#is Not the best move

[loverboybrightsideghost]

i'm a big fan of tv shows where they do an episode from the POV of a side character and they're living in a completely different genre than the main character

[aro-kai]

Tags from @tadpal bc they were just too on point:

The show was so incredibly biased towards Rohan. Objectively, they fucked over the Dunlendings. Even the book seems to imply it??? But the show was so--even the differing visual portrayals were awful. And the super European take on the cultures shown was also.....Ugh

(it's a world where the author has openly admitted in the appendices that the cultural aspects he's chosen are largely "translated" for the worldview of a modern English audience from an unknown original text) (there are so so so so so many ways you can take this) (and this was one of the worst ones tbh)

Alright, I was holding off for journalistic integrity but now that I've seen the WotR film I can make posts about it without restraint.

Jesus christ the racial politics of this film are atrocious. Some character might as well just tell Wulf 'not to play the race card'. Wulf is a liberal snowflake who blames racism for all his troubles and can't pull himself up by his bootstraps and he is also brown-skinned and obsessively pursues our PORCLAIN white dainty-drawn female protagonist with both romantic and murderous intent. Oppression of dunlendings by the Rohirrim exists only in Wulf's head apparently, though it can be tasted in every spat 'dunlending' perjorative that comes from Helm or Haleth's mouth. But Hera has absolutely no racism within her of course! She refuses Wulf because she doesnt want to marry anyone and Wulf just assumes it's because his dunlending blood disgusts her, so entitled of him!

But also maybe the racism is '''justified'''? If it exists? Which it doesn't! But IF it did, don't worry because ONCE AGAIN all the dunlendings are just greedy, clutching, unwashed, skull wearing, violent barbarians with no unique culture to speak of and no reasons to be making war on Rohan except to sieze what isn't theirs (ignoring the fact that it totally was theirs until Rohan seized it from them and OH BOY are we ignorin' that) And the only dunlending we see not frothing at the mouth for violence or showing any introspective depth at all is General Targg who is the mouthpiece with which we get to hear 'the girl (Hera) is right' whereupon he is promptly killed by Wulf.

Oh but of course, what else could Helm have done? Freca was some greedy FAT man (boy does everyone love calling him fat, happy to lean into THAT aspect of canon) whose lands were too prosperous for his own good (hang on isn't keeping your lands prosperous the platonic ideal of lordship?) And he called a 'Witan' (no he didn't, he came to one of the regular councils of lords that Helm called himself) just to make a scene about how Helm was going to marry Hera to a lord of gondor which is bad because Gondor has some nebulous hold over Rohan so Hera should marry Wulf instead (literally none of that, Freca simply asked Helm to wed his daughter to Wulf, his son, a completely normal and legitimate political strategy to secure a better relationship with the King's family since Helm already mistrusted him for having dunlending blood. Freca is a lord of Rohan, he is rich, he traces his ancestry back to King Freawine, this could not be a more reasonable suggestion in canon.)

SO OBVIOUSLY Helm had to get angry and call Freca fat again (true he did do that) and THEN claim that Freca only wanted his throne (there was never any suggestion of this in the books, it was just the offer of marriage which insulted Helm) to which Freca answered "Old kings that refuse a proffered staff may fall on their knees," and Helm is like okay lets take this outside.

And now THIS change is actually so important in understanding the extreme nature of the Rohir/Helm favouritism that is the main focus of this film. In the film Helm pretty much immediately takes Freca outside, he reassures Frealaf that Freca just needs to be shown his place, this is the only way to settle the matter, if he doesn't embarass him here then Freca will try to take his crown and slay his family apparently, his hunch ig etc etc. Freca punches Helm three times in full view of the whole of Edoras including Freca's two men who came with him, then Helm punches him back and he is knocked out cold and dead by the time he hits the ground. Film!Helm does not realise he has done this and tells Freca to get up, Wulf realises his father is dead and threatens Helm with revenge, swords are draw against him which he tries to calm before Wulf attacks him. Helm incapacitates Wulf, his sons draw THEIR swords and Helm exiles Wulf for drawing his sword on his king. Messy right? Like not a good thing to do, generally brawling with your lords is a bad idea full stop, but if you fear for the lives of your children then idk maybe it's excusable? And then it's just an unfortunate series of events right? And Freca was rude and insulting to a king in his own halls, heat of the moment etc etc

I feel so comfortable in telling you that Helm murders Freca in cold blood in the books, fully intending that to be the outcome.

He does not take him outside initially, Book!Helm tells Freca that this marriage dispute isn't important and they will deal with it later. And then;

When the council was over, Helm stood up and laid his great hand on Freca’s shoulder, saying: "The king does not permit brawls in his house, but men are freer outside"; and he forced Freca to walk before him out from Edoras into the field. To Freca’s men that came up he said: "Be off ! We need no hearers. We are going to speak of a private matter alone. Go and talk to my men!" And they looked and saw that the king’s men and his friends far outnumbered them, and they drew back. "Now, Dunlending," said the king, "you have only Helm to deal with, alone and unarmed. But you have said much already, and it is my turn to speak. Freca, your folly has grown with your belly. You talk of a staff! If Helm dislikes a crooked staff that is thrust on him, he breaks it. So!" With that he smote Freca such a blow with his fist that he fell back stunned, and died soon after. Helm then proclaimed Freca’s son and near kin the king’s enemies; and they fled, for at once Helm sent many men riding to the west marches.

(Appendices, 'The House of Eorl', emphasis mine)

I think we can all agree that forcing someone out of your city, isolating them away from their fellows with threats of violence, telling them you will break them, killing them in one blow and then proclaiming their kin your enemies and forcing them to flee to escape a murderous pursuit, is pretty clearly premeditated murder. There is not much nuance here, Freca tresspassed over a line with Helm that Dunlendings are not allowed to cross and Helm killed him for it.

And listen like, the description of this whole story within the appendices is barely more than three pages. This is not an obscure missable aspect of the tale, nor is it outside of what rights they had to adapt. The choice was made, actively, ONCE AGAIN by the Warner Bros cinematic universe makers, to drastically alter book events in order to sand down any immorality within Rohan's narrative, especially where the Dunlendings are concerned. And in the end the only 'mistake' Helm is allowed to learn and grow from is some nebulous and trite 'not believing enough in his daughter' schpiel, which needs to be the subject of a whole 'nother post actually.

And what's agonising is they COULD have done it like they were so close, there are multiple moments where me and my friend watching were like struck!! With grief! Over how impactful this moment could have been if only the racism actually existed as an acknowledged theme in the story. If only it was something Hera had to come to terms with, if only IT was the true driver of these horrors to the point where it's Avatar, Hera's father, a man who loves her and whom she has loved all her life, turns into a cold icey ghost of brutality, far more vicious and barbaric than the people he so reviles, and reveals to her the terrible truth of his actions and motivations. It's agony I tell you.

Anyway I did not like the film.

[marciaillust]

almost blown out bsky / twt / ig

[dreamchasernina]

Netflix, I don’t know how to tell you this but a woman doesn’t have to be self taught to be a strong female character. It’s ok to let her know her limitation and ask for help. It’s ok to let her get angry, it’s ok to let her be jealous, it’s ok to let your female character have flaws and WORK on them. Your female character doesn’t have to become a master on her own to be memorable, it just makes her accomplishment feel unearned.

[cucumbermoon]

My favorite gif. I never get a chance to use it, so I’m just going to share it.

[montereybayaquarium]

✨ Makana travels the Aquarium ✨

From watching the drifting jellies to being all about that (sea)bass, Makana’s journey around the Aquarium is an enriching experience! Makana is one of our resident Laysan albatrosses. She’s offered excursions like this one as part of her care. These outings provide her with new smells, sounds, and sights to "sea" as she cruises through the building. 

🌍Makana broke her left wing as a young chick and lost the ability to fly long distances, which is why she resides with us. These enrichment activities keep her mind sharp and offer her new experiences.

But did you know that seabirds in the wild face some serious challenges? 🥺 As an ambassador for her species, Makana helps us highlight the dangers of plastic pollution threatening the health of our oceans. It’s up to us to help! 🌊

Let’s make sure Makana’s seabird friends don’t have to wing it alone. Learn more about our conservation work.

[wisteriasymphony]

ladrien is cool in its fuckedupness because it's so comfortably distant. they're both in their fake personas, they know the other is in their fake persona, and they're entirely willing to and enthusiastic about keeping up the charade. every interaction feels scripted and they both love this about it. there's never any danger in it because they're never required to be vulnerable whatsoever. they never have to be honest, they never have to be genuine, and they never expect the other to be genuine, and there's probably some twisted sort of comfort in knowing that the other person is never expecting you to take off their mask. that you can just lie and keep lying and it's fine

marichat is cool in its fuckedupness because it's so uncomfortably close. they both know each other so well but are unable to admit why, so they're just overly-friendly and don't have boundaries where they arguably should. there is no pretense to be civil or respectable so marichat comes with the grossest jokes and awkwardest silences and flippant displays of bad behavior. chat has no idea what proper boundaries should look like when someone isn't Using A Mask, and marinette is in no position to draw her foot in the sand* because being authoritative is for ladybug!!! so they're violating each others boundaries and making each other uncomfortable CONSTANTLY!!!

and like the others idk.

[fernsnailz]

team dark in: the mac and cheese incident

[finemealprompt]

DP x DC Prompt #16

When Hal had asked him which town he protected, Danny was more than happy to tell him, "Amity Park!" When Hal asked Danny where it was, Danny hadn't thought the response, "At this moment? Or where it was last week?" would've caused such chaos in the meeting.

Danny knew not everyone's town traveled across the country, but he didn't think it was odd enough to warrant this kind of reaction.

[idontmindifuforgetme]

One thing I’ve noticed about people in or entering their 30s is they don’t make as many compromises anymore. If someone doesn’t meet them halfway, is not up to standard, is just not where they’re needed to be, they’re just like “ok cool” and they move on from the person. Which is not to say they’re less empathetic or understanding, but more that they have learned that time is their most prized possession and they’re not willing to make massive compromises on it. They are not obsessed w the idea of fixing someone (bc the concept of fixing a person doesn’t really exist). They simply move on to someone who is up to par. I want that. I want to always move w the awareness that time is my most priceless belonging and I can never buy it back. Ever. So I have to use it wisely

[gambeque]

callie spratoon <3

[yuukirita]

We can have both! Horn Bee- AND puppy bee. Solution? make em move.

Also Optimus Prime's lil antenna things move as well because I want to.

[mischievous-thunder]

Is it gay to address your roommate by her full name while introducing the worst best version of your crush with whom you saved the world and decided to bring home?

[bittersweet-mojo]

if orin's skin can move why cant mine huh

[xamag-draws]

what if they were so so tiny

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Council of lovefools.

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