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dramioneasks · 3 years ago

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HP FESTS: DramioneFanfictionWriters (Part 4)

DFW's Deal or No Deal: Famous Shakespeare Lines, February 2021:

Short Life For A Daffodil by KrysKrossZee - T, one-shot - Hermione and Draco have a wild daughter who likes to pull up daffodils and frustrate her parents, but the duo wouldn't be without their children.

Friends Dont by Lostinthenightrain - T, one-shot - "You don’t choose who you fall for!�� “No, because I sure as hell wouldn’t be standing here now would I?” Hermione mourns the loss of a relationship.

The Malfoy Mistress by ThebeMoon - M, one-shot - Unable to bear the sight of Bellatrix carving into Hermione Granger at Malfoy Manor, Draco Malfoy whisks his hated former schoolmate to safety. He should have known better.

Rules of Engagement by Art3misiA - T, one-shot - Lucius just had to be difficult about the idea of Draco and Hermione getting married. Will Draco and Hermione allow him to throw his weight around, or will they bring him to heel?

DFW's Deal or No Deal: Popular 90's TV Shows, March 2021:

The Death of Theo Nott by Lostinthenightrain - T, one-shot - “Hermione.” Her head whipped up to see the broken expression in Draco’s eyes. “He wouldn’t kill himself.”

The Night of the Rats by rennaissance_woman - not rated, one-shot - What happens when a prank war goes too far?

Perfect Harmony by Talonwillow (TalonWillow) - T, one-shot -Professor Slughorn's star Potions pupil Hermione was tired of being the ugly duckling, so she created a potion that would transform her into a beautiful swan. Everyone seemed to like the shiny new version of her... Well, except for herself and maybe one other. Would Draco Malfoy convince her that what everyone else was seeing was what he saw every day, and would Hermione finally be able to live in Perfect Harmony?

Dramione Go Star Trekking by KrysKrossZee - T, one-shot - Riker has made a pass at Hermione and she doesn't quite know how to deal with it.

Bloody Colonials by Maira - T, one-shot - Hermione Granger has had a long week, and the last thing she wants to do is leave the comfort of her home. But when her best friend asks for her help in dealing with a possible cursed object, what can she do but help? Brownies, Potion-making robe etiquette, and a cursed Nigerian mask all add up to a typical night at Hogwarts. Written for the DFW's Deal or No Deal challenge.

The Latest Teenage Drama by Art3misiA - T, one-shot - Teenagers. Gotta love em. Teenage dramas? Not so much. Draco and Hermione navigate the perils of unwanted teenage behaviour - 90s family sitcom style.

DFW's Deal or No Deal: Around the World, April 2021:

The Assignment by Art3misiA - G, one-shot - Hermione and Draco, Aurors, have been sent to Cape Town on a top secret assignment - to track down a former Death Eater.

Finding Them by KrysKrossZee - T, WIP - After not finding her parents in Austrailia, Hermione enlists Draco's help and the two make their way to Vancouver when they have a new lead.

DFW's Deal or No Deal: The Language of Flowers, May 2021:

Spilled Ink by Maira - M, one-shot - It's nearly Christmas, and things aren't great. Draco Malfoy is still on house arrest due to the Wizengamot being a bag of dicks. Hermione Granger is out of the country on a job, which means he won't see her for a few weeks. And to top it all off, Hermione has sent Draco a plant. A green, spiky plant, for no reason that he can fathom. Oh, and a spelled journal that he's now supposed to write in. Because nothing could possibly go wrong with that plan. Written for the DFW Deal or No Deal Challenge!

Forever by Art3misiA - M, one-shot - Though they may be gone, our memories of them remain forever.

The Little Things by KrysKrossZee - T, one-shot - When Hermione buys Draco a cup of coffee and leaves it on his desk, it throws Draco through a loop and he wonders what he should get her in exchange.

The Climbing Vine by rennaissance_woman - not rated, one-shot - After receiving some startling news, Draco runs out of the house. He receives some advice from a surprising source.

Changing of the Seasons by Lostinthenightrain - M, one-shot - Hermione & Draco find a local park and two unlikely faces to greet them.

DFW's Deal or No Deal: Draco's Birthday Soundtrack, June 2021:

Straight to the Heart by AdAsttra - T, one-shot - Draco's ready to tell Hermione how he feels, but Cupid has other ideas.

Stick Around by KrysKrossZee - T, one-shot - Hermione doesn't know why Draco is the only one who makes her feel safe, but she is glad that she is able to get some reprieve from her brain.

Wild and Wired by Maira - M, one-shot - Need your lovin' here beside me, Need it close enough to guide me, I've been hopin' you would find me, You're the biggest part of me. - Hermione was expecting a fun night out with her boyfriend and her friends. She was not expecting ice cubes, sick ponies, and a serenade beautiful enough to melt her heart. Written for the DFW's Deal or No Deal challenge.

Let's Get Serious (Please, for the Love of Merlin!) by Art3misiA - G, one-shot - Draco wants to get serious, but Hermione isn't so sure. Will their opposing views make or break them?

DFW's Deal or No Deal: Magical Monsters, July 2021:

There's A Zouwu In My Basement by KrysKrossZee - T, one-shot - When a creature has broken into the Malfoy Manor dungeon, Draco has to call for help.

Miseria by crochetaway - T, one-shot - Hermione tames a Dementor.

Aegis by Maira - M, one-shot - Their world is in ruins, and their only protection against creatures wanting to kill them is about to fall. They make a plan to trek across the country to Hogwarts, where others have gathered to make a new home within the castle. There, they will be safe. One problem - before they go, there's a queen to kill. Written for the DFW's Deal or No Deal Challenge.

Fear & Desire by myladymay - T, one-shot - Draco Malfoy wants to change his life. He returns to Hogwarts for Eighth Year and finds himself confronted with both his biggest fear and greatest desire, all wrapped up in a Gryffindor tie.

Innocent Monsters by itscometothis - T, 12 chapters - Draco Malfoy thought he had reasonable expectations for his mandatory Eighth Year at Hogwarts, where he would be confined to the grounds as part of his probation. Isolation, hatred, and passing his NEWTs were really all he had in mind. What he wasn't anticipating: 1) Having a small firstie latch onto him like a bloody koala 2) Said firstie adopting an erkling as if they didn’t feed on children. To protect his little nuisance, he’ll have to seek help from uncomfortable places, including the Swottiest Witch of Her Age. Joy of all joys.

Transformed by Art3misiA - T, one-shot - Draco and Charlie have a dragon to catch, and time is running out. Meanwhile, Hermione is missing, adding to Draco's woes.

DFW's Deal or No Deal: Legendary Duos, August 2021:

Three's a crowd, four's trouble by AnnaRitaLi - M, WIP - p>My sister is right. My life did change that evening. I just don't think Rosalind meant for me to steal her boyfriend, or I don't think I stole him, Draco, not precisely. You cannot steal something that doesn't want to be whisked away. That's my experience, at least, and I've stolen quite a few things over the years. So I can say this with confidence. You can't lose something you never had. But you’ll have to read it in the book, dear. While the Crown doesn’t wish for me to speak out in public, I have been silent for too long. You see, There were three of us in this marriage. And people, the press, have assumed many things over the years about Draco and me. So this book, as you’ll see, it’s my attempt to set the record straight. Yes, there were three of us in this marriage, but there were also much more going on than that. -- This is the story the Crown never wanted to get out. In other words, I bring you the x-rated version of the book ‘Diana - her true story - in her own words’.’ It’s the Dramione as Charles & Diana AU you didn't know you needed.

The Marquess and the Kitchen Girl by Art3misiA - E, 8 chapters - Draco Malfoy is the son of the most powerful Duke in Wiltshire. One day, he will be the ruler of a large duchy. Hermione Granger lives happily with her parents - that is, until tragedy strikes. Two children will become friends, and gradually discover a forbidden love that seems as if it might one day defy the odds. Alas, this is a tale of doomed lovers.

In Her Arms by KrysKrossZee - M, one-shot - Draco's worked his way up through Voldemort's ranks but it would seem that all of his work has been for nothing when Dolohov captures a new prisoner.

The Happiness I Seek by Maira - M, one-shot - To those without a soulmate, the world is devoid of colour. They say that if you are lucky enough to meet your soulmate, everything changes. The world is brighter, food is richer, and you find a love you never knew you needed. Draco Malfoy has never been lucky. Written for the DFW's Deal or No Deal challenge.

darling! by itscometothis - M, one-shot - When Draco and Hermione are invited to help demonstrate a path forward for Wizarding Britain and its reconciliation, neither really feel like they can refuse - Hermione for moral reasons and Draco for practical ones (read: Azkaban sounds bad). But they have very different ideas on how to play up this fake relationship. Written for DFW's Deal or No Deal: Legendary Duos - Kermit and Ms. Piggy. It's as ridiculous as you expect.

A Thousand Ships by floorcoaster - M, WIP - Draco Malfoy knows what he wants, and he's not afraid to reach out and take it.

Quiet My Demons by Lostinthenightrain - M, one-shot - “Unhappy, darling?” He murmured, his cigar placed on its resting dish, dashed out - a little puff of smoke rising into the air between them before disappearing. “Yes, completely.”

I Love Draco by crochetaway - G, one-shot - A few slice of life scenes with Hermione, Draco, and Scorpius ala I Love Lucy style!

DFW's Deal or No Deal: The Final Word, September 2021:

Crime & Punishment by itscometothis - T, 12 chapters - TRIAL TRANSCRIPT OF DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY IS FORMALLY CHARGED WITH THE FOLLOWING: CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER AIDING AND ABETTING A MURDER USE OF UNFORGIVABLE CURSES: IMPERIUS (2 COUNTS) USE OF UNFORGIVABLE CURSES: CRUCIATUS (47 COUNTS) PARTICIPATING IN A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION -- I don’t regret hoping. I thought I might, at the beginning, do you remember? But I don’t. I regret nothing about you, my love. Eternally yours, Draco -- A story of hope, punishment, and the nature of justice told in trial transcripts, visits in an interrogation room, and letters.

Boats Against the Current by AlannaTCooper - T, one-shot - Draco Malfoy is trying to escape his past by running as far away as he can. But the past - and his nightmares - keep pulling him backwards.

By His Side by KrysKrossZee - T, one-shot - Hermione is lonely but there's at least one person who can break through her loneliness.

Trying To Live by IzzieStellar - T, one-shot - After her husband dies, Hermione can’t seem to remember how to live and her friends vow to help her.

In the Dead of Night by AdAsttra - G, one-shot - Hermione and Draco are some of the last people to leave Hogwarts under the veil of a cold, dark night.

This fest is ongoing.

#dramionefanfictionwriters #Fests/Exchanges/Challenges #dramione

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vaguely-concerned · 4 years ago

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X-men Evolution; the great 2021 rewatch liveblog

exactly what it says on the tin, about halfway through the show I had TOO MANY FEELINGS and had to start writing some of them out haha (gets quite gambit & rogue/gambit heavy in the latter half, Because of Who I Am as a Person)

- this is my childhood’s x-men, my formative experience with them, and I’m happy to report that still seems like a good thing. the little eleven year old within me gets to geek out and have a good time with the characters and the surprisingly good animation and writing, adult me gets to CACKLE at regular intervals at the fashion/technology/absolute bonkers hot garbage comic book nonsense they use to justify a storyline every now and then, it’s been a good time

- I was like ‘ah well it is super dated it probably won’t be quite the same now’ and then rogue’s HAIR did the THING in the opening and ‘it’s all coming back to me now’ started playing in the background... the little baby queer in me swooning across time and space

- such a good beast, both his design and the writing, my heart aches for him all the time. he’s just so passionate! about being a teacher! helping young humans learn the stuff they’ll need in life! the most wonderful nerd man, just let good things happen for him

- I’m going to go ahead and assume that rogue’s ‘crush’ on scott is more of a deeply complex psychological process about desiring normalcy and intimacy and trying to figure out if she’s queer and dealing with her emerging sexuality and latching on to the first and best safely unavailable and nonthreatening older boy to project these issues onto rather than actually being a real thing, because I respect her so much as a person and I cannot bring myself to imagine she’s honestly attracted to a man who has POSTERS OF CARS on his bedroom wall. (I’ll give jean a break just because she seems to have a longer deeper history with him that might counteract some of that libido-kill, and also she’s a jock so lol)

like I am very sorry but can u imagine being a teenage girl with any interest in a boy with model cars in his bedroom when gambit’s swanning around being a much, much, much worse choice on almost every possible level but in a teen girl kryptonite kind of way? inconceivable

(I drag scott quite a few times in this and it’s not because I don’t love him, it’s just his tragedy to be the most draggable man in the world)

to be fair by the time gambit shows up that whole Situation has mostly played itself out I suppose but still

- toad’s design is so ineffably brilliant, I can’t quite tell you why but that ugly cute charm has really stuck with me, he’s one of the characters I remembered the best to this day just visually

- poor evan... he truly never had a chance, did he, they just saddled him with the most 90s teen bullshit they could come up with like he’s some kind of ‘what adult writers think teens like’ frankenstein’s monster ;______; it’s not your fault honey

- poor poor POOR storm, she gets one focus episode and they were like ‘we’re going to make an episode so racist -- ‘

I’m still STUNNED at how bad it was, but undeniably I laughed hysterically to the point that my neighbours were probably worried when that dude was earnestly like ‘He [stunningly breathlessly racist caricature of a ‘witch doctor’ guy] has stolen her powers, and he’s going to use them to take over Africa!!!’ fhajsdlfhsakjldfh oh really? tell me more, like how the fUCK this could be on television within my life time fasdlfhsdkjfhsad f just... fahjksdfh

- it’s a testament to gambit’s appeal as a character that his charm can survive what they’ve done with his hair and beard choices in this one fajskfhs regrettable but true I still fuckn LOVE him and in my highly biased yet Correct opinion he should have been around much more. get you a man who manages to stay hot through sheer Vibes even with a bowl cut

- aw scott/jean is kind of sweet in this show even if it’s taking them forEVER to get there, I like it

- it’s very nice of rogue to not mention magneto’s romantic daydreams and nostalgic memories about charles xavier after touching his face that one time... or maybe her brain did her a service and repressed it, there’s some stuff you shouldn’t have to know about your father figure

- the danger room is the very definition of ‘why do we even have that lever’ and I wonder what the fuck prof x does to have enough money to replace everything that gets busted all the time

- I’d say that a lot of the writing holds up surprisingly well! (but some of it is also incredibly inexcusably racist in ways that beggar belief, so... not full marks here) the characters have distinct voices and their arcs are set up and delivered on solidly for the most part, and there’s a lot of love showing through in small moments that are just there to have a funny/interesting thing to say about the characters and how their powers work separately and in combination. listen, sometimes I get so thirsty for like. basic goddamn competency in storytelling, let me have this

- ugggggh why is there captain america in my x-men have I not suffered enough... very very funny when prof x goes ‘sounds like you knew rogers personally’ and logan is like ‘I did ;)’ *all the students ganging up on steve rogers* “did you fuck our teacher, captain america?!”

- fskadfhas WHY are you showing me hot young-ified magneto’s ass fksjahfskj charles is not even here to see it, what a tragic waste erik

- ...I was sort of kidding before but uh I think logan genuinely did fuck captain america (or at least wishes very much that he did lol)

- wanda can have a little watching the world burn. as a treat for the way every single adult in her life has fucking failed her (’aren’t they treating you well here’ professor x she’s in a straightjacket)

- poor rogue tho can you imagine finding out after your biggest crush on a girl yet that she’s your fucking MOM in disguise... I would break out in cold sweat every time I thought about a boob forever after

- well seems like they really just had all that homoerotic rivalry stuff between quicksilver and spyke in their first ep only to never do anything with that again ever?? I mean even without the gay undertone that seems like a dynamic you spent most of an episode setting up writers what the hell haha

- dslhfkasjlh GAMBIT THERE HE IS MY BOY IS ON THE SCENE THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! I don’t even care about his awful hair situation or the fact that his eyes are wrong here (coloured contact lenses, maybe, for a watsonian explanation? though he’d probably have to get them made special, considering he needs the sclera and the iris covered up in different ways, I’ve seen some comic panels indicating he has been known to?)

(cute little detail: when he shuffles the cards the first time we see him he ends with removing the top card to show the ace of hearts beneath <3 foreshadowing baBEY he’s a... good-ish boy deep down. hey he tries okay shit gets complicated sometimes lol)

- cracking UP at gambit perched cheerily on the edge of a crate dispensing cards in the middle of the battle... he’s like ‘eh it’s a livin’ sfsajkhf remy stop working for supervillains just because you had nothing to do on a thursday afternoon and they said they’d pay you

- I’m guessing magneto must have imposed a strict order of silence on these guys or something because I cannot imagine any other reason for him to shut up, especially once he notices rogue is a QTE (or, far more likely, they hadn’t settled on any voice actors for the new characters until next season haha. it is kind of odd that they’re all keeping up near monastic silence, though, even sabertooth lol)

- WHAT an epic first meeting for us rogue/gambit fans here... first his shadow like there’s fireworks going off behind him lighting him up and then he gives her the fuckn king of hearts and she’s so enchanted by his dumb handsome face she doesn’t even notice it’s about to blow up in her hands and it all happens in heavily meaningful silence afjsdfjashjk no wonder this ship ingrained itself in my hindbrain

yeah look smug while you can remy she’s gonna have you on your knees one day and you’ll be happy about it lol

- god storm is so COOL, everything just fading out of focus when she really gets going... give her more screen time, show!!

- mystique is every person... this person... that person... that bird... that cat... that wolf... I’m not even sure she’s not also me... are you sure she’s not you?

- holy fuck I respect the hell out of the decision to just... blow up the entire status quo in a season ender, I only vaguely remembered that (actually in general I appreciate how good the continuity is -- buildings and places that get damaged in battles need to be repaired or rebuilt, it makes the consequences feel more real even when no one gets seriously hurt. where they get the money to restore scott’s car and logan’s motorbikes every time they go cablooie is still an open question tho lol is it credit card fraud, professor? is it telepathically acquired blackmail???)

- I first watched this when I was nine or so, so it’s a real experience to go from my starry eyed intrigued ‘oh my god... they’re teenagers’ to my horrified adult perspective of ‘oh my god... they’re TEENAGERS D:’

that goes double for the brotherhood boys honestly, I’m here with tears in my eyes like ‘I’m sorry the system has failed you so badly you’re all just a bunch of dumb kids whose caretakers clearly fucked up spectacularly’

like lance is always waiting for mystique to come back because she’s the closest thing he has to a safe parental figure, may we speak about how crushingly depressing that is

- rogue is so ready to throw hands at literally any moment and for that I love and treasure her immensely (I think getting to see her be so surly and unreasonable and sometimes difficult and jealous, like any teenager, meant a lot to me as a kid who was not really allowed to be any of these things, this version of the character has stayed with me so deeply. she holds on so fiercely to her right to feel what she feels and be what she is even when it’s ‘ugly’ or unreasonable, which I think plays in really interestingly with how her powers involve getting invaded by other people’s thoughts and memories to the point of overwhelming her own sense of self and the fact that she clearly has a lot of self-loathing and self-consciousness and confusion about her identity as well. I love her so much)

- oooof this is the ‘the gang experience a microaggression’ episode huh (well more like macroagressions really)

hits a bit different with adult eyes and perspective huh

- hearing jean sound almost like a child when she says ‘that’s so unfair!’ somehow has me like ;______; -- she has to be so adult and responsible all the time, and having her be reduced to the kid she still is and should get to be in front of this awful awful man she could squash like a bug with the flick of a thought... ugh I’m Big Sad (it is funny that jean seemingly plays Every Sport tho djfhaskj)

- MY BOY IS BACK!!! this time with the duster coat and his eyes the right colour, im so happy (too bad about the subdued colour scheme tho; I adore his dumb bright pink getup with my whole heart)

it’s kind of adorable that he takes the time to take the bullies aside and go ‘I know these guys can’t wreck you without getting expelled, but I think you’ll find no law set down by god or man would stop me from doing so whenever I wanted to. so piss off and leave them alone’ lol he’s looking out for them, in his own way

- in this episode: remy lebeau wrangles some kids while looking bored yet mildly amused the whole time. what the fuck does magneto have on you for you to agree to this level of babysitting duty buddy

- fun detail I noticed b/c when I get a fave I hyperfixate: he gave rogue the king of hearts before, but he ‘introduces’ himself to the brotherhood here (lol) with the jack of hearts, probably to symbolize he’s here as someone who works for magneto in this setting and not as his own man? it’s a demotion he’s given himself there, anyway, might be he’s not very pleased about his current position huh

- I like it when rogue and kitty team up, they’re not very effective together but their squabbling is so cute and non-aggressive

- pietro is what draco malfoy would be if I ever found malfoy interesting to watch for even one moment, every time quicksilver talks I’m like ‘what wonderfully insufferable thing is going to come out of your mouth this time you little shit :’)’

- a) why are scott and logan shirtless for this scene? I am not complaining on the logan side of things at least but why and b) I laughed so hard I almost fell off my couch when scott asked logan if he’d ever been in love and he was like ‘once. she was the most beautiful bike I ever saw’ falsdfhaskjfhsakjlfhasklhjfd THE BEST VERSION OF WOLVERINE EVER, ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES

- mystique’s sheer dedication to being a petty bitch is kind of inspirational tbh, almost makes me want to go on a completely bonkers and extra crusade of personal revenge myself

- oooh they’re doing some genuinely cool things with vision/lack of vision in this one (it’s the scott left on his own in the desert without glasses one btw) even visually, dang! I’m so sad this show didn’t get more seasons than it did, honestly, it deserved it

- hell yeah jean wreck her, go get your man with the suspiciously specific clothing damage normally done to female characters

awww :’) okay yeah they’re super sweet, I love the tiny loving animation details like how he leans his head against her and her stroking his hair away from his eyes

- nooo don’t bully evan leave my t0tally r4dical sk8er boy alone :(

- I love the running joke of people fleeing in blind panic only to reveal that what they’re running from is kitty’s cheerful well meaning little face fskfaskh

- scott and jean are already peak married after officially being together for one episode and it’s adorable, and they just stone cold threw logan under the bus, rip wolverine we hardly knew ya

fjasdlfasldfhslajdkfhsadkjlfhsdkjalfhsdakfh h jean establishing herself as the alphabitch of this relationship by throwing her man to the wolves right after dsjfhaskjfhaskjhfsakjdhfaskjhfaskdhfskjahfskdajhf get smarter or get volunteered scott

- ...eyepatch lady is so hot ngl

oh evan went to the place hank used to go to calm down ;________; (honestly he’s kind of won a place in my heart just by being a pretty normal teenage boy haha)

- jesus fucking CHRIST can you imagine being storm having to look her sister in the eye as she tells her ‘I lost your only child, he’s *vague gesture* somewhere in the sewers we think’ this poor woman

- amanda the self admitted monster fucker you are so VALID (I love her and her family’s design so much tho!)

- it’s so cool that even in his human ‘disguise’ kurt’s fingers follow the shape of his actual hand beneath it rather than moving like a five fingered hand, it’s such a lovingly consistent little detail

- magneto and mystique in a breathless race to see who can be the shittiest parent... tune in next week for yet another parental nadir (also some low-poly gambit appearances in this one, for those at home keeping score (me), he’s in the background looking like someone drew him with their eyes closed fakjldfhasd look how they massacred my boy)

- someone please teach the brotherhood boys about consent huh

- jean ‘soccer mom before her time’ grey and her SUV dfhakjlhds :’)

- im sobbing rogue baby girl i’m so sorryyyyyy, this voice actress is so good, my parental instincts suddenly kicked into overdrive hearing the crack in her voice :( (bb me was right tho rogue centric episodes ARE the best episodes. that tension between ‘do I identify witn this character or am I crushing on her?? both???’ now has the fun new addition of ‘oh god oh no you are a baby I want to shield you with my body from everything trying to hurt you’)

- mystique is like ‘so you see despite you telling me you never wanted to see me again I completely disrespected that and posed as a friend your age, manipulated you by offering you the mirage of direly needed emotional intimacy and belonging and added some sprinkles of homoerotic tension to it just to massively worsen your already existing grievous psychosexual trauma and identity issues... out of love’

god go jump in a black hole you fucking monster

- there’s some very interesting and quite subtle subtext about the people she’s morphing into and what that says about her mental state/how it shows off some of her emotional baggage with the rest of the team. it’s like she’s switching between people/powers that fit the purpose as if she’s going through cycles of fight/flight (and then bursts of freeze where she’s herself, which is... so sad)

- this whole episode is hurting my heart but rogue at full power is undeniably epic

- ‘professor x get your goddamn act together and get this poor girl some fucking tHERAPY’ challenge

- SAFE PAPA LOGAN ;_____;

- EYYYYYY opening straight on My Lad, I cannot stop winning!!!!!

fasdfhsad disintegrating the window with a smiley face... remy I do love you more than my heart can bear honestly, hello may we speak about the fact that his urge to be a little shit is so deep and strong it survives mind control (that little breathed out ‘hiah!’ as he vaults the fence too dsakfjsd)

hahaha and he does up the coat fhsalfdsaj

- magneto dismissing other telepaths like ‘puh-lease, your Meaningful Looks have got nothing on my ex-husband’s’

- :’) rogue and kurt sibling timeees

- say what you want but this pyro guy’s got job satisfaction in being a creepy arsonist with a weird recurring horse theme (well at least twice but still weird)

- I love how beast is the kindest man to ever walk the earth but also straight up savage, this man drags people so hard their ancestors wince in their graves

- gambit taking the time to complete the guard’s game of solitaire -- this episode is giving me everything I want. u little disgrace mr lebeau

and THEN he takes the spider out in the most hilariously bonkers way my heart is so FULL

(I love that when magneto moves by he looks startled and has to quickly move his head out of the way to avoid getting kicked in the temple too that’s a fun detail)

I’m so INTO how this sequence shows off that his greatest strength isn’t even his powers (which are pretty straightforward, really, he makes go boom, longer time and bigger thing bigger boom) but that he’s clever and creative and always extremely ready to be the most harebrained-bananapants-extra-in-a-deceptively-laidback-sort-of-way person in the room (I actually have some genuinely Deep Thoughts about how his whole character does a really interesting thing with having the straightforwardly destructive nature of his powers yield to what his nature as a person is, and how using the playing cards play (heh) into it, maybe I’ll write it out some day. just the fact that he could use anything, but he deliberately chose something that adds style and playfulness and corny charm to it and that also limits the damage of the explosions compared to if he habitually used something with more mass... I find it fascinating how much he’s made a story around himself with it and how deeply it shows he does have a good heart, at the end of the day, in almost a metatextual way. he doesn’t want to destroy things or people, he’s at worst (and best lol) a thief.)

- I honestly have literally no memory of white nick fury (which seems so weird now isn’t it funny) in this series from when I was a kid, he clearly did not make an impression on me lol

- mr wolverine ‘assigned canadian at birth’ x-men

- oh man I dig the androgynity of x-23′s outfit (even tho they had to compensate with the long hair, which... kind of doesn’t make sense in-universe but does on a design level because it’s a crucial thing that she’s a female clone of logan so yeah okay fine whatever have your arbitrary gender markers if you must haha)

ooooooh that’s actually really clever, they make her gender gradually more obvious as she unravels through the episode and her outfit changes -- first the mask coming off, and then her jacket opening to show her silhouette more clearly, that’s cool!

- my god what really sets this show apart is how much it invests in little character and relationship moments, it’s just so fucking GOOD! it gives laura looking in on those moments such depth and weight because it’s new to her but established to us as an audience, this is how you make found family devastating people (storm growing bonsai trees is so charming too haha)

- ooof this is honestly quite harrowing

SHE’S SO SMALL COMPARED TO HIM I’M CRYING (at least that part of his genes translated over faslkfsjdh short king, I say this with all the love and support of a fellow short monarch)

- tabitha seems to just be running around doing precisely whatever the fuck she wants and you know what I support her even if she is an asshole her father left her a bunch of trauma and no fucks left to give

- still thrilled about professor x explaining the spider key fuckup to magneto after the fact like ‘magnus you dumb bitch this is why we split up’

- awww kitty has anime and movie posters on her wall and sleeps with a stuffed toy :’)

- remy rogue

🤝

doing completely unnecessary parkour around the brotherhood living room seemingly just for the hell of it... I’m not saying soulmates but fucking soulmates

- fhsadkjlfhsakjldfhsadjkfhsdajkfh just as gambit’s soul-level need to be a little shit survived his bout of mind control, rogue’s deep and urgent desire to kiss gambit full on the mouth survived hers I can’t breathe

she looks so pleased with herself too GOOD FOR YOU GIRL at least get something out of this other than more trauma

also not only the fact that he’s smart enough to figure out what’s going on (though he’s only partially right about who’s behind it. I do so enjoy gambit/mystique deep and sincere antipathy as a constant across all universes tho lmao pure wlw/mlm hostility) but also that he keeps fending her off like he’s not trying to hurt her even though she’s in nigh on unstoppable and invulnerable terminator mode... awww

- gambit having absolutely no patience for wolverine and sabertooth’s bullshit macho-off and consistently being this little biker trio’s one brain cell is adding years to my life with every passing moment

his voice is a little different in these scenes too, a bit softer and less like he’s trying to impress someone, it’s nice

- hank: well I barely recognize any of these (completely made up) ‘ancient egyptian hieroglyphs’ but from what I can make out -- *proceeds to infodump a perfect coherent narrative* fjdhfak

listen this whole thing is such nonsense on so many levels, I’m just turning my brain off so I won’t have to think about it okay, the compulsion to put ancient aliens in egypt haunts us as a culture

- I am CACKLING about gambit in the snow after having to listen to these two chucklefucks ooze testosterone at each other for hours

he started out taking it in good cheer and is now reduced to ‘dieu would both of you just jump off this fUCKING mountain please’

- ah. a little oops-a-daisy there, we seem to have unleashed the apocalypse. please stand by (they really don’t pull their punches with the season cliffhangers in this show haha)

- opening the season on gambit’s merrily grinning face is the easiest way to gain my favour. yes good this season may commence

baby u r my

ANGELLLLLLLL

(he’s so cute here tho haha I think it shows the design isn’t unsalvagable, just get him better hair and stubble more like logan has and you’ve basically got it)

love his exasperated eyeroll when the dude gets spooked (by his eyes? or just the general weirdness?) too

he’s just trying to keep this crazy family of evil mutants together and unmurdered by one another until they’ve managed to avert the end of the world, bless him

- oh NO rogue’s LIP wobbles my hhhhhheart ;____; such a good animation detail to put in

- like... I know kurt is just a sad scared teenager with a lot of shit going on and all the adults are too busy averting the end of the world to help him... but buddy maybe don’t ask your sister to wake her abuser (who forced her to kickstart the end of the world!!!!!) when she feels utterly unsafe even with her statue version around huh

- ...wanda is good and I want only good things for her. and for her dad to be disemboweled for what he did to her both the first time around and when he forced her to forget I mean what

- magneto throwing an epic satelite-slinging tantrum b/c ‘no I am the biggest sexiest strongest mutant of the pack :(’... erik fucking get over yourself

- yes boys absolutely go along with a plan suggested by a dude who looks at you like this

nothing bad can come of this surely asdfkhsa

- lance’s quarter of a braincell always trying to go ‘hey wait, maybe... not do this???’ and it never helps lol

- in this episode: Logan Has A Bad Day

...some very specific bondage positions he’s held in here, I am sure this episode awakened something in someone once upon a time lol

- logan shielding x-23 with his body... im fine it’s okay I’m not crying don’t look at me

- afsdhlsdfjasdlk those sure are some ‘scottish’ accents flsadkjhkdsjahfsd

- scott relieved to finally be able to cede the position of ‘charles xavier’s least favourite son’ to someone else fjsaklfhsajd (poor scott it’s not your fault honey)

supremely cowardly to suggest there is an ex-wife involved rather than charles slutting his way around the british isles back in the day but okay

- kurt with a cold is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. it’s okay kid it’ll get better soon

- ...is there an implication here that professor x is naturally blond. because I am losing my entire little mind about it (i mean he at least has to carry the gene, as does this lady?)

ETA: upon doing some research into this I can indeed confirm that charles xavier does seem to be naturally blond, and after this knowledge I will never be the same

- “listen, dracula” fskdafghasd oh scott you sweet baby angel I love you

- I know jean’s abilities are a bit ‘as strong or as weak as the plot needs right now’ at this point (so you can have the setup for what’s going to happen with them eventually and she’s basically invincible ;____;), and normally I’m cool with it but god I want her to just squash lucas like a little bug

- ewwwww please don’t ever say ‘daddy’ like that again

- ...what the fuck is even going on this episode’s a mess

like okay the split personality thing could be something but the way it’s done... what just happened lol

- MY BOY EVAN IS BACK! with a real glowup too (...though kind of weird how he suddenly looks like a grown man)

- augh scott’s eyes are so pretty oh my god ;__________________________;

- that episode in the first season where evan makes the ‘this is my new family!!’ video is so sad now (also, again, his poor poor parents)

- time for: life affirming road trip with gambit (involuntary) faskljdfhaskjd

stunt therapist remy lebeau

- I mean the way he goes about it is batshit insane and it’s very much secondary to what he’s actually up to but this is the first time rogue’s sounded genuinely hopeful and confident and like herself in like a season <3

- he is disconcertingly pleased about her nearly throwing him off the train, and may I just say I agree it’s so nice to see rogue with her old fire back

- the first time I watched this it was of course dubbed into norwegian, so I had no idea either of these characters were southern lol (though to be fair I probably wouldn’t have had much context for what it meant exactly either, I was like ten at the time and not too interested in america) I seem to dimly remember the norwegian voice actor did a little more of a ‘french’-tinged accent for gambit all over tho haha

- you know what respect where it’s due, pyro dude knows to live his life for the lols and one has to admire his sociopathic dedication to it

interesting that he, too, seems to have fucking hated magneto -- I wonder if the implication here is that he kept all the acolytes in line with blackmail or by keeping something/one hostage? (except sabertooth maybe he’d just have to say ‘you get to fuck shit up and fight wolverine’ and that’d be enough)

- fsdakfhsd he’s so focused on her he doesn’t notice that guy about to hit him fkafhsa

- fuck everything else except whatever the hell these two’ve got going on

- it’s weirdly cathartic to have rogue have a conversation with someone who was not happily adopted as well, I don’t think kurt like. gets it because his parents loved him unconditionally and still do

birds of a feather motherfucker

- fun detail: when the x-men team are on the shore and logan is sniffing around scott is stepping in something and trying to wipe it off his boots in the background

- when he wakes up after passing out from the touch he’s smiling even though she’s standing over him looking like the rage of god outlined by the moon fsajfsa well the last time he passed out like that it was from a kiss, maybe he still has some hopes and dreams in that direction lol (also he recovers from the tumble down the hill first and is checking on her before accidentally brushing her cheek with his hand, which I thought was sweet)

and it was in that moment he knew he fucked up *passes out*

- ‘I can explain’ can u remy. can u

- did it ever even occur to you to just. ask her. to help you. I mean I know it didn’t but like rogue’s always one second away from throwing hands with some bully and is stupidly ride or die, if you’d given her the puppydog eyes she would have crumbled immediately (fair enough I guess this entire episode is telling us he’s not from a background where he has much experience with people just helping him without a price haha)

- his eyes glowing when he’s angry or upset or using a lot of his power is undeniably cool as all hell. I’m just saying it would be Big Sexy if they sort of flickered with light in moments of genuine vulnerability okay

- his coat... his coat is what makes the Silhouette tm and I could not be happier about it

- another parent of the year contestant enters the running lol “hey remy have you ever considered that you’re more of a walking bomb factory than a person? that’s certainly how I think of you hahaha c’mon kid let’s go”

- the running joke of jean luc getting dollar signs in his eyes seeing the other mutant powers and gambit being like ‘nO!!!!’ and pulling him along is amazing haha

- from the way he looks when he touches rogue accidentally and the way he talks to his dad I’m sort of getting the feeling this gambit might actually be a bit younger than he looks?

here too -- idk why but it’s making the ‘wait is he baby???’ alarms go off in my head haha. very early twenties at most.

- and we’ve officially seen him with all the face cards in the heart suit folks! (yes this is the sort of thing my brain notices no I don’t know either)

- poor logan running his ass off this whole episode in a panic and then she’s like ‘nah he’s fine (in several meanings of the word ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ) please put him down’ hfaskfsda

- rogue without makeup!!! her eyes look so naked like this haha <3

- oooh here’s a really interesting thing that tickles my brain a bit in this specific part of the scene where gambit frees his dad -- the part where he’s leaning against the door frame waiting for jean luc, who’s about to suggest using the opportunity to ruin the rival gang from the inside rather than slipping away while they still can

from his expression here he knows what’s about to happen, what jean luc is about to say, and it’s clearly a ‘man who thought he’d lost all hope loses last additional bit of hope he didn’t even know he still had’ sort of situation. he KNOWS what jean luc is like, and it still hurts that he really, honestly can’t give him even this, can’t appreciate that remy’s already done all this shit for him when he extremely didn’t have to, without immediately (no really, it took him less than ten seconds to go there? jesus) demanding more.

remy tells him “I’m just here for you” and jean luc does not understand it. remy seems to be sincere in this motivation -- rogue certainly thinks so, having experienced it second hand and found enough at least emotional merit in it to decide he was worth saving even after all his bullshit (lol a bit of a running theme maybe. I think it’s very telling that after she absorbed mystique she was like ‘what the FUCK you’re a fucking monster’, and after she absorbed gambit she went ‘you did the wrong thing for the right reasons’ after she got over the first wave of outrage)

there’s also what he says as he stands there: “You don’t need me for that”, with the distinct implication that jean luc would only keep him around because he has a use for him and for no other reason -- and then jean luc shamelessly doubles down on that by specifying that it’s not even him he’s got a use for as such, just his powers. that’s some kicking puppies level of deliberately missing the point, it’s almost impressive in how cheerfully mean it is haha

this idea of using people is really important in this episode because remy’s doing basically exactly the same thing to rogue to begin with; it doesn’t really matter to his plan that it’s her that’s with him through this, just what her powers are. (I think it’s p r e t t y solidly implied that he does actually like her a lot outside of that too and maybe there is some comfort in having her around for this, but mostly he’s behind a smokescreen of lies through the whole thing sooo I doubt he’s even aware of it, honestly)

but then it does matter that it’s her when she comes back for him, even after what he did. and unlike jean luc he understands what that means, that she did that for him, and that she didn’t have to. and instead of asking her for more, in return he gives her the thing it’s been established is what he considers the most valuable thing he has; his ‘last card’, the thing he’s credited with keeping him alive many a time, basically. it’s gone from using to mutuality, a tentative place of friendship, and at the end of the day he is a different man than his adoptive father, with a capacity for selflessness and love he lacks. which is of course some of the same stuff going on with rogue and mystique too, except rogue acted from a more fragile and unstable place and did something she regrets, or at least has a LOT of doubts about now, and she found some catharsis in helping someone make a different choice in a similar situation. man there’s some Stuff going on under the surface here haha

(by the way it’s a weirdly... meaningless yet intensely meaningful thing, the gifting of a symbol? of an idea? but he’s putting something very crucial of himself into her hands, is the subtext, and he expects her to understand, which she also does seem to do. at the beginning of the episode he’s proving that he’s seen something true about her -- “You’re such an unhappy girl”, knowing where she comes from, the way she’s mourning her lost confidence and autonomy with her abilities -- and here she’s proving she’s seen something true about him. :’) I wish this show had gone on long enough for this dynamic to progress, it’s really interesting and touching)

- gambit dragging himself up onto dry land seeing someone approaching (to help?!): :D

gambit seeing that it’s logan and the look on his face: D:

- rogue using her powers so confidently and fearlessly in this episode tho!!!!

- *me crying* and then her FAMBILY comes to take her home and he says he’s looking out for her too and kurt still loves her even though they’re having a conflict thing between them and she’s finally able to use her powers without so much fear again and --

- ...did I just watch some baby lesbian love at first sight shit right now???

- okay last two episodes let’s go

- HELL YEAH STORM (I love that she’s like ‘don’t give me a dumb order like that and I won’t have to disobey it’ too sdfjsaj) her voice has such command I’m usually very much not the ‘step on me’ type butttt

- y’know I feel like apocalypse’s main fault across all versions I’ve seen of him is that he’s like an immortal superpowered god king and he’s not even sexy. like at least make him hot if he’s going to be insufferable in every other way

- also callout post for apocalypse: one time he made gambit into the Horseman of Death... and didn’t even make him sexy!!! you were handed remy lebeau, supreme bi disaster slut of the x men universe, and you couldn’t even make his brainwashed superpowered evil side hot?? a beautiful stubbled twunk with glowing red eyes and extremely charming :> face practically delivers himself into your hands and you do that to him???? I mean I’m sure apocalypse did some other bad stuff too but that was the worst one

(comics are so dumb y’all)

- having to watch jean cry is emotional terrorism!! ;___; she has such older sister/mom energy, whenever she gets sad and helpless it hurts

- oh, OH so PROFESSOR X you’ll make into a hunk and ~*strategically*~ rip his clothes to show off a nipple and a flawless pec in a way that makes me extremely uncomfortable because he’s like The Dad??? apocalypse you are rotten to the core this is unforgivable

- so wait wanda never actually gets her real memories back. what the FuCk I hope that was a dropped storyline because they ended the show tragically prematurely rather than like. the plan

- why is spyke calling storm ‘storm’ show that’s his auntie o!! >:(

- as a society we need to acknowledge that apocalypse looks like a fucking clown

- ooooh yeah I have been thinking that this show’s greatest visual weakness so far has been not having a visual way to show telepathy/battles of the minds, but this is a pretty cool way to do it! better late than never

- I’m so happy rogue gets to end this herself, since she was forced into starting it against her will, it’s just nice and neat storytelling

- YEAH FUCKING TELL HER KURT AND ROGUE I AM SO PROUD OF YOU and she has the temerity to look pissed off oh my god

the only valid thing mystique has done in her entire life is be in love with destiny. literally everything else she gets up to is a travesty. like I know objectively she’s hot but my loathing for her stops me from even appreciating it. I do enjoy loathing her tho so please don’t change her haha

(a bit odd to have kurt’s attitude to her swing so much but I’m just going to assume he and rogue had a good long conversation after ‘cajun spice’ and that he understands what’s going on better now)

- this last part is such a cruel tease faskdfhsdaj ‘here are all the cool-ass things we had planned. sucks you never get to see it huh’ im devastated

- magneto without his helmet and playing charmingly with children like charles is going ‘well at least I saved my marriage finally’ fsadkhfjsd (honestly tho I would be super interested in seeing how they’d redeem this magneto because he’s been a real bitch the whole time lol)

there’s an interesting thing here where magneto looks down at wanda as the last thing he does on screen before this epilogue part (yeah I hope it fucking haunts you forever what you did to her erik you absolute piece of hot garbage) and the last thing charles does is look at jean b/c he knows what’s going to happen to her and it breaks his heart... Dramatic Parallells

- just the hint of jean as the phoenix has me in full D:D:D: mode tho maybe I wouldn’t have survived it

- gambit in the last groupshot with his arm around rogue ;^) I mean I’m sure they’re headed for some turns and roundabouts along the way but what’s that thing she says as her wedding vow, that she’ll always find her way back? anyway that got me in my heart

- man I really wish this show had been given more seasons, we were barely even getting warmed up here :’(

#x men evolution #x men #gambit #rogue x gambit #aaah this is like therapy for me... just dumping all my emotions into a tumblr post and then let them go into the ether #I am now wondering if I'm desperate enough to go all the way back to the x-men animated series (which I've never seen before!)#like am I willing to go there for more Contente. time will tell I suppose #happy tag #...this is very long #MAN why can't I channel this dumbass energy into fiction writing I'd get so much DONE

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theatricallythespian · 4 years ago

Text

Let’s Talk: Is Six Racist?

The answer: Yes, but it’s complicated

Disclaimer: As fans of SIX, this post is not to disrespect or undermine the brilliant people involved in it, but to evaluate and critique SIX in the context of race. Gifs used in the post are made by the lovely @karisoka on Tumblr

Note: This was written before Carly Mercedes Dyer was announced as Seymour on 2UKT, however, the fact that it took over three years to cast a non-white woman as Seymour is still embarrasing. Because she is the exception, all points regarding Seymour still stand.

The racial problems with the show largely arise from the casting of the show. There are clear casting trends for each character. These trends derived from each principle actress per character and are as follows:

Aragon: Non-white actress with a medium to dark skin tone

Boleyn: White actress

Seymour: White actress

Cleves: Non-white actress with a dark skin tone

Howard: White actress

Parr: Non-white actress with a light to medium skin tone

These casting trends result in an approximately half-white, half-non-white cast, but looking at the cast of each production, this does not hold up, especially as rehearsal swings and covers are counted. Productions with less than 30% non-white actresses are: Edinburgh, 2UKT, Breakaway, and Bliss 2.0. Productions with 30%-50% non-white actresses are the original Arts production, 1UKT, Bliss 1.0, and Australia. The highest percentage of non-white actresses are in the West End production (10/18) and the US cast (7/10). From this, we can clearly see that higher profile productions have a higher percentage of non-white actresses, whereas less-visible productions like the cruise casts have an extremely low percentage of non-white actresses.

Another instance where less visibility results in a lower percentage of non-white theatre artists are the Ladies in Waiting–9 out of 45 total band members have been non-white (Note: Rebeca Caldera (Bliss) and Julia Subatin (Breakaway) are Argentinan and considered non-white here). The original Arts production, the first UK tour, and the West End production have not had a non-white musician in the band. Even Broadway, with a total of 11 band members for the different tour stops only had one woman of colour total. For a show that touts diversity, these statistics seem extraordinarily low.

The casting trends may have started out as an innocuous way to pay homage to each queenspiration, the female pop icons who inspired each queen's song and style, and as an attempt to be equitable and cast more women of colour, but these trends are hugely problematic within the context of the show itself, as they create unbalanced racial dynamics and enforce stereotypes within a text that most likely did not intend to create.

One example of the former is Cleves' storyline–being rejected for her looks. While may have been historically true, it is curious when the “ugly” character is often played by the actress with the deepest skin tone out of the entire cast. In the two exceptions where Cleves was played by a white actor, one is nonbinary and one is a plus-sized woman. Here, ugliness is Black, trans, and fat. The arts cannot be separated from societal context, and given that white beauty standards have an immense influence due to an extensive global history of colonization, this is clearly problematic. In addition to this, there’s one particular scene where Howard makes comments about Cleves’ looks. The original intent was simply to add a #savage quip that aligns with Howard’s character, but given that Howard’s casting trend is skinny white women, the scene becomes rife with uncomfortable racial tension.

In regards to stereotyping, we can talk about how as characters with a white casting trend, Boleyn and Howard can exist beyond being promiscuous characters, or even about how Parr, the empowered woman, is a woman of colour with light skin, but here we'll be focusing on Aragon, Cleves, and Seymour. Aragon and Cleves both exhibit racist stereotypes surrounding Black women, whereas Seymour, who has never been played by non-white principle actress, is seen as the epitome of purity. Please note that this section is based on both the original text and fandom perception of the characters as presented by the text. Of course, the show is not in control of the fandom, as evidenced by problematic fanart, including whitewashing dark-skinned actresses or even depicting a white actress holding three non-white actresses on leashes, but there are elements of the projections of the characters by the show that exacerbates racist ideas.

First, let’s talk about Aragon and Cleves–Angry, sassy, masculine, and gold-digging, just to name a few traits. Just looking at the show and casting trends alone, Aragon and Cleves, both played by women with medium to dark skin tones, have the deepest vocal parts. This by itself might not seem like a huge deal, but combined with race-based casting trends and the show’s perpetuation of stereotypes surrounding Black women, small things add up.

In Six, each queen’s solo song defines their key character traits. For Cleves, Get Down puts an emphasis on Cleves flaunting her wealth and her obnoxious behaviour. She refers to her palace numerous times, flexes that she isn’t fake because she’s paid for her acres and acres with her own riches, and there’s even this line–’Now, I ain’t sayin’ I’m a gold digger, But check my prenup, and go figure.’ In moderation, many of her characteristics would be fine–we love us some confident women, however, Cleves only has these two characteristics, even during her bits of dialogue. For Aragon, No Way is a valid response to her husband cheating on her and her issues with religion despite her devotion to the Catholic church. However, there are no other qualities portrayed other than anger. The vulnerable moment during the bridge is extremely brief and in the show, is a comedic tool to segue back into indignation. While her anger is entirely justified, this lack of nuance makes for a very one-dimensional character, making it easier to pigeonhole her into stereotypes.

On the other hand, Seymour is perceived as the pinnacle of femininity and motherhood. Even her costume is the most conservative compared to the other queens, with no cutouts aside from that one strap underneath her collarbones, long sleeves, and a full knee length skirt. Heart of Stone revolves around her love for Henry VIII and her role as a mother and a wife rather than her characteristics as a person. Because of this, the only exhibited characteristics are ones attributed to a caretaker–she’s a loving person, whose love is set in stone, and she’s dependable like a stone and can weather whatever storm comes her way. Thus, when she doesn’t align with this characterization, such as in the queens fighting scene where they compare miscarriages among other tragedies, it’s forgivable–after all, she is a grieving mother. On the other hand, when Aragon exhibits the same behaviour, it’s non-permissible as it aligns with and supports her existing characterization, reinforcing the idea that she is indeed an angry Black woman.

So, can Six’s issues with race be resolved? Like its racism, the answer is: it’s complicated. The ideal course of action would be to break casting trends, but it’s quite difficult to do so in an equitable manner. To cast a white woman in existing non-white roles would be to prioritize whiteness even if the casting is mixed up between all characters. A good step forward would to cast a 100% non-white cast and at least a 50% non-white band. This is the only way to respectfully break casting trends and prioritize inclusivity, especially seeing as Toby, Lucy, and most, if not all, of the creative team are white. Going forward, Six as a whole needs to actively be anti-racist and prioritize women of colour.

#six the musical #racism #sixcourse #casting #atlas' post

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malewifehenrycooldown · 3 years ago

Note

2, 26

[Ask Game Here]

2. Favourite Wrestler from the 00s

oof this is a tough one to answer. I’m not exactly super knowledgeable on wrestling in the 2000s as opposed to my knowledge of wrestling in the 1990s, 2010s, 2020s. I kind of have my reasons but I’ll get to them later down the line.

Part of me wants to say Jeff Hardy, but he was around in the mid late 1990s but he did have many highlights in his run at WWE during the 2000s (although that also meant adapting real world issues he was dealing with into a story line which honestly. always rubs me the wrong way no matter how genuine/earnest/careful they present said story).

Aside from the Charismatic Enigma, I guess the closest you can say to who my favourite wrestler was is probably a toss up between Rob Van Dam and Lita, but again I’m not super knowledgeable on the industry during the 2000s.

Rob Van Dam is can only be described as attention grabbing, and it probably didn’t help that he was a rising star and an alumni from ECW. So not only was this guy super hardcore but he could also put on a genuine match on as well. He’s also not that bad on the mic, it mostly depends on how he is responding to his opponent or the nature of his promo. Also he’s literally called ‘The Whole Damn Show’ which I guess helps put into perspective as to how popular he was/is.

I’m not super familiar with the early women’s wrestling scene aside from Luna Vachon (who comes from the 70s-80s era), but knowing how Women’s wrestling wasn’t taken super seriously - like it was there (slightly better than the attitude era’s treatment). But I don’t think you’d have a ‘women’s match’ as the main event at the time. (also just. gross story-lines. that’s a constant thing) but Lita stands out because she kind of popularized the famous ‘hurricanrana’ which you may know as ‘the move black widow does’ but Lita MADE IT COOL FIRST. Also she’s just in general a fashion icon especially in the 2000s. seriously she makes wearing neon colours, sweat pants and mesh LOOK COOL. Sadly the big draw back is that women’s wrestling wasn’t taken seriously and therefore women would face the brunt of a lot of sexist, misogynistic and slut-shaming from people - and Lita had to face the brunt of it due to much like Jeff’s situation: Turned a real world part of their life into a story-line - which NEVER works out and it gets people hurt.

Although I guess you can say, that 2000s were a tough time for wrestling in general, especially since the end of the attitude era meant that less people were tuning into Monday Night Raw or Smackdown. I guess you could say the Ruthless Aggression era did kind of bring an audience back - and not to mention the start of the ECW One Night Stand Pay-Per Views led to WWE bringing on a third brand ‘ECW’ (under the WWE label) to display new upcoming talent - more notably CM Punk, but also more recognizable names like Kurt Angle, Batista, the return of Shawn Michaels, and the bright shining newcomer of Randy Orton, amongst many many more names. Not to mention TNA (now known as Impact Wrestling) was just starting up as a possible alternative at the time.

I’m not trashing the wrestlers from the 2000s - or just wrestling in the 2000s in general. In fact FAR from it, but contextually I think it’s important to acknowledge that even in the 2000s there were still ugly remnants leftover by the Attitude Era, and not to mention the more publicized media cases with wrestlers involved - be it passing much before their time or being treated with absolute disrespect, or in worse cases a high profile case that the media latches onto to because tragedy draws numbers - and that what happened nearly killed the entire industry, and still overshadows it today.

I hate to end on a vaguely downer and morbid note for this question but my lack of knowledge + the general climate of wrestling at the time makes it kind of hard to go back to revisit that time period and not think about gross and unfortunate events that occurred during that time - which in a way, do sort of overshadow a part of wrestling history. It sucks. it’s a perfect storm of bad things, that makes it hard to rewatch matches knowing what we know today.

26. Best commentator?

Best Commentator? gosh that's like asking me to do Sophie's Choice because there are so many amazing commentator's to choose from. Not to mention that guest commentators also occur!

If we're talking about the best 'iconic' commentator, it would have to be Jim Ross. The guy is a legend, his voice is recognizable and even at his age he is still going strong. He's able to describe to the audience at home what is happening while also talking about the individuals who are working in the match and putting them over - describing their talent in the ring if they are a baby-face, or condemning their actions in the ring if they are a heel. He’s really knowledgeable regarding the business and always provides context and insight into older matches that he’s commentated for.

As for the best commentator personally? I honestly don’t really have one because there’s so many to choose from but also they all provide their own flare to the microphone. Sometimes it’s early Michael Cole, sometimes it’s Jericho (who is surprisingly good as a commentator) and sometimes its Excalibur. I don’t have a solid favourite yet, and honestly it’s kinda hard to even choose a favourite because, as I mentioned everyone brings their own style to the table.

#inform to tag #goodhairclub #Answered Questions #answered asks #thank you for your question!#i do apologise getting a bit ominous / dark in the 2nd question #i was gonna name drop but i don't escatly feel comfortable talking about at length #*exactly.#it's a case that makes me angry. sad and depressed.#i really wish i could give you a straight answer for the second question but honestly i'm sorry i don't know much #as to what is occuring in the ring. i know too much as to what is happening beyond the ring #Shallow Dives into the Weird World of Wrestling

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muchymozzarella · 4 years ago

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I just watched the Cuties / Mignonnes movie on Netflix and honestly, I loved it. It isn’t for everyone though. I also have a feeling that a lot of the controversy comes from whatever baggage you bring with you to the film.

It’s not the most comfortable movie to watch, first of all, but it’s not exactly vague about its message. In fact, it paints a fairly clear picture of what happens when you take a girl going through a difficult situation and tell her she has to pick between Religious Womanly Purity and being Sexy And Desired and force her to choose when she’s way too young to be making any sort of choice in either direction.

More of my thoughts below - spoilers for the film, and content warning for personal experience with childhood sexuality and how that plays into the film’s content and themes.

I think Americans will have a hard time taking this movie’s message as it is presented, because American media is so polarising -

it’s either you’re watching two adults pretend to be teenagers fucking all over the place or you pretend kids are 10000% non-sexual entities who will only magically become so at age 18, instead of realising that kids and teens are doing their own growing up and it’s deeply uncomfortable and awkward to observe how they try to copy overtly sexual content they get access to without fully understanding what it entails or why they shouldn’t be doing it.

But I think that international films can present something more nuanced, especially when it comes to sexuality - since America’s puritanical culture and overly sexual counterculture has fucked it up so thoroughly.

Cuties reminds me a bit of how I was as a kid. I got my period when I was 11. I got my first bra when I was 8. I started masturbating when I was 10. I started accessing porn when I was 12 - though to be fair it was all doujin and fanfic lol.

The movie itself happens as follows:

Main character Amy is 11 and Muslim Senegalese, and she’s shown to largely be bored with the religious proceedings, and is explicitly told in the beginning by an Auntie in the religious group about how women should be pure and modest. She’s close with her mother, but the relationship is fraught. Her father has taken on another wife, and Amy is feeling resentful and angry toward him, but Amy’s mom has to help host the wedding even though she’s clearly pained by his decision.

In their apartment, Amy meets Angelica, who’s part of a clique of girls who dress sexy and want to take part in a dance competition. Amy does everything she can to be accepted by the girls, and eventually starts dressing more sexually, learning how to twerk and dance, and essentially rebelling against the ideals that are bringing herself and her mom so much pain.

The movie alternates between showing Amy and Angelica and the other girls being sweet kids and having fun and actually being kids, and them trying to learn from adult dances and being obsessed with trying to date older boys, take pictures of a guy’s dick at school, pretending to be older than they are, etc. It’s generally not fun to see, but also kinda reminded me of being 11 and acting like I knew better when it came to Sex but definitely talking out of my ass.

Eventually Amy goes too far when the day of the wedding comes nearer, she gets her period, more expectation is placed on her by the Auntie, who kind of represents the tight knit religious community, and her place in the clique is put at risk. She steals from her mom, she tries to bribe her cousin with nudity, and posts a genital pic in a moment of desperation - all explicitly framed as awful and painful within the movie, in case you’re wondering. Her mother shouts at her, her friends reject her, and they even have a whole uncomfortable cleansing scene and bring in an exorcist to see what’s wrong with her - though the exorcist, who is a sensible man, tells them it’s definitely not a bad spirit and heavily implies that they should think about the psychological toll her family pressures have put on her.

She eventually gets onstage to dance, but stops halfway and starts to cry and runs away. It’s a fantastic and painful sequence, because you get them dancing with these bright glamorous lights and then when she realises exactly what she’s become and everything becomes dark and grey and the colours muted and ugly.

She comes home to everyone about to go to the wedding, crying for her mom. Her mom defends her the Auntie saying she was dressing like a whore and hugs her. The two reconcile, and her mom tells her it’s okay if she doesn’t want to go to the wedding - since obviously it’s been hurting her so much. The mom is going, since she’s already made that decision, but Amy changes out of her overly sexual dance clothes and puts on some regular ones, goes outside, and starts skipping rope with some kids - finally enjoying herself like a kid should.

That’s a fairly long description, but I want to emphasise that at no point does the movie say that “girls dancing sexy is good, actually”. It does, however, portray how these girls have glamourised overtly sexual media, and how Amy is particularly susceptible to it because of the pressures partly caused by her more conservative religious upbringing.

I’ve seen some people say that it puts Islam or Muslim religiousness in a bad light, but I didn’t really think that either. I’m Catholic, not Muslim, and I related deeply with Amy. She was bored and pressured by religion, but it never showed her mother to be bad for being religious, nor the rest of the women. The Auntie pressured her and made her feel bad, but it didn’t really feel any different from literally any other religion where modesty and purity is part of the teaching.

I also see people saying it demonises sexual liberation, but that’s not really it either. I think the main message is clear when you think about what that deep feeling of discomfort you feel seeing kids dress like adult women in sexy dance videos. Both Angelica and Amy were feeling pressured by stuff at home, which pushed them to try to be wanted and loved, and to rebel, and that’s how they went about it. With Angelica, her parents worked all day and were barely ever home, so she felt neglected. With Amy, her family pressures made her feel like she needed an escape, and she wanted to be accepted by the clique.

Kids with difficult situations are most susceptible to growing up too fast, whether that be having to parent your own siblings (which Amy does throughout the movie) or trying to copy adults without understanding the implications. The kids were trying to chat up teenage boys but some of them didn’t even know what a condom was.

It’s not a fun movie - though to be fair, it has its fun moments, ie the parts where the kids are actually enjoying themselves like kids do. The movie consistently reminds you that these are kids, in case you forget somewhere while watching, and that what they’re doing is fucked up, actually.

I certainly think the movie can be uncomfortable to watch and you don’t need to watch it if it’s beyond your viewing limits. I just think that the ridiculous culture war surrounding it is so tainted by bad faith. I watched this movie and saw parts of my own childhood, and a tragedy with a hopeful ending where a young girl is forced into situations she shouldn’t even be in because she felt like she couldn’t rely on anybody.

I think it’s an amazing film and I think you should watch it with an open mind, instead of acting like your only two settings are “enjoying child porn” and “children do not know what sex is and I will pretend that is true”. I think that if the movie is making you uncomfortable, you understand the movie.

And I think that the message of the movie is “Let kids be kids, stop trying to push them into decisions they’re too young to make, whether it be insisting on their womanly purity or making them think they have to be sexy to be liked.”

But that’s just my take on it.

#cuties #netflix cuties #mignonnes

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howlingmoonrise · 4 years ago

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Thoughts on Petshop of Horrors: Wandering Ark volumes 1 & 2

(also on dreamwidth)

HOW did I manage to miss the translation of my long-awaited Papa D PSOH series?? I've been stalking it ever since I found the announcement and somehow the fact that @ruthlessnightsscans already put out the first two volumes completely went past my head.

Obviously I had to read it right away, sleep be damned.

this is the edited version of my brain thoughts after i managed to get two sleeps and calm down a bit or it would be a lot more incoherent

The art: the initial pages really remind me of the old art! Unfortunately it goes back to the roundness prevalent since the Shin series (which has only become even rounder with time) not long after. That art style is also a lot less dynamic than the original, I find. It's a bit of a problem on scenes that are supposed to have some tension caused by movement. This is nothing new since, like I said, Sensei has been using this art style since a good while ago. I really miss the original art though. It had a major nostalgia punch to it and a lot more feeling as well.

-- First chapter: "I am on a journey with no destination in mind" just say you're on vacation and go off I guess.

Papa is... weirdly easy-going. I want to say it's because he's not yet mad with grief and his son being taken away and so on, but the glimpses we saw at his time in university definitely didn't paint him this soft. There's no edge to him, on this volume or the next.

Regarding the story itself, I can't say I loved it but it’s not the worst out of all of them (there are four in total between these two volumes, and a third volume is on the way). I liked Koushun's character, but Seiyou annoyed me, especially when he presumed to know what she wanted (or perhaps he didn't presume, but decided for her what was better anyway) - something like I Shall Revive This Species So Breed In My Name Okay Bye. Note also that while Koushun was willing enough to marry (thinking she was marrying someone else but that's another point entirely), the groom himself came in chains. And then Seiyou... locks them in together? Great. Just great. Very conducive to a loving mood indeed, locking a woman with a potentially dangerous stranger who might cause her harm and telling them both to fuck (note. the. chains. you don’t put chains on someone you think is harmless; they never put any on Koushun even when she attacked Seiyou). I was afraid for her when it cut to another scene here, with the last we saw of her being pushed against a wall and being told by the groom that it seemed that he would have to make a child with her. "Rather than hate each other, I want to break that curse"? Seiyou, sweetie, that is NOT the way to make them not hate you. ((The reveal that Koushou is some sort of creature - very PSOH-y - does not help, since putting two wild animals together without them being used to each other is perhaps even more likely to them killing/harming one another.))

MAJOR little mermaid vibes on Koushun standing over a sleeping Seiyou with a knife.

There are quite some parallels with the D species on this tale of bloodshed and revenge. The Ds could stand to learn from this, though historically they don't. "Even if you kill the third prince, the Kagetsu people are already gone. They won't return." Papa himself says that 'winning on the last available tile' is a waste of time, which really resonates with his research into reviving lost species and the issues of his own kind. A reference to the health of descendants when no new blood is introduced is also made here, which might or might not point to our D depending on where in time this Papa is from.

Second chapter: it's... frankly, super choppy. The story is all over the place. On the author's note, Akino herself says that it's a challenge to put the whole life of that empress in 57 pages, and I have to agree. Either it should have been cut to the REALLY relevant parts and worked on them some more, or be discarded in its entirety. It's too rushed. The whole first part was unnecessary: it could have started with her already working at the palace or being chosen as a concubine, and then made references to her previous life in her thoughts instead of wasting several pages on it when that backstory won't be going anywhere (except for some references to Hakubun whom she sees on that other actor - who dies like, two or three pages later, so that's that on that). I do like Ranji herself as a character: she's clever and quick to pick up on things. Her life is just a series of tragedies one after the other, unfortunately.

Papa D is some sort of benevolent helper in this chapter for some reason - this pattern repeats somewhat on the next chapters, but on this one there isn't really anything to gain for him at all, other than perhaps his dubious acquaintance with one of the concubines/future empress, which wouldn't really hold much weight since he met her ?once? apart from near her death.

And then, somehow, the initial Papa D in this chapter was actually Sofu?

Sofu???? I'm calling bullshit. As far as we know - going back to Sofu's own series and flashbacks on the original PSOH, even - Sofu never had a hairstyle of that length, and out of our three known Ds (new!D excluded) he's the one least likely to help a human just because. The ark is also said to travel through space and time, so I'm saying that's Papa D and that's it. Fun aside: on this chapter, Papa says he's the "third generation", meaning that on this series he's probably the youngest existing D (and by inference our D does not exist yet).

Also, some issues with in-story continuity here: when the last emperor dies Ranji still looks fairly young and the emperor-to-be is three years old, a couple pages later she looks a lot more aged but the new emperor is still three years old. To be honest, I think the story would have been tied off much better if A-chan had some connection with Hakubun or the eunuch instead of each having their very brief, individual emotional connections to her - which, in turn, doesn't really make them memorable. The "wishes" thing was interesting, really called back to the old PSOH tradition with the mystical pets and bittersweet be-careful-what-you-wish-for endings.

Third chapter: I think, overall, this was probably the one I liked the best. Can't really bring myself to call it my favourite though, since none of them even begin to compare to the original PSOH chapters. I cackled at the "jawline is too sharp" dialogues and thoughts: with this art style EVERYONE has the same round jaw as every other character, and it's the furthest thing from "sharp" possible.

With this series it really seems like Sensei is giving more focus to trying to tell historically-accurate stories rather than focusing on the stories themselves, as there is a huge amount of superfluous historical information to be found in these volumes.

The empress Elizabeth reminds me of Sofu, in truth. She won't "mind" affairs and the like (read: she will hate it but ignore them) as long as it works towards her ends. Her taking away the newly-born child is a huge parallel to Sofu regarding both Papa and D, and D and new!D. Child-snatching FTW! That being said, I actually kind of liked her, ruthless as she was: the whole reason why Sophie made it as far as crown princess was because Elizabeth valued her hard work. You don't get to hold an empire together without having a steel spine and a cunning mind (or people to do the work for you I guess, but here it doesn’t seem to be the case).

I hate that Sophie had to change even her name and religion to fit her new reality, accurate as it is to history. That sort of thing always messes me up (throwback to the Nazi/teddy bear chapter of the original PSOH series, where there was also a name/religion change for the sake of survival). Not a reflection on the author in any way, I just hate that this is something people had to go through. As something I hated that kinda does reflect on the author, though, was the ugly = terrible association with Pyotr and the maid. Sophie/Catherine is initially said to not be beautiful but she's not depicted in the same way those two are at all.

Papa's benevolence is thankfully offset this chapter by the fact that he does have something to gain here. For some reason Ds doing things merely for the goodness of their hearts kind of rubs me the wrong way unless it's D during or post-Leon.

Most PSOH victims clients: oh a pretty person! WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S AN ANIMAL Sophie/Catherine: a dog you say? sounds kinda hot ngl

Gotta respect how she just jumps straight into the dog affairs. The take-back of the empire was also nicely executed, and I'm always here for ladies in traditionally male clothing.

Fourth chapter:

This is linked semi-directly to the third chapter by virtue of the amber room Papa D craved. Marks also the second time that Papa takes a human on board of the ark.

D, circa end of original PSOH, a single tear rolling down his cheek as he watches Leon plummet towards the earth: Humans have not earned the right to board this ark. Papa D: I'm gonna go for a joyride and take along this human and this human and this human and this human and--

Papa really gives Doctor Who vibes on the ark matter. Travelling through space and time, occasionally taking human companions? The one for this chapter - who I'm guessing might be a cameo from one of Sensei's other series, since I didn't recognize him and there was no backstory for him on the chapter - even has era-appropriate wardrobe changes (at least assuming it's the same person and not just someone who looks similar scratch that they have eyes of different colours so I guess Papa has been giving rides to delivery men now), the second of which leaving me very ??? as to WHEN he is from.

That last Look(TM) reminds me a of Leon Orcot, between the long ponytail and the clothes resembling the ones Leon wore on the last chapter of Shin PSOH (in PSOH time, that would have happened approximately 15 years after the end of the original series, meaning that Papa was already long dead then. Unless Leon's style was just stuck in time, which is also very possible).

It might or might not have endeared him to me for that exact reason. What can I say? I'm a sucker for Leon Orcot, and apparently also for characters that visually remind me of him. ANYWAY.

Why another Nazi-era chapter??? Sensei plz. One was already enough on the original PSOH - it wasn't anywhere near my favourites back then, either - and the fact that this one mostly followed a Nazi colonel didn't help either. Here we witness them tearing down the amber room, "reclaiming" art from all over the world, a father's heartbreaking sacrifice to “save” his daughter’s dog, and Papa D coming to meet the Nazi dude. One would expect the Ds to avoid genocidal racists given the fate of their own species, but apparently the Nazis were relevant enough for not one but TWO Ds to interact with them. Oh well. Either way, I really don't like how Papa appears to not care one way or another - when the D for the original series interacted with people he didn't like, his mask was really fairly obvious (at least for the reader). Perhaps Papa simply has a better mask. Perhaps those nuances were lost to time and round art styles. Perhaps Papa or Sensei just don't give two shits. Guess we'll never know.

EVERYONE seems to comment on the flavour of Papa's tea: it's 4 out of 4 so far for these two volumes, and in this chapter in particular it seems as if it's laced with some kind of truth serum - it seems to be Papa's version of D's (and possibly Sofu's?) incense from the original PSOH. A reference to the original PSOH's Nazi chapter is also made here, with Papa mentioning that Sofu was on friendly terms with Eva Braun: this implicates that in this time they were in closer contact (not surprising since Sofu probably hasn't stolen his still-non-existent kid yet).

The colonel seems to value art over human life - surprise surprise! - so he kills his own comrades to keep the art "safe". A stomach-turning moment comes where they find human golden teeth being kept as treasure, which Papa mentions remelting to turn into golden nuggets. Why, Papa/Sensei, why? It's in poor taste, even if you're testing the colonel the way D did with some of his clients on original PSOH.

At the very least an eerie moment comes next where Papa explains that dead creatures can be revived using DNA. "Even dead people?" Cue Papa's all-seeing stare directly into the reader's eyes (and presumably the colonel's as well) with a backdrop of an inverted black-and-white multitude of graves as he says that future is not very far. Colonel almost shits his pants, with reason when you consider the amount of people the Nazis killed off that would presumably come after them. This almost forgives the teeth comment, and it's probably the first moment in these two volumes when we see some genuine emotion on Papa's face (on this page and the next), creepy and maniac as it might be.

Colonel dude has spent the whole chapter justifying everything under "orders of the fuhrer" so far. Then comes the moment that Papa calls him out by saying that the orders were to burn his sweet dear art so that it wouldn't fall into enemy's hands, and it's here that we see how much of an hypocrite the colonel is when he doesn't want to follow those orders. Suddenly it's "treasures of mankind" (even though he's been stealing them left and right) and the fuhrer is "a fool" (even though he's been using his orders and his "greatness" as justification for everything).

Suddenly, Papa's companion! Who the heck is that! Shoots him! This is someone whose family was killed by the colonel (directly or under his orders) or so he says; he's gripping a piece of art we don't get to see, which is presumably the reason for those deaths. Now in the future! A guy who looks a bit like that other man who shot the colonel, but who I'm not 100% sure if it is or is not the same person because the round art style makes everyone look alike Someone who is definitely not the same guy because his eye colour is different (and who's dressed in a sporty outfit with a long ponytail, which I've mentioned kinda reminds me of Leon) looks for the amber in the place the art was stored, alongside Papa. He flies on the ark (all these humans on the ark, Sofu would have a conniption!) and reminds me of Leon once more while being shouty and holding on to the main mast for dear life.

The sacrificial father mini-plot also gets resolved with the dog returning (but not the father himself) along with a picture with that family. Which is presumably the picture the other dude who shot the colonel was holding, which begs the question: how is he related to them? He doesn't look like any of them, but he did say the colonel killed his family while (presumably) holding that same picture, so hmmm. Maybe he's the dog, colour-scheme aside? But apart from the father, the rest of the family seems to have survived, so it's kind of a strange thing to say since that sort of wording usually means more than one person. Even if he is the dog (my money is on that option), it's not exactly obvious to a reader who's not looking very closely. Some loose ends there, or at least ends that don't really look like they're tied together at all.

"No matter how long winter is, spring will come." Fairly hopeful final words there, Papa D. These echo similar ones spoken by D at the end of Shin PSOH, after running from Leon once more ("someday, the season for returning will come"): perhaps both these Ds are not as pessimistic as to their future, at least at this point? Poor Papa definitely had a change of heart between his series and the ending of original PSOH, unfortunately.

General thoughts: Sensei hasn't quite managed to replicate the feeling of the original PSOH just yet. The storytelling feels a bit shallow and rushed, though the pacing improved from the first volume to the second. There's also very little focus on Papa himself for some reason: he's more of a background character on his own series except for the fourth chapter, which is a very strange narrative choice. In part this might also be because he doesn’t have a permanent companion to discuss/argue with like in previous iterations of the PSOH series. I wonder if the third volume will continue on this trend? I wish it’d delve a bit more into Papa, but either way it’s still nice to get some more PSOH content.

I've heard Vesca will make an appearance next volume, I'm so excited!! Out of Shin PSOH, my favourite chapters were Leon's (surprise surprise!) and the ones with Papa and Vesca on their university days. Papa definitely seemed a lot sharper there, which I miss here - I feel like Sensei has been smoothing out all their edges like with the art style lmao, and in turn it makes them feel a bit lacking since the Ds are not meant to be bland and forgiving and easy-going, at least as per their original portrayal. I've also seen sneak-peaks of Leon and D from author notes of the next volume so I can't wait at the chance to weep at the slightest panel of my son Leon.

A final shoutout to RNS for continuing the PSOH translations! I really can't thank them enough!!

#PetShop of Horrors #pet shop of horrors #psoh #hyouhaku no hakobune hen #papa d #wandering ark #psoh wandering ark #psoh ark adrift #petshop of horrors hyouhaku #howl rambles a lot

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paulagnewart · 4 years ago

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Song Sung Blue

🎶Funny thing, but you can sing it with a cry in your voice/And before you know, it get to feeling good/You simply got no choice/Song Sung Blue/Everybody Knows One/Song Sung Blue/Weeping like a Willow 🎶

Stormclouds swept low over the citizens of Knothole Village on this day 15 years ago, as the final story penned by prolific Sonic the Hedgehog writer Karl Bollers, was published.

From beginning his tenure colouring various one-shot issues and miniseries, to being among the four co-plotters of the infamous 'Endgame' saga, Bollers was swiftly elevated to head writer in 1996, starting issue 51.

Over the subsequent decade, he led the charge in the art of shaping Hedgehog history. From globe-spanning epics, resurrecting Sonic's numero-uno nemesis, to unveiling the lost origins of Mobius. He introduced forgotten elements from outlines past (Nate Morgan, the Super Emeralds), took other writers' characters and actually did interesting things with them (Geoffrey St. John, Elias Acorn, Fiona Fox, Robo-Robotnik) and created new heroes and villains so deeply engrained in the collective fandom conscience, that they remain as popular if not moreso today.

Even behind the scenes he brought changes, particularly with fan-turned-pro artist Jay Axer personally picked to join the book's roster. Mining talent from Sonic's fanbase had only been done once before, but now the floodgates were broken, and remains the industry standard today.

Under Karl's pen, the stories and characters were always evolving, perpetually moving forward as the battle escalated, simmered, and escalated once more. Some subtle and natural, others almost overnight. By the time One Year Later hit 80 issues later, the Acorn Kingdom had grown leaps and bounds, while the Freedom Fighters matured from children running guerilla warfare tactics against seemingly impossible odds, to specially trained young adults in the Knothole Special Forces Team. The future was bright, the sky was the limit, and even that was put to the test when our hero found himself literally Tossed in Space.

Until it all, sadly, came crashing down across 2004. By that point directions (and managements) underwent drastic changes. Egos reared their ugly heads, leading what should've been handled internally devolve into very public shouting matches, with fans caught in the crossfire. As the new year that was 2005 ultimately swept away the smoke, Bollers was gone, among what would be a growing list of casualties.

His sudden final contribution in issue 154 came not with an all-out bang, but a more personal tale. A surprisingly fitting inventory story, where Sonic goes full Kevin Costner to protect the now-superstar Mina, ensuring her song's sung blue from Robotnik's assassination attempts, be them on-stage snipers or bombs in the dressing room.

(As as aside, someone really should illustrate a parody of The Bodyguard, but with Sonic and Mina in Frank and Rachel's place. Hmm...)

Because it seems almost sacrilege not to mention this when talking about his tenure these days, no. I'm not even touching a certain panel from issue 134, except to say I find the whole thing bemusing. The book is gone. The characters aren't coming back. The scene was erased even before its cancellation. Yet fans still argue and commentate over it, even to this very day.

(As another aside, it would be interesting to see someone do a parody in the style of William Shatner's infamous "Get A Life!" skit from Saturday Night Live, but with Sonic fans demanding answers at a convention. Double-Hmm...)

For all maybe... six or so Sonic fans linked to this account who made it this far, I'm interested to hear your memories, if any, of Mr. Bollers. Are there any particular stories or characters you remember enjoying? Did some of his ideas help define your experience as a fan? Did they leave a sour taste? Or are any of his many, many unused storylines worth revisiting someday? As for the man himself, it feels only fitting to end with a quote from his Sonic HQ interview published way back in May 2003.

“Sonic carries a message of hope that many of todays comics have forgotten. It seems that in a lot of comics, the stories jst keep getting darker and darker from issue to issue, and the situations that the characters find themselves in just gets worse and worse. There’s never any light at the end of the tunnel to break up the gloom. Don’t get me wrong, Sonic isn’t all sunshine. Don’t let the blue spines and the red sneakers fool you. It has its fair share of tragedy, but we tend to balance that with humorous moments and a series of wins to equal the heroes losses.”

“I think younger readers, in particular, need to see both sides of the coin as they develop a view of the world around them without being talked down to. The world can be a pretty bad place, but amidst the badness there are happy moments that we can cherish with those we love. Even if they have two tails.”

#Karl Bollers #Sonic the Hedgehog #Archie Sonic #Sega #Comic Books #On This Day #Archie Comics #Sally Acorn #Mina Mongoose #Dr Robotnik #Retrospective #Neil Diamond

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meibemeibelline · 4 years ago

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part 3 (FINAL) of highlights from that 32k word doc i wrote when i marathoned gazette songs (2012-2018)

PART 1 | PART 2

once again:

This is a combo of thoughts on music, lyrics and other random things I wrote while listening. Not every song will be featured, sorry.

I sometimes directly quote translations and when I do, I’ll specify whose it was. Here are the masterposts of lyrics by Heresiarchy , Defective Tragedy and Trauma Radio

I will write song titles for which there are warnings in bold and all caps

So this part will be a bit different because mental health and The Band became really prominent themes in their music in a way it wasn’t really before, so rather than simply writing about songs as they come, I do (attempt to) connect some dots between songs and albums

Also this is REALLY LONG (~5k words)

If you read any of these posts, thank you <3

CONTENT WARNINGS: murder (In Blossom), reference to abuse (In Blossom), suicide/suicidal thoughts (Kagefumi, Deux/Blemish), reference to PTSD (Incubus). Overall LOTS of discussions about mental health.

buckle up folks it’s gonna be a long one

So I listened to Division according to the limited edition version where the songs got split into the ‘story-like songs’ and the ‘hype songs’. Just while we’re on that, I like to think that Vein is the story part because these songs (the blood) are meant to go TO our hearts, while Artery, which is the ‘raw emotion’, is the heart doing the talking and supplying the oxygen that will do its thing. LIKE HEADBANGING.

“Ibitsu is not the first song they’ve written about changes in the music industry, but it’s quite different from others like 13Stairs[-]1 and Dim Scene. They were quite angry about the state of things, lamenting it. But here, Ruki is writing his and the band’s place in all of that. It’s like in the other two songs he’s like, “wow look at all this rubble. This sucks.” But in Ibitsu he’s writing about how he’s also in that rubble and thinks about what HE feels about it in relation to himself and the GazettE. And I find that quite interesting. Also hell YES imagery – skies as ideals, the world around them collapsing into ruin, the band as a flower amidst the rubble that can’t reach the sky. It sounds like he’s trying to navigate how he’s supposed to move forward when his ideals and what’s happening in the industry oppose each other quite a lot. He doesn’t reach an answer in this song and ends by asking whether it is actually in ruins or whether he’s just afraid of change, I think.” - interestingly, he uses this same imagery in Kuroku Sunda Sora to Zangai to Katahane to write about anxiety and not feeling good enough.

Quick disclaimer on KAGEFUMI: I do want to say first that I’m talking about this purely as a piece of art. Not as in, like, “this is peak romance”, but just as an artwork I can have Opinions™ about, even if they’re possibly in disagreement with that of the creator. “The shadow tag metaphor for a couple committing double suicide meaning that they’re ‘becoming one’ and being together in death is A Lot. There’s an incredibly strong belief in an afterlife where they can be together makes (what Ruki describes) this stronger bond between them that literally lasts or even transcends the boundaries between life and death, rather than a tragic end (unlike Tokyo Shinjuu). Musically, I love this song and think it’s gorgeous, the way it’s sad yet hopeful. We over here with that bittersweet stuff again but lyrically it’s a WILDLY different route than others before it.”

“Yoin is such a heavy end to disc 1. The ending lines, “The sea of loss / Understanding of helplessness / That day we grieved” about the Tohoku earthquake/tsunami and the nuclear disaster is just so ……. And not only that, but how even though people still struggle to survive, people are moving on like it’s a thing of the past. It’s SO heavy.” (Cr: Defective Tragedy)

“I think [Derangement] is about a massive internal struggle between wanting longing for the past, knowing it won’t come back, but also wanting to destroy the past out of self-hatred. There are aspects of the past, perhaps ambition and drive for example, that are good, but other parts that are not. It’s almost like a continuation of Remember the Urge but like…angrier and with more hatred towards his own past rather than only the longing of it. Which is also really interesting.” – this is definitely one of the themes that comes up A LOT from now, ESPECIALLY in Ninth. We’ll get to that.

“IS KAI GOOD??? That man is NOT human. I swear to god his drums in Required Malfunction are INSANE. ANYWAY, this song is about how people cannot be perfect and we all have flaws, especially in the context of relationships. I like that even though people argue and butt heads sometimes, there’s that Japanese verse where he sings “Let’s send a song without stains / to that innocence without lies / so you can swallow those wounds” and the last lines “Because you are always here, I can advance” to mean like…them being together can ultimately make them better and it can be a good relationship (if they work on it, imo). Also, I love the language he uses here – viruses and malfunctions and inputs – a very non-human way to write about human relationships.” (Cr: Trauma Radio)

(Dripping Insanity) “Solitude drenched in red laughs / in the insanity dripping in silence” is SUCH a good line yes hello I appreciate this. (Cr: Heresiarchy)

“EYYY HAVEN’T HEARD FORBIDDEN BEAVER IN FOREVER. At first I was wondering if this might be judgmental but honestly? I think this is satirical, especially from the line “May the truth you spew on taboos going frantically around / Shred the rhythm of high society”. Like the fact they’re gossiping about a famous woman who has a lot of sex and just TARNISHING her name bc of it, to Ruki, is a load of bullshit. Also, some of the lyrics in the chorus are funny coming from Ruki – “She has a sex addiction / Bang! Bang! / Cute luv machine” – like he does NOT ever write like this and this song is just a huge satirical joke I’m YELLING.” (Cr: Heresiarchy)

“The transition from Malformed Box to Inside Beast >>>>”

“[Inside Beast] is definitely about having a ‘beast’ inside you that’s like all your demons and ugly feelings and to let them all out. He wrote about demons in Derangement, but the way he writes about acceptance is like…empowering and freeing. Not necessarily through words but through the music and just how hard this song slaps.”

“I really love the lyrics of [Until it Burns Out] and its whole thing about valuing the time they have as a band and to be together making music precisely because it’s going to end someday, and it’s going to be their last shot at living their dreams, which is to make music and perform TOGETHER as the GazettE. Like that’s so meaningful, and powerful in the way they just…grab it by the fucking throat. Breaking down the walls that hold them back, TOGETHER, towards the future in which they see their dreams. Like they’re not letting this be the end. They won’t allow it. UGH. UGHHH. The middle eight is so beautiful and I love the lines “The light that colours this irreplaceable scenery / burns the significance of standing here into me / Until the last” like they just love performing SO MUCH UGGGHHH FEELINGS”. (Cr: Trauma Radio)

“[REDO] IS SO GODDAMN SENTIMENTAL I’M IN MY FEELINGSSSSS. Kai being the composer, I can’t help but feel this is him paying homage to jazz, which is the music his mother plays and he loves her so so much. I’m probably reaching but THAT’S JUST HOW I FEEL.”

“EVERBODY SHUT UPPPP IT’S LAST HEAVEN TIMEEEE. It’s so gd gorgeous and sweet. I’M GETTING REALLY EMO WHAT THE FUCKKKK. BRUH. BRUUUUHHH. THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL //THROWS. SHUT UPPPP. TOO MANY SKY, STAR AND FOREVER REFERENCES FOR THIS TO BE OKAY BITCH. This is Ruki’s love song to the cosmos, wishing to be eternal like the stars but acknowledging that all he can do is chase it knowing his life will end, BUT THAT THEY DON’T HAVE TO GRIEVE BECAUSE THEY WILL MEET AGAIN IN THE AFTERLIFE BECAUSE IN SOME WAY WE /ARE/ ETERNAL. IT’S LOVING AND INNOCENT AND WISTFUL. This song is the goddess to all the GazettE love songs. THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK. “The distant sky, this infinite moment / I now wish from the visible stars / in this youthful merry-go-round / that continues to turn endlessly / I want to be eternal like you” – is just…such a beautiful image. “Let’s stay like this, having dreams we cannot reach / Long road which leads to the calm hill / I go, leaving my sadness behind / Good night…my beloved / Last heaven of mine” – it’s yearning but it’s the yearning for LIFE. And to leave behind sadness…Ruki very rarely writes about pain like this. And to call the ‘beloved’ his last heaven, the last thing in his life that’s just THE BEST THING THAT’S EVER HAPPENED TO HIM AND THE THING HE WANTS TO BE ETERNAL WITH goodbye………GOODBYE. “Love without shape changing day by day / Close together / we become / one shooting star” – AAAHHH AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH. Also, for him to say ‘memento mori’ which means “Remember, you must die” in the middle eight of a song about wanting to be eternal just gives the entire sentiment a new meaning ;-;” (Cr: Trauma Radio)

“There’s a particular sound to Division and Beautiful Deformity (but more in BD). It sounds like rushing water. Loss in particular sounds like this. Like, the sound isn’t just ‘dark’ and ‘heavy’, it moves A LOT and there is sooo much emotionality in the songs on this album. It’s really dynamic.”

“The Stupid Tiny Insect revisits the theme of inner demons. Specifically, in this song it sounds like negative internal self-talk. It’s interesting though, the way that Ruki writes it as an entirely separate being to how he writes inner demons and whatnot in other songs, where it’s either another entity within a person that is part of them OR just…themselves. Here, they are VERY separate, and that probably allows him to feel and express rage instead of helplessness or confusion. I also love the reference to pretending to be okay – “I get high on delusion / And act as if I made them die out / ‘Just like a summer moth to a flame”.” (Cr: Heresiarchy)

“IN BLOSSOM is pretty fucking brilliant lyrically imo. It reminds me a lot of 32 Koukei no Pistol in that a protagonist who was abused/neglected by the parents kills them, and in the latter’s case only, also themselves. Some other differences: In Blossom is WAY angrier (and a lot more loaded) and the protagonist is trying to ‘make their own life’ (even if the way they choose to do that DOESN’T WORK), whereas the narrator in 32 Calibre Pistol was mostly lamenting that they’ve ‘lost their way’ and deep-down were wishing for their family to be happy together. I can’t say WHY that is. But it’s interesting that in In Blossom, the abuse just…DESTROYED their concept of family that they used to believe in entirely, and the fact they cannot separate themselves from their abusers neither by dying nor killing them is A Lot. So, they try to free themselves and ‘get hope’ by killing their abusers as revenge (“Die away, along with these wounds I’d counted”), but it doesn’t bring them happiness or heal them (“Even if I slash so much it’s unparalleled by the wounds I’d counted, it still starts to ache / It doesn’t even fight off the decay, much less heal me”). It’s very much saying that despite pain, revenge is not the answer. I also love the line “They adorn vividly – have blossomed beautifully / The sun that has started to set makes sure of it” to describe the wounds as the narrator kills their abusers and their loss of sanity as they do so.” (Cr: Heresiarchy)

“To Dazzling Darkness is about that moment when a concert is over and the lights start to come on. It’s so gorgeous. This is sort of like, the other side of Until it Burns Out. If UIBO is about the band then TDD is about the fans, and the band’s place in the world. I love the imagery in the first verse – darkness is usually associated with bad things, but here darkness is peace, escapism and unity that are part of the happiness of a concert, while the light symbolises the continuation of life. The scenery here is the same scenery in UIBO, which is the scenery of a concert that this band cherishes. There’s also the acknowledgement that time is fleeting and nothing is forever. Like, this is really the other side of the coin and I love it.”

“Dogma defines their new (2015) sound so well, which is HEAVY AND DIRTY AS FUCK. Like, it is SO conceptual and experimental and the painting is just GORGEOUS. I love the harpsichord in this song – as the predecessor of the piano, it was used in a lot of churches and religious music in the Baroque period (1600-1750ish), so using it here in a song where the band is likened to idols (the religious type) is super cool. And to combine it with these really low and heavy guitars just gives the DARKEST image.

And there’s so much going on in the lyrics – MANY MOTIFS, MANY MEANINGS. They bring back the concept of darkness as a symbol for escape from harsh life and of unity during concerts. As for death, Reita has an iconic quote where he said something along the lines of: “we often say in lives ‘to die’, but what we actually mean is to live. Live and be free”. I see death for GazettE as a kind of transformation – and end, yet also a beginning to become something or someone new.

Ruki hasn’t really mentioned god since Ogre in Dim, in which he basically wrote “idk if God exists but I don’t really care – all I need is me”. But here he likens the band to an idol of worship. We as the fans worship the GazettE, and they are also gods to us, their followers, in the sense that they provide us with life and unity (referred to here as death and darkness, respectively). The GazettE as a band brings darkness and death to the world (with their own meanings, of course).

This is also a song about the band breaking away from current gods and dogmas of the music industry, and from its greed. I also love the line, “The rite I must face is cloaked in darkness and isolation” – this process of their journey to finding their truth is lonely, and no one but them can do it for themselves. To do so also isolates them from everything they once knew. It’s them navigating what is expected of them by the masses and those they work with vs doing what they want without getting shunned for it.” (Cr: Defective Tragedy)

“DAWN IS ABOUT REDISCOVERING THEMSELVES. I love the number of metaphors he brings back in this song – 13 stairs, death, merry-go-rounds and again dogma. Death here is about the transformation of them as a band, which occurs at the top of the 13 stairs to the gallows. And I find that so interesting because he uses the image of gallows (eg: 13 Stairs[-]1 and Forbidden Beaver) as like…an actual Death that means the end of a genre or a person’s reputation, but here it’s a place of transformation. In Last Heaven, the merry-go-round is a symbol of life – it comes back here but this time it’s red instead of blue (youthful) and is paired with the image of a mad banquet with emotions running wild (ie concerts). Basically, this is about the band’s life and, like, their life being about concerts. My favourite part is “Overcoming a period of confusion, I took those stirring emotions / And hung them up high on the 13 stairs” because there’s also the line “I’ve already had a lethal dose of misfortune / The ruined gallows towers above me” -> WE WENT THROUGH SOME SHIT BUT WE FOUND OURSELVES AND SURPRISE BITCH, BET YOU THOUGHT YOU’D SEEN THE LAST OF ME.” (Cr1: Heresiarchy, Cr2: Defective Tragedy)

Not from my notes directly but I feel like the difference between Bizarre to Juuyonsai no Knife (ie the only two songs about Real juvenile criminals) is a REALLY good representation of how Ruki’s lyrics have changed over the years. He went from taking perspectives of people who perpetrators of violence (to write horror stories, imo, but also to generally Explore their minds through art) to making comments about society and how systems affect people in real life. Not to say he doesn’t write about killers anymore or that social commentary is NEW for him, but just…a big change in what’s PROMINENT.

“Interesting that Wasteland is next, which is about Justice on the Internet. I know Ruki has always been really critical of the internet and the kind of social processes that occur online (see: Nakigahara) and here it’s about morality and justice, but more importantly the way it’s about crowd mindsets and CONTROL. And he just summarises it SO WELL in the first verse: “The thousand eyes that can kill even God / Transform into rebels that lust for control / If the time comes when right and wrong disappear / It will all end with a blood-red moon”. There’s also the line “Innocence gives way to sinful judgment” ie the innocent go along with their ways or it’s the innocent (the weak, as he says later) that are scrutinised. And I think about this a lot considering…some other fandoms I’m in >.>” (Cr: Defective Tragedy)

(INCUBUS) “The song is a lot of wondering what they did to deserve their trauma and how they want the dreams/nightmares to go away. I do like that at the end of the song they come to the conclusion that they cannot change what happened and decide “fuck the why”, accepting they didn’t deserve it. Even though the narrator is still stuck in the maze (of trauma), the letting go of asking why it happened is like, a really important step in healing. Because it’s the end of self-blame. So, I hope narrator can heal :( “

(DEUX) “My dumbass never realised this but the music of Deux itself has DUALITY. Metal with solo piano. IT REALLY TOOK ME FIVE YEARS TO REALISE THAT HUH. It’s about two conflicting selves (which to me sound more like intrusive thoughts, considering Blemish’s VERY LOUD “These days I’m better dead”) and the effect that has on like, your emotionality and how it leads to loneliness. His use of nightmares in this song is fascinating – the Japanese word he uses (sakayume) is like…a reverse dream, like if a child has a nightmare you tell them it’s a sakayume so it means what happened in their dream definitely won’t happen AND something good will happen instead. And this is something Ruki prays for.”

(Ominous) “The imagery is really dark in this – “A prayer crushed under wreckage / Reflects in your eyes as you start to fly / I see you in the sky thick with shadows / Spinning around with nightmares” – there’s a desperate attempt to fly and get better and do Well but still they’re surrounded by darkness and nightmares, unable to escape. “Don’t forget that a heart cannot die / Don’t forget that dreams aren’t predictions of the future” –There’s hopefulness in a heart not dying yet a very strong despair when he says dreams don’t predict the future, not even reverse dreams. “It steals away my still-unformed future, and whenever I step forth / I can’t see a thing in that shadowed sky / My screaming can’t save anything / when I’m killing myself with sadness” – oh that hurts, that hurts A LOT. He wants to fly but he can’t. This is just SO MUCH. And they didn’t even have an instrumental outro, IT JUST ENDS WITH ACCEPTANCE OF HOPELESSNESS AND DEPRESSION.” (Cr: Heresiarchy)

“The drums in Goddess uggghhh UGGGHHH. AND THE GUITAR TOOOOOO. Lyrically, this is really a mid-point between depression and healing. It’s A Lot. He writes about his suffering, wanting to make something of his mistakes and his sins and actually WANTING TO LIVE. But it’s so sad that in the end he still feels really helpless – the subtle changes between “I want to become the stars that fill the silence” vs “I can’t become the stars that fill the silence”. But I think that on some level he knows what the next step is. He wishes in the last two lines, “If only I could share my grief that can’t be put to words / If only I could face reality and live accepting my crippling despair”. THAT’S THE FIRST STEP!!!! THAT’S A STEP!!!! TO HEALING!!!! “These bleak thoughts are my sacrifice that will one day begin to thaw into a selfless, smiling heart” – this line is fucking LOADED. Like, he sacrifices his bleak thoughts by expressing them and by making art out of his pain in hopes that he will be able to acknowledge and accept his suffering and his pain as a means to heal, as a way of allowing him to have a selfless and smiling heart. Like, this is SO much of what his art is about and what it has been for SUCH a long time it makes me so emotional that this is what he’s saying about his own lyrics.” I realise too that the goddess is likely the same goddess from Blemish. I’m still unsure what to make of it because Blemish ends in Ruki writing he doesn’t wants to be reborn, and not abandoned. But here he ends with wanting to heal. Wanting to move on and live.

WHICH BRINGS ME TO UNDYING.

“WHEN HE BROUGHT BACK “SLEEP, COUNT ME DOWN AGAIN” >>> God, this song is so powerful. THERE ARE SO MANY CALL-BACKS TO DOGMA. I SHOULD’VE KNOWN THIS BUT STILL. BITCH WHAT THE FUCK. It’s a direct continuation of Ominous (“I won’t arise from this”). I think in this song he’s becoming that figure that is flying in Ominous, and the one that is surrounded by nightmares and shadows – the first verses are about how the future is drenched in misfortune yet we must continue to live (and suffer, but WE CAN AT LEAST BE A BIT HOPEFUL). Ruki says this YET HE IS STILL DREAMING, EVEN AS THE END COMES (“My heart starts to disappear along with the spirit of my words / And though it knew the end was near / It dreamt of things it shouldn’t want / And even now I am still—“). There’s also his mentions of sins again that he continues to drown in :( But overall, this song is really about living despite all the pain, which is really meaningful after Dogma ended on such a note of hopelessness. There’s so much power in this song.” (Cr: Heresiarchy)

“Vacant doesn’t necessarily sound like a romantic relationship breaking down as much as it is about making a mistake and being unable to fix it between you and someone else (or other people), even if Ruki said he wrote it with a band’s image in mind. But the gist is is that there is yet again a struggle within the self (“Self-condemnation distorts the answer / And I lose sight of what I should be / Because of those unconscious actions / I can’t even dream”). The line “In the pain of not being able to tie back the undone thread / The traces left by stopping time keep piling up” really got to me – being stuck in time and constantly wishing for something that was and being hurt by the fact it’s gone is something I personally relate to. But even as the narrator is stuck in time, their grip on the past is loosening – they are forgetting, memories fade, and they lose their strength (“Vacant, you are withering”).” (Cr: Heresiarchy)

(Faling) ““Together, embracing the same pain: it’s only temporary / Don’t forget that this is not the end / So come on, let’s open our eyes and fall / We just believe in ourselves to die / Sometimes it’s okay to be broken” THIS MEANS SO FUCKING MUCH AFTER THE AMOUNT OF TIMES RUKI ENDED DOGMA SONGS WITH HOPELESSNESS AND AT BEST “WE HAVE TO KEEP LIVING AND SUFFERING AND BEING IN PAIN” BUT IN FALLING, PAIN IS TEMPORARY. PAIN IS TEMPORARY. WE WILL HEAL, BITCH. WE WILL GET BETTER, BITCH.” (Cr: Defective Tragedy)

Can’t find my notes bc it’s somewhere else in my Tumblr drafts but basically: I consider Mortal, Utsusemi and Sono Kore wa Moroku like a Depression Trilogy™ in Ninth. Mortal is about depression, loneliness and loss but like, tying it to a singular person or event in which the narrator felt grief. Utsusemi is about loneliness and depression as well, AND RUKI USES THE CICADA SHELL METAPHOR, WHICH IS THE SAME AS CRUCIFY SORROW (ALSO ABOUT DEPRESSION, BUT SOMEONE ELSE’S). But then, Sono Koe wa Moroku is THE turning point and where he first mentions (in this album) and actual DESIRE to heal and like, ON HIS OWN. IT’S ABOUT BEING STRONG FOR HIMSELF AND THAT MAKES ME SO EMOTIONAL. And as I mentioned before, Falling also ends on a hopeful note about sadness not lasting forever – it’s like he’s prefacing the album with the fact sadness IS temporary and that there IS a turning point.

“Babylon’s Taboo is interesting…so apparently Babylon is a figure of western imperialism and capitalism in the Rastafari movement (an afro-centric anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movement from Jamaica). The narrator is COMPLETELY aware of the oppression and injustice that goes on around him but confesses to doing nothing. I interpreted this as complacency to violence, which Ruki has written about before. Also, he describes a starry sky (which I presume represents wealth and happiness) as a lie, and that they are actually black eyes that watch and look down upon you. In the context of anti-capitalism, my interpretation is that the ‘guaranteed fate’ he writes about is the life-long struggle to attain wealth and happiness – we are doomed to dedicate our lives to this, futilely, to no end. and there’s nothing we can do about it. Another line that stood out to me most is “all I need is sanity but uncertainty will do”. this, along with the rest of the song, implies that the narrator is PRETTY DAMN SURE that we’re all fucked so like....HAHA COOL.” (Cr: Defective Tragedy)

(Two of a Kind) Okay so…another motif I noticed in this album is an I and a You. And I know this sounds weird considering almost EVERY SINGLE GAZETTE SONG uses first and second pronouns, but mental health is SUCH a prominent, overarching theme in a way no album concept has been before, hence why I’m saying this. Two of a Kind is really solidifying this for me, but they appear in almost every song (but the You is known as ‘she’ in The Mortal). This pair are connected in an extremely emotionally intimate way. For one, they share pain and understand each other’s pain. Secondly, the narrator falls into depression after they’re gone. A part of me thinks it could be a past self and a current self, considering Ruki’s said this album involved the Most introspection from him and Falling writes about sins and past mistakes again. So, it could be a way of separating a past and current self – a past self that was perhaps lost, and made mistakes, but ultimately creates his current self.

But it could also be another person, as this You figure is also a source of light – someone Ruki shares his wounds with, in Two of a Kind. If it’s another person, it may also make sense that the depression and loneliness written about in The Mortal and Utsusemi is triggered by someone extremely close leaving him. Either way, it is this understanding and connection between the I and the You that also bring hope for the future and I REALLY love the way that hope is conveyed in the chorus of Two of a Kind. There’s so much light in it compared to the parts of the song where ruki calls himself filthy and ugly, and when he writes about negative feelings that never go away and bleed into this other person. but i think this other person understands it, and that’s why he can move on.

“Abhor God is a REALLY dark and heavy take on MOVING FORWARD. Like there’s so much rage in the way he writes about killing his lust, pride and anxiety and stringing up his nightmares in a noose, yet so much power in how he moves forward and sings victory with his music and his art. This is likely connected to Ninth Odd Smell and Uragiru Bero - where he writes about the band’s history and his imposter syndrome as an artist despite the band never going to die just because of that. He contrasts ‘too fast to live’ and ‘too young to die’ like, he’s really in a sort of purgatory where he’s constantly making too many mistakes to be happy but has too much to do for him to give up. So it’s here that he chooses to keep going no matter how weak the beat is. Imagery-wise this feels like.....continuing to live not because you have happiness to look forward to but just out of sheer willpower. Like it’s just so angry. Angry at the world, at yourself, but carrying that anger to try to be better and move forward.”

“And Unfinished is about the fans being his reasons to live and IT MAKES ME VERY EMOTIONAL THAT THIS IS HOW THE ALBUM ENDS!!!!!!! WITH HOPE!!!!! AND MOVING FORWARD!!!!! THEY LITERALLY ENDED THEIR ALBUM THAT’S ABOUT THEM ‘MAKING THEIR MARK ON THEIR WORLD’ WITH LIGHT AND HOPE AFTER LIKE TWO STRAIGHT ALBUMS OF /DEPRESSION/. EVERYBODY GO HOME WE LOVE HEALING IN THIS HOUSE.”

AND THAT’S THE END FOLKS!!!! if you made it here thank you so much for reading my ramblings and i appreciate u so so much <3 i hope you learned something new about the gazette’s music (i sure did - it’s why i went on this marathon in the first place!!) and again i have a list of posts i might write (which will definitely be shorter than these) so! yeah! anyway!! it’s past 11pm and i have no more brain cells. thanks again love ya have a good day/night <3 <3

#the gazette #gazetto #ruki #uruha #aoi #reita #the gazette kai #kai #the gazette ruki #the gazette uruha #the gazette aoi #the gazette reita #why am i tagging this #anyway i just want to say #i tried to stream bts' new song while putting this together #but i physically COULD NOT #the dissonance was too much #anw i love dynamite it's such a great serotonin boost haha <3

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srwestvikwrites · 4 years ago

Text

Privilege is the Haven of Thorns

I wrote this post the week George Floyd was murdered. I was angry, and tired, and confused, and increasingly more apprehensive in my capacity as a person and as a writer as I was drawn in to the immense whirlpool of the zeitgeist gripping the internet and society.

It was such a complicated and emotional time. I was wracked with guilt at not going to the BLM protest in Madrid because we had just opened up into Phase 2 of the desescalada and I was scared of COVID. I was furious at the denial of individuals in my home country of Singapore who refused to believe that just because our race riots were in 1964 and not 2020 that it meant we had no more issues of systemic discrimination or privilege to challenge. I was exasperated and uneasy and inspired at having been drawn into a massive shitshow about race that rocked the Tolkien fandom within the same timeframe.

All of this made me question my place and my purpose as an author writing a story like Haven of Thorns. It doesn’t dwell on these issues, but it draws on them, in the same way that my life doesn’t linger on the colonisation of my home country or the country of my ancestors (India) and yet is irrevocably shaped by this history.

Haven of Thorns was always going to be a story taking place in the strange rivers of colonial legacy. It is a story of drowned histories and ghosts that reside in the very stones of a city and demons that linger inside people who were happy enough to let them back in. All of it is pushed along by the current of time, where history is not stagnant but forces change. It is about war, and it is about subtle discrimination, and it is about what we choose to do when we’re so hung up on our independence story that we refuse to acknowledge the rot in our roots.

I’m reproducing the post as I wrote it all those weeks ago, even though there are better ways I could have expressed my thoughts, and indeed some of these thoughts have new nuances now as I have drafted pivotal scenes in the story. There are other things I’d rather have focused on. The haven of thorns is more than mere privilege now. And perhaps one day I’ll expand on that.

But for now, this is a historical record of what I was thinking as it was all going down and I was trying to decide what sort of story I wanted to tell in the world I lived in as the person I am.

_________________________________________________

I’m not going to be coy about the metaphor anymore. This book was always going to be highly political. It has just become even more political. I cannot begin to describe how apt and how heartbreaking it is to be drafting my novel right now.

Some context should perhaps be given as to the kinds of politics that are informing this story. I began outlining the earliest iterations of Haven of Thorns at the height of the European migration crisis. While migration itself is not a main theme of the story – and where it does feature, it’s from a rather inverted historical power dynamic – the backlash against it was always present in the telling of the tale. The rise of the European right terrified me. I had never experienced open racism before until one incident when I moved to Norway in late 2015, where I was lucky enough to have an ally at the time, though I never learned her name. I have seen far too many swastikas misappropriated from their holiness to represent hatred, spraypainted on neighbourhood walls in Trondheim, London, and Madrid.

For many years, I likened racism and xenophobia and white supremacy to a contagion, even to possession (which may have been down to the title of this book I read during high school). My view on this has changed, now. For those raised into these ideas, sure, the demon metaphor may still apply. But for many, these corrupted values take root and fester because we allow them to.

The old first draft of Haven of Thorns was begun in the first week of November, 2016. I feel I have no need to elaborate on why this timing is significant. Globally, the sense of the triumph of ignorance and vitriol was palpable. Over the next few years, partially because I became more active on social media and partially because of the degree I was studying for, every day required exposure to injustices very often predicated on culture, ethnicity, language, and/or race.

Then in 2019 Singapore commemorated the bicentennial – our 200 year anniversary of being colonised. And once again I was confronted with the bizarre lack of acknowledgment of how blatantly race relations had been directed and segmented by the British, and how whatever the government line says, we have not bounced back from the wounds that gouged in our society. I interned at an NGO dealing with race relations, and it only illuminated what we’d rather cover up – the value judgements we make of people based off their skin colour, the god(s) the pray to, or the language they speak. When COVID-19 reared its head Singapore was lauded for their response, until it hit the migrant worker dormitories. That was a powder keg waiting to explode. And it is false and unjust to pretend that the conditions they are living in do not have their own origins in the petulant protests of those who unfairly profiled and characterised the workers and robbed them of better conditions, resulting in the tragedy that has taken place now.

Even climate justice and its link to ethnicity began to seep into the story, particularly during the early 2020 fires in Australia and how severely the Aboriginal peoples were affected.

As I write this post Minneapolis is up in arms, and Americans are out in the thousands across the country protesting for justice for George Floyd and the countless other black Americans who have been victims of the system and of police violence.

Growing from childhood to adulthood in the 2000s-2010s has meant growing up in a time when discussions about race, ethnicity, culture, and the legacies of our most backward perceptions and prejudiced notions have come to the forefront, both of activism and of violent action taken against others. How could I not be impacted, for example, by the horror of the massacre in Norway on 22 July? How could I not have felt the shadow of the War on Terror through the rampant Islamophobia in the media and in society?

The extent to which all these disparate ideas of politics and power and race and xenophobia and colonialism actually manifest in Haven of Thorns isn’t perhaps measurable in the amount I’ve discussed them here. But the core of this book is that the haven is privilege, and thorns are both the barrier of our ignorance and the spears upon which we sacrifice those who challenge it. White privilege in the West. Chinese privilege in Singapore. Yes I fucking said it. To refuse to see that is privilege, in and of itself. One can feel hurt, to be associated with the violent ways these ideas manifest. Or, one can choose to acknowledge that feeling implicated by despicable acts is perhaps the spark to challenge one’s own biases.

This story is about breaking that thorn barrier and letting in the light, in all its unbridled blinding glory, to burn away the festering hatred we’ve allowed to take root in our flesh.

In the end an important theme in Haven of Thorns – perhaps the most important – is the power structures and prejudices that prevail when colonisation has ended, along with its associated forms of exploitation, and a state becomes self-governing. It’s about who remains in power, why they remain there, and what it means for those who do not have an equal share in that power. I’m not just talking about physical force. I’m talking about value judgments that disenfranchise people based on their inherent qualities. Things like language, religion, or skin colour. Having a voice and having the power to exercise and sustain what you advocate for are all very different things, and this is why these stories cannot be apolitical. A person’s life, their right to life, and their rights to liberty and equality should not be a matter of politics – and yet they are. Because politics is about power. And power is far too often exercised unjustly.

Blaming the old oppressor only works up to a point. At some stage, a country has to face what it has done and continues to do to itself, and whether they are going to choose to make collective, powerful, and perhaps jarring value changes for the sake of basic human rights and justice. After all, prejudice is learned. It can be unlearned.

While this tale focuses on the legacy of colonisation, these same principles lie behind the abuse of authority and the untended wounds of what has happened to the black community in America for centuries, itself founded upon ideas of racial superiority. The police brutality coupled with endorsement from the highest offices in the land is a horrific ugliness – but worse, is those who choose not to see it for what it is. Those who tweet #alllivesmatter. Those who say they don’t see colour. Those who question why race has to be dragged into everything. To quote Moses in Dreamworks’s The Prince of Egypt: “I did not see because I did not wish to see.” This is privilege. This is us inviting contagion into our societies and refusing to mask up and letting it kill us from the inside out. But unlike a contagion, this is discriminatory. That is the essence of it. The differential treatment is the point. If you question why people are burning and looting, why they aren’t being “peaceful”, why they don’t comply (they do – it doesn’t work, as anyone who watched the clip of the CNN reporter would know), why they are so angry – then you are in the haven of thorns. You just refuse to acknowledge it, because the only light seeping into your little puddle is filtered, screened, and you’d rather ignore the shadows cast by the thorns.

So many of the choices in Haven of Thorns hinge upon deciding whether to preserve or whether to overturn these vicious cycles of hatred. It’s so painful to see these struggles continue to be mirrored in the real world, happening to real communities at this very moment. Part of me wants to stop writing this, because I cannot begin to capture the true agony of what is happening, no matter how much I empathise. But another part of me knows that I am in a position of great privilege, and perhaps it is time I put my voice to something that truly matters. Add another line to the anthem that advocates for these deep-set value changes that we need to make on a domestic and an international scale.

In the first very first chapter of this story, the royal palace burns. It may just as well have been a police station.

#work:hot #irdiverse #privilege #race #fantasy #social justice #my writing

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sieben9 · 6 years ago

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“tougher than the rest” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaT for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

Help, I am having an emotion!

Several, actually.

Too many, really. There was a lot going on, and I shall yell about it under the cut.

OK, first of all, August, we have to talk.

also yay, August is here!

That is not how “The Ugly Duckling” goes. I went and checked. The poor little guy didn’t even know what a swan was (and, apparently, neither did anyone else) until the very end. I mean, the reader reaction can’t be wrong, as we know, but I think this tale can be much more easily interpreted as a story about the importance of finding a community you can be yourself in than a parable about “changing your fate by wishing hard enough”. But I see where you’re coming from, so I shouldn’t be too much of an ass about it, I guess.

And while I’m going off at people: take a goddamn nap, David. Poor Snow is missing all the action, and it’s not like you’d be the one who would tell her that Emma is gone. (Also, Regina is on the job. You should know she’s got this. Seriously, my guy. Sleep. It’s nice.)

someone give this man some valerian tea

Speaking of Regina…

…OK, maybe she hasn’t quite got this. Look, I do like the exploration of “what could have been” here, and the scene with the feather was really sweet. That said, bringing this guy along is so going to bite them in the ass later on. I’m not even wondering at this point, I just know. And I like this Robin! It’s not that I think he’s a terrible person, why can nobody see that? He’s just… trouble. Then again, at least he knows how to pick a lock. And am I the only one who’s wondering if Rumple actually wanted them to escape? Because that was awfully easy, I have to say. “Just let me leave you both in this cell that’s not locked with magic and then leave for an undetermined amount of time so you can sort out your emotional baggage and escape.” Yeah, something’s off there.

And speaking of wish!Rumple…

somehow I cannot help but notice that this is NOT a complete human skeleton. what, pray tell, happened to the rest of her?

Dark, show! Please pick up a mirror, look yourself in the eye, and ask yourself, very seriously, “was this necessary?” I’ll wait.

You know, I assumed the “off to raze some fake villages” thing was an off-colour joke, but considering that this version of Rumplestiltskin has now lost both Belle and his son twice, I wouldn’t be surprised if he just went through with that.

And, really, nobody bothered to check the extremely obvious and very high tower in Regina’s castle? What happened to the other prisoners? Are there just a dozen people dead, not for any cause or crime, but simply because they were stuck in Regina’s dungeon and nobody bothered to free or feed them? Really, show? (I’m not even blaming Snowing for this, it’s just too ridiculous an idea.) Could at least have had Rumple say something about how the tower could only be accessed by magic, or something. I’m willing to accept a handwave here, but you have to actually wave the hand!

::deep breath:: OK. That’s out, now. Bye, bye, wish realm, and thank you for all the glorious fanfic.

Oh, before we go, have another picture of happy, well-groomed woodcarver!Pinnochio and happy pornwriter!August.

I don’t know, I just have a soft spot for the guy.

Back in the real world…

I am going to personally murder the Black Fairy! : D

And I was going to say “unless Rumple gets there first”, but honestly, the guy already had to kill one of his parents twice, so I’d say he deserves the break. Belle can have this one. The Gold family really got hit with the full dose of OUaT’s Bad Parenthood Shit, didn’t it? Parents separated from their child, child kidnapped, child returns a fully-grown adult with a terrible childhood… As hilarious as Gideon’s “I don’t need your help!”-tantrum was, the poor guy is clearly hurting badly, and… I don’t even know. Just let them be happy? Please? (Which is more than a little difficult, because those 28 years aren’t just going to go away. They never saw their son grow up, and instead of a loving home with two parents who adored him, Gideon had… whatever that shit in the flashbacks was. …did I mention that I am going to murder the Black Fairy? Because I will.)

Oh, and just as an afterthought... wanna see two people go through four out of five stages of grief in under a second? (Different stages on each face) Because this is what happened when Rumple asks “did she hurt you?” and Gideon answers “depends what you mean” (which means “yes”, obviously):

Enjoy!

I’m… not going to comment on the whole “if Emma dies, there will be a new Saviour” thing, because I was not aware that being the Saviour worked the same way as being the Slayer, and until I get more information, I’m not going to speculate too much. Current hypothesis: he’s lying for some reason or other.

Really, the only good thing to come of this is that Belle and Rumple almost automatically started working together again, because whatever their faults and differences, their main concern is their child.

…and they seem pretty much completely alone in that. This scene was just baffling. I mean, I get it. David’s daughter is in danger, of course he’s going to put her wellbeing first. It’s a terrible choice to make, but I won’t blame him for choosing his daughter. That said, the complete lack of sympathy from both him and Hook was staggering. If they’d said “well, sucks to be you”, it couldn’t have been much colder. Like I said, not expecting either of them to lie to Belle, but some show of “oh no, that must be terrible, is there any way I can help?” would have been the decent thing to do. What the hell, Charming?

And while Belle was over at the loft getting absolutely no help and even less sympathy…

Someone please tell me why I have this weakness for characters with a massive streak of self-loathing? Or, rather, don’t. I don’t think I’d like the explanation very much.

This scene was so good, though. And heartbreaking. Mostly heartbreaking. Because not only is this the first time Rumple is alone with his son, he’s also pretty clearly testing just how far “gone” Gideon is. Please don’t imagine the thought process that must have gone into “now let me check if my only living child is completely evil”, because it is not a happy picture. And just… everything about this. Rumple’s desperation. The “make me pay”/”hit me” that starts off taunting and ends up nearly begging, because of course he’s blaming himself for this. That’s how people react to tragedies, and in this case, it’s a whole mess of “if we’d only” and… guh. Pain. There is a lot of it.

And speaking of pain…

“Please, he’s my son.”

For the record: yes, the sound of wailing in the distance was, in fact, me. I’d just heard this line of dialogue, and there’s… a lot going on there. Both on Rumple’s and on Emma’s part, I think.

I assume that when he says those words, it reminds Emma of that day in the woods, when, you know, the man she loved died in her arms and his father was helpless to do anything about it. And I think we can safely assume that Rumple remembers the exact same thing, because how could he not?

And as a “bonus”: Emma now has memories of her wishverse-self, who clearly had a loving and happy relationship with that Baelfire, however long it lasted. His portrait was displayed in a prominent place. She told her son about him. I can’t help but wonder how that played into her emotional landscape, here.

Whatever her thoughts on the matter, she did the Emma thing in the end and let him go, so… yeah. Big relief, there. Apart from “how about we don’t murder the kidnapping victim”, killing a child in front of their parents just seems… several shades darker than this show needs to go.

behold: the most awkward parting in this show’s history

This moment was actually darkly hilarious to me. Because you could see them both going “oh, right… we’re not actually back together. we should… yeah. bye. laters.”

And I’m not complaining, because that led to the scene at the well, which… I died. I just dropped dead from my chair, and I only came back to life so I could see the rest of this arc.

Look at my two idiots, not fucking up at a well, for once. …OK, it’s the second time, technically, but still. People on this show make a lot of bad decisions around this well.

@idesignedthefjords and I were joking that the only reasonable explanation here is that they were saving up all the good dialogue and character development in 6A for this scene here. They actually get to talk! About their fears, and insecurities, and how their good intentions paved the road to this hell. I can believe this dialogue, even when I don’t agree with all of it. Oh, and what Rumple said about being “so desperate that [you] reach for the cure, when in fact it’s more poison”? Yeah, he was totally talking about Gideon there. Sure he was. That’s what this whole bit of the conversation was about. (Pssst, he was talking about himself, mostly.)

They just were both so very, very tired, and it hurt to watch. Because this isn’t the end of their troubles by a long shot. Frankly, I’m still waiting for the Black Fairy to make a personal appearance, because I know what Murphy’s Law is, thank you very much.

and we just had that fixed, too...

#once upon a time #ouat #tougher than the rest #sieben watches ouat #sieben talks #ouat writing critical #but like... veeery mildly #and jokingly #charming critical #anti hook #also very mildly #but also: what the heck guys

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themyskira · 6 years ago

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Wonder Woman: Earth One, Vol 2 - Part 3

So, it was around this point in the book where my face locked itself into a horrified rictus. From here until the end I was just reading with this fixed expression of contorted, open-mouthed revulsion.

How could it get worse, you ask? ahah. ahahahahahahah. Read on.

General content warning up top for mind control, abuse, a brief mention of rape, and a little bit of gore. Oh yes, this is a pleasant one.

Diana meets Zeiko in his home. He’s still playing this as ‘they sent me to discover your weaknesses, but now I’ve developed feelings for you! let’s work together to prevent our people from warring!’. To cut a gross story short, he manipulates her into binding her bracelets with her lasso with the old ‘I trusted you, why won’t you trust me?’ It renders her powerless and he shows his true colours, sneering at her, insulting her, casually fondling her thigh, her shoulder. It’s truly repulsive to read.

After revealing that he’s been playing her from the get-go — even the terrorists she fought and the hostages she saved were paid actors — he hypnotises her into doing his bidding.

Steve arrives at Zeiko’s house, responding to an urgent message. He sees Diana in a trance, rightly assumes that Zeiko has done something to her, and turns on Zeiko angrily, exactly as the fucker planned. Zeiko calls out to Diana — ‘look, he’s trying to kill me, I told you he was one of them’, etc. — and then watches on gleefully as Diana attacks Steve and knocks him out cold.

Then he goes for the clincher.

Zeiko: Remember what I told you, Diana. He’s part of it. They’re all part of it, you saw. I’m on your side so he tried to kill me! You saw that! We need to act fast. Captain Trevor’s military overlords sent him to locate your island, preparatory to conquest. All they need now is a slender reason to go to war with the Amazons. All they need is a provocation. You did the right thing. Do “the right thing” again. Remember everything I told you, Diana. You have a big day ahead.

I want to go back to what Morrison said about his intentions in writing Zeiko as a predatory pickup artist. He said that he wanted to bring awareness to the particular techniques that abusers can use to manipulate and isolate women, and to show that this can happen even to the most intelligent and emotionally switched-on people.

From the most technical standpoint, I guess he does that? Zeiko does use a range of common manipulative tactics against Diana to isolate her, make her doubt herself and twist her into doing what he wants. Readers get to see how he does it.

But none of it, from the moment they meet until the moment Zeiko sends a hypnotised Diana out into the world, is presented from her perspective.

We’re not party to what she’s experiencing throughout all this. We see her through Steve’s eyes, as a loved one being manipulated and turned against him. We see her through Zeiko’s eyes, as a pathetic target. Her scenes of emotional turmoil are accompanied by Zeiko’s contemptuous narration, which reduces complex her feelings of betrayal to the wounded pride of a spoiled princess.

Both volumes of Wonder Woman: Earth One are saturated in the male gaze, but rarely is it so disturbing as it is in these sections, where the heroine’s emotional abuse is presented solely from a third-party male perspective.

The next scene finally gives us a very brief insight into Diana’s emotional state, as she returns alone to her apartment, in time for her mental radio to light up with a call from Hippolyta. She is clearly troubled and conflicted about what she is intending (thanks to Zeiko’s hypnotic command) to do.

Diana: Tomorrow I speak to the women of the world! Why do I feel I should never have come here? Why do I feel I’ve done something terrible?

But Paquette fails to adequately capture this inner turmoil in the art, instead going for pouty lips and a detached gaze.

What’s more, because Morrison’s Amazons only speak to each other in dactylic hexameter, Diana’s distress is filtered through the rigid structure of Homeric verse. Instead of raw confusion, grief and betrayal, we get something that reads as formal and rehearsed.

And we barely even get that, because Hippolyta hasn’t called to chat, she’s called to cryptically announce her impending death.

Hippolyta: I dreamed a weapon to bring about the end of men. I changed my mind… the fates changed not and now the time has come. All things must pass.

What’s Hippolyta talking about? Well, in Earth One canon, Hippolyta originally created Diana as a weapon to conquer Man’s World — but when Diana was born, she saw not a weapon but a child. As Diana grew, so did Hippolyta’s love for her daughter, and she abandoned her plans. Here, she reveals that the Fates have not forgotten her original vow, and it will come to pass one way or the other. By trying to stand in its way, she has merely sealed her own doom.

(Urgh, thanks Grant, I’d almost forgotten how awful Diana and the Amazons’ origins are in Earth One.)

And, again, removed from context? This is pretty cool. Real Greek tragedy stuff, you know.

In context, it falls into an ugly trend. Throughout the series, Morrison contrasts the ‘good’ feminism of Diana (who wants dialogue) with the ‘bad’ feminism of the Amazons (who are angry and hate men and, in certain instances, want to force change through questionable means). He rarely takes the time to consider that Diana is a child of hyper-privilege (born into prosperity, blessed with incredible power and technology, and an international celebrity to boot) who has the luxury of being able to say whatever she wants while people flock to listen. He never acknowledges the fact that the Amazons are survivors of rape and slavery whose anger comes from a real, legitimate place.

At a moment when she had been abused, raped and enslaved, Hippolyta expressed an understandable hatred of men and a desire to end them. Now the story is punishing her for it.

Hippolyta ends the call and looks around to find Paula waiting for her.

Paula: Nubia is not here, my queen. Only Paula. Baroness of the Black Sun.

Okay, can we stop it with the poetic descriptions of a vile white supremacist hate symbol?!

Paula reveals tearfully that a radio signal has breached Amazonia and reactivated her Nazi brainwashing. She has fought against it, but she’s failed. Then she cackles evilly and snatches Hippolyta’s magic girdle.

…ssssooooooo… anyone want to explain how this is happening when she’s still wearing the brain-harmonising, mind-controlling, aggression-eliminating Venus Girdle?

Hippolyta submits to the will of fate and Paula punches directly through her chest and snatches out her heart (really? REALLY???), then runs away with the girdle, cackling.

Then we cut back to the States for some more Good Feminist/Bad Feminist.

Diana is about to speak before a women’s rally — you know, the “big angry ladies march” Steve wanted her to skip. It’s a diverse crowd: women of colour, LGBTI women, women with disabilities, hijabi women, women of all ages and body types. Their signs have messages like “the future is still female”, “who run the world?”, “nasty woman” and “trans women are women too”. They look jubilant.

A middle-aged white woman who looks suspiciously like Gloria Steinem introduces Diana and the crowd goes wild.

Diana: My sisters! These are momentous times of turmoil. Yet of turmoil change is born. And Hydra-headed change is the daughter of chaos. I’ve seen women denied education and basic rights. Women treated like property, dehumanised, enslaved, traded. We will not stand for it. As women, as Amazons! We will no longer accept it!

The crowd goes wild. But she’s not done.

Diana: Rulers of Man’s World! Hear me now, your time is at an end! The Amazons are coming to teach you!

Gloria Steinem flinches.

Diana: We are coming, with weapons of peace you cannot understand, with machines and philosophies beyond your own. The Amazons will teach you obedience and harmony! We will make an end to war! And women will rule the world.

The crowd roars its approval, but the male security guard looks distinctly uneasy.

Diana: If that means bringing men to their knees, so be it. We will make you kneel. And the age of men will come to an end. Begging for its life.

Deep in the Pentagon, a room of men are watching the rally with concern, when Max Lord walks in, announces that the Amazons have just declared war.

Okay, first of all, fuck you.

It’s true that Diana is in a precarious political situation at this point of the story. She is trying to campaign for large-scale societal changes, something that is fundamentally threatening to the men in power. She wants to make a lasting difference, and she knows many in this world don’t have the luxury of time that she has. But she’s learning that if she pushes too hard, too fast, the men in power will turn on her and then her homeland will be in the firing line.

And if Morrison had focussed on that angle, he might have been able to build a more nuanced discussion around the difficulties faced by women in the public sphere, who are punished for being too forceful, too assertive, too angry, too “bossy”, too “aggressive”, too “ball-busting”.

But Morrison almost deliberately avoids getting into that territory. When a woman challenges Diana on why she’s not going further, she’s not shown wrestling with the political complexities of her situation — she jumps straight to daydreaming about world domination. When Steve tries telling Diana that the government perceives her and the Amazons as a military threat, she’s not bothered in the slightest — her reaction is ‘lol, I think we can take ‘em’.

So, devoid of that nuance, what we’re left with is… a woman standing before a crowd of woman, giving a voice to an anger many of us have felt before, using hyperbole many of us have used before… and being presented by the story as Wrong and Twisted. The crowd of diverse, marginalised faces becomes an oblivious mob, in which a lone man and two middle-aged, well-off white women are the only voices of reason.

And yeah, in the context of the story, Diana’s not speaking in hyperbole, and it is a declaration of war.

But Diana is a feminist icon, and Morrison chose to have her declare war at a feminist march, using the language of feminism. It’s impossible to escape those connotations, or the implicit message: don’t get too angry, feminists, or you’ll ruin everything.

I repeat: fuck you.

In the Pentagon, Lord continues that only he has the solutions and the technology to defeat them: “Code name Psycho softened her up. I give you the weapon that will kill Wonder Woman. Third Reich mind-control tech, upgraded, signal-boosted. Activate Paula von Gunther. Execution mode.”

Beth arrives at Diana’s trailer to find Diana sitting alone in the dark.

Beth: Diana. They’re calling you a terrorist. What happened out there?

Diana: Beth… he got inside.

FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU URGH.

and, what, we don’t even get to see Diana’s moment of realisation? The moment when she breaks free of the bastard’s hypnosis? What the hell, man?

Zeiko arrives on cue, full of false concern, and tells Diana that Hippolyta “was murdered by right-wing white supremacist factions on your island paradise”. I cannot believe that was an actual sentence in an actual Wonder Woman comic.

And that’s Paula’s cue to burst through the roof of the trailer and drop Hippolyta’s heart at Diana’s feet.

Paula: Behold, a Valentine, from me to you! It kept on beating for a very long time after I tore it from your mother’s breast.

fuck I hate this comic.

Zeiko films Diana’s grief on his phone, gloating.

Zeiko: If there was ever any doubt that my methods guarantee results every time, no matter how high and mighty she thinks she is… here’s the world-famous Wonder Woman!

Like I said, Zeiko is never truly defeated. He’s captured in the end, but Diana never overcomes him. He bests her, and he does it using misogynistic pseudoscience.

Beth hits Zeiko in the face with his own cane, and while he’s reeling she calls the Holliday Girls, who loom over him menacingly while Beth gets out phone to film. (Next time we see him, he has been bound and forced into a ball gag. Haha, implied sexual abuse and humiliation is hi-LAR-ious!)

Meanwhile, Diana fights Paula. Under the power of the Lasso, Paula says that she killed Hippolyta because so that Diana would have to return and take the throne, because she’s in love with Diana and believes Diana can save her and that they can rule the world and enslave men together. All of which might carry some weight if Diana and Paula had ever interacted on page at all before now

(wait, what? what happened to her Nazi programming being reactivated? what the what?)

Paula and Zeiko get loaded onto the vagina plane and it’s back to Amazonia for a fresh round of brainwashing. Zeiko screams in terror that he has rights and they can’t do this to him, before he’s re-gagged and taken into the custody of the Venus Girls.

And finally, a solemn Diana is crowned queen, while the US prepares to deploy its war machines.

followed by the words “to be concluded” because YEP, THERE’S STILL ANOTHER BOOK OF THIS OBNOXIOUS DRECK TO GO.

#comics talk #wonder woman: earth one

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