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lesbiankoby · 2 years ago

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I’ve kinda been thinking about this recently: what do you think obito thinks of Konoha as an institution?

I ask this because I’ve been reading some time travel fix it fanfics and, while I don’t think it’s necessarily ooc of him to return to konoha after the talk-no-jutsu in the fourth war (even as much as I would like for him to not go back) I do think that maybe with his understanding of how hidden villages work (shadow mizukage) and experiences with having control over his life and actions (not ignoring the slave seal, just it seems like the moon-eye plan worked at his pace not, say, zetsus. And by control over life and actions I mean his ability to act as an independent operator and decide where he was going to go what he was going to do etc. without the orders of a chain of command which definitely exist in konoha (at least we don’t really know how the other villages, like kiri, are run)) he might not be able to go back to konoha more rigid/controlled life - or at least not comfortably.

I don’t know how coherent that is but hope if nothing else it is interesting :)

oh obito is incredibly jaded about and detests the nations-wide institution of shinobi, konoha included, that's canon lol. to him it's a system that does little but churn out garbage-- him and kakashi both. though he's also incredibly fatalist about uh The World In General and not just shinobi... post talk-no-jutsu he does regain his like general faith in humanity though yeah. his parting words were essentially a desire for kakashi and naruto to take charge of konoha and change the system in his place, at least that's how i read his desire to see kakashi take up his old dream as hokage...? its complicated bc a lot of shit happened at once and also he was dying but i think he has faith that at least the people he believes in can improve the world they live in...? the antithesis of his previous wish to completely destroy the current world.

granted, i need to reread fourth war arc and take notes or something, the nuances of obitos Thing right there are probably escaping me rn.

(also, like, the slave seal was a deterrent obito wasn't even supposed to know about, so while in TRUTH he never had any other choice except walking the path of madara in practical reality he was directing his own movements and doing his mastermind shit without input from anyone else except himself, really, so yeah he's used to uhm a degree of independence lol. zetsu doesn't seem to care unless he went off the rails which he didn't.)

ANYWAY. ANYWAY. if we are to take "time travel fix it" into account, like, the peggy sue "wake up in own body from the past" it really depends on where in the timeline he landed...? i don't think he'd be fucking pleased to be taking orders from konoha again regardless (though of course hes aware theres a lot of things he needs to make amends for personally and even deeper down he wishes he'd never "left" for a plethora of reasons) but if hes in his twenties again or whatever imo he is absolutely not going back there and will probably start Conniving(tm) outside of konoha's borders to benefit his friends in the capacity hes capable of and clean up his own messes and if he's like, twelve years old again (nightmare) i can... hmm, see him sticking around, unless he really gets pushed over the edge abt smth, maybe? its hmmm i don't think he actually hates minato but i fail to see much evidence he'd feel comfortable ever properly trusting the guy for the ways minato betrayed his trust and the way obito betrayed his. idk... obito has priorities (his friends) and he's a scheming schemer who schemes so hed wriggle into the position that best let him do what he wants. i think. take that as you will.

but yeah! obitos interesting to think about i really need to go back and actually take notes.

#probably torn between the parts of himself where he's no longer willing to compromise on his ideals and the #schemey pragmatist he became over the years maybe...?#hmmmm #SORRY PEGGY SUE SCENERIOS ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS

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wamiandayne · 1 year ago

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no because like. warning this is so long keeping most of it under the cut for all of our sakes anne rice would be shocked

becoming a priest was lestat's [first] escape. it is where he finally got the (positive) attention his mother (and father, and brothers) denied from him. its where he was taught to read and told for the first time that he was good. thats unbelievably powerful.

he had no power at home. he was the seventh son, the third living one. they were penniless and unloving and neglectful. lestat knew from a young age that he had no use, no meaning, no love. but then he goes somewhere that not only pays attention to him, tells him that he is worthwhile and actually nurtures him. the idea that someone (even god) loves him unconditionally just because he exists is like. thats outrageous. thats unheard of. not even his own mother loves him like that, if, to his 12 year old brain, at all.

this is even more delicious because [in canon] lestat never really believed in god; not even when he was at the monastery. lestat in general has a really complicated devastating relationship with god. just like extrapolating but i think he was kind of catholic but i dont think gabrielle or the marquis ever fostered that kind of relationship w god in any of their children, let alone lestat. to lestat god is a sort of ambigious Thing. a Concept with Weight and Eyes and Power. he believes in god, because how can you not, but it isnt really. Real. not to mention hes like. 10. But in the monastery hes taught love n especiallt Love Through God. after he loses that connection in the monastery to his. idk. support system where he had learned to connect religion with love and recognition in show he talks about returning to his family and having that religion beaten and starved out of him, and of course being utterly demolished by the fact that god doesnt save him. the dissonance lestat has with religion makes up a lot of his character in religion, like it does in anne rice's life and the overall complexity that comes w being a christian[-adjacent] when it comes to experiencing any sort of trauma. I am rambling. Where was i. So if we dont remove lestat from this environment. If the marquis simply forgot him and left him to rot in the hands of the church, lestat learns like. Godliness. Priestly-ness. Idk shit abt catholicism or 18th century monasteries bear with me. Lestat at heart is begging for attention. For Love. For Anything. all attention is good attention for him.

i think that even if he wasnt removed from this place, he wouldnt suddenly believe fully and truly in god. or at least in religion. i think he would try. i think he would devote himself fully and try, so, so hard to be what he is told god wants him to be, but theres just some kind of fundamental disconnect between him and the sort of all-consuming, totally unshakeable faith he Should have in The Bible. in God. The Whole Thing. his relationship with religion is so complex and nuanced that the 1700s wouldnt even be able to handle it. but lestat is still a performer at heart, even if he never ran off to join a troupe of actors in this . well. thought experiement. so he plays the part of the most loving beautiful sheep in the world. jesus himself would be in awe of lestats devotion. but in his heart, lestat knows its fake. so thats just like, a new level of religious . well. trauma i suppose. for him.

especially as hes wrestling with some latent homosexual tendencies i think he still meets nicki and they kiss and stuff n lestat accidentally ruins nickis life cause they get caught but no one would ever, ever think Lestat de Lioncourt would be up to Such Horrid Depravity so nicki like runs off to paris in shame (surprise tool that will help us later) and then i think there is some sort of stand in for magnus with a shitty predatorial priest or bishop or some shit and the metaphor of lestats turning is less metaphorical than we would all personally like it to be etc i could go on for a While but like. Later.

the picture we need 2 have of lestat is thus: a Surprisingly young priest, outwardly charming and disarming. he's humble; subservient, the way priests should be. (im presuming. subservient to god snd community. idk. ive never met a priest.) altogether not very intelligent or worldly, but with a fondness for those who can play the violin and an encyclopedic knowledge of scripture. much beloved and easily reduced to tears. a perfect shepherd for gods children.

internally though. a tormented young man, convinced there is something wrong with him and that if hell were real theres a cage with his name on it. someone who feels... abandoned, and misunderstood, and fake. someone with no control over his life and no one to turn to.

In walks the Louis of it all.

believe it or not there are still vampires. idk if i like it more that louis is on his european soul search... post-claudia? (who i cannot decide the place of in this au. i like a grown up claudia, a sister for louis and abandoned fledgling of their maker who has recently decided to hate and abandon him. or maybe shes dead, post killing their maker. or maybe shes still not yet born, and louis baby traps lestat in this one. (which would be insane btw. claudia awakening maternal instincts in lestat he didnt know existed, given how gabrielle treated him. louis turning lestats words on him- youre like a mother. youre like your mother.) Honestly i think lestat still baby traps louis. I talk like this is a story that will exist and not just a thought experiment for me and my best friend ben) or maybe lestat is sent overseas to new orleans or maybe louis has all that fucked up history with armand (who is in paris at this time) and hes just trying to escape for a minute in fuckin. auvergne. Idk. idc. louis and lestat meet and it is like a fucking car crash.

louis is, of course, catholic and tormented. louis stumbles into the church at 1 am when lestat is supposed to be cleaning or asleep but is jnstead staring at the moon smoking a cigarette or something or maybe lestat is praying and grappling with his own faith and is enraptured with this beautiful, bizarre, man who is asking for confession when lestat isnt even frocked (this is funny wording just take it) and then they get there and louis is like. bless me father for i have sinned. forgive me father because i am going to sin again. i have killed. i will kill again. quite possibly this beautiful young priest who frankly smells delicious and will haunt my every waking dream for months.

jokes. louis doesnt come on that strong. he just says hes done something terrible and he will do it again, and lestat is fascinated. the worst sins people ever want to confess to are- what? coveting thy neighbors wife? nothing awful. nothing so horrible as to not explain. nothing so delicious as this.

so obviously lestat falls in love instantly and wishes to forgive louis everything if only so they can have some wild passionate love affair or skmething. lestat wants to either dissect him or be dissected, frankly.

but louis Hates that shit. he wants torment. he wants shock and horror. he wants fear and to be feared and to have someone else hate him just as much as he hates himself. sadly! no lestat could ever hate a louis, especially not one so... repressed. shenanigans ensue. lestat begs to be turned. lestat is both claudia and madeline . lestat is daniel . lestat wants to be free. louis does not want to be responsible. etc.

theres more. theres so much more. i just cant get into it here. its too long

i know that he got pulled out of priest school at age 12 but like. what if lestat had been a priest. what if louis was a tormented vampire looking for compassion and a release from sin. what if..... no. i shant say

#vins variety hour #lestat de lioncourt #the vampire chronicles #meta

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adorpheus · 4 years ago

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on fujoshi and fetishization

Lately, more and more, both here on tumblr and on other sites, I keep seeing people spew unfiltered hatred at fujoshi - that is, women who like mlm content such as gay fanfic and fanart featuring men with other men. And I don’t mean like a specific type of fujoshi, like the ones who are genuinely being weird about it, but just like a general hatred for girls (but especially straight identifying girls) who express love for gay romance.

I hate to break this to you all, but women (including straight women!) actually are allowed to like mlm fanfiction and fanart, even enthusiastically so. A woman simply expressing her love of gay fanfic, even if it is in kind of a cringey way or a way that you personally don’t like, is NOT automatically fetishization.

I’ve been on the receiving end of fetishization for my entire life, from a very young age, as many black and brown folx have, so I consider myself pretty well acquainted with how it works. Fetishization isn’t just like, being really into drawings of boys kissing, or whatever the fuck y’all are trying to imply on this god forsaken site.

Fetishization is complicated imo, and can encompass a lot of things, such as (but not limited to):

1 - dehumanization, e.g. viewing a group of people as sexual objects who exist purely for entertainment purposes, rather than acknowledging them as actual people who deserve respect and rights

and

2 - projecting certain assumptions onto said people based on their race/sexuality/whatever is being fetishized. These assumptions are often, but not always, sexual in nature (like the idea that black people in general are more sexual than other races, etc etc etc).

I’m going to use myself as an example to illustrate my point. Please note this isn’t the best or most nuanced example, but it is the most simplistic. A white person finding me attractive and respectfully appreciating my black features as part of what makes me beautiful is not, on its own, fetishization. A white person finding me attractive solely or mostly because I’m a PoC is now in fetishization territory. Similarly, assuming I’m dominant because of my blackness (like saying “step on me mommy” and shit like that) is hella fetishistic.

That being said, theres definitely a difference between how fetishization works in real life with real people, and how it shows up in fandom.

Fetishization manifests in many different ways in fandom, but most commonly on the mlm side of things, I personally see it appear as conservative (or centrist) women who love the idea of two men together, but don’t actually like gay people, and don’t necessarily think LGBT+ people deserve rights (or “special treatment” as its sometimes dog whistled). These women view queer men as sexual objects for entertainment rather than an actual group of people who deserve to be protected from systemic oppression. I’ve noticed that they often don’t even think of the men they “ship” together as actually being gay, and may even express disgust at the idea of a character in an mlm ship being headcanon’d gay. In case its not obvious, this is pretty much exactly the same way a lot of cishet men fetishize lesbians (they see “lesbian” as a porn category, rather than like, what actual LGBT people think of when we read the word lesbian). There’s a pretty popular viral tweet thread going around where someone explains seeing this trend of conservative women who like mlm stuff, and I have also personally witnessed this phenomenon myself in more than one fandom.

The funny thing is, maybe its just me buuuut.... The place I see this particular kind of fetishization happen most is not in the anime/BL fandom, from which the term fujoshi originates - I actually see these type of women way way more in western fandom spaces like Supernatural, Harry Potter, and Hannibal. I can’t stress this enough, there’s a shocking amount of people who are like, straight up trump supporters in these fandoms. If you want to experience it, try joining a Hannigram or Destiel group on facebook and you will probably encounter one eventually especially if you happen to be living through a major historical event. Like these women probably wouldn’t even be considered “fujoshi”, because that term doesn’t really apply to them given they aren’t in the BL/anime fandom, yet they’re the ones I personally see actually doing the most harm.

Of course this isn’t the ONLY kind of fetishizing woman in the mlm/BL world, there are other ways fetishization shows up, but this is the most toxic kind that I see.

A girl just being really into BL or whatever may be “cringe” to you, or she may be expressing her love for BL in a “cringey” way, but a straight woman really enjoying BL is not, on its own, somehow inherently fetishization. Yes, sometimes teenage girls act kind of cringe about how much they like BL and that might be annoying to you, but its not necessarily ~problematic~.

That being said, IT NEEDS BE REMARKED that a lot of the “fujoshi” that you all hate so deeply, are actually closeted trans men or nonbinary people who haven’t yet come to terms with their gender identity, or are otherwise just NOT cishet. I know because I was one of these closeted people for years, and I honestly think tumblr and the cultural obsession around purity is one of the many reasons I was closeted so deeply for so long. STORYTIME LOL!!! In my early adolescence, I was a sort of proto “fujoshi”. I identified as a bi girl who was mostly attracted to men, or as most (biphobic) people called it, “practically straight”. I wrote and read “slash” fanfic and looked at as well as drew my own fanart. We didn’t use the term fujoshi back then, but that’s definitely how I could have been described. I was obsessed with yaoi, BL, whatever you want to call it, to a cringe-inducing degree. I really struggled to relate to most het romances, so when I first discovered yaoi fanfics (as we called them at the time), I fell in love and felt like I finally found the type of romance content that was made for me. I didn’t know exactly why, I just knew it hit different. LGBT+ fanart and fanfiction brought me an immense amount of joy, and I didn’t really think too hard about why.

At some point, in my early 20s, after reading lots of discourse™ here on tumblr and other places like twitter, I started to get the sinking feeling that my passion for gay fanfiction was ~problematic~. I had always felt a sense of guilt for being into mlm content, because literally anyone who found out I liked BL (especially the men I dated) shamed me for liking it all the fucking time (which btw is literally just homophobic, like can we talk about that?). In addition to THAT bullshit, now I’m seeing posts telling me that girls who like BL are cringey gross fetishists who inspire rage and should go die?

Let me tell you, I internalized the fuck out of messages like this. I desperately wanted to avoid being ~problematic~. At the time, I thought being problematic was like the worst thing you could be. I was terrified of being “cancelled”, before canceling was even really a thing. I thought to myself, “oh my god, I’m gross for liking this stuff? I should stop.” I beat myself up over this. I wanted so badly to be accepted, and to be deemed a Good Person by the internet and society at large.

I tried to shape up and become a good ally (lmfao). I stopped writing fanfic and deleted all the ones I was working on at the time. I made a concerted effort to assimilate into cishet culture, including trying to indulge myself more deeply in the few fandoms I could find that had het content I did enjoy (Buffy, True Blood, Pretty Little Liars, etc). I would occasionally look at BL/fanfic/etc in private, but then I would repress my interest in it and not look for a while. Instead I would look at women in straight relationships, and create extremely heterosexual Couple Goals pinterest boards, and try to figure out how I could become more like these women, so I, too, could be loved someday.

This cycle of repression lasted like eight years. Throughout it all, I was performing womanhood to the best of my ability and trying to become a woman that was worthy of being in a relationship. I went in and out of several “straight” relationships, wondering why they didn’t make me feel the way reading fanfic did. Most of all, I couldn’t figure out why straight intimacy didn’t work for me. I just didn’t enjoy it. I always preferred looking at or making gay fanfiction/fanart over actual intimacy with men in real life.

Eventually, I stumbled upon a trans coming out video that someone I was following posted online, my egg started to crack, and to make an extremely long story short, after like 3 years of introspection and many gender panic attacks that I still experience to this day, I realized that I’m uh... MAYBE... NOT CIS..!? :|

I truly believe if I had just been ALLOWED TO LIKE GAY STUFF WITHOUT BEING SHAMED FOR IT, I probably would have realized I was trans way way sooner. Because for me, indulging in my love of gay romance and writing gay fanfic wasn’t me being a weirdo fetishist, it was actually me exploring my own gender identity. It is what helped me come to terms with being a nonbinary trans boy.

Not everyone realizes they are trans at age 2 or whatever the fuck. Sometimes you have to go through a cringey fujoshi phase and multiple existential crises to realize how fucking gay you are AND THATS FINE.

And one more thing - can we just be real here?

A lot of anti-fujoshi sentiment is literally just misogyny. omg please realize this. Its “women aren’t allowed to enjoy things” but, like... with gay fanfics. Some of the anti-fujoshi posts I see come across my dash are clearly ppl projecting a caricature they invented in their head of a demonic fujoshi fetishist onto any woman who expresses what they consider to be a little too much enthusiasm for gay content and then using their perception of that individual as an excuse to justify their disdain for any women, especially straight women, ‘invading’ their ~oh so exclusive~ queer fandom spaces.

god get over yrselfs this is gatekeeping by another name

idk why i spent so long writing this no one is even going to read it, does anyone even still use this site

*EDIT: HOLY SHIT WHEN DOING RESEARCH FOR THIS POST I FOUND OUT THAT Y-GALLERY IS BACK OMG!!!

#rant #fujoshi #I SAID WHAT I SAID #personal #gender stuff

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curly-q-reviews · 6 years ago

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ROAD TO THE OSCAR MAYER WIENER AWARDS 2K19

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, 2018 (dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)

Nominated for: Best Original Song, Best Costume Design, Best Adapted Screenplay

SPOILER ALERT THAR BE SPOILERS AHEAD ME HEARTIES BE YE WARNED

wowee what a cool film!! i went into this not knowing much about it except it was directed by the Coen brothers (directors of Fargo and The Big Lebowski) which set real high expectations for me. these guys are real masters of storytelling and what immediately come to mind when i think of movies that know how to effectively use dark humor. i also love the kinds of stories they tell in general, how they take subjects and settings that seem kinda mundane and just give them this little extra spark.

so is this newest film just as good as their other work??? well id say yeah for sure!!! it reminds me a lot of a film they did shortly after The Big Lebowski called O Brother, Where Art Thou?, because theyre both period pieces AND because they both feature a myriad of eclectic and interesting characters. the one thing that makes The Ballad of Buster Scruggs really stand out from their other films however is the fact that this is actually an anthology made up of six different stories, all set during the same time period in The Wild West. its also worth mentioning that this movie was made to premiere on Netflix, which is something ive started to see more and more as the streaming platform becomes the new go-to source of media content. its very exciting to see such prolific directors go the Netflix route and have great success with it, because it means that the platform really is capable of creating high-quality movies and TV shows and working with big-name talent. im sure the big hollywood production companies are all quaking in their lil booties cause this means big BIG changes are on the horizon

ok so ive reviewed anthology series before, notably Black Mirror, and with those reviews i ranked the short stories in order of least to most favorite. so i guess in this case ill do the same, although its hard to really rank these cause i truly enjoyed all of them in different ways. there was one however that didnt really tickle my fancy much, which was “Near Algodones”. this one stars james franco as a bank robber who seems to have met his match in a fiery (probably crazy) bank teller. he gets caught and hung from a tree by the town’s sheriff, but nearly manages to escape death when a Native American tribe swoops in and kills the sheriff and his crew. james franco is saved by a cattle driver, only to be caught again by the next town’s sheriff for allegedly trying to hawk the cattle (which was not the case at all). right before they kick the chair out from under him at the hanging, he sees a beautiful woman in blue, who at first smiles at him but then looks unnerved as he stares back at her.

i think with this one the ending really didnt do much for me, i kinda didnt get it. i did understand the whole irony behind surviving punishment for a crime he DID commit but getting hanged for a crime he never committed, and the bank teller was pretty hilarious, but everything else about the segment was just ok. james franco didnt really blow me away (he never really does but thats besides the point), the rest of the performances were fine, and the story just kinda zipped on through. maybe ill give this one another watch to see if the ending makes any more sense to me, or if theres any sense to be made from it at all

next up for me would be “The Gal Who Got Rattled”, and this segment i have mixed feelings over. its about this brother and sister who set out on the Oregon trail so that the brother can get his sister to marry his business partner in Oregon. the sister seems like a kind of wishy-washy, subdued character who just kinda goes along with whatever her brother says without giving much of her own opinion. i gotta give credit to zoe kazan (who starred in The Big Sick) cause she does a great job with this character, totally spot-on performance. ok so turns out the brother is a fucken HORRIBLE businessman who screws up all his business deals all the time, and he tragically dies like two days into being on the oregon trail. he has this annoying-ass dog that barks all the time and everyone else on the caravan is sick of it, so when the brother dies the sister just lets one of the trail leaders put it down. turns out the sister like did not like her brother at all but was always too afraid to say anything. now getting back to the bad businessman thing, apparently he had promised the helper boy that is helping move their covered wagon a large sum of money, half of it halfway through the journey and the rest when they get to oregon. problem is, the sister doesnt have the money, so it was either left in the brothers pocket when he was buried or there wasnt actually any money at all and he lied, y’know, like a bad businessman does. the trail leader who put the annoying dog down offers to help her, and the two start to get close. so now its like a pseudo love story thing. except it ends pretty tragically (the sister dies its a long story and pretty ironic just watch it if u wanna know)

so uuuhhhhh this one was long as shit, like a lot longer than the other segments when it didnt really need to be??? like it just kept going and going, and again the ending didnt really make up for how long it was. i really liked zoe kazan in this, but otherwise nothing to write home about.

number four on my list would have to go to “All Gold Canyon”, which basically just follows the story of a gold miner in the mountains trying to get that money honey. this segment is the simplest one out of the bunch, but i gotta say its absolutely gorgeous. what beautiful scenery and cinematography. it provides a nice contrast to our disheveled, run-down gold miner who is just tearing up the beautiful grassy fields trying to get to this gold. there seems to be a theme in this one of man’s relationship to nature, and how the gold miner does put in effort to respect it but still takes advantage of it for his own benefit. and i guess theres a broader theme of greed, or the ruthless and endless pursuit of wealth which can drive people to do crazy and desperate things. i definitely really enjoyed this one, especially the gold miner character played by tom waits. but otherwise it didnt stand out as much to me as the other segments im gonna talk about

SPEAKING OF WHICH heres number three!! “The Mortal Remains” is right up my alley, and has some more mythical elements to it than the other segments ive talked about so far. so we have a wagon full of passengers all going to this hotel for various reasons, and its a really diverse cast of characters: we have the older wife of a prolific religious lecturer, a rich Frenchman, a trapper, a foppish Englishman, and a cheery laid-back Irishman, the last two seeming to be companions of some sort. they all get on the topic of the true nature of mankind, and the three characters opposite of the strange pair all have something different to say. the trapper believes that all people are inherently the same, with the same basic needs. the older woman disagrees and insists that there are two kinds of people, upright and sinning. and then the Frenchman says that both of them are wrong, that human existence is much more complicated and nuanced than that; no one persons life is exactly the same as another’s. and then we have the Englishman and the Irishman, who turn out to be bounty hunters of some sort (is heavily alluded that they are grim reaper-type figures). they explain their method of completing their kills, and talk about how they enjoy watching their victims “try to make sense of it all” in their death throes. these two clearly have a much more cold and sinister idea of the nature of mankind, and the rest become very unsettled all the way to the hotel. no one else even dares to step out of the carriage while the bounty hunters drag their latest victim through the front entrance and up the stairs.

oh man this segment was great! i think the reason its third on my list is cause i really wish there was more to it, like if the Coen brothers spent more time on this one instead of “The Gal Who Got Rattled” it would be perfect. Jonjo O’Neill and Brendan Gleeson as the bounty hunters were so enthralling, and i loved watching them play off of each other. hell, i couldve had a whole movie featuring those two. and the screenwriting really shines in this segment too. this segment almost feels like a fable or something, which is really fitting for the time period. makes me wonder if they had based it off of an actual fable. but anyway yeah this ones awesome!

i had a hard time choosing between “The Mortal Remains” and this next segment for second place cause i liked them both equally, but in the end “Meal Ticket” gets #2 purely because of the utterly fantastic performance by Harry Melling, who plays a quadriplegic actor in a traveling show run by liam neesons character, an irish traveling entertainer. the story itself is really simple, we just see this disabled actor be carted from one town to the next, doing the same stage show which is basically just him reciting famous prose throughout the ages. meanwhile liam neeson is trying to get as much money as he can out of the audience members. he doesnt interact much with harry melling outside of feeding him and helping him piss and get dressed. u get the sense that he doesnt really see his disabled actor as an actual person, but more of an entertaining object or a pet. and this becomes even more apparent when the irishman gets some competition from another traveling entertainer who has a chicken that can do math. he sees this chicken getting more money than him, so he buys it off of the other guy and takes it with him. and finally, the poor limbless actor is literally and figuratively tossed aside for the next best thing.

man oh man what a great segment! harry melling blew me away with his performance, the fact that he was able to get such a nuanced range of emotion out of the few lines he was given (basically he had to recite the same shit over and over again) was so impressive to me. and his non-verbal communication was really solid too. liam neeson did really well in his role too. and again the story itself is really great, simple but effective and really gets the point across without having to beat the audience over the head with its message. OH YEAH ITS REAL GOOD LOVE IT

and finally we have my #1 pick, which i think the directors knew this was the best one out of the bunch too cause its the first segment as well as the title of the whole movie. “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” has that signature Coen brothers wit and dark humor that i love, it plays off of typical Western movie tropes and is very tongue-in-cheek and i ate that shit up. tim blake nelson as the titular buster is just so fucken perfect for this role, he really shines in this and its kind of a shame that its one of the shorter segments cause it really is the best one and he knocks it out of the park. we got some great music in this segment too, which is where that Best Original Song nom comes in. this one also has some strong fable-y vibes to it, like this story could be amongst the likes of American folklore like Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed. i wont get much into the plot of this one but i highly recommend watching it, even if you dont wanna see the rest of the segments.

the segments fit together pretty well overall, although the tone of each of them differs slightly the fact that the setting and time period are the same is enough to firmly knit all these stories together. its a really unique idea for a movie, and is so far the best attempt at an anthology movie that ive ever seen purely because the stories really all make sense together and play off of each other well. in other anthology movies ive seen like The ABC’s of Death the segments usually dont have much at all to do with each other, except that they all fall in the same genre. so overall id say give this a watch, especially if ur a Coen brothers fan, cause theres some real good stuff in here.

well thats all i got for now cowboys!! i watched Roma the other day and CRIED REAL HARD so get ready for me to kiss that movies ass in a review that should be done in the next few days. until then go uuhhhhhh lasso a cow or something. chew some tobaccy. fondle a barmaids titties. die of dysentery. y’know just old west things~

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arplis · 5 years ago

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Arplis - News: Bugging Out What it Means, How to Plan for It, and When to Leave

Bugging Out

Bugging out is a common term among preppers and people in the preparedness community. On its face, its a simple concept, leave you home when theres a disaster or emergency, but its much more complicated than that.

What does bugging out mean? Bugging out is when someone leaves their home because of an impending emergency or emergency that is already happening. It gets its name from the scattering of bugs when you turn on the light or try to step on them and they scatter in all directions.

If youre interested in bugging out then you should keep reading. Theres a lot of nuance involved in bugging out intelligently and effectively.

Table of Contents

Bugging Out

What Is Bugging Out

Why is it called bugging out?

Why would you bug out?

What do you need to bug out?

Bug Out Bags

Urban Bug Out Bags

Rural Bug Out Bags

Common Bug Out Bag Questions

Do I need a bug out bag?

How long should a bug out bag last?

What should be in your bug out bag?

How heavy should a bug out bag be?

Bug Out Locations

What to Look for in a Bug Out Location

Getting to Your Bug Out Location

Bug Out Vehicles

Bug Out Trailers

Roof Racks

Bikes

Weapons While Bugging Out

Types of Weapons for Bugging Out

Other Things to Consider When Bugging Out With Weapons

Bug Out Plan

Before You Need to Bug Out

The Last-Minute/No Notice Bug Out

Bugging Out With a Few Hours Notice

Bugging Out With a Couple of Days or More to Prepare

Conclusion

What Is Bugging Out

Bugging out is when you pack up your family, load as many supplies as you can into your vehicles and leave your home. Its not an ideal situation, but when you bug out it should be the lesser of two evils.

Im probably going to end up saying this a lot, bugging out should be a last resort! Dont live somewhere where youre going to need to bug out as soon any kind of problem happens. You home should be a safe place that can keep you and your family safe in all but the most dangerous situations.

Why is it called bugging out?

The term bugging out is believed to come from the Korean War during several instances of massive retreats that occurred during the war. It probably came from the 1930s commercials that showed bugs fleeing in front of a giant foot thats about to crush them or in reference to the way bugs scatter when theyre found.

Its a creative piece of slang that means retreat or relocate to a place thats safe, or less dangerous.

Why would you bug out?

The exact reason that someone would bug out is going to be different for everyone. Some people are going to plan to bug out as soon as theres any threat of social unrest in the area and others arent even going to consider it until its simply too late. You should aim for somewhere in the middle.

Examples of events that may cause you to bug out:

Pandemic

Financial Collapse

Civil Unrest

Natural Disasters

Foreign Military Occupation

Martial Law

Any event that would make living in your home or apartment unsustainable is a reason to bug out.

What do you need to bug out?

In order to bug out, you should have a packed bug out bag for each member of your family, a bug out location, a vehicle to get you to that bug out location and a bug out plan.

Bug Out Bags

A bug out bag should make up the backbone of your basic bug out plan. It should include everything that you need to get from your home to your bug out location and nothing more.

When you bug out you should be in a vehicle, but you need to plan your bug out bag so you can carry it on your back the entire way. This is the worst-case scenario, so its what were planning for.

The thing that you really need to keep in mind is that a bug out bag needs to be minimalistic. Pack only what you need not what you think will be nice to have. If you want to have nice to have stuff while youre bugging out then put that stuff in a tote that you can load into your vehicle and get rid of if you end up needing more room later on.

These are the essentials that you must have in a bug out bag:

Backpack

Water

Food

Shelter

First Aid Kit

Urban Bug Out Bags

If you live in an urban environment, then youre much more likely to have to bug out than someone that lives in the suburbs or in a rural area. With so many people jammed into cities and literally living on top of each other, theres just a lot more that can go wrong. Even seemingly small disasters can turn into full-blown riots pretty quickly and with little to no warning.

This makes an urban bug out bag one of the most important things for people who want to be prepared in the city.

I normally recommend that you build an urban bug out bag in a way that draws as little attention to it as possible. You dont want it to be obvious that youre carrying a lot of supplies on your back if there are looters or hungry people around.

Rural Bug Out Bags

If you live in a rural area, I think youre a lot less likely to ever use your bug out bag, but that doesnt mean that its not still important. If youre planning to be able to bug out, start with a bug out bag no matter where you live.

I consider rural bug out bags to be a little easier to put together than an urban bug out bag. You dont really need to worry about drawing attention to yourself and you can find a lot more backpacks that are at home in the country than you can backpacks that are big enough to pack everything you need and not draw attention in the city.

Common Bug Out Bag Questions

These are a few questions that always come up when I discuss bug out bags.

Do I need a bug out bag?

If you were reading earlier then you already know that answer to this but the question comes up so often that Im going to touch on it again. A bug out bag should be the foundation that all your other bug out plans grow from. Its the one thing that will always go with you when you bug out, so yes, you really do need one.

How long should a bug out bag last?

Youve probably heard of a bug out bag referred to as a 72-hour kit or 72-hour bag. Does that mean that you should pack for three days? Not necessarily.

Your bug out bag needs to get you from your home to your bug out location on foot. Whatever that time is, then thats how long it needs to last. There is no cut and dry answer thats going to fit everyone.

I like to have a minimal amount of food to last the entire trip and water for the first day or so with a water filter so I can collect more water on the trip. Water is really heavy, so carrying a weeks worth of water just really isnt possible.

What should be in your bug out bag?

The minimum you need to pack in a bug out bag is water, food, shelter, and a first aid kit. There are all kinds of other things that make sense to pack in a bug out bag, but thats beyond the scope of this article. If youre interested in bug out bag ideas I suggest you read this article.

How heavy should a bug out bag be?

I try to get my bug out bag to weigh around 25 lbs. If you go over that its okay but you have to be aware that each pound you add is going to make each step you take all that much more difficult.

When you start getting over 35 lbs you really need to think about what youre taking. Is everything an absolute necessity?

Your bug out bag should keep you alive until you get to your bug out location. It doesnt need to keep you comfortable!

Bug Out Locations

A bug out location is the place that you plan to take your family when you make the decision to bug out. If you have every other part of your bug out plan in place but you dont have a bug out location, then you really dont have a plan at all! Packing everything up and running out of the house with nowhere to go really isnt a plan and couple be disastrous for you and your family.

The good thing is you dont need to buy some piece of property in the mountains to have a bug out location. You can make plans with a family member to go to their property if something goes wrong where you live and they can come to you if something goes wrong there.

If you dont have a family then you can go to a close friends house or even a secluded tract of public land.

With all other things being equal, this is the list of bug out locations in order of desirability:

Land that you own

Property owned by a family member

Property owned by a friend

Secluded public land

Your bug out location needs to be able to support you and your family when you arrive so youll need to preposition food, water, and everything else youll need when you get there. If youre going to a friend or family members house, have them mark and store your food and water for you.

If youre going to try to use public land, which I dont recommend unless its your only option, youre going to want to cache food and water in a way that other people wont find it.

What to Look for in a Bug Out Location

Ideally, youre going to want to go somewhere with a low population, that can support you and your family. You should look for land with trees, wildlife, water, and shelter.

Areas that have extreme weather like hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and draughts should be avoided if you can. Extremes in temperature also make the area less desirable.

What to look for in a bug out location:

Mild temps

No extreme weather

Low population

Abundant trees, wildlife, and water

An area that is easily defensible

Doesnt stand out from a commonly traveled roadway

If you live in the U.S. then youre lucky! There are a ton of great areas to bug out to.

Good places to look for bug out locations in the U.S.:

The pacific northwest

The Appalachian mountains

Much of the central plains states

Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and southern Georgia

This is just a quick assessment of the country. You can find a good bug out location pretty much anywhere.

Getting to Your Bug Out Location

After you have a bug out location you need to plan the route that youre going to take to get there. Youre actually going to need several routes planned out.

The main route that you choose should be the easiest and fastest route to your bug out location. Its probably the way that you normally drive there.

Your secondary route should still be pretty direct, but it should take you around areas that may be compromised in the event of a disaster. Go around high crime areas, gang areas, population centers, etc. All of these could get bad in a disaster.

Be creative when youre planning your routes. If youre going to travel on a highway, what happens if that highway is gridlocked?

When youre planning your alternate routes (especially your walking route) look to see if there are man-made paths that you can use. Train tracks or easements cut under high tension power lines can make travel easier than trying to cut through a densely forested area.

Mark everything thats important on hard copy maps. Either print them out or buy them online and keep them with your bug out bag.

I like Rand McNally road atlases and state maps, but you can use any type of map that you prefer.

What to mark on your maps:

The main driving route to your bug out location

The secondary driving route to your bug out location

The main walking route to your bug out location

Routes to take with any alternate transportation you may use (bikes, horseback, motorcycle, dirtbike, etc.)

Areas where you can get more water (lakes, rivers, streams)

Gas stations/stores

Areas where you can find food (fruit trees/bushes, etc.)

Chokepoints (areas that force you to travel through them)

Hazard areas (known gang areas, high crime areas, etc.)

Bug Out Vehicles

There is always a lot of talk about bug out vehicles in the preparedness community. The truth is any vehicle that you have is a bug out vehicle.

You should take all of your vehicles when you bug out unless theres a specific reason not to. This makes it less likely that youll end up stuck on the side of the road if one vehicle breaks down and it also lets you carry a lot more gear.

Obviously, trucks with 4 wheel drive capability and more cargo capacity are better but if you just have a couple of Toyota Camrys you should still take them.

Bug Out Trailers

A trailer gives you a lot more cargo room and smaller cargo trailers can even be pulled by cars if you have a trailer hitch.

I like the idea of having a cargo trailer loaded all the time and ready to go. (I havent done it yet though.) You can pack it with food, water and whatever else you want, then just hook up and drive away if things get bad.

Roof Racks

Roof racks can hold a lot of gear and theyre not nearly as expensive as a trailer. The main drawback of a roof rack is that you cant really have it preloaded like a trailer unless you have it loaded out all the time.

Bikes

Mountain bikes make a great bug out vehicle and theyre a really good way to get around that doesnt need fuel. Consider taking mountain bikes if the roads are (or could be) packed with traffic. The later youre able to get on the road during a bug out, the more likely that youre going to hit traffic from other families trying to do the same thing.

Weapons While Bugging Out

Being able to defend yourself while youre bugging out is obviously extremely important. The areas in-between the place youre bugging out from and your bug out location could be more dangerous than you originally planned for. The same disaster causing you to bug out may have already hit those areas throwing them into chaos.

At a minimum, each adult should have a rifle and be able to use it effectively. If you have children that are old enough to use a rifle, then they should have one as well.

That probably seems a little extreme to some people, but it really isnt. Ideally, no one will even have to touch their weapons and everything will go smoothly. Unfortunately, we cant just plan for the best-case scenario and hope everything goes well. We need to plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Types of Weapons for Bugging Out

Having a rifle is critical. Im of the opinion that you should have an AR-15 or an AK-47 style rifle for everyone in your family or group that can use one. You should also choose one or the other and stick to it. This means that you will all use the same magazines and ammo, and should be able to use the same spare parts if someones weapon goes down.

If you have a pistol to bring with you then you should take that with you as well. A pistol gives you more options when youre bugging out. If you dont want to be seen with a rifle, you can still conceal the pistol and be armed in areas where a rifle would draw unwanted attention from crowds or law enforcement.

Other Things to Consider When Bugging Out With Weapons

A rifle is way more effective than a pistol, period. There are almost no situations where youre better off with a pistol over a rifle. You should always plan to take a rifle with you if its at all possible.

Weapons can draw a lot of attention in populated areas. If youre bugging out from a city you may want to keep your rifle tucked away until you need it or you get far enough away from people that you can start carrying it in the open.

In the past, some areas have declared a state of emergency and used that to confiscate weapons from civilians. In the U.S. this is unconstitutional (making it illegal) but it didnt stop it from happening in the past. In a state of emergency, you may have manned checkpoints that you need to get through so plan accordingly.

Always avoid confrontation if you can. Avoid crowds, dont get into verbal altercations, and definitely dont start fights. Even a minor wound can be life-threatening if you get into a firefight while bugging out.

Bug Out Plan

Bugging out starts a long time before youre actually packing your gear into the car and getting out of town with the family. You should plan your bug out ahead of time so each step of the process goes as smoothly as possible. Its not the time to figure out what you need to take and where youre going while a massive hurricane is bearing down on you.

We all have to understand that the ideal situation often isnt reality. When we plan our bug out, we need to make changes based on what we can afford and the reality of our own situations.

The good thing is that with enough planning and forethought just about anyone can put together a bug out plan that will be successful and not break the bank.

Choose the event or events that will make you bug out and stick to it. If you dont leave when youve decided to, you probably never will. Dont change your mind at the last minute.

Before You Need to Bug Out

Everything up until now has all been part of your bug out preplanning, but theres still some more planning that needs to be done.

Your bug out bag is the minimum that youll take with you when youre bugging out, but if youre driving and have time to load out your vehicle, you should pack as much as you can into it. Everything that you can take will make your life at your bug out location a little better.

Pack the most important items first with the least important items toward the outside so you can reach them easily to get rid of them if you need to make room.

Additional items to pack when bugging out:

Food

Water

Blankets

Sleeping bags

Important documents

Extra ammo

Water Filter

Firestarter

Flashlight and Batteries

First Aid Kit

Warm Clothing

Tarp

Knives

If its at all possible, you should have as much gear packed up and ready to go all the time. For most of us, its probably not possible but packing up what you can and having a good list of the things that you cant keep packed up will make getting everything into your car a lot faster. If you have everything on a list, itll also keep you from forgetting anything when the situation is stressful.

The Last-Minute/No Notice Bug Out

In a last-minute/no notice bug out situation, something has happened that requires you to leave your home immediately. This could be anything from an unforeseen natural disaster to spontaneous social unrest that puts you and your family in danger.

This is the worst-case scenario but also the easiest to plan for.

Actions to take:

Load your bug out bags into your vehicle

Load up your family

Leave ASAP and head toward your bug out location

Bugging Out With a Few Hours Notice

Bugging out with a couple of hours notice is the scenario that I see as the most likely to occur. In this scenario, you can foresee a disaster starting in the next couple of hours and decide you need to bug out.

Actions to take:

Load your bug out bags into your vehicle

Load up any pre-staged food, water, and other gear

Go down your list of other things to take and pack as much as you can

Leave as soon as you can to beat any other people that have the same idea

Bugging Out With a Couple of Days or More to Prepare

I see this scenario playing out if you have your ear to the ground and really know whats going on with local weather or world events. Most of us will still miss the signs but you may get lucky and see something coming.

Consider renting a U-haul truck or trailer if you think something is going to happen in a couple of days. It sounds a little crazy, but if youre sure something is about to happen, then renting a large vehicle that can carry a lot of gear may make sense.

Actions to take:

Load your bug out bags into your vehicle

Load up most of your pre-staged food and water

Start getting your list of items together and position them near the door or in the garage where they can be loaded quickly

Continue going to work and school normally while you wait to see what happens

Make plans for everyone to get home as soon as possible if needed

Leave as soon as you see the situation deteriorating

Conclusion

Bugging out should be one of your last options when a disaster strikes, but you should know how to bug out and how to do it effectively and safely.

Plan before a disaster ever threatens your home. Start by finding a bug out location and building a bug out bag. Map out your routes to your bug out location and mark any locations of interest.

Decide whats going to make you bug out and stick to it! Dont second guess yourself when youre under stress.

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/bugging-out-what-it-means-how-to-plan-for-it-and-when-to-leave

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