#comparitive analysis

[muscatos]

A Comparison: Edgar Allen Poe and his works to All for the Game

This is a dramatic and unnecessary comparison, one that I'm not entirely certain Nora did purposefully (though I remain hopeful), but nevertheless we have come to a conclusion.

An initial first look would instantly have me foaming at the mouth to mention that Edgar Allen Poe and Neil Josten (read - Nathaniel Wesninski) have the same birthday, alluding to the idea that Nathaniel had been and would always be intrinsically tied to Edgar Allen University, Riko, and the Ravens until Nathaniel is officially buried in baltimore and Neil is born legally in the FBI database and assuming a new birthday that is entirely his own, therefor cutting ties once and for all with Edgar Allen University and the trauma that it holds, in relation to both Riko and his Father. This is semi ironic as while Nathaniel died in baltimore and rose again as Neil ( “leave Nathaniel buried in baltimore” Andrew said,) Edgar Allen Poe also died in the same city under ‘mysterious circumstances,’ of which is where I like to think that Nora got her location inspiration, (both that and Baltimore having one of the highest rates of corrupt law enforcement, but that's neither here nor there.) These links only continue as Poe watched his mother die before living and being educated in numerous places around the US, England, and France, of which similarly seems to mirror Neil’s own childhood.

Edgar Allen Poe wrote his infamous ‘The Raven’ while in West Virginia, likely being the reason that Edgar Allen university is located there in All For The Game and the decision for the exy team to be titled The Ravens as a result, a particular point of interest as the contents of the ‘The Raven’ represent the madness someone descends into once their love is lost; this mimics the relationship between Riko and Kevin, with the formers sanity spiralling from his control once Kevin is lost, (with it also notable to point out that Riko and Kevin were originally written to be lovers, furthering this mirroring to the poem.) The symbolism for the Ravens represent a ‘bird of ill omen’ and seem to foreshadow the downfall of Poe's character as he was surrounded by them, as well as Rikos’ by being in the nest, with Poe also stating that the character is “distorted by his obsessive attachment.” Both Jean and Kevin escaping these ravens and having a promising ending reinforces this intention by Nora.

The idea of these Ravens that Poe writes about seem to also mirror Neil’s relationship to the nest, with the ravens in the poem coming to “Bellow for Revenge” on a “Drear-Nighted December.” A startling similarity to Riko forcing Neil to go to the nest over Christmas. The Nest being entirely painted black seems to also reference Poe’s poem in which the speaker enters the door into “darkness there and nothing more,” such as Neil would have done upon entering the Nest at the beginning of December, once again referenced almost directly as Jean tells Neil to look at the sky one final time as he wouldn’t see it again throughout Christmas.

This choice of a raven, in all, is chosen by Poe and seemingly Nora to symbolically represent the personification of death and the Narrator's impending fate, in this case being Neil’s knowledge that he will die by the hands of his father.

Edgar Allen Poe also coined the terms Evermore and Nevermore, with Evermore meaning that loss will always be apart of life, fitting as the characters in All For The Game all seem to go the Castle Evermore upon losing somebody and therefor unable to grieve, such as Jean losing his Family (post TSC read: his sister), Kevin loosing his mother, and even Riko losing his birth family, with only Kevin and Jean able to overcome that grief once leaving the Castle Evermore. Nevermore, however, means that one can never hold onto what they have, with the Narrator of Poe’s poem chanting the word once succumbing to madness from the loss of his partner, implicating the idea in All For The Game that no matter the circumstances, Riko never would have managed to keep Kevin in the long run, always ensuing the same fate.

I’m sure that there are mountains more connections that I’m yet to explore, with vague links to addiction regarding Andrew that even I know is a stretch at best, yet I see so little people talking about the random horrifying literature references sprinkled throughout the series that I had to do it myself. Sue me.

[amalgamate-exe]

TW: Spoilers for The Outsiders By S.E.Hinton, Talking about death, Alcohol and Suicide 

If you're familiar with S.E. Hinton's classic novel "The Outsiders," then you probably know all about Dallas “Dally” Winston, the quintessential bad boy of Tulsa who's always causing trouble and ending up in the cooler (jail). He's a complex character pivotal to the book's plot development. Recently, while listening to music and contemplating the parallels between Dallas Winston and to the songs I was listening to, I noticed a striking correlation. Specifically, McCafferty's songs "Trees," "Bottom," and "Beachboy" encapsulate the essence of Dallas Winston's character archetype This observation compelled me to write this essay, which delves into the thematic connections between McCafferty's music and the portrayal of Dallas Winston in "The Outsiders." 

The First song I will be covering is the song ‘Beachboy’ Which is track 6 off of the 2014 Album Beachboy This song was the song that made me initially link Dallas Winston to the band. This song could be confusing and have a lot of different meanings but the interpretation I am going with is put best by the authors at Songtell “is about accepting change and making the best of the situation. It speaks to the idea of growing up and taking on responsibilities, even when it is difficult or uncomfortable to do so.” (Songtell) Overall the song has the vibe of an angst-filled teenager who you gave access to a guitar and a music editing software, but a few parts of the song stuck out to me in particular when I heard the song with the idea of it representing Dallas. The first quote that represents Dallas Winston is “She says, ‘Your lips tasted like they did way back in July’/ Headaches and overdose I Hope that we never die”. While it's never fully stated where Dallas lives. Lots - if not all of fan theories and fan fiction - believe that he lives at Buck Merrill's Barin a spare bedroom when he isn't crashing on Curtis’s couch. Buck, is stated to be a shifty character “Buck Merril was Dally's rodeo partner…and made most of his money on fixed races and a little bootlegging” (Hinton 52) Buck along with earning money dishonestly was a troublemaker similar to Dallas, stated in the same paragraph “he used to be bucktoothed before he had the front two knocked out in a fight.” Buck Merril was also known for throwing parties and all around not being a safe individual so much so that The main character of the book Ponyboy was instructed by both of his older brothers to not be caught WIthin the proximity of his Barand he was happy to abide “I was under strict orders from both Darry and Soda not to get caught within ten miles of his place, which was dandy with me”(Hinton 52). Ponyboy notes that some of the events at Buck's parties leaned to the more adult sides of things “I was remembering what usually went on in the bedrooms at Buck's parties…” (Hinton 52). It should also be stated that in Pre-Book events Dallas had a girlfriend named Sylvia. Sylvia was Dallas's girlfriend but while Dallas was in Jail for one of many reasons she cheated on him. Dallas says this Himself to Steve on page 13 of the book “‘You break up with Sylvia again?" ‘Yeah, and this time it's for good. That little broad was two-timin' me again while I was in jail.’”(Hinton 13) Knowing where Dallas stays his past relations with Sylvia and potential future relations with Cherry Valance and any other girl that Dallas will flirt with You can assume that he has taken at least Sylvia to Buck's place to party, this relates to the song Beachboy By McCafferty because the second paragraph has the line “She says, ‘Your lips tasted like they did way back in July’/ Headaches and overdose I Hope that we never die” The ‘She’ in this scenario could be Sylvia because Dallas has been thrown in jail so many times one could infer that they go long periods without seeing each other which explains why she cheated on him and could explain the line “Like they did way back in July” following up with that, knowing buck is a shady character known throwing parties you could also make the argument that “headaches and overdose” could be hangovers and poor decisions being made while hanging out with Buck and Sylvia.

The next set of lines off of Beach Boy that describe Dallas are the lines “And I know that you think that I don't care / About all the friends I left behind” which would make sense,If there is two words to describe Dallas winston it would be Cold and callous, Ponyboy makes that Exceptionally clear when describing him even if not those word exactly anytime Dallas is described in the book it is always made clear about his bitterness and hatred towards the world one example being “His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world.” (Hinton 10) and then in the same paragraph “the warfare is between the social classes… Maybe that was why Dallas was so bitter.”(Hinton 10) with descriptions like that anyone would assume Dallas Winston is some Unbridaled hate machine, another example being “One time, in a dime store, a guy told him to move over at the candy counter. Dally had turned around and belted him so hard it knocked a tooth loose. A complete stranger, too” (Hinton 22) Dallas is willing to hit a *STRANGER* so hard it knocks a tooth out However, it's stated that Dallas has a soft spot for Johnny Cade over any of the other members of the gang this is made clear after Johnny Scolded Dallas for harassing Cherry Valance and Marcia At the drive in “Dallas scowled for a second. If it had been me, or Two-Bit, or Soda or Steve, or anyone but Johnny, Dally would have flattened him without a moment's hesitation. You just didn't tell Dally Winston what to do … But Johnny was the gang's pet, and Dally just couldn't hit him. He was Dally's pet, too.”(Hinton 22) All of this is to say that Dallas reminds me of this set of lines because Dallas goes even further to protect his friends than just not hitting them, Dallas is seen as a hardened criminal by the group, due to his time spent in the “Wild side of New York'' and his character all around, after Johnny Kills Bob the Soc Johnny and Ponyboy Run to Bucks bar to go to Dallas for help and without a second thought he helps them, Giving them a loaded gun and 50$ cash to buy groceries, on page 53 “Dally appeared after a minute. He carefully shut the door. "Here"--- he handed us a gun and a roll of bills--- "the gun's loaded. For Pete's sake, Johnny, don't point the thing at me. Here's fifty bucks. That's all I could get out of Merril tonight He's blowin' his loot from that last race."(Hinton 53) This is Major enough Dallas also gives Johnny and Ponyboy the location of an old church to hide out in Windrixville and on top of all of this Dallas lies to the police on their behalf to keep the cops from looking for them In Tulsa, or Windrixville Oklahoma “‘The fuzz won't be lookin' for you around here," Dally said, lighting up. "They think you've lit out for Texas…”(69) Now Dallas has had his fair run share of run-ins with the police before, and Johnny didn't Just pull some small-time thievery he killed a man, Dallas knew how much trouble he could get in for helping Johnny and Ponyboy out here, He was now an accessory to a crime but he still did it for them because he cared about them. While Dallas may have left the rest of the gang behind, literally when he killed himself via cop shoot-out at the end of the book he died caring for them he died because Johnny was the only thing keeping him afloat, he is also shown caring up until the end with his last words being “Ponyboy” He Died angry at the world yet in the same vein he died caring about his friends until his last moments. (1/3)

[celepeace]

Having an internal crisis that is SO unrelatable to 99.99% of the population

[cinnamonbirb534]

Ai x Furina: A Comparitive Study of Love and Lies

Ok y’all strap yourselves in, ‘cause this is going to be one hell of a ride. 

To the five people who like Oshi No Ko + Genshin Impact + Read Tumblr Analysis Essays: hi how are you? Ok, now that the hook is done let’s cut to the thesis: 

Ai Hoshino from Oshi No Ko and Furina de Fontaine from Genshin Impact are incredibly similar and well written characters. In this essay I will state the commonalities between the writing of their respective characters along with their contrasting traits. 

Warning for 4.2 Update Spoilers and Oshi No Ko Spoilers. 

Furina and Ai are stellar liars. One of them managed to lie to generations upon generations of her world's population of her godhood while the other garnered a following of fans at the age of 20 who are willing to kill and die for her. A spotlight (whether it be metaphorical or literal) is always on them and they are constantly pressured to maintain their image. 

What is fascinating about both of their lies is their differing motivations.Furina lies because she quite literally has to save her country from damnation and Ai lies because she wants to figure out what love truly feels like. 

To cut things shorter, Furina lies out of love for her subjects while Ai hasn’t figured out what life is and lies for the sake of learning what it means to love. 

Let’s move on to: “ Love” as a motivator for both characters. In spite of their well made synthetic identities, love seems to be a persisting theme in both (at least that’s how I perceive it and it’s ironic considering that Furina is the archon of justice, not love). 

Ai was unable to perceive love, much less be open to giving love to other people because of her tragic past. But, she found a way to learn how to love through her performances as an idol, actress, and model. Desperate for a genuine connection with other people, she opted to be an even more convincing liar in the hopes that her lies would turn into the truth. To her, lying was her own way to regain her emotional autonomy of loving others. 

Furina’s love is innocent; it granted her the unwavering will to continue her act as the “Regina of all Waters” for 500 years. In a sense, Furina never really wanted to lie to her people; she just knew it was necessary to save everyone. Similarly to Ai, she never could really make a genuine emotional connection with anyone. But the key difference is that her lies prevented her from doing so, while Ai tried to use her lies in order to make an emotional connection. Furina managed to make emotional connections with others as “Focalor the archon” but not really as “Furina the human”. But regardless, she (as in, Furina the human) genuinely loved Fontaine as their leader but not as their god. 

In other words, both characters have my heart thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[kragehund-est]

why are your hands so distinct. i thought i was the only one who found them oddly recognizable compared to every other set of hands

based on my analysis of "normal" hands, i have comparitively small wrists, big hands, and the bottom joint of my thumbs stick out a little far. i'm also very pale with a smattering of ginger freckles. not to mention the hypermobility.

besides the hypermobility, i don't think they're THAT weird. but enough people comment on them that they must be somewhat distinctive.

imo, my sister's hands are weirder. she has little baby hands for some reason. (our hands are still dyed from tie-dye lol)

[mhaynoot]

update on my orv analysis doc -> subheadings!!! i figured them out!! also rearranging A LOT of the content into something actually comprehensible

new main headings includes

joongdok

yoo joonghyuk

kim dokja

yoohankim

character analyses

parenting

themes

high school roots: comparitive essay style

meta (i guess???)

current word count: 14,635

[halalchampagnesocialist]

Do you know of any literature of various Palestinian resistance groups and comparitive analysis to say the IRA, Vietcong, the Zapatistas, etc?

Yes, many of these resistance groups are imperfect and hardly ideal; I just don't understand this need by largely liberal observers of a perfect victim. No one treats the above-mentioned groups with the same disdain today, but they were absolutely hated when these groups were prominent.

Unfortunately I do not know of any. If anyone who follows me does, please drop some reccs in the replies!

[gomacave]

criticisms of kk m women under cuttt

i keep thinking how the series is kinda ruthless (really cruel) to rhe women not directly but like. Thru the roles they keep in the narrative. Like its reallycruel that celi was appointed by shinou essentially to jusy give birth like idk about his grand scheme but he didnt want her for her or her ability to make decisions he (and the story) just needed her in a place where she could pop out babies for the events of the story. Ik she’s supposed to havw suffered from her lack of control and its framed that way but its stilla pretty cruel thing. Only woman king and shes essentially just a baby carrier + they deprived her of even the ability to be fully king w stoffel acting as regent

and then theres julia whos only role in the series was to die. Basically. And look sad. To propel the series into motion by dying. Shinou literally says (ig hes evil shinou so its debatable) that she was too pure n the reason why it had to be yuuri was his unique sense of mundane human-ness. She was quite literally textually just a stepping stone to get to yuuri (final product) amd she couldve died naturally and yuuri still would habe been borm lmao. She was essentially told by shinou that we need to fast forward so yr life ur decisions ur individuality we r going to throw. And it was framed as noble to listen 💀 like conrad was like i wasmt gonna stop her… it was her duty…. Like did yall ever stop to think maybw listening to ur god king forever for everything is neutering ur nation. anyways i have thoughts on the current day events and conflicts beinf build on the pain of women to propel the male characters forward

anissina is insignificant story wise (at least in the anime comparitively to celi and julia) so i dont rlly count her but even shes reduced to a gag character lmao she never gets to fight or make important decisions or exist when the story does not need her for a quirky invention + i guess flynn is the only one to break this rule (really) but even her writing is kinda lackluster for me

anywyas. Um. I know nobody expects a serious analysis of this show but ive been thinking oanf oh man shinou + the story writing is pretty mean to women. What im saying is people should start ignoring shinou. If i were to rewrite the series i would probably center the main conflict around learning to build a nation separate from a dead king and his divine right and bloodlines and whatnot.

[iamnotaware]

I'm gonna write a whole essay and do a full fledged comparitive analysis on how isaac's storyline and my journey of figuring out I was aroace interlink and you better take my word for it

[kdjdhdhebx]

uk every summer I had a lot of things i wanted to do. all of them were like, do volunteering, read these books, make these info charts on these topics to know more, do these art projects, take a walk in this area, explore the city, get into this anime this video game or watch these movies, write reviews or analysis, make journals, learn to cook something new, watch these 4 hour long youtube videos, discover music, learn something whatever the fuck. I never got through properly with any of them, but I remember being irritated the days my friends had plans, and I would always fucking show up 2 hours later to Jamie's house or some shit. don't get me wrong it was fun, but my motivation levels to get out of my house were lower... i was always clingy, and if I liked someone I would get super attatched but it was more in the moment, and if I wasnt wasn't them, it wasnt so bad... or maybe i romanticized being alone comparitively more. this summer, the summer m 19, is truly the one fucking summer I feel truly the most lost. beyond 18 was never meant to be, I really don't know what to do with myself anymore. every summer is a proof of the fact that I am incapable of anything. every year, people feel a bit more directed, even if it isn't going well, but I am just fucking stuck. I feel so restless, utterly disinterested in anything. theres also this feeling thats lately taken over anything else... this realization that I lack so much, I just feel like an empty void of fucking nothing, and that's so much worse than anything else, even worse than being bad uk be at least that's something. I crave filling that fucking void with something, I feel like i have experienced nothing. but I dont know where to get it? I dont understand where people get all that fucking experience and why won't it come along my way? m so curious where it comes from, idk what m doing wrong idk how to bring it to me how to have anything going on. the only thing I moderately look forward to is just being busy with someone else, but even them m not really feeling whole... m just scattering the burden of carrying me to others temporarily so I don't have to be alone in carrying the burden of myself... i am not even actually doing that but i just delude myself into thinking m doing that. I am just waiting there, hoping that if I can't, the people m with will attract those experiences for me, and make me a part of it. but it doesn't happen, and I just end up being annoying, burdenous and dependent when m with people, idle, stupid and restless when m alone. I thought sitting at my window waiting for the courage to tip me over was the peak of my hopelessness but i never realised that I could dig deeper, be...present? but fucking rot.

[hiringjournal]

5 Signs You Need to Hire a Professional Web Designer for Your Website Revamp

Your website is the heart of a strong visual presence and a budding conversion rate in the digital landscape. It’s the first point of contact with your digital audience and a way to build a lasting impression. A distinguished website requires you to hire a professional web designer who can change the face of your virtual brand identity.

In this article, we will look at the 5 unmistakable signs that indicate it’s time to take action and onboard designers for a revamp that helps you stay competitive and relevant.

Transforming Digital Presence: Recognizing When It's Time for a Change

Outdated design and user experience

Web design trends keep evolving with the changing user expectations and market dynamics. If your website looks and feels irrelevant to modern-day user demands, it’s time for you to seek professional expertise. They help revamp your site with a modern, user-centered design that enriches usability, visibility, and customer engagement. 

The website isn’t mobile-friendly

As mobile devices constitute a significant share in driving website traffic, a non-responsive design can potentially hamper the user engagement rate and SEO ranking. This is where a professional web designer can step in to render a responsive and mobile-friendly design with an optimal viewing experience across all devices.

Slow loading time

If your website takes a lot of time to load it can frustrate the users and escalate your bounce rates. Choosing to hire a professional web designer can be the solution as they know how to optimize elements and integrate best practices to ensure site speed and smooth performance.

You lack the time or customization skills

You need to keep updating and maintaining your website even in the post-launch phase. This demands time, technical skills, and design expertise which can’t all be managed by yourself. As a result, professional web designers can save you time and ensure high-quality results.

Poor SEO results

In the era where search engine recognition is a vital indicator of your digital success, a website that’s not optimized for search engines might as well be invisible. To rank on top of the SERPs you need to ensure that your website is built with the best SEO practices. This falls under the kitty of professional web designers who can ensure improved visibility and organic search ranking. 

Now that you have made up your mind to bring in professional assistance, you must also map down the cost. This can be done by conducting a comparitive salary analysis via tools like the Uplers salary analysis tool. You can compare the salary of a local hire with that of an Indian remote talent to draw meaningful compensation insights.

Concluding Remarks

Therefore, deciding to hire a professional web designer is not merely about aesthetics but also about ensuring the optimal functioning of your website, meeting user expectations, and attaining business goals. Web designers can recognize these needs and act on them actively to ensure your website success. 

[careasyofficials]

Caring for your car means making wise choices, especially when deciding between wet and dry car washes. In this comparison, CarEasy looks closely at the ways of cleaning. You can also go through the CarEasy reviews to have a clear guide to choosing the best way to keep your car clean and in good shape.

Read More: https://careasyofficials.blogspot.com/2024/01/wet-car-wash-vs-dry-car-wash.html

#CarEasy #business #carwash #carwashservices #carcare #automobile

[ramrodd]

COMMENTARY"

The year 70 CE was selected fro the destruction of Jerusalem was selected for the symbolism of its Numerology.

The numerology and astrology west of Persia originates with Babylon. They are significantly different from the numerology and astrology in the Orient The astronomy was pretty much the same.

During the 70s. I could have earned a comfortable living as a psychic and fortune teller with numerology and cards. I was something of an apprentice to a famous Virginia psychic, Wray Parks Pearman, who connected with Edgar Casey, the Sleeping Prophet. , There was a very strong wicca community in Northern Virginia gathered around the three nodal points, the Three Sisters, the Point of Rocks and a third point north east of Manassas..

In addition, there was a sizable Roma presence in DC and Arlington in terms of Gypsy fortune tellers, so the market was ripe for the sort of personality surveys fortune telling represents. After all, Nancy Reagan consulted her Hollywood astrologer, even though the Nazification of the White House and DC culture by the Hollywood John Birch Society fatally corrupted those two traditions. DC was far more New Age before the Reagan Conservative came here and I'm not sure I could have sustained a psychic service much beyond the 1982 midterms, after which the Deplorable culture really clamped down unti Obama was elected.

The point is, I know something of the Babylonian influences on the Bible that may not be academic subjects. For example, we are in year 5784 of Enoch's 7000 year Epoch, which is a very useful grid for the comparitive analysis of the cultural development that began to occur in the Mediterranian basis after Melchizedek's intervention with Abram in Genesis 12.

For example, Enoch's Epoch begins with the composition of the Book of Job, which is the first book in the Bible. It establishes the narrative thread that runs straight as a laser to the Cross as atonement by God for being tricked by The Satan to allow the torment of Job, Twice. The Book of Job is a cosmic farce literally with God as the buffoon and composed literraly by God as a study in the nature of Free Will and The Satan's practical demonstration to God of the burden of being a God Fearer like Job.

Melchizedek is a Maji like the Maji who trekked to witness Jesus in Matthew. His narrative of Bread and wine has conveyed from Abram through the Cross and right down to the modern Christian communion of saints. In addition, he and/or his colleagues influence three other civilizations, the Etruscans the Romans and the Greeks to begin their own narrative traditions with Home, Virgin and who ever in the Etruscan couture that was subsumed into the Roman aesthetic. All 5 of these narrative threads converge at the Cross as a measurable chiasmatic moment in history that transformed the Egyptian social organization , which was sufficient to put a man on the moon, to the social organization that led to the chiasmatic moment in cognitive hheory of Isaac Newton, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and George Hegel that has created the social organization that split the atom and put man on the moon and is capable of sustaining a lunar base for the nest 100 years, if not forever.

Ant that all got started with Babylon. In effect, the Torah is a five volume field manual based on Egyptian military protocols for the cultural transformation of the human condition from the theological organization of the Egyptian government to the basis for the US Constitution.

[carbongrunge]

Fascinating read, I adore analysis like this. TOS is dated (of course it is) and it suffered from a lot of it's own problems but comparitively it was progressive. There were a lot of things about TNG that rubbed me the wrong way in comparison to the alternate media of its own time. Great take, I'd be very keen to read about your take on a part two if you do one

Sexism in TOS: Worst Offender, or Progressive in Retrospect in Comparison?

I see a lot of folks claim that TOS was the most sexist of the Star Trek shows by a landslide -- and while I agree that it definitely suffered from the sexism of the times, I also have other perspectives to share to give some food for thought.

I am of course not insinuating that TOS isn't sexist -- it is, but I have to ask folks to consider the breadth and depth of Berman's sexism in his run and ask yourself: Was Gene Roddenberry genuinely more sexist in his storytelling and delivery than Rick Berman?

I'm not telling you to feel one way or the other, but all I ask is that you hear me out and consider some perspectives and make your own balanced assessments. Nobody is obligated to share my opinion, but it means a lot just to have folks hear it and see their thoughts on the subject. So here is what I was originally responding to:

Someone's response to this photo:

"Devil's advocate. This was a part of the popular form of cardio during the production time of TNG. Yes, it was heavily sexualised by men, but so is literally every other way women work out. Men have been caught taking pictures of women while trying to do dead lifts, running on tracks and working on sled machines. They post them online to share too. The fact is, there is no way a woman can be shown working out without it going there. And yeah,t hat includes the combat forms of workout they do in Star Trek. Just look at how Dax dresses when she spars with Worf. Yes, they're dating, but still, same goes when 7 does and any other female.

Aerobics routines like this were made dirty and cringy. This was what women wore then by and large. This is how the workout was done. We make it cringy."

My response to them:

"I respect your take, but I disagree on a few fronts.

The miniskirt was chosen by the TOS female cast, not the male cast, specifically requested by Grace LW and affirmed by Nichelle and Majel who would go on to vehemently defend the miniskirt over the years as comfortable and embraced by them.

Grace said it was comfortable and seen as a symbol of female sexual empowerment during the 60s and thought it would be a progressive garment (and turns out that it was, as it was later adapted and worn by male crew as a skant on TNG) -- FYI those were designed by a gay man and Gene approved them.

This was also supposed to be Spock's TMP outfit:

Literally lingerie.

We saw both Uhura (who saves Kirk in from Marlena Mirror Mirror) and Yeoman Landon (the first to initiate combat with a classic Kirk-esque kick to help the Captain being attacked in The Apple) carry out their combat training in their Starfleet uniforms without ever being made to change into any ridiculous workout gear.

In fact, I'd argue Jim Kirk was sexualized even more than the ladies of the week on the show and I saw his naked body more than anyone else's on a fairly regular basis.

Gene confessed that he asked to have Shatner filmed in suggestive/provocative ways to "give something to the ladies", so he -- as he said -- liked to "film him walking away" or have him conveniently busting out of his shirts in just about every episode as it were, because Shatner apparently had great assets. LOL

Gene made an effort to at least sexualize both if he was going to sexualize one, and he carried that attitude forward in wanting the m/m and f/f scenes in the background on Risa for TNG. He also insisted that the men and women wear skimpy outfits on THAT TNG planet. You know the one. LOL I mean the dudes even had on less than the women:

Gene also gave permission to K/S shippers to have their conventions back in the 70s when he was asked for permission. Gene and Nimoy felt with all the skimpy outfits they had the ladies wear, why not let the ladies and gay men have their fun, too? It's how we ended up with moments like this:

Yes, those are two people dressed up as Kirk and Spock's penises doing interpretive dance. Gene didn't give two damns. LOL

In my eyes, that was a very progressive take on Gene's part for the 60s. It was actually PARAMOUNT STUDIOS who had the big problem with K/S stories and vehemently tried to shut them down. Gene literally hired slash authors on his payroll and even had several slash stories/writers published in his official Star Trek books (The New Voyages & The New Voyages II).

I feel I saw Uhura and women in TOS engaged in more physical combat/altercations defending themselves that Troi or Bev were shown holding their own.

In fact, Kirk used to get furious when someone would "dress up" his female crew members without their consent (Trelane episode, Shore Leave episode) because like his male crew members, he wanted them to be treated professionally and to also have his male crew act professionally.

Berman brought some of his own personal biases into Star Trek that in some ways regressed it. While TOS had blatant sexism and was called on it time and again, that show was made in the 60s -- a solid 21 years before TNG. We as a modern audience understood why some of it was cringe/sexist due to the time period -- look at any other media coming out in the 60s and Star Trek was miles ahead of what other shows were doing.

Compare that to Berman who was churning sexist stuff out when women like Starbuck and Scully were simultaneously on screen on other programs airing, and we had already had Sigourney Weaver and other strong women in Holywood playing respectful roles.

In my eyes, there was no need of the sexism seen in TNG but especially VOY and ENT. There was no excuse for it when other shows were writing women far better and a number of those weren't even set in the future like Trek was, making it age even faster due to having those dated perspectives frequently highlighted.

In the Center Seat documentary as well as "The Fifty Year Mission" book you will find cast members, writers and other studio alumni who attest to this. Some discussions from "The Fifty Year Mission":

"First, Berman was supposed to have been a real sleaze ball . . . According to Terry Farrel, he would go on constantly about how her breasts weren't big enough, how she should do something about it, and how his secretary was a good example to follow as she had huge breasts. She even had to have fittings to get larger bras, and that was all done at his behest.

Later Berman and Braga developed a name for Jeri Ryan's character prior Seven of Nine. They originally called the character "perineum" which if you look it up it is the area between the anus and the scrotum. Later they floated the name "6 of 9". I mean, what does it tell you about where these two were coming from in the development of this character if they had names like that put forward in all seriousness for her?"

Gene Roddenberry also had some of his own more progressive ideas for TNG cut or watered down by Berman. Roddenberry agreed TNG should have homosexual relationships and representation at a con in the 80s and insisted on it in a meeting with his writers -- something Berman later would not honor. Gene wanted the AIDS episode, showing m/m and f/f in the Riza scenes -- these were some of Roddenberry's requests to include in TNG that Berman later stonewalled.

Berman's era was sadly dated by his own misogynist bias, IMO, to the point that it can somewhat hurt the shows he worked on through his cringe egoism and blatant disrespect toward his female cast.

There is a reason why Gene could keep female actresses working with him and Berman had a revolving door of women that he couldn't seem to keep working for him -- he was abhorrent to women, on and off set. Gene wasn't perfect at all, he had a lot of issues himself -- but Berman was a whole other level. Just look at what he did to poor Jolene Blalock, Marina Sirtis and his toxic commenting on her body weight which exacerbated her struggles with eating disorders, or how he treated and talked to Terry Farrell.

Anyway, just some food for thought. I'm not saying anyone is wrong regarding a take like that, but there are a variety of ways to look at this. Gene Roddenberry isn't a saint by any means, but it definitely bothers me how folks will tote the Berman era as if it were the lesser of two evils or the more progressive depiction of women when I felt there were far more concerning portrayals of women in his era with far less justification.

(P.S: I don't event want to go near the sheer amount of "creepy old dude/villain preys on innocent/naïve/scared young woman or little girl" stories there were in Berman's era, either. But that's a whole other can of worms I can write about in a part 2.)

[legalfundservices]

ARBITRATION AND TRADITIONAL LITIGATION: A COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION:

Commercial disputes frequently arise between parties indulging in business and at times can result in a protracted, difficult legal battle for both parties. But in the current fast-paced commercial world, time is as valuable as money. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedures, which have made it easier and more straightforward to settle disagreements between parties, are the answer to this problem. The use of arbitration as a primary ADR technique date back to the days of the village panchayat, when disagreements between individuals were arbitrated by the elders in accordance with the laws of natural justice.

Arbitration, to put it simply, is a way for parties to settle their differences outside of court. Typically, the most popular ADR techniques are negotiation, arbitration, mediation, and conciliation. ADR seeks to provide a quicker and easier manner of resolving disputes when the courts are understaffed and overloaded with cases.

ARBITRATION & TRADITIONAL LITIGATION: DEFINED

Arbitration is the resolution of a dispute outside of court by one or more (odd number) people chosen by both parties who serve as arbitrators. Arbitration is based on the consent of both the parties used with the cooperation of the parties to the dispute and as set forth in an arbitration agreement. The agreement must be in writing and state the parties' intent for the matter to be arbitrated, it can exist as clauses too in commercial contracts stipulating that parties will resort to arbitration in case a dispute arises whenever in future.

Legally, The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 states in Section 2(1)(a) that "Arbitration means any arbitration, whether or not administered by permanent arbitral institution." Alternative Dispute Resolution processes has many benefits, including cheaper costs, more procedural flexibility, higher confidentiality, a higher possibility of settlement, a choice of forum, a choice of options, etc. Arbitration is one of the most well-liked, commonly accepted, and utilized kinds of ADR.

On the contrary, Litigation is the process of taking an issue to court. A judge or jury hears the arguments from both sides and then makes a decision. Litigation is an ancient process too which involves determining issues through a Court. Due to the simplicity and expediency of dispute resolution compared to traditional litigation, ADR techniques like arbitration have gained popularity, and more and more businesses are choosing them over traditional litigation.

ARBITRATION AND TRADITIONAL LITIGATION: A COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS

Various benefits associated with arbitration are the guiding force for businesses to use arbitration as their primary dispute settlement mechanism:

Cost-effective: Going to court to resolve a dispute is a costly process. Arbitration is a considerably more economical method of resolving conflicts.

Speed: Another aspect of arbitration is speed. Generally, there are clear deadlines for passing awards, which leads to swift resolution of the situation. Arbitrators deal with fewer cases and lesser caseload.

Fairness: Arbitrators are typically chosen fairly because they are agreed upon by both parties to the agreement. No party shall have the sole discretion to select the arbitrator. Hence both the parties have an equal say.

Finality of Award: A further justification for choosing arbitration is the finality of an award. Awards made are final, therefore they put an end to disagreements between the parties.

Simple Procedure: As arbitration does not involve the courts, it is not subject to any applicable procedural laws. To hear arguments, take in evidence, and make decisions about awards, they are free to follow their own procedure.

Privacy: One of the main reasons to choose for arbitration is confidentiality. Arbitration hearings are private; hence, there is no record of the dispute kept for public use. As a result, any trade secrets or other sensitive business information is kept private between the parties.

 Specialization: Parties may select an arbitrator who is knowledgeable in the legal issue at hand, such as corporate law.

As there appears to be a global shift away from legislative control and towards deregulation in all spheres of life, there also appears to be a comparable shift away from relying on strict legal agreements to resolve business disputes and towards the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedures. Though litigation is often more formal and is associated with certain rules of decorum and formality but nonetheless, arbitration has emerged as the most opted procedure for business disputes that is most widely understood, particularly across international commercial marketplaces.

With an increasing global economic downturn and many other political, economic, cultural and social factors impacting the world, the use of arbitration for dispute settlement has become an increasing trend providing better quality decisions, with an increasing endeavor to make arbitration the future of dispute resolution not only at the domestic level but internationally too.

As a result, the present trend indicates that arbitration has been establishing itself as a leading and preferred way of conflict settlement in recent years. While "one size fits all" is not an answer to all disputes but it definitely is a successful alternative to time-consuming litigation.

For more information, please visit our website here: https://legalpay.in/

[malachi-walker]

What character(s) from other fandoms that you're a part of remind you the most of Catra? Personally, I don't think I've seen too many, aside from maybe Vegeta from DBZ and maybe Jason Todd from DC comics but that's about it for me

Ok, anon, thanks for your patience. Let's go.

Firstly, I have two ladies that do give me a similar vibe to Catra (though they aren't 100% matches as you'll see.) And I want you to take particular note of that: it's very telling that the characters you mentioned are both dudes. This is something I have been thinking about for literally decades because it is a deeply entrenched stereotype in our culture: male abuse victims are angry, frustrated loners who lash out until they find that one (girl) person that gets through their facade, female abuse victims are portrayed as either anxious messes (more common in recent years) or as just... These smiling caricatures who continue to pretend to be happy because that's what our societies expect women to be. And this is something I took note of at a very early age, because as someone growing up with an abusive birth father I looked to the MALE characters as a guide book on how to act, because getting angry and lashing out was what made sense to me at the time and I resented the hell out of that unspoken implication that I was supposed to just suck it up and plaster on a smile when I wanted to rage against the injustice of what I was dealing with. In hindsight it wasn't great behavior, but it was what I needed to keep myself sane at the time. I'm not even exaggerating when I say I have waited my whole life for a character like Catra: someone who is reflective of my experiences as an ex-abuse victim, someone who is angry and wrathful and still allowed to be sympathetic. Now on to our two ladies.

First up: Vriska Serket from Homestuck. (I know, Homestuck is a huge fandom with a lot of assholes, but I do still enjoy the original comic. I just don't interact with the fandom.) Vriska and Catra both have similar vibes in the way they project their outward personas of being the badass bitch who takes no shit and is on top of things, but we all know that's a lie. And they both come from abusive backgrounds: Vriska was forced to become a killer at a very young age because her parental guardian (a literal giant spider) would eat her if Vriska didn't feed her other kids. Doesn't excuse her jerkass tendencies or her terrible actions, but that was how she started out. And Catra's deal with SW needs no explanation.

They both have developed very similar gadfly tendencies in order to maintain a sense of control around other people (though Vriska is a lot more mean spirited about it) and both have moments when the facade cracks and they show actual sincerity and frustration at themselves and other people. The main difference between them is that Vriska's actions are driven by a sense of grandiose self-importance that she has cultivated and fed into as a way to avoid looking at her own actions (because she's the best, so everything she does is awesome, right?) whereas Catra's primary driving motivation is pain: either making sure she doesn't have to hurt anymore or hurting those who hurt her. Plus Catra grapples with her sense of guilt a lot throughout Spop and maintains those sympathetic undertones while Vriska's moments of clarity are so rare that you basically have to keep a chart to locate them. But you could totally picture them both teaming up to make fun of their respective frenemies, assuming they didn't kill each other first for reminding themselves of their deep underlying self-loathing.

Second candidate: Anthy Himemiya from Revolutionary Girl Utena. And boy howdy, if anyone is interested in this show and wants to avoid spoilers, skip to the end now, because we're going on a deep and dark journey here.

At first glance, she and Catra don't have much in common. In fact, she seems to fit the stereotype I described above: the placid smiling doll who takes the abuse and keeps going. Key word: seems to. Anyone who actually watches the show knows exactly where I'm going here.

We're introduced to Anthy as the "Rose Bride": the prize in a series of sword fights between students at a very strange school, with the ultimate promise being that whoever owns the Rose Bride at the end of the duels will gain some nebulous ultimate power. And yeah, I said "own" for a reason: whoever possesses the Rose Bride effectively owns her and some of the most uncomfortable scenes in the show reinforce the fact that Anthy tailors her thoughts and actions to whoever currently controls her. And as you can expect, this leads to BUCKETS of abuse. Literally everyone in this show is culpable in some manner for this, no matter how well intentioned.

But remember that "seems to?" Because that's only one side of Anthy; the outward persona if you will. On the other side of the coin you have Anthy the Witch, and that's where the parallels with Catra come into play and why Anthy was my go-to abuse representation before Spop rocked my world. Because the big twist we find out at the end of the series is that Anthy and her older brother Akio (formerly Dios) are the former literal personifications of the fairytale damsel in distress princess and the noble prince on a white horse, respectively.

But the balance was upset: having to constantly go around saving people was literally killing Dios, because one of the major points of RGU is that you can assist people in saving themselves but doing it yourself strips them of agency and traps them in a cycle of needing to be saved again and again. The more people the noble prince saved, the more people needed saving. When it became clear that he couldn't keep going, Anthy took a stand and prevented the people coming for Dios (angry that he wasn't saving them anymore) from getting to him, and thus incurred the wrath of everyone and got skewered alive by an angry mob in the process. This isn't hyperbole: the role of the Rose Bride is to instinctively bring out the disdain and hatred of everyone on the planet. It's a punishment for stepping out of line, for not being the placid princess who needs to be rescued anymore.

Because we're operating on fairy tale logic, no longer being a princess means that Anthy became a witch, and no longer being the prince made Dios into satanic archetype Akio. So behind the scenes of the entire show, Anthy is the witch assisting her brother in orchestrating the duels, and their ultimate goal is to find someone pure of heart enough to embody those princely virtues Dios once possessed and to steal that power so Akio can return to being who he once was. All of the psychological torments and head games are designed to weed out the potential candidates to find that special someone... Except it's an impossible goal because no human being can live up to that standard. And with each atrocity they commit it becomes even more impossible to return to being that person.

Ok, tangent done, here's where it gets interesting: Anthy is a character with two sides to her, the suffering Rose Bride fated to endure the hatred of the entire world and the Wicked Witch who manipulates and orchestrates the torment of those around her. But here's the deal: she's a victim too. She's a victim of a system that won't let her be anything other than these two binaries; she's a victim of her brother who has all the power over her and has trapped her in a codependent incestuous relationship, and I don't care how awful the things she's done are: nobody deserves to go through the shit she does. So with all of that in mind, the actions that she goes through as the witch make perfect sense. Why shouldn't she torment these people who do nothing but abuse her and deny her of agency? Even the best hearted of the duellists (aka the ones who don't hit her or abuse her sexually) nonetheless fall into the trap of projecting their own biases and expectations onto her, biases that her role dictates she carry out. Her actions as the witch aren't right, but nothing about this situation is. That's the entire point.

And that's where she ties into being like Catra. Catra does some truly fucked up things, but it doesn't cancel out the fact that she's an abuse victim that has been literally tortured for most of her life for no good reason and has received zero acknowledgement of that abuse in universe. And much like Anthy, she can't begin to heal until the situation is acknowledged, because that's literally step one of breaking the cycle: confirming that this is not okay and that no one deserves the shit she's been through. Just knowing that herself isn't enough: it's acknowledgement from others that enables that process to begin, because no one can recover from abuse in a vacuum. You need outside people to be touchstones, because so much of recovering from abuse is confronting the way it warps your perception and thought processes. You need at the minimum one normal perspective to give you that, preferably more, but one minimum.

Hurting the people who care about her is definitely not okay and I'm not excusing her actions in that category, but it doesn't change the fact that she is justified in wanting to rage and lash out, because she is still trapped in that cycle. She can't heal or let go because the process hasn't even been started. She's not off the hook for the things she's done, but neither should she be automatically condemned without taking those factors into account (which is the entire reason why the distinction between an excuse and a justification exists.)

And if I can be a little pithy... The other similarity between Catra and Anthy is I can guarantee that in twenty years people will STILL be arguing over whether or not Catra "deserved" to be freed from her abusive situation.

Good God this turned into an essay. Hope this makes up for how long it took, anon. And anyone else who makes it this far, treat yourself. You earned it.