooth]

okay so I caught up to beastars chapter 149

and while I quite like it, the whole series has this odd feeling to it?

I’m pretty sure a lot of the plot points are made up as they went along? And a lot of what goes on is handled very weirdly

There’s a lot of confusing philosophy that barely fits the context and goes back on itself in the next chapter. I’d give examples but eventually I just sort of glazed over it and read the mood and art more than the text

I don’t understand why a lot of characters think or respond the way they do, or why their moods change so quickly. fights stop and start for very very weird reasons, and relationships are very weirdly portrayed, in that we barely see them interact on screen. We get some major moments between characters, but otherwise a lot of it is inner monologue

theres also a lot of ideas that start and then go nowhere, and plotlines that are abruptly interrupted and change course, things are constantly being changed and retconed, and deliberate mood fakeouts

I legitimately think that there were certain moments that were planned out, but nothing in between, and that they thought up some cool panels and twisted the flow of the story to fit them all in. If there were actual lines of plot planned out, they were pretty poorly executed, the whole story is a mood mess

at the same time, though, I do still really like reading it. I love the worldbuilding and the general mood of the story, and I like the character development, I love how sweet and determined Legosi is, and while I am THOROUGHLY confused by most of his actions and emotions, I do enjoy seeing the lengths he will go for his morals. I like Legosi’s and Haru’s dynamic and I think their respect for each other is wonderful

and of course there’s the obvious thing with how “male and female” is CONSTANTLY mentioned. EVERY SINGLE idea is punctuated by hetrosexuality and gender performance. It’s pretty exhausting, but I eventually glazed over it like I glazed over the logical flow of the rest of the plot. It’s weird how focused the story is on hetrosexuality, since I don’t THINK the author is homophobic?????? One of the main female supporting characters is shown to be attracted to Haru, and there are moments where is seems like there are some unrequited mlm relationships going on too, but one of them was a single moment that went nowhere (like a lot of other things), and the other one is in a story arc that hasn’t resolved yet, so who knows.

My final thoughts on Beastars is that I greatly enjoy the premise and broad plot strokes, but not the closer details.Any fan stuff I would ever do for beastars would be completely separate from canon.

also?? the art is fuckin bangin, I love the art, mwah

[idkwhoiamanymorebutwtf]

Does Ok Ko Sexualize Women?

No. Okay, end of post.

No, but actually, I see this conversation all the time. People being upset that all the women in Ok Ko seem to have the same- very sexual- body type. And maybe a lot of the female characters do have similar body types, and I would have liked to see a bit more diversity. But most of them make sense!

Let's look at Carol for a second.

Her body is thicker all over. Why? For our viewing pkeasure? So men can get off on it? No. Of course not, are you stupid? She's thinner frame wise because she works out. She teaches at a fitness dojo which is why she's obviously built to look STRONG. Upper and lower body strength will make you look thicker. And the reason it's thinner in the middle is because of that belt thingy. Not so she looks super sexy or whatever.

Red action is also built to look STRONG. Muscular with clear abs and still thicker all around because she has loads of both upper and lower body strength.

Drupe is more conventionally attractive in her shape. Not as muscular, pretty curvy. But of course she isn't muscular! She doesn't use her physical strength very often! She spends her days standing around in an ally looking cool. But thick thighs are normal in many women? I mean...my body is shaped practically the same as hers chest and hip wise. I have thicker thighs and a smaller chest. It's a normal thing. Women tend to be softer and rounder looking in general, so having a curvy figure isn't abnormal!

Cosma. She's fairly thin all around. Sure she still has a chest, but most women have SOME chest. And her outfit is compressing her waste, it seems. Even then it really isn't that small. And having the waste smaller than your hips is NOT abnormal!

People seem to dislike Enid's design the most, and I really don't get why. Her legs are thicker because that's where her strength is. Just like Rad's strength is in his upper body which is why he has muscles there! And I mean, honestly, her hips aren't even that big.

I mean, really?!? This is what you think is over sexualized?!?

People like to bring up this short (boarded by a woman, by the way!) In which she "sticks her hips out sexually!!!" Which is bs on its own because normal women move their fucking bodies, which includes the hips. But this happened BEFORE THE SHOW ACTUALLY AIRED. AND YOU KNOW WHAT?!?

THIS IS THE KIND OF THING WE'VE GOTTEN AFTER THE SHOW AIRED. IS THIS TOO SEXUAL?!? REALLY?!? And you know what? I don't even see any issue with it. Teen girls wear revealing clothing. Revealing clothing isn't necessarily sexual either. She's showing some midrift. So what? Oh boy, thats one sexy stomach! Right?!? And RAD WEARS THE SAME THING. It isn't different or somehow bad when she does it. Honestly saying it's okay for a guy to wear something but not a girl is really scummy, I hope you realize. And seeing as they're both wearing it, I doubt it's "For men's pleasure" or whatever.

Some people get upset at this because her dress went up in one scene..the one where Rad saved her and she was kinda floating for a second? ...I mean...from the physics of this scene, which was NOT a meaningless scene by any means, her dress should be doing that? And SHE'S WEARING SHORTS. IT'S NOT LIKE THEYRE SHOWING HER UNDERWEAR OR ANYTHING. SHE LEGITIMATELY HAS SHORTS ON. AND IT LASTED FOR ONE FRAME, LIKE, YOU HAVE TO GO DIGGING FOR THAT ONE. And I heard someone saying how they shouldn't have put her in a dress because of the possibility this would happen. And what on earth did y'all expect her to wear to her DATE?!? I MEAN...SHE WAS ON A DATE" GUYS. SHOULD SHE HAVE WORN JEANS AND A T-SHIRT? OR WOULD A T-SHIRT STILL BE TOO REVEALING FOR YOU GUYS?!? Honestly, my thing about people claiming Enid's designed the way she is for men's viewing pleasure really makes my blood boil. Because She's never once portrayed in the show as eye candy. She's never seen waving her hips or showing cleavage ir anything like that just to look nice. Her role in the show isn't to stand there and look pretty. She has NEVER been shown as sexual. All she's done is exist with a slightly curvy figure! And, in fact, if you can even think of a time someone on the show has pointed out how attractive she is, or she was thrown into a scene in a way-too-sexual way, then maybe I'll reconsider.

And you know what? Maybe its an issue that every girl in the show have such similar body types. Not because they're sexual, but because body diversity is something the show struggles with..

Except they don't. And I'd include more (shy ninja, pheobe, biki, foxtail, etc) if there wasn't a ten picture limit.

One of the things I like about Ok Ko is that they make curvy girls and put them in revealing clothing and just...let them exist. No fan pandering or sexy moments. Just them being PEOPLE who wear what they want and arent just objectified pieces of eyecandy

So all in all...no, the show doesn't have an issue. And the reason I feel so passionately about this is because this is ALL people want to talk about in the Ok Ko Critical topic! Like, you guys realize that the show has ACTUAL PLOT HOLES AND FLAWS IN THEIR EPISODES AND PLOTS THAT WE COULD BE DISCUSSING?!? But no! There's no mention of anything substantial in the Ok Ko critical tag! Just argument over weather or not Enid's hips are fucking pg enough! Like, let's get over it now and talk about more important things PLEASE.

[circledotdash-blog]

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

I've seen movies where the actors in the film gripped me, like in the Wolf of Wall Street or Inglorious Basterds by the same director, but this film only managed to mildly amuse me. I don’t think I would watch it again except to look at examples of physical human beauty or to watch disengaged like I do when viewing cowboy movies. I think this is the kind of film that they do for the nostalgia of the 1980s where the main goal of the director is to show the lifestyle and milieu lived by Hollywood actors in said period.

I look at how women were moving in the movie, as I am currently reading Rebecca Solnit's The Mother of All Questions. In the film, Quentin makes quaint portrayals of women. The most attractive would be Sharon, who is in a relationship with two men, one of whom she married, and another sticks with her because he is madly in love with her and is standing by for when Polanski, the director of Rosemary's baby, "makes a dick move." I noted how their relationship shared remnants with the idea of "free love" where marriage is not an excuse to be in a relationship with two men. But at the same time, I was thinking that maybe she was allowed to be with the two men because she was pretty, and kept quiet about her sufferings. In the film, Sharon was mostly just happily dancing around to records, and the only time she was portrayed as somebody who felt discomfort was when they were at the restaurant and she quietly managed being "too pregnant," which could be out of politeness towards her guests.

I don't know if the events in the movie are truthful to a time in Hollywood, but I guess I liked that most of the time the film was just calm and nothing much happened, and the end was the only time you see the usual Tarantino-type of violent shit on screen.

The film referred to Cowboy films shot in 38 millimeter film. One of the films was about Rick Dalton frying Nazis, which is similar to a scene in Inglorious Basterds, where a bunch of Nazi were assassinated in a movie house by a woman avenging her family. The movement in the film is quite like those in Cowboy films where in most of the screen time, nothing much of significance is happening and it's all about the narrative, but the action takes place in the shooting showdown just before the movie ends. And when the credits slide up, that's when you realize that the thing of significance about the film was just a quiet one, like Sharon dancing while fixing her clothes, or the Stuntman driving his dilapited sports car while listening to tunes. There a bit of action I guess when Rick screams at himself in his trailer and threatens his reflection (I will kill) if he doesn't get the script right and stops being an alcoholic. But that it's. So it's like calm calm calm, rise in energy, calm calm, bit of action, peak, end.

Another woman was the wife of the Stuntman, whom he killed on a boat as she was "nagbubunganga" kay Brad Pitt. From the scene, the viewer can assume that he shot her with the gun he was holding which he was about to catch fish with. She kept telling him he was a "loser" and he brought her in the middle of nowhere. When I saw this scene, I was surprisingly unaffected by the reference to the killing of a naggy wife. But when I read Solnit this morning, I noted how Tarantino may have expressed bias against naggy, sad women like the Stuntman's wife. As opposed to Sharon who was mostly happy and charming, the Stuntman's wife is a history referred to in the film as the reason why he finds it hard to get stuntman gigs, aside from harboring a tendency for violence. The stuntman was capable to defend himself, despite being high on acid. In general, the stuntman was a cool man. He hardly showed emotion, even when he was about to break path with his best buddy. When his best buddy, Rick Dalton (played by DiCaprio) lighted a cigarette in tears because he was "officially a has been," the stuntman said "don't cry in front of these Mexicans" as he offered to lend his sunglasses to his boss/friend. It's quiet funny how Rick Dalton is this broken narcissistic seemingly directionless actor who works hard to perform well, but was a sad man who had tendency for self-abuse. I guess that is how some men were in the 80s; they were supposed to hide their feelings from the world, and then act out on random kids on a private road because their not supposed to be there.

There's this group of hippie kids mostly composed of skinny women that Tarantino keeps on returning to in the film. One of those women engages in flirtatious looks with the Stuntman, who gives her a ride in Dalton's car. In the car, they make friendly exchanges, during which she offered to suck him, but he refused, because she would not be the reason why he would be sent to jail, if ever, no offense. The Stuntman would then later be presented with these scenarios that legitimize violent acts as self-defense, such as in the end of the movie. So I guess there's Tarantino's gender at play.

The main male characters displayed attitudes ranging from mildly to verbally averse of hippies, whose main political line in the film is that "actors are phony because they are pretending to die in films, when real people are being killed in Vietnam." The most symbolic and decisive aversiveness against hippies was when the main character's symbolic weapons, the dog and a flamethrower, were used to cause the vile deaths to the hippies who were then on a quest to kill the people who taught them how to kill, of course they failed because they were just kids poorly unprepared to kill anyone in the first place, even when their "victim" was tripping when they met him.

The film was about images of supposedly interesting people who were either satisfied or desperate about their careers. It also showed the sleek cars that used to traverse the roads of America. Thus, I was mostly unengaged by the film, being a person who doesn't like cars or male violence or coolness in the first place.

I was interested mostly by the coloring of the scenes, the houses they found for the production, the material culture of LA in the 80s, of neon light signages and movie houses where actors can randomly visit to quietly observe how people appreciate their work. It also hinted that cowboy films may have entertained most of America in the 70s.

I guess Tarantino tried to enrich the narrative using the story of an actor who was yet to come to terms with the bias of hollywood for youth and his inevitable relegation to unpopularity; there's also the attempt to look into the "life" of those actors who are not in the limelight, like the Stuntman, who lived in a trailer parked behind a drive-in theater, contrasting the beautiful home of Rick Dalton who lived in a "real estate" in Hollywood, which means he's there (at the center of it all) to stay, with neighbors like Polanski, who is married to a gorgeous woman, even though he looks like a nerdy 12 year old.

It's a hollywood film on hollywood, but you never see crazy crowds of screaming excited fans (like in Singing in the Rain), you see the quieter life of people who made their mark but whose fifteen minutes was over.