#they’re always in the background judging and being haters

[abd-appleboxdog]

I love these fools so much. I hope in the end they stay together or keep in touch. I heart them its like the dad who didn’t want a cat but loves the cat

[madara-fate]

honestly I like sakura, I don’t think she’s the worst female character or heroine in anime like some haters are used to say, they’re just obsessed I think. I just think she deserves more fights, not every nice character need a background with dead parents

I'm sure the vast majority of people would agree with you, because it was proven multiple times during the story that whenever Sakura did get some time to shine in combat, it was always universally well received, to an almost overwhelming degree, and among other things, it would have silenced all those ignorant "useless" accusations since judging by the hugely positive receptions that her fight scenes always receive, that’s apparently all they base those assertions on. People didn’t have a bad word to say about Sakura during Gaiden - even the YouTube comments section which is notorious for being a haven for Sakura hate, was showering her with praise. Why? Because she threw some hands against Shin, despite the fact that she didn't even win, they just loved that she was actually properly fighting, and as shallow of a reason as that is, that’s just the reality of it.

[lucemferto]

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT PH1LZA (or Why Philza is a Victim of Narrative Circumstance)

Heyo! Per request I am posting the script to my video of the same name here on tumblr. I must warn you that just reading the script will probably not give you the full experience, so I would encourage you to watch the video (linked above).

There might also still be a lot of grammatical errors in the text, because I don’t proofread.

Intro

LAST TIME ON LUCEM FERTO

Okay, so! I don’t want this to turn into a reaction channel OR a Dream SMP channel for that matter! [echo]

Well, I lied.

[Intro to “Luc is pretentious about the funny blockmen. Episode 2”]

I swear, I’m working on other stuff. It’s just that my dumb lizard brain has only capacity for one interest at a time!

So, something you might not know about me, is that I am on tumblr – who am I kidding, most of you will know me from tumblr. Before starting this whole YouTube thing, I thought that website died years ago – but as per usual reality proves me wrong. I’m also on Twitter and Reddit, but I get the most engagement on tumblr – by far! – and I need those sweet, sweet numbers for the serotonin!

Anyways, one of my favourite past-times on tumblr is to razz Philza Hardcore Minecraft – that’s his full name – for being a frankly awful father [clicking away] – wait, wait, no! Philza fans, this isn’t a hit piece on him, I promise! Please come back!

This is video is meant to be a companion piece to my previous video about Technoblade and the Doomsday event – you can tell by the shared nomenclature – so you should probably watch that one before you proceed. Unless you don’t want to, which is also perfectly understandable.

DISCLAIMER: This video is mostly about the character Philza plays on the Dream SMP. Whenever I talk about the content creator Philza, I will say so properly. Also, Spoiler Warning for Dream SMP Season 2.

… What is that? You’re wondering what the Dream SMP is? Well, if you had just watched the other video like I told you to do, you would know, because I explained it pretty well there. But in case you don’t know, here’s the cliff notes.

Dream SMP is the hottest New Media Series on Twitch right now! It has it all: gaslighting, child soldiers, Machiavellian political intrigue, Hamilton roleplay, desecration of the dead, shounen protagonists, SO! MUCH! AMNESIA! Filicide, furries, a red egg that’s definitely homophobic and teenagers inventing nuclear warfare. And it’s all done in Minecraft – yes, the funny block game where the only way to emote is to crouch.

And you say the perfect brief doesn’t exist!

Now, you might be wondering, why do I want to talk about this? Well, it’s because Content Creator Philza is one of least controversial internet personalities that I can think of. That man exudes pure comfort. So, it’s just very, very amusing to me that his character became one of the most controversial figures on the SMP, only outshone by Tommy and Technoblade.

And it’s not just amusing, it’s also extremely interesting! I want to dig deep to uncover and discuss the dynamics behind why that is. How did it come to this point? How did a man who appears genuinely so pleasant create a character that inspires so much discourse!

Now, if you watched that Technoblade video – like I told you to twice now! – you might know, that I am the resident character analyses hater of fandom! And that impression is false and slanderous! Don’t tell other people that I hate character analyses! I love them!

It’s just that, in the Dream SMP in particular, there is an abundance of character analyses! Every streamer has at least two very good essays written about them, exploring every possible angle to view their characters and backgrounds and everything. All I’m saying is: I don’t have anything to add on that front.

So, instead I want to pursue a different approach – something, that I feel is a bit underrepresented in the fandom! And I’m not just talking narrative analysis – that’s right, this episode we’re going even more pretentious! – I’m talking Transtextual Analysis!

Now, what is Transtextuality? Well, unfortunately it has very little to do with actual Trans people – #transrights, just in case that wasn’t obvious – but instead describes a mode of analysis with which to put – to quote French literary theorist Gérard Genette – “the text in a relationship, whether obvious or concealed, with other texts”.

Basically, you know how the L’Manburg War of Independence heavily quotes and borrows from the hit musical Hamilton? That’s transtextuality! A lot of the analyses surrounding how Tommy mirrors the Greek hero Theseus, who was invoked by Technoblade multiple times in the series, are already doing transtextual analysis! So, it’s really not something that’s new to the Dream SMP fandom.

But how does this apply to Philza and how he is looked at and judged by his parental skills? Well, there are multiple forms of transtextuality, two of which we will discuss today.

But before we continue, I gotta do that annoying YouTuber thing. I know these videos don’t look like much, but I spend a really long time making them. I work fulltime and I try my best to keep up, but sometimes I can’t. So please, like, subscribe, comment to give me some algorithm juice – I really need it – and most importantly share it! Share it with your friends, share it with your family – I’m sure Grandma is very interested in what I have to say about Philza Minecraft.

And I’m trying to be better! If I sound at all different for this video, it’s because I finally bought a new pop filter, so I can hit my plosives without it sounding like there’s a thunderstorm in my room. I hope it makes a difference; it was a very cheap pop filter, so maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it sounds worse – that would be bad!

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, CHILD NEGLEGT!

 Intertextuality: Why is Dadza?

You know what’s really interesting about the Dream SMP – aside from, you know, most things about it? Very few of the characters have concrete, fleshed-out backstories – and that’s pretty weird! In no other medium or genre could you get away with something like that – at least for long-form storytelling!

So, how does Dream SMP get away with this? Well, it’s because every character on the Dream SMP is basically a self-insert – and I don’t mean that in the “This character is based on me”-kinda way, but in the “This character, for all intents and purposes, is me!”-way. This, like many things that are fascinating about the Dream SMP, is owed to the fact that this series didn’t start off as a continuous drama – it started off as a Let’s Play.

And while we can talk about how someone’s on-camera/on-mic persona is in some ways a character, it’s still miles off of being an actual, fully-realized, separate character in a storyline.

This is where Intertextuality comes in.

Intertextuality is a subset of Transtextuality. It describes how the hypertext, which is the text, you’re currently engaged with, uses another text, the hypotext, to supplement itself. The interconnection the hypertext establishes with the hypotext, through stuff like allusion for example, uh-hum [Hamilton], can colour how an audience interprets the hypertext. Basically, Hamilton and Theseus are the hypotexts; the Dream SMP is the hypertext.

So, what does this have to do with backstory? Simple: The backstories of the characters in the Dream SMP consist basically of nothing but intertextual references. Through intertextuality their content effectively substitutes their character’s backstory.

You can see it everywhere. Wilbur’s and Schlatt’s relationship and rivalry is hugely enriched, if you are aware of their shared history like SMPLive, for example – I think anyway. I haven’t watched SMPLive, because … there’s only so many hours in the day and I cannot keep up with the Dream SMP and catch up on SMPLive and live a healthy life – which I already don’t do, so…

BadBoyHalo’s and Skeppy’s relationship, which has become the crux of the Crimson-Storyline of Seasons 2 and 3, is hugely supplemented if you know that they’re also very close as streamers and in real life.

Another great example of intertextuality is basically Technoblade’s entire deal. If you just look at him completely within the text of the Dream SMP and try to transplant his entrance to any other medium: It would be extremely weird! Like, he’s just this guy that comes in in the middle of a very climatic arc, no build-up, no explanation what his deal is, and he’s treated like he has always been there. In any other medium that just wouldn’t work – at least not without a flashback or some sort of exposition!

But because of stuff like Minecraft Mondays, the Potato Wars, his Duel against Dream and SMPEarth, we understand that he is a Big Deal!

Anyways, to bring all of this back to Philza Minecraft: What kind of hypotext informs how the audience sees his character? Well, this is where I will have to talk about SBI.

SBI is an acronym that stand for State Bank of India, the 43rd largest bank in the world and…

It also stands for Sleepy Bois Incorporated. Sleepy Bois Incorporated is a loose assembly of content creators, consisting of Philza, Wilbur Soot, TommyInnit and Technoblade. It is most well-known for its very endearing family dynamic – a dynamic that is frequently acknowledged and played up by the creators involved. Tommy is the youngest brother, Wilbur and Techno are the two older brothers and Philza is of course the dad. And when I say, it’s played up, I really mean it! Wilbur seems to be especially enamoured with the idea and leaves no opportunity untaken to bring it up – which we will come back to.

And I’m not saying that they’re faking this and this is somehow an act. While I know none of these people personally, it appears to me, that this is genuinely how they interact – if a little exaggerated for the streaming experience. Even when they’re not consciously playing into the family dynamic, their interactions still very much lend themselves to that interpretation by the viewers.

Philza especially just radiates Dad-Friend energy – so much so that it has become a huge part of his brand identity – yay, I can bring that back (check out my Christmas video if you want to hear me ramble about that). The nickname Dadza stuck even before SBI was a thing.

So, even if we completely disregard SBI – which we shouldn’t for reasons I’ll get back to – Philza has cultivated an image of strong paternal guidance. He is, in my opinion completely deservedly, regarded very positively. He is highly respected and in turn seen as a voice of reason.

All of this would eventually inform the hypotext of the character Philza within Dream SMP.

 Interlude: Before Dadza & November 16th

Okay, so now we have established that a) Dream SMP heavily hinges on intertextual readings by the audience to supplement character backstory and b) that Philza’s entire deal is that he’s the dad-friend – more specifically that he’s the dad of SBI (not the bank). I think you know where this is going.

So, yeah, ever since it was on the table that Philza could join the Dream SMP, it was immediately assumed that he would take on the paternal guardian role all these traumatized people on that server so desperately needed – and with good reason! Like I said before, the audience at this point was trained to take intertextual interpretations as basically canon or at the very least canon-adjacent.

I want to emphasize that this is most likely not done deliberately. I’m sure content creators Wilbur and Philza didn’t sit there and said: “Yes! We will rely entirely on the audience’s inclination to interpret our characters intertextually to define character Philza!”. Like, obviously that did not happen.

But it’s also important to remember that unlike with traditional media and the fanbases cultivated there, the separation between the Dream SMP and its audience is almost non-existent – and purposely so. The story events are streamed live, Chats are acknowledged in canon and even outside of livestreams creators are extremely involved with the fandom. So, the weight of fan-expectations is equally amplified and will more likely be incorporated into the writing process. Case in point:

[Wilbur “I miss Philza”/Philza about Wilbur]

During Wilbur’s villain arc, even before his official involvement, Philza became a prevalent point of discussion. The hope that he would be the one to snap Wilbur out of his downward spiral was not only wish-fulfilment on behalf of the fans; it also very much played off of the intertextual reading of the SBI-dynamic in relation to the Dream SMP.

Of course, this still doesn’t make Philza and Wilbur canonically blood-related – but it definitely used the “paternal”-dynamic of SBI to build-up tension and drama.

And that ultimately brings us to November 16th. The Grand Finale of Season 1 and Philza’s first canonical appearance on the SMP.

Now, for this I want to pull back from the transtextual analysis and talk about simply narrative analysis: What is Philza’s narrative purpose on November 16th?

Philza serves as the last threshold on Wilbur’s Villain’s Journey – to appropriate Vogler’s version of the monomyth for a minute here – he is what Vogler calls the “Threshold Guardian”. He is the last enemy the Hero faces before completing his quest – in this particular case Wilbur’s quest is to blow up L’Manberg. Multiple people have at this point tried to dissuade him from this course of action: Tommy, Quackity, Niki and others. So how come this Philza moment is not redundant in terms of dynamics compared to these prior scenes?

Well, it’s through our intertextual understanding of Wilbur’s and Phil’s relationship. Because Philza does not just occupy the role of the Threshold Guardian – he is also implicitly the Mentor. Before Phil there was no character in the storyline that held a higher position of moral authority than Wilbur – Dream and Schlatt, while at points more powerful in terms of actual authority, were never positioned by the narrative as Wilbur’s superiors in the same way as Wilbur was to Tommy, Tubbo or even Niki.

Before November 16th all challenges Wilbur faced were from people narratively subordinated to him. But that trend is broken with Phil. That is why he is the Threshold Guardian, why this confrontation is at the climax of Wilbur’s arc. Because Phil is the last thing tethering Wilbur to whatever morality he held before his villain arc; Phil is the last, moral obstacle Wilbur has to discard before gaining his reward.

And, just a quick sidenote, because I’ve seen it around the fandom a bunch: When I’m referring to Wilbur denouncing his morality, I’m using that in terms of narrative analysis. I’m mentioning it, because Wilbur’s character can very easily be read as mentally ill or neurodivergent and some people have – rightly! – pointed out that the excessive vilifying when talking about his character is … problematic, to say the least.

So, I just want to make clear, this isn’t a character analysis, I’m being purposely broad when talking about Wilbur and Phil.

In the end, Wilbur takes that final step and gets his “reward”: As his final request his mentor takes his life and vanquishes the evil – the dragon of Wilbur’s story slays the dragon of L’Manburg. It’s very Shakespearean in its tragedy – but beyond the larger theatrics it’s not really used to further characterize Phil – at least in the context of Season 1. There’s not a lot of focus on his characters internal conflict during November 16th.

Phil, like Techno, is very utilitarian in how content creator Wilbur writes him: He serves as a moment of hype; an obstacle Wilbur has to face; a participant in the tragic climax of Wilbur’s character and ultimately takes on his implicit and expected role of mentor and guiding figure to the rest of L’Manburg.

I think not a lot of people talk about how Philza does not join Technoblade during November 16th. He takes the side of L’Manburg – he fights against the withers and he joins Tommy, Tubbo and the others at the L’Mantree, thus framing him as loyal to the L’Manburg administration – even though Season 2 would make his loyalty to Techno central to his character. But more on that later.

What’s also important about November 16th is that this is the day when the general intertextual interpretation became canonized text.

[You’re my son!]

Wilbur is made Phil’s canonical, biological son. The intertextual interpretation of SBI as it pertains to these two characters on the SMP was completely reinforced by the narrative. Or to put it in Fandom terms: The headcanon became actual canon. At least when it came to Wilbur … but what about Philza’s “other” children?

Well, that leads to our second form of transtextual analysis:

 Paratextuality: Is Dadza?

These titles are just getting better and better.

The Paratext is defined as all those things in a published work that accompany the text. It comes in two forms: One of them is the Peritext, which are non-diegetic elements directly surrounding the text – like chapter titles, author’s notes, and stuff like that. Translated to the medium of the Dream SMP, it would be stuff like this:

[Examples]

And, trust me, I could make a whole separate video about how people on the SMP use their peritext as a tool for storytelling – I’m looking at you, Ranboo – but that’s not what we will talk about in the context of Dadza.

Instead, we will focus on the second form of Paratext, the Epitext, which consists of all authorial and editorial discussions taking place outside of the text. That’s stuff like interviews, private letters or J. K. Rowling’s Twitter Account – you know, before she decided to become a full-time asshole.

[Wilbur: Transrights]

After Season 1 ended, Wilbur indulged pretty heavily in providing epitext for the Dream SMP, something he had not done prior to November 16th. His paratextual additions ranged from the playful, like assigning DnD alignments to various SMP members, to the extremely impactful, like the whole three lives system!

You probably think, you know where this is going. Wilbur provided some epitext about how Tommy and Techno either are or are not biologically related to him … and I have to be honest I thought that too. But then I began looking into the impenetrable web that is the SBI-canon on the Dream SMP and found this!

[Ghostbur explains family]

So, it wasn’t paratext, it was just straight text. Said in character, in canon, without any implication that we the viewers should question this. The text of the SBI family dynamic was explicitly linked to Dream SMP-exclusive lore, namely Fundy being Wilbur’s and Sally the Salmon’s son. This is as clear as Philza’s anguished declaration on November 16th in establishing the intertext as text. And because Wilbur also had a very heavy hand in the discussion of paratext around that time, it gave his character’s words even more “canonical” weight. Metatextually speaking, this very much read like the author giving exposition through his character – exposition that we should understand as reliable.

And, by the way, before I continue, I need to give a huge, huge shoutout to kateis-cakeis on tumblr, I hope I pronounced that right, who was just so quick in providing me with these crucial clips. Without him I would have looked for days because these people don’t archive their shit! And the Dream SMP Wiki was NO help, by the way! I love what you guys do, but stuff like this belongs in the Trivia section on characters’ pages!

Anyways, basically during the entirety of early Season 2 the SBI family dynamic was basically canon to the SMP. Sometimes it was only alluded implicitly, again letting the intertext fill out the rest.

[Philza clips]

But just as often it was just explicitly talked about – both in the text and in the paratext.

[Fundy clip/Wilbur “Twins” clip/Tommy clip]

So, I know what you’re thinking: “Why is this part called paratext, if the entire family tree is just textual”. Well, that last clip might give you a hint, as to what I will talk about. Notice how Tommy, one of the people most directly impacted by the canonization of SBI lore, is both unaware of and seems generally unenthused about it, to put it nicely? Well, that would soon turn out to be a much bigger deal than anyone could have imagined as he wasn’t the only one.

[Technoblade decanonizes SBI]

Yeah …

This happened on 20th of December. Regular viewers of this channel will remember that I put out a 90-second joke video, where I complain about this very development. And while I was mostly kidding around, the core idea is still true. The paratext provided by Technoblade and established text were in direct contradiction with one another – and that brought a lot of confusion into the fandom. Confusion, that would soon be followed by frustration.

Because Techno only decanonized himself as part of the SBI family dynamic – but what about Tommy and Tubbo, the latter of which was incorporated into the dynamic exclusively within the lore of the Dream SMP. Was this still canon or wasn’t it?

What followed was a muddled mess of contradictions, intertextual implications, text and paratext in conflict with each another. It was for the most part inscrutable to figure out how Tommy and Philza related to one another. I’ll spare you every comment made about this – mostly because I want to spare myself from looking for all of them.

In the end, the current status is that their familial relationship is … unclear. Philza said, again in paratext, that it’s ultimately up to the writers to decide, whether or not Tommy is his son … which, I personally think he and Tommy should be the ones to establish that, but I’ll come back to that later.

But why is all of this important anyway? Why would this ambiguity create such an uproar, such controversy – especially when it comes to Tommy’s character? What makes Tommy’s and Philza’s relationship such a target for discussion in the fandom?

Well … this is where we will have to talk about the storyline of Season 2.

Interlude II: Tommy’s Exile and Dadza in Season 2

Okay, Season 2. This is where the spoilers are, so I will just sneakily drop this again. It took me five seconds to google this gif and I will milk it for every penny it’s worth!

At the beginning of Season 2, Philza’s narrative role has not changed much from where Season 1 ended. He is in L’Manburg dispensing earthly wisdom, being a paternal figure to Fundy, Ghostbur and Tubbo, helping with the nation’s rebuilding efforts; just generally occupying the role of the mentor.

[clips]

And then came … the Exile. The Exile Arc took place between December 3rd and December 15th during Season 2 of the Dream SMP. It revolves around TommyInnit getting exiled from L’Manburg and slowly getting psychologically tortured and broken down by Dream. It’s a really great arc, at least in my opinion, that explores and deepens a lot of Tommy’s character relationships, whether that be Tommy and Dream, Tommy and Tubbo or Tommy and Ranboo. One relationship, however, is noticeably missing.

So, yeah, Philza spends basically the entirety of the exile doing pretty much nothing of consequence. And that’s not a problem specific to him – One big criticism I would levy against the Exile Arc is that a lot of characters are left spinning their wheels. Which is why we get zany stuff like El Rapids, Drywaters, Eret’s Knights of the Roundtable, Boomerville – anyone remember Boomerville, that was a thing for 5 seconds, wasn’t it? – basically a lot of storylines are started and then unceremoniously dropped. Now, I will talk more about this, when I make a video about Season 2 of the Dream SMP … in ten years, look forward to it.

In the case of Philza, this inaction was especially damning, because at this point it was still a considered canon that he was Tommy’s dad. So, the fans were left with a situation, where just a few weeks prior Philza was occupying a paternal role for Fundy and Ghostbur … but now, that his youngest son was in a very concerning predicament – to put it lightly – he was nowhere to be found.

So why is that?

Well, the most obvious answer is that Dream and Tommy didn’t write him into the storyline. We’ve seen that Tommy wasn’t particularly interested in exploring a familial relationship to Philza, at least at the time. And it would just not fit in with what Dream and Tommy tried to do with the Exile Arc: they wanted to tell the story of Tommy being isolated, completely under Dream’s mercy, slowly worn down and manipulated. If Philza had been constant presence for Tommy during that time, it would have definitely shifted the narrative focus. That doesn’t mean that they couldn’t have done that, it’s just a matter of fact that they didn’t.

This also reveals another truth about content creator Philza’s character work, that I think is extremely crucial: He takes what the writers give him. Outside of a few choice moments, he doesn’t seem particularly interested in expanding or even solidifying his character on the SMP.

What I’m saying is that he is very go-with-the-flow: Wilbur wants to enact a Shakespearean tragedy? Philza’s up for it. Fundy wants him as a parental figure and mentor? Philza’s here for him. Tommy, conversely, doesn’t want him as a paternal presence, even though it would make sense for Philza’s character, as it was established so far, to be there? Philza will oblige.

The reason I’m mentioning this is because, while Tommy and Dream were unwilling to utilise Philza in their storyline, someone else was more than happy to. Which leads us back, like it always does, to everyone’s favourite Porky Pig-kinnie in a crown: Technoblade.

Technoblade and Philza, from everything I’ve seen of them, seem to be very good friends – and they share a lot of history even outside SBI. So, it’s commendable that they would collaborate on a storyline together.

A consequence of that, however, is that Philza’s narrative purpose shifts completely with very little transition. His entire character changes from being the Mentor-figure of L’Manberg to being pretty much exclusively defined as Technoblade’s ally; his man on the inside. It is a very sharp turn from the end of Season 1. Their relationship is once again informed via intertext – this time the Antarctic Empire on SMPEarth serves as the hypotext – but there isn’t a huge effort made to smoothly integrate that aspect of Philza’s character into the larger narrative framing around him.

How much the narrative utilisation of Philza has shifted can be very easily observed through the Butcher Army event on December 16th, a story event that I like less and less the more I think about. Here Philza is used to show just how corrupt and violent Tubbo’s administration has becomes. He is no longer the respected mentor, he is now the stand-in for the oppressed populace, similar to Niki’s role in Season 1. On a narrative level, he is here to prove a point.

If you’ve seen my Technoblade video, you know how I feel about … just that entire storyline, so I will not reiterate too much on it. I just want to make clear that I’m not principally against this development – if they wanted to truly explore Tubbo going down a dark path and getting corrupted by power, so much so that he would even treat the person who effectively raised him like a prisoner, I would be extremely here for it, I cannot stress that enough.

The problem I have is that it’s just so sloppily done. It is not coherent with how these characters behaved and, more importantly, how they were narratively framed prior to the Butcher Army event. Fundy gets one token line about Phil being his Grandfather – a far cry from the very emotionally complex relationship they had established at the beginning of Season 2 – and Phil then callously disowns him.

The major problem simply is that we don’t see how Philza changes from Mentor-figure to embittered, oppressed citizen. And there was enough time to build to that. During the entirety of Tommy’s exile Tubbo was pretty much spinning his wheels and Quackity and Fundy were opening up plot cul-de-sacs that didn’t end up going anywhere. This is time they could have spent on developing their relationship to Philza and the dark path they were going down – but again, Season 2 video.

There is not much to say on Philza’s narrative purpose and framing beyond the Butcher Army event. He remains pretty much exclusively Techno’s consigliere with his role as Mentor to L’Manburg a distant memory. He has some cute character moments with Ranboo, because content creator Philza is just big dad-energy whether he wants to or not, and whenever he and Ghostbur share a scene suddenly the narrative remembers that there are people other than Technoblade that should exist in Philza’s inner world. But aside from that, Philza’s storyline in Season 2 remains … pretty definitive is the nicest way I can put it.

Most importantly his relationship with Tommy continues to be completely unexplored – whether by chance or choice – and that combined with ever vaguer paratext leaves “Dadza” in a very peculiar situation.

 Conclusion: Is Dadza a Good Dadza?

So, the question to end all questions. The big, obnoxious text, that I will probably have put in the thumbnail – I haven’t made it yet, but I know myself. The honest answer is: I couldn’t tell you.

I have, in the past, been expounding the virtues of narrative analysis. That is because I feel that Narrative Analysis and Textual Analysis, like in this video, can provide certain tools that Character Analysis lacks. Often times I see people trying to get at a writing problem or query and getting frustrated because they’re not using the toolset, they need to figure out what they want to figure out.

But I’d be a hypocrite if I pretended like everything could be solved through the modes of analysis I prefer. And I think the Dadza-issue is exactly such a case.

I set out to explore why the Philza-Tommy-“Dadza”-relationship has become so controversial. It’s a combination of expectations build up through intertextual readings, that were partly canonized – something that is very common for the Dream SMP – conflicting pieces of paratext, which only serve to muddle the issue further and a text that is not only completely uninterested in actually exploring Tommy’s and Philza’s relationship – as it stands right now they might as well be strangers, narratively speaking – but also completely changes Philza’s narrative purpose as it relates to characters like Fundy or Tubbo about half-way through with little to no transition.

That is why I say, that Philza’s character is a victim of narrative circumstance. Because unwittingly, through all of these factors and decisions, there is not coherent reading of Philza that frames his parental skills in a particularly kind light.

The question of how we can judge Phil as a paternal figure ultimately falls within the purview of the character analysis – and that’s a very multifaceted issue, highly dependent on which POV you focus on and how you interpret the other characters in that POV’s periphery.

To put my cards on the table, I think that Philza is a very flawed father/father-figure – and I find that absolutely okay. Flaws are the spice of character building. He is not Cinderella’s Evil Stepmother – but he’s also definitely not Mufasa. If we were to read Philza as a paternal figure, then he would have made a lot of mistakes and decisions to the detriment of his “children” – least of all everything that happened on Doomsday.

But I also have sympathies for Philza fans who are tired of the Dad-Debate and would like to have his character judged independent from his relationship to Ghostbur, Fundy, Tubbo and Tommy.

Ultimately, to bring it all to a point, I’d like to end with saying, that I think that Philza, out of all the characters on the SMP, has the potential to be on of the most intriguing, multifaceted ones. There are all of these different patches of story, character moments and narrative and transtextual implications, that, if brought together, could create a beautiful tapestry of the character Philza.

You have his relationship with Techno, which holds the potential for so much emotional conflict and vulnerabilities, you have his time as mentor of L’Manburg, which is just criminally underused; the complex relationship between him and Ghostbur/Wilbur; and – for me, personally – most intriguingly this weird, almost uncomfortably distant non-relationship with Tommy. That last one is intriguing to me, because it contrasts just so much with our intertextual understanding of the characters and streaming personas – and it just holds the potential for so much conflict, so much drama, so much angst. Which I live for!

And, yes, I do believe that most of this is narrative happenstance, that this was largely not intended by Philza or really any of the writers. It’s just what happens when hybrid-roleplay-improv a long-running, livestreamed storyline in Minecraft.

But I want them to realize the potential they have on their hands, because it could – with barely any adjustments – turn Philza from a victim of narrative circumstance to a champion of it!

 Outro

Thank you so much for watching this video. Usually, I don’t record outros this standard, but after this beast of a video I felt it necessary. I hope that whether you’re a Philza fan or a Philza critical or just completely uninvolved in the whole thing, there is at least a little entertainment you could get from this.

I want to take this opportunity to say that my next few videos will probably not be Dream SMP related – a sentence which undoubtedly lost me a bunch of subs – simply because I don’t want to burn out on it. I genuinely enjoy watching the SMP and being exhausted by it would be something I wouldn’t want to force on myself.

But who knows what will happen? The Karl Jacobs video was something I did spur of the moment because the idea just came to me – so I can’t guarantee that the next video won’t be a three-minute joke about Purpled or whatever.

Anyway, my concrete plans for future Dream SMP videos are essays on Season 1 and Season 2 as well as one for Tales from the SMP.

Before that I have a longer video in the works, which I’ve already teased a bunch, so I hope it will finally be finished sometime. And I also may be working on something … eboys-related? Maybe. I’m not making any promises!

[angelsodreamy-no2]

My Thoughts on Apple White :

since i was pretty young, i've always been obsessed and feel pity towards characters who are misunderstood or is usually everyone's least favourite. not the ones that are completely annoying or evil for no reason tho, which is why i've always been an apple white stan from the beginning. i understand the way she thinks and dislike raven because i was quite biased. as an apple stan, i see raven as just annoying, but on the other hand, a lot of people find apple as cruel and selfish when that is not the case.

in order to know about her more, we need to obviously learn more about her childhood. there isn't really a book about her background so the only information about her childhood that i can find is just based on predictions from The Dragon Games Special. from there we learn that apple has been groomed to be this picture perfect princess ever since she was incredibly young and has basically been thought (/brain washed) that she is the main character that will get her happy ending just like her mother, and that she must ensure that it will remain the same. born spoiled and controlled by her power hungry + strict mom, we find out that apple has only been able to succeed this much as a princess because of nepotism, royals status, and her destiny, all the way from her popularity (which is controlled by her mom as well), admirers, and even friends.

unlike raven who was born as an outcast meaning that she is woke about the whole unjustice system + wants to change her destiny, apple was born into a perfect life that everybody wants. including raven who in a way is jealous ofc which is why she encourages a large number of students who are outcasts as well to become rebels. it honestly makes perfect sense to me on why apple begged raven to stop it and to just follow her destiny, because hers is already perfect. raven envies apple's destiny and thinks its unfair that she has to be the villain while apple gets a lovely ending, which is true and makes totally perfect sense. so obviously it makes sense that apple wants to keep hers as well. they're both just two sides of the same coin wanting the exact same happily ever after, the difference is just that apple's will be handed over to her and all she needs to do at the moment is to just wait and prepare for it while raven is stuck playing the villain role.

a lot of people mention that they're reason of dislike towards apple is because she is selfish and privilleged, which is half true. yes she is born privilleged, but even tho she got it all through nepotism, she still needed to work hard in order to maintain the position that she was already given. unlike characters like ashlyn ella or briar beauty, apple takes full advantage of her popularity and works hard to maintain it. people will especially judge you a lot and will find mistakes in order to take you down because of it, so its important that apple herself to work hard in order to keep her position. i'm sorry but do you really think that being kind, sweet, and friendly 24/7 is easy? like even if she has a bad day she'll still have to put on a smile or people will judge her. other than that she's constantly pressured and is under observation by not only her mom, but her people and by other students as well. there's one thing in getting things easily, but keeping it is a whole different thing. i truely admire apple for always being able to put up a smile for everyone even when she's feeling sad and i honestly relate to her a lot. unlike raven, she can't just explode or get angry at someone. more than that, she can't really tell others how she truely feels since it's probably against her mother's teaching or smth. you can clearly tell that apple doesn't really like the way she got her position and is actually woke about the nepotism she receives because sometimes she feels like she doesn't deserve it, as i've mentioned before, apple's success (or at least the beginning of it) is all because of nepotism. the reason she is the most respected princess is because of her mom's legacy. which is why she tries so hard to be the best at everything, to prove to the people and her mom that she deserves to be in the position that she is rn and will do anything in order to keep it.

what's also sad is that while she's expected to be this perfect future ruler, people only expect certain things from her at the same time. like she's only expected to be this porcelain doll, to please men, be a good and fair ruler for her subjects, to be a role model for young girls, and to smile next to her prince (who she actually barely knows). thats it. people only praise her for her beauty and charm. the world of EAH is surprisingly set to be a not so misogynistic world. despite that, the few people who suffer from it (based from my observations) are cerise, darling, lizzie, and apple. if you pay attention, despite the many other accomplishments apple has, no one really praises her for her grades, work in other fields that doesn't involve charity, and her brilliance. she's usually only praised for her beauty and i feel like she gets sick of it at times as well. the only reason daring even stuck with her is because she's his supposed destiny and beauty, vice versa.

other than that, i also feel like apple's depressed and has anxiety at times but is just really good at hiding it since she was probably told to do so from a young age and i pity her for it. i feel so bad for her, and when raven didn't want to follow her destiny, imagine how she felt. her heart probably shattered because of it since it means that everything she has been given, dreamed, and worked hard for will all go to waste. which was why she tried so hard to get raven back to follow her destiny.

im happy that in the end she doesn't really push her too much tho since she sees raven as a true friend. it must honestly suck for her that raven is the only one who sees her as a regular person (even tho she sometimes raven explodes as well and thinks that apple doesn't have feelings of empathy). when apple said something like "no you're the one who's being selfish raven", i feel like its true. apple honestly doesn't only think of herself, but for others as well. in her story alone, everyone else will get their happy ending except for raven. it works like this in many other stories as well. it's said that if raven doesn't follow her destiny as the evil queen then everyone else in snow white's story (who are all set to receive a happy ending) will all 'cease to exist'. if she does that, many people who aren't happy about their ending will do the same as well, leaving a large percantage of people 'ceasing to exist' as well or at least won't get their happy ending. in my opinion, apple is just looking at the larger scale, and from a neutral side, apple's reason makes the most sense towards me. raven was selfish, but then she has her reasons so whatevs. my point of making this post is to stop apple white haters and for them to look at the bigger picture, or at least from my pov as an apple stan. that is all thank you <3

[janewatson]

Helluva Boss Trailer Analysis!

Yes, I watch this.  Yes, I like it.  No, I won’t argue with you about it.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s just say that I was up when the trailer dropped, and was still up for a bit after.  I’ve watched it so many times now, just absorbing everything, and now it’s time to break it down.

I’ve seen a few breakdowns already, but I noticed that there were a few things people hadn’t mentioned.  So I’m tossing my hat in the ring, let’s see if we can figure out what Vivziepop has in store for us!

I’ll be breaking down by scene, as well as go over voiceovers and predictions real quick, so prepare for a read after the cut!

Ok, first, had to laugh at Millie’s Peppermint Vodka Molotov Cocktail.  Creative, but what a waste of vodka :(  The background is of a beach, but she’s not in beach clothes (let’s face it, a bikini would probably kill Moxxie)

Moxxie is shooting at something while he’s swinging from a rope in a deserted theater.  Piano on the floor, and a sun pattern on the back wall

Blitzø (thanks for the copy/paste, Google) cleaving a blonde in half with a baseball bat.  Damn, he stronk!

Diss Summar’, with the little doodles!  So cute :3

Drunk/drugged/in shock Moxxie, poor Millie, and something big bursting out from the water behind.  Tied to first scene?

Stolas’ ‘Special Access’ bit from the Sneak Peeks, talking about the Harvest Moon festival in Wrath

Moxxie and Blitzø in a green lit room, looks like a two-way mirror on the wall.  Interrogation?

Correction to ‘Diss Season’ XD  Hopefully that means we’ll get an episode before spring, but if they need more time, that’s understandable

Glammed up Stolas at some kind of burlesque, owned by Asmodeus ‘Ozzie’, Prince of Hell’s Lust circle.  Wonder why he’s there...

CHERUBS!!!  Also from the Sneak Peeks, we know that this is a commercial, and that the TV showing said commercial gets blown up a few seconds later

Angry Blitzø, probably yelling at Moxxie, being scared shitless by a hellhound behind him.  I think this is a repo/impound/chop-shop guy who took IMP’s van, as in a later scene, they’re shown in a fence with other cars, especially because Blitzø yells ‘RUN’ at the end of the scene

Loona and Blitzø filming someone’s misery (again, probably Moxxie).  They’re in western outfits, but they’re probably still in Hell

Tentacle wrapping around drugged Moxxie and taking him, too fast for Millie to react and stop it.  Again, looks like it’s tied to the first and fifth scenes

Sassy Blitzø, probably talking to the repo-hellhound or punching-bag Moxxie.  Same setting as scene 11

Blitzø running to the window of what looks like a recording studio, with ‘VM’ spray painted on the doors next to him.  He looks distraught, but it’s not clear why

Recently choked-out Moxxie recovering, while being frame by a spiny-tailed Imp wearing what I assume is a serape, since it looks like they’re on the ranch Loona and Blitzø cheered a poor soul, scene 12

DEPRESSED BIRD DADDY.  WHY ARE YOU SAD???  IS IT GONNA MAKE ME SAD??? OH NO I’M NOT READY unless its a flashback, but stilllll

Perturbed Blitzø holding his special flintlock in a western-themed room.  Looks like he has his outfit from scene 12 on, probably the same episode, but whatever happened/is going to happen, it’s not good

Dressed-up Moxxie, who probably jumped bombed a performance, is upstaged by Robo Fizz and most likely a Robo Ozzie, given the designs on its’ head(s).  He looked uneasy even before the Robos popped up, so something else was going on first.

Scaley eye blinking and getting MAD, attached to the tentacle that kidnapped Moxxie?

50% off add for Spring Break victims, complete with coffee stain, and Blitzø‘s horse doodles.  I got a mental image of Moxxie scolding Blitzø for drawing at work, so he BS’d it into an ad.

Either Blitzø is a terrible driver, or they’re trying to speed away from someone.  Repo-hound, maybe?

HUMAN!!!  Almost definitely a human pop-star singing on a Coachella-esque stage!  I tried to fill in her name, but could only get ideas of what some letters were.  Her initials are most likely VM, from the recording studio scene, but the bottoms of some letters could be an E or L, K or R, so we’re left with V~(L/E)(K/R)OSI(K/R)A MA~~.  It also looks like she’s wearing heels, so she may be the person who threw Blitzø in a later scene

Moxxie about to be trampled by what can only be a horse, given his outfit.  Loona and Blitzø are probably filming XD

Shocked Stolas, standing up at table.  Same outfit as the burlesque, but he doesn’t looked surprised enough that it’s the part where Moxxie is upstaged, more something emotionally jarring.  Blitzø kissing someone else, maybe?

Blitzø pushing Moxxie out of the way and pinning him just outside a Hell portal in an alley, most likely Earth.  Blitzø looks mad, and rightly so, as he’s looking a little beat up himself.  Connected to the interrogation scene?

Happy Blitzø turns horrified outside some elevators with Moxxie.  Judging by the water cooler in the back, I think he’s about to slam into the recording studio.  Behind him, Moxxie gives no shits

Blitzø looking miffed, maybe at something Moxxie said.  Looks like the same scene with the repo-hound, as the setting itself looks like an impound lot, with the IMP van smack-dab in the middle of it.  I love that the license plate is IMP-666 though

Unhappy Blitzø (ok, let’s be honest, when IS he happy?)

Moxxie swinging Millie around in the deserted theater, passionately frenching each other

Blitzø getting pushed down by a horned, high-heeled... someone.  Again, might be the pop star from earlier, but there’s horns...  Maybe the pop star is human-passing, and has an alternate demonic form, like the Hazbin Hotel cast?

Western-clad Blitzø pulling his flintlock on someone, most likely before scene 18.  Most definitely Hell, judging by the poster and previous scenes, but I’m digging the décor

Blitzø not getting a break at all during this trailer and being yeeted into a dumpster, which closes on him.  Gonna take a stab and say it’s outside the burlesque Stolas and Moxxie were in, from the colors and posters of Lust Ring, Personal Companion Robo-Fizz, and Angel Dust.

The next scene is of him climbing out of a dumpster to fall into another pile of trash.  He just doesn’t get a break, does he?  It doesn’t look like the dumpster outside the burlesque, but it is similar to the alley with the hell portal, where Blitzø pinned Moxxie.  Maybe not the same scene, but most likely same episode.

Editor being absolutely plastered, teasing all the fun stuff to come in 2021, since 2020 can go f*ck itself.

And that’s a really in-depth breakdown of all the scenes in the trailer!  Now, for the voiceovers.

First, Loona’s asking if anyone ‘Can feel that?’.  Interesting thing to ask, so we’ll have to wait and see what catastrophe happens

Millie gently yelling at Moxxie to ‘DON’T PANIC’

A calm voice announcing an elevator’s departure to the Lust circle of Hell, which is most likely where the burlesque and Robo scenes are.  As to who is going, it’s either Stolas or the IMP crew, or maybe both?

Horny Stolas cooing ‘Oh, Blitzy!’, followed by Loona’s ‘SHUT THE F*CK UP’ from the Loo Loo Land episode.  Finally, I have a high-res clip I can set as my ringtone!

Blitzø yelling  ‘Dammit, Moxxie, this is all your fault!’, which may or may not be true since he scapegoats Moxxie, who replies ‘How is this my fault???’

Pop star asking, ‘Y’all ready to get f*cked up and make some b*tchin’ bad choices?’.  It’s most likely her talking, since the her lips synch up with her scene, and it’s a new voice we haven’t heard before.

Moxxie’s cut off ‘M*THERF*CKER!!!’.  So happy I get to hear Invader Zim go off, poor boy needs it XD

Blitzø being Blitzø and trying to tone down a big deal, stating again that he doesn’t pry into their personal lives, even though he obvious does (see Helluva Boss Pilot for more)

Robo Fizz’s line from Loo Loo Land asking if anybody loved Blitzø.  I’m gonna be honest and say that line choked me up in Loo Loo Land, and so did Blitzø’s response, until ‘But I’m really good with guns now.  DANCE, B*TCH!’

Moxxie ending with ‘That is deeply unsettling’, again from Loo Loo Land.  Throwing shade on Helluva Boss haters, maybe? :3

All right, now, predictions!

Chaos in a theater, with focus maybe on Millie and Moxxie’s relationship, maybe an origin story?  It won’t be the only one, with the tentacle beach monster and drugged Moxxie bits, so we can expect a lot of story and character development from the two of them.

Farm episode!  Blitzø either drags them onto a farm, or there’s a client who invites them, but sh*t will happen.

Really excited to see what happens in the Lust ring, and for the return of Robo Fizz!  Baby boy only got a few minutes of screen time, but is currently my favorite character.

Repo episode of rescuing the IMP van, probably resulting in overall team building and character development.  I really want to see Loona tear a new one into that *sshole-looking hellhound, though.

Pop star episode!  Really excited to meet this new character, I wonder what her name is and how close I was XD  Either Blitzø and Moxxie break into her recording studio to meet her, or she’s a client, but we’ll see!

Trapped on Earth/Run in with Earth authorities episode?  That interrogation room didn’t exactly look Hellish, and they obvious meet some kind of resistance while on Earth that looked like it was gonna get messy...

Stolas episode!  Please please please be flashback and story, I loved Loo Loo Land but really want some more lore and development on his character and maybe relationship with Blitzø.  Bird obviously needs to work through some things, and I really want to watch him grow, ever since I saw him struggle to tell Octavia why he was cheating.  Him stuttering and ultimately being unable to find a reason why really hit home, and I’m glad it was something they included since in media, it’s always ‘Well, she’s really ugly’ or ‘I don’t love him anymore’.  He still has feelings for his wife, but wanted to f*ck Blitzø too.

Even without the trailer, we do know that we’re getting episodes focusing on CHERUB and a Harvest Moon festival, but still.  There’s so much content Vivzie and Co have been working hard to make, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us.  Dark comedy aside, there’s so much story they can make just around these four characters, following their growth and happenings around Hell.  It’s such a cool premise and one that hasn’t been washed and worn so many times, like cop or murder shows, and I can see this going on for quite a bit.

Well, here’s to an exciting 2021!  Thank you for all your hard work, Vivizepop, keep it up!

[jcisthebestfightme]

BJYX Song #1: If I Were A Song

BJYX Song Series List

Disclaimer: My own feelings only. Don’t take it seriously.

I decided I want to start writing about my feelings about different songs since I love analyzing lyrics so much. The first one will be “If I Were A Song” by Yoyo Sham. I feel like this song is not as talked about as others (i.e. Nan Hai, Wuji, etc.) 

This title of this song was posted in a memo by gg on 6/22/18 that he use to reply to a post from 2015/10/7 that said “Some words should just be kept in your heart”. 

The memo is timestamp at 11:28 (28 = ai bo). Also, I’m guessing he wrote this at night so 11 is probably 11pm so 2328 (ai/love zhan, ai/love bo). Okay I’m going to exist out of delulu kadian land.

 We don’t know what happened that day but we do think 622 is special for ggdd because for their 2019 birthdays, both gg and dd deleted and added post, respectively so that the birthday post will be #622. 6/22 is also 4 days after 6/18, where we know gg and dd went on a date to a Japanese restaurant and dd was seen in almost the same outfit the next day at the airport (walk of shame 🤣 jkjk). No one knows what happened on 6/22 but maybe this song can give us some clue?

“There is a song,

Sang into the cold and warmness of people’s heart, yet so tender and warm to all

It’s neither black nor white, no matter how things change with time or how people change

Turn around freely, still the youthful spirit, full of passion!

If I were a song...

Good night 🌙 ”

Doesn’t this memo sound like gg is describing his love to dd? He’s mentioned before that he admire dd the most because he’s always true to himself, unaffected by the industry. The “youthful spirit” that’s “full of passion” who can live “freely” sounds exactly like the person that gg thinks dd is. It also sound exactly like the person gg wants to be himself, or the person he’s on the inside that he doesn’t want to change because of reality, the cruel industry, and age. This memo also tells us that no matter what changes in the future, gg is sure of his feelings at this moment and this warmth that he feels or is willing to give will never change. The last line tell us what song he’s referring to so let’s begin.

The song is by Yoyo Sham in 2017. It’s not a super popular song that everyone will know. But the mv is simple and artist. The full translation of the lyrics can be found here. 

Overall, the song is about how one loves someone so much that they are always there for them and supporting them. I always feel like that’s the relationship gg has for dd. He show his love with caring and protecting him instead of grand romantic gesture. He’s always his #1 fan in the background, always cheering for dd when he dance. He’s always the first one to stand up for him when others talk bad about him, rebutting haters on the Internet about dd’s role as LWJ. He’s always the first one notice new scars on dd and find ways to protect his health like asking to wear knee pad, drink warm water, or take herbal medicine. You can also see that dd relies on gg. After a lot of Internet hate and not seeing each other for a long time, dd started crying when seeing gg in Thailand. Overall, the relationship is very “homey.” People even joke that it’s like a mother to a son.

如果我是一首歌 (If I were a song)

我可以帶你看看從前的自己 (I can let you see the old you)

Gg talked about how much he admire that dd stays to his true self and isn’t influence by the industry even though he’s been in the industry for four years. I think this line correspond to his love of dd’s true self.

你可以在我懷裡坦白    赤裸 (You can be in my embrace, honest and bare)

Here is the detail of the “home” that gg is providing. It’s one that allows dd to be his most genuine self, naked, bare, honest, and straightforward. We see dd as someone who’s already straightforward but here, it’s almost like gg is telling us that that’s still not exactly who dd is and part of him is still pressure to hide his true self. It’s also possible that it means that while dd is trying his best to express himself, he’s still afraid of how others see and judge him.

我們可以瘋狂    流汗    再脆弱 (We can be wild together, sweat together, and then be fragile together)

Here is a list of things they can do together. The order matters. Wild refers to their bantering and when they have fun (xxj). This also correspond to gg saying that before dating, you need to “play/have fun” with the other person first. Sweat refers to perspiration they put into their career. Both gg and dd are very diligent people that puts a lot of themselves into their work. Similar to Wangxian, I think that’s their core value that they share with each other the most. And then the last part of this line, after 1) being wild 2) working hard, we can then be 3) fragile. Why is fragile last? Because you can only be fragile in the most private moments. The first two things they do together are what others see from the outside. But the last one, being fragile, is something they can only display to each other behind closed doors. 

我是你的家    也是你的旅程 (I am your home, I am your journey)

I am your home + I am your journey = I am your everything. When you want a stable, loving base, I am there for you. But when you want to travel and explore the world, I will also go with you. The home here is not a literal place, but rather the security that gg can provide. Likewise, the journey here is the future that they must endure together. 

我們一起抽離    卻真實    又深刻 (We both depart from reality, but also authentic and profound)

I think this original line is talking about how the two people both depart from reality together and ascends into a romantic cloud, but also that their feelings are genuine (the word 真實 = 真情实感, the same word dd use to describe true feelings about The Untamed) and grounded. However, I think we can even interpret the “depart from reality” as gg and dd leaving their true selves and becoming WWX and LWJ in the drama. This line is saying that while they’re both not themselves, they feelings they share are still authentic. 

你也應該把我放開 (You should also let me go)

你知道你隨時都可以回來 (You know you can always come back)

我們因彼此而自由    而存在 (Because of each other, we’re free and we are here)

When I first heard this part, I was kinda hurt by the letting go part. But the more I think of it, the more this actually becomes my favorite part of the song. It’s saying that their love isn’t trapping or binding each other. It’s almost as if gg is saying that it’s okay if you leave me, I will still be here for you and you can come back if you choose. This part make me feel like this song is gg’s expressing his side of love. This is the part that makes me believe that this song is about how gg feels for dd but dd may not know about his feelings at this point. 

“You should also let me go” can also be gg’s way of telling dd not to be insecure about his feelings. We can see that dd is very clingy towards gg, always trying to get his attention. I think part of that comes from dd’s insecurity when it comes to gg’s feelings since gg isn’t as straightfoward. However, here gg is saying that you should not be afraid of letting me go because I will always be here for you and we’re free because of each other because we chose to love each other. 

我是那個你不常打開的盒子 (I am that music box you rarely open)

永遠在原地等待 (Always waiting for you here)

等你回來聽我重複這旋律 (Wait for you to come back to hear me repeat this song)

就這樣    幾分鐘    一輩子 (Just like this for a couple minutes, forever)

Gg said before that he thinks “waiting” is the most romantic thing in the world. This part, similar to before, is saying that gg is willing to wait for dd if he’s willing to come back to him. The last line, “for a couple minutes, forever” means that he’s willing to wait, even if it only takes a second or even if it takes eternity. I love the extreme juxtaposition of this throughout the lyrics. It’s almost as if the singer is giving the other person the freedom to choose whether they want to be together right now or much later. It’s even more touching than just “I will be here forever.”

In summary, I think that this song express gg’d love to dd. That he will provide a safe environment for dd with his love and that he’s willing to wait for dd to give him whatever dd will want at the moment. I think at this point, dd doesn’t know about gg’d feelings because this song seems very “one-sided” (not that gg’s love isn’t get reciprocated but that it’s more about what gg can give dd). 6/22 is probably when gg became very certain of his feelings for dd and solidified it in his heart. This is the moment he decided he will wait for dd’s wishes in order to determine their future together.

This is probably the most romantic song I’ve ever heard, more than Nan Hai (sorry dd). I may do an analysis on Nan Hai later if I feel like it. Even if you don’t read this post, I highly recommend the song. 

如果    我是一首歌 (If I were a song)

我是那首很愛你的歌 (I am that song that loves you very much)

[smallfrost]

I'm not sure if you know about this, but we have Scylla and Raelle haters club right now. Scylla for being a terrorist and Raelle for being a puppy love sick in Episode 06. They said that the director should end Scylla's character and give another love interest to Raelle. What do you said?

This is very unfortunate but what is more unfortunate is that no matter what the show, no matter what the message, there will always be haters. In the end, I’d just suggest to let the haters burn themselves out because their opinions won’t change so it isn’t worth the effort. Don’t engage, instead create a positive environment of support and acceptance where people who enjoy the show can find a community. This is supposed to be enjoyable and fun, remember? But ultimately everyone is entitled to their own opinions, so don’t get angry at people who have strong feelings about these things.

That being said, I understand that Scylla is a controversial character. At the surface level, she appears to be a terrorist. Some may even call her a psychopath. But here’s the deal: we simply do not know enough about her character or her background to understand her motivations for her actions yet. I find it odd that some people are obsessed and enamored with characters like Villanelle from Killing Eve or Dexter who are actual psychopaths that enjoy killing people for FUN, yet a lot of people are being quick to judge Scylla because the plot has not fully developed yet.

As for Raelle... here’s a girl who in the last 18 months has lost both her mother and the girl she loves to a system she thinks is twisted and immoral. She has experienced extreme emotional turmoil and is completely lost in her grief and making irrational decisions. I wouldn’t call her love sick, I’d call her grief sick. Either way, it’s only been a few days at most since the wedding attack. Everyone processes grief differently, you shouldn’t judge someone for how they deal with loss.

Now, I have no idea what Eliot has planned. It is very hard to trust any show runner, especially this early on in a series. But what I can tell from Eliot’s passion about this project, the evolution of it, and the amount of time he has spent developing this world (that is so much more than what we see at surface level), is that he has a story to tell for all of his characters. He has plans for all of them. So I’m going to reserve my judgements until we hear those stories and for now, focus on the growth we’ve seen bloom on screen already.

Scylla has already shown us that she knows how to love. She has shown us that she is willing to sacrifice herself for someone she cares about. Does that fully redeem her if she was in fact the mall attacker? No, it doesn’t. But there’s more going on than we know yet. Let’s enjoy the story and see where it goes.

Final note. We are halfway through the first season of a new show. Typically we get love arcs between characters that take SEASONS to develop. It is very unusual and rare to not only have a relationship start at the very beginning (literally) but also be one of the main plots of a show with both characters being fully realized and developed. My hope would be that this allows room to explore the ups and downs that partners face together within a relationship rather then the usual hurdles faced before coming together so frequently used as plot devices in story telling. Figuring out how to navigate life with someone is not an easy task but it is beautiful. However, It is VERY possible that this relationship may not last indefinitely. Yes they’re young but they are also finding love in a seemingly hopeless world where they are doomed to death in one form or another. We’ll have to wait and see, but Eliot has said he has plans for them; he isn’t finished with their story yet. And I for one am excited to see where they go and have no desire to see Raelle with another love interest.

[kuningannasansa]

A musketeers rewatch (that nobody asked for) 1x02

(very anti annamis, so if that bothers you steer clear :)

We open with Dartagnan preparing for a duel and declaring “I was raised to fight like a gentleman”. I thought he was a farmboy? I’m so confused.

“Every man for himself!” – lol! But also, is that what you were thinking when you decided to screw up everyone’s life with your dick Aramis?

Now Dartagnan has been arrested for illegal duelling. Which is fair and exactly what should happen. I mean, they should arrest that red guard too, ofc. But for all that the musketeers whine about their toys being banned by the nanny state, I think we can agree that laws banning duels were actually progressive and good?

Treville is MAAAAD!! Good!

“I’ve never been unpopular before” HA HA HAAA HAAAAA! You just wait a few seasons, honey.

Why do the extra background musketeers have period accurate clothing and ‘our heroes’ don’t? I mean, I get these leather getups are supposed to be sexy, but they don’t do it for me at all. I’d like realistic clothing more

Oh hey! It was all an act! I had legit forgotten! I am glad I’m doing this rewatch lol, there’s so much good stuff I’m experiencing again as if for the first time! Also, Treville is clearly a suppressed thespian!

Now Athos says Dartagnan is a farmboy again?????? I guess he’s a farmboy who was taught to fight like a gentleman for some reason

Aramis tells Porthos that he’s a terrible judge of character and he does like Aramis, so maybe that’s true…

Treville thinks Dartagnan’s life is worth the risk if he can uncover what the villain of the week is planning. I love my pragmatic dad!

Aramis says he loves violence in a woman. Well, I’m free to beat the shit out of him any time...

I was about to comment on the good old days when Anne had political acumen and cultivated a good public image by giving alms and grantign clemency to some prisoners. But then she told the governor of the prison that she would like to free all his charges and his face turned sour so maybe she always sucked at diplomacy? I’ll reserve judgement thou, I remember her as very clever and capable in season one.    

Prison Break: 1630 is looking good

Athos doesn’t have faith in Dartagnan to manage the mission. From his perspective it makes sense, but it still upsets me. 

Richelieu and Treville are working together on this one! Oh goodie!

Now this is the worst bit! Milady tells Richelieu she can get Dartagnan back by lying that she stabbed the guy in the last episode in self defence. And well… that does give people a valid reason to think that she lied about Thomas trying to rape her as well. For the record, I still believe her, her story remains constant throughout and she sticks by it even when she has absolutely no reason to lie. But this scene does give the haters a semi valid reason to doubt her and I hate that. And most importantly, this ambiguity in the text should not exist. The writers should have told us on screen one way or the other to avoid all this nasty discourse. Sometimes ambiguity is a wonderful device (cough*black sails final/*cough) but rape is not a topic that should be treated like that.    

Richelieu is turned on by her act thou. And slightly repulsed. By how turned on he is.

Milady is looking for Vadim on Richelieu’s orders! She’s on the same side as the musketeers, doing the same job (probably more successfully)! Watch them judge her anyway.

RICHELIEU WANTS FLOWERS!!

Oh no, Anne, don’t show Aramis affection! He’ll be stalking you for the rest of your life!

Porthos does not approve and neither do I.

Porthos reminds Aramis of Adelle lol. WRECK HIM PORTHOS!!

SUZETTE!!

Bonacieux is so very dumb, it’s delightful!

Milady just shot two of Richelieu’s red guards. Either she had his authorisation to do it when necessary or she just doesn’t give a fuck. I suspect the later.

Milady is promising Dartagnan riches and to introduce him to her “powerful patron” if he takes her to Vadim. Why? If Treville and Richelieu are cooperating on this why are their respective agents in the dark? Or perhaps RIchelieu is trying to catch Vadim on his own behind Treville’s back and get all the credit? Hehee

Athos is threatening to have Suzette whipped. And she tells him that it’s usually the other way around with musketeers, “but if the money’s right”. LMAO WRECK HIM!!

They are planning to use decoys at Easter mass to lure out Vadim and Anne says “the people know their King and Queen too well”. Do they, thou? They had wood cuttings back then not the fucking People Magazine. But I guess the plot hinges on the real royals going so whatever.

Louis: “My father never shirked public obligation” Richelieu: “Your father was assassinated”

“Common sense is for commoners” oh Louis! Listen to Richelieu!!

Richelieu says he may have misjudged, but I still think he’s right. I mean, politically speaking, it is good for people to see their King, not have him cowering behind castle walls while they are put in danger. But I still maintain those peasants would not be any wiser if they just sent decoys.

I like Vadim’s greed for money under a disguise of not entirely fake anti monarchism as a motivation. His plan is really clever too! Season 1 really had very good villains!

Richelieu in proper red cardinal’s robes! Me likey!

“Surrender or die!” lmao, as if they’re not going to hang him if he surrenders. I’d rather be shot, personally.

Milady kills Suzette. Okay, she was part of a conspiracy to rob the royal treasury so she would have been executed anyway, but I still don’t like it. Can we not kill all the cool female characters please?

Vadim’s death is beautifully shot, with him dropping treasure everywhere as he walks through the smoke. Cinematically very good!

Constance does not miss the quiet life! Bless!

So Milady lied to Richelieu and kept the Queen’s pendant she got from Suzette? But then that plot never went anywhere, as far as I remember. I know there were some cut Milady scenes in episodes 4 – 6 so I guess they decided to drop it, but I would have loved to see her have more agency independent of Richelieu as she pursues her own agenda.

Red Guards killed in the line of duty: 2 (let’s pour one out for them!) 

Women fridged: Suzette RIP!

Best Dressed: Louis and Anne (not an easy choice cause Constance and Milady also had some very nice dresses in this episode, but in the end I’m a trashy bitch who loves bling)  

[fandomwarriorqueen]

Maybe it’s because I grew up watching Disney movies all the time but I don’t like the Disney movies for their romance. Yes the romance parts are great especially in some of the later movies but there’s so much to learn from each and every princess. Ps, this is really fucking long but I think it’s important and carries a lot of good life lessons. Sorry for bad grammar and weird language. My only language is English but I don’t speak it that well when I’m tired.

Snow White: She didn’t let her fear get in the way of her caring heart, and the only reason why the old crone was her stepmother was because her stepmother actively looked for her knowing that Snow would help her because of how kind she was, which is how she convinced her to take her into the house. The only person who did something wrong was the Evil Queen in taking advantage of a girl of 14 who doesn’t understand what she did wrong.

Cinderella: Being brave enough to follow your heart and work to make your dreams come true is something I especially think that we could learn form today. She worked to get all her chores done and because of everything she did for them the mice helped her finish the dress. The fairy godmother saw how hard she tried to go to the ball, and so she helped Cinderella get there and make sure she wasn’t recognized by Lady Tremaine so that way she couldn’t be abused further for leaving the house. Also while Cinderella was excited by the idea of meeting the Prince, she was excited because she wanted to meet to him and talk to him and that’s what ultimately drew him to her. She wasn’t throwing herself at someone because of his money or titles like Drisella or Anastasia or the other women, in fact she fell in love with him and married him for the way he loved her.

Jasmine: A lot of people don’t recognize the strength it takes for Jasmine to make the decisions she made. Instead of quietly submitting to a marriage she instead used her position as princess to make a point and refused to sit idly by as a glorified prisoner within the palace walls, and a lot of people don’t realize that a lot of women/girls in middle eastern countries aren’t allowed to leave their homes or are forced to married the men that their fathers chose for them either because they don’t know better, or fear of retribution. It also makes a point that just because women may be the money makers doesn’t mean that the man is any less important in the relationship. Jasmine chose Aladdin because he supported her as who she was as a person and recognized that she wouldn’t want to marry a prince who thought he was worthy because he was a man/Prince so rather he proved that he wanted to marry Jasmine because he loved her for all of her.

Mulan: This is another one because Mulan broke the gender roles that are present even with modern Western societies. Men go off to fight in wars and women stay home get married and maybe get a job and raise the kids, but there are so many women who fight for our country and rights and our freedoms, and continue to fight to make sure we can keep them, but also create more and help others. Also Mulan shows that sometimes it goes beyond raw power and the ability to follow orders that makes a person successful. You have to be driven, hard-working, creative, and cunning in order to achieve your goals. Also not to mention it teaches girls to be proud of who they are as fighters, and not to hide behind any type of mask because they aren’t worthless. Also there are so many unspoken women in history that did a lot for their countries during war times, and Mulan barely begins to cover it.

Belle: This is one of my personal favorites for multiple reasons. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite movie and Belle is my favorite princess and theirs a reason. There are so many types of people out there and being book loving introvert that didn’t have a lot of friends growing up Belle was a huge role model for me. For one she didn’t take shit Gaston and refused to let him and the villagers influence her values and get in the way of her passion for reading and refused to let people make fun of her father, because her parentage was something she was proud of, and rightfully so, as her father was a ingenious inventor. Also not to mention she didn’t take shit from the Beast as well, being the first person to let him know throw a healthy way *cough* unlike the Enchantress *cough* that he wasn’t treating people with the respect they deserved, but she still helped him when he saved her life showing that she has a good heart, as she just returned to the very castle she had been escaping. Of course another thing she does is instead of immediately leaving, as soon as she sees hope of progress and change within the Beast she teaches him what it means to be a good person, acting as a teacher and good influencer. The reason she doesn’t do this with Gaston is because he not only refuses to change, and instead tries to change her, he also threatens her, and as soon as she’s not submissive to him, he labels her as crazy and casts her to the side and goes on a jealous rampage against the man she does have feelings for, as I do often see within my own school. Belle also sees past the views of the villagers, who see Gaston as more then a strong handsome guy and instead for the asshat he is, which is something that girls should keep in mind when approaching anyone of the preferred gender. Look at personality and not physical features. Most of the time you can see the warning signs of an abusive relationship before it actually starts, if you look for them.

Ariel: This is one that I find really intersting and I’m at odds with. On one hand I think that Ariel had a right to be curious and she was right to look past her family views and try to see humans for what they were rather then what her family labeled them to be. This applys great to people who have bigot parents and absolutely encourage curious people to ask me questions about my heritage and my sexuality and a lot of my guy friends ask a lot of what it’s like being a girl. Education isn’t always what you read in books. Also I like how even though Ariel was putting herself at risk, she recognized the need that Eric was in, and set her own self aside to save Eric, as you should always value life and try to help others in need when possible. On the other hand, Ariel gave up a lot for Eric. While I understand her need to leave her family behind she knew nothing about Eric or if he was in fact a mermaid killer as she had never had a true conversation with him, and you should never jump headlong into relationships like that because it’s not always healthy and can lead to a lot of miscommunication. Also another thing I don’t like is the Flotsum and Jetsum reminded me so much of creepy old men luring kids into cars. Stay safe and aware. Your life isn’t worth a guy or whatever your willing to get yourself killed for. There was a reason Sebastian tried to warn her and a reason Flounder took his side. Your friends often times have your best interests at heart, and are looking out for you. Listen to them. Sometimes they can see stuff you can’t. Also the fact she gave up her voice for Eric is something I’m at odds with. Yes relationships do take sacrifice and work, but you should never ever feel the need to give up such a huge part of yourself for someone else, and a person who cares about you would never ask that if you. If Eric truly cared about Ariel he would have saw past the tail and they could have tried to find another way to be together without putting Ariel in danger. Also irrational choices. Times of emtions and clouded judgment are not the time and place to make life changing decisions. Also people may claim to be helping but often times if they want something out of it, especially something big and personal, they are you using and should not being trusted.

Aurora: Not gonna lie I don’t have much to say because she wasn’t in much of the movie. But yeah talking to people isn’t a bad thing, you can’t let your guardian determine your social life that’s for you to figure out. For me it’s social media and a lot of theater nerds, for others they’re sportsy and they like taking to people and making friends face to face. But also talk to people a bit before asking them in a date, and if they name a sketchy place or seem to have a sketchy background don’t meet them. They could be fishers or rapists or just weird. Not really Aurora’s fault and for the time picking her up at a woodsman cottage in the middle of the woods isn’t that weird, but Phillip hun if the lights aren’t on and the voice sounds like the wicked fairy from your fiancées baptism then don’t go in. Also don’t date people if your engaged it’s rude.

Pocahontas: While I understand a lot of the movie isn’t historically accurate for a kids movie about looking past race and understanding someone before you judge them, and misplacing your anger, 100% done right Disney. Amazing. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Also find those key supporting figures in your life like Grandmother Willow, because those are the people that in the long run, will be there for you and love you forever. Also, again, be true to yourself. Pocahontas wasn’t happy with being the conplacent wife, don’t be the conplacent girl. If you have dreams, go fucking get them. They are so within your grasp all you have to do is leave the haters behind, jump in your canoe, and look at what’s around the river bend. Also thank you for discussing how precious every single bit of life on our Earth is and how much we should preserve it, but also for calling out white imperialism. You didn’t come form this land, just because you say mine like a spoiled child, doesn’t give you the right to commit genocide and kill multiple cultures and thousands of people, and destroy the land they worked so hard to preserve, and then deny them rights in their own country. My ancestors are guilty of this, and my ancestors have also been the victims. While it’s horrible and needs to be taught better in schools and bigotry needs to be erased, we also need to move past it a preserve the dying cultures by teaching people about them, even if they don’t necessarily belong to the culture by blood. I’m more Irish then Aztec, but I want to know more about my heritage on both sides. And I live for teaching people my history if they’re willing to listen.

Tiana: Girl you are a strong black women and you have a dream and you work hard and you make your daddy proud every goddamn day. But you also have to remember that you need to give yourself the space to grow and be a person outside of work. You need to remeber to have fun, and you can only give 100 if you treat yourself like you’re 100. But also you can’t dilly dally along all day, and you’ll never get anywhere if life if you don’t work for it. Even the smallest of dreams is something more then nothing (looking at you Naveen) also hey maybe that person worked for that shit you don’t know, but don’t go about the wrong way of doing something through anger because it never ends well. Also hey thanks for showing off the racial devide of the historyocal time period. Just letting you know it was extremely rare for white anf black girls to be friends because most of the time they wouldn’t see each other. Also allowing Tiana into the costume party was truly revolutionary on Charlotte’s part as black people weren’t supposed to be treated as equals. That obviously had changed a lot but it also needs to change still. Not to mention Naveen would have never been allowed to marry Charlotte due to his skin tone even with her daddy’s blessing unless he was a prince, because he would’ve been lynched otherwise. Also that image of family and neighbors being one. That’s was something amazing. Share what you can with those around you cause they other have less. Also let’s make sure that the divide between white and black folks keep getting smaller ok.

Rapunzel: Boy could I go on a tangent about this movie because recognizing who you are as a person and who you want to be is just the start. Mother Gothel was horrible, terrible, awful, and no-good in so many ways I’m surprised the movie is rated G with the level of abuse portrayed in the film. First off you shouldn’t steal, and you cannot claim something made for those in need for yourself when there are others out there suffering so much worse. (Definitely talking about the Medicare system here get your act straight) Also you shouldn’t find the need to control everything about your child’s life. You have to let them be there own person and figure things out on there own otherwise the message will never get through. Also treat your child like a goddamn person they aren’t a slave or your own personal slave they are a human being. Don’t get me started on stealing a child because holy fuck how bad of a person do you have to be.

Merida: I love this movie for a variety of reasons. First a female character does not need a romance to be a successful lead role. Also sane thing, your child isn’t a mini you, or a mold to make as you want. They are a human being. They must grow and learn on their own, or they’ll never truly understand the lesson. The best you can do is support them. Also like with Merida and the princes, a girl doesn’t need a man to be a Queen, a man or another person of preferred gender should just make her stronger. Also one of the things I have learned is that this movie wasn’t Queen Elenore finding the courage to let her daughter be herself, or Merida finding the courage to admit her mistakes, but more then that, it was finding the courage to live in a way Disney had never shown before. Brave was about family love, and how there are so many bonds and relationships that are so much more important and valuable to use then our selfish parts of us like pride, being a family with people who hold different values then yourself is one of eh hardest thing, take it from a person who knows. But you have to find the courage and the strength to move past the fear, anger, and sadness to work together as people who where originally designed to love each other unconditionally, and make a family work, and as shown it only works if every person who’s part of it, puts in the effort and emotion in order to truly create the bond needed to love each other above all else.

This was my long ass rant as to why I think Disney princesses are important and don’t necessarily hold a bad message I didn’t talk about lesser know princesses or Frozen because that is a whole rant in itself that I’m not going to get into because it’s nearily one in the morning here.

[girl4music]

Hercules VS Xena: Striking differences

If you want the defining difference between Xena and Hercules… it’s actually not so much to do with feminism or gender representation. Those are the finer details, sure. But from a first-look standpoint, it’s that Xena is made for audiences that can understand and relate to its depth in production and writing of the emotional and mental kind, and Hercules is made for audiences who enjoy the writing and production of the physical kind. The action and the excitement. Of course, you get both with both shows, but you can tell one is more geared to one side than the other side. And I think the shows grew with the audience rather than the other way around. The stories got deeper and darker and much more complicated the more the audience tuned in and asked for what they wanted to see and hear of more. Therefore, I have to bring up the striking differences between both shows. If you want a show with good characters that only do good, watch Hercules. If you want a show with good characters that fluctuate, watch Xena. Redemption is a huge part of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’. There are many episodes that deal with the themes of redemption and reconciliation that are very powerful. The main character, Xena, never quite is of one side or the other side. She’s both and she comes to reconcile with both. As does those that love her and believe in her. She comes to be in balance with light and with dark, with good and with evil, with peace and with war. And it’s not just her that does either. Many of the characters in Xena deal with these themes in very different ways. From the few episodes I’ve bothered to watch, ‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’ doesn’t have that. It’s because the characters are innately good that there’s no depth, no complication, and no moral standing of which to learn from. I’m not saying it’s not an entertaining show. I mean, it’s action-packed, there’s lots of fight scenes and there are interesting characters that do deal with important issues. However, it doesn’t seem convincing because it lacks the negative sides of those issues. Avoids telling the darker stories and therefore, you can’t take it seriously enough. I’m not being hater; I’m just being honest. In my personal opinion, the better show is Xena because it’s just got so much more to it. It’s a lot more mature and intelligent. It’s catered to an older audience than Hercules is. Requiring a broader and expanded consciousness so that the serious and important matters can be understood. Children can watch it, but it is more for the adults I’d say, or at least young adults. However, many of its fans did watch it as a child. Shaping their world view and philosophy as they grew into an adult, and eventually coming to understand what they were watching. I’m no different to that. That is very much my background with the show as well. As I watch it as an adult, I acknowledge, consider and understand its themes and lessons so much so more than I ever did as a child. That’s why I’m saying Xena is meant for an older audience and Hercules is meant for a younger audience.

I remember reading this interview segment in a Tumblr post awhile back where Kevin Sorbo talked about Xena and what he believed was wrong with it. Two themes were mentioned, seemingly “issues” to him. He said that the violence and the lesbianism were the aspects of the show that were “issues”. I think the word he was really looking for is “controversial”. Xena is a more complex and sophisticated show and it used violence to make the point clear that goodness, righteousness and peace is not black and white. It’s very difficult to not result to violence in dire situations. They were not encouraging violence. They were using it to teach a lesson, as well as explaining that just because you do result to violence in certain circumstances, you’re not inherently a violent person. You just did what you believed you should do in the moment and that that’s okay. The violence and the darker themes to the show made those lessons all the more powerful and inspiring. As for the lesbianism… I can see why that would have been an actual “issue”. Consider that at that time, even multi-cultural and interracial heterosexual couplings was still very new to mainstream TV. They were pushing boundaries with that alone, never mind homosexual couplings. I think the producers and writers did the best they could with it. Overall, Sorbo’s views are very one-sided and he wasn’t thinking about the bigger picture. Which is that you can’t have the positive themes without the negative themes if you are to understand the importance of them. That’s what he didn’t realize and failed to mention in that interview. The point to this post is not to compare or judge or criticize. It’s to explain to people that if they want to understand the way life works and learn how to handle it, they’re better off watching the more mature, intelligent and darker show than the one that avoids those themes altogether. Furthermore, all the really interesting characters in ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ are the ones that are “searching”. This showcases that it’s human conditions and conflicts that make for really great TV entertainment. People love characters they can relate to for their flaws and mistakes rather than their heroism. It’s definitely a huge factor as to why Xena stands the test of time and became more successful and popular than its predecessor, Hercules. That within this action/fantasy show, there were these themes and lessons that make it far more than just “the hero that saves the innocent”. That there is strong and substantial material that goes far deeper than the surface. So much so that you actually start to enjoy the show for its comedy and lighter episodes; such as ‘A Day In The Life’ and ‘Been There, Done That’. You begin to crave them when you realize just how dramatic and intense this show can be sometimes. It really adds to its vibe. The camp is something both Xena and Hercules is well known for. The exaggeration, the subtext, the homoerotic nature of the characters etc… However, I personally think for Xena, it propelled the show, but with Hercules, it degraded it. And that’s mainly because in Hercules, there wasn’t enough balance. The scales tipped more towards the silly and the satirical. Because of this, the drama and the tenser sides to the show didn’t feel honest or serious. Whereas in Xena, it did because it was not afraid to go in-depth with the darker side to the show. It made the audience question the characters and the storylines.

Okay, so getting on to the finer details of having gender representation, I’d like to explain another reason why I believe Xena was more popular and successful than Hercules was. They always tried to make Hercules “the man”. Had to consistently point out his masculinity and physical strength and ability to catch the female eye. They wrote the character as if he had to be a certain way to be the good person or the right person. Whereas with Xena, there wasn’t any of that. Xena was a woman who had all those so-called “masculine” traits while still being female. A female that could do anything a male could do… or in some cases… better than a male could do them. She had the physical strength of ten men combined. She wasn’t written to look or be like “the man” in particular. But because the traits and skills she had were more known for a man to be capable of than a woman in those times… she was stereotyped as a more of a masculine character than a feminine one. At least to me it seemed she was viewed that way. In my personal opinion (I’m not saying they were trying to make it look this way), Xena was the one that carried more feminine energy and Gabrielle was the one that carried more masculine energy. But that’s just my personal perspective. I have my reasons to think and believe that and to interpret those characters’ energies like that.

Before you get me wrong, I’m not saying that it’s just about female representation. It’s not just about showing these fluid traits in females. It’s not all about feminism! I’ll point out that in an episode of Xena, there is a female character that hated men. That blamed men for all their problems. That was always making them at fault for everything… just because they were men. But the show producers/writers gave the very clear message that it’s not always men at all. That sometimes a woman can be just as cruel and selfish and hard. That it could go both ways and women can abuse and misuse men just as much as men can abuse and misuse women. That there’s no “more or less than” between them. It depended on the situation that the characters were in than on the individual character’s gender or type. That very much stood out for me when watching Xena. From what I’ve seen of Hercules, (which isn’t very much, I’ll admit) it seemed to be that the women were always depicted as the dainty, soft and sweet little things that were always falling all over the men and didn’t have a bad bone in their body. And that the men were always the strong, capable, physical and abusive ones. Again, don’t get me wrong! I’m very aware it can be like that. But it’s not always like that. It’s just a stereotype. A stereotype is where if you see a certain characteristic or behaviour in one or two people, you immediately assume or interpret everyone to be in that same mentally constructed category that just doesn’t exist. It’s just not a realistic picture to paint of either gender or type of person because humans are very fluid in their energies. Xena showed the times when men could be the soft, compassionate and kind type of person. It also showed when women could be the cruel, selfish and hard type of person. There was no “she’s masculine” or “he’s feminine”. They weren’t trying to give the depiction that you’re either one or the other and it has to be that way. They were saying that it was both. That females have what is considered “masculine” traits and males have what is considered “feminine” traits and none of it was wrong or inappropriate. It made the statement that whether male or female… they were still the same species. They were still human. In fact, they didn’t only show it with humans. They showed it with the Olympian gods too. With immortals. Not necessarily considered human but shown in the human image. From my perspective, at least, I would say that’s a very strong and substantial reason to watch the show; Xena, over the show; Hercules, or to judge on what show was better produced/written, even if it was the same people that created and worked on both shows. Because it seems to me that one was definitely much more thought out than the other in producing and writing. Xena has definitely shown me what it is that I look for in TV shows/movies/books/games or other forms of entertainment and art. Good producing/writing and dynamic characters that are not stereotyped. That do not belong to any particular category or labelled in any solid or permanent way. Characters that are fluid and interchangeable and versatile. Characters like Xena and Gabrielle and Callisto, that can make you see the individual person in both positive and negative ways, enough to realize that they are completely human and real. Enough to be relatable and so you can resonate with their mindsets. I don’t understand how or why there is such striking differences between these shows. Because given the fact Kevin Sorbo didn’t play Hercules and the show was at the same level of producing/writing as Xena, I probably would have loved to watch it just as much, if not more. There were some potentially great characters (both male and female) from Hercules that weren’t introduced in Xena that could have done with a better or longer arc, so you could get to know them more and could see that they weren’t produced/written in a stereotypical way. Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps both shows have dynamic characters and give the same messages and I just haven’t done enough research or watched enough of the other show to judge accurately. But this is only my personal perspective and opinion on both shows regardless. I’m not saying it is fact because both shows are left to interpretation anyway. Take out of it what you will. I think I’ve made a satisfactory analysis to draw from to create your own. I’d very much like to read or hear yours.

"Hercules is the hero we hope is out there. Xena is the hero we hope is in all of us." - Liz Friedman, executive producer for 'Xena: Warrior Princess'.

[ab-aj-blog]

Opinion on Star vs. final episode, season 4 (please watch the episode first)

First of all, I’m gonna start by saying that the overall quality of this show was so great and I’m gonna miss it so much! BUT I have to say that to me this last episode was somewhat disappointing. Let me explain. So clearly a few people loved the episode and some were disappointed. I believed it had a sweet ending, but the overall quality of the last episode seemed...dull? So here are some topics I want to discuss about the season overall. 1. Toffee. (This might take a while.) During this season, I was somewhat excited when a lot of the characters kept mentioning Toffee, even showing a younger Toffee in an episode. Glossaryk mentioned how destroying Toffee was a mistake. Meteora blasted Toffee in order to dip down, etc, etc. So of course, even if it was a few tidbits of Toffee, they kept leading it up to a point where you’d get your hopes up of his return. NOPE! Instead they just lead it to the idea that “Toffee was right.” And I’m oddly enough satisfied to hear that. (Being the Toffee fan that I am). But, to me anyways, it also meant that he just seemingly died in vain. I mean he went through all those lengths by himself, destroyed the entire magic dimension BY HIMSELF, got blasted by Star, then she’s just like “Oh haha wait, you were right. Whoops.” Like really? Granted. We know Toffee has done some bad things in the show. He killed Comet Butterfly, he used Ludo, he tried to kill Star, he even broke Glossaryk’s arm. Everyone who’s all “He’s evil and selfish! He deserved to die!” Just hear me out. The show introduces this mysterious, intelligent, very intriguing character, and the only information that you get is that he’s a villain. You don’t get any backstory to truly know if he’s an evil character. You also know that he’s a character that has developed despite not having a lot of background information. For example young Toffee (arrogant, rebellious, punk) vs. adult Toffee (clever, efficient, finely dressed). I mean, how are you supposed to judge a character based on the few actions he’s done when you don’t even know what he was like before the Mewmans showed up. Or before the monster massacre. Or anything on his side of the story. For example, you don’t know if he’s been wronged. Or if his family was killed. Or any of that because it wasn’t provided. How were we not too sure he killed Comet because he felt that she would betray them like past queens? How are ANY of us supposed to judge such an intriguing character without the proper information. Even if Toffee is just “a villain,” what was it that made him so bitter, to hurt anyone? No one’s just born evil. Again, NO ONE IS JUST BORN EVIL! Plain and simple. Again, granted, the show isn’t about Toffee. It’s about Star and her adventures. But it would still be nice to know more about a character that a lot of people seem to like. I was mainly upset about this because they seemingly kept hinting at what you thought would be his return. 2. The shipping drama Okay, this was definitely an issue it seems. A LOT of people can probably agree on that. I believe a whole lot of these episodes were simply shipping drama. Like Tom and Star dating. Then breaking up. And then suddenly Kelly and Marco dating and their relationship didn’t even last much of an episodes worth! And then they finally decided to go with Marco and Star. (Which I ship them). So yeah I guess I was happy about that. BUT I felt like if they would’ve just skipped all of that they would’ve had so much more time to put in meaningful episodes. And think about this! If they were going to go with Star and Marco, then why not just have them date to begin with?! Maybe near the beginning of Season 4. At least then they could’ve developed together throughout the season as a couple. Instead the whole Starco ship just seemed thrown in at the last few episodes and called it good. I’ve read from past tumblr posts that quite a few people believe that the shipping drama was just to please the fans who ship different ships. And if I’m gonna be honest, that’s what it kinda seemed like. The only odd thing about all this shipping drama is that it was somewhat almost like real life. Think about it In real life you’re not just going to automatically find the love of your life first go round. You’ll have other relationships (Tomstar). And sometimes you’ll have flings, friends with benefits, “break up buddies” (Kellco). You’ll even run into old exes, crushes (Marco running into Jackie, Star seeing Oscar again). I guess that’s the one interesting thing I found in all of that despite the fact it was pretty meaningless for the overall season. 3. DISNEY. IN. GENERAL. Okay, so I’m gonna start THIS by saying that Disney has ticked me off so many times with the stupid crap they seem to pull. They always seemingly rush their storyboarders, animators, etc. To me it just seems like a lot of great shows end, either by the creators decision (Gravity Falls), or simply because Disney just doesn’t want to air it anymore. (Wander over Yonder). Then they replace it with s**t like Pickle and Peanut! And I’m not sorry for saying that. But even with both of those shows. They all faced a higher conflict and worked together to defeat it. Which to some might be a cliché ending. But it can also provide a lot of passion depending on the story. Like with Gravity Falls, Dipper, Mabel, Stanley, Stanford, Soos, Wendy, Pacifica, Robbie, Gideon, Fiddleford, even the whole dang TOWN worked together to fight a seemingly impossible force. All unlikely characters working together. Two feuding twin brothers, who hadn’t seen each other for years, even worked together to fight Bill. Stanley even sacrificed his OWN MEMORIES just to stop Bill so long as it kept Dipper and Mabel safe. This show had such sweet lessons about the meaning of family. And with Wander over Yonder. The ENTIRE FLIPPING GALAXY worked together to try and stop Dominator from taking over the last planet. Even Lord hater, who everyone disliked at one point, cast a shield to stop that drill. And everyone, EVERYONE cheered him on. Because despite being evil at one point, they knew he was helping them and wanted him to feel stronger. Even Wander, the sweetest character of the show, could see right through Dominator’s “bad guy” exterior and saw that she was just lonely, needed a friend, and even wanted to be her friend. This show had SO MANY lessons. There was seemingly a lesson about being humble and kind in every episode. And that’s what made this show so meaningful. (Still ticks me off that it was cancelled!) The point I’m getting at here, is that if Disney hadn’t rushed Nefcy to finish this final episode, it would’ve felt more epic. It would’ve felt like a final stand. So what of the final episode? My main issue with this was that the finale didn’t seem to have a conflict, as it seemed the conflict was already presented in the episode before the finale. The main conflict this finale had was the purple unicorn, but that was seemingly a nuisance more than a conflict. And even when Mina DID show up, the unicorn just drowned her. Like, what? And then there was the internal conflicts between Star and Marco wanting to see each other. It just seemed like this. Gotta destroy magic➡️Destroys magic➡️Mewni and Echo Creek are merged. Do you see what I mean? Despite the fact that there’s a final force. It didn’t seem like much of an issue to stop it. Though I personally enjoyed how they handled the Star and Marco inner conflict. Two best friends, now two lovers, wanting nothing more than to be together. Even if it meant leaving their old life behind. Even if it meant living in the swirling chaos of the destroyed magic realm. They wanted to be together. And then, by some force of magic within THEMSELVES, brought about a portal. They’re sent home, but see the same portal, and both run towards their portal to see each other. Only to have their two worlds collide. Literally! And both Star and Marco stare into each other’s eyes, before smiling. It was absolutely the most heartwarming thing for Star and Marco to finally be able to see EVERYONE they care about. 4. Overall The things I liked Overall there were so many great characters, great stories, and meaningful moments that tied the show together to create this cute, interdimensional adventure. There was so much history, even racial issues were dealt with as far as the monsters go. The once irresponsible princess Star Butterfly, grew into a very powerful, strong, and wise adult. And now she and all of her friends and family can finally be together, live together, and have more adventures together. The things I didn’t like I felt there were still some things that were unresolved with certain characters (Toffee). And if they skipped out on the shipping issues just a little, and if Disney hadn’t rushed them, they could’ve made so many more meaningful episodes. They could’ve even taken things a different route if they just had the time. 5. If you managed to get to the end of this. Thank you so much for reading this and taking the time to listen to what I have to say. I’m sure you have your own opinions. Maybe you agree on some points, maybe you disagree on some points. Either way. I want to say thank you to all the fans, artists, shippers, and anyone who enjoyed the show as much as I did. It was a great adventure that we all shared together. And thank you to Daron Nefcy, storyboarders, animators, the crew, all of you who worked so hard on this show. This show, like many other great shows. Will have a special place in our hearts and memories.

[ellynore-moonwood]

Ellynore’s 2017 Summary

This year has been a wild ride for me in so many ways, and I figured now would be a good time to sum up how I’ve felt about 2017 as a whole while it’s about to come to a close at the end of this weekend. I’ll try to keep it brief and concise, but if it ends up becoming a lengthier read, I do apologise. ^^;           I’ll also clarify that I don’t want to seem pretentious or anything of the sort. This is just an honest summary of how I’m looking back on the year in my own perspective and how things have gone with me. 2017 has had it’s ups and downs, but like every upcoming year, we all hope it turns out better than the last in some way or other. 

January - Not a lot of things happening, except getting a brand new laptop and searching for new material to use for voice acting as I spent most of it doing some writing on the side and browsing Tumblr looking for audio posts that could give me new ideas. I had a couple projects that were in-progress but not a lot of progress was being made, unfortunately. That didn’t stop me, though, since I continued contributing my voice to some YouTube videos made by @bettinalevyisdetermined as the awesome Undertale fish spearwoman Undyne. 

February - Vine died, I spent the first half of the month revising my relationship status and goals, as well as “A Date with Markiplier” fangirling all throughout the second half of the month. After a month of supporting @distortional I got to meet them and learn about them as a person, and eventually was inspired and motivated to try voicing out Darkiplier. If you haven’t heard it, you can listen to it here. I’ll warn you, it was my very first time and it does sound a bit cringy, but I’ll let you guys be the judge of that. 

March - The founding of @theglitchedsystem came to be and I got straight into work while also battling some stress but later overcoming it with some help and guidance from the other VAs who took part in the project. Definitely had a lot of fun being a part of this sub-community in a major way throughout this whole year. 

April - I turned 24 and upgraded my Samson Go microphone to a Blue Yeti Blackout! 

May - Further progression with voice acting and making new friends along the way. I also managed to properly master how to voice Darkiplier and became more confident with improv voice acting. 

June - Facing new challenges and preparing for Winter. Spoiler alert, felt more like an extended Autumn, instead, most likely due to the fact that most Aussie Winters have a lot of sunshine, and when there’s a lot of that, it gets really warm. Fun fact: at this time of year, it’s not uncommon to see people walking outside wearing summer clothes when it gets around 15 degress Celsius or higher. You’re welcome.  [EDIT] - I had forgotten to add that I was at a pop culture convention on that month and met my voice acting idol Jennifer Hale in person! I got a heartwarming signature and message from her, a hug, and even requested a short audio of her voicing one of my favourite voices she did for a game I played. Meeting her ignited a new spark in me to further pursue my dream in becoming a voice actor and I felt so happy that day. 

July - Met more new friends and followers throughout my voice acting career while also facing some minor networking issues like followers not getting along with each other. Seriously, a community is about making friends and being with great, like-minded people. If there’s any drama happening, take it outside, no questions asked. Less people get caught in the crossfire that way. On a lighter note, “Darkiplier vs. Antisepticeye” was the talk of the town even after the end of that month. 

August - Friendships have strengthened, especially with the “Kill Jacksepticeye” video which made an escalated return of Antisepticeye. If you have friends who are as hyped about something as you are, stick with them. You won’t have to deal with the shock alone and the experience is better when shared with friends. On a sad note, my grandmother had passed away which affected me and my whole family since she was my last grandparent and I’ll never forget her. Rest in peace, Nanna. <3

September - Continued voice acting as usual while also taking up a couple more responsibilities that I picked up from August and carried it further as a way of helping followers whenever they’re feeling down or facing a tough situation where they need some advice. I learned a lot about some people in particular and I wish them nothing but happiness. 

October - Preparing for the Halloween season which felt a little bit underwhelming compared to last year. Let’s hope next year will be better. I will say, I did get to watch a bunch of horror movies and cartoon specials and those were a lot of fun and were a great way of relieving stress. Got to collaborate with @melissatreglia for the very first time with the event she hosted called “Darktober” where I helped with audio editing as well as manage a HUGE voice acting project titled “The Hostage.” 

November - This month in particular was spent trying to get voice acting excerpts done and ready to post before going on a week-long holiday away with my family at the end of the month while also tackling with job searching in bulk. It got a bit emotional and stressful for me leading up to the last few days, but I finally got a chance to relax and spend time with my family while not having to worry about voice acting. It was a good break away from home.

And here comes the final month of 2017, which includes venting. 

December - Compared to every other month, December was absolute hell and filled with truckloads of (pardon my language) bullshit. While there were some upsides like going to my first midnight theatre screening to see “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and having a fun and enjoyable Christmas break, everything else was nothing but chaos and drama which left me in a mental state of shock and anxiety at extreme levels. I’m not going to sugarcoat it as it was a huge deal and some parts of it are still fresh in my mind.           In short, four people who were formerly part of the TGS (The Glitched System) sub-community went to war against my friend and leader, Distortional, as well as aiming pitchforks at anyone who didn’t side with the bad guys. It was at that point where I was engulfed with rage and wanted to fight back for the sake of my friends because I felt that they were wronged. If it wasn’t for the fact that I heard about it late at night, I would have been punching a lot of things around my room, I was that angry. But, that backfired as the fingers were soon pointed at me for three days straight. Needless to say, I didn’t take the bashlash very well. A first for everything, I suppose. Luckily, several other witnesses who also got hurt were incredibly supportive, they gave me the full story about what really happened, and I soon learned who my true friends are. Looking back at my lackluster performance with the aftermath of the whole debacle, it took me a week after finally blocking those abusive, immature people to clear my head and recover from the shock and emotional abuse*. The witnesses I spoke of have already moved on but let’s pray that those responsible will look back and rethink their actions for next time. This ordeal has allowed me to retain the experience I had that I will use to, hopefully in the future, better deal with manipulative people and call them out if they end up going around backstabbing people.             In other words (again, pardon my language), anyone who fucks with me and my friends will be remembered but not in a good way. If you can’t be friends with other people and don’t enjoy being part of a certain community, the most responsible thing you can do is just leave quietly and move along. And by quietly, I seriously mean quietly. My blog and community are a drama-free zone 24/7. Respect it. 

TL;DR, When drama hits and your friends are hurt, you feel inclined to stand by them till the bitter end, even if it ends up with you biting the bullet. That’s loyalty. Plus, and this is a bit pessimistic even for me, not everyone is going to like you, but haters gonna hate and the people who really want to stick around for you are your true supporters. 

* [Note: Please don’t confuse it for PTSD as it happened in the present time, not as a flashback to a past event.]

And that’s 2017 for me. 

As for what I’m going to do for 2018, I have plans on doing more voice acting but hoping to go bigger and better by taking on roles I’ve done previously and adding new ones in the mix for variety purposes. 

I’m also going to dedicate more focus on my YouTube channel where I do more videos on voice acting in video games. I am continuing “Night in the Woods,” though future episodes are bound to be longer than twenty minutes as it is considered a more relaxing game with a lot of in-game dialogue. I just need to find opportunities when I can record with no unnecessary noise in the background as well as voice out more louder characters when I come across them. 

If you guys want to suggest something to me for 2018 to work on, whether it’s audios here or videos on my channel, my ask and submission boxes are always open. I hope you guys had a good 2017 and wish you guys nothing but the best for 2018. Stay safe, keep your chin up and having a pleasant New Year’s! :D

- Ellynore Moonwood

[worldsandcenturiesfunposting]

Late to the party: Should Video Game Journalists be good at video games?

You might have seen that cuphead video where some video game journalist spent over a minute trying to get past the tutorial and then proceeded to get railed over and over in the first level. The video is a little less than 27 minutes long and he doesn’t get through the first level in those 27 minutes. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=848Y1Uu5Htk Take note that the original title was Cuphead Demo at Gamescom: It Isn’t Easy

What you probably didn’t see was the description in the video. No one reads those but I think there’s a lot to pick apart and ramble about at 4:30 in the morning because I’m a lonely sack of shit with nothing better to do

But here’s the man himself writing to his defense: https://venturebeat.com/2017/09/08/the-deanbeat-our-cuphead-runneth-over/

My game crime: I was so bad at playing I was deemed unfit to be a game journalist. My Cuphead gameplay video from Gamescom blew up, inspired rage, and spurred discussions about the death of game journalism across Reddit, YouTube, and Twitter.

Don’t flatter yourself that much. People were talking about how game journalism was dead well before your video. Hell, you even mention GamerGate later in your article. 

It was a failure to communicate.

In the description of the video, they mention that the guy playing the game isn’t good at platformers in general and the video was uploaded as a joke. I don’t know how true that last part is, but assuming it is, they’ve apparently put in 0 effort to make that clear. No tongue in cheek title like “Let’s Fail at Cuphead!” or giving context in the description. Only after shit hit the fan did they edit the description explaining why the guy sucked so bad. 

I only wish my two books on the Xbox business generated as much attention as the Cuphead story. It is a humbling experience.

It would help if you books were available to buy at the store. I’ve been in plenty of book stores and haven’t found anything about Xbox business practices. There are ones partially written by Anita Sarkeesian though so I guess that’s close enough.

The more people looked at my poor gameplay, which I myself labeled shameful, the angrier they got. I played the tutorial so ineptly — failing to read the onscreen instructions to jump and dash simultaneously — and then went on, failing to conquer a single level. I said it was hard, and the fans saw my gameplay and decided I was a poor judge of difficulty. By a ratio of more than 12-to-1, the ratings on the YouTube video are negative. It wasn’t just the troglodytes of the internet who hated it. Most people hated it.

You failed an incredibly simple puzzle, one that literal children can figure out, and you want to throw out insults like “troglodytes” at people saying you were shit because they either didn’t see or don’t buy the “lol it’s just a prank bro” deflection.

Another game journalist (and some say “shitlord”

Including you or someone from your website in the description of the video itself:  A shitlord on Twitter also linked to this video and claimed these are the same people doing reviews. 

The guy they’re talking about is Ian Miles Cheong. Once a turbo feminist switched sides to a more pro-gamer stance during the whole GamerGate thing. Outside of that, I don’t know much about him and I don’t give enough of a shit about him to find out. 

He clipped it to the 2.5 minutes of the most damning inept gameplay, and he posted it to his followers. He used me to condemn all game journalists

The guy is literally a video game journalist though so it wouldn’t be a condemnation of all video game journalist. Just pointing out that you (and presumably others) are awful at video games despite being paid to write about them. Which is true. Like if this was a video of some 4 year old failing the tutorial, there wouldn’t be this ire. 

Raising the smoldering issues around Gamergate and its focus on game journalism ethics. His post was political propaganda for the disenfranchised gamers, the sort who went from Gamergate to the alt-right and elected Donald Trump as president.

At least you admit GamerGate was about ethics. The fact you then went on to then claim that its proponents went on to support the alt-right and got Trump elected is fucking horse shit for a few reasons. 

1. GamerGate was comprised of various people of various different political backgrounds. Yes, some members were what we’d now call the alt-right, but a lot of its members were also incredibly left leaning. A few political compass tests were taken over the course of GamerGate and it seems a huge portion of its membership were what’s described as left libertarians. 

2. Of all the reasons Trump was elected, gamers aren’t one of them. The shit system that is the electoral college. Mass propaganda efforts from Russia. A bunch of idiots who’d literally vote Republican even if Hitler rose from the dead and was the nominee simply because they’ll always vote Republican no matter what....but not a bunch of gamers upset over poor practices in video game journalism and attempts at shaming and censoring from SJWs. 

Get fucking real, Dean. You’re out of your element. 

Before he got to it, my video had maybe 10,000 views. Afterward, the Gamergaters, or hardline reactionaries — or whatever we would like to call them 

How about people who know how to play video games. I wonder if there’s a name for that. 

Crying conservative boogyman doesn’t help your own personal cause and it certainly doesn’t help your political side either. 

— believed this narrative fit into their views about game journalists just fine

That’s because even before this clip, there was a general negative opinion of video game journalists and here you are proving that it’s pretty well founded. Not only are a lot of them unethical, but some of them fucking suck at their jobs objectively. 

I despise how this was triggered by a viral post that represented the worst of fake news

Fake news is a Trump term. ALT RIGHTIST! ALT RIGHTIST! DEAN TAKAHASHI SUPPORTS DONALD TRUMP! 

Hmmmm, maybe that’s a stupid line of reasoning. Tell you what. I won’t use it if you don’t either? Deal? 

So he continues on whining about haters, giving his own life story, and he actually has the balls to say this: But during all of the time I have written about games, none of my bosses cared about exactly how good I was at playing. They required basic knowledge and competence, but not skill on an esports level.

He whines frequently about how mean people are for saying he shouldn’t be a games journalist if he sucks so bad at video games....and then goes on to say that the thing his bosses cared about was the very thing that people were pointing out he utterly lacks. 

Not a skill on an e-sports level? Nigga, you were playing a tutorial! Stop acting like people are demanding the world of you and realize that people require you have basic knowledge and competence. 

So blatantly dishonest. 

Guess what? Unskillful gaming is authentic.

That’s literally the excuse DSP uses to justify being bad at video games and leaving in all of the footage of him bumbling around not knowing that he’s doing. 

Here’s where my nonapology starts. Gamers need to stop being mean to those who aren’t skillful. They don’t need to put others down to elevate their own subculture. Games have gone viral. They’re more popular than ever, reaching 2 billion people around the world. They have become a $108 billion industry. It’s silly to look down on games.

No one’s looking down on games and no one’s looking down on people for no other reason than their lack of skill. For a lot of people if they’re having trouble, people will be more than willing to provide advice and pointers. Just ask any question about how to do something in a game on a game related subreddit and people will be perfectly fine to tell you how things are done without insulting you.

The fact that you’ve spent so much time playing and reviewing games, and it’s literally your job, is where it starts to cross the line. Games are 2 billion people and 100 billion dollar strong industry as you’ve said so clearly the ire thrown at games journalists who suck ass at their job isn’t a problem within the industry. 

That industry will grow bigger, and gamers will get better games, if we embrace the new gamers. 

You. Are. Not. A. New. Gamer. 

Stop acting like you’re defending other people getting shit when it isn’t other people who are a problem. This deflection is as apparent as it is pathetic. No one’s going after Minecraftkid2003 because he couldn’t figure out redstone when he first came across it. They’re pointing out that Dean  Takahashi, a video game journalist with 18 years worth of experience and has himself boasted he was playing video games since Pong isn’t able to figure out a simple problem solving exercise any faster than a goddamn pigeon. 

We don’t need to dumb games down. 

And then he says 

We can have adjustable difficulty, so that the unskilled and skilled alike can play. We can make tutorials even easier than the one that I failed at so miserably.

Alright, dumbass. I’m sure everyone reading this has seen the video I linked. Here’s what the tutorial required. It required you to jump on a box....and then jump in the air...and then use a dash move to get over a pillar that’s too high to jump over from the ground. 

There’s no losing conditions. Time is infinite. There’s no enemies. There’s no bottomless platforms of thing chasing you...it’s literally the easiest part of the game second to moving around map itself. How the fuck can it get easier? Does it need to outright say “Alright Dean, now comes the doozy. You need to press this button and then this button afterwords to solve the exact same problem. Here’s an animation of what it should look like. Can you follow it, Dean? I’ll play the animation over and over on the top of the screen so you can see what you’re supposed to do. If you do it, you get a gold star and Anita will give you the good boy award!”

No, I’m not blaming the developer for my own shortcomings. I respect the designers, even if I didn’t truly understand at first the games they’ve made. I would just like to make sure that they make their games for people who are new, or noobs, as well as hardcore fans.

Cuphead is specifically designed to be a challenging platformer for gamers who like more challenge. Designing it to be easier, especially a tutorial that has no losing condition, is counterproductive to what the devs want to achieve. It’s like asking Stephen King to tone down the horror in his books so that non-horror fans can enjoy them too without being too scared. 

If you want an easy platformer designed with everyone in mind, there’s plenty of great games that will fill that roll. Not every game needs to be made for everyone.

As Nolan Bushnell, cofounder of Atari, said, games should be easy to learn and hard to master. (Yes, I know Cuphead’s tutorial isn’t that hard to learn).

Then what’s the fucking issue, ding dong? 

No, I’m not celebrating mediocrity

You literally just did when you whined that Cuphead wasn’t designed for noobs in mind. Here’s one big thing though: You were’t even mediocre at it. Garfield is mediocre. You were just awful. 

like the Antonio Salieri character in Amadeus. I’m arguing that all gamers, casual or hardcore, deserve recognition.

They do, but not in cuphead. And all gamers aren’t paid to write their opinions on video games. 

We are not all going to be esports stars who rake in millions of dollars. 

You’ve been at this for 18 years and got money for it. You got to play a demo that a lot of people much more skilled and much more deserving would have liked to play and you did poorly at it because you couldn’t figure out how to do 2 step logic. 

But we’re going to be the masses of unskilled players who make the game companies, including the makers of Cuphead, as rich as they can possibly be.

If there’s one happy ending, it’s that Cuphead did do well on the market showing that contrary to what Dean believes, it isn’t a good idea for all games to be dumbed down to the point where even video game journalists are able to play. 

The rest is more sob story and personal history. 

---

So what are my final thoughts? Well first of all, if you can’t solve a simple 2 step logic puzzle in part of a game with literally no losing conditions, you really are stupid. Pro or noob, there’s some point where you have to wonder how dumb the person with the controller is. There’s plenty of cases like the previously DarkSydePhil and also this blast from the past from IJustine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkYxfjJ72k4 Like seriously: use your eyes and brain homie!

But what about being just generally bad at games or just not knowing how to play well? It doesn’t matter. Contrary to what Dean thinks, tons of people aren’t going to be major assholes to you just because you picked up a game for the first time, don’t know the ropes, but decide to record yourself playing and slowly learning them. Plenty of let’s players do blind runs where they go into a game with no prior knowledge of it and yeah, they make mistakes but people are generally cool about it. 

However, there’s a point where making these silly mistakes over and over becomes...something of an issue. I’ve been driving for several years. If I legitimately couldn’t figure out which pedal is the break and which is the gas after all this time, it would be fair grounds to call me a dumbass or wonder if there’s something seriously wrong with my brain. As people do something more and more, it’s expected that they’re better at it than someone completely new. When someone does that thing for a job, it’s expected that they’re better at it than the average joe. 

And that’s the big thing here that Dean never addresses: it’s his job. He writes more about the tech than he does actual gameplay, yes, but he still boasts in his own article that he’s been in the industry for 18 years and have been playing games since Pong. 

It’s not even the rest of the video that was the issue but instead those 2.5 minutes (which he complained about Miles Ian Cheong trimming the video down to as a highlight) where he’s unable to solve that simple two step logic puzzle in a tutorial level. I drove cars for years because I have to get from point A to point B and it’s beyond walking distance and it would already be stupid if I couldn’t figure out the absolute basics of it. If I reviewed cars for a living and drove cars for longer than most car drivers have been alive for and I couldn’t figure out the basics of starting it, that would be beyond pathetic. I don’t think there’s a word in the English language that would be able to describe that amount of disconnect between the experience I should have and the amount I display. 

He constantly hides behind the idea that we’re not all professional e-sport people and gamers come at all skill levels...but he’s not at all skill levels. He’s literally a professional. Playing and reviewing games is literally his profession just like writing code or cooking meals is a profession.

You know how on Kitchen Nightmares Gordon Ramsey gets so pissed off at people who don’t know the basics of cooking and how to handle a kitchen even though it’s their job and they should have learned that in training? It’s like that. We’re basically Gordon Ramsey here watching some guy call himself a chef and his output is microwave heated frozen mac and cheese that’s somehow still raw and yet also on fire. And he wonders why people are yelling at him over the internet. 

Should video game journalists be good at video games? Yes! Just like food critics should understand how to cook a meal or reviewers of literature should know how to read! I don’t even know why video game journalists are trying to make this a contestable point. If you suck at your job, either get better....or don’t have you job! Get another one! 

I’m aware that this whole thing is a bit of old hat and I’m rambling on more and more than this guy deserves, but it is indicative of a larger problem within the industry. Just like the Zoe Quinn thing or the doritos pope thing was indicative of issues in the larger industry. Video game journalism has an effect and if some of them aren’t able to beat a simple tutorial level and then without any hint of irony, whine that video games should be easier when people call him out on it....it’s just baffling. 

It’s now 5:45 and I still have nothing better to do lol so I guess I guess it’s time for a few final words

I don’t think this event will lead to GamerGate 2. Hell, one article defending this guy had the title that GamerGate 1 never really ended. I don’t know how true it is but it seems over three years later since it started, the issues and arguments that were the foundation of GamerGate are still a bit relevant. But now there’s a new one: Some video game journalists are not only unethical....but they’re also utterly incapable! 

Anyways, join me next time as I’m even more late to the party and write my epic response Martin Luther’s 95 Thesis followed by a point by point breakdown of Oag the Caveman’s declaration of “Fire bad!”

[decoding1432]

If I had a dime for every time people tweet about 5H in those “unpopular opinion” threads misjudging them, I’d be rich tbh. Every single one of those threads always say something like “LM is better than 5H” or “5H are overrated” to an extent where it shouldn’t even be considered an unpopular opinion anymore. People just like to include them on these as a result of bandwagon hate. A truly unpopular opinion about them would be a comment where they get positive recognition. FACTS ONLY. Otherwise you wouldn’t read these type of comments on every single thread.

First… Yes, people may prefer LM & that’s okay. But it’s simple, there’s no reason to add 5H if you’re going to give LM credit. Plus, you know what’s even sadder? More than half of the ones who tweet “LM >>> 5H” actually sleep on Little Mix. They don’t care about them at all, unless it’s to bring up their name to drag Fifth Harmony… smh, both deserve so much better.

Allow girlbands to rise properly, stop comparisons when there’s room for everyone to shine.

Second of all, it’s 2017 & some people at this point would not being able to tell why they hate 5H, they just enjoy hopping on the bandwagon. I understand when someone doesn’t like the group  (it’s not for everyone) or when the music is not their cup of tea but when stan twitter like to trash talk them because it’s “trendy” it’s quite telling.

Many act like 5H is that group with “shitty songs” when the label’s restrictions musically, are not their fault. Unlike the majority of artists they’ve had to fight hard for their creative rights.

Many like to call them out for their dancing when half of the other millennial acts are not demanded to pull a single move on stage. Even when they’re not the best dancing group out there, don’t diminish excessive amount of hours spent in rehearsals building choreography & formations. Also twerking is not a sin & let’s not pretend like certain haters don’t pop their booties out to WFH or their faves’ hoe anthems.

Many take them for a bunch of untalented women who need to dress “slutty” to sell when a) their X factor auditions are receipts enough to acknowledge they CAN sing & b) about the sexist & double standard bullshit, I won’t go there.

Many perceive them as this plastic manufactured band when in the words of one of its members, they’re not unreachable dolls you can’t relate to. It takes one interview to see they are lovely & charismatic celebrities; the variety in their backgrounds & the representation they provide are aspects that go unnoticed at times if people focused too much on the term “manufactured”. Yes, they are indeed but any mainstream act is a manufactured product just like them. Ask Hollywood & the industry if not.

The old stereotype that for being a pop group means there’s something wrong with them is the reason why many won’t give them a chance & jump on the bandwagon straight ahead.

It’s 2017 & people (esp on Twitter) have in mind a general misconception of Fifth Harmony & throw them so much shit when those girls don’t deserve any of that. All they do is spread a message of loving/accepting yourself & the person next to you. They are such nice hardworking women with great voices.

I’m not saying everyone need to stan them, all I’m saying is that if someone is dragging them as an unpopular opinion– on the contrary– it’s quite common. Stop following the bandwagon & judge them truthfully.

[yourbestmasks]

i request ryuji, akira and mishima s/o is very talented at something(think about pianist or something that deals with their on Image) is looked down because the s/o is male and is dating one of them(a deliquent,or a criminal, or a no one) and sometime there are rumour about that their boyfriends(the one i I mentioned are just dating them for famous, or that they are Threatening them) i want hc about how they would deal with this, bonus if when they are alone the s/o just hug them and say sorry.)

I hope I did your request must Justice Anon, Here you go! - Talal.

Akira:

It was no surprise that Akira managed to grab the attention of a famous S/O, And even get in a relationship with them.

Even more so when it turns out he’s a pianist, He had watched and attended many of his shows.

But of course, S/O was too good to come for free.

Akira had to pay a price, but so did S/O. because even Akira’s too good to come for free.

S/O had to deal with constant rumors and the never-ending haters, in fact, they seemed to increase in number.

Whenever S/O is walking to a show with Akira, or even when they’re just being together; they could hear ranting and complaining in the background. occasionally, an assault.

“Can you believe S/O started dating a criminal?”

“Isn’t that so dumb? why would he ruin his career?”.

“It’s over for him, look at all this hate online!”

“Do you think S/O’s a criminal too?” 

“Maybe the criminal is threatening him? quick, call the police!”

Accusations and straight-up resentment followed these two everywhere they went.

Not only that, but some producers and companies neglected S/O because of this choice. they don’t want the stigma to stick on them as well.

S/O would cry repeatedly near Akira, he’ll hug him and comfort him, he’s the only person who can see his weak side.

Akira started suspecting the fact of his coming in his life; Was it really a good thing? Or was he the one responsible for ruining his future?

It’s been a long time since S/O has cried, and it seems like they’re really happy now.

But after a few months, S/O breaks down when they’re alone.

He was tricked by his acting, he gave Akira a hug and let out all the tears he’s been holding back. Akira was drenched in tears.

He tried comforting him, and he quietly asked S/O:

“Do you want me to leave your life?” He wanted him to be honest.

S/O kept crying and strictly said no.

“You’re the best thing that happened to me… I’m crying because you had to deal with all this bullshit.”

Akira was surprised, his tears were tears of empathy for him, not his weakness.

He wrapped his arms around him tightly.

“I’ll never leave you, I’ll always be by your side.”

 Ryuji:

Ryuji could not believe he landed himself a lover, he never thought he’d be in a relationship ever.

Not to mention, a famous person? He’ll always be grateful.

He didn’t love him for the money, or the fame. He genuinely fell for their personality. heck, he doesn’t even care about these things.

He’d always question the fact if he actually deserves him or not, and that Idea pushes him towards becoming a better person.

He’ll hug him and carry him bridal-style in public, he doesn’t really care.

Until a certain incident happened.

On a certain show, a fan has violated the rules and attacked S/O.

Ryuji was backstage, when he saw what was happening, he immediately interfered.

He hit the fan and pushed them away, people took their cameras out and got video footage/pictures.

“LMAO me trying to protect my crush xD”

“When your favorite concert turns into a street-fighting gang.”

“I can’t believe my favorite celeb is GAY????”

And a lot of articles were published.

“Fan violates their Idol, Boyfriend interferes”.

“The true nature of S/O’s sexuality.”

All these brought S/O’s career down to the earth, he wasn’t ashamed of being Gay, just the way people figured it out was a bit unsatisfactory.

Most of all, S/O was afraid he harmed Ryuji’s life in some way.

At school, Ryuji would receive many hateful comments.

“Even outside of school you cause trouble, You’re such a delinquent and that won’t change.”

“I bet you dated S/O just so you can beg for money and fix your leg.”

The teachers despised Ryuji even more, the school considered expelling him for the sake of their reputation.

He finally went to S/O, and he apologized for the course of action he took.

“Listen… I don’t wanna ruin your career. It doesn’t feel good Y’know?”

“Plus, who would want to date a delinquent like me.” His face would frown and his eyes would tear up.

That’s when S/O gave him a tight hug, and he let some tears out at that moment.

“I love you Ryuji, and nothing can change that fact, even my career.”

Mishima:

After running the Phan-site and seeing how strong the Phantom Thieves are, he wanted to change.

So he pursued love, and oh boy did he find some.

S/O was the best partner, he accepted Mishima as he is and he gave him all the love he needed.

He couldn’t help but feel like he’s dreaming when he’s with him.

He’d be really supportive for S/O, but deep down; he actually feels like a nobody whenever he sees him perform.

A lot of people were commenting on the pictures they took together.

“Who the fuck is that?”

“Looks like a nerd with no life.”

“Lmao, gays.”

It didn’t bother S/O  much, but it did bother Mishima.

He was already self-conscious before any of this happened, now he has to deal with the Phantom Thieves hate and the hate directed at him.

Soon enough, the hate shifted onto S/O.

They were judged by people, and they couldn’t be left alone.

Mishima was quick to take action, he truly felt like no-one with S/O and he didn’t want the stigma to carry on to him.

He sat with him and they talked for a bit, before Mishima started talking about the subject.

“I don’t feel I deserve you S/O, I was a nobody and I’ll always be a nobody.”

He wanted a reason to feel strong, a reason to feel like he mattered. but he couldn’t see it without the help of S/O.

“You’re everything to me, and being famous doesn’t mean obligating to what the media says. It just means people have their eyes on you. and if they don’t like it they can look away.” S/O said before planting a deep kiss on Mishima’s lips. while hugging him at the same time.

Mishima was as solid as a rock right now, even after breaking he couldn’t believe what just happened.

[theknowing-ff-blog]

Hell Date (Writing challenge 1)

“Shit, Tori get it together. Just act natural and all will go well.”

“Why are you so nervous? It’s only a date, girl.” Ashley said as she was standing in the mirror reapplying her lipstick. She was the only one ecstatic about this.

“I don’t like blind dates, Ashley.”

“You don’t like dates, Tori. You haven’t dated in a year. I’m surprised Samir was able to get you on one.” She’s right, but I try to avoid men as much as possible. With sweat trying to trickle down my forehead, my nerves got the best of me. Blind dates were freaking horrible. The problem was, I agreed to three of them and I don’t think I can make it to the end of this one.

A little background on this date, our best friend think he’s the love connection and decided he would set us up with us with his co-workers. Now here I am pacing back and forth in this bathroom, trying to calm myself down. What if the guy isn’t my type? What if he’s some psycho killer? Better yet, what if I’m not his type? So many things were running through my mind and I just wanted to run the hell up out of this restaurant. I glanced over in the mirror and realized that I wasn’t going to waste this look I had going on. I had a new curly wig, my makeup was popping and my black sequin chain dress was hugging my curves so nicely.

“Well, Tori, you didn’t get fine for nothing.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” I sighed deeply and fixed my dress before we headed back out there.

It had been fifteen minutes and our mystery men were already late. I was sitting at the bar and I was already on my second shot of this unsatisfying Jameson whiskey. I was becoming annoyed and wanted to leave right that second. I know this is not a marriage arrangement or anything, but I was so damn nervous. I’m not good with dates at all and I think it’s because I’m scared. It took everything in me to stay there and that’s when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and noticed it was Samir and some girl hey met a few weeks ago. Why must this date be a group date?

“Wassup Tori and Ashley. Y'all look decent.” He said chuckling.

“Hey, Samir.” I looked up at him and took another shot.

“Samir, you’re a hater. We look the fuck good, okay? what are you doing here?”

“Well we wanted to do the whole buddy system, just in case yall dates starts tripping.” He smirked, but I wasn’t in the mood for jokes. I just wanted this date to be over.

“Well, where are they Samir? Did they turn around and leave? That would fade all of my worries.” I said as I waved at the bartender to bring me another shot.

“Tori, can try to be interested in a date for once? You’re not marrying the guy, you’re here to have fun. Here they are now.” That’s when I saw them. One was tall, dark and just fine. The other one was fine too. He was a caramel complexion, tall as well and I don’t know which one it was, but I could smell Viktor & Rolf Spice Bomb Cologne as they made their way over to us.

As soon as they walked over, Samir and his date went to their table and left me and Ashley at the bar. I gulped down my shot and the first thing I noticed from the caramel one, was that his smile turned into a frown. I was confused because was that frown for me or Ashley? I should hope not considering I thought we both looked so fine tonight. Maybe I’m overthinking everything because I’m so damn nervous. Shit, I hope this date goes well.

“Are you Victoria?” The caramel one approached me. His sexy, deep voice had chills running up my spine.

“Yes, but you call me Tori. You’re Ricardo, right?”

“Yes and I rather call you Victoria.” He said it in a nonchalant manner. What the hell was up with that? Strike one.

“Oh okay, um our table is ready.” He rolled his eyes and that’s when I gave Ashley a cold stare as she and her date were all smiles and giggles. Little did she know this date was starting off wrong already. I’m just trying to figure what did I do wrong.

Sitting down, our waiter finally came over and asked us if wanted anything to drink. To be honest I wanted to leave. My date seemed so uninterested and it was just plain rude. I’m no fan of blind dates and I know I didn’t want to do this date either, but I’m trying. I swear if he says anything out of the way I’m leaving and throwing a glass of wine on him. I don’t have time for men and their shitty ass behaviors.

“So I hear you work with Samir. You guys are both into graphic designing, that seems so cool. How do you like it?”

“I mean it’s cool, as you put it. I always had a passion for graphic designing and illustration. Working on my own company as we speak. What do you do for a living? Post pics on Instagram?”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you one of those uneducated Instagram models? You just seem like the type. I can tell by your dress, Yeezy season 2 shoes and that hair.” What the hell? I was two seconds from slapping this guy with the menu. How dare he downplay “Instagram” models as he so put it? Strike two.

“Well, first off I’m a hairstylist. Second, I do make money from social media, but I’m no model. I also have a masters in engineering. So who’s uneducated here?” The look on his face was priceless. Ashley and her date both looked over at us and frowned.

“How long did it take you to come up with that?” He smirked and folded his arms together.

“Not that long. Cosmetology at Paul Mitchell didn’t take long. Then getting my degree from the University of Michigan didn’t take long either. Nice try, because you’re really trying it.”

“Look, I’m sorry. I just get tired of going on dates with women who have nothing going on. You give off the vibe that you’re only here for free food and that’s it. You give off the vibe that you don’t do anything but take selfies.”

“Well, you know what they say when you assume. You make an ass of yourself. Would you like it if I judged your ass off the rip? No, you wouldn’t.” His ass shut up then. He knew he was wrong. He had no reason to be that ignorant.

Our waiter came back, sitting our drinks down and that’s when I decided to order an appetizer. I was so close to ending this, but of course, I’m trying to appease Ashley and Samir. They both want me to date so bad, but the guy Samir set me up with is an asshole. I know Samir was trying to do a good deed, but I wish he would’ve have known this son of a bitch was rude.

“So, what made you go to school for hair and engineering?”

“Those are two things I have a passion for and of course I never want to rely on a man for everything. I need my own money, but I don’t have a problem with my man taking care of things.”

“This is why I date white women. They know how to sit back and let a man be a man. You come off aggressive and also demanding. I honestly don’t see what man would want to date you or any woman like you. Black women always want too much. Plus, you continued a back and forth session with me when all you had to do was be quiet. Typical black women shit.” He had a smug look and that’s when the waiter came right on time. I noticed Ashley cocked her head back and was appalled. I don’t know who this guy thought he was playing with, but he had the wrong one. How the hell did I come off aggressive when he started it? And where does he get off with these black women comments? Strike three.

As the waiter came back, he asked if were ready to order anything else and that’s when I told him no because we needed more time. That’s what had; time. I was about to go off on this man since he wanted to be an asshole and put down black women. He really fucked up and now I have to ruin his night and everyone else’s.

“What the fuck is wrong with him. What do you mean typical black women shit? Lawrence, check your boy.” Ashley sat her drink down hard as hell, but I could handle this situation very well.

“Ricardo, chill man. Just leave, don’t be disrespectful towards her.” Lawrence was annoyed and I could tell he wasn’t feeling Ricardo at all.

“That’s why you date white women? Basically, you believe they’re easier to control, huh?”

“Absolutely. They know their place, unlike your kind.”

“My kind? Oh, I’m sorry is your mother of another race or is that underlying racism really fucking with your head? How dare you put down your own women just to say you like white women? Are really this ignorant or you just want a way out of this date? ” we had an audience and honestly I was getting louder on purpose.

“My mother is black but she doesn’t ac-”

“She doesn’t what? Just shut the fuck up, please. Black men like you make it bad for the rest that actually respects us. The fact that you can sit up with a straight face and disrespect me is disgusting. A white woman can you have your sorry ass and we’ll see who has your back when you face racial issues from racist ass people. I’m out of here.” I got up and grabbed my purse.

“Are you done?”

“As a matter of fact, I’m not.” I picked my wine glass up and took a sip. I gave him a dirty look and that’s when I threw the rest in his face. “Now I’m done. Oh Samir, thank you for this blind date, but never again.” I shouted across the room. “Ashley, I will talk to you later. Enjoy your date with this gentleman.”  and that’s when I made my way out of the restaurant. I didn’t have time for the bullshit.

Waiting for my uber, I was heated. I was tired and I was ready to go off on every man that looked my way. I know there are men who disrespect women on a daily, but I never had a man disrespect me personally. Truth be told, I felt embarrassed. When all eyes were on us I felt like I was the one being judged and not him. That’s usually how it is right?

“Excuse me mi-”

“Wha- uh, oh….hi. Yes, can I help you.” I turned around quickly and just when I was getting ready to curse someone out, this fine ass man stopped all of that.

“Hi, I heard what happened in there. Are you alright?”

“Not really. I don’t like when men disrespect  me or any woman for that matter.”

“Yeah, that was pretty messed up. I don’t like seeing shit like that either. I just don’t understand how he could disrespect someone as beautiful as you.” He said as his tongue ran across his bottom lip. I don’t know what it was, but he was so sexy.

“Are you trying to flirt me?”

“I don’t know, is it working?”

“Kind of.” I giggled and fixed my dress. He was so damn beautiful and I don’t know why I was turning red in the face. He was making me nervous.

“I’m Brandon by the way? You are?”

“I’m Tori.”

“Well Tori, are you willing to go on date with me since that one didn’t work?” I wanted to say no, but the vibe was telling me to say yes.

“Hmm, I guess. As long as you’re not disrespectful or crazy.”

“I promise you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Hmm, okay. Now I’m going to hold you to that.” He handed me his phone and that’s when I put my number in it. This was another risk I was willing to take. He was fine and seemed nice. “Here you go.” I handed his phone back and that’s when my uber pulled up.

“When I call you, don’t act like you don’t remember me.”

“Oh, believe me, I won’t. Bye” I waved him bye and got inside of the car. Let’s just hope this works out better than what I just had with that jerk in there. I don’t need any more hell dates, Lord knows.