#the themes of abuse in general throughout the story and how it is apologized or weirdly handled

[paradox-time]

@basil-does-arttt

Heeeeyyyy, thanks for giving me an excuse to ranttt <3<3

Ok so, I saw a post of yours that was something like "what about gortash do fans find appealing?”

I'm going to try my best to answer why some of us are fans of this Absolute Shitbag (pun intended)

Some of my credentials, I've played the game for over 700 hours over about 4 months, seen, made, and interacted with tons of fan content and talked about it at length with other fans and unwilling friends. I make it my job to know every single scrap of Lore the game has to offer, going to stupid lengths to read all the books and letters hidden throughout the game, I also savescum the hell out of dialog options so I don't miss any exposition. I've played a tav twice and a dark urge 8 times, plus started but never finished other origin playthroughs.

Safe to say. I am deranged. (Yay hyperfixation)

Anyway, Enver Gortash is one of my favorite villains in fiction. This does not, in any way, mean that I admire or excuse any of his actions. I don't find him handsome or charming. He isn't redeemable or even likable in any capacity as a person.

The entire main theme of the game is whether or not the characters perpetuate the cycle of abuse or break it. You see that with Astarion, he either kills Cazador and forges his own future as a freed spawn, or ascends, and becomes someone who is just as bad and abusive as Cazador. You see it with Shadowheart in whether she chooses to live a life under Shar's cruel influence, or leave her past behind her and embrace Selúne. You see it in Gale and whether he ascends to Godhhood and is nothing like the kind and inquisitive person he once was, or leaves Mystra and his life as an archmage behind to live a life of quiet comfort where he can follow his passions and teach people like he should have been taught instead of isolating students like how mystra and elminster isolated him.

Many more examples blah blah blah

Ok, a lot of people (wrongly) try to justify and apologize for everything gortash has done by pointing at his backstory like a gotcha thing.

Gortash's parents sold him into slavery when he was very young to pay off their debts. The person who then raised and owned Gortash was none other than the ultimate slimeball, Raphael the Cambion. In this environment, Gortash grew incredibly bitter and started to worship Bane, the god of Tyranny, Dictatorship, Strife, and Subjugation. This was because he believed he was owed power over others for everything he was put through. He then becomes a slave trader, selling Karlach to Zariel is one notable example, a war profiteer and arms dealer, he keeps the families of his prisoners held hostage in an underwater prison that was rigged to explode and then subsequently flood if any of his factory staff tried to escape. His workers were also made to wear fucking bomb collars. He sews bigotry in the general public by not letting refugees in the city and controlling the media (newspapers and posters). His entire goal and religious doctrine is founded on the belief that it is his divine right to control and oppress people.

It has been so freaking long since I've found a piece of media that had an actual villain, but still kept said villain's story and motives interesting! Lots of modern media really tries to go the formulaic propaganda villain route. “Character A wants to do the right thing. Character B wants to do the right thing but does it in a BAD and DiSrUpTiVe way!! Gasp!! Villain!” I think it's supposed to endorse and enforce moral superiority of centrists, yuck. but that's a Different Tangent™.

I feel like there are a lot of fans that think that in order to like a character, they have to be morally palatable and pg or whatever. I see lots of fans that can't fathom liking a character that is genuinely evil and a bad person. So they just. Ignore the entire central point of the character.

Gortash sucks ass. If I met him in real life I would beat his ass into the dirt. But he isn't real. And fiction, especially interactive fiction, is an amazing way to explore darker themes in a safe and controlled environment. This is amazing for dozens of reasons, including exploration of catharsis.

I like Gortash because he amazing as a Villain. His story is super connected to the themes of the game. His acting is done with so much care and talent from the production team at Larian.

Fans who fawn over and woobify him. Umm. Do better. Get media literate please. No hate, love all the gortash content, especially in relation to the Dark Urge's story line. But please stop pretending he isn't as bad as he is. That's one of the main things I find compelling about him as a story device in the first place. You can like evil characters because they're fake.

Ummm conclusion…. Yeah. I like Gortash because he makes a fun story.

[spywitch]

I loved all my elementary school teachers but like the one disappointing thing about all of them is how they loved harry potter and would do literary analysis on it a lot but didn’t realize at all how terribly written it is. Like yes Mrs. M it is at least more complex and better written than Twilight but thats a low low bar.

And the thing is I don’t think a children’s book has to be super well written and have detailed world building or political themes to be a good children’s book. The problem is HP TRIES to and is so awful at it.

[ghosthan]

hello!! i saw that you made a lot of stuff for 1872 and i was wondering if 1872 tony is similar to regular comics tony?? i know mcu and comics tony are different and i want to get into 616, but if 1872 comics are more easy to read i might try those first! 😅

Hello, hello! 

Thank you for asking, and sorry it took me so long to get back to you! I wanted to think about it and put together a thoughtful response because I am desperately trying to convert MCU fans to 1872. Or comics fans who just haven’t gotten into 1872.

This post will contain some 1872 spoilers, but not the Big Spoiler that you probably already know about anyways. 

Anyways, let’s get into it. Yeehaw.

What is 1872? It’s Steve/Tony in the wild west.

1872 comics are very easy to read, very short, and you need absolutely no prior knowledge to get into them; I highly recommend these as a start point for MCU fans who are curious about dipping their toes into some of the other Steve/Tony universes. And 1872 is, indeed, a Steve/Tony universe. It’s really gay, (and dramatic.) Uh. So gay, in fact, that one of the comic artists who drew pages even occasionally shares Steve/Tony shipping memes. So.

Marvel 1872 is a four issue series released as a part of the Secret Wars event; you really do not need to know anything about this to enjoy 1872, because it is a self-contained alternate universe in a “pocket dimension”, meaning it’s totally separate from the 616 cannon but technically exists in the expanse of the multiverse!

Here’s the summary:

In the Battleworld zone of 1872, Sheriff Steve Rogers faces corruption and fear in the boom town of Timely. Can Anthony Stark pull Rogers' fat from the fire? Probably not, since the only thing he seems capable of pulling is a cork from a bottle. Things in Timely are bad, and getting worse — and when a stranger arrives in town, Timely will be changed forever.

Now, to compare “regular comics Tony”, or 616 Tony, with 1872 Tony.

The main difference? 616 Tony wears this sexy little under suit (or nothing) under his armor, like this:

And 1872 Tony wears dirty, stinky one-piece pajamas under his armor (not sexy):

He’s so gross, he’s a mess. I love him. You’ll love him, too. 

No, okay. Being serious.

 616!Tony’s backstory is a lot more complicated just due to how long the character has existed, and the decades of cannon (much of it self-contradictory at points.) Like MCU Tony, 616 Tony used to manufacture weapons, experiences something life-changing, and becomes who he is as a result of this as a catalyst. 616 Tony’s backstory has been rebooted a few times, and I’m definitely not the definitive source on Iron Man lore compared to people who have read all of his comics, but I’ll try to touch on the basics.

Originally, 616 Tony Stark is shaped by his experience in the Vietnam War. This is later rebooted and changed to war in the middle East (we see this in the MCU when Tony is held captive in Afghanistan.) In both circumstances, he is taken captive after being in the air for war technology, and then he creates the suit to save his own life (losing a beloved mentor in the process, the guilt of which stays with him after.)

Tales of Suspense #39

In 1872, Tony’s formative event is the Civil War in some ways, but in other ways, this is only half of it, because this is not the event which causes him to build armor or set him onto his “become a better person” trajectory, like in the other comics. Mainly, the Civil War functions to cause Tony to stop weapons manufacturing and throw his life away down a bottle.

We get a flashback of Tony in the year 1862 with his female companion, picnicking and about to watch a battle, (rich people from the North did this in real life. If you’re interested, read more here!) We don’t get much of his past, but we discover that he is a rifle manufacturer and that he has created something called the ‘Stark Repeating Rifle’, and it seems that he has done so with the hope of encouraging a cease-fire, more than a slaughter.

Well. We don’t always get what we ask for.

Tony vows to actually never touch a weapon ever again, and this personal oath means so much to him that he gets creative at times during 1872 when he’s being chased by baddies:

Witnessing the extreme bloodshed of the Civil War, and feeling responsible for a huge amount of deaths, Tony turns to drinking, (and presumably moves to the west to escape the Pain of his Past, but this is not shown explicitly on panel; I have assumed, though, that Tony’s weapons manufacturing company was in the East, probably Boston or New York, since he comes from family money and because the American West was still “young” at this point in time so it would be unlikely that an established business would be supplying a war from lawless territory with little infrastructure.)

In 616, it’s worth noting that Tony builds the armor to save himself from danger in a war scenario; this is not the case in 1872, things unfold a bit differently. The Civil War certainly sets in motion the chain of events that eventually lead to the creation of Tony’s armor, but he’s not in physical danger or physically traumatized by the war in this verse as he is in other verses, and 616 Tony seems to have a stronger sense of duty than 1872 Tony, but this might be a complication of the depression/apathy related to the alcoholism.

What I mean by this is that both iterations of Tony struggle with alcoholism, but differently. Mainly, while 616 Tony has several alcohol themed arcs, and hits rock bottom with his alcoholism to cope with his trauma, he is sober more than he is drunk in the comics. His drinking almost kills him, and he almost loses everything because of the drink. It’s a source of enormous shame for him.

In fact, during this time in 616, I think Tony at his lowest reminds me a lot of 1872 Tony; 616 Tony is not an apathetic person and he holds himself accountable for an obscene amount of responsibility, but during what is referred to in fandom as The Second Drinking Arc, Tony basically gives up. This is the most “like” 1872 Tony, at least at the start of his arc. Rhodey takes over the mantle of Iron Man, and 616 Tony spirals, not caring whether he lives or dies, not hero-ing certainly.

We see both versions of Tony express similar sentiments, a certain cavalier attitude about their lives (and outright suicidality at other points) with nothing left but the drink.

Iron Man Vol. 1 #182

Compare with:

And you can certainly see a resemblance between this set of panels from IM v.1 #176 and in 1872:

Iron Man Vol. 1 #176 and Marvel 1872 #1

It’s a little different in 1872, where his drinking really is purely a result of his existing despair, and it doesn’t cause enormous problems for him, (minor problems, sure. He spends a lot of time drunkenly singing to Sheriff Rogers, or bothering him from the inside of a jail cell.) But this Tony lives at rock bottom, whereas 616 Tony only stays at rock bottom long enough to get his life back together (as many times as it takes.)

This Tony really doesn’t show any outward shame about his drinking; presumably, the people he knows in Timely have only ever known Tony as a drunk, and none of the people from his old life are here to see him like this. 

This is a Tony who has essentially given up on himself and has moved out West to hide from his shame and his past; this is not a Tony who is scared of letting down his friends by drinking, or scared of shirking his “duty”, because this Tony has moved away from all of his friends and has given himself no duties. He’s a bit more apathetic, but I would argue that this is not because he inherently is a less moral version of Tony, but because in this verse, he was drinking for a very long time and circumstances unfolded differently so it took him a longer time to find that sense of purpose and responsibility (beyond just shutting down manufacturing guns,) which is awakened in him by Steve Rogers. 

616 Tony’s sobriety is a major part of his character, and a conscious choice that he makes, even during some lowest points:

Civil War: The Confession

He takes some amount of pride in his sobriety, and when he does fall off the wagon at times (or magic makes everyone think he did,) it absolutely tears him up because 616 Tony cares very, very much about his sobriety and does not like who he is when he’s drinking. We do not know if 1872 Tony’s father had been a drunk or not, but we know 616 Tony’s father was, and that the drink lead to him treating Tony abusively.

Iron Man Vol. 1 #285 

Avengers Disassembled #1 (This was when ~magic~ made Tony drunk and it wrecked him breaking sobriety without ever having actually drank. Oof.)

616 Tony’s long struggle with alcoholism is a major part of his character and he has had relapses over the years and throughout the reboots, but in general, he does not drink.

1872 Tony starts drinking in 1862 and doesn’t stop until the last pages of the story, so in terms of the cannon we have for him, he is a current drunk, rather than a former drunk. This isn’t to say he doesn’t stop; but since it’s in the last page or so, it sets the reader up to imagine his sober future, rather than exploring his sobriety as 616 does. (Calling all fanfic writers!)

Anyways, both Tony’s are excellent. Both are damaged and traumatized, both are Iron Man in their own ways, both (eventually) find sobriety, both have some cute, quippy dialogue (though 616 Tony tends to be more reserved/polite for sure, in general). 

The last thing I’ll point out, is that both Tonys’ narratives are intertwined with and influenced by their respective Steve Rogers. I’m not saying soulmates but I’m saying soulmates.

Anyways. Sorry this post got super long, and I apologize if any of it is confusing or redundant, I am not functioning at my highest capacity currently. Please read 1872. Let it rock your world. Create & consume the fanworks, I would love to see a boom of 1872 content (more than the fics and art I keep making!) And my ask-box is always open!

[phoenixdnasty]

The Problem with Season Five

this is already going to have a lot of you in the replies yelling at me. obviously, massive SPOILERS for s5 of she ra and the princesses of power if you haven't already seen it.

okay, so She Ra is definitely a kids' show, but it has a lot of themes aimed towards an older audience: abuse, war, found family, destiny and knowing who you are. I loved She Ra because it made me feel empowered, made me feel seen. after this last season, however, I don't feel the same. I will, however, talk about what it did well.

What She-Ra s5 did RIGHT

I very much enjoyed seeing the character development for most characters come to the forefront here. For example, SW returned to her original motivations. When she lived in Mystacor with the other sorcerers, her thirst for power was borne of a desire to fight the Horde. When she was rejected, then she chose to do what she did. We see a return to that in s5, where she takes a stand against Prime by enlisting Castaspella to stop her if she tries to take any power for herself. She ends up just wanting to help, to do what she can, which was excellent. Glimmer, Bow and a bunch of other characters are given some love here as well. I especially enjoyed seeing Bow and Mermista take on leadership positions in the absence of Adora; it was an excellent look into another facet of their personalities.

Character interactions in non-serious moments were, for the most part, good. Swift Wind and Scorpia being bros was not something I knew I needed but something I want more of. Netossa basically being Batman and knowing the weaknesses of everyone around her was great and an iconic scene. Bow thinking Catra was super adorable was also an excellent moment in the season and I could watch 9 more seasons worth of that. Something that surprised me was Entrapta's "not good with people"-ness being talked about and addressed by the other characters and explained by her; I wasn't sure if that was ever gonna be talked about in the show.

Side note: thank you Crew-Ra for giving Scorpia her own musical number, it was great.

Prime was also a fascinating enemy. He's this sort of religious figure, this world destroyer who's been around for seemingly centuries, maybe much longer. He's cold, calm and calculated. I've seen it pointed out that he's everything Hordak is not. He's manipulative, knows body language and facial expressions, and has a perfect grasp on how to get exactly what we wants. My favorite aspect of this season was the hive mind control. This was a very interesting plotline to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed HiveMind!Catra as well as Wrong Hordak. I loved the idea of pitting allies against each other and the angst and emotional weight that carried.

Going to use that point to segue into one of this season's strengths: Netossa and Spinnerella. Wow! We get a chance to see what a healthy queer/wlw relationship looks like, and two background characters get major upgrades in relevance. Two diversity points for one being a big girl and for the couple being interracial (in our world anyway), but diversity is the norm is SPOP and we might have to stan forever. It was extremely heartwarming and resulted in one of my favorite scenes to ever show up in animated media (one which I'll be stealing to add to my vows if I ever get married):

It was beautiful and I will absolutely never shut up about it.

There were some beautiful moments this season!! Absolutely gorgeous. A highlight for me cinematically was episode 5, which will probably bother some people when I say what I will below. I will be honest, the new transformation sequence and the scene of Adora holding Catra as She-Ra was powerful and had my heart pounding with excitement. It was awesome.

On the other hand...

What She-Ra s5 did WRONG

I'm going to break my issues with the final season down one by one, starting with the narrative of abuse.

From the very beginning, abuse is the most prevalent theme in the show. Prime (HP) abuses Hordak, Hordak abuses SW, SW abuses both Adora and Catra, and Catra abuses Adora. I liked the Crew-Ra tackling this issue. Abused people abuse people, right?

Why was everyone redeemed in s5? (Well, except for Prime, he was blasted away by She-Ra.) Hordak was given a blank slate to start over, even though he was the reason Etheria was war torn for at least a few decades; SW was given a hero's sacrifice, where at the end of her life she finally decides to do some good; and Catra is immediately forgiven for doing one good thing and all trust in placed in her simultaneously.

Hordak and H. Prime as abusers are pretty cut and dry; at no point are they ever remorseful for their actions, except for Hordak in the case of being abusive to Entrapta. SW is much more of an interesting character to analyze, because her motivations are geared directly towards herself. This seems to change in the final season, when she returns to her original motivations from back when she was in Mystacor. Defending her home. In her pursuit of the power needed to defend Etheria from the Horde, she fell into darkness. She began to abuse Adora and Catra.

One could argue that the hero's sacrifice she was given for redemption was unneeded. SW was an individual addicted to power. She was manipulative, using fake affection as a means to control. She didn't deserve a redemption. The only evidence we have of this supposed change of heart is a line to Castaspella: "...and stop me if I try to take the power for myself." Okay... so, SW, um... what changed your mind? Was it Micah? Because at no point has he forgiven you. In fact, there should've been much more hostility between the two of you (which is a point I'll address in a moment). In all honesty, the relationship between SW and Micah reminds me of what should've happened between Catra and Glimmer, or Catra and Scorpia.

And Catra... My problem with her story is that she was kinda just... forgiven? instantly. no repercussions, no long talks about feelings, no... consequences. Catra got the girl and that was it. A small list of things she did over 4 seasons, in no certain order:

Scratched what was implied were scarring marks down Adora's back

Was the cause of Angella's "death" #angelladeservedbetter

Kidnapped both Glimmer and Bow

Opened a world-ending portal all to ensure Adora failed

Also pushed Adora into what looked like an abyss

Verbally abused Scorpia into leaving

Wanted to pit Corrupted!She-Ra against her friends (dehumanization)

Got Entrapta sent to Beast Island, a deadly place no one ever returns from

And this is just the stuff off the top of my head. We all knew Catra was going to get a redemption, but this one was completely undeserved. She apologized to Adora and Entrapta. Two very short apologies for what canonly was at minimum, months of abuse, manipulation, intent to kill (which is literally mentioned by Adora) and general disregard for anyone or anything but revenge for something that didn't even deserve it. The entire cast should've been outraged. Glimmer in particular had a very big reason not to ever forgive Catra ("I'm not losing another parent!"), but it was all glossed over.

The biggest issue with season 5 was the abuse plotline completely dropped. You can't spend 4 seasons explaining how the cycle of abuse affects you and everyone around you... and shelve it. And we know the reason why it was shelved.

Let me first preface this with the fact that I am super happy we got representation. As a queer nblw who grew up feeling alone, it's so good to see things changing in media. An onscreen wlw kiss on a kids' show is groundbreaking and I'm very happy that She-Ra broke this barrier.

But all representation is not good representation. Catra and Adora is not a good representation of a healthy relationship.

Catra is shown throughout the series to be very unstable. This is even prevalent in season 5, when Adora "chooses SW" over Catra, she runs away. This breaks Adora's heart. The last thing that Catra needs is a relationship when she hasn't even confronted the issues that she has. There's no healing done in season 5, no therapy as the fandom loved to meme about, no long talks about forgiveness and the hurt caused. There's no callback to any of the pain and anguish that Catra put Adora through. Catra may love Adora, but if there is no healing done for the both of them, their relationship will fail. They will fall into the same cycle again. Adora will do something Catra doesn't like, Catra will do what she's done for all of the show, and it will repeat until something breaks.

I'm going to talk about the implications of the ending we have now, and feel free to argue with me.

She-Ra is a kids' show. Abuse is one of the main themes. Catra is shown to be an abuser. Here's what we are teaching younger audiences:

a. if you love someone enough, maybe they'll change

b. everyone deserves a second chance

c. your abuser will change as long as you're loyal and never stop trying to love them

d. things someone does to hurt you mean nothing in the wake of forgiveness

e. if someone who hurt you changes suddenly and wants to be back in your life, you should let them back in

Character interactions for the things that mattered (plot threads from previous seasons, general personality clashes, etc) were absent this season, in the moments where they mattered the most. (The best three in my opinion were Scorpia and Perfuma, the BFS inviting Catra in, and Mermista and Entrapta.) Glimmer and Adora should've had their time to talk. Scorpia should've gotten to say her piece to Catra. SW and Micah should've interacted more. Micah and Glimmer should've gotten more than an introduction!

I'm not going to get into how the entire final season was wrapped around making Catra and Adora get together (a fundamental writing no-no; it never ends up working), or how it was bad writing. I just want everyone to think critically for one moment. There are so many other glaring issues in what was, overall, a stellar show. If there was another season, or some mini episodes where the characters talk out their problems and past transgressions against each other, then I could excuse She-Ra. But I doubt we're going to get any of that. So I won't.

[fandomlurker]

A Ponderous Rewatch: Pavlov’s Mice and Cameo

So thanks to Tumblr nerfing my ability to make an admittedly absurdly long post combining the previous episode rewatch with this one, I had to do this entry in two parts.

But at least now we’re in for the real treat: The first episode in airing order that’s animated by TMS Entertainment. And hey, even the Animaniacs show itself seems to acknowledge that this is special, because theme song rhyme is…

We're Animanie! Totally insane-y!~

Pinky and the Brainy!~

…which hasn’t been done since their debut. So this is gonna be fun.

Might as well get this out of the way, then, since this episode obviously involves Ivan Pavlov. I think most people who know of Pavlov through cultural osmosis pretty much know him as just “that one scientist who got dogs to respond to the sound of bells as if they were being offered food”. This is what happened, but it’s only part of the story. In reality, Ivan Pavlov was doing research on the physiology of digestion in dogs and he noticed one day that the dogs he was studying started to drool in the mere presence of the lab technician who regularly fed them even if the technician didn’t have food with them. Pavlov developed a way to redirect the dogs’ digestive juices outside of the body so that they could be measured, and then he ran some conditioning experiments to see if he could get them to salivate in response to external stimuli that had nothing to do with food, like ringing a bell.

The year in the title card, 1904, was the year Ivan Pavlov was awarded the Nobel Prize for the previously mentioned experiments, which he published the results of in “The Work of the Digestive Glands” in 1897. Basically, by 1904 he was done with his work with dogs and he moved on to experimenting with mice…at least according to this article in National Geographic by Virgina Hughes.

With that, let’s begin the episode proper.

“At the dawn of the 20th century, Russian scientist, Ivan Pavlov, trained animals through his technique of conditioned reflex” says the narrator as we zoom in on a laboratory with Pavlov and our lovable mouse duo.

“Time to earn your dinner, my little mousey friends!”

It’s interesting how Pinky is the one that flinches uncomfortably at the loud sound of the gong while Brain simply snaps into his conditioned response. And that response? Uhhh…

“I’m a little teapot, short and stout.~”

“This is my handle, this is my spout.~”

(Is he…you know…?)

“When I get all steamed up, hear me shout!~”

“Tip me over and pour me out.~”

Oh no… This is a cute and funny scene and all, but when you know about Brain’s canonical issues with how he hates not being in control of a situation and all the traumas he’s endured (for those of you not in the know, yes, Brain does have a lot of trauma in his backstory that we learn about much later, both in the 90s spin-off and the reboot) regarding both general control and losing family and friends…there’s a bitter tinge to this scene.

He’s so embarrassed and humiliated.

He takes the cheese but he is positively fuming with rage, and I can’t exactly blame him from what I know about him.

This is made all the worse by Pinky’s innocent reaction to Brain’s little song and dance.

“Hahahahaha! Wonderful! Hahaha! EGAD, Brain, I could watch you do that dance all day! Haha, narf!”

For Pinky, this is harmless silliness and he gets to see Brain sing and dance and “have fun”, which is not a usual occurrence. But for Brain? Well...

“You have watched it all day, Pinky. Sixty-one times, to be exact. It’s a conditioned reflex to that infernal gong.”

“I’m powerless to stop it!”

Well, Brain, at the very least it’s not like you were a part of a more inhumane experiment like one regarding, say, learned helplessness or anything. …Oh wait. Whoops. (For those sensitive to animal abuse, I suggest refraining from clicking on the second link, and caution against clicking on the first if even more clinical text descriptions of such would upset you. The third link is spoilers for the reboot.)

All that aside, it seems like it’s Pinky’s turn. He gets the more traditional bell chime for his stimulus.

And the result is him going into an uncontrollable and very enthusiastic Slavic folk dance.

With violent results. I hope you appreciate that last screencap, as the animation goes by so quickly I had a lot of trouble isolating the part where Pinky kicks Brain and he goes flying.

Pinky is all too happy to get a reward of cheese, his favourite food, for doing something that he has no memory of.

“What’cha doin’ over there, Brain?”

“Contemplating your afterlife, Pinky.”

That’s not exactly fair, Brain, you know he has no control over this. To Brain’s credit, though, he doesn’t bop him or anything for kicking him involuntarily.

Pavlov leaves, playfully saying that he hopes the mice dream of cheese tonight, and the mice are immediately down to business.

“At last, he’s gone.”

“Now we can begin our conquest of the world!”

We’re already back to it being “our” conquest of the world, eh?

“Behold my latest creation, Pinky: The Vacuum-o-nator.”

Brain has never been good with naming things, has he? At least, not so far. I wonder if this will continue throughout the franchise?

Pinky is certainly very happy and impressed, though.

“It uses reverse air pressure to vacuum everything toward it.”

You know, I was just about to roast Brain for thinking that making a very odd version of a vacuum cleaner was such a brilliant thing, but then I remembered that this takes place in 1904. The vacuum cleaner as we know it was “invented independently by British engineer Hubert Cecil Booth and American inventor David T. Kenney” in 1901 according to Wikipedia, and portable vacuums were available to the general public starting in 1905.My apologies, Brain, that actually is very impressive.

Although, this all hinges on if the viewer considers episodes that take place in the past and/or at different locations than Acme Labs California to be mere Alternate Universe/What If? stories or Brain and Pinky using some kind of time machine to go to a different place and time for these episodes. (Before you tell me that this is just a cartoon and sicc the Please, Please Get a Life Foundation on me, I do this to have fun and maybe educate myself and the reader along the way. I promise I have a life. Barely.)

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Pinky?”

“Uhh… Yeah, Brain! But where are we gonna find rubber pants our size?”

Pinky, that’s… Listen, folks, don’t make the same mistake I did and google “rubber pants”. It’s not what you think it is. You will be disappointed.

BONK!

Seems like you’re enjoying yourself there, Pinky.

“No, Pinky. We’re going to use the Vacuum-o-nator to steal Russia’s crown jewels!”

Man, the animation for even this one small proclamation by Brain is so, so good. Brain standing authoritatively and holding the pen like a scepter or spear, the grand sweep of his arm as he says “no”, the serious and slightly menacing expression on his face, a violent and grabby swing of his arm on the word “steal”,  and a dramatic point and look up towards the sky when he finishes. TMS does great work, folks.

“Narf! Genius, Brain!”

Look at Brain’s satisfied smile at Pinky’s simple compliment. Remember what I said earlier about Brain going through his explanations to show off to and  impress Pinky? At this point I’m absolutely convinced that that’s why Brain turns up the theatrics more than necessary when going through his plans. After all, Pinky is (oddly and rather sadly) the only one in-universe who thinks Brain is a genius and a good person.

…Of course, the effect can sometimes be lessened by subsequent innocent bumbling.

“Turn it off, Pinky.”

He says this so exasperatedly yet so deadpan at the same time, it’s great.

“Oh! Right-o!”

Even Pinky immediately knows that he fucked up.

“Zort! Whew! Wild hairdo, Brain! Heh heh, I like it.”

He even pets Brain’s “hairdo”, aww. And though I personally could take or leave the ‘do, I like the pointed, sharp look this mishap’s given to his ears.

BONK!

“Now I feel cleansed.”

Okay, this one might have been a little too much, Brain.

“But Brain, aren’t the crown jewels always guarded by giant Cossacks?”

Well, Pinky, from what I know Cossacks were usually used extensively in the police force and as border guards during this time, so I guess that’s possible?

Brain picking the lock with the pen is a fun little detail.

“Don’t worry about the guards… For tonight, Pinky, at precisely 1 am, there’s a total lunar eclipse. “

Again, this is probably not a thing the average person could look up quickly and easily in the 90s and the writers most likely didn’t care about accuracy here, but there were no total lunar eclipses in 1904. There were some penumbral lunar eclipses in March and September of that year, though. Just a fun fact for you folks.

“The Earth’s shadow will completely cover the moon, blacking out all of St. Petersburg for a period of 30 seconds.”

Brain…?!? Brain, how did you get the diagram on that piece of paper to animate like that? What kind of Harry Potter-style magic bullshit is this?

I know this is a cartoon and all and I’m not truly upset but this honestly came out of nowhere and made me do a double-take.

“In that brief time, we will sneak past the Czar’s guards under the cover of darkness and steal the crown jewels…for he who controls the jewels controls Mother Russia!”

More dramatics!

“But…I thought your mother’s name was Désirée?”

I love Brain’s pose here. Very grumpy and sassy.

As for Pinky’s comment: We do get to meet Brain’s parents way later in the spin-off, though neither are addressed by any name. I’m taking this joke as canon anyway because it’s funny.

Well, well, well… Looks like we’re shaking things up a bit with an inking instead of a bonk. That’s gonna be a pain to get out of his white fur, though.

“Soon, Pinky, I will rule Russia…so from now on, call me Czar.”

Another sassy hand-on-hip pose.

“Right-o, Brain!”

“—eek! Czar Brain!”

“Come along, Pinky… Conquest awaits!”

Nice to know that despite the inking, Pinky’s still following him anyway. Plus he’s doing it with that fond look on his face again. Hmm…

What follows is a cute and ingenious sequence of Brain launching Pinky and himself through an open window via the spring force of a mousetrap. It goes by very quickly, but I just wanted to highlight a few things I managed to notice while pausing through it. Kudos to the animators again for these little details.

Pinky’s the one that wraps one arm around Brain’s shoulders so that Brain has both hands free to spring the mousetrap properly and so that they’ll be launched together.

Interestingly enough, Pinky’s the cautious one who braces for impact right away while Brain gleefully flies through the air with his arms outstretched.

The “camera” changes perspective and while Brain is still boldly flying forward with confidence, Pinky is still worried but has now opened his eyes as they fly towards the window.

Pinky’s still holding onto Brain and the Vacuum-o-nator as tight as he can. As they get closer to the window, however…

…Pinky seems to realize he’s going to smash into the wall above the window if he doesn’t let go, so he lets go of Brain. Brain doesn’t realize where his trajectory is taking him.

Pinky angles himself downward and through the open window, but it’s too late for Brain.

WHAM! RIP, Brain.

But his pain is not done! It looks like Pinky’s landing was in the soft snow. Meanwhile, Brain slides down onto the window and through the opening, only to bash into the lid of a garbage can, much to Pinky’s concern.

Then Brain falls headfirst into the snow.

And finally, Brain is clonked on the head by the same garbage can lid, which makes a loud gong noise. Someone get this poor mouse some Aspirin.

But since there was a gong noise, you all know what that means!

Cutely, Pinky joins in on the dance in the middle of it.

“Ha! Oh that was fun, Czar Brain! But let’s give it another go, right? Only this time with feeling!”

Man, that side-eye at the beginning from Brain…

Pinky’s body language is great in this episode, too. The gleeful flapping of his arms and feet and the “with feeling” gesture are fantastic examples of his more open and energetic nature coming through.

Oh hey, there’s that one shot of Brain being ticked off used in the spin-off theme song! I can’t exactly blame him for his anger here. He just went through a lot of pain in a short amount of time and was then involuntarily made to humiliate himself. Pinky doesn’t mean to be mean here—he genuinely wants to have some sing and dance fun with Brain—but it’s gotta sting to have the humiliation highlighted.

Pinky still doesn’t deserve a bonking for it, though. But it’s slapstick, so he’s fine.

Heh, “deliveries to rear” indeed.

Oh, are those jingle bells on a sleigh that I see?

Uh oh…

“No, Pinky… Not now!”

It cannot be stopped, Brain. He must dance!

Another quick detail as Brain launches himself at Pinky’s midsection to either topple him over or hold him still to get Pinky to stop.

Alas, Pinky’s dancing is too strong.

OUCH!

The face of regret.

His punishment is swiftly thwarted, though.

“…That was unpleasant.”

They take a different and more uneventful ride on a hay wagon to the palace.

I love the exaggerated perspective going on here.

Peekin’.

“We made it inside, Brain!”

“…’Czar Brain’.”

“Czar Brain.”

He says it so quietly and sweetly, aww.

“Yes, Pinky. There are fleeting moments when I even amaze myself.”

I…don’t know if it’s much of an accomplishment yet, Brain. Settle that ego down a bit.

Oh, that’s some classic Looney Tunes-style sneaking animation there.

Wait, why is the door to the treasure room just open behind them? Czar Nicolas II, what gives?

Speaking of…

Hello, Czar Nicolas II. I hope you’re enjoying your “eclipse party”. You only have another 14 years or so to live it up, after all.

“In just a few minutes, it’ll be totally dark and scary. OooOOoo!~ But don’t anyone touch me, I have cooties!”

I, uhhh. Okay, then.

Same, boys. Same. Best to get down to business.

“Behold the crown jewels of Mother Russia, Pinky. World conquest will soon be ours!”

Again, world conquest is “ours” and not just Brain’s. Also you can just tell Pinky’s thinking “I’m going to wear so much of this jewelry!”

“Now, Brain?”

“Not yet. Wait for the total eclipse.”

Speaking of…

“Complete darkness, Pinky. Start the Vacuum-o-nator…”

“NOW!”

That gonging noise is an interesting choice for a chime. Surely this ornate clock is only an omen of good things for our duo.

Pinky, you’re swooning again. And Brain…

Oh no.

Another clock! Who’d have thought Russian nobility loved clocks so much? This one has a more pleasant bell chime, though.

…Oh NO!

Well, looks like things are going to hell pretty quickly.

Goodbye, boys.

Goodbye, Czar Nicolas II! You might wanna look out for a man named Grigori Rasputin in the future, okay?

Nice hat, Brain.

“Whu--? The eclipse is over? Narf! What happened, Brain?”

BONK!

“Zort! I mean, Czar Brain.”

“We failed again, Pinky… But just wait until tomorrow night!”

“Why? What are we going to do tomorrow night, Brain?”

“What else, Pinky?: Try to take over the world!”

It was a nice try, boys, but honestly I don’t know how you were going to fit all those crown jewels into that tiny improvised vacuum bag, anyway.

One last cute little detail in this episode is our mousey duo jumping up with enthusiastic determination in front of the silhouette of the moon on the last note of the theme reprise. One day, you guys. One day…

Oh! And before I forget, have another short cameo from “Plane Pals”. It’s a tiny one.

Pinky and the Brain steal a sheep off of an airplane. For what purpose? Who knows? But that’s it. I’m kind of wondering if the writers wanted to make a running joke of them making cameos to steal random things for world conquering purposes and just sort of gave up.

Anyway, so ends our recap for this post. It sure was a long one, but what can I say? There were some very cute details that needed to be shared. Have we learned anything new this time? Well, I mean, besides historical trivia.

Brain thinks both he and Pinky are great actors, despite his own near inability to lie and keep up an innocent pretense. Oh, he can be sarcastic, sure, but he can’t seem to manage to stop himself from revealing that he’s out for world  domination whenever he has an audience.

For the first time we see Brain’s annoyance and humiliation resulting from him being a lab mouse. Though it’s on the more subtle side at the moment, Brain seemed extra grumpy and violent during that last     episode because of the conditioning he’s unwillingly gone through. I’m     curious to see if there are any more examples of this before we reach an  episode touching on his origin story. Or…one of his origin stories, at     least. There’s around four of them last I checked and all but one of them  can reasonably fit into the others.

Pinky is truly beginning to show how much he adores Brain, which is nice. Beforehand we knew he was down with his world domination plans for whatever reason and also that he thinks Brain’s plans are great and ingenious. Now, though, we’ve gotten to the point of him literally swooning at Brain and his plans. Something’s definitely brewing there.

Next time: We get some more substantial cameos, join our mouse duo on a Fort Knox heist, and meet a new character that is both pretty important to the “lore” of the show going forward…but also doesn’t appear in person after their introductory episode until the very end of the Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain spin-off run.

See you then!

[tapiocatitty]

week 5 scrapbook: death & shame in queer media

Queer cinema highlights the grimness of being LBGTQ+ in the eyes of society. Themes that surround this queer narrative include death, shame, and anger. Queer cinema often portrays this through grotesque imagery to create an uncomfortable environment for the viewer—gruesome violence or the naked body shown in its rawness. In reflection to the AIDS epidemic and how it plagued the queer community, queer cinema began to shift and feature death as part of the gay experience. However, AIDS is not the sole narrative tool for death. Death as a concept seems to follow the queer narrative as it mirrors reality for a gay person.

https://miraculouslumination.tumblr.com/post/664573001130442752/i-find-the-shock-people-get-when-hearing-not-all

Ride or Die a live-action movie based off the psychological manga titled "Gunjo", follows the story of both Rei and Nanae. Nanae, a straight woman abused by her husband looks toward a girl from her high school years to kill him. Rei stricken with love proceeds to do just that, and escapes with Nanae on a journey of self-reflection, self-destruction, and connection. Throughout the film vivid imagery of sex and death are used to evoke a sense of trauma—queer trauma. Despite following the story of a lesbian, there are a number of hetero sex scenes within the film. However, in both heterosexual scenes, Rei the lesbian character is depicted as uninterested or apathetic in comparison to having sex with her crush, Nanae. Faking enjoyment when participating in straight sex is a reoccuring issue for closeted people, but more specifically for closeted lesbians and women in general.

Shame is a huge narrative device utilized throughout the film, Rei's ex-girlfriend has a conversation with her mother and apologizes for not being able to give her mom grandchildren. Taking into society's piercing gaze, Ride or Die subtly adds in remarks about being gay in today's society. Contemplating on how the media will tell her story, Rei shares a heart-wrenching statement "What will they call me? A home-wreaker who was jealous of his wife or the lesbian fool who was jealous of her crush's husband?".

Although Ride or Die does not delve into queer death caused by AIDS, it does demonstrate social death. The lasting trauma of being a gay individual in such a scrutinizing world, could be one of the many attributes for Rei and Nanae's situation.

"Of course, the new queer films and videos aren't all the same, and don't share a single aesthetic vocabulary or strategy or concern. Yet they are nonetheless united by a common style. Call it 'Homo Pomo': there are traces in all of them of appropriation and pastiche, irony, as well as a reworking of history with social constructionism very much in mind." - “New Queer Cinema,” B. Ruby Rich

When discussing the theme of Death in queer cinema, it is not simply limited to actual death but can be seen as death of the straight past. Death resulting in a rebirth, a transformation.

[abigailnussbaum]

Harley Quinn, She-Ra, and the redemptive power of friendship

I watched the first episode of DC Universe’s Harley Quinn cartoon last year, and concluded that it was well done but not for me. The show seemed a little too in love with in-your-face violence, a little too deliberately outrageous. The positive reactions convinced me to give it a second look, and as it turns out Harley Quinn really is as good as everyone has been saying. You do need to accept a cheerfully cavalier attitude towards a lot of gruesome violence as the show’s buy-in, but I was actually impressed by how deftly Harley Quinn walks the line between humor and violence, while still stressing that some things are out of bounds for (some of) its characters. Add to that a well-crafted portrait of Gotham complete with a lot of familiar faces, some great storytelling and character work, and impressively gonzo set-pieces, and it’s easily one of my favorite superhero stories ever, not just in animation.

I was struck, while watching the first season, by the similarities between Harley Quinn and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Obviously, the two shows are very distinct despite both being female-led animated shows. She-Ra is an all-audiences series with an earnest tone and a strong emphasis on heroism. Harley Quinn is entirely unsuitable for children, and nearly all of its characters are villains. But both are also series about the redemptive power of friendship, and female friendship in particular (also, from what I’ve heard about Harley Quinn’s second season, a friendship that eventually turns romantic). In Harley Quinn’s opening episode, she escapes Arkham Asylum with the help of Poison Ivy, after waiting a year for the Joker to rescue her. Ivy helps Harley realize that the Joker never really cared about her, and that she can be a better and more successful supervillain without him. The rest of the season concerns Harley’s attempts to prove just that.

I found myself thinking that Harley Quinn addressed a lot of the problems I had with how She-Ra depicted this theme, while at the same benefiting from its distinct tone and subject matter. I’d like to talk about some of the things it does better.

For starters, Harley Quinn treats friendhip as an ongoing process. Harley and Ivy are already friends at the beginning of the series, and it’s their friendship that gives Harley the strength to break with Joker, and to believe in her own ability to become an independent supervillain. But Harley also backslides over the course of the first season. She takes the Joker back and regrets it. She ignores Ivy’s advice, especially about the types of people she should be associating with and the organizations she strives to join. And when she achieves professional success, she ignores the needs of not just Ivy, but of the crew she’s recruited over the course of the season. Harley’s journey throughout the season is one of realizing that she’s been a bad friend to the very people who have helped her to grow beyond the Joker, and of figuring out how to be better to them - in other words, the very things that She-Ra lets characters like Catra or Entrapta off the hook for.

At the same time, Harley Quinn also condemns toxic relationships and argues for their dissolution. This is most obvious in the case of the Joker, who repeatedly makes overtures towards Harley only to betray her. But if the Joker is too obviously untrustworthy, engaging in classic abusive behavior such as gaslighting Harley, belittling her abilities, and working to isolate her from her friends, there are also other characters throughout the season whose relationships with Harley initially seem more nurturing, only to reveal themselves as predatory. Harley bonds with the supervillain Queen of Fables over the difficulties of being a female supervillain, but eventually realizes that the other woman will happily stomp over her to achieve her own goals. And she tries to reconnect with her family, forgiving her gambling-addict father’s past exploitation of her, only for him to turn around and try to make money off of her again. Again and again, the show concludes that there are some people whom it is right and proper to shut out of your life - even to extent of acknowledging that when Harley apologizes to Ivy for letting her down, it is entirely possible that Ivy might still decide to end their relationship. To me that’s an essential corollary to She-Ra’s emphasis on friendship and second chances, the recognition that some people aren’t worth the effort.

Harley Quinn doesn’t pretend that becoming a better friend makes you a good person. This is, of course, my core problem with She-Ra, the way that it conflates personal friendship with a more global morality, and allows characters who have done a great deal of evil on the latter front to skate off with hardly any condemnation or consequences, because they’ve become someone’s friend. Harley Quinn is better at realizing that the two don’t really have that much to do with one another. To be clear, this is much easier to do when you’re telling a comedic story about unrepentant supervillains, than in a straight-faced story about heroes saving the world. But another way of putting that is that She-Ra fatally splits its focus whereas Harley Quinn wisely narrows it in a way that more successfully brings its message across. All of the show’s supervillain characters are capable of emotional growth and of choosing to be there for the people they care about (though a lot of them, like the Joker, choose not to do that). But this has nothing to do with their willingness to kill, maim, and cause general mayhem, because how you treat the people closest to you often doesn’t say much about how you view humanity as a whole.

Finally, and despite the above, Harley Quinn doesn’t ignore the difference between good and evil. One very easy approach to take in a story that prioritizes personal relationships above all else and sets itself among villains is to make the “good guys” look just as bad - corrupt, or inept, or priggish. That’s the approach She-Ra creator Novelle Stevenson took in her graphic novel Nimona, in which the league of superheroes are basically keeping themselves in a steady supply of villains by engaging in autocratic, abusive behavior. Harley Quinn could have easily taken this path, but it doesn’t. Though superheroes appear only rarely in the show, they are uniformly depicted as positive characters, good at their job and usually on the right side of things. When they say that Harley and her crew should be sent back to Arkham, you can’t help but conclude that they’re right, and the only reason we don’t want that to happen is that we like Harley. More than that, we like watching her relationships with Ivy and the rest of her crew develop and deepen. Again, this is the show walking an incredibly narrow line, getting us to root for a villain on emotional grounds, without ignoring the actual evil they’re doing. Harley Quinn is almost certainly never going to pivot its title character to full-on good guy status (even when Harley does heroic things, she usually only saves her friends, not the rest of Gotham), and that’s fine. We can enjoy the show as a story about one woman’s growth towards better emotional health (not to mention, a funny and violent cartoon) without pretending that she’s something she isn’t.

[kaypeace21]

Do you have any meta/theory on the significance of the cleric/paladin d&d characters vs wizard/dungeon master. Is maybe one more Will and Mike's relationship and the other their role in the story as a whole? Sorry if you already mentioned this and this is redundant

Yeah, I’ve talked about it before. But why not talk about it again? It’s been a while- and Will’s recently published journal (plus st tweets) added more to this symbolism

The Duffers used Will and Mike’s d&d classes to say they’re soulmates! XD

Will in all 3 seasons identifies as a wizard- he even writes on the mixtape he makes “will the wise- wizard mix” (which is a different class than clerics). Even in s1 Will’s castle byer’s password was “rhadaghast” a lothr wizard.

But in s2 Mike (the paladin) says that Will is a cleric. Meaning this reflects how Mike (alone) actually feels about Will. In d&d, they have similar moral values, powers, and generally need and depend on each other in the lore of d&d.  Mike says Will is a cleric,despite Will still identifying as a wizard in s3, since it shows how deeply Mike actually feels about Will.

It shows he views Will as one of the only people who understands him and views him as a his moral compass 

“ strength of conviction gave many paladins a sense of common fellowship but did not always endear them to others. In many cases, paladins did not get along quite as well with other non-paladin adventurers, with the exception of clerics with similar beliefs.”

“A Paladin tries to hold to the highest standards of conduct, but even the most virtuous Paladin is fallible. Sometimes the heat of emotion causes a Paladin to transgress his or her oath (of honesty, courage, compassion, honor ,and duty). A paladin who has broken a vow typically seeks absolution from a cleric who shares his or her faith or from another paladin of the same order…

“The paladin might spend an all-night vigil in prayer as a sign of penitence, or undertake a fast or similar act of self-denial.”

“After a rite of confession and forgiveness, the paladin starts fresh.”

“Using the ‘lay on hands’ power, paladins can grant their comrades (or themselves) additional resilience with a touch of their hands and a short prayer, though they must give their own strength to do so.”

And Mike calls El a “mage” which wasn’t even a class in D&D (in the 80s)- A line he says to Max about zoomer (who he doesn’t like) …so… how much do you want to bet Mike was the one who made him and Will matching by giving him and Will “lawful good” (since this is writen in his starter kit). And he already ignored the fact Will is a wizard. 

But in Will’s recently published cannon journal he also does this- he keeps Lucas (Ranger) , Dustin (Bard) and his own character (a wizard) …but he changes Mike to a cleric !!!

Because Clerics have the strongest of healing abilities

Mike thinks Will brings out the best in him. And Will thinks Mike as someone who helps him heal. So they both call each other clerics.

D&D also represents their romantic relationship

when they fight in s3 Mike says “I’m not trying to be a jerk. We’re not kids anymore. I mean…what did you think? That we’d never get girlfriends. Play games for the rest of our lives?” And the truth is that’s actually what Mike wants- which is why he was upset about Will trying to give away the d&d game . And why he still has all of Will’s d&d pictures on his basement’s wall (which he’s kept on his wall for years- despite removing the old poster from the wall). And during Hopper’s speech, when it pans to Mike , Hopper says “I miss playing games every night.”

* He also caresses Will’s  d&d drawing- when he thinks he’s dead- and has a binder filled with every d&d drawing Will has ever given him.

 In the first ep - Will  admits he rolls a 7 (since he couldn’t lie to Mike)-  and in the last ep of s1 (they show us Mike smiling at Will right before Will rolls a 14- since they’re 7s together.) Mike even apologizes to EL saying “sorry I sound like a 7 year old.” When talking about how all 3 can play with toys & right after talking about Will visiting to play. and mentions Will’s rolls as a way to convince Lucas to help him look for him.And Mike even mentions Will rolls as a way to convince Lucas to help him look for him in the first ep.

Mike in the last ep in s1 ,writes a d&d story for Will.  in ep one Will tells Mike “it was a 7, the demogorgan it got me.”At the end of the season Mike writes a whole story of him and his friends killing a 7 headed monster, and showing the decapitated head of the monster to king Tristan (Will). Similar to how at the hospital he tells Will to not worry cause “it’s dead now”. This is right after Will rolls a 14 (cause Mike and Will are 7s together). And Mike who is a fan of starwars has King Tristan give them medals after killing the monster. Cause he wants Will/king tristan (instead of Leia -a girl) to present him with medals and be his romantic love interest (and praise him for being a hero)…

In the pilot, they even say Will uses d&d to “escape” his insecurities about his sexuality “like mike” & Mike uses d&d to “escape” his insecurities about not having a gf.  * And no, dustin & Lucas didn’t use d&d to “escape” anything- in the pilot script.

Mike angrily yells “El’s not stupid. It’s not my fault you don’t like girls” to himself- cause Will hit a nerve when saying mileven was ruining their friendship - because a part of Mike is trying to use El to put distance between him and Will . Dustin in s1 foreshadows the fight, saying “all you want to do is spent time with her… and you know it and he knows it. And nobody says anything until you’re yelling at eachother like goblins with intelligence scores of zero.” (Another  d&d ref/ ‘love makes you stupid’ ref.).

And also, maybe a part of him resents how Will is making him feel. So he says this whole speech , in the garage, to himself - to keep his romantic feelings for Will under control ( expecting Will to agree with the heteronormative statement). Which is why he was so shocked when Will (who he assumes is straight) and he expects would agree -  instead says “yeah, I guess I did. I really did.” (about never getting gfs but instead being together for the rest of their lives). 

And the  “crazy together” scene (which is romantic since both Mike & Flo both equate love making you ‘crazy’. Flo says “ only love makes you crazy and that damn stupid”). And the ‘crazy together’ scene also has a zoom-in on Mike’s d&d game.

(x)(x)

Mike and Will both love each other (and El is just confused). He wants to be with Will- but he’s scared. The Hopper dialogue even says “Lately, I feel like you’re pulling away from me or something? I miss playing board games every night.” Mike was upset when Will gives the game up- but Will says “I’ll just play with yours when I come back… if we still want to play?” In other words- the ball is in Mike’s court- if he wants Will, he has to initiate it. Because Will assumes he was “stupid” to think he had a chance. Mike is also acting “stupid” because he’s pushing away Will despite loving him, and hurting him in the process (the opposite of a cleric).

But Mike in s4 will admit his feelings to Will… since after Will says this line, Mike asks

“Yeah, but what happens if you want to join another party? ” (find someone else (‘another’) before that- the other ‘species’, or just someone else: girl, guy or otherwise?”

But Will decides to make himself vulnerable and just be honest,  and shyly admits “Not possible” (much to Mike’s happiness)

so yes- this tweet is about byler

They even answered the question of ‘what makes Mike crazy’ with one’ joke’ response - of Will asking about d&d. And in a separate post made fun of mileven by ending it with “can we just play d&d?”

And when, Mike and Will open up to each other about their mental-health issues,  that’s when they both agree that no matter what they’ll be together- “crazy together”. It’s a double entendre - they’re crazy cause they’re in love- but also “crazy” and will be “together” to help each other through their issues.  This theme is double-downed on in Will’s cannon journal (where it’s established “crazy together” is shown to be Mike & Will’s thing- not mileven’s). As Mike tells Will to tell him when he’s having ptsd episodes since- they're “crazy together”.

*Will draws Mike’s d&d character next to the sticky-note. And we also see throughout Will’s whole journal- Mike’s d&d character is always by Will’s (d&d character’s side). And on the cover of his journal Will ONLY draws his and Mike’s character- cause they’re “crazy together”.

Mike specifically says to get him when he’s having ptsd episodes about the mf (which represent Will’s se*ually abusive father- theory here/ here).

That’s what love is - like Flo said only love makes you “crazy” and “stupid” and this is only applicable to byler.  Mike and Will love and  bring out the best in each other-  heal each other. Being “crazy together” to Mike is about being selfless and wanting the best for you partner’s happiness no matter what- with mileven it was simply a way to excuse his poor behavior to El (under the guise of ‘love’).

 For all the supernatural stuff to stop , Will has to face his trauma and heal. This involves having a strong support  (of friends and family) and Will learning to not hate himself any longer, because of his past abuse and sexuality. And to stop correlating his love (for Mike) with his past abuse/trauma (represented by the monsters. And Mike and Will have to embrace their love for each other. And let go of their shame. When Will ‘dies’ in s1, Mike hugs his mom ,and  Heroes plays, and the lyrics are “and we kiss as though nothing could fall and the shame… was on the other side.” In s1 the term “other side” was used to describe the upside down. So it’s saying Will’s shame relating to Lonnie will eventually be on the other side, and so Mike and Will kiss ‘as though nothing could fall’. In Will’s journal he even draws Mike’s d&d character again with the caption “never Kenny Roggers”. This is because Jonathan asks ‘who would you rather  be friends with David bowie or Kenny roggers?”. And Heroes was originally sung by David Bowie- making the byler hint of this being ‘their song’, more apparent. The cannon Will-comic is even titled  the “other side” and Mike is on the opposite end (‘the other side’ waiting for Will who is trapped in the upside down looking up at the imposing figure of the demogorgan). The demorgogan in blue light and mike in opposing red light. The monsters Will created are based on the d&d game and his prior abuse at the hands of lonnie. But byler’s love is also represented by d&d- and thus the only way to stop it.

gif credit: cath-avery 

[aion-rsa]

The Craft: How a Teenage Weirdo Based on a Real Person Became an Icon

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“We Are The Weirdos, Mister.” A phrase you’ll find printed over t-shirts, pin badges, mugs, earrings, tote bags, necklaces, and more all over the internet. It’s the most iconic line from The Craft, a film released 25 years ago that still has a rabid following today. For anyone unfamiliar with The Craft, it’s a line spoken by Fairuza Balk’s Nancy, an inferno in black lippy and sunglasses, the de facto leader of a homemade coven made up of outsiders who have taken the raw deal the world has given them and rejected it by learning to harness the power of nature. This line is everything. We are no longer going to be victims, it says. We will no longer be afraid. We reclaim our space, our power. That we are four teenaged girls will no longer mean we have to watch out for ‘weirdos’ – because it is us who are the weirdos. Mister. 

“Nancy is the one everybody wants to be,” says Peter Filardi, the man who created Nancy, Rochelle, Bonnie, and Sarah all those years ago, chatting to Den of Geek from his home, an original poster for The Craft peaking out from behind him on the wall. Next to it is a poster for Chapelwaite, the series Filardi is currently showrunning with his brother Jason, based on Stephen King’s short story, “Jerusalem’s Lot,” a prequel to Salem’s Lot.

“Nancy is the one who is particularly put upon and who finds the power to get revenge or get justice and is going to do that with no apologies. I think it’s how we all envision ourselves or would want to see ourselves, I guess. Here we are 25 years later. Why do you think we’re still talking about it?”

It’s an interesting question because we very much still are talking about The Craft. With Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, A Discovery of Witches, His Dark Materials, and of course last year’s remake of The Craft, we appear to very much still be in the season of the witch, but none is quite as resonant and impactful as the original The Craft. Watching it back 25 years after its release, it’s still just as relevant.

The very first script that Filardi sold was Flatliners, the story of arrogant, hot-shot medical students who plan to discover what happens after you die by “flatlining” for increasing lengths of time. Filardi’s script prompted a bidding war and the movie became a big hit, starring Hollywood’s hottest: Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, and William Baldwin. 

After Flatliners, Filardi had been working on a script about real life teenage Satanist Ricky Kasso, (“He was one of the first to really put the hallucinogenics together with the music and the theology and then sort of brew them all up into this really volatile cocktail,” Filardi explains), so when producer Doug Wick approached him about another supernatural project, Filardi was game.

“He said he would like to either do a haunted house story or something to do with teenage witches. And because I happened to be working on what I was working on I was pretty well-schooled in earth magic and natural magic and Satanism and all sorts of stuff. And we just started talking, and we hit it off, and we decided to develop and create The Craft together,” Filardi recalls.

At the time Wick had just two full producer credits to his name – for Working Girl and Wolf – but he would go on to produce swathes of heavy hitters including Hollow Man, Jarhead, The Great Gatsby, and win the best picture Oscar for Gladiator. Meanwhile, Andrew Fleming, director of The Craft and co-writer of the screenplay, had made horror thriller Bad Dreams and comedy Threesome, and would go on to make several comedy movies as well as many hit TV shows – he’s currently working on season two of Netflix’s popular Emily in Paris.

Filardi’s story was always going to be about women, and it was always going to be about outsiders, the memories of high school still fresh enough for him to remember the pain. “I’m sure it’s like this for every kid. You have memories from those high school years of horrible things that happened to people around you, or were said or done and just the petty cruelties,” he says. “I’m glad I’m an old man now!” (He’s not, he’s 59).

Rewatching and it’s certainly striking how much empathy you feel for the girls. Sarah (Robin Tunney), who is the audience’s way in to the movie, lost her mother during childbirth and has battled mental health problems, even attempting suicide. Recently moved to a new neighborhood with her dad and step mother, she is instantly the outsider at her new school, and is immediately treated abhorrently by popular boy Chris (a pre-Scream Skeet Ulrich), who dates her and then spreads rumors that they slept together. Rochelle (Rachel True) is a keen diver, subjected to overt racist bullying by a girl on the swim team, while Bonnie (Neve Campbell) hides away because of extreme scarring she has all over her body. Before Sarah arrives, the three dabble in magic and protect themselves as best they can from the horrors of high school by telling people they are witches and keeping them at arm’s length. It’s the arrival of Sarah, though, a “natural” witch with some serious power, that turns things around.

“I think that maybe traditionally Hollywood would have done a version where the women were witches like Lost Boys,” Filardi says. “The women were witches, and they had this power, and they’re the dark overlords of their school or something like that. And that’s exactly the opposite of what worked for me and how I thought magic works in general. 

“Magic has always historically been a weapon of the underclass, for poor people… Think of England. People of the heath, who lived out in the country… The heathens, they didn’t have a king or an army or the church even behind them. They would turn to magic. And that’s kind of what I saw for our girls. For real magic to work, you have the three cornerstones of need and emotion and knowledge. And I hate magic movies where somebody has a power and they just do this and the magic happens. I think it’s much more interesting if the magic comes from an emotional need, a situation that really riles up the power within.”

These witches aren’t evil and they aren’t even anti-heroes. Instead, this is pure wish fulfilment for anyone who’s ever been bullied, or overlooked, or been dealt a particularly tough hand, and this level of empathy comes across hard in the film. Watching now and so many of the themes are so current with reference to issues of racism and the emergence of the #MeToo movement.

“I did not write it as a feminist piece per se,” says Filardi. “I really just wrote it as an empathetic human being, I think.”

There’s extreme empathy dripping throughout the script, but don’t mistake that for pity. The Craft deals in female empowerment and just plain fun. It’s here that one of The Craft’s enduring conflicts arises. Are you Team Sarah or are you Team Nancy?

The correct answer of course, is Team Nancy…

“It’s always harder to be the good guy or the good girl,” laughs Filardi. 

After all, before Sarah shows up, the other three are doing fine – surviving, doing minor spells, and looking out for each other. The influx of power Sarah brings allows the group to up their game and together they each ask for a gift from “Manon,” the (fictional) deity who represents all of nature that they worship in the film. Bonnie wants to heal her scars, Rochelle wants the racism to stop, Nancy wants the power of Manon, but Sarah casts a love spell on Chris. Sarah is either taking revenge on Chris, or she’s forging a relationship without consent, and it’s a move which eventually leads to Chris’s death. 

Meanwhile, Nancy is someone who just refuses to be a victim, despite the fact that of the four she’s clearly had the toughest life, living in a trailer with her mum and her abusive stepdad. Nancy won’t allow the audience to pity her. Nancy doesn’t let things happen to her, she makes her own choices, whether they are good ones or not. When newly empowered Nancy is running red lights, with Rochelle and Bonnie whooping in the back, and Sarah telling her it’s all gone a bit far, “Oh shut up, Sarah” feels like the right response. While Sarah might be technically correct, we are rooting for these girls to be allowed the pure joy of something they have created between them.

Nancy is an amazing creation, and Filardi says he couldn’t have anticipated how much the character would resonate.

“I did not envision the great look that Andy Fleming brought to her,” he smiles. “But Nancy was inspired by a real girl, whose older brother lived in a trailer in their backyard, and just had a hard go of it. She’s true to the one I wrote. She always embodied the earth element of fire. Each of the girls is their own earth element. There’s earth, wind, water, fire. And you can pretty much guess who’s who…” 

We could speculate but it’s perhaps more fun to let the audience decide for themselves.

“Nancy in the beginning was always the constructive aspect of that element. She’s the light in the fire in the dark woods that draws the girls together,” he explains. “When she’s all passion and raw nerve, she’s very much like fire, but then when she crosses Sarah and gets overwhelmed with the power of her new abilities, she becomes the destructive side of that same element and burns the whole thing up. But she’s a fantastic character. I think that Fairuza Balk just elevated Nancy to a whole other level. I guess that’s what happens when you’re blessed with the right actor for the right part.”

Exactly who the true protagonist of The Craft is is something Filardi still contemplates. What is notable is that though, yes, Nancy, Bonnie, and Rochelle do at one point try to, um, kill Sarah and make it look like suicide, which isn’t a very sisterly thing to do, they never really become true villains. By the end, the only fatalities are sex pest Chris and Nancy’s abusive step father, and both deaths could reasonably be considered accidental. While Bonnie and Rochelle are stripped of their powers, they aren’t further punished, it’s only Nancy who gets a raw deal. Driven to distraction by her surfeit of power, we find her ranting in a mental hospital strapped to a bed. 

Filardi’s ending was different, though he won’t be drawn on details.

“The original ending was different. I’ve never really gone into the detail of what the original ending was. Well, the original ending was just different…” he says, mulling over what he might say. “So, let’s see. Well, Chris always died… and it was just very different,” he hesitates. “I don’t really get into it because there’s no real sense. It is what it is. I always like in a movie… Having two different children and you love them both for different reasons, but I would have never wanted to be hard on the girls in the final analysis in any way thematically.”

One element of the script that saw slight changes was the motivation of Rochelle, after the casting of Rachel True. 

“To be honest, I think she was the exact same character. She was picked on by the swimmers. There was an added element that she had an eating disorder. She used to vomit into a mayonnaise jar and hide it on the top shelf of a bedroom closet. But other than that, she was really the same character,” he says. “Andy Fleming and Doug Wick, I don’t know who came up with the idea, but they cast Rachel and she added this whole other element to it, the racial element, which I think it was great and I think totally appropriate.”

Though Filardi didn’t work on the remake and hasn’t actually seen it, he’s able to see for himself, first hand, how well the film has aged and how it continues to endure for young women – he has teenage daughters of his own.

“I see them going through all the same stuff that I watched girlfriends going through. And it hasn’t changed all that much,” he says ruefully.

“It’s funny. For years, they had no idea what I did for a living. I think they just thought I hung around in the basement. And one daughter was like… She was going to school with somebody whose father was in a rock band or something, ‘Nobody in this house does anything interesting. Everything’s boring.’ And it was around Halloween and they were showing The Craft at the Hollywood Forever cemetery. I took them to the cemetery and it was great. There were boys dressed in Catholic high school uniforms and women all in black and with blankets and candles and wine and snacks. Amidst the tombstones, they set up a huge screen and showed the film. So, that’s when they first saw it. And it was really fun. A really nice thing to share with my daughters.”

Things don’t change that much. High school is still horrible. Magic is still tantalizing. The outfits are still fabulous. And Nancy is still a stone cold legend. The Craft is an enduring celebration of outsider culture that we’ll probably still be talking about in 25 years to come. After all, most of us, at one time or another, feel like the weirdos. 

“I think of it as the story about the power of adolescent pain and self-empowerment. I think of beautiful young people who are just picked upon or put in positions they shouldn’t be or don’t deserve to be, and having the ability to fight back and weather it and survive,” says Filardi when we ask him what he’s most proud of. 

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“I’m also proud of all the great contributions that the other talented people brought to the script. All I did was a script, but you have actors and directors and producers and art directors and production designers who just… Everybody seems to me to have brought their A-game. I didn’t come up with Nancy’s great look. Other people get all that credit. Like you said, you see her on t-shirts. So, so many people just brought so many things. I guess I’m just proudest to think that a bunch of strangers come together and connect to the message of the piece, and together just make something memorable all these 25 years later.”

The post The Craft: How a Teenage Weirdo Based on a Real Person Became an Icon appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[skekheck]

30 Days of the Dark Crystal Challenge

Decided to do poultry-blocks Dark Crystal challenge because it looks like a lot of fun to do. However I’m cheating and I wrote all of this within a couple of days. Warning: fairly large post with pictures and fan ramblings. 

EDIT: I FORGOT TO INCLUDE DAY 16 WHOOP. It’s in there now. 

Day 1. Your favorite skeksis

Idiot, feral, wildman who stole my heart. How? Why? Who knows. *chef kisses* Beautiful stinky bastard.

Day 2: Your favorite gelfling

Bless her and her skeksis cosplay. What a queen.

Day 3: A character that you love that everyone seems to hate.

The tides are changing for her it seems. I think people are appreciating her more, but she still faces her fair share of controversies. Not that I don’t think it warrants discussion nor am I excusing her actions. But she’s way more complex than what a lot of people are making her out to be.

Day 4: A character that you hate that everyone seems to love. 

Hate is a strong word as I don’t hate him, but I don’t really care for Amri. He feels like a bootleg Deet mixed with a little bit of Kylan and Gurjin. Wasted potential and honestly shouldn’t have been the POV for Tides of the Dark Crystal. Seems I’m alone in this opinion, though. Maybe the book warrants rereading?

Day 5: Movie or TV Show? Why?

TV Show by miles! I think the series accomplishes way more than the movie does, like establishing lore,  better written characters, and a more engaging story. I actually cared about the gelfling and it really fleshed out the skeksis in an interesting way outside of “oh they do evil things because they’re evil!”. Doesn’t mean it does everything right, but I’ll get into that later.  

Day 6: Something you wish that happened in the series but didn’t.

Just a few things. I miss the gelfling intermingling with the mystics, particularly urVa. I love everything that happens with urGoh and skekGra, but some of the bonding moments Naia had with urVa are precious and I wish we had more of that. I also wished the gelfling got the message out to the other clans like they did in the book where Kylan dreametched their message onto the Santuary Tree’s blossoms and scattered them all throughout Thra. I also wished Tavra and Onica were an established couple, but maybe it’s not too late for that.

Day 7: Favorite gelfling clan

The Sifa! It was the Dousan at first, but the more I learned about the Sifa the more I grew to love the clan. If I were a gelfling I would probably be a sifa myself LOL. 

Day 8: You opinion on Aughra

She’s a fun and fascinating character! Aughra puts a unique spin on the whole beautiful, wise earth goddess trope by making her ugly, old, and cranky. She’s also a character with her own flaws, even having a mini arc about neglecting to take care of her planet and doing whatever she can to make amends. Not to mention she’s wildly entertaining. Much love for Aughra!

Day 9: Skeksis or Gelfling?

Both!

Day 10: Your opinion on podlings?

They’re just funky little potato people who just want to have fun, dance, and drink all day and I respect them for that. They’re great. Also Hup exists and he’s just an amazing character so there’s that.

Day 11: Your The Dark Crystal unpopular opinion

I think it’s okay to sympathize with the skeksis as long as one is not excusing their actions. I see a lot of people say you shouldn’t because they’re evil and they commit atrocities. Which, yes, it’s true, but I think both can co-exist. I mean, skekTek’s whole cycle of abuse is written very sympathetically yet the show doesn’t coddle him. It shows the ugliness of his character and what happens when someone isn’t capable of cutting off from said cycle. Also the writers consider the skeksis as tragic characters due to their broken nature so I don’t think it’s wrong to be a little sympathetic. But once again with great emphasis, sympathy is fine as long as their actions are judged. They are awful bastards and no amount of sympathy will change that. 

Day 12: Something you dislike about the series

I think the stuff I don’t like about the show is a result of its pacing and cluttered cast. There are so many stories going on and while I liked how they handled it for the most part, you can also see how the show rushes to get through all of them. A lot of important moments where a character should reflect or something that should simmer more is pushed aside for the next thing. Maybe if the show was given more episodes and time to breath it would have been better off. 

Day 13: Most disappointing thing about the series

SkekMal and urVa didn’t have enough screen time and we were honestly ROBBED. 

Day 14: Your OTP

Speaking of which... . Its a crack ship, but I’m all about that allegory for self love (and I just want these two to be alive). Day 15: Favorite quote

Listed plenty of my favorite quotes before, but I’ll pick this one:

“ Life is my paint. Death is my canvas”

Day 16: Rate the skeksis from least favorite to favorite OR rate the gelfling from lest favorite to favorite [or both!]

And if you want my gelfling hot takes, here’s this list (just backwards in context to this post)

Day 17: Opinion on Raunip?

Raunip is a fantastic character. I loved him in Creation Myths and I can’t wait to see what role he’d play in the resistance. And I absolutely love the parallels between him and the urskeks it’s great. 

Day 18: A character that is most similar to you.

I too am a dark-dwelling gremlin who constantly forgets where I put things and crack a few dark jokes at my expense. 

Day 19: Which character do you strongly dislike, why?

This is entirely based on the books, but I find Mera to be awful.  I think it’s because she’s so fake and condescending? When Naia arrived in Sami Thicket, she was acting nice and polite but when the Drenchen asked her why the skeksis never visited Sog Mera responded  “It’s only worth counting what’s valuable”. She continuously disrespects her by calling her pet names even when Naia became maudra. It doesn’t come off as cute, it’s gross. I don’t recall Mera ever apologizing for any of the shit she did to Naia... or Kylan for that matter. She was a pretty neglectful step-mother to him. She doesn’t have an excuse being busy with Maudra stuff because Laesid was a kickass mom to her kids. So in conclusion, fuck this bitch.

Day 20: What do you like so much about the Dark Crystal?

The better question what’s not to love about the Dark Crystal? It has amazing creature design, an expansive world that feels real and alien from our own, having complex and interesting characters as well as villains, the fact that it relies heavily on practical effects a.k.a puppetry... . There’s nothing like it and that’s what makes it so wonderful and unique. It needs to be appreciated more. 

Day 21: Favorite music piece from the soundtrack?

Can’t beat that opening theme. 

Day 22: Your opinion on the sequel comics [Power/Beneath the Dark Crystal]

They have cool concepts and ideas, but they’re not written well. Power is just the movie if it was put into a blender and shredded and ignoring a large portion of established lore for the sake of plot. And Beneath is just a generic fantasy story with the Dark Crystal logo slapped on it. 

Day 23: Which character from the YA novels/comics do you wish we would see more of?

There are plenty of characters that are a given to appear in the series at some point (skekSa, skekLi, urSan, etc). And of course I want to see them, but I really hope Periss shows up (and his brother too). He is one of my favorite characters from the book series and we could use some more Dousan rep!

Day 24: Your opinion on the Age of Resistance comic?

I have yet to read the comics. I’m waiting on them to be part of a collection so I don’t have to buy all of the volumes at once (I prefer owning physical copies). I’ve heard good things about them, especially the story with Hup and the current Mayrin arc. I’m excited to get my hands on them. 

Day 25: The best moment/scene in the series?

There are a lot of great moments, but Rian and Ordon’s fight with skekMal is still my favorite in the entire series. The "Speak For the Dead” scene is a close second.

Day 26: The death of a character that hurt you the most?

He did not deserve this. Fuck you, skekMal. 

Day 27: Your favorite episode from the series?

It’s got to be 4. Not just because a number of my favorite characters debut in this episode, but it’s an important one for the plot. Stakes are being raised, we’re seeing set ups to major story elements and character arcs, and events that impact the rest of the series. It also has a handful of my favorite character moments and interactions. 

Day 28: Your favorite non-skeksis and non-gelfling character? Why?

I’ve come to realize the reasons why I love urVa are the same as why I love skekMal (incredibly appropriate I might say). There’s enough information about him that we get a good understanding on who he is as a character, but still mysterious enough that there’s interest in wanting to know more. Much like his skeksis, he’s unique from the other mystics and thus giving him unique experiences that are fun to speculate. However, the YA novels are responsible for my current fondness of him. 

Day 29: Do you like the urru and skeksis apart or like them as urSkeks together?

A main theme of the Dark Crystal is unity and balance. The main conflict of the franchise are the skeksis, the broken fragments of their urskek self who, according to the writers, “...[have] a dire need for the qualities they lack”. Their only salvation is to become urskeks again and unfortunately many of the pairs never achieve this.  They’re basically a giant allegory for the self and self-love. While we don’t really know what they were like when they were an urskek (aside from SilSol perhaps), we can get some understanding when we look at their pairs and see what traits they share. Speculation is also fun! So as much as I love the skeksis and mystics as individuals, I prefer them to be whole again.

Day 30: What are your wishes for a possible season 2?

A whole bunch of things. I want to see them explore more about the mystics and their lifestyle, having Raunip play a big part in the plot, seeing more of skekSa’s fall from grace from her perspective, the beginning of the Garthim Wars, and more. 

[spookyold-saintjm]

illinois 48 &/or 55

48: “I’ve liked you for a while now.”

55: “Shut up and kiss me already.”

From this prompt list.

WOW uh I took forever to do this, like this one isn’t even part of the holiday theme lol oops. Also I love writing Illinois now so yeah.

Cursing and light implications of abuse in y/n’s past here?

Illinois x reader

You were almost at your wit’s end with Illinois. 

You’d known from the moment you two had met that he was like this—so self-assured, smooth-talking, easygoing, and could flirt the pants off anybody who crossed his path, if he wanted.

Except for you, that is. You weren’t falling for his shit.

You’d met his type before, been with his type before, and you knew better. It was all a game to men like him, all about the stories he could tell to his buddies, the chase and the thrill of it all. And considering how you’d met and the circumstances the two of you again found yourselves in at this particular moment, he was definitely one for the thrill.

You’d both decided on your impromptu adventure together that you made a pretty decent team, so Illinois had recruited you to join him for a couple of his other explorations as of late. At first, you were prepared to tell him off, thinking it was another one of his schemes to endlessly flirt with you, but you knew deep down that…well, you could use the extra money that finding these treasures he was out for could bring in for you. And that was enough to convince yourself to join him for the time being.

The two of you quickly became rather solid partners in your line of work, collaborating on research and recovery of various artifacts Illinois had had an eye on for some time. And, of course, he was generous with splitting the profits. The man probably would never have to work a day in his life again, if he ever chose to settle down. Not likely.

You were currently both making your way, slowly, through a long, narrow path deep within the cave you’d begun to explore early that morning. After several twists, turns, drops and dodging potential traps throughout the day, you were both fairly exhausted. According to your map, once you reached the other side of the path, an open area containing an underground lake awaited you, and you both agreed to make it your stopping point for the day.

And, of course, most of the way, when he wasn’t sharing information about your current whereabouts and other information you mostly already knew, he was laying the charm on thick.

“Watch your step, hun. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to that beautiful face of yours.” “Those gems match your eyes, sweetheart. I’ll get ‘em made into something nice for you. But don’t get too used to it.” “We’ll have to get close to make it through here. Try not to get too excited.”

Sometimes you just wanted to deck him in his pretty teeth.

You finally reached your destination for the evening. You swung your backpack off your shoulders, letting it land with a thud, and began to take out everything you needed to set up for the night. 

You accidentally let out a small yelp of surprise when a sudden pain shot through your left shoulder and into your back, something you’d been trying to avoid all afternoon, likely from a the extra strain on your muscles throughout the day. 

Illinois’s head turned toward you, and you closed your eyes with a sigh, both in frustration that he’d heard you and in an effort to will the stabbing pain out of your body.

“Somethin’ wrong?” He asked. You quickly shook your head.

“I’m fine.”

“Didn’t sound like it.” Illinois narrowed his eyes at you from several feet away.

“Well, I am,” you replied shortly, continuing to pull items from your backpack. You turned around as you were crouched on the ground, reaching to grab your water bottle, when the pain hit you again, worse this time.

Illinois was standing at your side, looking down at you, before you could process he’d even moved. “Alright, what is it?”

“I—“ you grabbed your shoulder with your right hand “Shit, ah, it’s fine, Illinois.”

Illinois stared at you a brief moment longer, watching as you gritted your teeth through the pain and took a sip of your water before continuing to work. “You know, sweetheart, you’re a damned awful liar.” 

You stood and glared at him, but before you could speak his hand was on your shoulder in a tight grip, his fingers pressing hard into a point on your back, that almost made you scream as you flinched.

“Hey!” You took a step back from him, instantly in defensive mode. “Illinois, what the fuck?!”

He crossed his arms, very obviously holding back a smirk. “How’s it feel now?”

“What do you mean how does it—“ You suddenly realized that, actually, it wasn’t hurting quite as bad as before. Your rotated your shoulder a bit, still wincing from the motion, but it certainly was less intense, more of a dull, throbbing pain.

“Huh,” you mused, reaching with your own hand to feel the area of muscle that he’d touched. 

“Easy,” Illinois stated, “It’s only meant to help for a little while.”

“Uh…thanks,” you replied, dropping your arm and looking back at him. It was in that moment that the exhaustion that had been building up in your body started to seep through to the surface, and you felt yourself finally drooping. 

His head tilted slightly to one side, but his lazy grin remained. “Why don’t you sit down for a bit, darlin’. Let me take care of setting up camp.”

“Stop calling me that,” you replied, remembering why you were annoyed with him, your exhaustion beginning to get to your nerves. “Honestly. I know what you’re playing at, Illinois, and it’s not going to work on me. I’ve done this before.“

“Done what, exactly?” He asked. His voice was still smooth, but you saw the flicker of surprise in the way he blinked at you.

“You know what.” You crossed your arms to match his stance. “The whole, sweet-talking me into whatever you want thing. It might work on everybody else, but it won’t work on me. I don’t fall for that anymore.” 

“I…but I…” was that hesitation? From Illinois? You’d have to mark this day down in the books. He shook his head slowly. “I don’t want anything from you.”

“Okay. Right.” You let out a huff of breath and rolled your eyes. “You’re just like everyone else. I don’t know what I expected.”

“y/n—“ he started, but you had already turned and gone back to your work with your supplies. He took a couple steps forward to be near you again. “y/n, I wasn’t trying to—“

“Spit it out, Illinois,” you replied, your back still turned to him.

He lifted his hat from his head, running his fingers through his hair as he let out an exasperated sigh. “Alright, fine, y/n. I’ll just come out and say it. I’ve liked you for a while now.” 

You had opened your mouth, a snarky retort already prepared, but his words stopped you dead. 

“Y-you what?” you asked, cursing yourself when you realized the pitch in your voice had risen in your surprise. You turned to face him and shook your head, waving your hand in front of you. “Don’t even start that.”

“I’m not—” Illinois started. He placed his hat back on his head. “Look, I’ve lost a lot of people in my line of work. Friends, partners, people who—meant something to me…” his voice trailed off, his eyes ever so slightly dimming at the thought, “…and sometimes, more times than not, really, it’s been my own damn fault. I know that.”

You blinked back at him, your muscles starting to relax. You’d never heard him speak about anyone that he’d lost before, and weren’t quite sure how to react. In fact, it was the most you’d probably ever heard him talk about anyone other than just himself.

“I’m not all that great with telling people how I feel, believe it or not,” he added, a weak smile in attempt to return to his usual demeanor. It fell flat when his eyes met yours again. His hands twitched forward towards you, reaching out to you, but he forced back the motion and abruptly shoved his hands into his pockets. “But I…don’t want to make the same mistakes with you. I don’t. Couldn’t live with myself if I did. I’m…sorry if I made you feel any different.“

Aw, dammit.

He was right, dammit he was right. You knew he meant it. And you knew that all these times of trying to convince yourself that he was like the others…well, no one had ever apologized to you before. No one had ever tried to make it right. Maybe he wasn’t like them, after all.

Maybe it was the exhaustion, and maybe you’d regret this later, but your eyes stared holes through him as he continued to talk, as you stopped him mid-sentence.

“Oh, just shut up and kiss me already, Illinois.”

You weren’t sure who actually ended up kissing who, as your lips immediately collided. Illinois’s arms were instantly around you, his hands pressing into your back to bring you closer. His lips were practically made for yours, the kiss deep and heavy. He’d been holding this back for a while. And fine, okay, fine, so had you.

You only finally separated when neither one of you could breathe any longer, both of you lightly gasping for air when you parted and your head fell to rest against his shoulder. His arms wrapped around you fully now, keeping you close.

He didn’t move until he felt his heartbeat had steadied, pulling you away from him only enough so that he could tilt your chin up with the tips of his fingers to meet his practically sparkling eyes.

He hummed lightly as he pressed his lips gently to yours one more time, a gentle smile on his face as he spoke. “I would almost say you’re as good of a kisser as me. Maybe someday.”

You smacked him on the shoulder so hard that it echoed in the cave, but he only seemed surprised when you hooked your fingers into his belt loops and pulled him forward, his body now pressed tightly against yours and his eyes wide when a sly grin creeped across your face.

“Right. We’ll see about that.” 

[gunnerpalace]

Bleach Meta is Cancelled

I'm going to be direct and real with you: Bleach as a whole does not spark much joy for me anymore. I never intended to be and have never particularly enjoyed being known for my meta regarding it, because I have never really viewed that meta as an important or meaningful contribution. Having said that, I feel it's also wrong to diminish the opinions or feelings of people who did find that meta valuable for some reason or another. So, if you liked what I’ve written on the subject, or are from the future and are only just discovering it and think it’s great, then thank you. If you feel it has materially improved your life in some fashion, I’m glad to have done that.

However, I find it not just bothersome and distracting, but an actively bad use of my time.

Let me be clear that I am not going anywhere. I intend to keep writing fiction and developing ideas, both related to my existing and ongoing fics, and other ideas I have in mind. (I think how hard I’ve fallen for YoruIchiRuki should be evident, but I still have some IchiRuki concepts beyond those nominally being worked on.)

What I will not be doing going forward is meta posts, with the sole exception of the Hyperchlorate series, as I feel that that is “summative” and can largely be constructed from what I have already written, and it points exactly toward one of those ideas (my personal vision of what Bleach “could have been” had the focus simply been on telling a good story and respecting the characters.) The reasons for this are simple:

Bleach’s failures have been beaten to death. It’s intellectually and emotionally boring to rehash the same things over and over again. It’s Rage Archaeology. And you know what? I’ve spent more time thinking about it and dissecting it than most people have. I’ve forgotten more about it than most people will ever know, and the conclusion I have come to is essentially that...

Bleach is trash. It’s just... objectively bad. It’s sophomoric. It’s a minimum viable product. Don’t get me wrong: there were good things in it, but if you go to that first Hyperchlorate post up there and you take the five things I said made it notable (1. Deuteragonists. 2. Character Designs, 3. Mystery, 4. Contrast, and 5. Urban Fantasy Setting), you might notice that those five things can be reduced to really just two things: A. Characters and B. Vibe. That’s it. That’s the show. Bleach had some good characters and a neato vibe. And the trouble is...

Bleach squandered that vibe by becoming generic shounen schlock and it constantly abused those characters. As I have said repeatedly and consistently for several years now, the only way that Bleach makes sense as a holistic and cohesive product is that it is designed to make you feel bad. It abandoned its own themes for the sake of promoting a nihilistic and shitty worldview, which it articulated through the flagrant abuse and twisting of its characters (throughout, not merely at the end). It’s misery porn. The thing is, it’s not even cathartic misery porn—it’s misery porn designed to inspire yet more misery in its audience. It is calculated to erase its own purpose and in so doing to waste your time and bring you down. It is not entertainment, it is a psychological weapon. And you know...

There is little point to knowing or memorizing or debating the minutiae of such a piece of work. Canonicity is not correlated with quality whatsoever, and the authorial intent of an author engaging in bad faith is worth less than zero (as people who’ve been following J. K. Rowling could tell you). In other words, not only is it a waste of time and energy, but it is an actively pernicious subject. Bleach is, in a certain very real sense, evil, and its evil is on the one hand made most obvious through analysis but it is also made all the more wearying through analysis. And even if you view uncovering the truth as a valid and worthwhile goal...

What is the point? No one is really much persuaded by analysis in the present age. Argumentation really only serves to sharpen preexisting viewpoints. It might give people already inclined to agree with you the words to express what they already instinctually knew or felt, but at what cost? And even if there could be said to be a good in such a service, how much is there? To talk about it like a capitalist might: the opportunity cost outweighs the thin profit margin. And to consider it from another angle, artistic output is a more effective tool of persuasion anyway. (I could go on, but I am not [and have no interest in being] some sort of leadership figure, so I will stop here.)

What this means going forward is that I’m not interested in receiving asks about meta. If I can’t answer such a thing in a sentence, I will delete it. It’s nothing personal; I have simply made the decision that it’s not worth my time. I’m going to be focusing on my fiction. And a lot of that is going to be focused on AUs, be they IR or YIR focused (the latter of which I know exceedingly few people are willing to take a risk on, let alone interested in).

So, if you’re here because of my work on meta in the past, or that newly specified focus bothers you, this serves as your one and only notice that you’re probably better off blacklisting the tags I do bother to use for my interests, or just unfollowing or blocking me. I make no apologies for and will not reconsider this shift in my priorities.

[kokkuri3]

Why does Alice character deteriorate through the story? She seems to get progressively dumber as the story continues, which is a shame.

So my immediate response to this is “Jun Mochizuki’s internalized misogyny” and then I thought about it a bit more and my answer is actually still “Jun Mochizuki’s internalized misogyny” but with a bit more nuance than that.

Alice... has a pretty strong character, actually. Generally what makes characters weak is their lack of nuance or role in the plot, but Alice as a character actually has a ton of nuance and is one of the most plot important characters in the series, such that her actions are a direct cataclysm for a ton of major events.

Just the other day I was thinking about the scene where Oz first realizes he is a Chain-- while the scene is from Oz’s perspective, and thus the emotional narration is his own, that scene is also absolutely devastating if you consider it from Alice’s perspective. It’s unclear how much Alice understood about the nature of Oz’s existence (at least at the time of the memory) and how much was simply a child treating a toy like a person because that’s what children do, but that doesn’t change the fact that Oz was... an object, incapable of acting on his own. Alice definitely knew this, at least on some level (she never claims that Oz isn’t a toy, even after Jack “kills” him)... so the fact that she feels the need to ask Oz to protect her, to comfort her when she’s sad, that there is no one else she could possibly turn to for this was enough to make me feel weird for a good while after I realized the scene’s full implications.

There’s way more I could write about Alice’s character, because there is genuinely a lot to her (that Alice’s Most Important Person, in terms of the narrative device central to PH’s themes, be the Intention of Abyss instead of Oz as is commonly assumed is one thing I’ve brought up). Her dialogue is just... overwhelmingly stupid.

The deterioration in quality wrt her dialogue is something I blame on Jun Mochizuki’s internalized misogyny, as I said, but I realized that might sound a bit weird given how PH does actually have a ton of strong female characters. I’ve written a ton about Lacie/Noise/Echo’s respective arcs and narrative roles before, and they’re not the only female characters in PH to have strong writing. The thing is mostly that... Jun Mochizuki has (or had, because this problem is WAY less present in VnC, good on her) a very tough time writing female characters outside of the context of abuse. All of the female characters I just mentioned were abused their entire lives, with Noise and Echo only finding catharsis immediately before their deaths and Lacie not finding catharsis until over a century after her execution (though she definitely found catharsis, and I am staunch on this, and that’s a whole other post).

The thing about Alice is that, while she was certainly mistreated quite a bit as a child, for most of the plot she... is not actively subjected to abuse. She has her conflict with Gil, definitely, but he certainly wasn’t an abuser, she probably didn’t realize the conflict was anything more than petty for him, and the two reconcile pretty easily after Gil takes it upon himself to apologize. Other than that, the only character she stands in major direct conflict with for most of the story is Intention of Abyss, who only has a few appearances overall, and with whom she pretty quickly resolves her conflict once she comes to understand her true feelings for her. There is no pervasive negative force acting against Alice for most of her arc, and because of that, Jun Mochizuki had trouble keeping her characterization strong.

“Strong characterization only in the face of horrific, ongoing outside adversity” is something I assign specifically to female characters mostly because... well, most of the male characters don’t have the same kind of horrific ongoing outside adversity the female characters do, at least to the same degree. Gil is the most obvious example, especially in the sense that he’s a character Jun Mochizuki clearly personally favors because his actual role in the plot is... minimal. Most of his purpose in the plot is fulfilled by the time he’s a small child, and his role in the plot otherwise is mostly... be Oz’s friend, which obviously isn’t something only he could do. The only thing I can think of that is genuinely exclusive to him is that he is Raven’s contractor, and even then, there’s no real reason why he couldn’t have, say, died immediately after escaping Abyss, in which case Nightray still would’ve been without a Chain for the past 100 years.

Gil, for the most part, doesn’t have a character working in direct conflict to him. The closest is Noise, who... actually ends up not saying much about him, even though she canonically disliked him personally. You could argue that Vincent serves this role, but Vincent makes a deliberate effort to stay out of Gil’s way for most of the plot, and while they definitely had a major incongruence in ideals, to say Vincent was working against Gil gravely oversimplifies their relationship, to say the very least. As I said before, his actual plot relevance is pretty minimal. Yet Gil still has incredibly strong characterization-- he’s my favorite male character, for all the shit I give him!-- because Jun Mochizuki is capable of more than convincingly sustaining his arc off of his internal conflict alone. Despite not doing much and having comparatively little external conflict, Gil still comes off as a very strong, nuanced character, because we’re given the chance to see his internal conflict throughout the story.

I don’t know why Jun Mochizuki chose not to give Alice this same internal conflict. Part of me suspects it was at least a little bit because she didn’t want PH to get too down in tone-- keep in mind, at the start of the story, Alice had several angsty perspective bits while Gil was mostly comic relief, before their narrative roles switched. But I don’t think that excuses Jun Mochizuki letting one of her central protagonists have such comparatively weak writing, given that we know she’s an incredibly nuanced and talented character writer. It seems more than anything her reluctance to write female characters who aren’t being actively victimized being what caused Alice to have such frankly stupid dialogue, which really is a shame, because I like Alice, and I do think she has nuance.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Summer 2019 Anime Overview: Carole and Tuesday (final episodes)

I ended up having a lot more to say about Carole and Tuesday’s second season than I thought I did! It delved into some pretty varied and complex issues, after all. I did an EXTREMELY brief review/reaction( to the first half/season of the show you can see here. This review continues from that but is much more involved.

Carole and Tuesday (second half/ episodes 13-24)

Carole and Tuesday’s second half really expands its scope and goes all-out into the zone of social commentary in a way that I didn’t expect. Dang. I’m definitely impressed. There were hints of this in the first part, with Carole being a refugee from Earth who had very limited means and opportunities, while Tuesday came from a privileged background but ran away to escape a mother who cared more about her political career and public approval than her children’s well-being.

The second half delves into this much more, and condemns the policies of deportation and general public attitudes towards refugees and undocumented immigrants. Since the part of Mars our protagonists live inhabit pretty clearly meant to be analogous to New York, the plotline definitely meant to be a criticism of what’s going on in American politics right now. Of course Japan also notoriously has a lot of problems accepting immigrants and I think Watanabe and the rest of the staff probably wanted to say something about that too. 

Tuesday’s mom is able to climb the political ranks by calling for deportation of refugees on Mars- and in a chillingly accurate bit of commentary, she does this  solely to gain popularity with the public, and an even richer white man who has a corporate monopoly easily flouts laws and ethics to push her campaign. Black people are shown to be the first ones targeted for deportation and the black men who speak out are “made an example of”. The show doesn’t go so far to have anyone be killed (which is for the best, it’s unnecessary to go that far to make the point), police brutality is depicted and condemned, one man is targeted and beaten a bit despite not physically resisting, and a pair of men simply walking on the street are manhandled and arrested for “obstructing officers” despite doing absolutely nothing illegal. These marginalized folks continue to bravely fight back, even releasing protest raps from jail. And it’s pointed out to Tuesday that her mom is targeting people who are like her best friend and maybe she should step up and do something about it.

All of that is really good, and the show is firmly on the side of the minorities fighting back, and is all about how art should be used to challenge and reject oppression. It encourages diversity, unity, and takes a stand against persecution of immigrants, forced deportation and censorship. And how the show does this witha multi-cultural cast and a lot of developed characters from different backgrounds is great- there’s a love for all different kinds of music and acknowledgement that music owes everything to people of color. I especially appreciated the show going out of it’s way to depict how rap is often a tool for resistance.

That said, while the show’s message is positive and I appreciate its optimism and good intentions, the ending felt a little too neat and overly simplistic.It might be reductive to say the show goes so far to say racism can be solved if you sing a song, it’s more like “yeah use music to resist!” but the way the police are SO EASILY talked out of violence when they come to shut things down, the neat and simple way the political situation is resolved, and ALL the prison guards being willing to help out minorities in jail with no argument- yeah, I think it’s fair to say it wouldn’t go that smoothly in real life. However, the show seems to sincerely trying to send a message of hope, even if the execution is a little simplistic and lacking. 

The show is just sort of messy when it comes to its plot, themes and issues in general- I’d say it tries to do a little too much, so every arc is left feeling kind of underdeveloped and a lot of things are just...dropped. There are several examples of this.

Two mothers are both major characters in the show, and the show tries to make a connection there and say something about motherhood at the last second, but it’s muddled and contradictory. It’s stated that mothers can either chain you down or give you guidance and freedom, which is true, but we’re ONLY shown awful moms throughout the show, who have a large negative impact on their childrens’ life and hardly any positive impact, so celebrating motherhood at all feels bizarre. 

And the idea that this one mom isn’t all bad and maybe can be reasoned with is jarring since there aren’t any examples in the show of her postively affecting her child or being a good mom in the past. It’s so muddled I don’t know if I can say the show crosses over into abuse apologism (it’s at least made clear that if that mom doesn’t take her one chance to start to make amends, the kids will step aside and let her be taken down) but it really edges on it, and this is definitely something the show should have developed more and executed better

Another really muddled plot element with a lot of weird implications was the whole “martian androgyny syndrome” thing. It didn’t tun out as badly as I feared it might, but it was really hard to say why it was even there or what the show was trying to do with it. 

Basically, being on Mars can lead to some sort of vague condition where your sex changes I guess? And maybe it’s eventually fatal for some reason? And maybe the medication that treats it (by trying to stop the change? by addressing side effects? it’s not clear what it even does) causes uncontrollable anger??? That last part is especially uncertain because it’s only stated once by a person who might be trying to justify their abusive behavior BUT it’s also true that out of the three groups introduced in the show who have the syndrome, the people who (probably) take the meds have explosive tempers while the person who explicitly doesn’t is calm so????

 Anyway, the syndrome isn’t presented as uniformly negative, the calm person who doesn’t take the meds is a good person who is okay with their condition and they identify as non-binary and make a nice speech about it. But they’re also, y’know, dying, so. Again, it’s really unclear why this is even a plot element since it goes nowhere and gets explored so little and what is actually even going on with the syndrome and the medication is SO VAGUE. It doesn’t help that 2/3 of the people afflicted look like stereotypical anime caricatures of trans women. The idea that being intersex/getting a sex change/whatever is supposed to be happening is a death sentence isn’t great either.

And that kind of extends to the character arcs, relationships and plot in general a bit- there were a lot of things that were underdeveloped and muddled, which made the characters a little hard to connect to. Even the sci-fi aesthetic felt a little half-baked- I guess it’s a alternate history because we’re in Mars but Instagram is still a thing and modern singers are being referenced, but exactly how this world works went pretty underexplored. At least the text at the encourages viewers to use their creativity and continue the story themselves, so even the show itself is telling ficcers to get on it and make sense of this mess, okay. (Seriously though, I always enjoy seeing pro writers inviting the viewers to continue their story. Let those fic flags fly!)

Carole and Tuesday is definitely not perfect, but it’s entertaining, warm, visually beautiful and bursting with a love and respect for music. It’s features awesome tunes and varied and intriguing characters. The pro-diversity message that extends support for the marginalized and especially immigrants and refugees is very needed in these troubled times, and it’s theme of unity is very sweet

It’s an thought-provoking show clearly made with a lot love and largely positive intentions, so if you can handle the mixed and concerning implications of some of the more muddled bits, I encourage checking it out. 

[saltmageelliexiv]

Disclaimer: The story below deals with dark/mature content consistent with sexual themes, drug use, and mentions of physical abuse. Also, my writing skills are incredibly rusty, so please do not expect professional-level writing.

It was that time again; evening had began to set, the shops in the bazaar had began to close their doors, and the bars near the Red Lantern district had begun to open. While a majority had taken the path back to their homes or the inns, the remainder drifted away to the crimson-lit path. Along with common bars, bath houses, oddity shops, and even brothels were opening their doors, some even having workers stand out to draw in the eye of potential customers. Though there were a number of people who stood out in the crowds, there was one woman in particular who seemed to draw more than enough eyes in the crowd, from both men and women alike.

A statuesque woman, she stood, and walked, proudly, the sound of her heels making a soft thud against the cobblestone of the streets. She had a reputation in this part of the city, possessing many names and monikers from her profession. But to anyone familiar with her profession, she was known as ‘The Matron of Sins’. An infamous brothel madam, even running her own business didn’t stop her from conducting her own affairs, her business keeping her away from her business the entire previous night. Her hair had been pulled back into a messy ponytail, damp with water that gleamed softly in the light. She even wore a black and crimson kimono, the chest of her robes being left loosely cinched to reveal a generous portion of her bosom.

Walking through the district, she could hear the whispers and murmurs even through the loud and boisterous conversations going on about the area. Some of them speaking in disbelief of her brazen appearance, some damning her for her shamelessness. None of it bothered her, for hidden in her pockets was enough coin to sustain her business for a fortnight. Despite how disheveled and shameless she appeared, she could stand proud knowing that she had a man desiring her body so bad that he was willing to pay a small fortune to know her pleasures.

‘They damn me now and call me a shameless whore... but I could have every one of them kissing my feet in a mere minute.’

The Madam couldn’t help but smirk at the thought; confidence, or egotistical, there was no denying that she could take whatever words anyone had to throw at her. After the ordeal of walking back to her business, she was greeted with a small, modest building; dim red lighting showing through the windows, and in the front, a sign of the double sided doors reading ‘CLOSED’. It seems that no one opened up yet.

‘They’re probably still getting ready...’ The Madam let out a sigh. ‘I need a drink. And a change of clothes.’

Grabbing the handle of one of the doors, the Madam gave it a quick turn, surprised to see that no one had locked it. As she entered the building, she could already hear numerous footsteps, some yelling, and even giggles. Her hunch was correct, but she could also tell that no one sensed her presence yet.

Clearing her throat, she’d close the door behind her, locking it for safety. “If you all did something I don’t approve of, you’d better hide it now!” Though her voice was raised, the mischievous smile on her face deceived her tone. Not long after, a couple young ladies had made their way to the front door; both of them couldn’t have been older than twenty, one of them half-dressed.

“Madam, we weren’t expecting you to be back so late. Are you okay?” One of the girls took some of the bearings from the Madam; coin satchel, shoes, whatever wasn’t needed. Along with it, she shooed away the half-dressed girl, offering to take care of the woman herself.

The Madam gave a nod, groaning slightly as she made her way further into the building, examining everything she could on the way to a staircase. “I’m fine, just tired. I already bathed before I came here, but I need to change my clothes. I need to get that man’s stench out of my robes...”

Barely a thing out of place, at the very least, the business was fine during her night away; perhaps she could go out and take care of business in the evening more often. Making her way upstairs, the young woman followed right behind her, following like a duckling would follow their mother. All throughout the building, young men and women alike were fluttering about, getting their best garments on, and some even assisting others with their hair and garments.

“Let them know that we’ll be opening an hour late. They can’t be running around like this. They will fall over, or Heavens forbid break something. Meet me in my room when you’re done.” The Madam would give the command to the young woman, the woman giving a nod in acknowledgement, before running off to carry out her duties.

Escaping the insanity in the building, the Madam evaded all the scrambling men and women, managing to escape into her room. Unlike the rest of the building, this room was free of people; large and luxurious, it appeared to look more like a small apartment. A bed, bookshelves, table, desk, a large vanity and boudoir, even a stand to hang a kimono. The room smelled of decadent perfumes and incense; a pipe, small box, and bottle of rice wine rested on the table. Pulling a cushion out from beneath the table, the Madam quickly made herself comfortable, letting out a drawn-out sigh as she felt a moment of relief from all the walking she did.

‘Well, since I’m alone... might as well ‘medicate’.’

Grabbing the small box, the Madam popped open the top, revealing a small silver tin inside, a musky scent wafting from inside. Twisting the top of the silver tin, she’d give it a couple taps, pulling it off to reveal dried leaves on the inside. Taking a pinch of it, she’d set it in the pipe, placing the mouth piece between her lips. With a snap of her fingers, a small ember began to flicker at her fingertips, bringing it to the dried leaves in the pipe, taking a deep inhale. With just that inhale, she could feel the pain in her head begin to fade, her thoughts going cloudy, her body going light as a feather. She’d hold in her breath for as long as she could, before releasing it slowly, a plume of white smoke billowing from her crimson lips. The stress and anxiety were flowing away with every plume of smoke that she blew away.

-Knock. Knock. Knock.-

‘... well that didn’t last long.’

Putting out the ember in her pipe, the Madam put away any evidence of her ‘bad habit’, even going as far as cracking open a window before breaking her silence. “Enter.”

Slowly opening the door, the young woman from before poked her head in, looking around to make sure she was going to be alone with the Madam. “I apologize for my delay, everyone is relieved to hear that we no longer have to rush.” Entering the room, the young woman closed the door behind her gingerly, making sure it wouldn’t make a loud noise. “Did you need me to do anything for you, my lady?”

The Madam scratched softly at her temple; she needed to get changed, her hair was a mess, and she was too tired to tend to herself. “I would appreciate your help. Can you grab me my kimono off the stand? I’m too sore to tie it on my own. If I could get some help with my hair as well, I’d greatly appreciate it.”

The young woman gave a nod, and even a soft smile. “Of course, my lady. I’m glad to help.”

While the woman worked on getting the Madam’s new kimono on, she would work on removing her current garments. Having put them on rather half-haphazardly, all it took was a couple strategic pulls of the cloth to get it to unravel itself. Normally, the thing that would draw anyone’s eye would be the Madam’s beautiful figure, but this time, something else would be catching her helping hand’s eye; a number of bruises and scrapes that covered her body that managed to be hidden beneath her clothes. As the young woman turned around to see the Madam’s bare form, she let out a gasp, nearly dropping the kimono to rush over to her.

“My lady, you’re hurt! Why didn’t you tell me? I could have called someone to help.” She was beginning to fret around the woman, gathering the kimono back before it would fall to the floor, trying to rush over to the Madam’s side while keeping the luxurious garment in her arms.

The Madam shook her head. “No need to call me Lady in private, just call me Eliceyn. And there’s no need to call for help. These will heal in time. Besides, I got paid enough to support us for two weeks, so this is a small price to pay to keep everyone here fed.”

Eliceyn held her arms out, waiting for the young woman to help her slip her arms into the sleeves of her new garments. Despite her hesitation, she followed the orders of her boss with reluctance. Carefully putting the garment on the Madam, she made sure not to brush against any part of her body that sustained an injury, even helping her sit back down on the cushion when she was dressed once more.

“My la--” The young woman stopped herself, clearing her throat. “Eliceyn, why did you do this to yourself? Money is not worth it if you let someone beat you; you would throw out anyone here who would do that to us. Why do you put up with it yourself?” As she continued to ask her questions, the young woman took Eliceyn’s hair out of it’s bindings, grabbing a brush that she had shoved in her pocket, carefully letting the Madam’s hair pass through the delicate bristles.

“It’s my duty to make sacrifices for my employees, dear.” The Madam closed her eyes, letting her ‘assistant’ do her job. “Besides, if I didn’t take the hit, someone else here would have. I cut off his contract here after that, and told him to look for a husband if he wants someone to fight.”

The young woman raised a brow, moving aside the locks of hair she brushed through, carefully working out any knots or tangles. “What do you mean, Eliceyn? Did he want someone specific?”

Eliceyn gave a nod, though she remained silent for a brief moment. “He wanted the new girl. The small one who we took in a month ago. The one who has been helping the others and taking care of cleaning. I told him she wasn’t available, and that he would need to pick someone, or I could set him up with someone.”

“Why wasn’t she available? If she’s not here to learn the trade, then why is she here?”

“She’s just a child. I’m not going to sell her soul to a disgusting pervert for coin.” The Madam went silent. “She was on the streets begging for coin. I felt pity; so I offered her a job, but said that if anyone tried to lay a hand on her, then it’ll be the last time they have hands.”

“I see...” The young woman continued to tend to Eliceyn’s hair, showing extreme gentleness, and care in every stroke. “I am glad to see that you care, Madam. There are not many who have a generous heart like you do. Pity you don’t let others see this side of you.” The young woman chuckled softly under her breath, smiling after seeing the softer, more protective side of the Madam.

The Madam let out a huff, a coy smirk curling on her lips. “You tell anyone about this and I’ll have you washing the floors for a week AND tending to the laundry.”

The young woman snickered. “Alright, deal.”

[lilspice05]

Youth Culture is different though each generation and can be described in many ways or forms. For example youth culture is the way children, adolescents and young adults live, and the norms, values, and practices that they share. Now imagine that definition and compare it with your favorite television show or movie. What do you see? You should find a relation between the experiences that you dealt with in life and what the character is doing throughout the series or film. Now take that even one step further and look deep into what character you relate to the most. It could be the smallest, funniest, shyest, craziest character or even the main character. Now really look deeper into that relation as it can be any action, feeling, or even the way that character dresses can depend on why you relate to them so much. This relation with youth culture can be seen throughout every decade, especially the  50”s, 60”s,90’s, and 2000’s with each one having its own style, norms, language, and values that related to the teens and young adults at the time. 

In the 50’s they strongly focused on family based shows and values as they were post world war II and the dawn of the cold war, so they wanted young men to serve and ladies to stay home and take care of all the chores, kids, and sometimes the finances. That's why shows, or back then they were called sitcoms like I Love Lucy, Father Knows Best, and Happy Days were all premiered during this time frame. This taught young ladies how to cook, clean, respect their husbands, and how to dress which was very proper back then. As image was everything for both men and women and if you weren't a perfect and happy family then something was wrong with you. All of this also was happening while also teaching young men to go to work and take care of their family while providing food, protection, and a house. This all because of their norms as they thought a man was everything back then and women were still fighting for many rights. Which leads us to the 60’s. Now this decade also had a huge war in it which caused a lot of norms to change for many people. It even had one of the youngest presidents in the office who was then assassinated later, which made values also slowly change as people's style, music, and lifestyle was different for the better. Girls were able to go out and wear shorter dresses and start stepping out of their comfort zone, especially on the hippie side where they were able to be free and really like themselves. That's why movies like Casino Royale, Barbarella, She, and Cleopatra were put out to show women as strong, independent, outgoing, and capable of things men can do. Sometimes they were even better than the men, however social media still made sure during that time men were still the superior gender and released Dr No, Goldfringers, and DJANGO, to make the men look ten times stronger. Now after reading all that let's skip a few decades and look at the 90’s. This decade was full of crazy and extreme lifestyles as more and more people were stepping out of that ‘’American Dream” life and more into the party life. People were drinking, smoking, building bigger and better homes, driving expensive cars, and more norms were being added as many people were opening up about being gay or lesbian. They also had a very outgoing and different style than the other decades as crop tops, baggy clothes, big shoes, and funny looking hair styles were all introduced as a way to get young teens to step out of their comfort zone. This then led into the early 2000’s as it became the new norm for the next generation. Which strongly believes in being bold, different, but also takes from the other decades. Like from the 50’s and 60's, image is everything and one mess could lead to a variety of different conquense based on the norms or values that society has put in place for us. 

Now that I have dropped all that different outlooks of the different decades on you. You should know I'm a 2000 decade baby so I personally relate not only to the movie Breakfast club but also the character John Bender. I relate to this character in so many different ways as I can see myself as if i was actually in the movie. The first way I relate to him is he is an outsider just like me. We as people don't fit what society considers as perfect or even normal because we have rough past, presents, and maybe even futures as we given up on the reality of a good life. It's like as a person who is just so used to being thrown to the side and forgotten about or used for other’s success doesn't need others to feel sorry for us so we just hide and do our own things. However, with saying another way I relate to John is that we do our own thing and hope someone notices we are doing those actions. We especially want a parent to notice us and actually love us the right way. As just like this character I have a broken home and my mother was very abusive by yelling, screaming, throwing things, and mental breaking me down. Which caused us to change for the worse in hopes they will wake up one day and expect us because society hasn't just like them. All of this then made me three themes that were shown throughout not only this film but many more like Mean Girls,Euphoria, and Mid-90’s.The first theme was rebellion against authority. In everyone of these films they struggled with what adults opinions and demands as they couldn't understand that they were just trying to protect them or teach them a lesson they have to learn. This tends to be a heavy theme that happens today since we young adults grow up just a little too fast trying to keep up with trends, goals, and even just fellow adults. The second theme is the general stereotypes that most movies, short films, and tv shows use to show high school life. Those stereotypes are the popular girl, athlete, nerd, weird kid, mean principal, and most of all the outsider. They then combine them all together and hope that they get along, which never happens since the social class says that can't happen, otherwise you're a complete loser. Unless they are providing something for you, or in the popular girl case worshiping you. Then the last theme is the peer pressure that is actually put on the students to be so perfect. Then on top of that the soundtrack for each film and show gives and assists in telling a story and guides the audience in certain ways, for example emotionally, and it enriches and deepens their experience of the film. That's why if i ever had to choose a soundtrack for any film it would be the Breakfast Club and it would be these ten songs: Simple Minds- Don't You,Nirvana - All Apologies,Paramore: That's What You Get,Numb (Official Video) - Linkin Park,Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication,Journey - Don't Stop Believin',Aerosmith - Dream on,Every Rose Has Its Thorn- Poison,Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue,and Stand by Me - Ben E King. I chose these songs because they all express emotions that are portrayed throughout the movie. From pain to love and everything in between, there are so many different emotions that are brought up in the movie and that’s why I specifically chose these songs.