#which is a complete antithesis to the heart of the show

[plantsjustwannahavefun]

I am once again begging Ed stans to understand that it's possible to love Ed and believe he deserves love AND also admit that he mistreated and tormented the crew during the Kraken era. Not only is this possible, this is the position the show wants you to have. You think Izzy deserved everything he got? Fine, whatever, forget about him for a minute. There's a whole crew in there you're supposed to empathise with and feel sympathy for, too. The six of them that Ed actively tried to kill or left for dead, for starters. Pay attention to the crew's experiences and reactions. They're shown to be traumatised, grieving, clinging to disassociation (Frenchie) and nihilism (Archie) as coping mechanisms and suffering from PTSD flashbacks. And, since this type of fans constantly go on about how it's racist to think Ed did anything wrong... what about the fact that a lot of the crew are PoC too? What then?

If you've watched the first 3 episodes of S2 and there was only one person on that ship you felt sorry for, then you're not a fan of OFMD, you're just a fan of Ed in isolation. And if the only way you can love Ed is by denying that he ever did anything wrong, then you're completely missing the point of the show. OFMD never said that people only deserve to be loved if they're morally perfect and flawless. The show doesn't subscribe to the dichotomy of Good vs Bad. Good people can do bad things. They can hurt the ones they love. Even if they didn't mean to, even if they themselves were suffering at the time, it doesn't mean they don't need to take responsibility for their actions or avoid the consequences. Stede didn't mean to hurt Mary and his kids when he left, but he still did. He had legitimate reasons for leaving, he didn't just do it for the lolz, but it was still wrong and Mary was right to be angry at him. And Stede needed to face up to this - not just for their sake but his too. Even though it turned out their lives were better off without him, reconciling with Mary was still crucial for his character development.

It was the same for Ed, it just didn't get handled quite as well due to lack of screentime, but the idea was the same. When Ed realises he'd been cruel to Fang and apologises, he isn't sinking into self-hatred and despair. Quite the contrary, this is a moment of growth for him. Because the fact is, just because you as a human being are inherently worthy of love doesn't mean you can go around hurting everyone and expecting them to put up with you. That's just not how it works. You don't need to be perfect, but you do need to listen to people when they tell you that you hurt them and apologise genuinely and try to be better. The show is very sympathetic to Ed but it does NOT excuse his actions. The crew aren't portrayed as villains or antagonists for being scared and angry at Ed for what he did to them. Even Stede was on their side with this one. If even Stede is able to see things from the crew's POV and have sympathy for them, then you should too. Stede doesn't love Ed because he sees Ed as a pure uwu angel. He loves Ed... because he just does. He loves being around him. They really click together. They have so much in common. That doesn't mean he approves of literally everything Ed has ever done. It just means he loves Ed despite that.

[beautifulhigh]

Welcome to the next edition of Jen's meta ramblings

I have watched the movie at least once a day since it came out and I kid you not, I see something new every time. The fact that this is Matthew López's first directoral debut is just... I'm in awe. And you can tell how much he loves the story because of the way things like this are set up and played out

In the novel, Henry and Alex are skinny dipping in the lake at night, and so I absolutely got the change in both time of day and also attire. But let's talk about that little island shall we?

No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea

Every single one of us is not meant to be alone, without connection and without a link to someone else. We are parts of a whole and if we lose that... well. It's not good.

Henry is on that island, our prince who belongs to Britain and Henry Fox who thinks he has to belong to himself. The prince is forced into status and circumstance, of appearances and mindless ribbon cuttings. When he does something that means something - like the trip to the cancer ward - then he doesn't do it with cameras. I'd argue he's not the prince there, he's Henry Fox. The man who lost his father to cancer.

But this is not that meta.

Henry has shut himself off, shut himself away. He doesn't date the people he's interested in, he doesn't live his truth (and for very good and valid reasons). He has decided that while Prince Henry belongs to Britain, Henry Fox is an island.

And look who is swimming up to that island. Look who is coming out to Henry, having realised the night before that oh yeah, I do feel forever about him and so Alex swims out to that island.

And the first thing he does? He makes Henry laugh. He is silly and fun and the complete antithesis of the composed and collected Prince of Wales. And then he joins Henry, on his island.

This gorgeous overhead shot shows us that Alex is putting himself on Henry's right (protocol or his good side?) but he's also in the centre of the island. He's not on the edge of it. In the metaphor of Henry Fox's island, Alex is putting himself at the heart of it all. RIght before he lays out his heart to Henry.

The shot that broke our hearts too, along with Henry's. Because we can see the shore in the background now. We're reminded that islands are not - they cannot be fully independent. People cannot be islands and even though Alex is literally and metaphorically planting himself at Henry's side, Henry knows that this island he's formed for himself in his heart and his sense of self cannot stand if Alex is there. If Alex is with him then he is no longer an island. Henry Fox will not belong to himself and the sense of protection and self-preservation we see coming out in the Storming of Kensington is under threat.

So he bails.

The island is submerged, like the mythical Atlantis, because how do you render land useless? Drown it. How do you deal with water? Drain it away. He abandons his island and flees back to the only other space he has left - Kensington Palace - in an attempt to regroup. He drains his life of Alex and what he brings. He has to return to being the Prince of Wales because Henry Fox got too close. Because Henry Fox realised he was being loved by a man who would literally swim out to where he is.

Moment of appreciation for the shot. Matthew, you have a fucking talent and I cannot wait to see what else you do. Because our #imtaller boy looks so small here. So lost. When else have we seen someone look so small and lost?

Oh. Yeah.

When he's curling in on himself in an almost last-ditch attempt to protect himself and his boundaries from what is coming. You can see that he's no longer dry, that Alex's "shower time" has changed him. Alex brought laughter and love and water onto his island and Henry has just realised what this means. This isn't a visitor's visa. This is immigration.

Which is what makes THIS so much more. Back to our boy, drenched from the storm, plaintively asking Henry to talk to him.

Because yes, the Storming of Kensington happens during an actual storm, but by now you know I overead into everything... so once again we have Alex "swimming" out to Henry. He's dived right in and gone are the jokes, gone is the humour. He is here and he is asking to be let in and daring Henry to send him away.

This is Alex, serious and in love and following Henry to whatever landmass he is setting foot on. Henry is trying to be an island and Alex is out here going, "I'll just build another boat you fucker". A true 'ship if you will. He swam out to an island on a lake, he flew to a tiny island across an ocean. He is standing at Henry's borders and he isn't launching an offensive. He's just saying that if Henry wants to be cut off from everything then he needs to do the cutting himself.

Prince Henry felt like he belonged to Britain, Henry Fox felt like he had to belong to himself, and Alex turned up and went "nope. Mine now". (Insert additional historical quip about the English being colonised for once.) But there is still some truth in that: the Prince is part of England, and we should all belong to ourselves even in relationships. Henry just learns that the different parts of him can co-exist. Bit like how water and land can co-exist without one destroying the other.

Henry is Alex's North Star but he's also his solid ground. Insert quip about Alex colonising Henry and claiming him for his own, planting of flag, your innuendo of choice goes here. Pyramus wished there wasn't a wall - Alex straight up scaled Henry's.

There's a divergence between Prince Henry and Henry Fox, but at the heart of them both there's Henry. And this is the man that Alex sees, this is the man that Alex loves. Alex swims out to the island for Henry Fox, Alex pushes through the rain for Prince Henry. Alex holds steady in the storm of talking with King James/Queen Mary and the public.

And it started with Alex literally making his way out to Henry on an island: be that England for the Royal Wedding, a pontoon island on a lake, or knocking down Henry's walls.

To this moment. Which is very hard to grab a screenshot of, but Alex asks Henry to "take a walk" with him. This time it's Henry going to/with Alex. The fact that he's there is one thing (and a rant rather than a meta) but at this point they have each other. They belong to each other. Where one of them goes, the other one follows. Independent, together, co-existing.

Anyway. I'm sure there will be more bullshit ramblings and metas at some point. Follow me if you want more of that (but be warned: blank and empty blogs are blocked on sight) because we are not islands in this metaphorical storm of life. Let us swim out to one another, dry off with one another, and live a life with broken down borders and walls.

ETA: I now have another name to add to the thanks. Stephen Goldblatt, from the bottom of my soul, thank you

[hq-movie-reviews]

Anora- ★★★★★ (Spoilers)

First Watched- 10/18/2024

Anora broke my heart. 

Now, I don’t want to be that guy, but I feel like this movie was made for me. I don’t want to be that guy, but I’ve been on board with this film since Mikey Madison’s casting. Additionally, when this movie won the Palme d’Or a day after my birthday, I was locked in. I figured this movie was sent down from a higher power just for me, and I was right.

When I think of Anora, I think less of the comedic moments than I think of the echoes of the tragedy of Anora herself. Anora is a story about difference. It is a story about love, and how that larger-than-life, human feeling can manifest in the most unexpected ways. 

One of the reasons this film is so effective is how these deeply human themes can be so prevalent behind humor. The movie plays into irony so well- in fact, I think this is one of the funniest movies of the year. There were points where my hand would fly to my mouth so I wouldn’t, like, cause a scene. This is mostly due to the fact that the dialogue in this film is so sharp, and most importantly, so real. Sean Baker’s writing oozes charisma, and the actors accentuate that beyond what I could’ve imagined. 

Mikey Madison is a star. I seriously believe she is locked in for the Oscar, or, at the very least, she deserves to be. When I read and watched the interviews behind the making of Anora, I was in awe of how much passion and care she brought to the role. Even the supporting actors and actresses were on a different level, however, I want to specifically mention Yuriy Borisov, who played Igor. Exploring that, even before the film starts, the audience, through the marketing, is led to believe that this film is a love story between Ani and Ivan. The surprising beauty of this film, though, is the bond that her and Igor develop throughout the course of the film. The whole series of events throughout this film focuses on Ani and Ivan, yet, by the end of the film, Ani and Igor’s forced proximity bond is finally given the opportunity to shine through.

Something else I want to gush about is the visuals; this movie is gorgeous. I was lucky enough to catch a 35mm showing at the Brooklyn Alamo Drafthouse with my sister, and our experience was unforgettable. The sheer clarity in the colors was just out of this world. Actually, to expand on that, something about Anora that really did catch my eye was the color. Ani herself is advertised in red. In all the promotional material for the film, she’s got either red nails, red shoes, red outfits, or red accessories. This is really interesting because Ivan, in contrast, is usually seen wearing clothes with blue highlights. This is explored ingeniously by the Vegas-bender scenes. In Vegas, Ani, wearing a red bikini, is in an outdoor pool, with the water and sky taking up most of the screen. I find this important because it serves as a direct mirror to her first meeting with Ivan. At first, the two met on Ani’s “home turf,” so to speak. When Ani first meets Ivan, it’s at HQ, bathed in red light. Compare that to the point in which after agreeing to be exclusive with Ivan for a week, Ani is seen wearing her colors being drowned out by Ivan’s color- blue. Hell, even the scene when Ani first visits Ivan at his house, she is wearing a light blue dress. As she continued going to his house, Ani’s wardrobe got more red. To me, this feels like Baker trying to emphasize not only  the two characters’ differences- how they are two completely different people, but also their individuality, and the strength in that individuality. One of the only times we see the antithesis to this principle is at their marriage ceremony in Vegas, in which both Ani and Ivan wore white; they are both at the same level with the same intention of loving each other. It is also interesting to note that at Ivan’s party to which he invites Ani to, they are bathed in purple lighting. With that, though, as their marriage broke down, so did their colors. By the end of their marriage, Ani is left donning red again with a red scarf(GIVEN TO HER BY IGOR, BY THE WAY) as she has this big crisis of faith in Ivan, while Ivan is left wearing his blue hoodie in broad daylight, as his true colors began to show. 

In that, though, is what I find heartbreaking about Anora. Throughout the first third of the film, Ani and Ivan’s romance is given space to breathe and grow. The movie gives the audience time to believe in their romance, emphasized by the chemistry Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn had. Ivan’s entire family, though, was hellbent on tearing their marriage apart, telling Ani that she doesn’t know Ivan, and that she shouldn’t trust him. The movie, even around the halfway mark, tries to hammer the point home by having Ivan run away when he was confronted by his family. I remember thinking to myself, Okay, he’s gonna come back, because the movie makes the audience want them to make it all the way. The film did an excellent job of putting us in Ani’s shoes, immersing us into her mindset. Anyways, to go back, I wanted to say that this movie broke my heart because Ivan’s family was right…kind of. They were right in the fact that Ani did not know Ivan- that he was just a bachelor- a bratty kid who wanted to blow his money away. The film broke my heart because Ani believed that her Cinderella dreams were coming true, only for the rug to be pulled underneath her by her own husband.

Anora is a film that I expected to love, honestly. That doesn’t stop the fact that the film was an emotional rollercoaster that left me stunned. What Sean Baker and Samantha Quan achieved with this film is something for the history books, and I hope that Anora receives all the critical praise it can get. My experience venturing to Brooklyn with my sister to watch the film was unforgettable, and I don’t think it’s out of the realm of reason to say this film could potentially be an all-time favorite of mine; hell, it’s already probably my favorite film of the year. Call it recency bias, call me crazy, whatever- the feeling this film gave me is not one a regular film can give me- it’s something more. Anora is more than a regular film, and needs to be experienced by everyone.

[aliensupersyn]

Love, Isolation, and Heavenly Restrictions

"Love is worthless" Sukuna vs. "I don't have a heart" Maki.

NOTICE: This was written after the end of 251, weeks before 253's serialization.

TLDR: My case for why Maki will play a pivotal role in killing Sukuna, and showing how her character arc has led to this exact moment. In other words, she's gonna humble the King of Curses. Skip to section four if you don't care for a summary of their combined arcs. Here's the reddit thread if you're into that sort of thing.

I. Fate

Love and isolation have been major motifs throughout JuJutsu Kaisen, mainly concerning Sukuna and Gojo; both these characters satisfy a fateful premise in jujutsu: the existence of the strongest sorcerer of a generation or era. Sukuna, Kashimo, and Gojo all hold the title of "strongest sorcerer" for their respective eras, and for the sake of this post, I will call it a fateful role.

I say fate because Tengen and the omniscient narrator refer to fate as something real that connects certain roles throughout the different eras. For example, it has been Kenjaku's fate to be stopped by a six eyes user.

Toji's existence as an anomaly beyond the power of jujutsu allowed him to break the chains of fate and change the world. By killing the star plasma vessel, something fate was constantly protecting, he opened the doors for Kenjaku to complete his ludicrous plan of merging all Japanese citizens with Tengen.

II. Visual motifs between Toji, Maki, Gojo, and Sukuna

The main (obvious) connections between Toji and Maki:

While Naoya was an idiot, his comparison between Gojo and Toji was not random and should be acknowledged. He recognized the two of them as being the pinnacles of strength. Though, Naoya did not have the sense to understand what Toji and Gojo represented: jujutsu and the rejection of it. Naoya could never occupy the space that Toji and Gojo did. Not only due to his lack of power, but also because he doesn't have the same Heavenly Restriction that Toji and Maki share. Moreso, Toji and Maki represent the antithesis of the strongest sorcerer by being the strongest beings beyond jujutsu sorcery.

Toji, and Maki by extension, have been narratively connected to Gojo, who satisfies the fateful role of strongest sorcerer. Toji's connection to Gojo mirrors Maki's connection to Sukuna. The backstab in 251 seals this connection between the two pairs (will come back to this).

Gojo thinks of the last time he's ever feared loss, and remembers Toji. I believe Sukuna will have a similar moment where he fears loss by Maki's hands which will mirror this page.

Gege has left little crumbs throughout the story connecting Toji and Gojo, depicting Toji to be the antithesis to jujutsu, and finally connecting Toji and Maki. While that's commonly understood, I don't think enough people respect the fact that Toji, Gojo, and Maki's connection meets Sukuna in the end. Gege has tied all four of them together in the narrative, and that's sure to have some major payoff.

III. Love and Isolation

Yorozu, Kashimo, and Gojo all misunderstand Sukuna as being lonely, the latter two projecting their feelings of dejection onto him.

Gojo and Kashimo's sentiments were useless, as Sukuna completely rejects love and calls it worthless. He's not lonely because he's the strongest, he's the strongest because he's alone! Sukuna has evolved past being a human who needs love and he does only what satisfies his own desires. He eats what he wants, he kills what he wants, and he makes anything his own amusement if he wishes to. Sukuna represents a completely selfish outlook that takes and rarely gives. The only thing Sukuna gives is death, and even that he withholds from people who do not interest him.

While Maki appears as being cold, she still cares for her friends. Even before her and Mai made up, she still showed love for her sister, but refused to belittle herself for the sake of their relationship. Maki represents a person who refuses to allow love to hold her back.

Even though Maki gained new powers after Mai's sacrifice, she still could not reach her full potential because she was modeling herself after sorcerers, which she can never be. Maki and Toji can see curses, but relying on her vision only held her back. Her last fight with Naoya was about her finally breaking away from jujutsu's holds and becoming free. First she cleansed her family tree, her namesake that literally connected her to jujutsu, then she freed herself from thinking like a sorcerer altogether.

Finally, she became a demonic fighter. While she appears cold, she still cares for others. She doesn't regret Mai's fate, but instead embraces it and their relationship. Maki's still a heartless fighter, but one who can express care and concern for her allies. She's selfish enough to refuse to allow others to hold her back, but loving enough to protect those she cares about. Sukuna similarly refuses to be held back by love, and therefore cannot be lonely. Maki exists somewhere in the same realm of being loveless, but not nearly as much as Sukuna.

While the two of them share a heartless attitude and a monstrous demeanor, they exist as complete opposite beings. Sukuna's the greatest and strongest model of jujutsu, and Maki's the absolute antithesis of sorcery. Both of them stand alone in their respective extremes, and again, are alone because they are the strongest. Maki's vision of curses, her last remaining connection to jujutsu was hindering her ability to grow stronger; she was blind to her own abilities because of sorcery. Gege makes it obvious that Toji and Maki break the rules of sorcery. Meaning, Maki will be Sukuna's downfall.

IV. Maki's Advantages Over Sukuna

Toji and Maki are the only two of their kind to ever exist. Therefore, Sukuna has never fought a being, a monster like Maki in his entire life. Megumi never found out about Toji or his abilities, so Sukuna still does not have a reference for Maki's abilities. He may be able to recount Megumi's fight against him, that's very limited information, especially because Toji was not full strength. Maki has the element of surprise.

Maki's backstab leaves many questions. The narrator specifies that Sukuna should have been able to sense a sorcerer performing the backstab, but he failed to sense Maki; she is not a sorcerer, but an anomaly, a monster who is not beholden to jujutsu or sorcery. Sukuna's lack of awareness could be because he's been weakened, but he's failed to notice Maki before.

Many people misinterpret this panel to be Sukuna surprised by Maki's aura, but I disagree and argue that he's shocked that he cannot sense her. Both Yuji and Sukuna are suprised by her sudden appearance. Due to Maki not having any cursed energy, Sukuna cannot sense her power and will be forced to rely on sight to find her. Yet, Maki needs neither sight nor cursed energy to fight curses. Maki senses the air's temperature and density, a sight only she possesses that gives her an advantage over curses.

Also, Sukuna sensed that Maki was a problem and thanked Uraume for possibly taking her out:

The top four seek to stop the merger and sever Megumi from Sukuna's body, and Maki possesses a sword that severs souls! Sukuna has been worn down until his cursed energy matched Yuta's, who's now number one since Gojo's died. Keep in mind that Gojo was worlds ahead of Yuta, so Sukuna's power has plummeted and he needs time to recover.

Sukuna's inner monologue in 250:

Maki has the Heavenly Restriction, the sword, the sight, and the timing needed to be able to face Sukuna and possibly even defeat him. Gojo, Kashimo, Higuruma, Yuta, and Yuji were all a means to an ends to weaken Sukuna until Maki could come and clean up (I'm exaggerating).

Maki's entire character arc has been about her clashing with Sukuna. Maki, the monstrous human w/o CE vs Sukuna, the monstrous once-sorcerer with the most CE. Their fight will be about both their ideals and powers. Is strength truly isolating? To what extent does the monster cast aside love? Can monstrous strength be used to protect others?

Edit:

Sukuna's domain may be the only one that works on her (and Kenjaku's but he's dead) because they don't have barrier mechanics. As pointed out by SwimmingStreet8981, "Sukuna showed that he cuts absolutely everything in his domain. He turned buildings to dust without even trying."

Either Gege restores Sukuna's domain to turn the battle once more, or the domain battle with Gojo was for the sake of the top 4 not having to worry about Sukuna's domain. I think the latter tbh.

Questions for their battle:

Now that Sukuna's down to two hands and one mouth, and Maki might be the fastest person in meta at this moment, how much deep shit is Sukuna in?

Will the soul splitting blade be the key to stop the merger? How does that even work against Sukuna?

[outro-jo]

skz with a science-y partner

pairing: skz member x gn reader

type: scenarios

warnings: none (unless you count stupidity 😃)

request: yes

notes: i got a request of skz having a partner in physics… the problem is i’m incredibly stupid and know literally nothing about science except that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell… or something. and i barely watched the big bang theory. so i wrote about what i know… which is nothing 😃 it shows in the fact that i think i got physics confused with chemistry in some places so we’re just gonna do like general science or something. enjoy 🙃

please read info before requesting!

masterlist | info

———————————

chan- there were times when chris invited you to the studio and you enjoyed see what he did but chris LOVED the rare days when he could come to work with you. he loved the goggles, lab coats, the chemicals. he had no idea what anything was or did he was just happy to be there. you obviously warned him not to touch anything and he was happy to comply. he was content just to sit there quietly and watch you work. he just wanted to be with you.

lee know- he brags about you A LOT. he never fully understands what exactly you do but he gets bits and pieces to brag to the boys about (not like they’d really know either). it goes to a completely new level when you start winning awards for your work. he is absolutely BEAMING on your arm at the awards ceremonies and doesn’t shut up to anyone who will half listen about your achievements.

changbin- binnie’s actually really smart and incredible at math so sometimes he tracks with you for a bit before you lose him. it shocked the hell out of you when one day he walked by your board in the living room, you were staring at it, trying to work through an equation that had you totally stumped when binnie walks by and corrects your math. you never lived it down.

hyunjin- it doesn’t matter how many times you explain things, he looks at you with these wide eyes with absolutely nothing going on behind them. each time you roll your eyes and stop he begs you to keep going. he just likes hearing you talk about what it is you do even when it all goes over his head.

jisung- the antithesis to chan in that when you bring him to work, he can’t help but not touch everything. you turned your back for a minute, next thing you know you hear bubbling and he had managed to turn something green. it’s all you can do to keep him from getting a chemical burn some days. but he’s cute so it’s fine i guess 🙄

felix- he’s such a cutie. he comes to you with “science-y” stuff he finds on tiktok. he loves to look through the stem section and come to you with videos he needs more clarification on. bless his heart, sometimes he asks about things that totally aren’t in your field of study but you come up with an answer that suffices him. you recognize it’s just a way for you two to connect on something you love.

seungmin- he likes to pretend he knows what you’re talking about he just ends up sounding like kronk. “riiiiigggghhhtt! the formula. the formula for the thing. the equation for the formula for the thing.” eventually he learns more than you think and surprises you when he can actually keep up with conversation. he definitely tries to learn stuff on his own.

i.n- baby boy is just happy to be with you. supportive boy. he loves bringing you lunch to the lab and seeing what your working on. he just smiles and nods and let’s you tell him all about your current project and findings.

[cardinalcompass]

TMayNT Day 13: Best Don

I have not been really participating in TMayNT, I'm not active enough on this site to be able to complete it, but Donatello is my favorite turtle (automatically, for better or for worse) and I needed to answer this

My favorite Donnie, and therefore automatically my favorite turtle in the whole franchise, is '03 Don. I entered the franchise following an Animaniacs obsession at 14 and wanting more Rob Paulsen, couldn't find where to watch the 2012 cartoon, and stayed for 2003 after finding it for free on YouTube (kind of poetic, in a way)

Don is special in a case that captured the hearts of many fans that also find him as their favorite. He's a sort of antithesis to the "Jerk Genius" that we see very often in media. He's smarter than his brothers, than most of the characters in the show, but he doesn't push others down for not understanding things on his level. Sure, he makes the occasional "lame-brain" joke, but I do stuff like that with my siblings all the time, and I'm not a genius technician. He makes a real effort to be kind and helpful with people who need it, which is an aspect I try to imitate in my day-to-day life. (I also wish I could imitate his genius, but we can't have everything in life!)

When watching episodes and arcs of 2003 TMNT, he's the character I keep an eye out for, even if he shows up in the background without a major role for the episode. When I was first watching the show, I (admittedly, but I was 14 and didn't care about watching things in order) skipped around to watch the Don-centric episodes and arcs that I had heard about online. His involvement in the infamous Same As It Never Was and the Good Genes arc still haunt the fanbase, and are some of the most infamous episodes in the whole franchise today, 20 years later!

I love his relationships with his family and friends. I'm a firm believer of Raph and Don being the twins of 2003, their onscreen interactions are always golden. Leo and Don have a level of trust with each other that I don't see as often in other TMNT cartoons, I love seeing the cool-tone brothers hanging out and pretending to be saner than their louder brothers. Mike and Don are also a joy to watch. The two youngest in the family helping each other cause mischief never gets old, and they honestly could take over the world if they put their minds to it. Splinter and Don, father and son, are a duo that can be expected to sometimes clash as the epitome of "tradition" and "invention" but they care about each other so much. From Don taking care of Splinter when they need to flee the lair, or Splinter helping Don with the Triceraton Mind Probe, they are always there for each other. Don also connects with his many, MANY friends so easily, from April, Leatherhead, Casey and Sydney, he is, again, always a good friend to them

With all these reasons and many more, Don will always be my favorite turtle. While his time in the ongoing TMNT cartoon is likely long over, if he ever reappears, perhaps in another Turtles Forever, I will always be there to cheer him on.

Cowabunga Dudes, and catch you later!

[louisupdates]

The fact that Louis Tomlinson performed two covers of One Direction songs at his May 26 show at the Mohegan Sun Arena should not be a surprise.

After all, he was a member of the best-selling boy band and one of its chief songwriters.

The fact that he performed a cover by Arctic Monkeys, however, would be a surprise if you had not updated your vision of Tomlinson since his pop days with 1D.

The rocking performance at the Uncasville arena, thanks to Tomlinson’s honesty and sincerity as he attacked his material, clearly indicated that his preferred sound of the moment is the Brit Pop pioneered by Arctic Monkeys– and not the boy band groove of One Direction.

While his former bandmate Harry Styles has gone all metrosexual sophisticated as he mines his own 21st century brand of smart pop, Tomlinson favors guitar solos and intensity in his post-1D universe.

The Brit has not gone completely Led Zeppelin on us, full of blues and devoid of hooks. There were plenty of catchy melodic turns of phrase that captured the ear beneath the power chords and helped grab hold of the hearts and ears of a primarily female audience that likely had not reached their junior year of high school yet.

The rocking sound was not about career opportunities or slumming. It was clear this is where Tomlinson’s heart and soul belonged.

That said, Tomlinson’s chosen genre also has been a good career choice.

By all rights, since One Direction was launched in 2010 (when Tomlinson was still in his teens), most of the 16-year-olds who swooned over him in the second decade of the 21st century would be at the cusp of their 30s at a concert in 2023. But most of Tomlinson’s fans at the Mohegan were on the younger side of the teens with only a scattering of old school 1D fans in the mix.

Tomlinson’s musical mood swing has revitalized his continuing commercial prospects. His current album, the mighty fine “Faith in the Future” debuted at number 5 on the Billboard charts.

All the more amazing at the Friday night show is that the young crowd at the Mohegan seemed to know every word from each song on Tomlinson’s setlist. At times, they even drowned out the artist.

Tomlinson clearly has snagged the hearts and souls of a new generation of fans.

When I first listened to “Faith in the Future” last year, I was hearing hints of old school emo. But in concert, the Arctic Monkeys’ references were clear. However, even more clear for me was Tomlinson’s fondness for Oasis. That 1990s-era band was prone to Beatle-esque flourishes with grand arrangements that caused the heart to swell and fists to elevate as they were pumped in the air. And many of the songs performed by Tomlinson in Uncasville on this Friday night had those sweeping moments that carried you along to emotional crescendos.

Tomlinson’s rock and roll inclinations carried over to the stage show itself.

The first night of the tour found Tomlinson surrounded by edgy lighting with oblique and abstract video projections. There were a couple of times where the lighting reminded me of something that a band like goth-godparents Bauhaus or Sisters of Mercy would implement. It also reminded me of latter-day David Bowie shows.

Rather than guiding the emotions with videos that tell a story (which many artists will do), Tomlinson’s stage set a mood for the songs and left the internal storytelling of the songs to the fans themselves.

The stage and lighting were the antithesis of what Tomlinson might have found himself in his One Direction days.

One Direction, for most musicians, would be a hard act to follow. But Tomlinson’s Mohegan show demonstrates there is quite a vibrant rock and roll life after Simon Cowell (One Direction’s one-time career commandant) for this singer.

Tomlinson set the stage for a night of rock with his selection of opening acts. Snarls offered up a hard-hitting punkish set with a heavy musical punch. The four-man crew The Academic gave the crowd a melodic new wave-twinged set that would easily have found favor in the colorful days of the 1980s.

PHOTOS 1, 2, 3

[seriousbrat]

im literally so obsessed with the post saying peter pettigrew would never be a traitor… that’s like basically The first thing we truly discover about him. right there from book three. like that is The Basis of his role in the narrative, that he was the traitor and sirius was not. that he was willing to bow to the winning power rather than risk dying for his friends and values (which is. the one issue the narrative never flinches on. doing the right thing rather than the easy.) like these aren’t real people, they are characters with narrative functions. peter is everything harry doesn’t respect, everything characters like ron and neville defy, when they doubt their places among their friends and still fight for what they believe in, and a foil to snape — snape’s love for lily causes him to make a good choice, peter’s lack of dedication to his friends causes him to make a bad choice. a bad choice that KICKS OFF THE ENTIRE PREMISE. like. yes these are characters and you can choose to play with them like dolls. but hp is a very tight narrative, and it’s silly to claim they are somehow at heart the antithesis of the space they fill.

I know like... if there's ONE detail about him then that's it. It showed up as a recommended post on my dash and I was so baffled for a moment haha. I could understand an attempt to defend his reasoning (I certainly like to understand it) but like... his character is nothing without that moment, it literally defines him as a character, so to say it's bad writing is so silly.

It's like if I made an impassioned post claiming that Voldemort would NEVER kill Lily and James. It moves past headcanon into just... outright denial of the basic facts of the characters and the story. Harry would NEVER have green eyes!!!! Tbh though Peter Defence Movement in general is the last thing I'd have expected a few years ago.

Recently just before I really started getting back into marauders fandom on tumblr, I posted in a discord asking for people's views on Peter, explaining my own interpretation and wanting input. And I was legitimately SO confused when EVERYONE replied in the vein of "hmm well that's not how I see him but ok. he actually was a poor little meow meow who took care of his friends and rubbed their shoulders after a battle, he was a scared little boy and he couldnt help it."

I was VERY taken aback by the complete 180 that peoples views on Peter seemed to have done, since I assumed my portrayal was controversially sympathetic. Fandom used to largely just ignore him, and when he wasn't ignored he was reviled. It once would have been heresy for me to imply Peter had any sympathetic qualities at all lol, whereas here I was pretty solidly shouted down for saying he had the unsavory characteristics we're shown in canon, such as enjoying watching James and Sirius bully others.

It's honestly so fascinating, like when did this happen lmao

[superfanficnatural]

The Son: Chapter 19

Pairing: Poe Dameron x Male!Reader (The Son)

Summary: You’ve finally broken free of the forces controlling you at a great cost, though the cost of doing so was even greater than you thought. Now, you fight for the antithesis of what you had been representing, and have to grapple with finding your own place in the galaxy while grappling with the person trying to find their way into your heart. Will The Son choose the light? Or the dark? Whatever the answer may be, may the force be with us.

A/N: We get some scenes of what happens between the 8th and 9th movies (that I am creating) in this chapter before going back in! As always, I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Fluff, action. 

Word Count: 4,379

Italics are your thoughts

Masterpost

It was one of the cooler nights on base as you walked out into the moonlit jungle. For the first time in a while both you and Poe had a night off from missions. You were planning on spending it meditating and resting as much as you could but Poe had asked you to come out to a clearing in the jungle to meet. As always, you could never say no to him and were excited to see what he had called you out for. As you ducked your head over hanging jungle plants and carefully footed through the vines above ground, you eventually reached the clearing. 

You were met with Poe laying atop a blanket on the ground with a small basket and a few beers, “Hey handsome, took you long enough.”

He had a lazy smile on his face which sent a flurry in your stomach, “What’s all this?”

He got up and walked over towards you, grabbing you by the hand with a smile and leading you over, “This is called a ‘date.’”

You rolled your eyes and laughed, despite the blush on your face, “I know what a date is.”

He chuckled as he pulled you down onto the blanket to sit with him, “Then that means you know we need food.”

He uncovered the basket to show various foods inside, bread holding together different colors and ingredients, “These look amazing!”

“They’re sandwiches, not common on most worlds but it’s a traditional thing for humans to bring on picnic dates,” he explained, not demeaningly, but lovingly.

“Picnic... that’s a cute name,” you smiled. Reaching into the basket, you grabbed one of them and took a bite, the flavors completely unknown to you but absolutely delicious, “Oh maker, this is the best thing I’ve ever had.”

Poe chuckled, the urge to kiss you barely being held back, “You’ve eaten basically nothing but ration packs as far as I’ve seen so I thought this might be nice.”

You had seen many foods through Leia’s memories but you neither could taste them nor really paid attention as the trip through her memories wasn’t exactly culinary in nature. You smiled and looked into his eyes, bewildered at how much thought he put in and care he had for you. You couldn’t help yourself but push forward and smash your lips against his. He nearly toppled over and chuckled into the kiss but returned it with just as much fervor. Unfortunately for you, you tipped over and lost your balance into the kiss and basically fell onto him. His hands held your shoulders up thankfully as his quick reflexes caught you. 

“Easy there bantha, you’ll get the food all over you,” Poe mused as you separated from the kiss.

You reestablished your balance in your seated position with a blush, knowing that bantha’s were large but gentle creatures native to Tatooine, “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”

The recognition in his eyes shone through at the phrase you repeated back from him when you had your first kiss, “Yeah... I can relate.” The two of you shared a comfortable moment of silence as you smiled at each other before Poe spoke up again, “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask ever since Sullust, but what was that... thing you did there?”

You got comfortable as you sat and responded, “You mean when I powered the lift?”

He nodded along, taking a sandwich and biting into one as well.

“Well,” you started. “It’s a bit tricky to describe. Force lightning is a Sith ability that allows one to harness and output an electrical charge, but it’s meant to be destructive. I haven’t been able to use it again since then though.”

He spoke as he had finished up chewing, wiping at the corner of his mouth, “I know it sparked the wall, but why didn’t it short out the door too?”

You reached your hand up into the air in front of you to look at your fingers, “There was a variation developed by a Jedi Master, one that I learned about in my meditations. He called it Electric Judgement. It was a light side application of the force lightning that removed the lethal aspect of the electricity.”

“But how is it that you can use a dark side ability... with the light?” Poe asked, confused.

“Most Jedi nor Sith realize this as they never get far enough into their force journeys, but most dark or light side abilities are the same, just with different methods,” you struggled to explain properly. “Do you remember when Kylo forced his way into your head?”

He rolled his eyes and sighed, “Unfortunately.”

You pressed your lips together sympathetically and reached out to place a warm hand on his shoulder, “I’m sorry you had to go through that, but Kylo used the dark side to probe into your mind and rip the information out. The Jedi have a similar trick just not as invasive, where we simply ask a person or animal to do or say something with the influence of the force and they will do or say it.”

“Have you ever done that to me? Would I even know that you did that to me?” Poe questioned, a partial smile on his face.

“You know I would never,” you chuckled. “It only works on those with weaker minds, which means you’ll be safe.”

Poe offered a flirty smile in return, “That language you spoke, what was it? I’d never heard it before.”

You remembered the phrase you uttered, maintain control, maintain balance. As you are one, you are all, “I don’t know the name of the language, just that it was one I learned from my father. There were Jedi texts on the planet Luke was on that had the language written on it. I couldn’t make it out really as I never learned how to read or write it, though, I could feel the symbols on the pages were the same.”

“A lost language huh,” he pursed his bottom lip with a slight nod. “Anything else about you I should know that’s completely random and totally awesome?”

He gave you his dashing smile again and you reached out with your hand to cup his cheek, feeling the new beard there, “I like this.”

He laughed a bit, taking his hand over yours to keep it there, “That so? Thought I’d keep it.”

You leaned over, this time balancing, to place a soft peck on the other cheek before pulling away completely, “I have no problem with that. But yeah, the only difference really between the abilities from either the light or dark is the intention the user places behind the force. It might sound simple, but only a few Jedi or Sith over the course of eons have managed to actually create new variations based off of the other side, or even be able to perform the ability in the first place depending on the difficulty.”

“Based on what you’ve told me though, aren’t you one of the most powerful force users in the galaxy?” Poe remarked.

You chuckled slightly with a shake of your head, “You know, the more I say or hear it, the more the phrase ‘most powerful’ sounds ridiculous to me.”

He furrowed his eyebrows, “Why?”

“Well, for one, for this all powerful person I am, I haven’t exactly been doing anything deserving of the title,” you confessed. “Plus, I don’t want to be regarded as this all powerful being, who does?”

Poe raised an eyebrow, “Um, everyone?”

You laughed, “It might sound nice on the surface, but I see the way people look at me. Whether it’s admiration and respect, or uncertainty, they all keep a distance, or try to buy into my good graces. I just want to be normal, to have friends and live my life... for my family. And I remember what it was like to be an all powerful being... that isn’t who I want to be.”

Poe’s features softened, “Hey, you are perfect. So what about those other people? You’ve got me, and a whole lot of others. And you have proven to every single person here that you are capable, dependable, and strong. They look at you in admiration and respect because you’ve protected and helped them.”

You smiled gratefully, “Thank you, Poe... I will never understand how I managed to get so lucky.”

Poe moved the basket and scooted closer to you, pulling you into his side as you leaned against one another, “I’ve been asking myself the same question.”

—----------------------------------------------------

“You cannot allow external stimulation to distract you,” you walked around Rey in her meditation stance. “Anyone could meditate if it were easy,” you poked your foot slightly into her side and felt her annoyance rise.

You hid the smile on your face as you circled her, “If you want any hope of becoming a Jedi, you have to be able to fight against your easiest impulses, your darkest thoughts.”

The sun’s heat came bearing down on the two of you as the day was one of the hottest you had experienced on Ajan Kloss. You were to leave on a mission tomorrow but instead of spending the day resting, you chose to take over training Rey from Leia. 

You poked out your leg against her knee, this time a bit harder and shook her body. 

She pushed a heavy sigh through her nose and curled her lip and you could sense she was just barely holding back saying something.

“Oh, is there something you’d like to say? The person who isn’t focusing on meditating right now?” you pushed at her leg again with the same pressure.

She snapped and she opened her eyes, swiping at your leg with her arm. You easily dodged, expecting her to lash out and took a step back with a smile.

She rolled her eyes and got up, “Why can’t we do saber practice?”

You inhaled and leaned your head back, exhaling and maintaining eye contact with her, “Do you remember when Kylo froze you in place?”

She played with her lip for a moment before begrudgingly responding, “Yes.”

“And did he use a saber in order to subdue you? Did a saber get you out of that predicament?” you pressed.

“No,” she huffed, her frustration coming out.

“A saber isn’t the only thing a Jedi must train in. You must master your mind, your emotions, and the force. Those things will enhance your abilities with the blade.”

You could see her working it in her mind and she nodded as she understood what you meant, “Alright.”

She returned to her seated position on the ground and began to meditate once more. You allowed her a moment of respite before you once more, nudged her with your foot. She was unyielding this time, her calm demeanor being maintained inside and out. Your smile returned, though this time out of pride. You continued for about two hours of her practicing her meditation before you felt she had done enough.

“That’s enough, let’s try something else.”

She opened her eyes and raised from her position, awaiting your next movements.

“This is going to be a two part training, this way, both of us will get some practice in,” you walked a bit to the left where there was a small spot to sit in the shrub. “I want you to reach out with the force and feel what I am feeling, as you do so, I’ll use the same ability Kylo used on you on an animal. Do you understand?”

She came up and sat beside you, “You’re able to use that? Isn’t that a dark side ability?”

You nodded, “Indeed, it is. I used to be able to perform it with ease, and while I believe I still have the capacity to, I haven’t actually tried to yet. I assume this will be much more difficult for me than it is for you.”

“Will you be ok?” Rey asked, knowing not to question the route of ‘I used to be able to.’

“That’s your job,” you offered a slight smile. “Thanks to my father’s power, I am able to cleanse dark force energy when I channel, though it only assists me. I have to be able to actively employ it if I truly hope to use the dark side without anger or animosity. I will most likely be overcome with possible glimpses into past usages of the ability, and a rise in negative emotions. This is to help you practice your connection with the force and help you read others with it.”

“I’m ready,” she nodded.

You took a deep breath and turned to look into the jungle in front of you, trying to find some sort of small creature. To your luck, a gliding tree frog had just flown down from a tree to drink from a small puddle on the ground. Not letting the moment slip by, you outreached your arm and focused your force energy. Narrowing your eyes, you zero’d in on the frog and attempted to overcome its mind with your force. Suddenly, a flash of a scene in a desert planet came into your mind, a laser bolt frozen in midair with civilians lined up to be executed. Panic and sorrow ran through you and pierced your focus.

“I... I feel pain, and death,” Rey gasped behind you, feeling into your internal state.

You grunted, trying to push through the images and calm your elicited emotions. Grounding yourself, you pictured it in your mind to aid your efforts, imagining your force energy overtaking the frog but not suffocating it, simply invading its senses and forcing its mind to linger and slack. The methodology behind force slow was using the force to slow the function of the brain and thus create a slow-motion like effect on the target. It seemed like the frog had slowed for just a moment before it croaked out a deep and slow noise, just as you felt the ego and satisfaction crawl into your mind.

“I f- I feel domination, the urge to control,” she pointed out breathlessly.

That same feeling quickly turned to fear as your connection broke, the frog shaking its head furiously before jumping away. You gasped and broke the intense gaze you held as you attempted to collect yourself. 

“Are you alright?” she almost placed a hand on your shoulder but hesitated.

You nodded your head, “Yeah just... that was harder than I expected. But you did a wonderful job. You felt exactly what I did with great accuracy.” She smiled, and you returned with the same, “We’re done for today. Let’s get some rest.”

The two of you returned to base, but the entire way back you contemplated on how you were still struggling to accept the dark part of yourself and to tame it. You couldn’t ignore it, and you couldn’t control it until you took it in. You felt you didn’t have much time which placed yet another solid weight onto your shoulders.

—---------------------------------------------

You were standing next to the holotable in the Falcon with your hands on your hips watching the game between Chewie, Finn, and Poe. Poe leaned in, “Are you ever gonna go?”

Finn spoke as Chewie eyed them and the table, “He can’t beat us every time.”

“Apparently he does,” Poe was quick to retort.

“How does he do it?” Finn pressed.

“This guy right here, it’s ‘cause he cheats.”

You chuckled as you watched them banter.

Chewie vocalized and Poe smiled, “I’m kidding. You’re 250 years old, of course you’re better than us.”

“Oh come on, take your turn. You’re taking forever. That’s cheating. That’s why we think you’re cheating,” Finn complained as Poe talked.

A beeping noise came in overhead and you walked over to the cockpit, Chewie getting up from the game to follow with a growl.

“Don’t worry!”

“We’re not gonna turn it off,” the boys replied in tandem.

You didn’t hear the rest as you walked off but Poe and Finn seemingly followed as you heard Poe raise his voice over the alarm, “Klaud, I hope you fixed that surge.”

Klaud was a trodatome, a large slug like creature that came on board recently to help with repairs, as the Falcon always needed repairs. As you arrived in the cockpit, the ship had exited hyperspace and you allowed Poe to get past you into the pilot seat, a hand on the small of your back as he passed you. The Resistance received word of highly sensitive and important information so you had traveled to a distant planet where an ally of the Resistance, Boolio was. Poe put on his headset as he began to pilot the ship down to the surface and the rest of the group scattered across the ship to prepare.

“Alright guys, T minus five,” Poe informed over the intercom shortly after.

Chewie was his co-pilot in the cockpit while you and Finn were managing the information transfer. You got to the inner hatch and pushed the button on the wall to open it as Poe got you into position.

“Come on Artoo!” Finn rushed with R2 behind him towards you.

The planet’s civilization was essentially technology carved onto abysmally large crystalline ice structures and the building fitted into the ice above the ship’s hatch opened.

You were met with Boolio and Finn called out to him, “Boolio, good to see you. You got something for us?”

“From a new ally! A spy in the First Order!” he yelled back.

“A spy? How is that possible?” you asked.

“I don’t know!” he threw a long cable down. “Transfer the message! Get it to Leia, hurry!”

He dropped a thick long cable down and you grabbed it, offering it to Finn who took it and began walking towards R2, intending to plug it into him. 

The cable stretched until Finn approached R2, “This could be big, Artoo.”

“Y/N, we’re about to be cooked!” Poe shouted over the intercom.

Finn walked over towards the hallway and shouted at the corridor frame, “We’re almost there!”

There was a light indicator right next to where the cable had plugged into R2 and the LEDs were finally all lit up, indicating the message had been received, just as Finn turned back and ripped out the cord.

He brought it back to the hatch and you called back, “We got it!”

“What can we do to thank you?” Finn shouted as Boolio pulled the cable back up to completion.

“Win the war!” he demanded, the hatch closing immediately afterwards and the Falcon taking off, Poe attempting to avoid the incoming heavy fire.

You were in an underground civilization, flying through the chasm between manmade sheltering and crystal ice walls. You and Finn rushed to the ladderwell and went to your respective gunner spots, Finn on the rear with you on the top gunner. There were a lot of TIE fighters pursuing you... and there were a lot. 

“Y/N- Finn aren’t you supposed to be getting rid of those things?” Poe began to say your name before he quickly swapped to Finn.

You furrowed your eyebrows, despite the precarious situation, “Excuse me? Don’t think I didn’t hear you try to say my name instead?”

Chewie was growling over the intercom as well.

“I’m trying to!” Finn responded.

The ship shook as it took a large blast from two of the lasers that had struck the same spot on the ship.

Finn shot once as it happened and nicked one in the wing, smashing into the side wall and destroying it, “Got one!”

“How many are left?”

“Too many.”

“One less,” you called out, striking one dead center and taking out the pilot, the core imploding.

Poe and Chewie were piloting through built bridges and ventilation in the already cramped space while simultaneously dodging the lasers from the countless ships, making your aim almost impossible to hit as well. The dodging and weaving were intense but they were managing to keep you guys alive so you steeled yourself as you and Finn were your only countermeasures.

“Guys, we can boulder these TIE’s!” Poe called out.

You reared your camera to see the bridge up ahead, held up on the sides by smaller beams.

“I was just thinking that,” Finn replied.

Poe flipped the Falcon and swirled to avoid lasers and place your guns in position to fire, you and Finn following up by blasting out the support beams just as you flew by. The bridge fell just after your ship brushed by and took out a few of the TIE’s by smacking right into them. Poe inverted the Falcon and began piloting upwards into a smaller tunnel that led upwards, trying to avoid the TIE’s and get to open space to escape.

“Get us back to base!” Finn hollered.

Before you could say anything, the ship entered hyperspace! You shot up out of your seat and rushed back down the ladder to get to the cockpit, Finn doing the same. As you entered the cockpit, you left hyperspace! 

“Poe? What are you doing?” you bellowed. 

Your team had exited hyperspace much in the same way you had when you infiltrated Starkiller base, meters away from immediate and possible death. The planet’s surface that you were riding on was littered with seventy degree angled sharp peaked mountains. Much to your dismay, the radar indicated the TIE fighters jumped into hyperspace and followed you somehow, chasing behind you as they attempted to avoid the mountains. Luckily enough, a few of them were destroyed because of the extreme terrain.

“Poe!” Finn screamed.

“I know I know!” Poe shouted, looping around one of the mountains to get a clear shot into space.

Once the ship was clear enough, he threw down the hyperspace throttle once more, throwing your group into the milky blue abyss. 

“What are you doing?” Finn questioned.

You analyzed all of the switches and buttons he was activating, pulling certain power from one system to another at different intervals to maximize output to the... hyperspace engine!

“He’s lightspeed... skipping?” you half answered half asked.

“Lightspeed skipping, that’s right!” Poe confirmed, not looking over his shoulder.

“How do you know how to do that?” Finn retorted incredulously. 

“I’m wondering the same thing,” you muttered, knowing a trick like that isn’t easy nor even close to classic training, you only coming to the conclusion because it was shown to you.

He pulled you back out of hyperspace as his response and you were met with more peak-like structures of death. Though this time they weren’t mountains, but buildings and houses. Three TIE’s remained on your tail... two, another crashed. The main console sparked and Chewie turned to Poe with a very concerned yet angry roar. 

“Yeah well, Rey’s not her-” he turned to you behind him. “Y/N, you’re my co-pilot, switch with Chewie.”

You opened your mouth to say something but blanked and Chewie with a small growl got up and pushed you down into the seat.

“Y/N, you know what’s happening here, you can fix it, I know you can,” Poe said coolly, once again sending the Falcon into hyperspace.

“Uh,” you gasped out, trying to get your bearings as you looked around at the sparking systems.

The hyperspace navigation console was going haywire with sparks flying. With the constant strain of multiple unfinished hyperspace jumps it was possible the hyperdrive motivator was overheating, making the navigation console unable to properly calculate re-entry coordinates. You looked to your right and kicked a small component by your leg, reaching down to grab the spray of coolant Klaud had stashed. You began spraying it all over the nav console and the rest of the board, trying to at least cool the command controls. The ship exited hyperspace again and you were met with what seemed like some gas area or planet, a green color everywhere.

“Chewie, I need the multi-tool,” you called over your shoulder as you were spraying.

Once you had finished, Chewie came back in with the tool and you popped the panel open, reaching down and beginning to clip the wires that routed secondary emergency power, instead re-routing them to the navigation console to give it more power. Once you did, the screen stopped glitching and began to stabilize.

“Yes!” Poe cheered as the console beeped.

Your head came back up and you were met with a worm-like creature so large, its mouth opened up and was about to easily swallow your ship and the two TIE’s that were still on the chase!

“Last jump! Maybe forever,” Poe said with determination, staring out the window and straight into the worm's mouth.

Klaud’s scream behind you let you know he was in the room behind you.

“Hold on!” throwing down the switch for the final hyperspace jump to get the ship back to Ajan Kloss, the ship just barely zoomed past the lips of the worm into the safety of space.

The scanners just barely picked up the TIE’s signatures being erased as you jumped and you sighed in relief to know no one could have been chasing you any longer. 

Poe turned to you and grabbed your face, pulling you in and giving you a firm kiss on the lips, “You were amazing, I knew you could do it.”

You fought the blush that rose at your cheeks as Chewie threw a hand up and walked back into the main area, Finn rolling his eyes and following, “That was way too reckless.”

He smiled as he panted with the passing adrenaline, “You know me.”

You rolled your eyes with a small laugh, simply relieved that you guys had survived.

“Sorry if I was intense there, I forgot I had a ship engineer right behind me,” Poe conceded.

You waved him off, “Don’t worry about it, you got me going and I did it. Though I wouldn’t call myself an engineer exactly, I cheat.”

“Well, Chewie didn’t know so don’t blame him for asking for Rey either,” Poe offered on his behalf, still ever the savior.

You smiled and grabbed his hand with a squeeze, “It’s ok, we all got out alive, that’s what matters.”

Next Chapter

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[fruitsofhell]

It's time for me to unleash the inner crazy Metal Sonic lover within myself and talk so so much about this mother fucking fucker Chaos Sonic!!! (image taken off a post by @/littleaipom)

Ok so what I love so much about Sonic Prime is how much mileage it's getting out of the multiverse concept. It's a good multiverse cause it's surprisingly simple compared to the sort of MCU clusterfuck we associate the term with now. It's just Sonic AUS! And I really love that cause to me if anything screams Sonic media, it's AUs and canon divergence and wacky takes. I think this series is great at that, internally and with inspiring that in fans. What also makes it so great in Sonic Prime is that it has so much confidence in that. In the entire show the only normal characters are Sonic and Shadow, everyone else Sonic makes a connection with is a whole new spin on the old cast and its GREAT. I love Nine to death especially, he's definitely one of the best shatterverse characters.

But I think I have a definitive new favorite character now in Chaos Sonic, because he is that fresh new confident take on an old character but with such an underutilized one in Metal Sonic. I adore Metal Sonic, he's my favorite Sonic character and in my opinion the absolute most slept on. Sonic's robot doppelganger should absolutely have as much love as Shadow - his more serious and hardened antihero rival - and Knuckles - the stubborn immovable object to Sonic's steadfast unstoppable force. But he doesn't!! And it's tragic!! There is so much to do with Metal, with the Sonic created by the man who hates him more than anything, one of his first true rivals who was made to be his perfect antithesis, yet we get so little. But atleast in Chaos Sonic we get an awesome fucking take on him!! It's not Metal, but like I said about Sonic Prime as a whole, I LOVE how this show plays with the characters.

I see a lot of people pitting Chaos and Metal Sonic against each other or putting down one when talking about the other, but they're really just amazingly complimentary takes on the same character. The way it would be weird as hell to say either Nine or Tails is the better version of the character or something. Chaos Sonic's personality is of course what stands out the most between him and Metal Sonic, and while for some people it makes him unbearable or insulting to the OG Metal, it's one of the things I love most about him too. It's the complete opposite of what Metal and most robo-doppelgangers in the series, and especially Metal, are known for. Metal Sonic is all of Sonic's deadliness but none of his heart - he is a Sonic stripped of everything that makes him that energetic blue hero and reduced only to his power, speed, and obedience. He's a very cold a serious take on the robo-doppelganger that encapsulates the theme of classic Eggman, which was to do what nature did but better and deadlier. He's a very dehumanizing take on what Sonic is to his enemy, a potential tool like the rest of the animals and natural resources he abuses. Chaos Sonic is less like the (classic) Sonic Eggman wishes he had, but what (modern) Sonic is to him - this annoying, vain chatterbox who still manages to trounce you no matter how little he takes the situation seriously. Metal Sonic feel like a cold and calculated project driven by nothing but Eggman's frustration that something free and alive that he should have control over him still eludes him, and Chaos Sonic like just a project of pure spiteful mockery. Which I think very well represents how the relationship between Sonic and Eggman has changed to pit them more often as equals with their back and forths. And I really love how well both of them use this assignment to bring out these different aspects of Eggman and Sonic's relationship.

I think Chaos Sonic also specifically speaks to the New Yoke universe very well more than just being Sonic but more annoying. He is absolutely annoying and talkative just to mock Sonic, but stuff like his comments about Sonic being "smelly" and how he wants to be a brand star bring to mind really fun ideas about how he's like a commercialized version of Sonic too. I would love if he was integrated into New Yoke and you could see the Egg Council using him as a brand and he just loves it because he's an equally capitalistic jerk. It's a fun twist on Sonic's ego next to the more obvious one, that if Sonic didn't have his convictions he would very easily fall in line with the vanity of Eggman's worldview. Those are the moments that kind of make me wish that normal Metal Sonic had more speaking roles where him being an anti-Sonic in ideology could show. We atleast have the funny projection of him torturing animals from Sonic CD. I do still think that through Metal's sole commitment to beating Sonic and proving himself superior he does an equally good job at being that ideological opponent though, just in a quieter way befitting his era. Chaos Sonic represents Sonic's vanity in a personality sense with his want to be in the spotlight, and Metal Sonic in purely mechanical sense - just wanting to prove nothing but the fact he is better. And that single-mindedness makes him a great foil to Sonic who is a very wild and free-spirited person and never lets his ego and need to be the best define him more than his loyalty to those ideals. Meanwhile Metal Sonic entirely defines himself by his abilities and need to be a specific identity created by others. Something that makes him really damn tragic in a way I wish for the life of me was explore more.

Chaos Sonic doesn't HAVE to be an existential tragic mess... but I mean if they're gonna bring him back, he should have moments of that on top of just being awesome to watch fight and emote. OH MAN I HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN INTO HOW EXPRESSIVE HE IS. Once again, something totally different from Metal Sonic that only improves both characters in my eyes. I can't get enough of either of them! Whether it's Metal Sonic's intimidating silence or Chaos Sonic's "teehee giggle ^_^" attitude towards violence, I think both have some great chilling moments to them. Chaos Sonic's voice too is so good, it's probably my favorite voice performance in the show. It just has so much energy, and makes every line sound so genuine no matter how stupid. But at the same time he has good range too! When his voice gets low and serious or angry it's effective (atleast to me)! I mean that guy managed to make "You're too slow!" sound playfully venomous, I love it. With Metal Sonic it's maybe a bit harder to pin down what makes his stoicism work so well. Every character in the classic era was silent to a degree, so it's hard to say his silence stands out. But that's actually I think where I'd say his lack of expressiveness is genius. He manages to mimic the look of Sonic in body and face so much more naturally than any of the other doppelgangers but still in this sleek and blank way that is just amazing. Like I stare in awe at the design of this beast. Classic Sonic is very good at providing character through expressive animation and sprites, and Metal Sonic's lack of any yet ability to still feel like he has the face of a character and not just some robot makes him intimidating.

Which brings me to their overall designs. Metal Sonic is such an enduring Sonic character despite the long list of robo-Sonics because as I was saying before, the design is just too good. It is beyond aesthetically pleasing, straight up gorgeous - which makes him so effective. He truly does feel like Sonic's equal and possibly even superior in mechanics and LOOK, he makes his mechanical and flesh peers look clunky and outdated by comparison. Sonic but polished to an unnaturally perfect finish, with those dead glowing red eyes that house none of his soul. Genius fucking design. I woefully cannot say that I think Chaos Sonic is an equal in that, but it might be physically impossible to make a better Metal Sonic, and he does come damn close! Specifically because he does take the cue of the more natural eyes (every other sonic-robo has some sort of distinctly robotic visor), but still does something new and catching with it in the bike helmet-like screen. It takes everything perfect about that aspect of Metal and builds on it for this version of him, the dark void of blank pixels is replaced with a very beautiful yet icy blue that contrasts the red eyes very well. I've seen many fan designs that use those red eyes for expression, but it is best a choice here than on the original Metal for the reasons I said above. It's so clear how much fun the animators are having with using them to emote without making it feel too natural by giving him a mouth or something. I also really like his chest rocket, it feels a lot more streamlined than Metal's, which helps with how energetic and mobile he is. Metal screams sleekness and speed, but in a very artificial way with how much his rocket takes up his design. Like I said, there's no beating Metal due to the sheer simple brilliance of his design that is totally a product of such a complex concept being perfected in the classic era. In general Sonic Prime tends to make designs a bit more complicated than what would pass as the peak of series design, but they still own in their own right. Chaos Sonic is a great example of this where he is noticeably more busy of a design than Metal but with very clear shapes and colors that make him fit in with the overall series style.

All this praising and blabbering to say. Metal Sonic is the most important thing to me, and Chaos Sonic is also the most important thing to me cause he and Metal just complement each other so fucking good. That's really what a good alternate take on a character should do! Feel fresh but still very flattering to the blueprint, explore different directions the original character could've taken to make you appreciate the execution of those aspects even more. Chaos Sonic is the best example of the show next to Nine. When I think deeper about it some of the other shatterverse versions don't go AS HARD with this, but they all feel like fun takes that do feel like they came from aspects of the original characters. Plus, that's why Nine is the hook, he is a very well developed "what if" for Tails that explores how much of a difference a friendship can make in someone's life. I also just in general really enjoy it when a story says, "Yeah, sometimes people react to issues by being antisocial as easily as they react by being docile when they don't have the space to be sensitive". It's not like... handled explicitly with that much nuance, but the nuance is there in my heart. Also damn, speaking of Nine I didn't even bring up how cool "Eggman (kinda) tricks Tails into making a Metal Sonic using his knowledge of the real Sonic" is. It's epic, and I actually really hope it's more explored, as well as Chaos Sonic in general. I feel like the writers, animators, and VA had way too much fun with him not to bring him back. I would love nothing more as a poor starving Metal Sonic stan-peasant...

[shirokokuro]

The Curious Case of Megalobox and Translation as a Form of Metacommentary

Pardon me for I must speak about the boxing show.

***Vague spoilers for Megalobox Season 1***

Background

Megalobox is a 2018 sports anime set in a futuristic Japan that is characterized by wealth-disparity and illegal immigration. The story follows Joe “Junk Dog,” a boxer who partakes in underground, rigged fights orchestrated by the mafia tycoon Fujimaki. Despite his talent, Joe’s status as an illegal alien ensures that he is doomed to throwing matches for income.

Joe’s literary foil is the champion boxer Yuri. Possessing a much higher status than Joe, Yuri is the main fighter for the Shirato Group, a tech company specializing in assistive gear for megalo-boxing matches. His passion for boxing has ultimately been stifled by the economic aspirations of the Shirato Group’s CEO, Yukiko Shirato. In a bid to display their state-of-the-art boxing gear to military investors, the Shirato Group hosts a megalo-boxing tournament. This decision sets the course for Joe and Yuri’s inevitable collision.

Themes

Megalobox explores a variety of concepts such as poverty, addiction, classism, and family. At its crux, the first season emphasizes that greed is the antithesis of passion and that personal autonomy is necessary to achieve a life well-lived.

Audience

I was unable to find any demographic information for Megalobox’s audience. The creative team elected to use line art reminiscent of 90s hand-drawn animation, and the rating is 14 and up. From this, it is clear the intended audience was meant to be young adults and older. Additionally, I think it’s safe to say given the contents of the show that it is intended to appeal to male viewers.

Thesis

Translational variances between the Japanese dub of Megalobox and the English sub and dub versions present different interpretations of the show’s core messages. In the English translation, gender is injected into the show’s text in ways absent in the original Japanese.  

Discussion

By and large, the translation team for Megalobox did a stellar job keeping true to the original intention of the Japanese dialogue. The English dub mirrors the English subtitles very closely, and I think the voice acting team did a very good job at delivering these lines. In fact, Megalobox is one of the few anime that I chose to watch in English dub instead of with subtitles, which has culminated in my current epiphany.

When watching, I couldn’t help noting some of the moments when characters would discuss “men” as a state of being. In these scenes, the word “men” was used in lieu of “human” to discuss philosophical concepts. This tendency tinted my understanding of Megalobox. I was curious if this gendered interpretation was inherent to the original Japanese as well or if this machismo patina was a result of translational bias. After performing brief comparisons of some English and Japanese scenes, I discovered it was the latter.

There are a few moments in the show where non-gendered phrases are translated as male. For instance, in episode 12, Yuri and Yukiko are discussing the irrationality of Yuri’s desire to fight Joe. In the English subtitles, Yuri explains his reasoning with the following:

“The man who taught me Megalo-boxing told me something. ‘If you’re lucky enough to run into a fighter in your generation who you want to win against from the bottom of your heart, consider yourself blessed. If you ever find someone like that, never let him out of your sight.'"

The tricky thing with translating sentences like the ones above is that Japanese often doesn’t use pronouns. There’s no need to use them because grammatical subjects aren’t required to form a complete sentence. As such, when translating Japanese to English, a pronoun often must be inferred for the translation to be effective. Translators are thus left to fill in the blanks of what the English translation should be. This freedom leads to some interesting results, like in Megalobox. For example, the above quote doesn’t actually use any gendered language at all in the original Japanese.

“The person [人 hito] who taught me Megalo-boxing told me something. ‘If, in your generation, you meet a fighter who you want to win against from the bottom of your heart, that is a blessing. If you ever meet a person like that, never take your eyes off of [them].'”

The “man” and “him” in the translation are absent from the actual Japanese. This isn’t a huge deal, especially because we see that Yuri’s trainer was a man and, Yuri being a male Megaloboxer, his opponent being male is sort of implied. In the dub, there is the additional challenge of matching the mouth movements to the VA’s lines. Again, I don’t take issue with the above English translation since the gender is implied through context. Some other translations, however, altered the text in ways that fit the original message of Megalobox into a gendered frame.

Such alterations appear in two conversations, once in episode 6 between Aragaki and Nanbu and once in episode 13 between Yuri and Joe.

(1) In the conversation between Aragaki and Nanbu, the two are discussing the finale of Aragaki’s career and his feelings surrounding it. Aragaki discloses a conversation he had with Joe:

However, the closer translation is something like, “Joe said something to me: ‘You can blame whoever, but the decision to make the call is up to you.’” The Japanese word used here isn’t “man” or even “human.” The original Japanese uses the word 手前 (temei), which is a derogatory way to say “you.” Aragaki is literally relaying the words that Joe said verbatim. In the English, the translation is generalized to humanity in general, encapsulated by the gendered term “man.” As such, the moral of Joe’s Japanese statement splits from its insular roots (“You have to make your own call”) to instead reflect a broader worldview (“A man makes his own calls”).

(2) The second time this alteration appears is during a brief internal monologue of Yuri during his fight with Joe. The main statement of interest is this one:

The closer translation, however, is, “I can’t dance on my own.” The Japanese word used here is 俺 (ore), a gruff, masculine way to say “I” instead of the “a man” used in the English dub and subtitles. Given this, what the spoken Japanese accomplishes is completely different in tone and message from the English subtitles and dub. In the Japanese, Yuri is expressing a thought that pertains only to himself and Joe; in contrast, the English translation poses this moment as if Yuri is pontificating about the nature of man and man’s dependence upon competition to achieve new heights. While both the original and translation are not entirely divorced from the core concept of Megalobox (i.e., passion makes life worthwhile), the English translation provides a societal commentary on the nature of man that is not present in the original Japanese.

Closing Thoughts

I hesitate to describe this type of translation as “dangerous." It is completely fine to have media that explores what it means to be a man in the same ways it is fine to have media that explores what it means to be a woman or to be someone of any other gender.

That being said, at its core, Megalobox discusses the human condition and the necessity of dreams—fueled through personal autonomy—to sustain meaning in life. This moral is by no means intended to be gendered in the original Japanese. In the conversation between Aragaki and Nanbu, for example, the Japanese assertion that people have to make their own choices can just as easily apply to anyone of any gender, not just men. The English takes this message and, perhaps unintentionally, restricts it to one gender. I would therefore assert that the worst outcome of gendering the theme of Megalobox is that it is disingenuous to the original material.

Fascinatingly, I think my own months-long obsession with this element of Megalobox stemmed from the fact the English highlighted that I was not the intended audience. I kept thinking while watching the dub that I understood what the text was trying to communicate to me, that the philosophical conflict was something inspiring and applicable to my own life, only to run into the brick wall of, “This media is not meant for you.”

If anything, it is very much interesting how translational decisions can have such a profound effect on a show’s delivery.

[wordsinhaled]

our own history » an ineffable husbands playlist

my friends, this playlist is gloriously sappy. there is not an iota of angst in it, i promise. in fact, it is the musical antithesis of angst, the equivalent of crowley and aziraphale having a picnic in the garden at their south downs cottage or enjoying a lusciously indolent, happily married retirement among the stars. it will rot your teeth and make your cheeks hurt from smiling (at least, it does mine). a happy ending in song form. please enjoy and i hope it heals your heart a little <3

01. the new basement tapes » when i get my hands on you 02. sonny cleveland » you've got me running in circles 03. emily king » believer 04. eliza rickman » riches and wonders 05. the magnetic fields » when my boy walks down the street 06. ruby the rabbitfoot » do me right 07. joe hertler and the rainbow seekers » old love 08. may erlewine » days go by 09. sammy rae & the friends » kick it to me 10. rachael and vilray » do friends fall in love? 11. penny and sparrow » don't wanna be without ya 12. madeleine peyroux » dance me to the end of love

lyrics under the cut!

the new basement tapes » when i get my hands on you

when I get my hands on you gonna make you carry me when I get my hands on you gonna make you marry me when I come home to you gonna take you down to the riverside when I come home to you hold you in my arms all night and now you know everywhere on earth you go you're gonna have me as your man

sonny cleveland » you've got me running in circles

oh, can it be that you're here with me? let's start writing our own history

emily king » believer

darling, I know that you could be the enemy leaving flowers at my door and soon you'll be asking for a key don't understand why someone would be so good to me is there something else? something you're trying to achieve? I'm not a believer what I see is usually what I get I'm not a believer but I haven't seen it all yet darling, I know that you must think I'm just a fool I spend my time questioning all the good you do well, I've been around I know that nothing ever comes free so 'fess up now or, darling, forever hold your peace darling, I think I'm going to take a leap of faith they say sometimes something just cannot be explained I've been around I know that nothing ever comes free just give it up and you just might get the best of me

eliza rickman » riches and wonders

we live high / our love gorges on the alcohol we feed it / and it grows all fat and friendly / we have surplus if we need it we hold on as hard as we can / our knuckles are white we write letters to each other / invent secrets to confess to / I learn foreign and exotic terms of endearment / by which to address you we feed fresh fruit to one another / we stay up all night I am healthy, I am whole / but I have poor impulse control / and I want to go home / but I am home we are strong, we are faithful / we are guardians of a rare thing / we pay close, careful attention / to the news the morning air brings / we show great loyalty / to the hard times we've been through we are filled with riches and wonders / our love keeps the things it finds / and we dance like drunken sailors / lost at sea, out of our minds you find shelter somewhere in me / I find great comfort in you / and I keep you safe from harm / you hold me in your arms and I want to go home / but I am home

the magnetic fields » when my boy walks down the street

grand pianos crash together when my boy walks down the street there are whole new kinds of weather when he walks with his new beat everyone sings hallelujah when my boy walks down the street life just kind of dances through ya, from your smile down to your feet amazing - he's a whole new form of life blue eyes blazing and he's going to be my wife the world does the hula-hula when my boy walks down the street butterflies turn into people when my boy walks down the street maybe he should be illegal, he just makes life too complete

ruby the rabbitfoot » do me right

you ain't ever gonna let me down / no, no, no / you got a way of keeping me high / connected with the stars in the sky you said, "go read", I'm like / maps make traps for exactly what you want in your life / 'cause if you don't they will pass you right by / quicker than the pines when you drive but baby, I can tell you what I want / I want you to come over tonight / be my secret lover undercover / rolling thunder through the midnight sky / if you can make it and not break it, I can take it till the sunrise / 'cause oh, oh, oh, oh, baby / you do me right

joe hertler and the rainbow seekers » old love

we met on the battlefield / drank from the ladle by the moon / the blood expanded across the field / like chrysanthemums in bloom / is there really so much to fear when we're all just taking sides? and a promise is a promise / will you finish what you started? / I was born to believe that the change in the leaves could really mean anything, love / I'd cross the mountains and the ocean for ya / just to see you I need that old love / and I'm swimming in the dark (swimming in the dark) / I need that cool love / and I'm frozen from the start (frozen from the start) oh, I strained my eyes to see / but it was dark inside and out / how I long to hear your breath / how I long to hear your sound / I so wish to understand / these pangs of solitude / maybe my soul will bring me peace / will it place me next to you?

may erlewine » days go by

it's the way that you walk in the room your heart is a beacon don't need a reason to love you it's easy to do who knows what time is gonna do all I know is the simple truth I like watching the days go by with you the sunrise found me with you the light hit the window outlined the shadow a picture, the way that you move all of my places now left with a trace of you

sammy rae & the friends » kick it to me

I ain't been singing the blues nearly as much since I been living with you, love me too much and I say - kick it to me, I could make it better for ya kick it to me, I could make you better for it I know we didn’t think that it would turn out you start it off too quick, you’re gonna burn out nowadays we're heading to the same place nowadays we're working at the same pace I'm still here still bright when the night comes still burning, still bright when the night comes I didn’t feel it on the first day but now I got it in the worst way and don’t it feel okay? I get it bad and it gets better every day

rachael & vilray » do friends fall in love?

two friends, two hearts too many nights to count them but tonight was something new and I know you felt it too when we fell into the passion of a kiss oh, say you're mine for all our days to follow as friends we lived before and we'll live evermore together two friends in love

penny & sparrow » don't wanna be without ya

say, what if we reincarnate / and whatever God said, "it's your turn for choosing" / would you rather come back, be born in a circle? / see the oldest garden, the crescent is fertile or would you prefer to see life underwater? / only knowing oceans, have hundreds of daughters / there's a part of hope that is sewn in this theory / give me any species and keep yourself near me make it easy / I don't wanna be without ya / if you start over, can I redo mine too? / anything you become / lemme run beside you held on tight but I fell with you / I could see us being young lovers in a fable / that could be us, it could / over and over, becoming, become

madeleine peyroux » dance me to the end of love

dance me to your beauty with a burning violin dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove dance me to the end of love oh, let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon show me slowly what I only know the limits of dance me to the end of love dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on dance me very tenderly and dance me very long we're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above dance me to the end of love

[kuuderekun]

Shy and Superhero Anime

One topic I talked about on this blog a few years ago is how as someone who was an American Comic Book Nerd for ages before Anime took over my brain, the Anime that to me have a similar appeal to my favorite DC Universe stories are the not the ones explicitly drawing on American Superhero aesthetics like My Hero Academia and One Punch Man but rather shows like Code Geass, the Raildex franchise, Detective Conan/Case Closed, and I’d now add Durarara! which I watched this year, twice now.

However starting with the Fall of last year a new Superhero Anime has entered the fray, Shy who’s second season is currently airing.

While HeroAca and OPM put the aesthetic trapping of American Comic Book Superheroes onto a show that is essentially a conventional Battle Shonen, with Shy it is the Magical Girl Warrior subgenre putting on Western Superhero clothing.  That actually works far better because the Magical Genre has its origins in part in western Superhero influences. 

Naoko Takeuchi has admitted to being partly inspired by Wonder Woman in creating Sailor Moon, something the recently re-adapted final arc makes more obvious with the Bracelets plot point.  But there’s also the additional indirect influence from how the Transforming Tokusatsu Superhero genre was inspired by Shazam and the 60s Batman show and so forth.

So Shy kind of winds up feeling the Genre returning to its roots in some ways.

90s Magical Girl Warriors like the Sailor Scouts and Wedding Peach wear costumes that fit in with how we typically think of American Superhero Costumes from the Golden, Silver and Bronze ages in that it would not feel inaccurate to describe them as some form of “tights”.

Today however your default parody of a standard Magical Girl is more likely to be wearing a frilly or fluffy dress of some kind and that is a largely the influence of Pretty Cure which in Japan has long surpassed Sailor Moon as the most popular Magical Girl franchise, (but it's Anthology nature means no single team has had as many canonical adventures as the Senshi).

And so Shy wearing a Western Superhero style costume coincidentally looks more like a 90s Magical Girl then any new Magical Girl franchise we’ve seen in 20 years.

But Shy is not completely removed from the history of the Magical Girl, it definitely shows some influence from the Post Madoka era of the genre, with what the villains are doing reminding me of Daybreak Illusion more than anything else.

The main difference between Shy and other Magical Girl shows, in fact the main reason it’s probably not officially going to be considered one is that there are Male Superheroes.  Of course the Nanoha franchise also had males who had essentially the same abilities.  The British Superhero keeps reminding me of the antagonist of Superman Vs The Elite for some reason.

All of this kind of makes Shy the antithesis of how I’ve been thinking about the 2008 OVA School Days: Magical heart Kokoro-Chan.

As one of the very few American Otaku who loves School Days both unironically and not because I view it as some kind of “deconstruction” I was very curious to see what it’s take on the turn the little sister character into a Magical Girl spin off trend would be.  And what I got kind of confused me.

First it starts off by also having a sort of Sentai parody, which would be cool enough.  But then we get to this classroom scene where everyone starts talking about Superheroes.  And Makoto and Sekai started saying things that sound like J. Jonah Jamenson, in my head I was like “I dedicated one of the most overly long posts on my blog to defending you two and this is how you repay me?”.  Then Setsuna starts talking and I think “finally my Waifu will bring some sense to this” and then she starts spouting a “Superheros cause Villains” monologue.

Basically this Magical Girl Parody decided to have the metatextual commentary of a Western Superhero Comic.  In Magical Girls shows and Super Sentai the villains come first and the heroes are a reaction to them, the exact opposite of what Setsuna just said.

[vacantgodling]

oof okay. i didn’t think i would have to make a post talking about it but this may be my general blanket statement about it and hopefully i don’t need to make a hard and fast rule about this topic (for myself).

generally speaking, idgaf if minors follow me. i used to yeah—and i used to try and censor my blog and shit i posted because i knew i had, essentially, kids following me (why they were, no fucking idea but that’s the main reason i deleted my old blog and made this new one here because i was getting so stressed out about it) and i just didn’t want to be held responsible for “exposing them to shit” or something like that.

however. like. it’s my space, it’s my area, and i was (before) making myself miserable worrying about fucking children so i decided that i’m just not gonna do that anymore. and generally speaking, since making this blog i haven’t. when i was a teen, i followed and interacted with adults on the internet and i was fine. and i know i have some followers/mutuals/friends that i’ve known since they were younger and i didn’t feel weird about talking to them or anything. it’s good for kids to have outside adults to talk to etc etc but that’s not why i’m making this post.

basically, i’m making this post to say: if you are going to be a teenager/young adult (like 16-19) and you decide to follow me i need you to understand that i’m an adult, i talk about adult things (not just sex btw i mean just like. i’m for the exploration of dark topics in media and it will show up in my work occasionally) and that is your responsibility to navigate.

basically what i’m saying is, and bless this person’s heart. i just had a young teen/adult gimme a follow. and usually when people follow me, i do a quick scroll check to see what they post, if i want to follow back, etc etc. but the first post i saw on their blog was them rbing a very… shall we say young and on the internet opinion against a nuanced post that i personally rbed on my side blog myself without the take that this person rbed on it. just as a tldr the original post said basically “dark topics in media should exist and can be a tool to help people know what it looks like and identify it in real life so they can be able to navigate and stop this shit from happening irl.” like. a basic sentence and take (to me). this is obviously not saying you Have to go seek out media that makes you uncomfortable to read it if you don’t want to, but i’ve seen the notes on that post and i’ve seen and heard people talk about how having access to media that discussed their situation helped them themselves either come to grips with it, or to identify that it was happening or happened to them. it’s a nuanced take, and it’s one that i (personally) agree with.

yet the comment they rbed is the usual argument you see from someone who is not able to think about a situation broadly. the standard “oh well i’ve experienced csa before so i don’t need to see what it looks like” which again, tapping the sign, this is not for you then, and you don’t have to read books that explore those topics if you don’t want to. but the fact of the matter is: you aren’t going to know what everything looks like that is the breadth of the human experience—positive, or negative. shutting yourself off from potentially experiencing it via reading (a safe place) isn’t going to help you help anyone or have a complete understanding or opinion about it aside from this knee jerk reaction which is the antithesis of the post. and when all you (the person i’ve blocked btw. idk if it’s hard or soft and i don’t care really) have to add to this conversation via tags is “oh op probably made this post to justify jerking it to mha porn” then i need you to understand you are too young to be following me.

i trust people to make their own decisions. but i don’t really understand when people follow me and then have opinions like this. (hell there’s a lot of people who follow me where i don’t understand Why because it doesn’t seem like what i write would be in their wheelhouse but i can’t and won’t police people from reading my shit if they want to) however when i see stuff like this especially coming from a youngin’ i just don’t want to deal with that. because i know one day i will probably post or talk about something nuanced and i don’t want to invite a potential “callout” or “cancel culture” or freak out in my notes or argument in my inbox i’m just not doing it.

so at this time i’m not making a rule that i don’t want minors/youngins following me, again, i don’t care, but if you are going to like please please please actually understand when you don’t need to be following an adult with opinions that make you uncomfortable for your own sake.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Rocky (1976)

The best sports movie ever made… isn’t even really a sports movie. Rocky takes the time to develop its central romance. By the time the leads have their first kiss, the movie could be talking about the most mundane subject and you’d be on your feet cheering. With fully realized characters, an enduring story and an ending you can never forget, it’s essential viewing.

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is an uneducated and crude but kind-hearted aspiring boxer. He’s finally asked Adrian Pennino (Talia Shire) on a first date when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity lands on his doorstep. Heavyweight boxing world champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) has announced an exhibition match in which he'll compete against an ordinary fighter and give the ultimate underdog a shot at the title.

One of the biggest shocks comes from the number of boxing scenes in the film - there are only two. The first is right at the beginning and serves two roles. Firstly, it establishes Rocky as a boxer. Secondly, it shows you just how low on the totem pole he is. After winning, he’s given a measly pay - certainly not enough for me to risk getting my nose broken. The ring is surrounded by jeerers who litter the area whenever they see something they don’t like. There’s no fanfare whatsoever. He’s a bum. From there, we move onto the emotional foundation of the film. We get to see Rocky outside of the ring. We see his home and his attempts to impress Adrian. You don’t see it at first but she likes him. Unfortunately, she’s so cripplingly shy, she can’t even admit out loud that she wants to go out with him.

Our hero’s first victory comes when the woman he’s dating finally opens up to him. In their first real moment of affection, everything becomes clear. You recognize they’re both people who have deep flaws and insecurities. On their own, they’re stuck, but together, they fill all of the gaps and become so much more than just two people.

Carl Weathers does not have a large role in the film. Mostly, his scenes are there to establish how much he doesn’t take Rocky seriously and how - unlike our hero - he isn't preparing for the upcoming fight. You have no reason to hate him. Unless you count Adrian’s bully of a brother Paulie (played by Burt Young), there’s no villain. Instead of resorting to cheap tricks, Rocky places its bets on the lead. You want to see Rocky succeed because you understand what that slice of the spotlight means to him. By the time we get to the conclusion, Apollo Creed represents the world. If he learns to take Rocky seriously, then everyone will. Maybe then, the love story will be complete. Rocky will have the self-respect and confidence he needs to commit to the love that started blossoming on that first date.

So it isn’t really a sports movie… but then again it is because it concludes with a big title match. What a show it is. The lead-up has been spectacular, with several great shots that without any words hammer down just how much of an underdog we’re following. The fight itself is the antithesis of that first bout. Everything is flashy, the payout is more valuable than any amount of money could ever be. We’ve spent at least an hour and a half getting ready and now, it’s here. Every time a punch gets thrown, you’re on the edge of your seat. If an actor stands up and gets in the way of the camera, you move to swat them away. "Did somebody just get knocked down?!" Every emotion you’ve felt previously, every scene rushes through your head and just as quickly, you banish them from your mind. All you can handle is the here and the now. Even if you know what the results will be, you’re so entranced you wonder if the results might be different this time around.

To watch Rocky is to get swept up in its drama. The writing is tight, with subtly nuanced characters expertly brought to life by wonderful performances. It’s got a dozen memorable moments or quotes you’ll replay in your mind over and over. Each subsequent viewing makes you appreciate the movie more. (On Blu-ray, October 12, 2019)

[usagimen]

(h.c. // meta)

         Let’s talk about the Kobayashi Clan && how they pick a successor. Particularly, who is picked to become a Geiko in general which grants itself a huge boost in societal status. Usually, when a child begins to start showing cursed energy at the age of 4-7 the family will decide from there who has the mental fortitude, demeanor, along with physical characteristics to enter the trade. By entering the tier of a shikomi, young girls are taught the basics, if one excels in a talent (such as song, dance, flower arrangement) she will be specifically trained for that.

      This is all a decoy, a child that is shown to have promise will learn quickly the clan’s inherited technique which their fiercely guard. This isn’t because they want someone to steal it or use it against them, rotting womb is an illusionary skill that has kept their family, loved ones && children protected for generations. The entirety of the Kobayashi bloodline is built on it, this is a coveted secret that is meant to state, you are now able to keep all that we hold dear in our hearts safe. Girls are taught quickly to utilize their beauty, some will go as far to use the RCT to alter their physical appearance, Sayuri does so by making her eyes ‘cosmic’ alluring so that they pull in someone. Others will sculpt their bodies, features, ect into whatever they desire. Though, does mastering this skill make them eligible for the position of Matriarch? No.

       The current head of Clan Kobayashi, Hatsuko, firmly grasped the reins by financially securing their position as one of the wealthiest houses at the age of nineteen. Blood does not entitle a young girl either, if she wishes to become the head, she must show her willingness to unify the bloodline. The Kobayashi Clan was always meant to be the antithesis of the Zen’ins, they are female run as customary for Okiya’s, they co-raise children && those who show little to no cursed energy are not shunned; they are given a place within their world. Sayuri views them as one unit that works together, everyone is each other’s cousin, every aunt is a mother, the men honor their roles as dressers, stylist, cooks, ect because they are a part of the mechanism that keeps everything moving. It is an atmosphere of warmth when one enters the estates, there is always music, laughter, young one’s running about && gossiping spread about.

     After Shibuya, her ascension as Matriarch was underneath the knowledge that no matter the crisis or sorrow; Sayuri was emotionally && mentally fit to lead even when she must shove aside her mourning. Due to her harmonious nature, the elders of the clan recognized she was best fit as she was fair in her judgment && knew when to strike. She would be dressed in a kimono custom made for her, while wearing no underpinning / skirts, no hair adornments && her hands completely free from binds. The red collar a maiko usually wears would be replaced with white to signify she had ascended to a full Geiko. Monochrome colors that marked her maturity as she did not speak or say anything valiant, except that in the midst of turmoil where all is uncertain, she was glad to hide within this beautiful world they painstakingly created.