#and the ultimate rejection of her concerns as well as the safety of her children by the person who forcefully bred her in the first place

[dearlyfetching]

gotta say...it'd be a lot more satisfying if the writers would let olivia cooke bring the same energy to alicent that rebecca ferguson brought to jessica in dune: part 2.

[loominggaia]

This might be weird but I want to know more about Feredil. Any chance she will come back?

Unfortunately I can't tell you anything for certain at this point. All I can say is that in a world of magic, anything is possible. ;)

There's a bit of info about Feredil on her character bio card:

But I cough up a few extra deets for you.

(SPOILERS FOR "FROM THE ASHES" AHEAD)

Her maiden name was Ahlmas. She was born to a wealthy family in the Morite city of Edelrhun. Her family owned a textile factory there, but it went out of business after the Gold River War and left them penniless (Feredil blames this on foreign kingdoms sending clothes to the Morites as aid).

Feredil had 4 sisters. It's unknown if she had any brothers. Her parents sold all of her sisters off as brides to the highest bidder. Feredil was among them, and she was sold to a human man named Balthazaar.

But Balthazaar wasn't heartless; he told her she was free to leave him if she wished. Feredil considered it, but ultimately chose to stay with him because she feared ending up in the arms of someone worse. The two had a dysfunctional marriage for many years, up until Feredil's death at the hands of Disgrace's minions.

Feredil has said that her family was not religious in any way. She herself seemed to respect the Order of Love and Light, but feared talking about them, believing it would attract Disgrace's attention. As for her political views, she expressed disapproval for Monarch Roz for "letting Matuzans step all over the native Morites". She believed Yerim-Mor Kingdom is a lost cause and doomed to fail.

She always wished Balthazaar would quit mercenary work and get a "real job" so they could have a more stable life, but he was never able to do so. She resented him for that, and for the fact that he couldn't give her children. Feredil has said that she doesn't care about being rich, she just wants to have enough money to give her children a comfortable life.

She never had kids, but wished to be a mother more than anything. She was fond of Isaac and tried to adopt him several times. She disapproved of the Freelance Good Guys allowing Isaac to do dangerous work at such a young age, and wished to "rescue" him from the mercenary life.

Feredil knew Balthazaar was cheating on her for many years, and decided to "get even" by cheating on him too. She had an affair with Balthazaar's best friend, Javaan, on one occasion. Javaan felt terrible about it and refused to do it again, even though she wanted to continue the relationship. She once tried to have an affair with Skel too, but he harshly rejected her, as he distrusted elves.

As for personal relationships: Feredil was good friends with Linde and Ginger. She expressed fear of Mr. Ocean because of his actions in Troubled Tides. She also wasn't fond of Itchy, for obvious reasons...She got along pretty well with most of the other villagers in Drifter's Hollow.

She was usually seen doing domestic chores like cooking and cleaning, but seemed to enjoy these things and was always happy to help others with their chores. She helped cook many feasts for the FGG. She expressed concern about good hygiene and food safety, and became upset at the idea of Aquarians cooking food, believing them to be "dirty people". She didn't seem fond of Aquarians or Matuzans, but usually kept her prejudices to herself and acted polite towards them regardless.

Feredil eventually warmed up to Mr. Ocean a bit, and even asked him to play his sitar for her, claiming she had never heard that instrument before. She once baked him a pie at Alaine's request. Linde often made clothes for her and expressed jealousy over her shapely body type. Feredil's beauty attracted a lot of attention from men, much to her husband's irritation. When introducing himself to other men, Balthazaar made a point to mention that Feredil was his wife, even when she was nowhere nearby.

She was phobic of scorpions. She hated the heat. She claimed she never wanted to return to Yerim-Mor Kingdom, as she believed it was cursed by Mankind's Disgrace. She would often babysit the children in the Hollow and enjoyed doing so.

She was never afraid to speak up when she was unhappy about something, no matter who she was talking to. She chewed Evan and the other mercenaries out multiple times for various things, usually about to the way they treated Isaac.

Her earrings were old family heirlooms that she wore every day from childhood up until her death. Balthazaar scavenged one of them after her death and now wears it in her honor. Flora built a great monument to those who died during Disgrace's attack on the Hollow, where Feredil's skull is currently being displayed among others. Balthazaar visits this monument frequently and even sleeps there on occasion, expressing sorrow over his wife's death and regret over the disrespectful way he treated her.

That's all the Feredil trivia I can think of for now!

*

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

[redphlox]

Dabi's fear of feelings and connections

Dabi is a walking contradiction; he says he doesn't care about anyone, but his flames, which are linked to his emotions, demonstrate otherwise when Twice is killed. Dabi brushes off the news that Natsuo could have died because of him but still refers to him affectionately as Natsu-kun. Touya went around calling Endeavor out for neglecting his children but still trained to regain his approval and attention anyway. He lashed out at baby Shouto, admitted Shouto had done nothing wrong, and then attacked him again years later. He cries blood while thinking about his family but doesn't go home to them or change his actions which hurt them even more. Dabi wants to destroy hero society for a better future but it's obvious he doesn't plan to live long enough to see that future.

The gaps between his actions and his words are a result of dissociation and repression. It's not that Dabi is emotionless. Actually, he feels too much and he's afraid of his feelings because they've done nothing but hurt him emotionally and physically. He literally almost burned to death the one time he had a burst of emotion on Sekoto Peak and in order to prevent a repeat of that, he operates under the flawed notion that safety lies in repressing his feelings and pushing people away. He lies to himself and others and therefore cannot reconcile with his true self and can’t trust others.

In this meta I'll discuss how Dabi deals with his unprocessed feelings of betrayal and neglect by denying himself connections with both his inner wounded child and those around him. I'll also address a few misconceptions surrounding Dabi because dismantling them is key to understanding him. Contrary to popular belief, he does not want to kill his father, he never wanted to be a hero for his own sake, and he doesn't hate Shouto or his family. At its core, Touya's hurt stems from discovering that his relationship with his father wasn't based on unconditional love. This realization destroyed his sense of self so much it caused him to start fearing his own feelings and being close to others because of the link between his emotions and his self-destructive quirk.

To understand Dabi we have to understand Touya. In 291 we see through Endeavor's flashback that Touya was eager to train under him and carry his legacy. It's implied by the fact they’re working on ultimate moves that not only is Touya a willing, eager participant but that the two have been training together for quite some time. In 301 we learn that after Touya's quirk started hurting him Endeavor not only abandoned the training regime but also abandoned Touya both emotionally and physically. Instead of using the time he spent training Touya to help Touya find a new hobby or purpose in life, or just hanging out with his kid, Endeavor chooses to remove himself from Touya’s life. When Touya confronts him about the change of routine, Endeavor is seen putting on his jacket and leaving the home, his body turned away from his son.

Maybe Endeavor had errands to run, but my point is that he was in Touya’s life one minute and then gone the next. Touya says so himself: why did Endeavor change his mind all of a sudden? The abrupt change in attitude was jarring for a 4-5 year old to handle. To Touya, training = love, so he felt compelled to keep training and demonstrate his worthiness despite the fact that his quirk was hurting him. To Touya, the pain was worth it if it meant hanging out with his dad again.

But why? Well, Touya was Endeavor's #1 fan, genuinely so. His admiration and fondness for his father was genuine, and he didn't question the triumphant look on Endeavor's face when Touya said he wanted to learn the ultimate move. Before his quirk started burning him, Touya had no idea he was born for his father's ulterior motives. He had no reason to question his father's attention. Touya lived under the impression his bond with his dad was genuine and special, and he probably felt lucky that his father was willing to share something so important to him (heroism). Even after the training stops and Endeavor stops paying attention to Touya, Touya still wears his merch and vies for his attention. Most kids see their parents as larger than life and Touya was no exception. Keigo Takami admired Endeavor the hero, and Touya Todoroki admired his father who just so happened to be the hero Endeavor. Since being a hero was such a big deal for Endeavor, it was a big deal for Touya.

But that's where Touya's story becomes tragic. His father is a flawed, flawed man with many insecurities and fallacies that he pushes onto his family. I’ll get to those in a moment, but as intelligent and observant Touya is to catch on that Endeavor never set out to marry to become a father, he is too young to separate himself from his father’s expectations. Touya realizes he was born for a purpose and Touya will be damned if he doesn't fulfill that purpose even if he knows it's wrong. His father's ‘love’ meant that much to him. For Touya, it's not about becoming a hero for the glory. It was about his relationship with his father because, as I mentioned earlier, Touya was his #1 fan in the sense that he loved Enji just for being his dad. There were no conditions tied to that. “You are my dad, and I love you.”

But that wasn’t a sentiment that Touya felt in return, and that hurt Touya. He internalized he wasn't good enough, that something about him was inherently wrong. But more than that, his world came tumbling down - he felt betrayed and lied to: his father didn't love him like Touya needed him to, and this truth destroyed him. Their relationship was a lie, a farce, and it hurt so much Touya became obsessed with not hurting anymore because he couldn’t get away from it.

Touya’s motivation to become a hero didn't rise from being inspired by All Might like Shouto. Touya’s thought process wasn’t "I want to be a hero to help others or be like All Might" like Deku. No, Touya only wanted to be a hero because he wanted his father to be proud of him for surpassing All Might. Notice that Touya's obsession with beating All Might slowly diminishes from “I can surpass All Might” to “I can surpass All Might like Shouto, too” to just “look at me, Endeavor.” It was never about being a hero per say, but about his relationship with his father. Touya realized that Endeavor isn't his father first, but a hero, and he understands that he has to be a hero too to fit into his father's world. Even upon realizing that his father was using him, Touya still wanted to be part of his life, still wanted that bond. Touya, in his desperation to be loved and accepted again, could look past his father's selfishness as long as he regained that approval. Touya could pretend the relationship was real as long as he stopped feeling so unlovable.

This is unhealthy thinking, of course. Even if Touya somehow managed to regain Endeavor's approval, the relationship would still be one-sided and dissatisfying because he wouldn't be able to ignore the truth. But, this is how he rationalized his insistence to keep training in his 4-5 year old mind and this line of thought stuck with him as he grew up just as those feelings of inadequacy never left him.

This is precisely why Natsuo's drowsy "can't you go talk to our sister?" hurt so much. Touya was already emotionally fragile, and hearing that felt like being rejected all over again when it was actually Natsuo just trying to sleep. Touya was hypersensitive to any words or actions that could be interpreted as dismissive. His trauma wouldn't listen to logic that Natsuo was 8 and too young to understand, that he was tired - no, Touya's brain said, you're being rejected again! This is also why he also stormed away crying from Fuyumi after she expressed her concern for him.

In Touya’s mind, why couldn't anyone just agree with him that he was good enough? He heard "your dad's right and you're not good enough so why try" not "I care about you, your father is wrong, and I don't want you to keep getting hurt" whenever Rei tried to get him to stop training because that's the message he got from his father, too. Nevermind that it infuriated Touya that his mother could stand there and preach to him when, from his perspective, she couldn’t take her own advice. All Endeavor ever did was teach him to turn up the heat, so why should it matter that doing just so hurts him? Touya didn't understand NOT training his quirk because he had been taught that raising his firepower was ideal in all situations. Those two statements didn't make sense to a 4-5 year old, a 13 year old, and it still doesn’t make sense as a 24 year old.

To take Endeavor's lack of self awareness a step further, because it's important to understand Endeavor to fully understand Dabi, Endeavor has yet to realize his own inherent worth. He doesn't have to prove anything to his family, especially his kids. They love him unconditionally, without special reason aside from the fact that he's theirs and he's himself. However, Endeavor is so obsessed with proving himself that he doesn't realize he never had to, and he projects this onto his children. They must prove themselves by winning the genetic lottery, by being useful to his plans, by surpassing All Might.

The irony that to be a great father he doesn't have to be a hero at all is ugly because Endeavor has no identity outside of being a hero. Endeavor has said before he wants to be a good hero and father to make Shouto proud, but he fails to realize he already had this in Touya all those years ago and it still left him unsatisfied. The issue isn’t his role as a hero, it’s his inner self. In 301 Endeavor literally reaches out to Touya to talk him out of training and hurting himself, and Touya allows his father to touch his shoulders because he wants a bond with his father - any bond. Shouto, on the other hand, wouldn't allow Endeavor to touch him in 167 and slaps his hand away because he doesn’t want Endeavor’s approval. Endeavor doesn't realize Natsuo carries deep abandonment and neglect issues because he wanted to be accepted by his father too (light novel #5) but was ignored. Endeavor doesn't realize he was always good enough by default and that by projecting onto his kids and trying to be the top hero he’s doing the opposite of what he wants. He just keeps pushing away his family.

It’s important to point out Endeavor’s illogical thinking because Touya learned some of these same ideas. Touya repeatedly tries to prove himself without realizing that he was always good enough by default. The problem wasn’t his quirk or his body, but his father’s flawed thinking and self-worth issues. Now as an adult, Dabi is selfish because he's Endeavor's son and emobidies his most negative characteristics. Dabi thinks of his flames as Endeavor's, and he thinks of himself as an extension of Endeavor because that's how Endeavor set him up for life. Touya has no identity to fall back on after his father casts him aside. He was supposed to be Endeavor 2.0, but now that title is Shouto’s. Dabi doesn’t hate Shouto as a person, but he has tricked himself into believing Shouto is their father’s puppet. Shouto is a doll being used by their father with no self agency, and Dabi is going to break all of Endeavor’s toys. It’s nothing personal against Shouto, it’s just Shouto’s bad luck that he happens to be Endeavor’s masterpiece. This is why Dabi doesn’t hurt Shouto when they first meet at the training camp, and why Dabi stops attacking Shouto after Endeavor passes out - it’s not about Shouto. It’s about Endeavor, and breaking Endeavor. Touya is still there trying to be part of his father’s world, only this time not as a hero but as a villain who will end his own suffering. He doesn't want Endeavor to die, he just wants him to suffer, to ruin his dreams. Dabi thinks of it as justice.

But because Touya is still there, there is still that goodness in him, too. His connection to Fuyumi and Natsuo is still there, repressed and compartmentalized. It’s why he calls them affectionately as Fuyumi-chan and Natsu-kun. Touya’s pain is so great he has decided he’d rather end it than to carry on and look elsewhere. He's stuck, rightfully so. He recognizes his mother is a flawed person and ultimately doesn’t blame her for being a victim - she could have done more for her son, but he still sees her and his other siblings, even Shouto, as people who fell victim to Endeavor’s abuse who don't challenge their situation. Dabi sees himself as someone who does stand up to the abuse but doesn’t realize he still wants his father’s attention. He's always wanted it. That's why he went around at 13 condemning his father's treatment of his children but still trained to prove himself. This is part of the reason he became a villain.

Not to mention that Dabi literally can't cry. He has no way to release those emotions, so instead of trying to let them out, he pushes them down. But that doesn't work and is detrimental in the long run. In 290-294 we saw Dabi's flames burn so hot during his confrontation with Endeavor and revealing himself as Touya that his burns have spread. Dabi is afraid of his feelings because of their connection to his flames, but he also uses his feelings to his advantage. He wants to go out in an inferno along with Shouto just to hurt Endeavor and put an end to his own suffering and Endeavor's career. This is why Dabi doesn't bother calming himself down or denying that he never forgot how he was treated when he lived at home. Dabi became emotional in that battlefield, smiling maniacally instead of crying because he physically can't cry. In his mind, if his feelings are going to destroy him, he might as well use them to prove a point. After all, he has experience being used. It's why he was born.

I'm not saying any of these actions or thoughts are healthy or correct or condoned, by the way. Trauma responses don't make logical sense and usually aren't healthy. Knowing how the mind responds to trauma, it's understandable that Touya still wanted his father's attention even if it was abusive. In fact, this is how children often respond to abuse. Their caretaker/parent is all they know and they cling to these figures. Often times when authorities try to remove a child from their abusive parents, the child doesn't want to go because this parent is all they know and they do feel like they love their parent/caretaker. I’m not saying the authorities got involved in this case, because obviously they didn’t, but this same mentality of abused children can be applied to Touya. Touya, in his four year old mind, probably convinced himself that if he was good enough everything would go back to how it used to be.

So, to sum up Dabi’s character, of course he doesn't make any sense. He’s still that hurt 4-5 year old who is trying to protect himself from ever getting hurt like that again while still wanting his father’s validation. Of course he doesn’t want to get close to anyone, not even the League. He doesn't want to be vulnerable or let people in or form connections because the last time that happened he was let down, forsaken, and it hurt so much it literally made him lose control of his quirk to the point he almost died. When Twice is killed, Dabi consoles himself by saying he didn't care anyway, all to prevent another emotional fire. Dabi is a master of compartmentalizing and boxing away his feelings - this is probably why, 310 chapters into BNHA, we have yet to have a few chapters in his POV or his backstory. He's disconnected from himself. He knows his plot to get justice will hurt his siblings and mother and to live with himself and move forward he represses those feelings.

Because of his father not showing up on Sekoto peak, Dabi has to live with physical disabilities due to his scars and memories of burning alive. He doesn't want to go through that again so he lies to himself that he doesn't care about anyone or anything. He denies that he's still in pain while simultaneously seeking validation of his pain. He acts like he doesn't care about his family but still calls them affectionate names. He acts like he hates Endeavor and calls him by his name but still wants his attention. He decided long ago that he would die destroying Endeavor's career because that was the thing Endeavor cares about most of all in this life. It's a "you hurt me so I'll hurt you" mentality. He has tricked himself into thinking this is justice, failing to realize this won't make him feel better if he doesn't die by his own hand along the way.

Dabi is full of resentment and spite, both of which take root from feelings of abandonment, betrayal, and the loss of a purpose and the realization that he wasn't born to be loved for who he was but as a tool for his father. The first betrayal he suffered was in the form of realizing his father didn't love him genuinely, and this was identity-breaking for him. He never recovered from it. The second betrayal, the reinforcer, was his father not showing up to Sekoto Peak. Since then, Dabi is reliving his trauma over and over again the more he uses his quirk and the more he faces Endeavor. To be saved, Dabi needs to accept that he is loved unconditionally and needs to be validated that he was right to feel thrown aside and used.

[eijispumpkin]

On Allegory, Imperfection, and Inadvertent Subversion: A small essay about Akimi Yoshida’s Banana Fish and Salinger’s “A Perfect Day For Bananafish”.

In the story of Banana Fish, Yoshida references Salinger’s short story “A Perfect Day For Bananafish” (which henceforth shall be addressed as “Perfect Day” simply for ease of reading) several different ways, both in-universe and out. It is exceedingly evident that the character of Ash Lynx is heavily based on Seymour Glass, and one might surmise that Banana Fish is an allegorical retelling of “Perfect Day”, especially given that in the original story, Ash Lynx dies of what is arguably a “passive suicide” – that is, when faced with an injury that isn’t immediately fatal, he chooses to bleed out rather than seek help, which when framed as a suicide, parallels the much more violent and sudden suicide of Seymour Glass.

However, this surface-level allegorical reading ignores a very important variable in the story of Banana Fish, namely the counterpart to Ash’s Seymour: Eiji’s Sybil. While Ash and Seymour share many similarities (both are traumatized, troubled geniuses with partly-Irish roots who grew up in New York City), the similarities between Eiji and Sybil are very few. Eiji does symbolize a world of innocence to contrast with Ash’s world of horrors, but unlike Sybil, Eiji is an adult with agency of his own, and though he retains some of Sybil’s childlike innocence and is able to connect deeply with Ash as a result of it, Eiji’s agency and decisions ultimately change the narrative and its meaning.

That is to say, by introducing Eiji as an imperfect Sybil, one who has agency and can actually provide Ash with understanding and support of the kind that Seymour never got from Muriel or others around him (and which Sybil, being three years old, was in no way equipped to provide), Banana Fish directly subverts “Perfect Day”’s original message of cynicism in the face of a material world unconcerned with the horror of lost innocence and its resulting isolation.

To understand what this means, it’s important to first understand the meaning and context of “Perfect Day” and the circumstances in which it was written. “Perfect Day” is a story written first and foremost as a critique of American materialism in the wake of WWII; Salinger echoes the concerns of the Lost Generation before him, in a way, by really driving home the alienation from modern adult life felt by those who were exposed to the horrors and traumas of the battlefields in wartorn Europe, only to return home and find a culture completely removed from it all. Seymour Glass is a stand-in for Salinger himself—Kenneth Slawenski, in his 2010 biography of Salinger, notes that on returning from the European theater, Salinger “found it impossible to fit into a society that ignored the truth that he now knew.”

If that sounds familiar, good, because it should! This is precisely the motif of “Perfect Day” (as well as some of Salinger’s other work featuring members of the Glass family, such as Seymour’s younger brother Buddy, which, as an aside, is a name that might stick out to Banana Fish fans. Whether this is an intentional reference or a coincidence, I can’t say for certain, but given the depth of other references within this allegory, I’m inclined to think it’s intentional).

As a quick summary for those who may need a refresher, “Perfect Day” is a story about a deeply traumatized man who feels isolated from the rest of society because of the weight of the horrors he has been exposed to. Muriel Glass, Seymour’s wife, is the epitome of this: she represents the materialistic culture that Seymour feels so alienated from, always talking about brand-name things and luxuries and upward mobility. Seymour rejects her company in favor of playing the piano for children and spending time on the beach, where he tells three-year-old Sybil Carpenter a story about bananafish, fish that gorge themselves on bananas in holes under the sea until they’re too fat to escape the entrances to these little banana dens, and then they die. Instead of dismissing this story as something bizarre, Sybil claims she sees a bananafish in the water, which endears her to Seymour, until she leaves, at which point he returns to his hotel room and shoots himself in the head.

In “Perfect Day”, this interaction (between Sybil and Seymour) is the center of a set of dualities. Sybil represents the state of childlike innocence that Seymour longs to return to, and because of her innocence, she can “understand” him in ways that the material adults like her mother or Muriel do not. Seymour’s isolation is a product of his society and the lack of support and understanding for traumatized veterans returning from war, and it shows in the way that adults his age cannot connect with him, and he cannot connect with them. This disconnect between worlds is what eventually results in Seymour’s suicide—he can fit neither in the world in which he wishes to be, nor in the one in which he must reside, and it ends in his death.

The question is, then, how does this relate to Banana Fish?

As mentioned previously, Ash Lynx is a very clear parallel to Seymour Glass. He’s a young man faced with immeasurable trauma from which he believes he can never recover, and there is a clear motif of duality in his entire character arc: his world (one of violence and trauma) versus the “normal” world (where innocent people who have “regular” lives may reside). Like Seymour, Ash feels trapped in a world he can’t escape, knowing “the truth” that he knows, about the horrors that people are capable of.

It follows, then, that Eiji Okumura is a parallel to Sybil Carpenter, who represents childlike innocence and a world that Ash longs to be part of but can’t reach. And to an extent, this is true: Eiji is sheltered and innocent, comparing real-life to TV shows and being completely unexposed to kidnappings, drugs, guns, and violence. However, there is a sharp contrast between Eiji and Sybil, one that fundamentally changes the relationship between Eiji and Ash and makes it radically different from that between Sybil and Seymour:

Eiji is an adult, and as such, he has agency of his own.

Unlike Sybil with Seymour, Eiji can make his own choices and face Ash as an equal. Where Sybil is a child who runs back to her mother after playing with Seymour at the beach, Eiji actively and consistently chooses to stay with Ash, over and over. He even explicitly tells Ash “you are not alone”, which is a huge and direct contrast to the message of inevitable, devastating isolation from “Perfect Day”. Whereas Sybil’s innocence serves as a reminder to Seymour of what he’s lost and cannot regain, Eiji’s innocence is a beacon of comfort and companionship to Ash. Eiji is someone with whom Ash can relax and be playful like a boy his own age, as noted by Max and Ibe watching them interact.

This communication and connection are present between Sybil and Seymour, but in a very different way. Seymour prefers to play make-believe and tell silly stories to kids, because he went from being a wide-eyed innocent to being traumatized and longing for a place to belong, and Sybil as a child represents what he wishes he had, while the adults around him (most notably Muriel, his wife) are a world he doesn’t understand that feels false.

This is not the dichotomy of worlds that Ash faces. Ash faces a world of trauma and suffering that he sees himself as trapped in, and a world of peace and security that he thinks is beyond his reach. Where Seymour yearns for a return to innocence, Ash yearns to escape his pain, and the combination of this subtle difference with the effect of Eiji’s agency and the narrative structure of Banana Fish results in a subversion of the themes in “Perfect Day”.

Banana Fish is a long-form narrative, while “Perfect Day” is a short story. Part of the inherent structure of a long-form narrative is character growth and development, which for obvious reasons is much less prominent in short stories. As a result, Eiji’s impact on Ash is clearly visible over the course of the narrative, and it becomes impossible to declare that Ash is firmly rooted in the world he sees himself as trapped in. By the end of the story, even Ash wavers on this assertion; although he ultimately succumbs to suicide, a narrative choice that been criticized ever since its publication, in the moments leading up to his stabbing, he does believe that Eiji is right, or at least right enough that he wants to see him one last time (this is ambiguous and open to interpretation, of course).

Why did this narrative choice spark so much controversy and outcry from fans? Not every story that ends in tragedy is criticized as poorly written for it; examples range from Shakespearean tragedies to “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”, a film in which the entire cast dies in the climax. Yet just about all fans agree that it fit the narrative. Clearly, then, it is possible to craft a story that ends in death and tragedy but still feels well-written. What makes Banana Fish different?

I would argue that the answer lies in this imperfect allegory. By creating a Sybil-esque character that can interact with the Seymour-esque character as equals, can stay with him, and can listen to him and support him through his grief and pain, Akimi Yoshida inadvertently turned “Perfect Day”’s message on its head. The tragedy of “Perfect Day” is Seymour’s isolation. By giving Ash a warm, compassionate relationship in which he is assured over and over that he is not alone, Yoshida upturns this entirely.

Ash is led to believe in this dichotomy mostly by his isolation. He believes that since Eiji is in mortal danger as a result of being special to him, he needs to send Eiji to safety, i.e. somewhere far from him and far from the reach of those who would hurt them both. This isn’t a miscommunication issue or anything of the sort; this is Ash being afraid for Eiji’s life; Eiji isn’t averse to returning to Japan itself. Eiji is averse to returning to Japan without Ash, as he mentions when he talks about how Ash could be a model, and tells him about kami. In establishing this as a consistent tenet of Eiji’s character, Yoshida ensures that Ash is not isolated in the same way that Seymour was.

In addition, Eiji can move freely between both worlds set up in Ash’s perceived dichotomy, a motif made explicitly clear when Eiji leaps the wall to freedom and light at the beginning, leaving Ash (and Skipper) behind in captivity in the dark. Despite this escape from the world of violence and crime, Eiji returns of his own volition and stays with Ash, experiences his own fair share of horrific traumas, and still leaves in the end to return to his world. This makes it clear that the dichotomy is less stark than Ash is led to believe, unlike the repeated validation of his isolation that Seymour receives, and is another reason that the ending of “Perfect Day” is inconsistent with the ending of Banana Fish

A quick sidebar: Banana Fish has no real Muriel, but if pressed, I would posit that the closest parallel to Muriel that exists is Blanca, whose main purpose in the narrative seems to be to reinforce to Ash that he can’t escape the world he feels trapped in and longs to leave. But where in “Perfect Day” Muriel symbolized the materialism of American society after WWII, Blanca has no real established reason to be so invested in keeping Ash down, and in conjunction with the fact that despite his own traumas, he can retire peacefully to the Caribbean, his role in the story falls to pieces entirely. Where Muriel represented a lifestyle that Seymour fundamentally could not reach, thereby reinforcing his isolation, Blanca is supposed to parallel Ash to a degree, but his words to Ash do not match his actions whatsoever.

Therefore, if anything, Blanca’s assertions serve only to strike a contrast with Eiji’s (and Max’s, to an extent, since Max and Eiji both agree that Ash can escape this and they want him to heal). Moreover, Blanca’s relationship with Ash is that of a mentor and a student, a relationship that is shown to be fundamentally unhealthy, given that Blanca willingly worked for Ash’s abuser, a mafia don who he knew trafficked children. Some argue that Blanca was blackmailed into this service, but given that Blanca chose to betray Golzine at the end and work with Ash with seemingly no real provocation or change in his relationship with Golzine, this supposition seems flawed. Blanca’s assertions about Ash and his ability to forge bonds and leave his world the way Eiji does, and indeed the way Blanca himself does, are simply incorrect, and the narrative itself provides us all the tools we need to realize that Blanca is wrong, even without the extended context of a parallel to Muriel Glass.

Returning to the main issue at hand, i.e. that of the imperfect allegorical connections between Sybil and Eiji, and the dichotomy between worlds that Ash perceives, it’s clear that in creating a positive, nurturing relationship between Ash and Eiji rather than a one-off encounter, Yoshida inadvertently created a story about connections rather than isolation. Ash’s attempts to keep Eiji safe from harm by sending him home are countered by Eiji’s assertion that he only wants to go to Japan if Ash comes with him, which is a kind of selfless devotion that reaches through Ash’s isolation until he decides that he won’t try and separate himself from Eiji anymore, which is a massive blow to the dichotomy of his supposed two worlds. This is the narrative acknowledging that both worlds can coexist.

Not only this, but also Eiji, who has his own trauma—he’s kidnapped several times, shot at, drugged, sexually assaulted, attacked with a knife by a drugged friend, exposed to several deaths, shot at people in fights himself, and ultimately nearly killed by a gunshot wound—despite all of this, Eiji is still allowed to exist in the world of peace and regularity. Eiji’s innocence is sharply tempered by traumatic experiences, and he can still walk between worlds. If Eiji, Max, Ibe, Jessica, Sing, Cain, and Blanca can all experience traumas, why is Ash the only one who cannot escape? Is there some kind of magical bar of “too much” trauma, like an event horizon on a black hole?

Obviously, no.

So it comes to this: Essentially, the reason that the ending is so controversial, and why I personally believe that the open ending of the anime is an improvement to the original story, is that the allegory between Banana Fish and “Perfect Day” falls apart because of Eiji’s agency. Ash wants to protect Eiji, and to protect Eiji’s innocence and light, because he feels that it’s beyond his own reach, but Eiji forges a bond with him that is rooted in mutual respect and care, and in doing so, undoes the devastating, painful isolation that led to Seymour’s suicide. This is why Ash’s death can feel so hollow—it doesn’t follow the pattern of “Perfect Day”; after the entire story is about Ash’s bonds and those who love him unconditionally, it feels almost like a shock-value plot twist tacked on, rather than a tragic inevitability.

I don’t believe that Yoshida intended Banana Fish to be a subversion of “Perfect Day”. I believe she meant it as a one-to-one allegory, and this is why she kept the ending as Ash choosing death. However, due to the changes in themes because of the characters and their relationships, Ash is not isolated in the profound way Seymour was, and his death is therefore not nearly as impactful.

[blushing-titan]

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about chapter 138 again, and I came to a few conclusions. First and foremost, I’m surprised at the amount of Mikasa’s fans who are happy about the possibility of the cabin vision being an actual AU. Mikasa has been one of my favorite characters pretty much since the beginning, but I feel like - if the AU is real - it’s a huge step back for her progress and general well-being. Let me explain my point below - warning, it’s pretty long! I’ll be using manga panels (I obviously don’t own them, all credits go to the author!), and there will be spoilers.

My perspective on Eremika

I’m a firm believer that Eren and Mikasa’s relationship is a bit too unhealthy for Mikasa, at least in it’s current state - to me, it’s clear as a day that it’s way too unbalanced. Mikasa just invests more in it - it’s been shown countless times, both in the manga and anime, that Eren’s safety and well-being is her top priority. He’s on her mind most of the times and she constantly wants to be near him - she thinks of him as her safe place and home.

But what about Eren? He’s often irritated and suffocated by her overprotectiveness. He’s quite a proud person who doesn’t want to be constantly saved - despite generally needing it sometimes. In my eyes, it’s another imbalance - Eren wants to be the strong one, but since Mikasa is just naturally better at that, he constantly feels belittled, like it’s a form of rivalry.

On top of that, throught the entire series Eren has his own set of dreams and goals that doesn’t necessarily always revolve around Mikasa - all while Mikasa makes up her plans and goals solely around Eren. She even admits that all she wants is just to be at his side.

What concerns me too, however, is that Mikasa often puts Eren’s safety and well-being over her own - and it’s something that she realizes. 

Sometimes, Mikasa’s friends act as a voice of reason, but when someone tries to raise any objections or concerns against Eren, she usually backs him up or tries to rationalize his actions. In the example below, Jean is concerned about the scar that Mikasa got after she got attacked by Eren (right after Eren lost control over his titan in chapter 12).

On top of that, Mikasa can be very passive, and even uncritical when it comes to Eren’s more questionable actions. There are times in which the latter can get a bit too blunt, or even straight up mean, but Mikasa either protects him, tries to justify his actions or is literally immobilized by them - like in the scene in which Eren insults her and proceeds to fight Armin, who’s been trying to back her up. Notice how Mikasa is unable to stop Eren from continuously attacking Armin (when, a reminder, the latter one stood up for her), but immediately jumps in to stop Armin from attacking Eren. You can clearly see that even she is shocked by her reaction.

We can also see her being in denial about Eren’s hurtful actions later on. She doesn’t even want to talk about it when Jean brings it up:

She’s also still concerned and worried about Eren a few chapters later, after he had done and stated that he’s about to do terrible things - even at times when her other friends were endangered. This time, it’s Armin who tries to act as a voice of reason.

Now, before we get ahead of ourselves: 

Do I think that Eren doesn’t care about Mikasa, or even hate her (as he said)? No - she’s obviously extremely important to him and he was definitely lying during the table scene. Personally, I’ve never seen him having any romantic feelings towards her, but that doesn’t mean anything - love doesn’t always have to be romantic and I 100% believe that she’s still someone who he holds very dear to his heart. There are many moments that show that he’s also very protective of her, and that - along with Armin - she’s one of the most important people in his life. 

But my point still stands - aside from that, the relationship is just too unbalanced to be considered healthy, especially for Mikasa. Both Eren and Mikasa see it in different light, which often cause them to collide. I just can’t help but feel like Mikasa sacrifices too much for it, too - she often ends up jeopardizing her safety, constantly worries about Eren and clashes with her friends because of it. To some extent, Eren may be doing some of these things as well - but let’s be 100% honest, never nearly as much as Mikasa does. He fiercly protects her when she’s in danger and backs her up when he agrees with her, but at the end of the day he has his own goals and opinions. He doesn’t fixate himself with Mikasa nearly as much as Mikasa does it with him - he’s never jealous of anything but her skills, meanwhile she's often on alert when he’s around other girls. In the manga, she’s displaying jealousy over Annie and Historia, in the anime we can add Hanji to that pool, while in A.O.T. Wings of Freedom she’s also jealous of Sasha and even freckled Ymir - all while Eren remains oblivious and - in these situations, rightfully so - annoyed.

We know that there are reasons why Mikasa treats Eren like this. He obviously saved her life when they were children, but it’s also because she was strongly traumatized by losing both her biological family, and then people who took care of her right after that. It’s only natural that she does anything in her power to not go through that again...

...but it’s important to question if the way her relationship with Eren goes - how she commits to it 100% and how it affects her - is really the best way for her to heal and eventually live a happy life. I believe that Eren himself saw that it was becoming too toxic for Mikasa - and, considering that he actually cares for her and knows that he doesn’t have all the time in the world, he focused on making her move on. In my opinion, that’s why he wanted to push her away during the table scene. It’s also why he tried to get rid of the scarf that Louise brought to him. Even if the execution is far from perfect, he still wants what’s best for her, so he tries to put an end to enabling her unhealthy coping practices. He wants her to live a long, happy life.

Soooo...how does “the cabin AU” fit into all of this?

The answer is simple - it doesn’t. It’s a huge mixture and repetition of everything that’s harmful about Mikasa’s obsession with Eren. It’s a confirmation that Mikasa would be able to leave the entire world for 4 years of constant lying to herself. To betray her friends, leave everything behind, act as if everything was going to be okay and, in turn, make it all worse for herself. Because let me remind you one thing - Mikasa will go on living after Eren looses to the titan curse...but what will she do from now on? Will she stay in the cabin forever, alone and with no one to talk to - no one to share the pain after saying her final goodbye to Eren? Will she come back to the war-ridden world and face her old friends - like Armin who must have been frantically looking for her and Eren? Some of these friends may not want to have anything to do with her after all that - some may be already dead. Maybe there’s no place to go at all.

In my opinion, Eren being okay with this would ultimately prove that he doesn’t care about Mikasa’s wellbeing - and, as I’ve said before I just don’t think that’s the case at all. On top of that, as stated in the beginning, it would serve as a regress of Mikasa’s character - she wouldn’t be able to overcome her weaknesses, which would only make her life harder in the long run. Therefore, I simply can’t accept this vision to be an AU. What do I think it was, then?

Mikasa believes in Eren’s good heart, despite all awful things he commits - she repeatedly says that he does it all for them - his friends...and yet she wants to believe that there must have been a way to not let it all happen. A part of her may be blaming herself, which is why she questions if she could have changed anything by giving him a different answer. 

To me, it’s very obvious and I have to admit: I was horrified to see the amount of fans saying “If only she hadn’t family-zoned him, so many people would still be alive!”. Mikasa was NEVER to blame here and her answer should never have a force to change something like that. At the end of the day, it was Eren’s decision to go on with the rumbling, and I hate to see Mikasa (and the fans, too!) putting any blame for it on her.

In conclusion, I really believe that the vision was Mikasa’s daydream - most likely created as a coping mechanism since at this point she knew what was about to happen - what she had to do. Not any AU flashback, but rather a poor, traumathised girl trying to come to terms with the cruel reality - and ultimately reclaiming her strength. In her mind, she comes back to her safe place for a few moments, just to get a bit of comfort - a place where she and Eren live peacefully and safely. In fact, the panel below may suggest that she was dreaming about something similar ever since the training days:

I also believe that, at some point, Eren enters that dream - perhaps somehow through paths, or is sent there by Ymir. There, he once again reminds Mikasa that he wants her to live long, be free and forget about him.

I think in the end, Mikasa rejects that fake utopia, finally understanding that it could never happen and it was not her fault. She accepts the reality as it is and stops rationalizing Eren’s actions. She also comes to terms with her feelings towards him, but won’t let it cloud her judgement anymore. She will remember him and cherish these memories forever, but acknowledges that it has gone too far - she chooses humanity, the world and finally: a long, happy life for her. Just like Eren would want for her.

This time, Mikasa wraps the scarf around herself.

If you’re here, wow - thank you so much for reading, it means a lot! I’m sorry for any mistakes I’ve made while writing - English is not my first language and I didn’t really have anyone to beta-read this long wall of text xd Hope I made my points clear - and just to clarify, my text is not an invitation for any ugly Mikasa haters. As I’ve said before, she’s one of my favorite characters and I hope for the best for her - she’s been through so much, poor girl needs a break :C

[ymiwritesstuff]

Okay, I have a request for Kakyoin this time. Could you do one where he's just become a vampire and is trying to keep away from the female reader as he's scared of hurting her but she comforts him? Thank you, you're work is amazing!

Vampire Kakyoin is one of my favorite things ever and I was happy to receive a request for him! Thanks for the request once again, thanks for the extremely kind words and I hope you enjoy!

Isolation

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 3: Stardust Crusaders

Noriaki Kakyoin x Reader

Summary: To some, gaining immortality instead of dying a painful death was too good to be true. But for Kakyoin, it was far worse.

Notes: Small angst?? Fluff

Kakyoin had always thought that defeating Dio would make everything great again, thinking that once the blond vampire would cease to exist, all evil and negativity in his life would disappear with him. He would be able to enjoy life with his beloved, perhaps even watch his own children grow up if you so desired. Everything would be perfect and no one he loved would be in any danger.

However that was not the case at all as to him, someone he loved was in grave danger whenever he was around you.

Kakyoin knew that he had a very high chance of losing his life when he was about to challenge Dio directly. It was necessary in order to gain knowledge about his stand and he should’ve been grateful for having survived such an attack. But nowadays he couldn’t help but to wonder if it was for the better if he had never survived The World’s blow. He found it ironic that the blood of someone who tried to kill him would be the thing that ultimately allowed him to still exist in this world. However Kakyoin would soon come to realize just now difficult being an immortal vampire really was.

The moment he woke up in the hospital, he immediately noticed a change. His fresh fangs lightly grazed his bottom lip, his skin was cold as ice and no signs of Dio’s attack were apparent on his abdomen. Kakyoin didn’t know how to react to his new form. He felt a massive amount of power flowing through his veins, enhancing his physical strength beyond that of any human. The tiny wound on his lips due to his fangs was cured within seconds and when he went to open the blinds of his window he received a cruel reminder of his weakness. He would never be able to enjoy the warmth of the sun.

But the thing that was far more terrifying for Kakyoin wasn’t his new unknown abilities or even the deadly orb in the sky. The most terrifying thing of all was the fact that Kakyoin was dangerous. Dangerous to the point where he thought of himself as someone who would hurt or even kill the one he loved. Kakyoin was afraid to be around you. What if he suddenly lost control and drained you from the essential red liquid flowing through your body? What if he unintentionally hurt you due to his superhuman strength?

All these questions ran wild in his head, causing him to isolate himself from everyone. He would stay home, sleep during the day and spend the nights with himself, trying to return back to a normal life. Kakyoin couldn’t refuse your occasional pleas to go out with him, but he was far too afraid to allow himself to be alone with you. This caused your dates under the darkness of the night to be rather awkward as there would always be a third or fourth individual with you, often being someone from the crusaders. But even when you thought you would have some private time with your boyfriend at his home, he always denied your entrance. Kakyoin knew you didn’t like it, but he had to think about your safety above all. You were extremely saddened by his behavior, but understood what he was going through. Becoming an immortal being wasn’t exactly easy, but you only wished to help, not wanting Kakyoin to endure everything alone.

The knock on his apartment door snapped the red haired male out of his thoughts, his lavender eyes quickly moving towards the sound. He wasn’t used to visitors so after standing up, he carefully made his way to the door, peaking through the peephole. His eyes widened as soon as he noticed a feminine form, the (H/C) hair and (E/C) eyes he knew too well. You wore a worried expression on your face as you patiently waited for him to open the door. Kakyoin was also worried, but not for the same reason. What worried him was the fact that you were at his apartment door, alone. He wanted to ignore your knocks in an attempt to make it seem like he wasn’t home, but upon hearing your voice from the other side, his insides twisted with anxiety.

“Nori? Are you there? Please open the door, I need to talk to you” Kakyoin had his back against the door, his head spinning. Should he let you in and risk your life? But how was he ever going to face you again if he was a prisoner in his own home? He looked through the peephole again. You hadn’t moved, your expression hadn’t changed as it had the same pain. With a sigh you began to retreat from the door, thinking that he either wasn’t home or didn’t want to be disturbed.

Kakyoin subconsciously opened the door before you could get far, keeping the door chain intact just in case. His eyes fell on yours, his hands trembling. “You shouldn’t be here”, he said with a voice so quiet you barely heard it yourself. “Nori, please.. I want to talk to you..” Your words make him avert his gaze from you in uncertainty. He knows he should just slam the door shut and stop himself from hurting you. However that would only save you from the physical pain as his refusal would undoubtedly also inflict pain upon you.

With a sigh he closes the door enough so he can release the chain in order to let you in. You smile in relief as you step in, observing him as you do. His crimson hair is a mess, his eyes lack their usual spark, that spark seemingly replaced by uneasiness. This anxiety radiating from him causes you to approach him, attempting to touch his face in a soothing manner. Kakyoin however swiftly denies your quiet request by taking your hand in his cold one and placing it down. “Don’t.. You’ll get hurt..” The last bit of his sentence is almost mute, but your ears catch it, causing you to frown your brows in both confusion and concern. “What do you mean? Nori, what’s wrong?” Your words of worry dig into his soul, stabbing him in the most vulnerable places. He’s unable to contain his fears within so he sighs and looks at you with eyes filled with sorrow

“I’m dangerous (Name). You could get hurt at any time. I don’t...” He struggles to find the right words almost as much as he struggles looking at your eyes. “I don’t know if I’m able to control myself. My powers..” He looks at his trembling hands with long nails that could easily end any living creature’s life. He hated how much this hurt him. He didn’t lose his life on that fateful day, but it had cost him his humanity, his confidence in himself and quite literally his ability to embrace you into a warm embrace full of love.

“Nori, you know that’s not true” Your words cause him to finally lock his eyes on you. The expression you hold is serious yet determined. “You would never hurt me, right?” Your question is rhetorical as you know his answer already. You carefully take his icy hand in yours which he thankfully doesn’t reject. Even if his hand lacks the previous warmth, it’s still his hand that you want to be lovingly touched and embraced by. “You’re not dangerous, Nori. I understand how difficult it is. I can only imagine what you’re going through” He listens to you carefully, squeezing your hand. Your gaze quickly falls on his lavender eyes once more. “But that’s why I want to help you. Please Nori, don’t shut yourself away from people.. From me..” 

Kakyoin felt your hands wrap around him. His first instinct was to pull away, but he didn’t. He couldn’t possibly deny a loving embrace from you. You were right, he had to let people in or he would never learn to live with his vampirism. Only now was he starting to realize just how much he truly needed you. He returned the embrace by wrapping his arms around you, kissing the top of your head. “I know (Name).. I’m sorry” You shake your head against his chest.

“Don’t be. I understand. Just please.. Allow me to help. You’re not alone.. You don’t have to be”

This was the moment of realization for Kakyoin. He realized that this was what he was expecting after Dio’s defeat. You, his beloved by his side and not only him and his curse. He was a fool to think that he could isolate himself from you. Because you always made your way into his heart, even though he no longer actually possessed one. No matter what he was, you would never leave him or feel threatened while with him. He was the most caring, loving and kind person you had ever met and that would never change. You were the reason Kakyoin could be thankful to be alive.

[newstfionline]

Headlines

Exhausted cities face another challenge: a surge in violence (AP) Still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and street protests over the police killing of George Floyd, exhausted cities around the nation are facing yet another challenge: a surge in shootings that has left dozens dead, including young children. The spike defies easy explanation, experts say, pointing to the toxic mix of issues facing America in 2020: an unemployment rate not seen in a generation, a pandemic that has killed more than 130,000 people, stay-at-home orders, rising anger over police brutality, intense stress, even the weather. “I think it’s just a perfect storm of distress in America,” said Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms after a weekend of bloodshed in her city. Jerry Ratcliffe, a Temple University criminal justice professor and host of the “Reducing Crime” podcast, put it more bluntly: “Anybody who thinks they can disentangle all of this probably doesn’t know what they’re talking about.” Through Sunday, shootings in New York City were up more than 53%—to 585—so far this year. In Dallas, violent crime increased more than 14% from April to June. In Philadelphia, homicides were up 20% for the week ending July 5 over last year at this time. In Atlanta, 31 people were shot over the weekend, five fatally, compared with seven shootings and one killing over the same week in 2019.

Congress created virus aid, then reaped the benefits (AP) At least a dozen lawmakers have ties to organizations that received federal coronavirus aid, according to newly released government data, highlighting how Washington insiders were both author and beneficiary of one of the biggest government programs in U.S. history. Under pressure from Congress and outside groups, the Trump administration this week disclosed the names of some loan recipients in the $659 billion Paycheck Protection Program, launched in April to help smaller businesses keep Americans employed during the pandemic. Connections to lawmakers, and the organizations that work to influence them, were quickly apparent. Members of Congress and their families are not barred from receiving loans under the PPP, and there is no evidence they received special treatment. Hundreds of millions of dollars also flowed to political consultants, opposition research shops, law firms, advocacy organizations and trade associations whose work is based around influencing government and politics. While voting, lobbying and ultimately benefiting from legislation aren’t illegal, advocates say the blurred lines risk eroding public trust in the federal pandemic response. “It certainly looks bad and smells bad,” said Aaron Scherb, a spokesperson for Common Cause, a watchdog group that was also approved for a loan through the program.

Missouri summer camp virus outbreak raises safety questions (AP) Missouri leaders knew the risk of convening thousands of kids at summer camps across the state during a pandemic, the state’s top health official said, and insisted that camp organizers have plans in place to keep an outbreak from happening. The outbreak happened anyway. An overnight summer camp in rural southwestern Missouri has seen scores of campers, counselors and staff infected with the coronavirus, the local health department revealed this week, raising questions about the ability to keep kids safe at what is a rite of childhood for many. The Kanakuk camp near Branson ended up sending its teenage campers home. On Friday, the local health department announced 49 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus at the camp. By Monday, the number had jumped to 82.

Our Cash-Free Future Is Getting Closer (NYT) PARIS—On a typical Sunday, patrons at Julien Cornu’s cheese shop used to load up on Camembert and chèvre for the week, with about half the customers digging into their pockets for euro notes and coins. But in the era of the coronavirus, cash is no longer à la mode at La Fromagerie, as social distancing requirements and concerns over hygiene prompt nearly everyone who walks through his door to pay with plastic. “People are using cards and contactless payments because they don’t want to have to touch anything,” said Mr. Cornu, as a line of mask-wearing shoppers stood three feet apart before approaching the register and swiping contactless cards over a reader. While cash is still accepted, even older shoppers—his toughest clientele when it comes to adopting digital habits—are voluntarily making the switch. Cash was already being edged out in many countries as urban consumers paid increasingly with apps and cards for even the smallest purchases. But the coronavirus is accelerating a shift toward a cashless future. Fears over transmission of the disease have compelled consumers to rethink how they shop and pay.

The White House and AMLO (Foreign Policy) Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador visits the White House today (Wednesday) for his first foreign trip since winning the presidency in 2018. His arrival in Washington on Tuesday evening was typically on-brand for the leftist leader: He flew in economy class on a commercial airliner (albeit in an exit row). Unlike Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—who spurned an invite to today’s meeting as the U.S. government threatens to place tariffs on Canadian aluminum—this summit is too good an opportunity for López Obrador to turn down. That’s largely because of the importance of the United States to Mexico’s economy—which is predicted to contract by 10.5 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. As his approval rating gradually falls along with Mexico’s economic performance, López Obrador is aiming to stay on Trump’s good side. “This is about the economy, it’s about jobs, it’s about well-being,” López Obrador said before he departed for Washington.

Berlin looks east (Foreign Policy) Germany is hoping to strengthen its economic ties with China, setting itself apart from the rest of the West and the United States in particular. Germany’s relationship with China has always been divided. On one hand, human rights issues preoccupy the German public, and figures such as Ai Weiwei and Liao Yiwu are well known there. But on the other, trade between China and Germany is significant and largely responsible for Germany’s post-2008 prosperity. The antagonism shown by President Donald Trump and his team toward German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also poisoned any attempts by the United States to sell Berlin on a split with Beijing.

OECD unemployment rate to hit record highs (Foreign Policy) The world’s wealthiest countries will see record unemployment rates as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The OECD forecast a 9.4 percent unemployment rate across the 37 countries that make up the group’s membership, a number that could go as high as 12.6 percent if these countries see a second wave of coronavirus cases. In releasing the data, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría called on wealthy countries to better protect the economically vulnerable across their societies. “In times of crisis, ‘normality’ sounds very appealing. However, our normal was not good enough for the many people with no or precarious jobs, bad working conditions, income insecurity, and limits on their ambitions,” Gurría said.

Rioting in Serbia (Reuters) Dozens of demonstrators and police were injured in overnight rioting in Belgrade, triggered when a crowd stormed Serbia’s parliament in protest at plans to reimpose a lockdown following a surge in coronavirus cases. Footage showed police kicking and beating people with truncheons while protesters pelted officers with stones and bottles, after thousands chanting for the resignation of President Aleksandar Vucic gathered outside the building. Vucic announced the new lockdown on Tuesday, saying it was needed because of the rising number of coronavirus cases.

Top U.S. general speaks on Russian bounty case (Foreign Policy) Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, has poured cold water on recent allegations, first reported by the New York Times, of a program run by Russian intelligence offering cash to Afghan militants for killing U.S. soldiers. McKenzie called the reports “very worrisome,” but said he couldn’t point to any U.S. casualties that could have had a direct link to the alleged program. McKenzie said that Russia’s actions in Afghanistan should, however, still be watched closely.

Japan battered by more heavy rain, floods; 58 dead (AP) Pounding rain that already caused deadly floods in southern Japan was moving northeast Wednesday, battering large areas of Japan’s main island, swelling more rivers, triggering mudslides and destroying houses and roads. At least 58 people died in several days of flooding. Parts of Nagano and Gifu, including areas known for scenic mountain trails and hot springs, were flooded by massive downpours.

‘We’re next’: Hong Kong security law sends chills through Taiwan (AFP) The imposition of a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong has sent chills through Taiwan, deepening fears that Beijing will focus next on seizing the democratic self-ruled island. China and Taiwan split in 1949 after nationalist forces lost a civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists, fleeing to the island which Beijing has since vowed to seize one day, by force if necessary. Over the years China has used a mixture of threats and inducements, including a promise Taiwan could have the “One Country, Two Systems” model that governs Hong Kong, supposedly guaranteeing key civil liberties and a degree of autonomy for 50 years after the city’s 1997 handover. Both Taiwan’s two largest political parties long ago rejected the offer, and the new security law has incinerated what little remaining faith many Taiwanese may have had in Beijing’s outreach. Some now fear even transiting through Hong Kong, worried that their social media profiles could see them open to prosecution under the legislation.

Millions of Australians brace for lockdowns amid Melbourne virus outbreak (Reuters) Five million Australians face a heavy police clampdown from midnight on Wednesday to contain a flare-up of coronavirus cases, with checkpoints to be set up around Melbourne to ensure people stay at home.

Suleimani killing “unlawful” (Foreign Policy) In a new report, Agnès Callamard, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, concluded that the January killing of Iranian Commander Qassem Suleimani by a U.S. drone strike was arbitrary and unlawful under international human rights law, citing a lack of any imminent threat posed by Suleimani in the lead up to the assassination. Callamard will present her findings to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday. The United States left the council in 2018.

Rising food prices in Lebanon (Worldcrunch) In Lebanon, the constant change of the dollar exchange rate and a plummeting Lebanese pound have led to a 190% increase in food prices within a year. Hit with exponential inflation, French daily Les Echos notes that the country is facing its most serious economic and currency crisis since the end of its 1975-1990 civil war.

Dozen of bodies found in Burkina Faso, and rights group suspects extrajudicial killings (Reuters) At least 180 bodies have been found in common graves in Djibo, a town in the north of Burkina Faso, Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a report released on Wednesday, saying that the killings were likely carried out by government forces.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#5yrsago Remembering Sassy Magazine's life advice for teen girls

Theresa DeLucci got a letter published in the only publication for girls that really attempted educational journalism—amid Twin Peaks fashion spreads and celeb interviews with grunge luminaries like Kurt Cobain and Kim Gordon.

The recent news about the return of Twin Peaks got me reminiscing about the magazine that introduced the show to me in the first place – Sassy, the most valuable print magazine for teenage girls to ever exist. It sounds like hyperbole, but compared to its peers -- Seventeen, YM, Teen -- Sassy was the only publication for girls that really attempted educational journalism amid its Twin Peaks fashion spreads and celeb interviews with grunge luminaries like Kurt Cobain and Kim Gordon. This was well before everyone had the internet. For many, Sassy was like a super cool, trusted, wiser sister who could tell you what to expect at your first gynecologist visit, what to do if you've been raped, why it's important to make your voice heard and vote. The magazine had its regular columns: One to Watch, Cute Band Alert and It Happened to Me, which featured first-person accounts of experiences seldom or never before discussed in print for young women. "I Went to Prison." "I am a Muslim." "My Mom's a Drug Addict."

Being a bookish, weirdo teen in a small town (Sassy's target demographic), I desperately wanted to write for them. But, alas, my feeble fiction was justly rejected, and I was too young and too far away from the New York City offices to try for an internship. Yet, while I didn't feel comfortable sharing anything heavy enough for an "It Happened to Me" article, I could at least put together a passable question for the much more light-hearted Dear Boy advice column and try my luck that way.

Dear Boy. An innocuous enough feature. Many teenage girls find the male mind pretty mysterious, especially the mind of an older, famous, possibly cute boy, so Sassy provided a space for that. I wrote in without a thought as to what a man's advice specifically might imply. Is it really mansplainin' when the whole point is to have a girl ask a much older man in a position of social power a personal question? Does any teen girl need to know J. Mascis' opinion on big butts? (He likes them and cannot lie.) Does a parent want Thurston Moore telling their daughter that she'd be "lucky" if some crappy, cheating boy returns her affections? Is any woman anywhere served by Billy Corgan's guilt-tripping tale of woe at being romantically rejected by a childhood sweetheart?

Every month I would get my subscriber's copy of Sassy in the mail, bound up to my room, close the door behind me, and thumb the pages to the column to see if my question was there. And one day, one issue, in 1994, Mike D of the Beastie Boys answered. My hands shook as I started to read the familiar words under the header:

"BUMMING BAD SEED? My mom was a well-dressed, popular boy-magnet in high school. I am a punked-out loner boy-repellent. I get the feeling she’s disappointed in me. To top that off, my dad thinks I am unfeminine. Help! Searching for my real parents."

I cringe at the words "punked-out" now. I believe my original letter referenced my pea-green hair and good grades, but Sassy edited it for space. Anyway. Mike D responded:

"By age 14 I had orange hair and a safety pin in my ear and everyone thought I was a freak, but I had found music and friends who meant more to me than the accepted norm amongst kids in school. There’s no need to conform to the preconceptions of your parents. You obviously have got it going on, so as you achieve stuff on your own terms, your parents might come around to respect you."

It was a total softball question for the magazine that was my gateway drug to the fiction of Francesca Lia Block and Poppy Z. Brite, the music of Bikini Kill and Henry Rollins. But it was also very earnest. And self-edited. There was no "feeling" that my mom was disappointed by my combat boots. She made it very known. Or that my frustrated dad didn't exactly say I was unfeminine - more like I dressed like a freak. (His codeword for lesbian.) I did feel the weight of parental expectations like these, and I didn't know any sympathetic adults I could ask that particular question to. After all, my friends' parents were kind of all dealing with the same disappointing "freak" kids in their houses, too. And I was very privileged, really. The parents of some of my friends kicked out their lesbian daughters, neglected their clinically depressed kids, and lived in denial of their children's drug addictions. Those, unlike black lipstick and Bauhaus shirts, were actual, serious family conflicts that couldn't possibly be addressed with two witty sentences from a Beastie Boy.

Before that day, I liked Mike D, but wasn't a huge fan. Compared to past Dear Boy columnists, he wasn't as cool as Iggy Pop -- who had predictably terrible advice for teen girls -- but he was definitely a cooler Dear Boy than Evan Dando. (Damning with very faint praise, I know.) But after that Dear Boy column, I would think about a misfit Mike D who went on to great, creative things and I would feel a needed twinge of solidarity.

And Mike D was ultimately right. I already knew seeking parental approval wasn't a big concern for me, but, yeah, after a few years, I did feel my parents came around to respecting me. And accepting me as I was -- and as I continue to be -- which is not everything they had quite hoped for. A near impossibility for any child to be, but especially a teenager wanting to be herself as well as a "good" daughter, to whom all parents seem as distant as aliens.

Not at all like Mike D.

Of course by its nature, Sassy's Dear Boy questions were published anonymously two decades ago. My box of back issues has long since vanished. And that bums me out, because I always consider Sassy to be the first time I ever wrote to market. I don't expect everyone to believe my long-distance teenage connection to Mike D, but I also don't know why anyone would make that up. (Though it's a great way to get thirtysomething-year-old women to buy you a drink when they find out.) All I know is how I felt that summer – when I sometimes took to wearing a safety pin in my own ear -- I felt a little less weird and walked a little bit taller because of my secret pen pal.

Once upon a time, twenty years ago, Mike D thought that I had it going on.

https://boingboing.net/2014/11/20/remembering-sassy-magazines.html

[echodrops]

A random thought I had what if the final “boss” Of Noragami turns out to be not father, but Izanagi. And the guy who set up the Shinto system was the worst Child abuser of them all? (Ebisu and Kagatsuchi could vouch for Izanagi’s propensities) Would that change your thoughts on the Tsukiyomi Theory? I admit I don’t have much to support it. Just I think that in a series that deals with child abuse as seriously as this one. It’s weird that Izanagi would fall off the radar like he does in myth.

Gonna answer two asks in one here, since they’re both about the Tsukuyomi theory.

I’ve toyed around with the idea of Father being Izanagi for a while–there are definitely some connections there:

1) “Father” as a name and a role in the story; as far as dads go in Japanese mythology, Izanagi is definitely the most well-known.

2) The idea of “culling the herd” is so opposite of Izanagi’s stated goal of giving life to 1,500 new humans for every 1,000 Izanami claims that it almost seems to fit with Noragami’s theme of the gods being completely different in “reality” compared to the way humans perceive them (Izanami only wanting friends, Bishamon being a gorgeous lady, not a bearded warrior male lol)

3) The complete lack of mentioning Izanagi in the manga so far has been a bit odd, given that we have seen Izanami and others related to that family.

4) Izanagi does basically deserve “shit dad of the era” award, so if Fujisaki doesn’t have anything to do with Izanagi, then they should totally take it behind the nearest Denny’s and fight it out for world’s worst dad title.

But especially with the events that have unfolded lately in the manga, I’m leaning away from this idea. Mostly because of this:

We’re shown a corpse beside a lake at the same time we’re shown Father holding the woman he (very likely) was in love with. Considering that it appears shinki who die without turning into ayakashi don’t leave bodies behind and we know gods don’t leave bodies, the woman Father loved was more than likely really a human. While I don’t think it would be completely impossible for Izanagi to fall in love with a human and end up standing against all of Heaven for that somehow, that feels like a somewhat unlikely series of events, particularly because it would mean that Amaterasu would have subjugated her own father, which is kind of iffy in terms of the tradition of Japanese filial piety.

We also got a couple more hints about what Father might be over the course of the recent chapters:

Father repeatedly describes himself as being “forsaken” or “forgotten” by Heaven. Yato mentions that “normal” humans shouldn’t be able to use the Koto no Ha. Amaterasu, who clearly knows gods can come back from the Underworld freaks out because she didn’t think there was any way for humans to return. Father can name shinki, possess human bodies, control ayakashi, recognize spells, and battle (almost) on par with Bishamon, the strongest god of war. He knows about the concept of god’s greatest secret, understands the inner-workings of Heaven (aka what determines which gods will reincarnate and who won’t, why Heaven needs humanity, etc.). Furthermore, Father repeatedly expresses concern that Yato won’t be able to reincarnate…

What is the “threshold” for reincarnating? How much belief/how many followers does a god need to really reincarnate? Is being in even one human memory enough, or do you need a ton of people? This isn’t clear. But I do think it’s odd for Yato’s self-proclaimed “lifeline” to be thinking his pet god can’t reincarnate. Maybe it’s because Yato doesn’t have enough followers–or maybe it’s because Father isn’t human at all, and therefore couldn’t help Yato reincarnate even if he wanted to?

Honestly, I really don’t know what Adachitoka have up their sleeve. They’ve done a fantastic job of keeping Father’s identity and motivations a secret–even when they reveal things like the flashback above, the “reveals” tend to bring up more questions rather than answers! There is so much conflicting evidence supporting either side at this point that it’s really just a matter of “We have to wait and see.”

Father could be a human who found some way to seize the powers of the gods for himself, possibly by being a holy man (such as a buddhist monk, I saw a pretty convincing post about this) or just out of sheer hatred for the gods lol. He clawed his way back out of the Underworld with the Koto no Ha, and is now taking corrupted souls aka ayakashi out of hell and unleashing betrayed and upset former-humans on Heaven and the living world.

Or he could be a god who was punished for doing something against Heaven’s rules, was subjugated/killed by Heaven, and subsequently ignored and allowed to stew in his hatred and desire for revenge to become the monster we know today, but I would somewhat doubt whether he really could be Izanagi without anyone having noticed.

Making a long story longer, ultimately I don’t really think that Father is Izanagi, so I personally wouldn’t be leaning on that for the Tsukuyomi theory. (And even if Father was Izanagi, Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu are like… some of the only children Izanagi didn’t treat like shit, so wouldn’t it make more sense for Father to be more directly connected to other children he mistreated aka Kagutsuchi?)

So what about Yato’s fate if his Father is defeated and Yato isn’t Tsukuyomi?

Well, that whole thing hinges on whether or not you believe that Father really is Yato’s lifeline in the first place. If Father turns out NOT to be a human, then the whole lifeline thing would have been a lie in the first place, and Yato will be in no more danger (in fact, significantly less) after defeating his Father than he would have been otherwise.

If Father really is his lifeline, Yato states that he has Hiyori. He’s also becoming an increasingly well-known god with a new official godly name, etc. If Yato continues to do good work with Yukine and increase his status, he’ll probably begin to work his way into the consciousness of the human world and gain enough followers to secure his safety. Hiyori could also establish him as the personal god of her family or something. He has options.

And anyway, as I mentioned in my original post on the Tsukuyomi theory, just because I don’t personally like it doesn’t mean I don’t think it has some basis. I honestly could see it happening–but that doesn’t mean I have to like it when it does. XD

The other thing I wanted to address was the idea of “change” that was brought up in the second ask, which I think is odd, because as far as I’ve seen, one of the number one things that Tsukuyomi theory fans say is that “Yato won’t change even if he is Tsukuyomi!” Like, if we’re talking about the moon god having to do with change, then that’s one thing, but as far as I can tell, the number one defense of the theory being okay story-wise is that it wouldn’t actually cause Yato to change, so…

Just on a personal level, I don’t understand the viewpoint that Yato wouldn’t change significantly if he was revealed to be Tsukuyomi. To me, this is the equivalent of saying “This poor person had amnesia for 15 years… Now they’ve suddenly remembered their entire past, who they were before, and all their previous lifestyle… but nothing about them is going to change, promise!”

Even if we completely ignore the possibility of Yato having to go back to being Tsukuyomi in the future, just revealing that a character had a whole other life is enough to change who that person is in the readers’ minds and how they think of themselves. Revealing that Yato was really Tsukuyomi all along would mean potentially revealing previous relationships with other gods, previous shinki, previous homes, previous worshipers, previous powers, previous attitudes… Unless we just collectively agree to pretend that Tsukuyomi sat in the same spot and never interacted with anyone else for thousands of years, then revealing that Yato is Tsukuyomi would mean revealing that he had a previous life, and that would be a big change in how we view his character–and what his current friends, beliefs, and situation actually mean in the grand scheme of the story.

Honestly I’m kind of confused about the whole thing anyway–people want Yato to be Tsukuyomi… but then multiple people who support the theory say they don’t think it will cause Yato to change, so… People want him to be Tsukuyomi, but not live like, act like, or in any way fulfill the role of Tsukuyomi in the Heavens? Doesn’t that just actually mean “I want Yato to become the god of the moon,” rather than “I want Yato to be Tsukuyomi”?

I just personally can’t imagine any reveal of Yato being Tsukuyomi that doesn’t also include some kind of flashbacks to the person he used to be–or Yato somehow regaining knowledge of his “true self”–and I can’t see how people think this won’t affect who he is and how he thinks of himself. The only way I could see that happening is if Yato actively chooses NOT to return to being Tsukuyomi.

(But in that case, what’s the point of being excited about the theory if the only thing you want out of the reveal is for him to reject that past identity?)

And I mean… are there fans that are okay with the idea of Yato flat out refusing to do Tsukuyomi’s job? Do people really want him to find out who he is and just go “Nah, thanks guys, but I think I’ll just stay Yatogami and let that whole Tsukuyomi thing sort itself out?” To me this seems not only contrary to Yato’s own wish to be a well-known and loved god, but also contrary to his powerful sense of duty.

One of the most central facets of Yato’s character growth has been learning to look beyond his own self-serving ends, to put aside his own wants and needs in order to genuinely serve and help others. From the boy who is willing to kill for praise to the boy who covets money to build his own shrine to the boy who selflessly risks his own life to save a friend in need–Yato’s whole track as a character has been learning to do what’s right, even when what’s right doesn’t have any immediate benefits for himself, such as when Yukine told him to keep killing ayakashi and Yato wondered how that would help him become a god of fortune.

I can’t see Yato in his present state (as a character who has grown to the point of being selfless enough to risk his life to save Heaven from his own Father), being completely okay with ignoring Tsukuyomi’s role or responsibilities. He would be expected to return to Heaven among the other ancient gods. He would be expected to answer the prayers of people at Tsukuyomi shrines. He would expected to conduct himself like a god known by every single Shinto believer in Japan. He’d likely have to like… do something with the moon…??? And I just can’t see Yato looking at all this and going “I think Heaven should just deal with not having Tsukuyomi around despite the fact that I’m technically back.”

I think that if Yato discovered he was Tsukuyomi, he would do his best to fulfill the role he was apparently born to fulfill–and as a reader, I don’t think I’d be happy if he didn’t, if he shirked his duty to humanity intentionally.

If we buy into the idea that the gods exist for a reason–that they exist to fill important roles in human consciousness and life–then I can’t imagine as a reader that I would ever be okay with Yato finding out he’s the god of the moon… And then refusing to be the god of the moon and all that entails. And that would mean that he would change, not gradually, but abruptly. 

So that’s my two cents on the whole “change” and Tsukuyomi theory. As I mentioned before, as possible as I think it is, the whole thing just confuses me entirely from a writing/narrative standpoint.

[nianderful]

so yesterday i saw the infamous emoji movie, and let me tell you, it was bad. like, i’ve seen worse things, and this movie isn’t on the level of a lot of them, but on its own? it’s astounding how bad this is. a lot of this movie sucked, but here’s what i can remember from the top of my head:

-the movie becomes an advertisement about 20 minutes in, and it has a lot of the apps you can think of; youtube, twitter, facebook....it’s almost insulting in its transparency, even worse when you remember that this was made for children.  there’s no jokes or any bit of self-awareness. it’s just ‘oooh, there’s an app’! there’s one moment where they make fun of the shallowness of facebook....everyone’s done that, movie. what do you want, a medal?

-gene is...well, for lack of a better term, meh. he’s too bland and generic to be hateable; what i really hate about him is how he gets away with destroying not only several apps (and the innocent people in them), but nearly wiping out the entire phone. which would have murdered the entirety of his people. he never shows any sorrow or acknowledgement of this. 

-the villain, smiler (oh, poor maya rudolph :<) was honestly pretty boring too, but by the climax of the film, i started to understand where she was coming from. yeah it’s crappy of her to wipe out gene for simply existing, but his antics could have (and DID) risked not only the safety of their home, but their ENTIRE EXISTENCE. 

-james c0rden’s character was awful. i normally like the guy but hi-5 is the worst. he’s a dick, he’s a nuisance, and the film clearly thinks he’s funnier than he is, because he never shut up. he spent most of his screentime acting selfishly, yet is treated like he made a change at the end....uh, hello. movie? can i actually SEE that, pretty please?

-this film clearly tried for a female empowerment angle with jailbreak (and her arc)...and this failed in so many ways.

for starters, jailbreak claims that female emojis can only be brides or princesses. ....except that smiler is a female. there is also a female emoji, gene’s mom. like if you’re going to call out gender roles, make sure it’s supported by your setting and its rules--not just through dialogue.

jailbreak and gene’s romantic arc. ignoring the fact that the movie doesn’t give them nearly enough time to bond (or even try to do so), and the transition is really sloppy....jailbreak ends up rejecting gene’s proclaimation of love, so she can follow her dream of going to the cloud. gene’s response? turn completely meh. this doesn’t get solved until jailbreak, under the threat of the phone’s wiping, breaks through to him by telling him she loves him.  in short: the film guilt trips jailbreak for not returning gene’s feelings, and strong arms her into making a confession. 

and that’s not even the worst part of how this arc ends--jailbreak starts the movie wanting to discard the idea of being a princess, in favor of making her own identity as a hacker--even when her past identity is revealed, she greatly resents it. and on paper, this is actually fine--until the climax. not only does she have to reveal herself as a princess to save gene--this again--but she ends up staying that way, completely discarding her hacker garb. so basically, jailbreak has to give up her dream and the identity she made and liked, for a designation she clearly hated. not to mention she’s constantly told ‘you’re fine the way you are!’/’be yourself!’ which is clearly meant to be interpreted as ‘don’t disregard your previous identity!’ it flies right in the face of the movie’s message at best, and at worst sends a terrible one to any girls in the audience. boys get to be interesting and unique, and embrace the fact that they are, but girls? just sit down, shut up, and conform to the role society gave you! that’s being your TRUE self!

jailbreak was actually one of the few things about this movie i tolerated, and seeing her so poorly treated by the narrative was just another sprinkle on the doo-doo sundae. and that’s not even getting into all the cringeworthy ways this movie tried to sprinkle feminist topics in its dialogue (’men are always stealing women’s ideas!’)

-speaking of characters treated terribly....the just dance avatar, voiced by christina aguilera. she essentially served as a minor helper character...until smiler’s robots get into the app, looking for gene. the app gets destroyed, aguilera’s character with it...and that’s it. the next time we see her, she’s in a trash app, dancing (it’s heavily implied that’s all she’s capable of doing, even KNOWING she’s been left to die). and that’s the last time she appears. ever. gene’s antics resulted in the destruction of her home, and possibly her own death, assuming the trash gets wiped out. even worse? gene eventually goes to the trash app...to rescue hi-5, who was caught in the destruction of the just dance app. he only shows concern for hi-5. that’s one thing, but hi-5 being an exceedingly unlikable character is another. and just like above, it’s another example of gene getting away with the destruction that came from his adventure.

-this movie is STUPID. stupid, in so many ways. from the user character, alex, deciding to wipe his ENTIRE phone when some apps act up, to a lot of the representations of apps being inaccurate at BEST (there isn’t actually an app of the just dance game--not one that doesn’t serve as another controller anyway). for a film that’s a love letter to smartphones and the internet, it gets a lot of stuff wrong.

-there is so much.....pompousness in this movie? especially when it comes to the emojis. the movie acts like they’re the ULTIMATE form of communication, to the point where the kids in this film almost never communicate through speech. (‘words aren’t cool!’--an actual quote of the movie) this is so SO not true, it’s laughable! emojis are basically sentence enhancers, like undersea swears. they’re not shortcuts for actually talking to people with, you know, words. (example of this: the emojify feature tumblr tried out. turn that on and just LOOK how incomprehensible everything becomes.)

overall, it was well intended as a film conveying individuality, but those intentions are killed by EVERYTHING about its execution--the derivative way said message is presented, the treatment of jailbreak, and the fact that there's nothing about this film that wasn't done before or better. it’s a little hard to internalize a ‘be yourself’ message coming from a film that is a frankenstine-ing of wreck it ralph, toy story, and inside out with a splash of the lego movie.

if anybody’s interested in seeing this for a good laugh....well, i guess i can’t stop you. but i’ll tell you--you will have a lot less fun with this than you think. as for me...this is one movie i am never touching again. 

[cannoli-reader]

Yeah... no.

Those are major events.  That’s not his story, and not the sum of his character development.  Book two, Perrin has to accept the wolves and make use of them, and he has to come to terms with who Rand is.  First there is the balking at his apparent playing the lord, then his discovery that Rand can channel.  He avoids Rand at first, even though he notes the parallel between their issues with the Power and the wolves, but when Rand vanishes with Hurin, he needs to use the wolves to complete his mission.  Mat being concerned with him and offering him herbal aspirin is probably the clincher, if he needed one.  Mat’s dying slowly from the loss of the dagger, and he’s showing concern for Perrin’s health and well-being.  How can Perrin keep quiet about an ability that might be their only hope of getting Mat’s dagger back? 

When they catch up to Rand, Perrin is more accepting of the changes he has seen in him, which sets him to accept that Rand is really the Dragon Reborn and be the one to carry the banner at Falme. 

In book three, all three of the major PoV characters have an arc of coming of age, like Rand did last book.  Egwene has to get over her adolescent rebellion against authority and come to grips with her trauma from captivity, Mat has to accept that he can and should step up and help others, and Perrin’s arc is to stand on his own, to make his own choices and think for himself, instead of dutifully following along with the mission.  He starts out rebelling against Moiraine when he places the blame on her handling of Rand for his solo departure.  He begins doing things on his own, because he sees them as the right thing to do, without checking with Moiraine and Lan and sometimes in defiance of them.  Things like talking with Simion and letting Noal go, then letting Gaul free and helping him fight the Children of the Light. 

By the time they are in Tear, Perrin is grappling with who and what he is, and spends time at the forge as a kind of meditation that gets him centered again.  He spends most of the book balking at his exposure to “the wolf dream” but embraces it to rescue Faile. This sets up his relationship with her in the next book as well as giving him two of the critical tools he will use in the endgame, the hammer that will inspire his ultimate weapon and access to Tel’Aran’Rhiod. 

Perrin is not remotely the same person we catch up to in Tear the night the cock crows whom we left in Fal Dara after returning from the Blight.  He has gone through a gradual process of coming to accept things he would have rejected at the beginning.  Perrin in Fal Dara would never have left for the Two Rivers without a permission slip from Moiraine or an equivalent authority figure.  Without all the growth he goes through, he would have been in no position to lead the Two Rivers and even if someone had tried to foist it on him, he would not be ready to accept what has to be, and spent far too much time wallowing in denial. 

Between the Two Rivers and meeting Galad, there is still more growth.  I know readers hate his fixation on Faile and her safety, but you can’t pretend that arc did not happen.  When he returns to Caemlyn and Rand, he has to start becoming aware of the political aspect of leadership, how it’s not just managing his own people, but figuring out outside factions and powerful people. It starts with him seeing Rand differently, and understanding that he can’t ‘rescue’ the Two Rivers girls from the Aes Sedai.  Then he tries to avoid getting sucked into court politics in Cairhien, but is forced to by Rand’s abduction.  His leadership of a joint Aiel-Cairhien-Two Rivers force, while coping with Aes Sedai companions is practice for his future role with regard to a multinational coalition. 

Perrin’s fighting at Dumai’s Wells, in addition to being a necessary element for Rand’s success per Min’s viewing, is his first time fighting humans in a battle, as opposed to killing a few Whitecloaks who attack on short notice. Perrin not only fights in the battle, he is the nominal leader and gives commands to set it up, he is responsible for all the death and bloodshed that occurs. It’s part of why he objects to the Asha’man, because if they finish a battle he started, some of that blood is on Perrin’s hands. 

In the aftermath of Dumai’s Wells, we see that Perrin has become very astute at analyzing conflicts and group dynamics. He is also quick to perceive the dangers of the situation at Cairhien, and his largely refusing to give them any of his attention because of his fear for Faile’s safety, which, of course, foreshadows the challenges for the next part of this story.

His arc from Ghealdan to Maldin is another one of growth, into a leader in all aspects. When we see him with his camp, he is really trying to play at leadership, to be the kind of regular-guy leader from the stories, who just puts on his leader hat when there is a problem and the rest of the time, chills with his men like one of the guys. And he can’t do that.  Faile has been trying to teach him, but he’s been balking and also not believing her, because she’s a noblewoman, how can she understand commoners better than Perrin himself?  But when Faile is taken, and suddenly the stakes are ramped up, and knowing he is facing Shaido, Perrin realizes he’s going to need everyone whom he can get to follow along, so he has to start acting like a lord for real, and what’s more, he has to confront his fears about combat and what it means for him, one last aspect of himself he has to embrace, like he did the wolves and his connection to Rand and his mission and then the Two Rivers lordship. 

As with the earlier interlude in the alleged “only” important books, the Perrin who led the Two Rivers to victory over the Trollocs and their rebuilding is simply not ready for the challenge of the Whitecloaks and defeating Slayer. He needs the lessons of Cairhien and the Shaido campaign to get him to that point. 

The way Perrins character is handled is so weird. He’s part of the main cast, but his entire arc basically happens in 3 books. Book 1 he develops his connection to the wolves and kills the Whitecloaks, setting up his central conflicts, book 4 he falls in love with and marries Faile despite their immaturity causing issues between them, meets Slayer though he just kind of isn’t mentioned again for a while, and is accepted as a leader by the people of the Two Rivers, which sets up his main arc, and then he kind of spins his wheels until book 13 when he learns to accept and master his wolf powers, makes peace with the Whitecloaks, figures out how to communicate effectively and have a solid marriage with Faile, actually does something with his arch nemesis Slayer who up until now was pretty much forgotten, and accepts his role both as a leader and High Lord of the Two Rivers and a key part of the Last Battle.

[themangaguide]

They offered their research

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[donnavetta]

HEY five times hugged thanks

five four times hugged. / @trashkyrie​.

one.

      asgard floats in tattered, burning shreds all around them. the debris floats restlessly by at speeds far faster than that of their ship, burning balls of flame of similar quality to comets. thor wonders where they’ll land. if they’ll be in orbit forever. if anyone in the nine realms sees it like some dazzling show in the night sky, far away. he’s long since moved away from the throne; though exhausted, he’s uninterested in attaching himself to it, preferring to mingle and check how things are going. the mood is both somber and joyous – asgard’s people are no longer warriors, but refugees, civilians, children. but they are alive. he stands by the long side window and stares out, arms crossed. 

     ’what’re they wearing?’ the valkyrie inquires, and thor, caught up in his own thoughts nearly responds, oh, nothing. he snorts, head shaking as he turns his gaze towards her. ‘wondered where you’d gone off to.’ 

      ‘nowhere important, your majesty.’

      ‘ah.’ he nods, then freezes abruptly in realization. ‘you have yet to call me by my name.’ 

      ‘haven’t i, your highness?’ she drawls back, not meeting his gaze.

       ‘…. no, you haven’t, val.’ 

        she swallows, eyes flickering to meet his for only a second. ‘thor. there, you’re welcome.’ 

         he smiles, a nigh imperceptible twitch of the mouth and nods. arms still crossed, he looks away. a hunk of cracked gold floats leisurely past the window. part of him suddenly fears that soon, they might glimpse the remnants of a corpse floating by just as the infrastructure does. thor turns his back and leans against the glass instead, taking the opportunity to extend his hand as though to shake. the warrior glances between him and his hand, as if intending to inquire his intentions, and then settles to reluctantly lay her own in his. thor pulls her in, hand to elbow, hand to calloused, warm hand. gently clasps her in his grip, forehead pressing against her own. one warrior to another, an honorable, old gesture. she stands a little stiffer than he.

         they linger for a split second before they both retreat. the steady hum of the ship mingles with the muffled, distant voices of their passengers. thor hopes she understands how much he values her and all she has done for them. a beat of silence before he steps back to offer space. ‘thank you, val, for helping me. for coming back, for helping all of us.’ a pause, interrupting as she begins to scoff, to laugh off the sincerity. ‘you are formidable as you are honorable. i would call you my friend, if you should so allow.’

two.

      the tap bubbles and gurgles restlessly. the counter is slick with water, cold and hard beneath thor’s clenched hands. a drop of blood dribbles from his eyepatch onto the water and disperses. the price he paid in battle was high. god of thunder or not, thor was far from infallible and far from cold and emotionless. tears drenched his features, beard soaked, eyes rimmed with red as miserable, muffled sobs were choked off by a palm clutched over his open mouth. it hurts, it hurts so bad, the hollow socket, it really does, and he’s allowed none other than himself to look at it. it stings and surely hasn’t been cleaned half as well as it should’ve been, in his rush to attend to his people and ensure everyone’s well being but his own. thor wasn’t selfless, but he was very determined not to be selfish. so it was not til now that he allowed himself to cry. though thor may be a god and could withstand injury with considerably less pain or consequence to his health, he still felt dizzy, still felt the sting of bruising coming on in his face. nausea twinged in his belly, a ringing still resounding dully through his ear where his sister struck him. ‘twas all distant and dull, but still perceptible, still unpleasant. severe pain was not unfamiliar to him – that didn’t mean he didn’t feel it. 

       where odin’s loss of eye was self-inflicted in the acquisition of knowledge, an honorable deed displaying great strength and striking fear into the hearts of their enemies, thor’s was only a mark of failure.  thor’s was only proof that hela got the better of him. though the remaining asgardians were spared their otherwise gruesome fate, thor preferred to hold the safety of his people to slightly higher standards. looking back, thor saw only failure after failure, mistake pursuing mistake on his part. surely no good king could be so thoughtless, so hapless, so – 

        the half open door snaps in all the way, val meandering in only to cut herself off mid-drawl at the sight of him. miserable, face in hand, snot-nosed and crying out the one remaining eye, his other drizzling with red – what a way to walk in on the king. he swipes hurriedly at the tears, shame coloring his face a deep red as he turns and coughs to cover the last remainder of a sob. thor clears his throat and hurriedly asks, ‘is something the matter?’ 

         ‘i should be asking you that.’ she returns, and looks between him and the door with concerned consternation coloring her tone. valkyrie seemed to be debating whether it be best to flee or remain and try and offer her help. both options stung a little when he thought of them. ultimately she remained, and his heart clenched in anticipation that she’d ask him why he was so upset, or try to get him to stop being so. glancing at the scattered supplies, she points at his patch. ‘you ought to check you cleaned that right.’ 

           thor’s hand subconsciously rises to tap against the patch. she pulls his hand away, takes the cloth dipped in cleaning solution that he’d discarded, unused, and gives him one long once-over. gestures to his eye. ’you wanna be the one to take that off?’ 

            he nods quietly, leans back against the counter and peels the eyepatch off. it’s caked with rather nasty stuff on the inner half. he sets it aside. he’ll have to tend to it in a minute. when val approaches, he must resist the urge to flinch and turn away. knows how disgusting, how ugly it must be, and though he rarely bases his worth / pride on vanity any longer, it’s still jarring. she doesn’t seem to care, her expression kept calmly unreadable as she gently dabs at it. he bites back a hiss. it stings. it itches. his fingers fumble as if to scratch at it, but she shoves his hand aside again without even looking, just continuing her work. 

             he moves to sit on the counter for a while as she works, not speaking, asking no questions of one another. he does not ask how she knows to do this and she doesn’t ask why he didn’t do it himself. his tears dry and he breathes quietly as she finally places the adhesive bandage over the spot, tender with the bruising around the injury. thor doesn’t feel like putting the patch back on yet – she’s seen the worst of it, anyways. they meet eyes and are quiet together. he slowly falls forward, forehead pressed against her shoulder, hands limp at his sides. she pats his back, unsure, then just holds it there and stares off over him into the mirror. 

three.

    val has been sitting alone, day-drinking for quite some time now. thor’s own schedule would have included much the same, had they less duties to address as king of a misplaced people. ‘twas not til much later that they could finally just sit, concerned, giving her an uneasy wave, intended to be funny but coming across entirely anxious and youthful. they don’t bring up their moment of friendship the other night and resist the urge to brush their hands against the eyepatch again. settling into the seat directly across from her, they shift and ponder for a split second what could be running through the scrappers mind —

    and they catch themself. but she’s not a scrapper. she’s not scrapper 142. not valkyrie; not just another blade of the valkyrior. she is val, she is a person, she is their best friend, and she deserves none who would see her pain as something to be conquered and gloriously overcome. so thor folds their hands in their lap and quietly sits back and does not speak a word on the subject of her change of character. thank yous have already been exchanged and to bring up sore subjects would only be cruel. good people do not force their friends to reveal their sorrows unwillingly. the chair creaks quietly. thor makes no move to mention the drink in her hand. the engines hum, lights overhead popping and buzzing impatiently.

       val’s guarded expression does not go in question.

       the galaxy outside moves quietly past.

       they mumble, ’not a bad view at all,’ and she snorts at the weak attempt at small talk. there’s little ill-will behind the sound, an imperceptible nod of agreement given as she keeps her gaze trained on just that. thor scoots the chair just a little closer. it scrapes noisily against the metal grating of the floor. val rolls her eyes. ‘val,’ they start, stop just as quickly and they clear their throat. ‘i’ve been ensuring the safety and well-being of the civilians on board. it’s not a simple task keeping the gladiators on task –’ they laugh, snort, even, ‘but we’ll get there.’

        ‘i commend your skills in gladiator - wrangling.’ she deadpans.

         a beat of silence passes again between the two. comfortable silence is something thor’s not had access to since their youth, with perhaps loki, or their mother, or with sif. they reach over, slowly, deliberately so she can reject it and pull away at any moment, to pat her hand. bit awkward, but the gesture stands. they’re glad to have a friend here, for counsel and laughter, for comfort and humor to keep things lighthearted when need be. they’re glad to have someone earnest to trust who seems to understand them. they can’t help but smile as val and them sit to stare out at the passing heavens. val is astounding, and thor is quite proud to call her his friend and sister-in-arms.

four.

          they’ve been sparring in the training room onboard – well, not all of them. hulk had to sit out, but was encouraged to heckle. not that he was any good at it. the oaf. he stands aside and whoops and cheers, pounds his fists against his chest, and that makes the floor rattle a little. val has just won for the third time in a row, and thor can’t really find it in himself to take offense to this fact. okay, maybe a little bit of offense – but mostly sheer excitement, adrenaline pounding through him. val had agreed to spar on the conditions that should she win, she’d get a ride on the hulk’s shoulders. hulk would’ve allowed it either way, but such was the ways of the game. 

           the sparring session had been initiated on the grounds that thor needed to navigate with his newly off-center depth perception, and must learn to fight just as well as before. val informed him that she’d known others who had lost vital parts of themselves and who had still remained noble warriors – well, put it a bit less eloquently than that, but still -- and he’d found reassurance in this. had fought and bled and laughed and ducked just as he’d done as a boy in training sessions with his equals. val was an astounding combatant, her skill with the blade unmatched, and her strength of body likewise. thor may be mighty, but she was a worthy opponent. 

            so the fourth time she throws him onto the ground, he doesn’t even see it coming – a left swing, entirely unfair, but she’d promised not to go easy on him. he falls back onto the mat with a laugh, not taking the failure too deeply to heart. hulk smacks something into the wall in jubilation and it clangs loudly against the metal grating. val moves to stand over him, in his line of sight, offering a hand; thor takes it willingly, pulling up with a grunt, only to wrap her in a hug as fast as he can grab her. he pulls her close to his chest, and she tries weakly to wiggle out of it, protesting between bursts of unwilling laughter – pushing at his arms. ( were she really trying to get away from him, he’d already be on the ground. ) they’ve not yet had the chance to just have fun together. so he scruffs her hair and pushes her back with a bellowing laugh, smile broad and open, swaying just a little. 

                 hulk insists they fight again instead of being puny and nice to each other. 

[brujas-nyc]

An open letter to A$AP Mob:

We are sorry to hear about certain happenings in the UK this week. We write this out of respect and love for our community as a whole with regards for the nuances of any situation that involves the intersections of several deep issues including race and gender. Rather than demonize an individual or group we would like to discuss the larger issues at hand. In short, we do not have a choice but to be better than this nor the luxury to ignore the severity of sexual assault in our community.  

When it concerns Black men, one cannot ignore the wrongful and already present interpolation of their sexualities as predatory and dangerous, especially when white women are involved. Historical references include the lynchings of both Emmett Till and the Scottsborro Boys for allegedly disrespecting and assaulting white women. Today the mass incarceration and criminalization of Black Men under the guise of their “threatening” presence in white american society not only demonstrates the ease at which our culture demonizes and dehumanizes Black men, but serves as a reference point for what and how the state chooses to enact discipline on bodies.

The future BRUJAS envisions demands freedom from disciplinary apparatuses, from prisons and the law to the medical examination rooms where rape kits are used to collect forensic evidence. The state -- with the hospital, prison and school as its major apparatuses -- qualifies what is and isn’t rape, who is and isn’t criminal, producing measures of discipline that are neither uniformly applied across the racial and class castes of american society nor allow the conditions for the creative, emotional and intellectual expression of humanity.

White men are regularly granted leniency and sympathy by the state for their violent sexual behavior. The 250 year history of slavery in the Americas normalized the perpetration of sexualized violence by White Men against Black women, later solidifying the practice as a pillar in the disciplinary, racist and misogynist ethic of the United States Government. White slave-master’s raped Black women, ultimately enslaving their children to the economic benefit of their commercial empires whose legacies continue to dictate how power is distributed and used. Our president is an outspoken rapist, while recent events including the trial of Brock Turner, a Stanford student who was given a 6 month sentencing after raping an unconscious woman reiterate the normalcy of this kind of behavior. For Black and Latino driven brands like V-LONE and A$AP Mob to succeed in a capitalist system built on a history of not only their ancestors enslavement but also sexualized violence against Black women is both an economic and cultural phenomenon. We (BRUJAS) are proponents of urban, youth built economies of color, and are experimenting with the ways in which streetwear can support radical cultural and political innovation. For this reason we felt the need to respond to you as a collective to the viral video of A$AP Bari and members of his team sexually assaulting a woman in their hotel room.

We are disappointed and appalled, and refuse each and every excuse for this kind of behavior. The forces against us are strong. We do not have the luxury for this type of behavior, as it demonstrates disillusionment, lack of purpose, sense of self and self respect. There is too much at stake for us to emulate the violent and dehumanizing culture established by slave masters against the same communities that are desperately searching for livelihood in a new future. To strive and prosper probably meant more than most are prepared to accept. We demand that our peers in streetwear and cultural production uphold revolutionary discipline and exemplary behavior for their youth bases, we are in constant struggle ourselves.

To be clear. Each and every day for women, especially women of color, are filled with the constant concern with defending our bodies from sexual assault by people. Recent scientific research shows that our DNA actually adapts to our environments, meaning that the stress and biological impact of rape and trauma related to sexual assault is feasibly passed on through generations. Daily realities include street harassment reminding us we are being constantly sexualized without consent, as well as full on assault by men or people with perceived authority over us. The fear of assault is embedded in the conscious of women from a young age, something we will never be free from, something that creates challenges and blocks to the free and true expression of sexuality, one of the most important elements of a person’s humanity. Sexual assault and rape culture contribute to the dehumanization of all people. We (BRUJAS) believe in and support survivors of sexual assault, especially in the face of the state’s violent hetero-patriarchy. The woman in the video clearly stated “no” and was hit as she sought safety in the bathroom. She claimed via twitter that “I was forced into bed by Bari and his crew and Bari got upset because I refused to engage in any sexual acts.” A woman should be able to sit naked in a hotel room with any number of men knowing that her body is safe if she is not consenting to sexual acts, even if that means changing her mind before and during sex.  

For those unfamiliar with the concept of consent, it is the demonstration and active affirmation of wanting to engage in mutual sexual activity. Legally, one cannot give consent if under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or under a certain age. We (BRUJAS) however, propose a more comprehensive understanding of what consensual sexual activity looks like beyond what is and isn’t legal, including active verbal and physical communication between bodies. Consent is a process, has many levels, as does sexual assault.

In order to avoid confusion we suggest that all people engaging in sexual activity with others regularly check in to see if their partner or partners are comfortable.

Finally, we recognize these types of behavior as part of a larger systemic problem of rape tolerance in the music and fashion industry. Bari and his friends behavior are not exceptional, as many people who gain power through clout, publicity, and culture seem to regularly abuse it at the expense of women. Many times this year we (BRUJAS) were made aware of similar behavior from rappers and designers in the NYC underground. We are still screaming DEATH TO ALL MALE LINEUPS ! We abhor and reject the patriarchy, toxicity and circle-jerking that exists as a social by-product of capitalism while proposing that individual accountability also requires community based action. 

We are open to helping heal these wounds, especially out of respect to the legacy of a friend to the BRUJAS and wider feminist community, A$AP Yams. We hope that everyone takes this moment to evaluate the severity of our communities problems because our future depends on it.

Peace,

BRUJAS

[imaginemycroftholmes]

Mycroft Fan Submission Form

Name: Ellen Age:28 Gender: Female Occupation: Registered Nurse Nationality: American Country of origin: The USA Personality type:INTJ Education: Bachelors (BSN) Marital Status: Single Who would you shoot out of John, Sherlock, Mycroft and why: I would probably turn the gun on myself. I don’t think anything but extreme circumstances, my child or spouse’s life, could cause me to take a life. Height: 5'5" Position in the family: I am the oldest of four, one sister and 2 brothers. Best subject: Sciences have always been my strong point. Favorite Subject: Maternal/Child Nursing Worst subject: I didn’t necessarily have a worst subject. If it did not hold my interest I did the bare minimum to maintain my GPA. Last song listened to: “We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off” Ella Eyre Favorite color: Blue, all of them. Thoughts on Molly and Sherlock’s impending relationship: It’s about time. Illness/allergies/impairments: I’m allergic to latex and have seasonal allergies. I have Celiacs, Reynaud’s, and ADHD mixed. Last sentence uttered to another living human being: STAT labs, cultures, and CXR as the left side sounds diminished and temp is 103? Hair color/length: Dark brown and below my shoulders. Who do you feel more sympathy for Sgt. Donovan or Anderson’s wife: Anderson’s wife, she did not make them sleep together. The vows of a monogamous relationship should be upheld. I don’t understand cheating and feel it is the ultimate betrayal. Eye color: Blue Constantly cold, hot or prefect: I’m always cold. Seven Noteworthy skills: I am an exceptional listener. I am determined I sing well enough. I have good observation skills Critical Thinking Patience Calm under pressure Nine noticeable sins: I can be too sarcastic. Stubborn Impulsive Overly self critical Easily Bored with things that don’t interest me Emotionally withdrawn My resting facial expression is mean Perfectionist Blunt Languages known/spoken:Only English. I am learning Spanish. Cats, dogs, both or other: Dogs. I have 2. How often you help your community: If you refer to my job as my community then 4. Favorite Holmes family member: Mycroft. Body type:3 averaged Number of past lovers: 2 Level of cleanliness: 2 Would you rather piss off Sherlock or Mycroft: Sherlock. He is emotional and once the emotional response has run its course the anger is usually forgotten. Rate your mental health: 4, gotta get more sleep. Rate your confidence: I would say a 3 on average. Sometimes I question myself. Combat Level: 3 Circle of friends: I have a small tight circle of close friends but many casual friends. Who do you side with more Sherlock or Mycroft: Mycroft. Level of intelligence on a scale of 1-5: 4 Who do you side with more Mycroft or Mrs. Hudson: Mycroft. Introvert or Extrovert: Introvert Political alignment: I am all over with my political views. I find it very hard to find one party I align with a majority of the time. Who would your rather be trapped in a long car ride with Mummy Holmes or Holmes Senior: Holmes Senior. I’m sure he would be very pleasant to talk to. Go to outfit for everyday: Long pants, tank top, and sweater. Honestly though I wear scrubs every day. Go to outfit to impress: A dress and heels 5 hobbies: Painting Reading Writing Hiking Dog training Opinion of Rosie Watson and Mary Watson: I love children and find it very hard to have a poor option of any child. I think they are all brilliant. I am indifferent to Mary. I cannot say what I would do if I were to be made to make the choices she did in life. Favorite music/book/movies: I love anything by J.R.R. Tolkien and reading a lot of medical, science, and various non-fiction books. I very much enjoyed the Wonder Woman movie. I will and do listen to any and all music. How well you take rejection on a scale from 1-5: I handle it pretty well, so about a 4. Religious or religious affliations: I was raised Catholic. Currently I do believe in God but I do not associate with any religion. Kids or no:I very much want children Out of the Holmes family (Siger, Violet, Sherlock and Eurus) who would you kill, maim, kiss or roommate with and why: I would kiss Violet in a close friend. Maim Sherlock but verbally. Eurus would be the only one I could see killing in a very extreme circumstance. Roommate Siger, I feel there is a lot about him we don’t know. Do you think what Mycroft did with Eurus (at the time) was justified and needed: I am the oldest and fiercely protective of my family. I understand where Mycroft was coming from. If I believed it was best for my other siblings safety and well being to contain another sibling, I would. I could also see the reasoning of lying to my parents of their death. As for using her to help the government, I often wonder if it was the only way he could justify interacting and seeing Eurus. I know I’d look for any reason to still visit them still.

One day three Greek philosophers settled under the shade of an olive tree, opened a bottle of Retsina, and began a lengthy discussion of the Fundamental Ontological Question: Why does anything exist? After a while, they began to ramble. Then, one by one, they fell asleep. While the men slept, three owls, one above each philosopher, completed their digestive process, dropped a present on each philosopher’s forehead, the flew off with a noisy “hoot.” Perhaps the hoot awakened the philosophers. As soon as they looked at each other, all three began, simultaneously, to laugh. Then, one of them abruptly stopped laughing. Why?

I guess he realized that they were laughing at him too so realized he had owl droppings on his head as well. It’s funny when it happens to others but not to you.

A 120 wire cable has been laid firmly underground between two telephone exchanges located 10km apart. Unfortunately after the cable was laid it was discovered to be the wrong type, the problem is the individual wires are not labeled. There is no visual way of knowing which wire is which and thus connections at either end is not immediately possible. You are a trainee technician and your boss has asked you to identify and label the wires at both ends without ripping it all up. You have no transport and only a battery and light bulb to test continuity. You do have tape and pen for labeling the wires. What is the shortest distance in kilometers you will need to walk to correctly identify and label each wire?

I don’t really understand this one but I’ll take a shot. So I’d group them to make dealing with them easier and label the groups at the start. Then take the grouped end down with me so that I could test and figure out which wire goes with which using light bulb and battery group. I’d label as I go. Then I’d have to walk the end back to the start. So 20km? I don’t know. I just know when labeling lines and hooking them up, I always go down and back up.

A woman is sitting in her hotel room when there is a knock at the door. She opened the door to see a man whom she had never seen before. He said “oh I’m sorry, I have made a mistake, I thought this was my room.” He then went down the corridor and in the elevator. The woman went back into her room and phoned security. What made the woman so suspicious of the man? He knocked on the door. You’d just open you’re own door.

Please bold the following that you wish to have with Mr. Holmes: Friendship Partnership Marriage Mentorship

Mycroft’s answer:

Ah, a nurse. I believe that you dear Ellen may be the first I have come across with the piles of applications and find it very refreshing to come across yours. So far with your questions you managed to answer two out of three correctly which is very promising as is your hobby for training dogs. Did you know that Sherlock at one point decided he would attempt to train a stray dog that had wandered into our neighborhood? A filthy if not friendly fellow. It was a shame that mummy wouldn’t allow Sherlock to keep him as I figured it would be a great companion for both him and might socialize Eurus a bit however after the ‘incident’ with Victor I feel fortunate that the poor creature found a loving home elsewhere. I can sympathize with the what others may call “resting bitch” face as both Sherlock and John claim that I have it despite my best efforts to look more enticing to young Watson but alas, I fear that she too like her father is wary of me and my intentions.It is also very comforting to find someone that validates my past decisions concerning the distressing business of Victor because even in my age I feel it was right and if I had to go through with again I would only change a few things like putting her into isolation in the first place without outside interference. Your line of work sounds very intriguing as from what I gathered you must work with adult or child like patients versus infants labs but I could be wrong. I’d love to discuss it over dinner.

-M

My dear Ellen,

Friendship: 9/10

Partnership: 8.9/10

Marriage: 8.8/10

Mentor-ship: 10/10

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Jeff York on The Establishing Shot: BAD PARENTING IS THE TRUE HORROR IN ON DISPLAY IN “THE LODGE”

Better horror movies tend to have a secondary theme that feeds its main premise. JAWS is about the hunt for a man-eating shark, but it’s also about Chief Brody learning to assert his authority. HALLOWEEN is about a knife-wielding psycho, but it’s also about teenage responsibility. THE SHINING is about a hellish hotel, but it’s also about a haunted writer who can’t shake his past sins. The new frightener THE LODGE also comes with dual themes: its A theme concerns family safety in a snowbound cottage. The B theme is all about horrible parenting.

And that secondary strain announces itself from the opening moment. Laura (Alicia Silverstone) tries to put on a happy face, literally and figuratively, as she prepares to drop her children off with her estranged husband for the weekend. Yet as she applies the lipstick, her mouth droops and the tear ducts gush open. Her angst is so apparent as she frustratingly attempts to reapply her lipstick in the car, it puts her children Aidan (Jaeden Martell) and Mia (Lia McHugh) in a bad mood instantly. All three arrive at dad’s, sulking and tongue-tied.

Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh

There, Richard (Richard Armitage) informs Laura that he wants to quickly divorce so he can marry his young, new girlfriend Grace. (This Richard is a dick, and Armitage doesn’t even try to make him reasonably sympathetic.) It’s implied that cheating with Grace broke up their marriage, to begin with, and now he’s adding insult to Laura’s injury. She goes home, pours herself a glass of wine, and promptly blows her brains out.

The children never recover, especially Mia who fears that her mother’s suicide dooms her to hell. Her father does a crappy job of comforting her, but he’s completely self-absorbed it’s no surprise. The insensitive schmuck even wants the kids to go along with his scheme to spend Christmas with Grace up at the family cottage, even though mom’s only been in the ground for a few months.

The film cleverly staves off on the reveal of Grace for almost 15 minutes. We expect her to be a bogeyman by the time she shows up, especially since her backstory is that she was the sole survivor of mass suicide by a religious cult a decade ago. (Shades of the Heaven’s Gate cult where 39 members drank poison ritualistically in 1997.) The kids find the video of the catastrophe online showing a spooky, 13-year-old version of Grace standing amongst the carnage.

Riley Keough

Further adding to Richard’s sins is the fact that Grace was the topic of a story he did on the cult, and he blurred the lines when the professional journalist fell for his subject. When we finally meet the adult Grace (Riley Keough), she’s hardly a Manson girl, but rather, a soft-spoken, shy young woman. She bares a striking resemblance to mom Laura, suggesting that Richard pulled a “John Derek” and replaced his wife with a younger version of her.

Keough, quickly becoming one of the industry’s most interesting young actresses, plays Grace as a mysterious mix of conflicted emotions. She’s in love with Richard, prone to romantic giggles during lovemaking, and she truly wants to bond with his kids too. Grace is aware of that uphill battle but tries to be respectful and friendly, even though the kids want nothing to do with her.

Further complicating matters for her are painful memories of the cult, including some of her father’s hectoring lessons as its religious leader. She’s haunted by a portrait of the Virgin Mary in the cottage because it makes her feel guilty about the cult’s blasphemy of God, her adultery with Richard, and her reliance on prescription meds to get through the day. Fuel is added to her fire when Richard decides to return to the city for a few days of work, leaving Grace to tend to the children all by her lonesome.

Richard Armitage

Grace’s pet pooch isn’t much of an emotional support animal while the kids go out of their way to alienate her. They refuse to help hang holiday decorations, reject her lunch offerings, and openly declare they have nothing to say when she tries to engage in conversation. Further challenging her comfort is Aiden’s spying on her while she showers, not to mention a nasty snowstorm that takes out their generator in the night. It all comes to a head when the next morning Grace discovers all of her belonging are missing, including her meds, not to mention all the food in the fridge and pantry.

Is a thief responsible? Are the kids playing a prank? Or is this some form of self-sabotage on Grace’s part now that she’s off her meds? Whomever to blame, the rift between her and the kids becomes paramount, as they’re snowbound hostages. As one day drags into the next, with no cellphone service for emergency assistance, Grace starts to lose her grip on reality. Her vivid memories and imagination mix together to create a phantasm of fear that would make Edgar Allan Poe proud.

Not surprisingly, this tale of terror, written by Sergio Casci, Veronika Franz, and Severin Fiala, and directed by the latter two, is about the descent into madness. All three inhabitants become unreliable narrators, and we in the audience don’t know whom to trust. Can Grace get a grip? Can she parent these children and keep them safe from the elements and starvation? And why the hell isn’t Richard returning to check up on them knowing full-well that they’ve been incommunicado for days?

Franz and Fiala are superb at creating mood in this atmospheric setting, with an insinuating score helping ratchet up the tension with each new revelation. The scares are honest, with nary a cheap jump scare in sight. They don’t develop the three main characters as vividly as they could but keeping the characters at a certain arms-length helps strengthen the mystery of all that occurs.

Ultimately, the B theme eclipses the A theme and cements the filmmakers’ editorializing on the subject of bad parenting. (It was a similar theme in Franz and Fiala’s acclaimed 2014 Austrian thriller GOODNIGHT MOMMY as well.) Grace should never have been forced to parent these kids alone. Those kids shouldn’t have been forced to spend Christmas with dad’s mistress. And dad shouldn’t think of himself first and last every single time. Often times, the best horror films have man as the monster, no supernatural beast needed. The true villain here isn’t a haunted house, freezing weather, cult activity, or any religious piety. It’s man, specifically, a truly atrocious parent, who lets everything go to hell.

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