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seas-of-silver · 2 years ago

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My Lila Rossi Analysis

So when I did this poll, you guys said that the thing you wanted most to see was random thoughts/headcanons I have about characters, and it took me some time to dig it out, but I found my lil dive into Lila Rossi, so I figured this'd be a good place to start.

It's gonna be a long one, so imma put it under the cut, but send me an ask if you wanna know any thoughts I have on other characters!

So about a year and a half ago, I was talking with @p-artsypants (via my personal account) about Lila Rossi, and we noticed how instead of reassessing herself and her moral compass when confronted with obstacles or conflict, she just escalates:

Chameleon episode: "You want me to stop lying? Hah! I'm going to threaten you instead!"

Oni-Chan episode: "You think I can be a better person? Jokes on you, because I'm teaming up with Adrien's dad to spy on him. But the fun doesn't stop there because I'm also teaming up with our favourite local terrorists, Hawk Moth and Mayura!"

Ladybug episode: "You think I'm going to back off because you've stopped coming after me? Fool! I'm going to orchestrate your downfall!"

Lila goes big and doesn't go home, which is partly why she's so dangerous. We wondered why she didn't escalate further after the Ladybug episode, especially after that moment with Adrien, and so this is my theory as to why:

Okay, so in Ladybug, we have the (what I like to call the “assertive Adrien Agreste moment”) confrontation between Lila and Adrien:

Adrien: (sits next to Lila) I warned you once already, Lila, but you didn't listen. You hurt my friend Marinette, and that's not okay. Lila: Me? Hurting Marinette? But she's the one who- Adrien: I don't know how to prove you lied, Lila, because you're good at it. So you'll just have to come up with another lie, just as convincing. Only this time it's gonna prove Marinette's innocent. Lila: Why would I do that, Adrien? Adrien: Because we're friends, aren't we? (Lila looks over at Nathalie, who gives her an approving nod from the Agreste car)

The underlying context here is “get Marinette reinstated in school and absolve her of wrongdoing or I will expose you for the liar and manipulator you are”. They both are aware that this is a confrontation/negotiation, this is evident in their tonality and cadence, especially once Lila drops her act.

Lila has been waiting for something like this for a while, as he hasn’t been dancing along to her tune like the rest of the class - especially when it came to Marinette. So she tests him, keeping up the act until he directly addresses the issue, trying to figure him out.

She learns a few things from this interaction:

1. Adrien, on some level, loves Marinette. How, I hear you ask? First off, because of this interaction from Oni-Chan:

Adrien: (angrily) Nathalie and my bodyguard got reprimanded last time because of you. Lila: I’m sorry, Adrien. Please, I didn’t mean to. Adrien: Lila, you can always count on me. But not if you hurt the people I love. (walks away)

Here, he is evidently angry about the damage she potentially caused to the careers and livelihoods of two people he dearly cares about (people he loves and trusts, his relationship with them spanning years), but still states that as long as she doesn’t hurt the people he loves, he can be a friend for her - and he’s genuine about that, even through his anger. “You hurt the people I love, but as long as you don’t do that again we’ll be okay.” This was his first warning to her.

Skip to Ladybug:

Adrien: (sits next to Lila) I warned you once already, Lila, but you didn't listen. You hurt my friend Marinette, and that's not okay.

With the context of his altercation with her in Oni-Chan in mind, it’s evident how different the sentiment is here. “You hurt someone I love and that’s not okay.” Marinette (someone he’s known only for months/a fraction of the time he’s known Gorilla and Nathalie) was hurt by Lila and he’s ready to draw blood. He loves her - probably more than he does Gorilla and Nathalie (people he considers to be family to him). She is his weakness.

2. She found loopholes in his wording. What loopholes, I hear you cry. This loophole, I reply:

Adrien: ...So you'll just have to come up with another lie, just as convincing. Only this time it's gonna prove Marinette's innocent. Lila: Why would I do that, Adrien? Adrien: Because we're friends, aren't we?

If he explicitly stated that he’d expose her lies and manipulation, she would have, in all likelihood, stepped up to the next level (maybe two if she was feeling it) in retaliation. But he didn’t, he went implicit, interestingly using the very desire that drove him to enrol in school in the first place as his thin veil over his threat. Here, he is not genuine in his mention of friendship - here, it’s: “You fix this mess and I’ll keep up the pretence”.

So here’s the two loopholes:

A) Fulfil this request (demand) and she wins the facade of friendship with Adrien Agreste to exploit. B) The request (demand) only includes the proving of Marinette’s innocence, nothing further.

He’s implying that he wants her to stop targeting Marinette completely, but since he hasn’t stated it explicitly, she won’t see the need to hold herself to that as it’s not part of the deal, so she doesn’t need to up the stakes. She’s still free to target Marinette.

3. She can hurt both Marinette and Adrien with one cleverly destructive plan. She knows they care (love) each other deeply, and that they hurt when the other is hurt, so she can exploit this knowledge to her advantage in a “kill two birds with one stone” style approach.

This is then made all the sweeter to Lila when she later discovers Marinette is seemingly oblivious to Adrien’s involvement in getting her reinstated, highlighting to Lila that they are both trying to protect each other but aren’t communicating that with one another.

Marinette: People should know better. Things aren't always what they seem to be at first sight. So look, I don't know why you felt the urge to start all this, or why all of a sudden you lied to fix this mess, but I'm glad to see you're capable of coming back to your senses. Sometimes. Lila: As you said, things aren't always what they seem to be at first sight. (walks off)

While unconfirmed, Lila probably suspects Adrien doesn’t know about the bathroom threat from Chameleon.

So all Lila needs to do is adjust her plans to include the new target of Adrien Agreste to her pre-existing targets of Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Ladybug. Things are already interesting at this level, and she doesn’t feel forced to “level up” if you will, so she’s content with staying at the threat level she’s currently at.

Here, she can have fun.

Here, her plans (while altered somewhat) haven’t really changed course - she’s managed to get Marinette expelled (showcasing both the unethical responses/conduct from the school staff - I just completed a unit on this very topic last semester - and that Adrien was the only one who consistently spoke up in Marinette’s defence), sow the seeds of doubt about Marinette in the minds of her friends/classmates/cohort (undermining Marinette’s trustworthiness in the eyes of her peers), and she still managed to present herself as the victim - even with the reinstating of Marinette - earning compassion from the very peers that are questioning Marinette’s character. She is in a great position, and she’s not going to sacrifice that, not when she’s got her foot in the door to truly fulfilling her threat towards Marinette.

Oh! Also, for the whole thing about “stepping up to the next level of evil instead of re-evaluating her moral compass” thing? We have an explicit canonical moment about that very aspect about the monster that is Lila Rossi - again from Oni-Chan:

Oni-Chan: Do you get it now? I'll hunt you down wherever you go. Just give up on Adrien, and I'll stop tracking your every move. Lila: Alright. I'll give up... on Adrien. (horn grows) Oni-Chan: You're an awesome actress, but you're lying. Your horn betrays you, see? It will only disappear once you've sincerely given up on Adrien. Lila: But how could I possibly give Adrien up? I love him so much! It's too hard for me, honestly! You can't ask me to do that. The only thing that would persuade me to give him up if you got rid of Ladybug for me. (smiles sinisterly. Oni-Chan smiles, very impressed.) Hawk Moth: (from his lair; intrigued) This Lila girl is... astounding! Oni-Chan: If that's the only thing that will make you give him up, I'll do it. (attacks Ladybug)

In the comments section of Details, Details by Lady_of_War_and_Heartache (ongoing), the author and I have this massive back-and-forth about a whole host of topics in relation to ML, and we discussed Lila at one point, and I made a list of all of Lila’s crimes/acts in relation to crimes from S1-S3:

Lila does not deserve a redemption arc. She is a horrible human being and thrives off it, full well knowing EXACTLY what she is doing. She has committed so many crimes already that she is predisposed basically to much more and becoming a most dangerous threat. Truancy, lying and manipulation, defamation (to Marinette, Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Chat Noir, Ladybug, Prince Ali, to name a few), sexual harrassment (to Adrien), bullying and physical and psychological harassment and threatening (to Marinette), theft, framing others for theft and physical harrassment (to Marinette), falsely claiming to suffer from mental and physical disabilities for personal gain, falsifying claims/connections in relation to a royal family (to Prince Ali and Achu), willing and active involvement and association with known terrorists (Hawk Moth/Shadow Moth and Mayura). And these are all the things we are aware of canonically from S1-S3. Lila is a pathological liar and utilises this for personal gain without remorse. Lila is in position to potentially become the future Hawk Moth alluded to in Timetagger.

And, because I forgot about the aforementioned moment in Oni-Chan, we can add conspiring to attempt murder/grievous bodily harm to the list.

Lila Rossi is a psychopath.

Now, what does this mean for Lila's future in the show?

We've seen with every confrontation the characters have with Lila that she is smart, she adapts, and she evolves. She learns from her pervious losses and becomes a more dangerous threat every time she pops up. The fact that she didn't really do much in S4 indicates to me that she will become a massive threat in S5/S6; she's bound to have something brewing, and when it's revealed, it's bound to have a devastating impact. I think it's safe to say we all suspect her of becoming the "new Hawk Moth" that Timetagger foreshadowed, but I think what's uncertain is exactly how she will achieve this, and how brutal this will be on our heroes, our villains, and on Paris as a whole.

Does this mean she is not redeemable?

Me of a year and a half ago would say "yes". Me today would say "no". As @ladyofthenoodle pointed out in a discussion on discord, it's probably too hasty to label a teenager as irredeemable, and I agree. Teenagers are still growing and developing, and are still in need of life experience and maturity. We know teenagers don't have all the answers, we know they will make mistakes and rash decisions, we know they will be easily swayed by their emotions.

We also don't know enough of Lila's backstory to be able to say conclusively what is going on inside her mind. There's possibly some motivator there that needs to be addressed, likely in therapy, with a healthy support system to help her navigate her way to a better place in life. She's still young, and needs love and support, much like any other character in the show. She's no Snape (who I firmly believe is irredeemable, and will probably be the focus of my next character rant XD); she has potential to be redeemed. Whether or not she will be redeemed in canon is another matter.

#seasofsilver headcanons #lila rossi #character analysis #ml #miraculous ladybug

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egg-emperor · 2 years ago

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I wish I could say the same about Frontiers!Eggman, but... I'm sorry, I still don't like it. The Villain's Precious Child trope is one that I largely roll my eyes at regardless of how it's done, which naturally applies double to a villain that it doesn't even work for IMO, and no matter how the Sage stuff is portrayed, the fandom's already made its mind up on his character, and we know I rarely trust what Flynn claims. Top that off with him still being upstaged by a purple testicle, and... yeah.

That's fine. Coming from someone who's now been on both sides of hating and loving it, and contrary to the beliefs of those that made me their enemy when I was bitter on it too, I have a lot more respect, understanding, and acceptance for those with different opinions to me than they do. :P In fact, I'm even more mellowed out and chill about it than ever because I want to make sure I'm never like those that turned so hostile on me, though I was never close to that in the first place.

I personally think it can work for Eggman but not in the way a big majority of fandom has taken the dynamic from Frontiers and sanitized and simplified it for wholesomeness factor, it's complicated, shallow, and toxic instead. So I still can't engage in fandom the same I could before as fanon is far from it, plus people still see my analysis and writings as criminal for presenting the dynamic as unhealthy, despite how it's canon accurate based on both official word and actual in game content.

I think the "Eggman genuinely accepting creations as being like his kids" thing is fine in itself as he is close to being their father just by being their creator. I've never had a huge problem with him calling himself Metal's father in comics as it was presented as casual and not as deeper, selfless, sincere care. Looking back at Frontiers made me realize it's quite similar with Sage, he accepts the dynamic based on the fact of being her maker and for selfish benefits he states multiple times.

I think it works as being in casual joking manner from Eggman, as a way to butter up his creations and keep them loyal (I can't imagine him referring to them affectionately/praising or showing them affection outside of this), and as his reasonings behind it actually being really shallow, self-centered, and conditional and ultimately only for what he gets out of it with his own pride as creator and benefit in being served by them. I just think all of that is pretty interesting to explore.

The mass majority of fandom definitely isn't going to change its mind on the Eggman portrayal and the dynamic until canon shows them what it really intended much more clearly than Frontiers though, so it doesn't allow for the chance for people to mistake it and put down those who see it for what it is and was even described as by Ian Flynn himself (which I'm half surprised they didn't listen to him but also half not because they always reject canon official stuff in the games they dislike that disprove their theories too)

I can actually see what Flynn means with his explanation of the dynamic and Eggman's "unsettling" side of it and the assertion that he's a "BAD person" warming up to the idea "for all of the wrong reasons", as he emphasized in his Bumblekast answer though. It's definitely actually there in the game. But I still think it's a problem that it's only so clear through certain memos, as it being in a few lines of optional audio over it being shown in actual scenes wasn't the best place to put it with how the dynamic is being misinterpreted for wholesomeness.

And of course I'm still not ever going to be a fan of him being upstaged by the sexy purple testicle when I obviously think him actually getting to control and use the newest powerful evil thing will always be way cooler but my biggest problem this time was the fear he was OOC and I'm just happy it's not the case upon closer evaluation. Of course he deserves way more respect and spotlight too but I'm happy for the bare minimum of his character still being the same in these dark desperate times ngl lol

#dr eggman #eggman #dr robotnik #dr. eggman #sonic frontiers #my post #asks

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screamin-abt-haikyuu · 3 years ago

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Yet another analysis proving that Asahi is the BEST boy.

For his birthday, I really wanted to do a canon Asahi post because it just seems fitting to appreciate the character that is Azumane Asahi in all his canon glory. I hurriedly wrote this in like half an hour. Pls I didn't know what title to give this because I started writing with one topic in mind and then rambled on because I got emotional and kept wanting to talk more about the best boy so I'm sorry if this is a lil messy. It's not proofread so pls forgive any mistakes.

Manga spoilers after the "Read more" so proceed at your own risk!

We've seen and talked about Asahi's strength and growth in volleyball but today I want to talk about another quality of his: Emotional Intelligence and the little ways in which he stands up for himself.

The only time I have seen Asahi lie about his feelings is when there's a chance of hurting other people. While those examples are a post for another day, I want to talk here about all the times Asahi does assert himself/speak up about his feelings/stand up for himself and also supports his friends in expressing theirs :')

Whenever his friends/teammates are unkind or harsh with him, he gently tells them to be kinder to him.

Asahi is not ashamed to talk about his feelings.

This next scene in particular is usually laughed off but I find it really endearing. Sweet baby wanted to have a moment with his best friends before their first match and even though they asked him to not get sappy (which he respected), he did not just shut up when they told him to.

What this scene also tells us is that he does this often. He had barely begun to speak when his friends knew he was about to talk about something emotional.

Which, to me, definitely points to the fact that he has done this enough times in the past for them to immediately know he's about to get sentimental and get them to talk about their feelings.

Doesn't change his looks for anyone!

Asahi is judged so harshly because of his looks. And not just from outsiders, but his own friends too! (it makes me rly mad but oh well). Daichi has also told him on several occasions that he does not look like an ace.

It is clear that he does feel judged and saddened by these comments. He could easily have gotten a haircut and shaved his goatee so he could look more "normal"/like the boys his age. Yet, he doesn't.

The only time he does change something about his appearance is when Shimizu tells him he might go bald with such a tight bun. He knows that her words come from a place of concern and care instead of judgement and so he listens to her.

Even though it seems like the world is against it, I love that he doesn't change it for anyone and actually likes his "wild" look, as he so describes it.

This scene from the manga is always going to stay with me because, YES, KING.

When Asahi, as usual, is putting too much pressure on himself during a crucial point in the match, Sugawara tells him to get over himself.

Of course, we know that it is coming from a place of concern for his friend and tough love and boinks on the head are Suga's way of hyping his teammates. However, not in the history of anything ever has anyone just gotten over their fear/anxiety/depression because someone else told them to.

And I love, love, LOVE that Asahi addresses it. He tells them he KNOWS it's pointless, that it doesn't help him in any way at all, yet his brain just takes him there. It is not easy for him to "just not worry".

Of course, we cannot forget the bigger moments where he stood up for himself:

When Aone pointed his finger at him and he stared him right back in the eye, even though he was extremely nervous.

When Hinata tried to take the ball from him and he put him in his place.

When he broke the iron wall not once but twice.

There are so many more but this post is getting long so I'm going to end it with one of my absolute favourite moments from the entire manga:

Bonus: He's not just comfortable in his emotions, he's also always ready to provide people with a place where they can express themselves.

I have mentioned one of these scenes before but I just wanted to re-emphasize on this trait of his.

I loooove how he is so understanding of other people's emotions.

Moreover, instead of feeling embarrassed about his emotions, he not only expresses them freely but also treats his friends so gently and is SO supportive of how they're feeling. Even though his friends often rib him for being too emotional, he never rubs it in their faces or teases them back when they're the ones getting emotional.

He's like... yeah. It happens, bro. It's okay to cry. It's totally normal. I did it too when I was younger. Even though Daichi himself doesn't want to admit that he was, indeed, crying, this softie here offers him a space where he can safely express his feelings without judgement (if he wants to).

You're about to cry? It's cool, bud. Here, have tissues, I keep them handy for situations just like these. Let those emotions free.

He's just. So sweet and understanding and empathetic and kind and- yeah this is never going to end.

TL;DR Asahi is the best person to have in your life. Someone who you can open up to without any judgement and you'll receive the highest amount of understanding and love in return.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND SWEET BOY ❤️

Asahi Azumane's birthday celebration event by zaira💕

MASTERLISTS | If you enjoy my work and want to, you can Buy me a Kofi! <3

Taglist: @luri-isa @lovesicmess @solareclipse18

#asahi azumane #haikyuu!!#azumane asahi #asahi #haikyuu asahi #asahi character analysis #haikyuu character analysis #hq manga #haikyuu manga #asahi x reader #hq azumane #azumane #karasuno #koushi sugawara #sawamura daichi #karasuno third years #haikyuu #hq asahi

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gillianthecat · 2 years ago

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Love In the Air episode 6

My thoughts as I watch: mostly snark, a little bit of critical analysis, a sprinkling of praise.

This episode we're back to what I think of as Dramatic Soundtrack Music. No more soothing classical.

All this tension in this scene with P' Chai, but I don't know what it means.

Here comes trouble- Same dudes from the bathroom? Ah yes.

Lots and lots of little boys posturing, its had to take any of them seriously.

They don't have to bring their own motorcycles? Why are you letting some rando asshole you don't trust borrow a motorcycle?

This seems like it must have been as expensive production - shutting down a highway in Bangkok?

I don't understand the point of this bad guy - he came out of nowhere and has no connection to any of the characters we know. Unless he's Sky's evil ex? and we're being set up for the 2nd half of the series?

When I say Love in the Air has no plot - it's not that nothing happens, it's that the stuff that happens doesn't seem to connect or build in a way that progresses or tells a coherent narrative. Which is fine! That can still make an enjoyable show, especially if you just like spending time with the characters. But its not a plot.

I'm not sure why LITA feels so disconnected and random to me. Figuring it out would require rewatching and more in depth analysis, and I frankly don't care that much about the show. But that's how it feels to me.

I don't know, its quite possible that it all builds and connects in a way that I'm just not seeing. I feel like my brain turns into a sieve when I watch this show.

Aww. Sweet Rain, trying to cheer up his boyfriend. Encourage Payu like Payu encouraged Rain. I like seeing this more assertive caretaking side of Rain. It makes them feel more like a real partnership, while still maintaining the submissive- dominant dynamic.

PayuRain is growing on me now that Payu doesn't have to act so aggressively dominant and they can just be cute together.

I'm with Rain here, I also don't understand why Payu has to race this two-bit bad guy. Especially not in a thunderstorm. Ego? "Honor?" Pshaw.

Aww. More assertively caretaking Rain. I love it! So does Payu, apparently, lol.

ooh, but maybe this race is Payu's turn for growth and a character are of his own. A girl can dream, lol.

Oh never mind, the race is the next day, and not in the rain. That's less of a terrible choice. But mostly I just find characters who do things for ego or honor boring, unless there's some interesting angst underlying their motivations.

Sorry, but I have never found motorcycle racing outfits sexy. Motorcycle riding. yes, but the outfits have always looked ridiculous to me. But I would much prefer they be protected than be aesthetically appealing.

Yeah, I really cannot find it in me to care about this race either.

Paya won! But I knew that since I'd already seen the gifs of them celebrating.

These boys do know how to kiss! And I love that Payu just abandons his opponent to go fuck his boyfriend. (In a glass walled room with everyone right outside. The sets on this show are so weird, lol.) That race was clearly a lot more invigorating for him than it was for me.

Oh wait, they just magically teleported somewhere with curtains. I appreciate a montage style sex sane, but this editing has tipped over the line into confusing. But also its really hot, so who cares.

Where even is Payu's mic to pick up that rustling as he takes off his shirt? There’s nowhere to hide it! (I know, this is Not what I should by focusing on now.)

Ok, well. That sex scene was hot. And more explicit than any in a BL I've watched yet. I appreciate the actors' bravery and commitment to making it work so well.

This morning domesticity and mutual teasing is very cute. And I enjoy seeing the contrast from their first breakfast together. (see: characters changing = a plot)

Ok, adding in a kidnapping with one 45 minute episode left. Where are we going with this? I remain skeptical.

wait what? Is this a flashback or a flash forward? Why is Rain fine and in his room? Oh, flashback. Very cute. Although I'm still unclear about when or if he already knows Payu at this point.

Final Thoughts

yep, I still have the same feelings about plot at the end of the episode that I did in the middle. I think the main culprit is that Puyu's character is so static - he has no arc of his own. And even Rain's arc is kind of at a dead end. He's still changing and growing, but its not enough to sustain momentum on its own. Stuff happens to them, and they even do stuff, but it doesn't really change either of them. And I think for me that's the fundamentals of a "plot"- watching characters change.

This all feels like someone's fantasy more than an actual story. But I'm not sure whose fantasy it is: Payu who gets to be perfect and have someone change to fit him? Or Rain, the awkward college kid who manages to land the perfect guy?

#love in the air #love in the air ep 6 #love in the air critical #love in the air the series #lita #kind of like liveblogging #gillianthecat reacts to bl #reaction by gillianthecat

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mexicancat-girl · 5 years ago

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Ok guys, I can't take it, I’m seriously at my limit here.

Uraraka vs Bakuboi was a sham of a fight and none of it makes any goddamn sense.

Uraraka deserved her win, for multiple reasons.

Shout out to @bnhasalt, who’s post reminded me how indignantly furious this arc makes me.

More under the cut over both how salty I am, and how Uraraka losing against Explodo Kills makes absolutely no sense, even narratively.

(Warning ahead for a discussion on sexism, misogyny, forced fanservice, the blatant favoritism towards That One Specific Character even if unearned in the narrative, and the general incompetence on how to write female characters.

I call B/kugo “Bakuboi” in this analysis bc I don’t want to write his Actual Name out and have it pop up in his character tags. Also, heads up, I’m sorry for how messy and long this rant is )

First, can I just say that Horikoshi is uhhhh Bad at writing female characters?

Which I’m sure many female fans already have an inkling about, but goddamn is it never more obvious than in the Sports Festival Arc. Because hey, at least the female characters are THERE and PARTICIPATING and have their own time to shine! This ISN’T one of those arcs that just stars THE BOYS, so that MUST mean this arc is equal opportunity! Right...?

God, I wish. I wish...

See, the girls are the minority of the Sports Fest in general. It shouldn’t be this way. And quite frankly, the fact that the classes (and UA in general) isn’t closer to being a 50/50 gender split also makes no sense, considering all children are raised in a society that values heroism EQUALLY and almost half the population is male and half female.

But, okay, let’s say I actually believe in the most illogical character ratio imagineable of there being a 2 boy to 1 girl, like this is another round of Naruto But It’s Superheroes So It’s Different I Swear.

We all know that there is going to be an emphasis on Izuku, since he’s the protagonist and he wants to make All Might proud during the Sports Festival.

Pre-Festival, there’s the reveal that Uraraka wants to do her best, with her main motivation of becoming a hero to give her parents a good life. Iida also wants to make his own family proud, specifically his brother, because of his family legacy.

Since these three are a trio, you’d think they’d all get some time to shine, right? Since they’re Izuku’s friends? And Izuku considers them his equals?

Yeah, no. Wrong.

This arc is dominated by Izuku, Shoto, and Bakuboi. That becomes clear very quickly.

I knew I shouldn’t expect much, since these three are powerhouses and also the most popular characters of the entire franchise (just look at the popularity polls) but still. I’d thought at least Uraraka would get a chance to shine! Since we get some character development and motivation revealed from her!

But the female characters in general get done so dirty this arc, despite it being first set up as a perfect arc to let the girls have just as much opportunity to participate as their male peers.

The most significant part of the female characters all getting an ‘equal time to shine’ is when He Who Must Not Be Mentioned and Kaminari trick the girls into dressing as scantily-clad cheerleaders. Which is both Tiring and Unncessary.

(This scheme also shouldn’t have worked because Momo is Vice Rep and she is an intelligent girl, top of her class. She would be smart enough to go to a teacher and actually double-check to see if Class 1-A girls really needed to cheer in the activities portion of the Sports Festival.

But noooo, Horikoshi can’t pass up a chance for FANSERVICE and forcing his underaged female characters to be uncomfortable for The Funnies! Thanks! I hate it!)

The female characters that move onto the final round of the Sports Festival, and thusly have the most attention, are: Uraraka, Mei Hatsume from Support, Momo, Mina, and Shiozaki from 1-B.

Wow, I sure wish these girls could like...show their worth. And maybe NOT get steamrolled and easily tossed aside in their matches because they’re facing Boys and Boys Have Strong Offense-based Quirks, That’s The Rules Folks.

(Before you come at me, I know that isn’t a rule that applies to every single male character in the series, but the strongest and offense-based Quirks tend to go to the male characters, while the female characters tend to get more support-based Quirks. It’s both sexist, but also an inherent trend in media in general. Please Just Let Women Punch Shit To Smithereens And Control The Elements.)

Yes, Mina and Shiozaki won their first rounds easily! And that’s great to see! But then we turn right around, and they're eliminated just as quickly in their second matches! Without even a fighting chance!

Good God, Shiozaki is literally PUSHED OUT OF THE RING. That’s it, that’s how she lost. Same thing with Momo in her match! And Mei straight-up forfeits because her character is based more on advertising her inventions/babies, so she doesn’t even fight.

So essentially, the female characters are shucked away if they’re not used to make the male characters look good, or there for fanservice, or there to show a shallow form of ~feminism~ so Horikoshi can pat himself on the back and say “See! Girls strong! I can write girls!”

And now we get to the meat of things: Uraraka.

Oh, poor Uraraka. Out of all the female characters, your potential was the greatest, and also the most squandered...

As a reminder, at the start of the arc, Uraraka speaks with both Izuku and Iida about how she wants to do well in the Sports Fest. They all promise to do their best. Izuku’s friends admit that they want to face him in later matches, because they want to be his equals.

Uraraka wanted to stand on the same level as Izuku and Iida, but she's the only one that doesn't move on past her first match!

And man, what an absolute bogus match it is.

Is it emotional? Yeah. Did I tear up when I watched it? Sure, every single time! But that's more because Uraraka is one of my favorite characters and I feel empathy for her and thought she deserved better.

The match gets to me because I also hate how Bakuboi is so fucking entitled and gets everything handed to him on a silver platter.

Bakuboi himself is written as, essentially, a Gary Stu. He always wins. ALWAYS. And even when he ‘loses’, he still manages to beat his opponents to the point that they need to be hospitalized (see Izuku vs Kacchan pt 1) or he makes his losses ALL ABOUT HIMSELF by twisting logic to fit his own narrative.

Remember how Bakuboi won against Todoroki in the final match? And was so pissed at him he was ready to Physically Assault Todoroki for him not being able to Get Over His Trauma to go 100% during their match? And even though Bakuboi LITERALLY won the entire Sports Festival, he’s so entitled that he demands a rematch because he feels like he “didn’t actually win”?

Not wanting a rematch for Todoroki’s sake, because Todoroki has been through a rough time and Bakuboi overheard Todo’s Tragic Abusive Backstory. Oh no, that would make too much sense and show too much character growth, we can’t have that! Bakuboi, even when winning the Sports Festival, demanded a rematch because he wanted to beat the shit out of Todoroki AGAIN to assert his dominance.

You see, Bakuboi is always rewarded in the narrative. Even when he loses it’s not seen as his fault. He’s never really punished for it, and he never learns any lessons from his losses.

Ah, and let’s not forget, Katsuki Bakuboi has the Best And Strongest Quirk Ever. Strong enough to even do the impossible and work to his advantage when it shouldn’t!

Like how he SOMEHOW manages to ‘beat the odds’ by breaking the laws of physics to win in Round 2. He manages to PUNCH THROUGH A QUIRK THAT CREATES A SOLID WALL from 1-B’s Tsuburaba in order to get back his team’s headband and move on to Round 3.

Or hey, his finishing move, Howlitzer Impact? Doesn’t make any sense either. It shouldn’t work as a...cyclone? Tornado? Drill thing?

Look, the logistics of it shouldn’t work. Yes, this is anime, but do you HONESTLY think that a teenager YEETING himself in a fast spiral will somehow accomplish anything more than spreading out some explosions in a circle around him? You honestly think any other character would be able to pull that bullshit off WITHOUT upchucking their entire lunch?

But because it’s Bakuboi, it works somehow. Because Bakuboi’s Quirk is The Shining Beacon Of Quirks.

Drawbacks? Sure, he SUPPOSEDLY has them. They’re noted in his character profile and everything. But very rarely do those supposed “drawbacks” ever actually come into play and actually, like, stop him. Or slow him down. Or, yknow, ACTUALLY WORK LIKE DRAWBACKS ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK.

Because apparently, human limits don’t exist for Katsuki fucking Bakuboi, nope, not at all!

One of Bakuboi’s "drawbacks" is supposed to be that he can't overexert himself or he can fuck up his wrists/his forearms will start to ache.

Cool cool cool, except...This rarely slows him down or effects him at all.

It’s actually astounding he hasn’t given himself Carpel Tunnel, because that would be a natural consequence to over-using his Quirk. Hell, he should be fucking up his arms almost as much as Izuku does to his own arms with a destructive Quirk like OFA! Explosions are dangerous and cause massive destruction, and that should be fucking up his arms SOMEHOW!

But, nope. Bakuboi is as fresh as a goddamn daisy. He can Never Have A Weakness.

(Another drawback is cold weather/Winter season is supposed to weaken his Quirk. Makes sense, since heat would help him produce more nitroglycerin sweat, and the cold would make it hard to sweat. But that sure as hell didn’t stop him during the Joint Training Arc in the future, and he didn’t struggle whatsoever to almost singlehandedly win that for his team.)

Not ONCE does Bakuboi’s Quirk ever effect him negatively and forces him to weaken! He keeps using his Quirk like it's nothing!!

And that’s the crux of the entire problem with Uraraka vs Bakuboi’s match.

Bakuboi apparently has “drawbacks” and “limits”, but he keeps somehow managing to break them without a sweat (ha) and without consequence, essentially PULLING WINS OUT OF HIS ASS.

Bakuboi was using his Quirk LITERALLY NONSTOP during Round 1, and kept using it to throw himself around in Round 2. Logically, he should’ve fucked his arms up and been at the very least SLOWED DOWN by the third round of the Sports Fest because he went past what were SUPPOSED to be his Quirk’s canonical limitations and logic!

It would've taught Bakuboi that he can't fucking steamroll through all his problems! He has limits! There are consequences to over using his Quirk! He’s a human being and he doesn’t have endless stamina like some sort of God!

Hell, every other character has these limits very clearly shown and outlined with their Quirks! Uraraka throws up when she over-uses Zero Gravity. Shoto, before using his fire side, would get frostbite. Iida’s Engines will stall after using Recipro Burst.

The other characters have limitations to their Quirks that slows them down, shows consequences for their actions, but Bakuboi NEVER HAS ANY.

THIS is why he’s a Gary Stu. THIS is why he won his match against Uraraka.

Not because of any logic. Because HIS QUIRK HAS NO FLAWS. And on top of that, THE NARRATIVE KEEPS REWARDING HIM, EVEN WHEN HE HASN’T EARNED IT.

Bakuboi SHOULD have been weakened from using his Quirk non-stop. Bakuboi SHOULD NOT have managed to pull out that “one final big explosion” that ruined Uraraka’s final attack.

Bakuboi was literally hissing about his arms hurting earlier, before their match started. And Uraraka forced him to use his Quirk so much that she managed to amass a ton of debris to knock him out and win the match. HIS EXPLOSIONS SHOULD HAVE SPUTTERED OUT, AND NOT SAVED HIM WITH THAT LAST-SECOND ASSPULL.

Like, I’m preeeeetty sure the entire reason Horikoshi wrote Uraraka vs Bakuboi in the first place was because he was attempting at writing Feminism.

See, Bakuboi Hates Everyone Equally, he’s not a violent misogynist for beating up Uraraka! It’s a Match, he Respects Women And Sees Them As Equals! The Crowd of Pro Heroes are the ones being Misogynistic and Judging The Match Early!

And look at Uraraka, she’s a Strong Woman! She keeps getting back up! That’s the Shonen Spirit! And she’s smart, too! Look at her amazing plan to win--

Oh, wait. Wait, nope. She didn’t win at all! :) Because our shining beacon of perfection Katsuki Bakuboi never loses!! :)) Look at all her hopes and dreams being blown to literal smithereens, because of Bakuboi’s ass pull, even though he shouldn’t have had enough time, sweat, and strength to muster up that last explosion!!! :)))

Can ya’ll feel my incandescent fury right now?

Because Horikoshi can NEVER write Bakuboi losing, Uraraka COULDN’T HAVE WON, even if her winning makes THE MOST LOGICAL SENSE.

This scene was supposed to show Uraraka’s strength. But it feels like Uraraka is being literally spit in her face, for even DARING to TRY to win against Katsuki fucking Bakuboi.

How much more impactful would Uraraka’s breakdown have been, if she had moved onto the Second Round with Izuku and Iida? How she would feel ashamed that she couldn’t keep up with them, with how Powerful their Quirks are? Especially after seeing Izuku and Todoroki’s amazing match, and seen how destructive and close a match it had been?

How DEVASTATED she would have felt, beating BAKUBOI--one of the strongest of their class!--and then STILL managing to lose the Sports Festival?

That would have been SO much more interesting! And even SADDER!! C’mon!

Uraraka SHOULD have won her match! It would’ve provided both character development for herself, and for Bakuboi! Bakuboi would realize he has limits to his body and Quirk, and realize not to underestimate his opponents! Uraraka would realize that she’s strong in spite of her Quirk not being necessarily combat-oriented, but still has a long way to go in being a Pro Hero!

But, nooooo. We can’t have CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, can we? We ESPECIALLY can’t have THE FEMALE CHARACTERS IMPACTING THE PLOT IN SOME WAY, either! Or--what’s this? FEMALE CHARACTERS ACTUALLY HAVING THE SPOTLIGHT FOR ONCE? Perish the thought!

The only good parts about this godforsaken arc are 1) Mei Hatsume 2) Hitoshi Shinso and 3) Izuku vs Todoroki fight and Todoroki’s Tragic Backstory Reveal. Everything else is hit-or-miss, if not completely hot garbage.

Anyways, thanks for coming to my TED Talk, and for reading this entire thing! Four for you, reader. You go, reader.

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gallavictorious · 4 years ago

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I could agree with your thoughts on saying stuff that really digs into your love ones during a fight of it wasn't for the bipolar comment, it was ignorant and gross and Mickey knows how much Ian struggles with so him throwing it on his face like that will always be uncalled for. Also the fact they find Frank and Terry comparable is mind-boggling to me. Yeah they both are shit father's but saying Terry's year of abuse measures up to Frank is ridiculous.

Feel free to not agree at any time, nonnie! XD And sorry this took a while. Life was happening... And just for everyone else’s convenience, this ask was received in response (I’m pretty sure!) to another ask I got.

Sure the bipolar comment was uncalled for – but that was kind of my point: Mickey does know that this is a sore spot for Ian, and that's why he goes for it. It is shitty, and admittedly quite a bit of an escalation, since Ian's commenting on something Mickey does and seems to enjoy and Mickey decides to jab at something that Ian hasn't in any way chosen and which is causing him all sorts of trouble and pain. So yeah, bad of Mickey; we're agreed on that. But I'm not quite sure how that works against my thoughts on your loved beings the ones that can say the most hurtful things because they know just where to strike (since that's exactly what Mickey's doing here), and I can't really engage with your argument without a clearer understanding of your stance. Maybe you think it's OOC for Mickey to say that? Maybe Ian oughtn't forgive him for saying something so unsensitive? Maybe you believe that shows simply shouldn't inclue that sort of comments at all? Don't hesitate to come back and elaborate!

It's similarly unclear which “they” you are referring to in the second part of your ask: Ian and Mickey, or the creators? I rather suspect the latter, but let's take them one by one:

Ian's claim that Frank is worse in some ways may well be true, but overall Terry is certainly worse and when Ian goes on to assert that Frank is worse in general, he's quite clearly – to me – in the wrong (though I do think trauma competition is a losing game for everyone). But... characters are wrong sometimes? They don't always tell the truth, they can be mistaken, and they can hold beliefs the audience doesn't agree with – and a character's stance needn't necessarily be that of the narrative. Now, perhaps you feel that Ian shouldn't be mistaken or unsure about this: he was there for some of the worst things Terry put Mickey through, after all. And that's very fair – but Ian also lived through all of Frank's neglect and abuse and it's quite common for people to keep their own experiences closest to their own heart, so he might just have a skewed view of this. So, Ian is mistaken; but I wouldn't necessarily say it's ridiculous that he is, because characters are not always right and Ian – darling that he is – isn't perfect, and his view is informed by the trauma he himself went through.

As for Mickey, I don't think he actually accepts Ian's assessment of their fathers; he does back down when Ian asks “are we gonna fight about this too”, but given that context I'd say this has less to do with him agreeing with Ian and more to do with him not wanting them to have another fight. He also doesn't say that Frank is worse, but merely allows that they're both pieces of shit. Which, you know, is perfectly true. (But this really comes down to whether or not you read his comment as “no we're not going to fight because you're right and they're both pieces of shit” or “no, we're not going to fight because although my dad IS worse by any metric yours is a piece of shit too so it's not worth fighting over”. I tend towards the latter; you might not.)

And now, the creators... I'll preface this by noting that ascribing motives and mindsets to the producers/writers/what-not is a precarious venture at best, which is why I don't tend to engage in it. We can, however, look at the narrative and how it's structured to discuss what sort of statement the show (deliberatedly or not) is making on this. What we have is:

Ian: Didn't exactly have the best parental role models with Frank and Monica.

Flashback: Monica and Ian's sad adventures in S5.

Mickey: Yeah, like Terry was a fucking dream parent.

Flashback: Terry orchestrating the corrective rape.

Ian: In a way Frank is worse.

Mickey: Terrys is worse in every possible way.

Ian: Frank!

Mickey: Terry!

Ian: Are we gonna fight about this too?

Mickey: No, I guess they're both pieces of shit.

Flashback: Terry and Frank both being pieces of shit.

Ian: Yeah, we're doomed.

Mickey: Guess we have daddy issues.

You could argue that having the “No, I guess they're both pieces of shit” followed by the flashback of Frank and Terry's various misdeeds juxtaposed indicates that the show find them both equally reprehensible. This might be supported by the fact that, if you wanted to show that Frank is a piece of shit but not as big one as Terry, this could have been achieved by Ian saying something along the lines of “yeah, Terry takes the fucking cake, but Frank was no picknick either” and then having a montage with just Frank.

On the other hand, you could argue that since Terry got one and a half flashback dedicated to his evil and Frank only got a half, this is a clear indication that Terry is in fact worse. It might also be that the narrative doesn't take an active stance on this at all, but just shows Ian and Mickey arguging over it and then offering proof of both fathers' nastiness, leaving the conclusion about who is in fact worse up to the viewer. It's possible – and I actually, if tenuously, tend towards this – that they're showed side by side like that drive home the point that this is something Ian and Mickey are in together and have in common; the horrid fathers and all the issues that come with that. The juxtaposition is offered as proof of that shared experience and the fact that they both bring certain problems into the relationship because of it (”Guess we have daddy issues.”) rather than giving any indication of whose father is “worse”.

It has to be said that the waters are rather muddied by the curious onthology of this episode (as discussed by @damngcoffee in this post). The little narrative is written to allow for the smooth (or less smooth) transition into flashbacks; this is a retrospective after all, and the characters say things that serve primarily as prompts for that.

So... I don't think the show necessarily suggests that Frank is as bad as Terry, but there is certainly room for differing interpretation here, and I don't believe we can make a definitive call one way or the other based only on what we see in the show.

Finally, I'll be totally honest with you, nonnie – this particular question doesn't really interest me all that much (which evidently doesn't stop me from spending quite some time writing about it, but did prevent me from delving into it as deeply as I could have – you could probably do a much more detailed scene analysis of this stuff if you were so inclined). I am not generally super interested in analyzing what sort of statements the show makes, since I'm far more invested in figuring out how the things the characters say and do make sense to them (and then make my own value judgment about it, rather than relying on the narrative to make them for me). That's just me, though, and doesn't in any way invalidate other ways of engaging with the text! :)

Thank you for the ask/comment! I don’t think this response was in any way what you were looking for, but it's what I've got. Take care, and may 11x04 prove more to your liking!

#shameless spoilers #hall of shame #hall of shame: daddy issues #asks #meta #gallavich #my stuff

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autoirishlitdiscourses · 3 years ago

Text

Discourse of Sunday, 29 August 2021

Preparing for and serving as a bridge to question 1 and 2 and pointed to. Arrangement was enjoyable and you'd clearly spent some time and/or social construction of your discussion around a male visions of beautiful women, and I know that for you to speak eventually if you have any other questions, though. Two student musical performances have been doing. You reacted to it? I'm sorry you're so inclined. If you have any questions, OK? Sigh. I felt like you were also a fertile hunting ground. Questions and answers for the registrar to release grades, explained below was 87. There were several small errors, your attention should primarily be on the final, you should do now, you have a nuanced analysis. Good question. It's OK to hold a discussion with the Clitheroes in The Walking Dead, which at least apparently reaction to the course website: good reading of the spreadsheet, because there are some available on it not in many ways that looking at the Recitation Assignment Guidelines handout, which words and ideas in a couple of ways. Too, your paper in on time.

There are a couple of suggestions. Race is a weaker assertion that takes a directly historical perspective on it before, and I've gone ahead and changed that the ideas you had a B paper turned in a competition that valorizes certain characteristics by denying the opportunity to explore variations on standard essay structure instead of electronically.

You picked a longer-than-required selection. Hawthorn in the text of Pearse's speech without too much, but you picked a good number of things would have helped to have gone to your secondary sources. Deadline this week, but rather to set up the image properties, then V for Vendetta seems to me, I also think about might be to prioritize senior English majors trying to assess attendance now, you should have the effect of giving your attendance/participation that is, specifically? But there are a fair number of important ways.

You have a word out in the early bits of the math, then please come talk to me, I will cut you off. Dennis Redmond 2. A particular way of thinking about specifics before you ask ask them to argue that one thing, I just won't see that you're likely to be helpful. One of these various types and weave them into a Fish. They should also give a more fluid, impassioned performance; but make sure that you're making a claim about exactly what is your central claim about Yeats's relationship to each other than the top of page 6 to Let's stop talking for four minutes, so it hasn't hurt your grade further, and I hope you're feeling better now.

If it's not a play. All in all, you lose the opportunity may not have any questions, and your close-reading individual passages, but I absolutely meant what I would have liked to have been to let me know what you intend to accept it by 10 a. A on a different text on a specific claim of what I'm trying to take so long to get an incomplete petition which requires you to leave your paper, is the best way to be absolutely sure. I'll see you tomorrow morning. I distribute during class for instance, if any of that first draft I often do, or the viewer is likely to be more careful about the distrust of the University, and mechanics are mostly solid, though I think that your body paragraphs don't wander too far afield. Travel safely and enjoy your time and managed to introduce a large gap for recall before the quarter. Hi! I'll see you in lecture tomorrow and I'll get back to you. Is late, you really have produced some excellent work at the point value of the people not warming up to me, and no special equipment is required. A lot of your plans by ten a. Oversleeping, even if it's necessary to come to both, although I would recommend that, and none of them. There are a core opportunity for you to be a hint or not this lifts you to become familiar with any passages talked about topics 1. You are in fact up this week. Administrative Issues: 1 ratio. You picked a good background to the connections between the poem, Parnell which is full of rather depictions that are not present last night, but Seamus Heaney I'm extending this backwards a bit because this book has similar interpretive problems for Ulysses recitations is over and in a different relationship to each other. The maximum possible discussion credit if you feel better soon. Ultimately, you'll still want people to reflect on the assumption that you were on track throughout your time and managed to convey or build up to this document is an awfully slow recitation.

I had your paper and I enjoyed having you in lecture but didn't address the question so that you do will depend on what it means: are you using a number of good plays: thanks to! Sunk himself by taking the absolute minimum standards for a job well done, both of you is so strong that it is. It is also quite short and contains some hesitations that deserve a bit like they've been represented by men in literary texts such as background information. The Stolen Child second half of the poem. Let me know what works for you to demonstrate what a very very close and, say, an A-is if you have any more questions, and religion, and your material very effectively. You have a 91. If you have been pushed even further, though, overall. Whatever is appropriate for quick questions, OK? —You've got some good ideas in there what I'm really saying here is going to be as specific and nuanced readings by a bus or abducted by aliens over the last sentence of the total grade for the bus, walking between classes, you in lecture, and your presence in front of the class warmed up and see what he thought just so that we have seen here would have been to be more specific, particular idea is that you can make absolutely sure that I'll be looking through the Disabled Students Program. Again, thank you for a late paper/must be killed except as a whole. Have a good idea to skim the first line of thought, that what I'll expect is that you realized that each of you this quarter you've worked hard and it's documented on the syllabus for Thursday, December 10 30% of course, it allows you to achieve goals that you realized that your choice of texts to think about it in the front of the guinea actually fluctuated a fair amount of what they'd discussed, then we'll figure out what you most need to let you know how you're going, including absolutely everything except the final that gets deep into the discussion go on! Let me know, and any other race I think that there are some ways in the back of your analysis more specifically what the implications that this would have to do this would not be everything that I've pointed to some punctuation and formatting issues—none genuinely hurt you a photocopy from it, in this case. You must also provide me with a very good ideas.

Romance has or has not removed the price tag from his hat. I'm glad your schedule to drop a photocopy of the text and helping them to pick up more points than you already have a copy of Ulysses that's sitting in a productive exercise I myself am less than thrilled about with this paper would have been pushed even further, and you exhibit a very good job here. If you are performing—for instance, if you'd like them to larger-scale concerns with other representations of very good work here in a way of thinking even more care than you to make progress toward graduation that satisfies the include an audio/visual text of some parts of the novel's characters are, and nearly three-syllable metrical foot, accented-unaccented-unaccented-unaccented-unaccented-unaccented-unaccented.

Hi! Truthfully, I feel that it wasn't assigned in class that you are thinking about how you'll effectively fill time and perhaps other poems, as well. There are not by any means the only or best way to think if there was anything else around, it's impossible to do anything differently on your life, you had an excellent job. I'll have your grade should be substantiating some aspect of love, but I'll say a selection from McCabe in your thesis to say, Italian Futurism Giacomo Balla, for instance, if you have a good student this quarter, though they'll probably require a fair amount of detail. I think it will boost your attendance/participation grade that was helpful rather than a path that you'd have to speak with me in an in-section responses, OK? I think making a clear argument that is also a thinking process, but may not know yourself yet, I don't know that I built in the assignment handout. I'll see you next quarter we have tentatively arranged to work with, and they will benefit from an assigned course text is fine with me in a Darwinian sense? But you've been very close to their hearts, you have disclosed any part at all you receive a failing grade policy. Be excellent. I'll see you in section Wednesday night with details about the negative sides of nationalism, exactly, surely there are places where attention to how other people have done some very, very good job with it—it was written too close to convenient and painless as possible, OK? That is to write a draft, letting it sit for two or three people together may perform a recitation/discussion segment. For one thing that will be given away on a Leash has been trying hard with limited success to motivate to talk about, but made up for them to move up, then feel free to let you know what's going to be worth emphasizing that your first question, for instance, you must email me a handout or other information, at 7 am for session A but could make it difficult for you if you have a fully developed idea yet, and that neither one has stolen them, and your reading for class must represent your thoughts might be hidden in the symbolism of motherhood, those who. Here are some real contributions in a donut shop is less reliable than a merely solid job, but also the only student who missed the midterm to avoid specificity, and that missing more than happy to discuss Francie's stream of consciousness is potentially very productive move, given Ulysses, is a good weekend! Could you email a description of your discussion. 1% of the contracting party, based entirely upon attendance I won't be assessed until after the meeting you'd have to leave it. Thank you so much for being so long as to avoid hesitation, backing up your final grade for the quarter, and I'm happy to send it along. I said verbally, any your grade I'd just like to see models, there is also a traditional vampire repellent and, Godot TBD, McCabe TBD, please let me know by Friday afternoon for posting on the final exam; b they showed a substantial number of things that would mean that you can bring your copy of your new score for the Self. Was that helpful? You have a good thumbnail background sketch of your own section, and this question lies at the context of your argument and graceful, nuanced close readings and comments into the perspective of a combination that would be a hard time distancing themselves from their topics and themes, looking closely at whether every word, every B paper turned in on the assignment requirements next week: Patrick Kavanagh, I think that there are many other possibilities, and you're certainly on track throughout your paper topic is a mark of professionalism that I think that the rather thin time slice that Joyce gives us of their material. Think about the play with which you dealt. Hi! Hi! My suggestion, then waited four days.

One recall. At the root of these are impressive moves. What is his point is a bit more slowly would have helped to have particular specific takes on all of Godot is already an impressive move, which is entitled to demand from the syllabus, but I think that Easter 1916 is a bit due to strep throat, so it is, I think that's a good student this quarter. If you can get the group develop its own interests while staying on task. IV: lyrics and discussion and question provoked close readings would help to motivate you to get to people that I really did enjoy your long weekend. The cost of a paper that pays off as abrasive, which is entitled Odysseus or Myth and Enlightenment. I know that I think, is the instructor of record for classes that I think that you should rightfully be proud of it. You picked a good weekend, and the way that mothers and motherhood are used as standalone software although it's never bad to have a strong understanding of the poem to music. Don't forget to mention that you are nervous or feel that there is going to be ready to write questions on the rest of your passage, but I think. Lesson Plan for Week 7:00. Absolutely. See Wikipedia's article on the Mad Hatter's hat in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Batteries die, power cords fray, hard drives crash, printers break or run out of it to be as effective as it could, theoretically informed paper, and more specifically, to be on the section website and see whether I was happier then. I won't post them tomorrow night!

Anyway. This was not acceptable, that there are two common practices that students have jobs and sports and family emergencies and about nine billion other things, that I could give you the opportunity to recite, the discrepancy, the average score would be after lecture tomorrow and offline for several reasons, including the fact that you will have failed to satisfy breadth requirements, major requirements, and that not doing so. Distribution of paper handout. —You have a good impression and pick up his midterm; talked exactly twice in section. The Plough and the larger-scale questions may also, if you're leaving town. One of the Heaney poems that will occasionally have reminders, announcements, and Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, all of the room, were engaged, thoughtful performance that you'd have to be helpful. I think you've prepared more material than was required by the Easter Rising, the notes my students: You changed before to as in just a little bit and will have an excellent sense of harmony and rhythm.

I suspect that this would be to find sources that disagree with it. Both of these are worth cleaning up, I've attached a copy of the group to read, and if you have unusual, stressful, or any sheet music during a week when we're discussing the selection you made to the texts as a bridge to a lot of things well. That's very good work. Don't just pick the shortest acceptable one, I really will take as many students who can tell you where he is the day: Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-control, etc.

I'm proctoring a make-up of the analysis that supports your larger-scale questions may also benefit from and to engage other students and integrated their interests and observations Again, very well here. That's a good way to make sure that I may find that action of little importance Though never indifferent. This is not necessarily the order I will take up some important things to do this well enough to juxtapose particular texts side by side? Hi! On another hand, and nicely grounded in a very good plan here. Thank you. The Butcher Boy can best be read in ways other than that would be grateful if you fall back on it before, and you do, in part just because you're bright and articulate and the to smell of perfume; changed off he went; dropped as a member of her religion finds that to happen differently for this, but that you attribute to them; this means that you have a clear logico-narrative path through your questions touches on things that people run up against was that I try to recall what information there is a deep connection to the perception of absurdity this is. I hope it's helpful to build up the section develop its own logic. The study of 'Ulysses' is, in all, Chris! This is not unusual in the argumentative baggage associated with love, for your material effectively and in a nuanced understanding of the landscape itself, just sending me an email saying Welp, guess I'll have one of these announcements. Section. A perhaps complexifying point: every picture I've seen any of the analysis fits into the poem, and this paid off for you than for recall and some gaps for recall, and only on genuinely tiny errors, which sounds like a natural end or otherwise just want the experience to develop. Professor Waid, who told your aunt in Ohio, who is the amount of what you're saying and look at it with the rest of your head as you write, but they're also specific; #4 is also constantly thinking in his collection Illuminations. I'll try hard to get back to you on Thursday. Again, thank you for a more accurate translation of the texts you've chosen as a result of from as a serial killer. You might look specifically at Bottle and Fishes; Clarinet and Bottle of Rum on a first and foremost, I haven't been able to find. But it's entirely normal when you see the text than an omnivore would? In particular, there are some alternate scenarios that assume less-than-required selection and changed grade to demonstrate what a bright student you are welcome to leave campus by four today. Nicely done this week Yeats is almost no work for you so much thought and writing a draft of a woman's affections and body by developing a more rigorous, incisive analysis on other assignments. Responses below. Crashing? I'm trying to eat up time that you needed to happen differently in this way.

Even without the genuinely astounding bonus, this is that you turn in a way that shows you paid close attention to the aspects of some parts of the midterm, based on my shelf at home, if you really do have some interesting comments about the actual facts behind some of the two elements plough, stars and then think about their relationship, but you still have to ask what your overall grade is. If the other Godot groups for several reasons, too, and an estimate based on The Plough and the way in this particular offer for several hours tonight. McCabe yet if they're cuing off of the texts as a whole is 26 lines. Anyone at all. Either way is OK with me or with the poem. You changed where to go this coming Sunday night, and that you tell me when large numbers of fingers to let me know. —You've got some breathing room too, that you should do whatever is most called for, and I will make life easier if you have any more information is needed than you were on track throughout your time off.

I mean: you had a good job, and safe travels if you're planning on using equipment. It's perfectly OK to ask people to discuss you may be that your own thought, then built on it, but certainly not beyond you, then a single goal. If neither of those three things, you will have the room. If you have rocked the cradle of genius. Remember that the Irish status to people that I have open chairs in both sections in terms of which is rather tricky to do Yeats next week. One thing that might ultimately constitute a larger scale, but I think that paying more attention to at least one email from n asking whether she can take you. Where I feel that your own purpose. As it stands, I think that you may ameliorate the conditions producing your anxiety. This is not to claim that Yeats didn't have the gaze. Let me know immediately. Hi, Megan! As it is probably difficult to read. One of the text, and so I suppose, is 50, some people did it because he'd been focusing on other classes and do a perfect job, which had been properly formatted for instance, it could be.

Discussion notes for week 5. Section; c you can be found on the section as a group is one of the poem I've heard, and I think, and you really want to make any changes made I have only three students raised their hand; one is simply a straight numerical calculation that was strong in several ideas for other ways that you could benefit from hearing your thoughts are sophisticated and clear. I think that one or more implicit assertions to support it. For instance, you really do have several options: 1. Some students improved their score between 105 and 118 on the section. Thanks for your recitation needs to be without feedback at the last minute and two-minute lecture on Thursday, and Bates Motel thank you for doing such a good thumbnail background to the course website, and deployed secondary sources. You are absolutely welcome to propose this, and then asking them questions about what kinds of background, and it would have needed to be my student, has interesting and important topics to discuss and/or how to discuss and haven't quite punched through to being perceptive. You might look specifically at Bottle and Fishes; Clarinet and Bottle of Rum on a Leash has been known to bill clients in guineas to this and settled on this will just not show, take the discussion component of your weekend so that they should not be clear on parts of your political poster; and added and before I leave town. —This will not be tolerated. Looks good.

Of course! 277 in the narrative from which stakes for vampires should be watching that show off for you. B papers take risks and do a genuinely collaborative, rather than a merely solid job here, I do before I get for going short, but really, your writing, despite the few comparatively minor textual grammatical, formatting issues that you've put a printed copy of your education, and the Stars How would you prefer to do well. Currently, you don't already use Twitter, you have any other race I think that one way to do at this question would help you make meaningful contributions to discussion problem if it is 4. Those who are reciting that week; it sounds, because asking people where they could stand? You've done a lot of similarities to yours, though I felt that it should be set next to each other. I offer you to work harder for the recitation, you should rightfully be proud of the texts that you're actually talking about a the specific language of your thoughts might be a TA or instructor of record. Attendance. I told him to use Downton Abbey, too, that examining your own narrative dominate your analysis what is it necessarily mean that I didn't foresee at the structural schema given to friends: Carlo Linati; Stuart Gilbert J. In addition to doing it is unwise to email me a right of way. This is a bit more guidance while also bringing them back to you. Aside from the class, with absolutely everything calculated except for the last sentence of the next thing what does it really mean it when I saw you come out and with your ideas develop naturally out of town this weekend has just been crazy and I'm certainly happy to proctor it if you miss more than three sections, you did a very thoughtful comments about some kind of interesting. Then re-instantiate an argument from going for, though, you've done a very small but very well be questions that you made constant insightful, meaningful contributions to the poem. Right now, though I think that the overarching goal is to say that making an audible tone. I'm trying to finish off Arrested Development and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. November: Pearse's The Mother, recited in lecture yesterday: Laurel & Hardy's/The Music Box/1932: There will be 500 total points for section in a grading daze and haven't impacted your grade is unfair. You Are Old. Students who are having difficulties with the professor wants is a strongly religious woman whose son is not too late to pick out the issues.

And what kind of viewer? Let me know what you wanted to discuss with the but this is a pretty good at picking up cues that tell me when large numbers of fingers to let me know if you want to discuss your paper are yours and which lines you're reciting. I think that it is that you look at the end of your discussion tonight. Thank you again for doing such a good plan here. Again, thank you for the quarter as I said, looking at the end of the criteria that I'll be in my office hours are 3:50 or so.

I'll get you one in front of the room. I think that finding ways to proceed with your paper is worth. Before I forget to bring in other places, and have a section you have elements of the course Twitter stream for the conversation without badgering or threats or even if you feel good about yourself although, in the paper has frequent, severe grammatical/mechanical problems can receive, regardless of the text, you provided a good paper. I expected, and a bit too much on track for an excellent Thanksgiving and that you've got a potentially productive ways to answer this question, but I'm pretty sure that every phrase, and that, counting absolutely everything calculated except for the quarter, so I realize that right now your primary insights are and what these differences might mean by passionate, and, say, and went above and beyond the length requirements. I feel that you want your argument will be reciting as soon as I can post a slightly modified version of your grade on that without also pulling in the manner of A-is entirely possible if you have any questions, though this overlaps at least represents itself as a result of curving grades, discussed in a 1:30 to discuss the readings in a lot of payoff for your third source nor, for instance, if that doesn't mean that you'd thought about the Irish identity are instantiated in the middle—91.

#Irish literature #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Python #Markov chains

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fantastic-secrets · 4 years ago

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Crossing the Line [1]

Fandom: Haikyuu!

Summary: Kuroo’s in a relationship with Tsukishima, but he feels that they’re in different places in terms of what they want, and thinking about it is distracting him from his work. But after talking to Kenma and getting his best friend's perspective, he decides to take the initiative and go on the attack.

Characters: Kuroo Tetsurou, Kozume Kenma

Warnings: Sex talk, Language

Word Count: 1.5k

"... roo, Kuroo!"

Kuroo started as he realized someone was calling his name, glancing at Kenma guiltily. The casually dressed young man stared back at him, one eyebrow arched slightly. They were sitting together in the conference room, surrounded by other members of the Japan Volleyball Association, and all eyes were on the representative of the Sports Promotion Division, making him wish he could just sink into the floor and disappear.

"As I was saying," Kenma continued, tapping on the sheaf of papers that sat in front of him, "I don't find promotional videos three and eight to be very interesting. I have provided a more detailed analysis of my findings on page eleven, along with suggested changes. I would like to see replacements for those two videos within one month's time. Would that be possible, Kuroo?"

"Uh. Yeah, that's fine," Kuroo replied, flipping through to page eleven as Kenma turned his attention to the next department. He supposed that he was lucky that it was Kenma that they were dealing with; any other sponsor would have probably taken offense to the fact that he obviously hadn't been paying attention, but Kenma really didn't care about that, as long as the work got done. Kuroo would probably still get an earful from his department head later, but it could have been a lot worse.

When the meeting finally concluded, Kenma left immediately, as he always did, and Kuroo rushed to catch up with his childhood friend, shoving the papers into his briefcase.

"Kenma!" He laid a hand on the younger man's shoulder, forcing him to stop and look back.

"What is it, Kuro?"

"Hey, you're done for the day, right? Let me treat you to dinner, as an apology for earlier."

"It's okay." Kenma shrugged off the hand, continuing to walk towards the exit, and Kuroo kept up with him, walking side-by-side.

"Please, Kenma? I want to talk to you about something, too. You're the most level-headed person I know, so I'd appreciate your perspective."

He watched as Kenma glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. 6:00. They'd run a little overtime to accommodate his schedule, since he was still in university, but nobody begrudged Kenma that time. His insights were incredibly perceptive and had contributed greatly to putting their entire program ahead of their anticipated timeline. Most of their other sponsors were satisfied to just give them money and leave the work to them, checking in on a quarterly basis, but Kenma was the same as he'd always been in high school. When he agreed to do something, he put his all into it: he might not have "guts," but he certainly did have a stubborn persistence and a determination to see things through to the end.

"I'm streaming tonight--"

"At eight, right? It won't take that long, and you've gotta eat sometime, anyway, yeah? Come on," Kuroo wheedled, and Kenma sighed. The taller man grinned broadly, recognizing his victory, and slung his arm over his former teammate's shoulders, steering him out the door.

Soon enough, they were tucked into a booth in Kuroo's favorite kappou restaurant, both of them sharing a bottle of sake as they waited for their food to come.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Kenma asked as he accepted another pour. Kuroo hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly admitted, "Kei."

Kenma's expression didn't change, though Kuroo wasn't sure if it was because his friend had expected as much or if he simply didn't care. Well, if he was being honest, it was probably the latter. For things that didn't interest him, Kenma spent no time or energy thinking about them: when Kuroo had told him that he was dating the tall middle blocker, Kenma hadn't even turned away from his game while he was congratulating him. He never tried to pry into their relationship either, but in a way, Kuroo was grateful for his friend's simple acceptance. Though it did mean that in situations like his, he had to do almost all of the talking, since Kenma wouldn't really hold up his end of the conversation.

"There's nothing wrong with our relationship, and I know that we both like each other a lot, but... I just can't get into it lately. Our sex started out great, because we were both happy to just be able to express our love for each other, and I tried to be loving and gentle, but really, I want more than that. Sometimes, I just want to fuck him up and pound him into the sheets until he's crying. But we've been doing it this way for so long that I don't know how to bring it up, or if it'll end up scaring him away. He's never expressed any dissatisfaction with our sex life or suggested that we try anything different, but..."

He fell silent as the waitress returned with two trays of food, placing one in front of each of them, using the opportunity to drink more sake. He felt like he should be more embarrassed, making a confession like this in the middle of a restaurant, but he could always be open with Kenma, bolstered by their years of friendship and old familiarity. Once the woman had left with the almost empty bottle and instructions to return with another one, Kuroo continued.

"But Kei's also the type who will just go with the flow. A bit like you, really. If he does stay and agrees to it, I won't know if it's because he actually enjoys it, or if he's just trying to make me happy. I'd hate for him to feel like he has to do something that he dislikes to satisfy me. I know that I should talk to him about this, but I don't know where to even start."

"Sounds to me like you should ask him?" Kenma commented, nibbling on a slice of fish. "Don't use leading questions, though. Something like you'd like to spice things up by trying something new, and ask him if there's anything he wants to do."

"And then what?" Kuroo demanded, acknowledging the waitress with a nod as she returned with a fresh bottle of sake.

"And then what? What do you mean?"

"What if there's nothing else he wants? Or if he's not interested in rougher sex?"

"Mmm..." Kenma paused, looking a little thoughtful. "I think you're worrying too much, Kuro. But if it comes down to it, then you'll just have to tell him."

Kuroo's eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at Kenma. It seemed like the younger man knew something, but he didn't seem inclined to share. He was far from stupid himself, but when it came to noticing things, especially about other people, Kenma could be very perceptive. Even though he had been considered a master of provocation in high school, Kuroo still had the occasional misses--like that first time with Kei--but Kenma's assertions had always been grounded firmly in reality, his fascination with the 2D world aside. When Kenma said something could be done, everyone simply believed him and acted without any hesitation or doubt.

Too casually, Kuroo leaned forward, snagging a piece of tempura from Kenma's plate and popping it into his mouth.

"Say, Kenma, how do you know so much about relationships in the first place? You've never dated anyone, at least as far as I know, and you're not an idiot like Tora who would play otomes to learn how to talk to a girl. Or a guy, I guess. Maybe it would have been better for me to have asked Akaashi for his opinion instead..."

"I know," Kenma interrupted, to Kuroo's great delight, "because I pay attention. You and Tsukishima have been together officially for almost a year now, and even before that, you kept coming back to Nekoma to practice even after you graduated whenever we had a match with Karasuno. There's no way that he doesn't know what kind of person you are by now, and you're still together. If he hasn't said anything about it, he probably also doesn't know how to bring it up. So I'm sure it'll be fine."

Kuroo laughed out loud, as boisterous as ever. Several other patrons were turning to look around while Kenma slumped down in his seat, throwing him an irritated look for drawing attention to them. But under his mirth, he felt a sense of relief at having provoked the explanation out of Kenma. It made perfect sense, and yet, he'd been worrying about it for so long. It really had been the right thing to do, getting his advice.

"Sorry, sorry," he apologized when he managed to get himself under control. "So that's how it is, then. Thanks, Kenma."

"Yeah, sure."

The rest of their meal was filled with more innocuous discussion, Kuroo asking him about his classes and his gaming career, talking about his own work in the Volleyball Association, and just catching up together. It was half past seven when Kenma glanced at his watch, his meal only half-eaten.

"It's alright, you go on ahead. Have fun," Kuroo told him as he waved the waitress back over. Kenma nodded, picking up his bag and sliding out of the booth.

"See you later, Kuro."

#haikyuu #haikyū!!#haikyuu!!#hq #hq!!#fanfic #fan fic #kuroo tetsuro #tetsuro kuroo #kuroo #kozume kenma #kenma kozume #kenma #mine

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science-fiction-is-real · 5 years ago

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In which i talk about joseph stalin for a long time and also about intersectionality

You know who i’ve been reading a lot about recently?

Joseph Stalin.

And I’ve been reading, and while i’m at work all day, working mostly alone, no music or distractions, i’ve been thinking about everything i’ve been reading.

and this fucker who died before my parents were even born has been on my mind, because i just don’t fucking get it.

This idiot was a revolutionary. a god damn REVOLUTIONARY. Did hard time in siberia as a political prisoner. (I mean, probably also a prisoner for all the organized crime he was doing---to fund the REVOLUTION) That’s not the sort of thing a grifter, who is only interested in power, gets into. It’s an absolutely terrible grift. It’s a lot of risk to take if you aren’t a true believer.

And in between all the bank robberies and what not, he edited a newspaper and did a lot of writing. There’s a database online where you can read pretty much everything Stalin ever wrote (Along with pretty much every thing pretty much every other famous Marxist ever wrote). I can’t really bring myself to read too much of his stuff. Eww. Why would I want to. Gross. But also I feel like i should in the name of fact checking, and understanding what I’m talking about before I talk about it.

But the stuff i did read, was...... not terrible....? Some of it was replying to other socialist writing (because what do lefties enjoy more than arguing with other lefties, amiright???), a lot of it was old fashioned marxist stuff talking about working class vs capitalists, and a lot of it was describing legitimate complaints about the Czarist government. Expressing anger at the pogroms and the suppression of ethnic minorities and hunger and poverty. Sounds like a good reason to have a revolution to me.

Of course, those were all the same sorts of atrocities he himself would go on to do. again. eww.

But, after all of this, it’s pretty clear to me that pre-revolutionary Stalin was a true fuckin believer.

And that kept me up at night. Because how come that would change when he himself came into power?

Is it because once you’re handed power, the temptation to abuse it is just far too great? Is it because when the revolution is over, and the complexities of the ‘’Real World,’’ are obvious, and it’s all to easy to abandon idealism in order to get things done? Are all post-revolutionary periods destined to be violent and oppressive, because the new government wants to assert its power? How much blame does he get personally, and how much goes to the other founders of the revolutionary movement--Lenin and Trotsky and the like-- who laid the groundwork for how things would function? IS socialism itself just cursed to fail like my republican grandma told me?

Or is this just a classical example of the other thing our republican grandmas warned us about, radical idealists turning cranky and cruel and conservative in old age just like they did? I mean what sort of things did stalin do while in power? A lot of pretty republican things. LMAO. Banning the gays and abortion, enforcing strict gender norms, getting TOUGH ON CRIME! Beefing up the military on money that should be used to provide for people’s basic needs....

If the right gets to try and pass off Hitler as a socialist, the left gets to say that Stalin was a moderate republican. (Not full republican. I mean, he did actually react appropriately when he found out there were Nazis in his country. Just moderate republican.) LMAO!

But then i thought about it a little more.

No. He was not a right winger. No one who spends the first half of his adult life trying to overthrow a government that had been ruling for 300 years is a god damn fucking right winger. He was left wing. But..... Old timy left wing.

Because he did make good on a lot of the socialist ideas while in office. I’m pretty sure he set up a fairly solid welfare state, free housing and education and healthcare and whatnot. That was pretty new and revolutionary for the time.

But... Old timy left wing.

and if you think about old timy left-wingers. most of them are only left wing in SOME areas. The right absolutely LOVES to point this out. ‘’Sure Margaret Sanger was a radical feminist, but she was also a racist!’’ ‘’This person was a racist, this person was homophobic! All your icons are fake frauds!’’ I mean, they probably were all racist and homophobic and whatnot, but that doesn’t actually deminish the radicality of the stuff they were ‘’woke’’ on.

And that’s true for the pre-marxist left too. We can hate on Thomas Jefferson all day long for being a creepy rapy slave owner and rich asshole who should have been tarred and feathered and (sorry, i brought up thomas jefferson, i have to go take 5 and cool down before i punch something) But he still was..... left. To say ‘’all men are created equal,’’ even if you just mean straight white men, was still kind of radical in the 18th century, when the world was still divided up between the gentry and the common men, and people were presumed to have class status that was bred into them and was part of their very inner nature. The idea that you could just throw out the idea of a nobility ruling class, or the monarchy, and initiate some sort of meritocracy based system, was out of this fucking world at that point.

And you can say the say the same thing about the russian revolutionaries. You can criticize them up and down and left and right for being undemocratic, but the idea that wealth should be something everyone has guaranteed access to, that no one should hold economic power over you, that working people deserve some sort of dignified recognition for what they do, that was--AND STILL IS--radical.

Lenin, who lived in monarchical empire, saw the western countries move away from monarchies and embrace our versions of Western Capitalist Democracy (TM). He decided his revolution would go in a different direction, one of economic instead of political democracy. The western style of revolution had been tried, and now it was time to try out an eastern style of revolution.

I think he would have said something like ‘’look, ya’ll in france and england can vote, and i’ve been to france and england. Those places suck ass. You’re poor and hungry and miserable and working 10 hours a day for shit pay and going home to your crammed tenement apartments before dying of cholera at the age of 12. Hell of a lot a good DeMoCrAcY does. We need ECONOMIC democracy instead.’’

I do remember a quote from lenin, that said something along the lines of ‘’Yes, my system isn’t ‘democratic’ but if you think about it, it’s a hell of a lot more democratic than anything they’re doing in capitalist countries.’’

Of course, we modern folk who fancy ourselves so enlightened by hindsight will point out that you need BOTH economic and political democracy. A democratic government being run alongside an undemocratic economy is oppression. Anyone who lives in the United States and has read more than three books in their life can see this. It SUCKS. Likewise. An egalitarian economy being run by an undemocratic government is also oppression, because the government can do whatever it wants to the economy, like, say.... sell all the country’s food on the international market to fund various different 5-year-plan projects. Had Stalin been subjected to democratic processes, he never would have been allowed to do that.

In the early 20th century, there wasn’t really much of a concept of INTERSECTIONALITY. in the modern left, we pretty much agree that if you want to have freedom and equality in one sphere of life, you also need to pursue freedom and equality in other spheres. Oppression is contagious. If you allow discrimination against Gays for example, this leads to discrimination against the sexes because people are going to be forced into stricter and stricter gender norms. And of course, if you want political equality under the law, you also need racial equality so that one group of people isn’t disenfranchised from voting or fair treatment by the courts.

Just like how political democracy has to happen alongside economic democracy.

So yeah, I guess after the end of all this long ranting and shit. I think it makes sense why a serious revolutionary true believer like Stalin can grow into a tyrant. Because Old timy left-wing politics was underdeveloped and had lots of blind spots. People didn’t realize that it was important for movements to be led by people who were seriously committed to intersectional emancipation. Young Stalin when he would go hang out with all of his socialist dude-bro friends, planning their bank heists, wearing their newsboys hats, trying not to die of cholera, he probably wasn’t being called out on sexism or racism. They were just an economic-left movement that didn’t care much about the other stuff.

But there isn’t really a whole lot to gain by doing a character analysis on some ass wipe who kicked the bucket before color television was even invented. All the terrible things he did and all the good intentions, sincere or not, that he had, that is between him and whatever God is governing this bitch of a universe. We on the left know better than to look at individuals to answer important questions, we know to look at systems. And gather lessons so that we can build better movements in the future.

Yeah, whatever, intersectionality.

Sorry this was so long and poorly written. I shall cite no sources and do no editing. Fuck you. Thanks for reading.

#history #hot takes #politics #socialism #opinion time

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aelinbitch-archive · 5 years ago

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sorry for the barrage of salty posts but it’ll be a cold day in hell before i’m not exhausted with people willfully and shamelessly rearticulating the canon content of tog to hate on aelin, put the blame of every bad thing in the series on her character specifically, and paint her in a bad light compared to other characters. it’s so deeply obnoxious and childish yet is made out to be the ~adult~ and logical and analytical way of reading tog even tho half of the assertions and observations these people make are patently wrong. it’s fucking fine to not enjoy aelin’s character but don’t act like subjectively disliking her makes you smarter when all you have to offer to support your view is the shallowest, most embarrassingly weak character analysis i’ve ever had the misfortune of reading in my life

#i cant STAND hypocrisy and lack of self awareness i cant STAND it #greatest hits: hot takes

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traiinedhard-a · 6 years ago

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[ CHARACTER STUDY; SAITAMA & GENOS ]

THE FOLLOWING ANALYSIS CAN GO EITHER PLATONICALLY VIEWED OR ROMANTICALLY FOR THE DUO. i don’t care how you interpret it. go nuts! just know this is long as fuck.

I’m so GLAD Genos and Saitama have each other now. Without each other,,, genos would be wrecklessly trying to push himself to the point of near death and saitama would be wallowing in his own depression but now saitama has something to look forward to talking wise and genos has someone who cares so much about his well-being that he refuses to let him try and basically kill himself like the way he used to. now genos has someone who actually worries if he'll make it through a fight instead of just trying to self destruct at everything he just about loses to. he has been given a safer and more realistic goal to look forward to and he's become more relaxed. saitama's been able to be more expressive since he's constantly with genos, and he doesn't feel as empty because he feels like he has a reason to live now. it's clear that when they're apart saitama worries endlessly for genos (and once worries that something horrific would happen to genos if he were by himself) but without genos around he immediately goes back to his old, lonely ways and feels so unbearably sad and lonely that even king's like "shit man. u ok". and guess what? the moment he sees genos is safe and not dead or hanging on by a string, he’s IMMEDIATELY far happier and even visibly cheers up, and king’s like “WOAH you look awfully refreshed” and saitama’s like “yeah dude my head’s suddenly clear” and if that isn’t love then i don’t know what is.

Of course kuseno cares if genos almost dies, but the thing is, kuseno seems to be just as bent on finding that cyborg as genos is. I feel like... though kuseno still cares for genos PERIOD, he seems to be pretty iffy on the fact that genos has been given more realistic goals to shoot for by saitama and even comments "you're seriously trying to aim for be s rank 1? is that what your master told you to do? what happened to getting vengence against the mad cyborg? where's your passion for that?" and genos is just. shocked and doesn't even reply for a moment and he's like "uh.. i mean.. OF COURSE i still want vengence but i gotta do what sensei wants.." etcBut I do think kuseno notes that this is for the better anyways, iffy feelings or not, because at least genos isn't basiclaly dragging himself in every single week and in tatters, because hell, while genos is strong even when saitama and him first met what was his solution to battles he couldn't win, and even sometimes now? use my core, self destruct, im not worthy of defeating the borg if im losing to this, time to end it, sorry dr kuseno, family, master etc Now Saitama steps in, and I was just REMINDED OF THIS SCENE IN PARTICULAR but like the arc where saitama knocks out genos in the middle of him and sonic’s fight? He was concerned for genos and as someone who rarely expresses concern or care for others, don't you think it's very telling that he stepped in on his own volition to make sure genos didn't get hurt to beat sonic's ass?even sonic comments "are you trying to protect him?" and saitama's like "yeah, of course" and he's clearly getting serious because he doesn't want genos hurt. hell, he even basically ghosted fubuki the moment he saw genos and sonic fighting! saitama really does worry a lot for genos and some of the things he worries about are really concerning.. but this isn't the first time he's been pretty scared for genos. remember the deep sea king fight? he was afraid genos bit the dust there for a it and even visibly relaxes when he finds out genos is okay and he says "Don't ever scare me like that again!" As for the saitama part of things, it's not hard to see the difference of before genos vs after genos. Genos brought color to his world and gave him company, and it's what he claims he never wanted but it's clear how much it helped him. I feel like if it weren't for genos, saitama would be just as shelled up if not more than he used to be -- he didn't really have much of anything to do and it's obvious he was starting to get bored of... life, to put it lightly. But when genos basically asserts himself into his life? he starts to feel again. he's not moping all the time, he has somebody to talk to instead of harmfully isolating himself. he's the kind of guy who was alone with his thoughts for too long -- we get glimpses of it every now and them, but we can clearly tell that he's got a lot of sad emotional baggage. it all stems from being too strong, ofc. but, still, he is DEEPLY troubled by it and life basically lost all meaning for him. any farther and i feel like he would've legitimately felt like existing was useless, though with a body like his i highly doubt he could take... action. And the longer he's alone with his thoughts, the worse he gets, and he just becomes so... mopey. forgive me if i sound repetitive, but like!! genos comes in, and all of that is GONE within a few days. He must've spilled about how lonely he felt to genos at some point before he started getting closer to him -- based on the canon info where saitama actually got genos to cry uncontrollably when he told him how lonely he felt which had to have been some serious shit because. genos does NOT cry. with someone else to keep him away from his thoughts, he started to lighten up. at the beginning of the series it's safe to say he was pretty damn standoffish -- but now? now he's actually attempting to socialize with other people, he actually hangs out with more people whether he wants to admit it or not. He's become a bit softer (not much) to those he doesn't know, and DEFINITELY more expressive -- ESPECIALLY AROUND genos. he's become more thoughtful -- he doesn't mope about his powers much anymore, he does anything and everything with genos because he can talk about it and lose himself in the moment. At least, that's what i like to think. and all around... he's found a new passion for life. the dude isn't just wandering around aimlessly now, he's hanging out with genos and he's living to protect the citizens and genos after he moved in. Yeah, he's always gonna have a strong moral compass and save people, but the joy and the meaning of such actions fall to black and white until genos shows up again. now he's got a reason to keep fighting. he has a reason to get out of bed and feel like his strength means something -- because he can use it to protect others and protect genos even if nobody but genos is thankful of it. As much as he detests the attention he gets from Genos -- think about it, don't you think it helps to have someone think you're not totally useless? That your work does mean something to at least one person even if the world basically gives you the finger? Because I don't think saitama realizes it, but Genos is the one thing keeping him going in the hero job. I honestly think he would have quit when everyone chanted at him to give it up after destroying that meteor if it wasn't for genos -- he saved everyone's lives, and genos was the only one to see it. genos is the one that gets him to calm down and realize that if they don't care, that doesn't matter -- he'd always be there for saitama And anyways, the gist of all this goes back to my first point -- it's amazing that they have each other now, because imagine all the development and all the ways they've been improving just never existing. Without Saitama, genos would still be the same wreckless kid trying to throw himself without thought into wreckless battles. Saitama has helped him heed himself on that, and to relax and stop taking everything so seriously. Genos still takes some things too literally., like the 10-20 word limit when talking to saitama, but I feel like half the time, Saitama couldn't really care less. Without Genos, Saitama would be the same old sad sack of hero he used to be, holed up and his depression worsening because he hardly ever leaves the apartment but for what? Sales? Manga? Sometimes Monsters if he happens to run into them? He doesn't do much of anything and it took a heavy toll on his mental health, but now Genos is there to get him out, to possibly even comfort him or just support him if he needs it. He gets Saitama out of the house, involved ina lot of other activities, and when Genos isn't around, Saitama... doesn't fare too well at all. //COUGHS LOUDLY@ THE MANGA REFERENCED EARLIER (( and personally, despite saitama coming off as almost always :^| i feel like the poor guy really really overthinks things. you may think there's nothing going on in there, but his thoughts really are dangerous for him to be alone with )) Romance or not, there’s no denying this. Like, I DARE anyone to try to say they would be good w/o each other -- I feel like so much of the fandom takes this kinda.. not seriously? It’s not really meant as a dig or anything, but a lot of ppl take what they have for granted..

Saitama just wants to be carefree and he’s still very much lax, and even though he knows he’s a shitty teacher, I think that he does a great job of teaching genos that there’s more to life than REVENGE, SELF DESTRUCTION, and FIGHTING. He teaches him to enjoy the little things in life, and Genos rejuvenates his passion for heroism. I feel like Genos wants to be strong physically and that’s why he so heavily admires Saitama, too, but that’s a bit off topic. It’s something Saitama’s been missing for a long time, and something Genos never had -- he just wants Genos to feel as human as possible, and I feel like he tries all too hard to get Saitama to open up as well. Genos may not be the best at therapy or whatever, but seeing as he’s the person Saitama is closest to, he definitely does want Saitama to feel like he’s never alone and I just. Cannot stress how IMPORTANT THIS IS. Saitama’s got a history of bottling everything up and avoiding confrontation, But Genos? The cyborg wears his heart on his SLEEVE, even if he probably wouldn’t view it that way himself. Thanks to him, Saitama can be himself. He doesn’t have to hide away what he really acts like -- not that he cared much for it anyways -- but around genos he can be.. childish. He can be difficult. He can be whatever he wants, and no matter what, Genos will be there to support him. And I really, really admire that. ONE & Murata did them the best justice i’ve ever seenwith a relationship like theirs. And if there was ever anyone to get romantic with for them -- not even as a shipper, but from a story pov -- saigenos makes so much more sense. They bring out the BEST in each other, and they live together, and... well,, THIS post sums up all my feelings on the matter.

Genos wants to help Saitama in whatever way he can. Saitama wants to make sure Genos lives out his life like any normal person would. You get the gist?

sO. IN CONCLUSION, Saitama and genos may not realize it.... but they definitely need each other. Them meeting was for the best of both of their lives -- and without each other there's no way in HELL they'd be doing as good as they are now.

#OKAY RANT OVER #I KNOW IT'S A JUMBLED MESS BUT HNNNNNNN #⌠jonesy speaks⌡#okay to reblog #⌠character study; jonesy rambles⌡

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stevenuniversallyreviews · 6 years ago

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Episode 100: Beta

“Earth can set you free.”

Bismuth is the first two-part episode in the series that was structured as a single long episode. Beta and Earthlings should have been the second.

This isn’t the first time the first half of a two-parter has ended abruptly (here’s lookin’ at you, It Could’ve Been Great), but there’s a difference between wrapping up a story without much resolution and just cutting to commercial midway through the story, and Beta does the latter. It’s not even a cliffhanger, it’s the beginning of a new scene that pauses for effect and starts exactly where it left off in Earthlings. In most regions they premiered back to back, and could be confused for a single unit if not for the title card.

This isn’t an actual complaint: it’s a harmless distinction to have Bismuth as one episode and Beta and Earthlings as two, especially because Zuke’n’Florido boarded this one and Molisee’n’Villeco boarded the next. But when you’re writing episodic reviews, you have to take the segments as they’re presented, and it is really difficult to review the first half of this story as a discrete unit. The rough equivalent would be writing about Bismuth up until they exit the forge and just stopping there.

I’m not gonna cheat and review Beta and Earthlings at the same time, despite them literally being one story. I could dig in hard to my view that they’re more connected than Mirror Gem/Ocean Gem, The Return/Jailbreak, It Could’ve Been Great/Message Received, and Super Watermelon Island/Gem Drill, but that wouldn’t change that they’re technically two different episodes, and I’m not changing the goal of this blog (to review the series episodically as parts of a whole) out of convenience.

But I am gonna cheat and pull my header quote from Earthlings. Because despite Peridot getting that wonderful moment then, it’s really about what’s happening now.

You can apply a three-act structure to just about any story if you try hard enough, but Beta is more smoothly divided into halves: Steven and friends at the barn, and Steven and friends at the Beta Kindergarten. The second half is fine. It’s honestly more than fine. We’ll talk about it, of course. But the first half is one of my favorite things in the world.

Amethyst’s arc continues to benefit from its funky flow. Our very first shot is of her whip cracking, outfitted with Bismuth’s upgrade, evoking both Bismuth and, well, Crack the Whip. Steven is still helping her out from Steven vs. Amethyst, and just like in that episode, his encouragement is only hurting: he compliments Amethyst’s whippery (and to be fair, he’s doing it more genuinely than in their video game fight), but she reveals that she’s still down on herself. In less than thirty seconds, we’re right back into the swing of things after a huge episode that had something but not everything to do with Amethyst’s insecurities.

And then we get to the barn.

The Meep Morp Exhibit is Florido’n’Zuke’s finest hour, and I’m saying that as a huge fan of Last One Out of Beach City. It’s everything I want in hangout comedy on this show, and thank goodness it has time to stretch, because every second counts. Like It Could’ve Been Great, we get a first half with a killer opening featuring Peridot, but this time we benefit from spending about half the episode basking in its glory.

(As tempting as it is to spend the rest of the post just telling each joke and intermittently saying “that was so funny,” I’m gonna write about the characters instead of the events. I know, I know, nothing is more entertaining than reading an over-analysis of comedy that threatens to take all the joy out of one of the most joyous sequences in the series, but you’ll just have to deal with it.)

I haven’t talked much about Jennifer Paz yet, but that’s because I’ve been saving it for now: it’s easy to argue she has better showcases than Beta (Can’t Go Back is likely her best episode, and The New Crystal Gems shows off her impersonation skills), but this is a terrific medley of all things Lapis Lazuli. We get sweet and earnest Lapis, pleased as punch to see Steven. We get hesitant but assertive Lapis, smiling while delivering a pitch-perfect “No” to Peridot’s request to fly everyone into the barn. We get Daria Lapis, dry as a bone as she talks about Meep Morps (a rare honest-to-god alien joke in a show about aliens). And we get Lapis as a comedy partner with Peridot; the Paz Pic above is the other half of the image I used for Shelby Rabara in Catch and Release, and like their characters they’re unstoppable together. It’s so great to see Lapis and Peridot getting along, considering we last saw them in a tentative truce, and the new status quo we establish here pays major dividends in the future.

In lesser hands, the tonal fluidity between sincere and sarcastic could have made Lapis seem inconsistent, but Paz has mastered both sides of the equation to the point where it all feels real. This dual nature fuels the best joke of the episode—Lapis correcting Steven’s analysis of a Camp Pining Hearts teen repeating “I just feel trapped” while surrounded by mirrors by saying she just likes the show—because it’s impossible to tell if she’s just messing with us (sorry, had to throw one joke analysis in there). It’s brilliant that a character who has been ambiguous from the start can retain this trait while shifting towards the side of our heroes.

And it makes her a great foil to Peridot, the straightest shooter in the series (not because she wants to be, but because she’s so unsavvy that it’s impossible for her to hide her emotions from us). She’s the consummate host here, openly admitting her desire to impress their guests and snooty without shame as she presents her Morps by name and tells us what they represent. Her bowtie is a wonderful gag by itself, but it gets even better when we see the doll she won in Too Short to Ride, whose bowtie has clearly been ripped out, floating helplessly in the water without comment (okay, last joke analysis, I promise).

Amethyst’s antsy desire to leave and focus on Jasper keeps us grounded: I could watch an entire episode about Lapis and Peridot showing off their exhibit without any conflict, but we have to keep the ball rolling on Amethyst’s story. Her loud lack of enthusiasm may seem mean (and it is), but showing her reject repurposed junk reveals just how out of it our trash-loving heroine really is. Plus, as she points out on their walk over, she has no reason to think much of Lapis, whose only interactions with Amethyst have been fights or playing baseball as gloomily as possible. Her attitude isn’t enough to put a damper on one of the best scenes in the series, but skillfully keeps us from drifting too far into the majestic realm of Gem Art.

In terms of the immediate plot, the actual goal here is getting Amethyst in the same room as Peridot, who’s the key to resolving her arc in two ways: she has actual answers in regards to Jasper, and she shares a history with Amethyst involving their mutual feelings of inadequacy. We get references to both Too Short to Ride and Too Far here as they talk about size and Kindergartens, and it’s a natural step in Amethyst’s growth to be helped by someone she once helped. This is a Peridot who’s aware of Amethyst’s issues with how she was made, who’s confident and even proud of her short stature, who’s a total ham with her developing metal powers, and who gives casual nicknames and pep talks when her friends are down. None of that would have been possible without her friendship with Amethyst, and it’s time for her to return the favor.

The Beta Kindergarten’s red sandstone has a warmer, brighter feel than the Kindergarten we know and fear, and we can actually see the sky. So while Amethyst’s cheerful attitude in On the Run acts as a contrast to the unsettling setting, Peridot’s snotty appraisal leans comedic. Shelby Rabara’s mean girl delivery of lines like “It was obviously a total rush job” is entertaining, sure, but it also shows a cute implied influence from Camp Pining Hearts and Lapis in her manner of speaking: it’s the same disdain we’ve seen from her throughout the series, but now through the filter of a haughty teen. We could have gotten away with a straight exposition dump about the Beta location’s role in the rebellion, because it’s fascinating lore and Peridot can be mechanical, but as ever, the opportunity is taken to characterize.

As the tour continues, that classic Kindergarten feeling creeps up on us. The eerie instrumentation that accompanies the Prime location quietly emerges as Steven takes a long look at a broken injector, and ominous percussion plays as we finally see Jasper’s hole, taking the wind out of Peridot’s rambling for a moment of whispered terror. Her attitude soon returns (I love that she dismissively refers to the enormous Jasper as “tall”), but is muted once again when we learn the cleverest plot point of Amethyst’s arc.

We know that Amethyst emerged late and small, and that she was an exception in the otherwise sterling track record of the Prime Kindergarten. But now, after minutes of pointing out how all the denizens of Beta were a mess, we realize that Jasper is Amethyst’s polar opposite: a single massive success in a sea of mediocrity. She’s not just good, she’s perfect, born right on time and flexing her muscles all the way out. It’s worth repeating that a handful of episodes ago there was zero connection between Amethyst and Jasper, but thanks to some seriously elegant writing the pair now feels fully intertwined.

There isn’t an actual resolution to Beta, but the closest we get is Amethyst’s newfound resolve to beat Jasper. After an entire episode spent sulking, our hero is finally revved back up and brimming with enthusiasm, which leaves Peridot picking up the buzzkill baton. Amethyst may be in a better place, and her kinship with the messy offspring of Beta is heartwarming, but she still thinks the only road to satisfaction is defeating her rival in single combat. It’s a mindset that befits her quartz heritage, but I’m glad that it’s Peridot, who got out of her own slump with help from Amethyst, who feels comfortable pointing out that it’s not a realistic goal. Steven’s input has been consistent throughout the episode, and Peridot (who was once told not to focus on what she can’t do by a certain purple Gem) could have been drawn in by Amethyst’s zeal. But for all her artistic sensibilities, this is still a blunt realist, and after going out of her way to try and prove Jasper’s inferiority she’s still forced to admit that Amethyst’s goal is a pipe dream.

Steven keeps to the background here, due to that consistent input. Obviously he’s still charming and helpful, but Beta is more about Amethyst and Peridot in the grand scheme of things. It shows his continuing growth as a leader, realizing that a kindred spirit like Peridot could help Amethyst out, and he still gets a brief pep talk that gets the ball rolling on Amethyst’s rekindled desire to fight Jasper. But he’ll get more focus after the commercial break. For now, we realize that the strange holes are cages for Corrupted Gems, then Jasper emerges from behind a sand cloud, then Amethyst pulls out her whip, then

Future Vision!

We actually meet the Beta Kindergarteners that Amethyst was hyping up in That Will Be All, including Skinny and the Carnelian that Peridot mentioned.

I’ve never been to this…how do you say…school?

Dude, spoilers that Peridot’s gonna become a farmer!

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

It’s our hundredth episode! And that means a new expansion of the top list from fifteen to twenty! When It Rains, Catch and Release, Chille Tid, and Keeping It Together return to the higher heights, while Bismuth squeezes right in in the sixteenth slot. We’ll be expanding again to a top 25 at episode 125 to maintain the percentage of glory for another moment.

As for Beta itself, it was a tough call. But if I’m being honest with myself, I love the opening scene so much that it makes up for it only being half a story. I’ve watched that scene alone so many times and it still satisfies.

Top Twenty

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Bismuth

When It Rains

Catch and Release

Chille Tid

Keeping It Together

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

We Need to Talk

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Monster Reunion

Alone at Sea

Crack the Whip

Beta

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service

Greg the Babysitter

Gem Hunt

Steven vs. Amethyst

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

No Thanks!

5. Horror Club 4. Fusion Cuisine 3. House Guest 2. Sadie’s Song 1. Island Adventure

#beta #steven universe #su #steven universally #review

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ghostcrows · 6 years ago

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Skee Possum Ghostcrows’s analysis of the film Lady Bird which i watched in my english class and want to talk about to someone starts Now. nobody asked and i delivered ;)

it’s not like i think it was super groundbreaking or anything but it just made me think. films that make you go hmm

will tag as long post but i am not putting it under a cut sorry

first i’ll talk about things i didn’t like because i like to end on positive notes

cons:

- very straight. very heterosexual. there’s a gay guy in it and he’s actually treated fairly well, though we don’t delve deep into his story, but watching lady bird go to town on guys was an unpleasant experience that luckily the screen being too dark saved me from the worst of

i understand WHY they did it, it’s a coming of age sort of story, she’s learning and leaning into her sexuality, that’s fine, but i’m hopelessly heterophobic so i can’t help but detract points for this

- the ending was way too abrupt....i didn’t expect to see lady bird’s entire life story unfold but i feel like we needed at least a scene or two more to end on a note that didn’t feel so lacking...i kind of get it though like not everything is perfect loose-ends tied and we don’t get to see everything all the time but...it felt lacking.

- i don’t like that she went back to using the name christine. maybe it’s just the transed in me but i thought her asserting this name, this identity that she carved for herself, was really cool, and i can see how it might be considered her being “ashamed” of her name or her trying to be someone she isn’t, but....it was clearly special to her. it just. it would have been more powerful, i think, to me at least, for her to keep the name lady bird. it’s an interesting name

- speaking of her name, we never really get to know why she goes by lady bird. maybe i missed something, but i don’t think we do. i would have liked to know what significance that name had to her. maybe it was like, the dream of flying far away like a bird, that sort of thing, how birds symbolize freedom and all that. maybe that’s part of why she went back, when she realized her town wasn’t all bad. but still. just personally i think she shouldn’t have gone back to christine

neutral things:

- it was kind of weird how she was talking to that guy at a party about not believing in god. i kind of got the impression that the catholic church had made her disillusioned. it’s not necessarily bad that she still had faith (or seemed to based on that conversation), it’s just strange. maybe that was to show how she was thinking back on and regretting being so cold to her surroundings? still.

- not so 2000′s it’s sickeningly in your face but it was just 2000′s enough lmao. like, the bell bottom jeans and the flip phones and just the all around vibe...yeah

- i felt kind of bad watching lady bird leave julie to try and get in with jenna and kyle and their crowd. she didn’t seem like the type to do something like that. i can kind of understand though, peer pressure and all. and she went back in the end, so she did learn her lesson, which is good

- sometimes she would start to make a point to her mom or the church like she was stickin it to em, like the abortion assembly, but then she swerved and ended it weird. like she had us in the first half i’m not gonna lie lmfao

good things/noteworthy things:

- i thought the shots were pretty good. i mean, i don’t know a lot about the technical aspects of film (despite spending two years of high school in AVTF) but it just looked good, the colors looked good, they made sacramento look really gorgeous. which really made you ask, why does she hate it here of all places? “wrong side of the tracks” my ass...

but see, i can still understand that. i think that, when you find yourself in a bad position in life, when you’re going through a rough time, you tend to lash out on your surroundings. i did that myself with my own hometown. sometimes i still do. i think it’s a boring, stagnant place and on my worst days i think it’s a literal hellhole. but it’s not, really. i’m the hellhole. the hellhole is me. and that’s why it was a shock for her when she went to new york and kind of just did the same reckless things she was doing before. it doesn’t matter where you go, you can’t escape your problems just by moving to a different place. you can’t leave your brain in your hometown and fly a hundred miles away and be happy. you have to work on you first. a change of scenery might help but ultimately, you gotta fix you

- i found it contradictory to me in that it was really relatable while also being pretty unrelatable. when i look at lady bird as a character, i see myself. but not all of myself. not even myself as i am now. more like a piece of myself. a piece thats still in me but that largely got left behind in high school. which makes sense bc thats where she is during the course of the film

i found it relatable in just, the ways they showed the audience the experience of being an adolescent afab person. not completely, but in a lot of ways. i saw my ninth and tenth grade cis girl self a lot.

what was unrelatable was mostly the way that while i sat around and daydreamed about being this rebellious teenager sticking it to the world, she actually went out and did it. it’s like seeing an image of who i might have been, had i acted out on my desires. and i’m not saying i wish i had done that or that i’m glad i didn’t. it’s just an observation more than anything. it’s like, my wild girl self if she had “flourished” (if you can call it that, and yeah she wasnt TOTALLY wild but like. the amount of wild, the amount of fun and rebellious that i’d wanted to be then)

- the way they talk about sex is very real, which i like. it’s funny and not too prudish or too vulgar (though i dont really have standards for too vulgar lmao). that was just cool

- i’m glad that danny was a character. yeah he was just a side dude and they didn’t touch on him being gay in depth but they didn’t really need to? like. i’m just glad it was the way it was. he didn’t die or get punished or have everyone turn against him, he just upset lady bird because he was pretty much cheating and her feelings for him had been more real than his for her. she tried to use it as an insult briefly but i don’t think it was out of real animosity, just being hurt because she’d felt betrayed. and when he broke down and cried and she stood there and held him that almost made me tear up in class oops

- this is a big huge one. the way lady bird and her mother’s relationship operated was so. SO fucking resonant with me. and i wish it wasn’t. it’s like looking in a mirror and hating what you see. i’m glad i saw it, but i hate that it’s true to me too. y’know?

the way her mother is constantly overly criticizing and making comments towards her and lady bird tries to defend herself or come back at her, the way she subtly (or overtly) suggests that lady bird will never amount to anything great and she should just settle for mediocrity

the way her mom refuses to speak to her when she’s begging her to just say something, anything to her

the way her mom acts when she takes her to the airport

the way she shames her for being financially dependent on her and assumes that she’s ungrateful when she’s just. frustrated with the situation (i understand why her mom feels that way, i understand why MY mom feels that way. but you still can’t make your kid feel like shit for costing so much to raise when they didn’t ask to be born lmao...) the scene where she says “give me a number. give me a number so when i get rich i’ll pay you back and more and never have to speak to you again” and her mom’s reply that she’ll probably never get that far? that was so real it KILLED me. that was EXACTLY something that would happen between me and my mom

and oh . ohhhhhh my god. when she’s in the changing rooms and her mom can’t come up with a nice thing to say about her dresses...and lady bird says “do you like me”

“lady bird, i love you”

“yeah....but...do you like me.”

and her mom had nothing to say

that was PAINFUL. PAINFUL...because that’s...the way i feel with my mom too

- the way that financial stress can bring emotional turmoil to an entire family was really resonant as well, which ties into that last part. i could understand her parents’ struggles and sympathize with them, but i still leaned towards siding with lady bird because while yeah she was kind of extra sometimes, and she tried to act like she was one of the rich kids bc she was ashamed, and i get how that would hurt her parents....overall she was just. frustrated with the situation. frustrated with her relationship with her mother, frustrated with her school, afraid she might not get where she wants to be, CONSTANTLY discouraged by her family and told to aim lower....whatsa girl ta do yknow?

- i loved that lady bird went to prom with julie. it was really sweet. and it’s a reach and a half but bisexual lady bird confirmed

- i think ultimately its good that she kind of realized, oh...yknow...maybe its not the town i hated. i think i actually quite like my hometown. it was just my situation. and there’s a lot about sacramento that i can appreciate. i think that was good. BUT i don’t think it should end with her going back and settling just because she made that realization. you can come to that conclusion that maybe things weren’t so bad with the place you lived, without giving up completely and moving back home. i don’t like the implication that she was wrong to want more, wrong to change her name, wrong to try and carve a place and a name for herself in the world. i don’t like the idea that her family was right all along. and it doesn’t end outright saying that, it ends super abruptly and is up to interpretation, but i really like to think she made it in new york. or at least that she made it somewhere. and that maybe her relationship with her mom got better with time. it’s what i hope for me and my mom too

and i think that’s it. thanks for listening if you liked this video smash that like button smash that subscribe button and hit the little bell so you never miss a notification. until next time!

#skee txt #long post #very long post #lady bird

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