#bad literary analysis

[goldenspirits]

Marco and Polo TVGLOW are very... Queer coded, in a way that I cannot quite articulate. They just hit that "Hays Code Era Queer Coded Villain" spot in my brain, you know?

[labyrinthinth-lighthouses]

If I remember correctly Oliver says in “If We Were  Villains” that he believes himself to be the ‘Banquo to Jame’s Macbeth and the Horatio to Jame’s Hamlet’ (paraphrased lol)

But I would like to say how fucking sad that notion is as someone who has recently read both of these plays. And it’s not because Oliver is undermining his own importance or relegating himself to a “side” role without trying to become a titular one

No it’s because in the play Macbeth, the character of Macbeth kills Banquo- now to explain my thoughts I also need to clarify, though I’m sure anyone who’s read the book already knows, James thought of himself to Oliver in the same way that Oliver thought about himself to James if that makes any sense at all. Like James was Banquo to Oliver’s Macbeth in his mind… anyway bad to the point.

Ok so Macbeth doesn’t kill Banquo directly, in the play he hires some murderers to take care of the job for him, which they do. And I think this kind of relates to Oliver and James towards the end.

So Oliver gives up his life to save James’s, he belives that by going to jail he will allow James to live- Oliver in his moment of confession is in his mind Banquo saving his dear son Fleance from the murderers as he runs away. Here he is Banquo never knowing of, or purposely ignoring, Macbeths betrayal because he loves him (in Macbeth it’s like a friend way but y’all get it). He is Banquo in act 1 scene 3 pulling Macbeth out of his trance and being happy for him and they news the weird sisters bought, supporting him going forward. And you could also make the argument that Oliver going to jail for James is thematically the same as Macbeth hurting murderers to kill Banquo, as it effectively destroys the rest of Oliver’s life, such as Banquos is cut short by Macbeths. (what was his charge 2nd degree murder- good luck getting a job).

Now, you can flip this on it’s head and it still makes sense!! Maybe James is Banquo and Oliver going to prision for him, guilt eating away at him for years is tangentially the same as Macbeth sending the murderers, but the murderers are guilt. However here of course, Oliver dosent mean to send the murderers, he believes he is helping but- well yknow.

However I personally think that there is more of a connection with James and Lady Macbeth towards the end. The last scene Lady Macbeth is in she is sleep walking, replaying the night that she and Macbeth killed Duncan, and she says “What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” (Lady Macbeth in Act 5, scene 1, lines 30–34,). And than she kills herself, and guess what Macbeth doesn’t find out about this for hours, similarly to how when James, allegedly, killed himself Oliver didn’t find out for years. And both Lady Macbeth and James take their own lives because the guilt, and shame of what they’ve done is eating them alive and they can no longer stand it.- in this example Oliver would also be Macbeth

Now as for Horatio and Hamlet, long debated queers (not getting into that) Hamlet dies in Horatio’s arms and makes him swear to tell his story, and Horatio, after thinking of hilling himself decides to honor Hamlets wishes and tell his tale. I feel like this is just similar to James and Olivier, Oliver telling James’s story long after he’s gone.

Oh and Horatio and Hamlet went to college together, we’re each others closest friend and confidant, and Hamlet I believe wants to be all that Horatio is because he is just such a good person in every aspect of himself- and also have James and Oliver vibes so take that as you will.

So sorry this is terribly written it’s late and I’m dyslexic hope this made some sense lol

Edit: I’m pretty sure this is mainly illegible so here’s a td:lr

Oliver dies so that James can live, believing that he will. James in turn “dosent” and Oliver is left to tell his story, or join him wherever he may be.- Similar to Hamlet and Horatio (Both Horatio and Oliver live)

Macbeth kills king Duncan, his friend Banquo, Macduffs whole household and more- Lady Macbeth encouraged this and kind of pushed him into this. The actions she had taken in the play eventually cause her to loose her mind and kill herself out of guilt. - James also kills himself out of guilt, because he is the one who kills Richard and Oliver takes the blame and he cannot bear it (Macbeth kills but Lady Macbeth makes him so kind of similar ig) - so in this Oliver is Macbeth and James is the Lady Macbeth

But one could also argue James is a Banquo figure as he is killed not directly by Macbeth but from Macbeths actions. Like how James presumably kills himself because of Oliver taking the blame (from Macbeths-Oliver’s- actions)

Ok that’s it bye

[nyantodamax145]

I JUST FINISHED THE STULTIFERA NAVIS STORY AND I HAVE THOUGHTS.

Let me preface this by saying that I am also part of the demographic of “EN Sucks at Reading”. Well, I can *read*, but I kind of suck at interpreting characters sometimes so bear with me and share your thoughts because I’m very bad at literary analysis and can only understand surface level themes without anyone to guide me but I’m trying my best

I

LOVED IT

And not JUST because my husband played a pivotal role in the event okay

Spoilers under the cut!

I haven’t played through Under Tides yet so I’m missing a teeny bit of context, but oh my god

Laurentina “waking up” and recovering her memories? Alphonso and Garcia doomed to sixty years alone aboard the Stultifera Navis and sailing her towards her slow decay? High Inquisitor Dario’s sacrifice and the light of his lantern refusing the burn out, JORDI being WAY MORE TALENTED THAN HE GIVES HIMSELF CREDIT FOR, STRAIGHT UP REPAIRING A LIGHTHOUSE AND A BOAT BASED ON OLD BLUEPRINTS AND FINDING THE STULTIFERA NAVIS AND SAVING ALL THREE HUNTERS AND IRENE AAAAA

Wait ok let me try to gather my thoughts cause there’s specific things I want to talk about.

Thiago being unwilling to let the Inquisition into his town because he still held a grudge against them ultimately led to his death. He wanted to puppet the Church of the Deep who had infiltrated Gran Faro into pushing the Inquisition out of the town, but was selfish; he wanted to have his cake and eat it too; he wanted to preserve Gran Faro and its legacy, but in the process he let the Seaborn fester and take over the whole place silently, while the Inquisition couldn’t do anything to help because he was simply a stubborn old man. It’s doubly ironic because as Carmen reveals, his Aegir wife was also a part of the Church of the Deep. I would like the theorize that his wife was the one who perpetrated the spread of the Nethersea Brand in Gran Faro, but that’s just headcanon.

Laurentina and Amaia. They’re connected to each other through the Seaborn Cells in their body, and the experiments Specter was put through, and in many ways you could consider Amaia “Specter’s” creator in a sense. Laurentina and Specter really are two different people, and we can see the moment Specter disappears and Laurentina wakes up. But even after Amaia “becomes one” with the Seaborn, Laurentina still calls the abomination by the name of “Amaia”, and I wonder if it’s due to a lingering sense of connection, if only in the sense that they are mortal enemies. It’s kind of like Laurentina knows that Amaia is still in there. Which, well she is, she became part of We Many.

I seem to have missed a critical piece of information regarding Skadi that was covered in Under Tides, so I’ll be skipping over that. Once the Under Tides record restoration comes around I know what I’ll be up to.

JORDI! MY GOD YOU DID SO WELL! Can you imagine piecing together incredibly complex technology only through luck, instinct, and some tattered, centuries old blueprints?! He says he’s an ordinary person but what kind of ordinary person can do all that?! He’s at the very least got incredible skill to interpret old blueprints, and make something as old as that lighthouse to work! Like AAAAAAA I’M PROUD OF YOU ALSO YOU NEED MANY BLANKETS AND SNUGGLES YOU HAVE SO MUCH TRAUMA.

Irene reporting to Dario’s lantern at the very end made me cry ok. She wanted her Maestro to know that she gave it her all, and although the conclusion wasn’t satisfactory she still accomplished a lot. It hurts to know that she had to find out through the very things she was fighting, the things she saw as abominations of sin. It’s like the refused to believe it until she saw Saint Carmen’s face and accepted it.

And the fact that the Stultifera was circling above an Aegir City the whole time… so close, yet so far. The Abyssal Hunters both succeeded and failed, and while they found “home”, they couldn’t return.

There’s… a lot. And I’m no good at literary analysis. I just point out things that I like…

It’s 11 pm, I’m tired, and I’m trying to process everything I just read.

[abessive-art]

*Archives your Magnus*

[anywayxstarchild]

mustique demo came up on shuffle again and i've had my head in my hands for the past hour because truly what was this insanity. why does noel sing his song with a completely different set of pronouns than what he made liam finally sing? and i'm not even thinking about the lock all the doors lore right now. i'm just speechless because truly... whose confession am i listening to? i need to study noel's brain so bad jfc he was so insane for this. i'll never get over this song.

[distracted-obsessions]

Ok, so I've been seeing some discourse around Odysseus and Eurylochus about who is the bad guy.

Odysseus is the bad guy because he gave his name, rank, and serial number to the Cyclops.

Eurylochus is the bad guy because he opened the wind bag.

Odysseus is the bad guy because he sacrificed 6 men.

Eurylochus is the bad guy because he killed the cow.

And I think a lot of you are missing the point.

Is Odysseus giving his name to the Cyclops, not knowing that would bring down the wrath of Poseidon, any worse then Eurylochus opening the wind bag, not knowing it would take them to Poseidon or vice versa? They didn't know it would end badly. They were both warned by someone they trusted that it would end badly if they took that course of action and they did it anyway.

Is Odysseus knowingly sacrificing 6 men to Scylla any worse than Eurylochus knowingly killing the sun god's cow? They both knew it would end in death. The only difference between these two actions is that Odysseus was trying to survive and Eurylochus couldn't live any longer.

Is Odysseus telling Eurylochus to light the 6 torches really any worse then Eurylochus telling Odysseus that he must carry all the blame or vice versa?

Neither of them are the bad guy. And if one of them is, then they both are. Then everyone, Circe, the Cyclops, Poseidon, everyone, is the bad guy too.

This is not a black and white story. There is no good guy, there is no bad guy, there is no clear answer. All it is is protagonists and antagonists and people pitted against each other in the desperate attempt to survive. Those stories are sad and not common in our current culture but this is one of them. Most of life isn't a black and white story and being able to understand that, both in fiction and reality, is important for every relationship, moral, and ideal you will ever have.

[nerdiqueen]

hang on I have to rant

if you're not already aware, the five-man band is a literary device used to classify teams of 5 characters. it's what I call an external trope, meaning that you fit the trope to the characters, they don't innately have it.

a:tla has a pretty solid one, and it's well known enough, so I'm gonna use it to show you what I mean

it is comprised of:

the Leader, who directs the group and is usually the main character (aang)

the Lancer, who serves as character foil to the Leader and is often a bad-guy-turned-good or rogue element (zuko)

the Big Guy, who solves physical problems for the team and is frequently a goofball (toph)

the Smart Guy, who solves technical/logistical problems for the team and typically serves as an "idea guy" (sokka)

and the Heart, who solves emotional problems for the team- if there's only one girl, she's probably the Heart (katara)

there are three star wars groups I want to look at: delta squad, domino squad, and clone force 99.

first is domino squad, as they fit this trope the easiest.

fives is the Leader, the most strategizing one in the group

droidbait is the Lancer, far less cautious and more prone to injury than the others (the foil to fives' effectiveness)

hevy is the Big Guy, serving the oh-so-common "big gun demolitions expert" variant

echo is the Smart Guy, in the "guys, come on, stick to the PLAN" variant

cutup is the Heart, lightening the mood with jokes (hence the name)

the first to die is droidbait, leaving echo to serve as fives' foil, which allows us to see that fives is probably the most prototypical clone of the bunch. then hevy sacrifices himself, and cutup gets eaten, leaving only fives and echo until the Citadel arc which I haven't yet seen.

then we have delta squad. the thing about delta squad is that there are four of them, and while the four-man band is a thing, they make this perfect incomplete five-man band that I think is really really tasty.

boss (player character) is the Leader, guiding the team

sev is the Lancer, playing the "snarky rogue" archetype

scorch is the Big Guy, again the "big gun demolitions" variant- but with the added flavor of being very by-the-book (which we see the consequences of when he aligns with not only the empire but doctor hemlock himself in tbb)

fixer is the Smart Guy, tech expert

notice anything?

there's no Heart.

and that works. these are clone commandos- meant to be the most effective troops the republic has. they almost never interact socially outside of their squad, and when they do it's kept pretty professional.

we see that again in clone force 99, or as they call themselves, the bad batch

hunter is the Leader, his enhanced senses leaving him the most generalist of the batch (and also he's technically their sergeant)

crosshair is the Lancer, a "silent, ruthless efficiency" type

wrecker is the Big Guy, "big gun demolitions" variant yet again (I told you it was common) in the goofball flavor

tech is the Smart Guy, btw he's really well done and it never feels like he just "knows because he's smart" you can always tell how he figures things out

again, there's no Heart. but wait.

in the Bad Batch arc in clone wars, they pick up another member- echo. we don't see much of echo's interaction with the batch in that arc, but when we come back, echo is solidly in a sort of almost-but-not-quite Heart role. and then.

omega shows up in the "sixth ranger" role, there to shake up the group dynamic. throughout season one, we see omega slowly take over echo's role as Heart- and as this happens, it becomes clear that that was the role he was playing, as he talks hunter through how to best take care of omega. but omega, tagalong kid as she is, is much, much more suited to the Heart role than echo, and she takes his place- which allows echo to run off and have his own adventures with rex throughout seasons two and three, WHICH WORKS because echo is a regular clone who joined the batch later in life and thus isn't quite the same as the others, but omega is a deviant clone just like them!

[stealingyourbones]

As the lovely @jedipirateking pointed out, people only really write Batpham fics in dpxdc.

Most of that is people simply not knowing about other DC characters or not having a strong enough grasp of a characters personality to write it.

DC has LOTS of lore and lots of interesting characters that can be used in dpxdc fics.

Let me know if any characters you’d like to learn about or want to study about and I’ll do my best to in depth research them and give a character analysis/research links :)

[jambam03]

i LOVE it when comedy/horror films build up tension just to destroy it dramatically, intentionally confusing the audience with many different tones; even though they aren't alike at all, i think nerdy prudes must die (NPMD) and many radio tv solutions (RTVS) streams/bits are masterclasses at this sort of form!!!

in NPMD, i mostly see richie's 'arc' as being the center point of the tension. he announces to the audience that he's dead, but this idea is quickly eclipsed as the show goes on. richie finds friends and his place once jagerman is 'gone', and the tone begins to feel eerily comfortable. when he says he loves being alive, all this anxious positivity bursts as the audience remembers his fate, and this creates a really unique atmosphere of both comedy and despair.

i could cite many RTVS bits here, but i'll just talk about breaking bad vr (BBVRAI) since it was so recent. everything RTVS does online, on and off stream, is part of their performance (duh). all of the producers/contributors of BBVRAI pushed a very obscured narrative about what the stream would be up to and on the day of the stream. in building this hype and attracting this attention, they equally built tension, and even when the stream started, they continued to build this heightened emotion until the stream title rolled. the title screen, for lack of a better term, "popped" the tension, eliciting mixed tones of comedy, disappointment/excitement, confusion, etc.

this is an interesting choice by the production teams of both NPMD and BBVRAI in that it achieves generally the same result; the audience's emotions are built to be disrupted. this disruption is intentional, and it is meant to confuse/shock/hurt/surprise/etc. it works SO WELL in horror and comedy because those emotions i listed are critical to the genres.

if you read this far, thanks :) my tumblr is kind of turning into my springboard for all the drafty analytical thoughts my little english major brain has :)

[talesfromthecrypts]

I don’t think some of you actually understand how important the wolves are to the entire Vampire Chronicles story actually

[goldenspirits]

Something to be said about the similarities between Mr. Melancholy and Owen's Dad. The way Owen's Dad is always this oppressive presence throughout the movie even when we don't see him much. When we see Owen catch him watching TV and his facial features are obscured by shadows, in a way that makes him look even more like Mr. Melancholy. Owen's father is also white, seeing as I am nonblack this is not my place to speak, but I have heard from friends and other people from Mixed families that there is a specific mistreatment (namely, Racism.) of Black family members per part of white family members.

I was surprised when I found out Jane Schoenbrun isn't black, because that sounds like such a specific experience and yet it seems to be portrayed well and respectfully.

[yanderefairyangel]

I find it very funny that some people try to point at the "I wanted to be a good dragon" as being bad dialogue and proof Engage is badly written when it does the exact opposite.

I know you are tired of hearing it but allow me to repeat it. Just once more. Past Alear is someone who use hiragana, an alphabet use mainly by kids in anime and in jpn media.

That is what makes their dialogue in chapter 24 so unsettling. This shows that Past Alear has the emotional maturity of a child. This is a childish dialogue devoided of emotions, where the characteristic of the hiragana lacking the polysemy of kanji is making this dialogue feels even colder, even more robotic, mecanic, empty, devoided of emotions. Hiragana is used to show how broken past Alear is as a child whose innocence was completely destroyed.

However, in this cutscene of chapter 22, the use of hiragana is no longer to convey this feeling. This time, it's to convey a warm feeling, letting Alear's childish personality of that time shines as them showing their innocent side, their weaker and true side to Lumera. it's them dropping the facade, and finally revealing what they were concealing when we meet them in chapter 24 : an innocent, kind child. You don't even need to turn off Alear's voice and hear how the performance changed to realize that because you can see this from the models. How Past Alear's blank and emotionelss gaze in chapter 24 contrast to the one bright and tender gaze they gave to Lumera in chapter 22. The sentence they speak is no longer intended to be read as emtioneless because of this, because now the property of the hiragana as conveying the childish innocent feeling, like it does with Veyle, is the one aspect exploited in this scene. It's to show Alear's innocence and child like nature, their warmth. This immediately makes their "tadashii ryuu ni naremasen" all the more tragic. They speak this time with the tone matching the undertones of the hiragana, unlike how in the past they used that "childish" dialect with the tone of a robot. In fact, the change of tone in the voice shows the shift in tone despite how Past Alear still uses the same alphabet. All in context.

The same way Past Alear's politness express through the same conjuction and expression as current Alear but have a different nature because of the context, the same way Alear's incantations read as prayers/wish rather then commands/orders because of the context, the use of hiragana's meaning changes because of the context. This is no longer to express a broken child speaking, but to show Past Alear's innocence and to emphazize their love for Lumera by showing how they reveal themselves to her only.

[longagoitwastuesday]

Every day I am haunted by the fact JJK could be amazing but it will be just idk Bleach or something

[ratnix]

I love you media analysis that understands complexity and nuance and does not see the story as black and white and good and bad. I love you media consumers that understand that just because something morally questionable is presented in the story, that does not mean the creator agrees with it and encourages it.

The "the curtain is just blue" discourse has ruined this world and that is why I only fw humanities students.

[rhaenin-time]

This fandom has a huge problem with the willfully uneducated CHOOSING to start arguments that factor in critical literary theory and real-world socio-political issues, flaunting their ignorance, and getting angry when people point out that no, you can't just consider an "argument" equal when one side is woefully uneducated on and yet utterly confident in their 'understanding' of the matter. They'll cry that you're being rude for "implying they're stupid" and for not giving them the respect they deserve as some kind of "equal" debate partner as if it's not actually rude to demand a "debate" where their opinions based in inadequate education, often regarding either concrete literary theory concepts or real-world issues, are given equal weight.

Sure, people can whine that it sounds "arrogant" to claim that you're objectively and provably more educated on the matters at hand. But I'm pretty sure actual arrogance is required for the above demonstrated worldview.

fuck it. might as well actually call these people "too stupid to engage with" from now on, if that's all that they hear regardless.

[biracy]

I know this can be contentious (and even just mentioning this kind of analysis as a serious one makes a lot of people who don't understand what literary analysis is very angry) but I actually think it's pretty cool that people can draw both transfeminine and transmasculine reads of Jesse from hit TV show Jesse out of the text of the show. Something something shared experiences something something solidarity. You get the idea