#yeah so structured like a traditional one but I focus on not so traditional aspects bc I have a way of analyzing things

[godhasforsnakenme]

BOOK REVIEW 📖

Last year I kept track of the series & films I watched; this year I've decided to keep track of whatever books I read! So this one is for the month of January – I'll share these sometime after the month is over, or if I read more than one book during the month, I will do their reviews as soon as I finish the book :)

[sonicfanj]

Ngl sometimes i feel like ppl are harsher on amy cause shes a girly character.

I've seen my fair share and more of bigotry aimed Amy's direction from straight up misogyny to more nuanced pigeonholing and appeals to power. That last bit in particular is interesting when you see people compare Amy to the likes of Sally, Blaze, and Rouge, with her lack of authoritative power or an "important" job being used to belittle her. Even more so how some people insisted that she was underserving when she did land such a position, so it could be her "girlishness" that people take offence to. That would not surprise me either considering there are people who have said that her "girlishness" and being open about her desire to have a relationship with a boy whom she structures her life around makes her a bad role model.

My thoughts on Amy representing the joy of just being yourself and never giving up on your dreams aside, looking at Sonic for role models is itself not a great idea since one of the values of the main character is to never compromise, a mentality in the real world that leads to war, murder, crime, abuse, and lots of other horrible things. So yeah, in that way Amy is a bad role model, but she's a fictional character, her job is to entertain you, not teach you how to live your life. So if her silly "girlishness" isn't someone's thing, it's better just to say it than try to justify it with misogyny and bigotry thinly veiled as watching out for all the girls out there who could be encouraged to enjoy traditionally girly things and like boys who inspire, motivate, and fill their lives with joy and happiness.

Don't get me wrong, it's easy to warp Amy's character into a symbol of pro abusive patriarchy as her character is kind of two-sided that way. I mean, if we look at what Amy wants, to be a part of Sonic's life and adventures, just to see him being him, Sonic doesn't even have to reciprocate her feelings. This traditional patriarchal idea feminine values revolving around a boy is very toxic and implies just a man's presence is enough to fulfill all of the life goals of a woman. That isn't good at all. It is however, a less than surface level look at the relationship the two have.

A lot of people like to cite that Sonic loves to run and Amy chasing him gives him reason to run. Even Hoshino-san (the man who led her creation) has alluded to that aspect of their relationship, so it's natural to see it as an important part. However, that is still looking at only the Amy working part of the relationship, and she works at it a lot, which is both for and against the toxic patriarchal view of her role and femininity. Consider, in a true patriarchy men are entitled to any woman they want and competition is limited to looks and looks alone. The work Amy puts in to have her dream fulfilled isn't necessary. Only her looks, which ironically Amy's focus on her looks is usually joked about at being at the expense of her health. She can take care of everyone else, but when it comes to selfcare she's literally only skin deep. Another fine example of Amy having aspects that work in a toxic patriarchy, especially if we consider that Amy's looks became more important to her chronologically when we transition from the classics when she wore whatever and was just another hedgehog to dressing herself up in a highly revealing outfit, that happens to be Sonic's favorite color (it's red, not blue like most people think. Just look at his shoes, plane, and even cars that he was affiliated with back in the classics) with her spines(/quills) distinctly styled. It's obvious that she wants to look good for him, which is indeed toxic patriarchy at it's finest in the handling of a female character. However, it is also a sign of love, to give unconditionally to the one that you love. But this then means that we have to look beyond just the patriarchal relationship where men are entitled to any woman of their choosing and actually need to look at what Sonic gives Amy.

Understanding what Sonic gives first requires stepping back and getting a bit meta, remembering that Amy was made specifically to be a girl in the franchise, Sonic's girlfriend (in a nontraditional relationship), and to have a personality that allowed her to perpetually chase after a guy who only looks forward to his next adventure or challenge. A lot of people call the happy-go-lucky girl who that birthed annoying and delusional, but it also shows a lack of knowing Sonic himself, something that the Sonic Origins and Sonic Prime versions of Sonic and tails' first meeting distorts. That will be relevant a bit later though.

While Amy's genki girl, rosy, and bubbly personality is what most people lock onto, usually insisting on a change in it, citing misogyny as a reason to practice misogyny against the type of girl that Amy is, the most important aspect of Amy's personality, designed to fit Sonic and his lifestyle is frequently overlooked. Even before meeting Sonic, if we go by the original continuity of the games, Amy's Rosy the Rascal moniker told us that she was the type of cheerful and optimistic girl who routinely got into and caused trouble for her own amusement. The getting into trouble part is the really important bit as Amy herself words it best in Sonic Adventure when yearning for the days of excitement she had as part of Sonic's adventures. She yearns for adventure, and expresses a love of it. And she isn't unexperienced either, as again, in the original continuity she travels to Never Lake on the order of the cards. The thing about Never Lake however, is it is a barren wasteland when Little Planet isn't present. This means that she went out there herself under her own power. She could not have done that without being at least somewhat experienced as an adventurer herself, and that's not even counting that she managed to get herself up onto Little Planet at all. But it shouldn't be a surprise since one of her hobbies is dowsing, a method for finding water, or treasures. This implies that she again enjoys being out either hunting treasure, or just needing to find water, a skill necessary when out in the wilderness, something an adventurer would be. Sonic being a world famous globetrotting adventurer in the original continuity also shows why she would have heard about him and wondered if her destined encounter would be with him. She's a hedgehog adventurer herself and he is the pinnacle of that, the pinnacle she wants to respect her as an equal. Amy being an adventurer is a huge, yet overlooked and underappreciated part of her character.

Now though, with Amy's character better examined, and why Sonic, his way of life, and even his trouble finding personality all can appeal to our rosy rascal, it is time to address his reciprocation to show that there is more to their relationship than a entitled toxic patriarchy. To that end, we have to again look at Tails and how he met Sonic. Origins and prime muddy things by going against the original continuity and actively having Sonic rescue Tails from his bullies. That never originally happened as it undermines Tails' character message of learning to stand up for yourself. What happened in the original continuity is that Tails seeing Sonic in person for the first time (again, he knew about him because he was a world famous, globetrotting adventurer from before even the first game) was a moment of tremendous inspiration for Tails. Actually seeing him made Tails want to stand up for himself and be cool like Sonic. To that end, Tails started following Sonic around while Sonic was on his runs on Westside Island. And this went on for days with Sonic actively being annoyed by it, only his live and live attitude allowing Sonic to say to himself to let Tails do as he pleased. And it's not like Sonic didn't try to lose him either. He did as I recall, but Tails could still keep up because of his namesake. And while I could go on here, the important for Sonic and Amy's relationship has been revealed.To help clarify the above, I'm actually going to refer to a moment from the Archie comics. A lot of game Sonic fans will consider this wrong, but for all of the bluster against interpretations of Sonic outside of SEGA of Japan, there are several things that became part of Sonic's character, chilidogs most notably. However, this fact allows for an example to be drawn to show Sonic's reciprocation of Amy's feelings and how that manifests. The moment in this case is a Sonally moment loathed by SonAmy fans and fans of Sonic's character alike. The moment when Sonic tells Sally that he can slow down for her. Loathed as the moment is, it actually captured an aspect of how Sonic handles romantic relationships.

While slowing down doesn't work for Sonic realistically in a relationship with Sally, since she outright requires Sonic to stop (exemplified, distorted as it may be, by the infamous slap), Amy is willing, desires, and has the freedom to put in the work to catch up with Sonic. Thus, when not overwhelmed by Amy's energy and overflowing emotions, Sonic will slow down for her, allowing her to chase after him into the adventures that she loves so much. A fine example of this is in Team Sonic and Team Rose's ending in Sonic Heroes where he could have easily outpaced her. When comparing how he treated Tails, who he still subconsciously expects to just keep up in casual situations, slowing down at all instead of trying to leave her in the dust speaks volumes. Addressing why this is all Sonic does to reciprocate Amy's feelings requires examining some of the bigotry inherent in the attack on Amy's girlishness as a reason to hate her and hold her to impossibly high standards.

To start, it has been stated by Sonic and Amy co-creator, Ohshima Naoto-san, that Sonic has the eternal heart of a boy (he really feels like Peter pan sometimes), but if he matured that he would choose Amy. So, this again puts us in toxic patriarchy relationships between a boy and a girl again, but as I said, there is bigotry at hand beyond just misogyny. Arophobia is easily the most blatant, though aphobia in general manifests when addressing Sonic's lack of romantic gestures, something Amy herself has indirectly said she doesn't need regardless of her cravings for it.

If you look at the larger LGBTQ+ spectrum, you will discover that aromantic and asexual people are part of the community. Or people who feel little to no romantic or sexual desire. To a lot of aspect people Sonic is extremely relatable as he just typically doesn't respond to it. For most people this says that Sonic doesn't like Amy, despite their co-creator saying he does. This would imply then that their is more going on, intentional or not, than just a boyish heart that is too immature for responding to the open heart of another. Such a heart however typically comes with expressions of disgust towards girls and a direct rejection of feelings that the boy doesn't understand. Sonic is presented very differently from that, usually just keeping his distance or fleeing when overwhelmed (this can also lead into discourse on how Sonic is actually very introverted but has a really good public façade and script). But as you follow the history between Sonic and Amy, you'll actually see him soften from being annoyed at her public displays of affection (something shown even in early concept art with his concept girlfriend Madonna, who Amy inherited the personality of), to being willing to walk side by side with her, letting her stand close, lying down next to each other and more recently actually returning her hug. This slow development shows what is potentially a demiromantic response (can still be aromatic, but my research isn't complete enough to make that determination), bringing forward the idea that Sonic simply needed time to form a bond close enough with Amy that would allow him to experience romantic feelings towards her. This is very different from the toxic patriarchy idea that Amy does all of the relationship work, as from am aromantic or demiromantic perspective, he very well can't put in the work Amy does as he isn't wired in a way to be able to, which aligns with the idea that it doesn't match Sonic's character as stated by Hoshino Kazayuki-san when describing why he gave Amy the personality that she has. It also means that anyone citing toxic patriarchy against the SonAmy dynamic are potentially themselves practicing bigotry, intentionally or not, against aromantic and demiromantic persons.

In conclusion, yeah, Amy's girlishness is definitely used as a point against her. But using it as a point against her is usually a sign of ignorance; either of the characters, their relationships, or the words and intentions of heir creators; failure to realize that Sonic is not a good role model himself, despite his heroic readings, meaning just by liking him and wanting to be part of his life neither is Amy, despite her representation of the joy of just being yourself and never giving up on your dreams; or bigotry through pigeonholing women into "acceptable" personalities and roles, and refusing to acknowledge that aspec and demispec persons exist. It's a very shallow reading of Amy's character and the complexity and nuance in her relationship with Sonic. And as thought exists on the conscious and subconscious levels, this isn't a matter of thinking deeper than the creators did (a strange claim to make without proof), as nothing exists in a vacuum and we all have far more subconscious thought then we ever give credit to. Trying to attack Amy's girlishness at best is just a sign of ignorance and/or malice, and I find that these days it's just so much easier and better for me to ignore that.

Sorry that ended up so long and meandering anon. It's a topic I can get very into, and I completely left out a lot of how I think Amy's girlishness helps out her and the IP on a whole due to the difference in perspective and approach that it brings.

Thanks for the ask!

[solarsonicsoda]

Rebbie's Wrestling School - 1.4: Physicality of a Match

In the previous entry of this series, I laid out how a match is put together, looking at the role of the booker and agents as well as how things come together. Now, I think it's time to look into the physical side of things! How does wrestling work? What's the structure of a match? These questions and more will be answered today!

Now we don't use the f-word around here, and by that I mean: of course we do, that word is f a k e! Wrestling is "fake", though "predetermined" is definitely the preferred term. As we've seen, the stories and action is set out ahead of time (usually... that's a whole other lesson for later). Similarly, the moves we see in the ring are a collaborative effort between the competitors. You may notice how when a wrestler is on the receiving end of a big slam or strike, they jump into or flip through. These movements may help the opposing wrestler lift them higher, or make the move look like it had more impact, for example. I don't want to spill all the "secrets" I know about how the sausage is made, both for your personal enjoyment and out of respect for the wrestlers, but as a fan you can easily pick up on these things. But there's also a lot of myths and misconceptions about how wrestling works, so beware!

The largest myth that it's important to dispel is that wrestling doesn't hurt and that there's a trick for everything! This is stupid and not true!!! Some wrestlers are doing this every single night all year, so they do obviously learn how to do this as safely as possible, or maybe even adapt their style for this reason. For example, wrestlers learn how to fall as best they can, with break-falling being one of the first lessons wrestlers learn, known as taking a flat-back bump. When something can be done safely without too much cost to the visual, it will be. However, not everything can be done without hurting... also some wrestlers are just BANANAS, but that's a separate issue. So when you're enjoying some Street Fighter But TV, keep in mind that most of what you just saw did Hurt A Lot. Don't even get me started on hardcore wrestling. Lots of very real things that can hurt very much. Real glass, cry me a river, yadda yadda.

But anyway! How does this all tie into a match? Well, our wrestlers will use strikes, grapples, slams, suplexes, cheap shots, etc. all to win the match! Matches often begin with a lock-up, where they grapple for supremacy, but that's far from a rule. From there, we often end up with different stretches of control for each combatant. To lay out an example: we may see the face gain control with an early flurry, but one way or another, our heel might gain the upper hand. From there, it's common for them to target a body part of their opponent, which can be an effective strategy if built around a previous injury or an area of effectiveness for a submission maneuver. This may work for a while, with the face trying and failing to mount a comeback, until eventually they pull through, and with a surge of energy, bring the fight to their foe. Here we have some tired slugging, tussling for control, until the face reverses a big move from the heel, hits their finishing move, and wins. Simple as, right?... Yeah, I'll elaborate.

So firstly, we can see our heel/face dynamics prominently in the action. Traditionally, this comes down even to the specific moves they do. A heel may focus on grounded offence like submissions, or maybe underhanded tactics like cheap shots, or even super aggressive moves. On the other side, the face may have an exciting moveset like high-flying maneuvers or unstoppable power moves! These are traditional, though something that's far less common today to such a high degree. Generally though, you want the action to highlight your face and make people dislike your heel.

Another important aspect of movesets is the hierarchy of moves. You know how in Street Fighter and stuff, you can do like special super moves that are specific to each character? Well, wrestling has that too. A finisher, or finish, is the move that wrestlers typically use to end matches. Some wrestlers have more than one, some have good ones, some have bad ones; they're like opinions! Let's use the example of John Cena as I am one to do in this series. As the above gif shows, Cena typically finishes opponents with the Attitude Adjustment, which is a fireman's carry powerslam. Yes, most of them have fun names. Now do you understand why I love This Business? Cena also sometimes implements a super variant (performed from an elevated position like the top rope) or a (quite bad, sorry John) STF submission, which stands for Stepover Toehold Facelock. Fun Fact: he used to call these moves the FU (like fuck you!) and the STFU (like shut the fuck up!) because he was an edgy white rapper dude!!! But then they changed it because the WWE moved towards being PG.

Getting back on track, if you see Cena win a match, chances are he used one of these two moves to do so. He does also have a range of other notable moves that he probably performs as a key point in every match! Many call these signature moves. These include the Five Knuckle Shuffle, which is a funny dance that ends in a dropped fist, or the Springboard Stunner, where he jumps into the ropes and back into a stunner. These moves are seen as big moves, but they very rarely actually result in a win. Every wrestler has these, though different wrestlers and different promotions have different attitudes. Some can win any match with any move if the story calls for it! Cena has many other moves he uses often but of a lesser prestige, like the remaining components of his Five Moves of Doom for example, but may also use moves unique to his current match. Sometimes a match calls for something new, or a strategy brings out a different side of him!

The crowd investment is also highly linked to the action. I've already covered how Shit Hurts but beyond that, you have to convey that to the audience. This is what we call selling. If you've just been hit by an awesome slam, you need to make it look like it hurt. This could be through how you make your landing look, your body language after, or your facial expressions. All these things are super important to making the action come together and make the audience care. Some of the most valuable wrestlers are ones that can make something look like it really hurt, or like it was really impressive. Both of these things are usually true, but this is great for making fans invest in the match and see their opponent as super strong.

Telling a story through the action that drags the fans along is also crucial. The way a heel shuts down a face, the fire of the face's comeback, the sheer mania of a giant clash: all these can be orchestrated to have people on their feet. Things like selling, pacing, and attention to detail all play a big part in this. Feeding off the energy of the crowd, wrestlers can weave a pretty great yarn, whether that be overcoming adversity, or dealing with a desperate foe, or just having a great performance. The physicality of wrestling is what sets it apart from other mediums, as there's a certain je ne sais quoi about this very physical story being told halfway between the real world and the world of the stage. I am aware this is a medium about men in trunks with multiple canon zombies. But all the exhaustion, pain, and real emotion combined with the fun action makes for a delightful cocktail of storytelling for me.

It's really a hard topic to cover, explaining the action of a wrestling match. The easiest way is to just watch one and either have it analysed as you watch, or to figure out as you watch. I think I've covered most the salient points for you to fill in the gaps, but it might be cool to circle back and do a full match analysis on this topic, or on everything we've learned so far. Coming up in chapter one, I think it'd be good to cover promos, storylines, and as I say, potentially a full match analysis! From there, I hope to cover some other useful areas for expanding your palette, such as styles, promotions, championship legacies, and stables, and then as time goes on, even delving into the history and lore! These take a good chunk of time to write so appreciative of all the support!

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[animehouse-moe]

The Valiant Must Fall Volume 2: Nonstandard

So, finally, we've gotten the second volume of Aida's latest series in English. Not too far off from the experience of the first volume, it improves in some areas, expands on various pieces, but may leave readers dissatisfied or questioning what's going on. Is it worth the read? Personally, I believe so, but I don't know if it's quite for everyone, which is what I'm hoping to explain here.

Also, apologies for the lack of images but I couldn't find any scans for the series online, so I've had to do without.

Okay, so Adashino, Kinsmen, Sessohiki, Meiji Restoration, etc. etc. Yeah, bit of a hefty plate for those that aren't too interested in a more traditional approach to Japanese historical storytelling, and those that don't have much knowledge of Japanese history.

Much like the first volume, I think that Aida does a good enough job in filling in the gaps for those that might not have the necessary knowledge and understand. I say "enough", because I think there's more that could be done in structuring the story to help readers, but that's mostly because of the average English speaking person's understanding of Japanese history and storytelling.

Anyways, lets go back over some of the core aspects to the story. Haruyasu and Shino try to kill her mother and fail, Haruyasu nearly dies due to the Sesshoseki, and Shino's brother leaves the group there. Following that we go on the run as the crew regroups.

And that's really all that happens in this volume. The storytelling is very slow, but then hits explosive moments towards the end of the volumes. You might say that it's a bit formulaic, though we're only on the second volume so it's hard to really be fair in that regard.

Let's talk specifics about this volume though. There's two things that sort of rub me the wrong way, that I think will be even taller hurdles to others: the Sessoseki (for reference, the name literally means "killing stone" and comes from a Japanese myth), and the handling of characters.

The concept of Sesshoseki is undeniably cool. An all powerful sword that consumes its user. It's dangerous, and is treated as such within the story. But it's almost underplayed. The demonic side of it isn't really displayed, and the combat feature doesn't carry the weight that you might expect. I wouldn't say it's terrible, none of this really is, but it's aspects that can very easily turn readers off from the series. Which is why it might be important to note that Aida's art is rather stiff through this second volume as well. Good layouts and paneling, but it can't really create that feeling of movement or flow that the art itself can.

Alright, the handling of characters. The supporting cast can fall flat, frankly speaking. I think some are certainly more interesting than others, but characters can easily become one dimensional or focus solely on delivering a single aspect to the story. I wouldn't say it's incredibly uncommon in more traditional Japanese storytelling to see single-faceted characters like this, especially with how Aida can treat them through this second volume. But for regular audiences this side of the pond, it can be abrasive. A character that seems important one second is gone the next, and that guy with the name that you can't remember actually comes back to be important and interesting. It's not quite hit and miss, but it's very whimsical and flippant with how characters can be approached.

So where does that leave all of this? In between a rock and a hard place?

Yes, but sort of no, but mostly it depends. There's bumps in the road for almost every reader, but overall I think it's a story that has the potential to hold interest, especially as this volume ends in a more interesting fashion, teasing the involvements of Shino's other siblings. The real question isn't so much if you like point A and point B in the story, but rather if you can find interest in the distance between them. The gaps stuffed full of historical information and interactions, the names that are a mile long and the details that seem all too forgettable.

Gunslinger Girl was never a mainstream or wildly popular series, but The Valiant Must Fall surely shrinks that fanbase to even a fraction of its predecessor. I know it sounds like I'm saying a lot of bad stuff about the series, but I really do want potential readers to be cautious with signing on for this series. It's not impossible to get into, but it's also not something you can just jump on and get the gist of.

[grison-in-space]

Yeah, and I mean, I did some glancing at your blog and it looks like you do UKC, which as I understand it is less ridiculous about hair than AKC poodle showing? Like, if nothing else, you can show in a sporting clip which is a touch less extreme about distorting the shape of the dog and a little lower maintenance than the continental? Not... obviously, not that that is low maintenance.

I was going to make a cranky comment about standard poodle structure and how the conformation-driven selection for flashy hackney movement in the ring can create dogs that are inefficient in their use of movement for other disciplines. But it's actually startlingly easy to find people in standard poodles talking in great functional detail about how structure influences movement, often using photos of specific dogs to teach observers about how that structure looks in a stack and how it translates into ease of different types of movements for the dog...

... And those teaching aids inevitably feature close shaven dogs in vastly more functional cuts, because that's the only way to see structure at all. I have just spent the past twenty minutes trying to find Helen King's excellent structure evaluation tutorials of her four standard bitches, for example, which are absolutely presented that way. Or there's links like this one, of course.

It is so weird to me that a breed with as long a history of competitive sport work as poodles have, not to mention a strong service tradition, has such a wretched set of conformation show norms. It's so easy to find people who really care about functional conformation in poodles, and it's so easy to find people who really care about using poodles for very physical sports or tasks, like service work, where functional conformation is absolutely essential. And then you have a conformation tradition that exists in service, it seems to me, of selecting for dogs that exist as armatures for hair and a flashy hackney trot!

Obviously it's not just about the coat: @farm-paws was just mentioning a similar situation with a highly decorated show Kelpie who is only a year old, and Kelpies have pretty much the same coat as my ACDs... who can be successfully pulled from their jobs working cattle, bathed and brushed, and tossed in the conformation ring to compete successfully. (I know this because that's precisely what Tilly's breeder does, including with her aged dogs; she's still actively campaigning and working with her 10yo male for example.)

I have to wonder if part of the problem is the level of competition in conformation as a sport within the breed. My impression is that poodles are a highly competitive breed with a lot of people invested in conformation as a sport in itself, and that bloc of people are going to be invested in the spectacle of the dog in the ring rather than the actual functional impact of conformation on some other physical activity. I have the same sense of show Kelpies in Australia: that they're a similarly Highly Competitive breed that usually draws big entries and frequently wins BIS at large, highly followed shows.

That's also going to foster a bloc of people who will be attracted to the breed by their interest in winning at conformation rather than necessarily their interest in other aspects of the breed, which I'd expect out of any highly competitive conformation breed. And when I think of other breeds with histories or records of being highly competitive confo dogs in the US, what comes to mind? Lots of extreme morphology and extreme coats: Rough Collies, GSDs, Smooth and especially Wire-haired Fox Terriers, American Cocker and English Springer spaniels. Boxers and Dobermans are the main exceptions I can think of and even then there's an enormous focus on a very specific silhouette.

IDK, man, dogs is hard.

i haven’t been in poodles long (less than a year) but i’m already noticing a really uncomfortable pattern of VERY young dogs getting championships/grand championships, including my own dog. shrike was a UCH at 9/10 months old. he’ll be a GRCH by 14 months. he’s not even done growing, how is he a good representation of the breed’s structure and movement? i just saw a 7 month old UCH. 7. months. that’s insane. that dog will probably look very different when they’re fully mature, in 2 years.

and apparently, poodles are in their “prime” showing window BEFORE THEYRE A YEAR OLD. the most competitive ages for standard poodles is 9-12 MONTHS. is that not ridiculous? that’s like taking a 13 year old human and saying “this is the pinnacle of human body structure. the ideal.”

if the entire point of conformation shows is to demonstrate breeding stock, why are we constantly rewarding very young dogs, who should not be bred yet, with accolades that mark them as good breeding stock? what if that 7 month old UCH bitch grows up to have undesired structural qualities? what if that 16 month old GRCH dog develops concerning temperament or health concerns when he’s 3? what then? in a culture that relies heavily on conformation titles and accolades, it’s more than a little concerning.

i know i’m just one person, a person very new to showing dogs, let alone poodles, but it’s so strange to me that we’re expecting so much of these young dogs, and we’re being rewarded for that. why are these young dogs winning over mature ones? are the mature ones out of standard? does the standard only reward young dogs?

i’m worried that the solution is to only show mature dogs, or at least dogs over a year, which is something that most poodle people would scoff at. it’s a very competitive breed, and the pressure to finish your dog before they’re even a fully grown adult is insane. i should not be worrying about putting a Grand fucking Championship on a dog who isn’t even two years old.

i don’t know. it worries me so much. ideally all future show poodles i own won’t be shown in adult classes until they’re, you know, adults, but i know that i’ll be pressured by the entire community to jump in as soon as possible. and it freaks me out.

[noizplayssomestuff]

Wait what's the ddlc thesis thing gonna be like? :)

Heyaaa!! First of all: thanks for asking!!💜 I'm always excited to share this since I am pretty passionate about this project and gaming analysis as a whole 👀

Short answer: The title is “Everyone has a story“: Doki Doki Literature Club, a Complex Video Game. I want to explore why "traditional" ways of analyzing video games would fail at analyzing contemporary video games and use DDLC as an example as to why that is.

Long answer under the cut:

Well I was going to write sth entirely different at first. I wanted to write sth on the typical queer coded villain and all that. While searching through the theory for that I happened upon some things that put me on a screeching hold though.

Even with people alluding to both, there is still a huge split between narratology and ludology within academic video game discourse. What this means is that people try to view the story or the gameplay at the core of games, or what defines games as games and structure their analyses or at least their focus accordingly.

But like. I have been playing and discussing games all my life at this point. And while I can absolutely see where this is coming from (both from the beginnings of this discipline as well as video games having undergone huge changes since academics first tried analyzing them), I was so appalled that I decided to make that my topic, instead.

That being that, in my humble opinion, modern video games are so complex (on average) that you have to analyze ludic and narrative aspects as two parts of a whole and not as two separate entities since the two aspects influence and inform one another. (This is on average, I am sure we can all think of both highly complex as well as very basic games. Though I would argue that some theories even fall short for analyzing basic contemporary games, but I digress)

So. I did a similar presentation in class on Undertale (since my class contribution is not allowed to be the same as my thesis entirely) shortly analyzing how intertwined narrative and ludic elements are in that game. And from there I went and said "Hey, let me do this on one of my fave games of all time".

I will spare you any more detail, but I am basically taking apart DDLC as a complex structure of influences (indie as a production mode + audience expectations for such games, otome games, their structure, audience expectations and how DDLC plays with them and how it is then veering into horror and deconstructing itself- pun intended). All of these structures are found in both narrative as well as ludic aspects and near impossible to tear away from one another, (hopefully) proving my point.

I am still in the process of putting it all together so it's still sorta half baked, but yeah, this is what I'm doing.

Thanks for being interested 🥰

[sebastianshaw]

Let's go wide and predictable... Tell me about the different WoD incarnations for Shaw. :>

OK SO First thing I am glad you are also a nerd for this so I don’t don’t to explain all these terms. Secondly wow I need to be better about tagging/organizing, I couldn’t find all the other posts on this I was SURE I wrote. SO HERE’S A BIG FAT POST, RIP YOUR EYES

VAMPIRE Lasombra: This is the clan I typically default to in answers for him AS YOU HAVE NOTICED. I mean, they’re dark aristocrats who are all about Social Darwinish, preying on the weak, and the strong reigning. They primarily enforce this subtly through political games, but they have NO PROBLEM throwing an elegant Potence-backed punch. While one would think that these proud predators demanding sniveling obedience---and one would, in a way, be right---they certainly don’t RESPECT it, and it can even induce violent rage in them. Fits Shaw to a T. Sure, the Catholicism/Church control and Spanish origins and attraction to the sea and Abyss mysticism aren’t for him, but hey, he fits the outlook of the Clan perfectly aside from the religious aspects, and no one fits EVERY stereotype of a clan anyway.  Most Lasombra are Sabbat, and he could be too, but he would be in it for personal power, not true belief in being the Sword of Caine. I can equally easily see him going antitribu for the political power and stability of the Camarilla.  My other choices for him are VENTURE which is pretty obvious, but also Gangrel, which sounds counterintuitive but I HAVE A REALLY GOOD ARGUEMENT FOR IT! WEREWOLF Shadow Lord. Total Shadow Lord for pretty much all the same reasons as Lasombra. Like just LOOK AT THIS QUOTE: “ The Shadow Lords are a fictional tribe of Garou (werewolves) in White Wolf Game Studio’s Werewolf: The Apocalypse role-playing game.   […]  The Shadow Lords’ lives are like a daily game of chess and a constant struggle for power […] Shadow Lords respect power and condemn weakness, any cub who’s not strong enough in their eyes is banished from the tribe [… ] None of the other tribes like them very much, or at all, but even the ones who hate them most don’t question their ability to get things done. […] perhaps the largest camp, the Lords of the Summit tend to be the stereotypical Shadow Lords - power-hungry, manipulative, ambitious, and arrogant. This by no means makes them less dangerous foes.” And like. . . .they focus on political and intellectual power FIRST, and that sort of character is typically physically weak. But as with the Lasombra, nope, the Shadow Lords had bodily power too; they’re described as looking more like over-muscled pit bulls in lupine form than wolves. So....yeah, that’s perfect. Because Shaw does fight “smart” first, he ideally never touches his opponent, but when he has to? BOY CAN HE PULVERIZE. So, Shadow Lord Shaw is a Homid, probably an Ahroun but maybe a Philodox, and he has a lot of Glass Walkers following him as well as fellow Shadow Lords; he finds great use in their technological talents and ability to adapt to an urban environment and OWN it (rather than just SURVIVE in its fringes like a Bone Gnawer, as he sees it) and they organize themselves in a corporate-like structure where he takes a natural lead.  While the Shadow Lords are stereotypically/traditionally Eastern European, they can be of any race today. Shaw’s dad is English, but since we never see his mom in canon, for this version I’m saying his mom was a great big Eastern European Shadow Lord, and that’s why he never knew her, because the Garou aren’t typically raising their own young. He’s just. . . .big brutal wolf boy. And has like a billion puppies/Kinfolk kids. I DREW HIM FERA Ok, so I picked a BUNCH of Fera for Shaw, and you know why? I could. Literally just because I could. I don’t have a DM to tell me no! I even picked extinct ones, BECAUSE I WANTED TO! Cat-wise, I like him as a Khan or a Khara. Are the Khara extinct? Yes. Do they really suit him, the way they’re described less as warriors and more just secret-gatherers? Not at all. I picked them because I just like the idea of him turning into a massive, massive black smilodon. Because I think it’s cool and I don’t have to respect canon here. He can be the last of the Khara and not fit them at all if I say so. And hey, he LOOKS like a prehistoric man already! As for the Khan. . . .of the extant Bastet, the Simba and Khan fit him best. And if I am being honest? The Simba probably are a better fit for him. And I’m fine with that. I’m fine with Shaw as a big ol werelion with a black mane. But I also just really, really like the Khan. And as I have made clear, I am running this show. So my first choice for him that isn’t a Shadow Lord, is a Khan. They’re most typically Indian, Chinese, or (due to breeding with colonizers in India) English, so he could be one of the English Khan, and hey, fighting the Wyrm gives him a good outlet for. . . himself. Their human forms are also typically tall and HUGE, upwards of 300 lbs, and they’ve sired some of the most beautiful kittens and powerful bloodlines. T “ The Simba may declare themselves nobility, but the weretigers fit the title. Regal hunters and warriors, these Bastet evoke the respect the lions demand. From the snowy mountains of Asia to the cities of India, the weretigers hunt the spawn of Asura and defend the last of their Kin. They’re solid, dependable, smart and strong. Their weaknesses, such as they are, come from being too trusting or too sure of themselves. Khan are straightforward and action-oriented, not clever schemers. Whatever a Khan does, he does full-tilt — fighting, romancing, hunting, studying, even contemplating. These Bastet throw themselves into all tasks with vigor and passion, and their bodies, in any form, bristle with vitality. Most Khan love company; though few of them can stand the presence of another of their kind for long, they often enjoy companions. And who would deny a tiger’s friendship? It’s said the Khan were brought forth to battle demons, and many of them take that charge literally. Vampires, Asura and fomori have few enemies more relentless than a tiger. Perhaps that’s why the Khan have been brought to the verge of extinction: They made too many of the wrong kind of enemies.” “ The tribe’s traditional cultures stress honor and obedience. The treachery of Nagda was worsened by the stain it put on the tigers’ pride. While solitary in nature, most Khan establish protectorates where they defend a given family or land against corruption. The fact that “defense” occasionally includes killing certain people doesn’t detract from the tribal purpose. The Kahn were created to war against demons. Those who court the darkness must die “ “ While many Khan tend to be bad-tempered and aggressive, others love company of all kinds (and are powerful enough to demand respect). “ So, is that ALL Shaw? No. He’d be a particularly nasty, scheming Khan, in fact, a little unusual for his breed. But that’s hardly unheard of. After all, the famous English Khan named Lord Clouster “had cobras for a heart; he tossed his own kuasha beneath the wheels of a train, fed his wife to a suttee fire by pretending to be dead, then killed his children when he found they did not carry the Changing Touch.” And another Khan, the Indian sultan Nagda, got into a feud with another Khan and “ taken over by his rage, the Sultan Nagda betrayed his race and used a tribal secret. During an eclipse, his assassins struck all over Asia, slaying nearly 100 Khan and many Kinfolk outright.” So, Khan can be bad too.  But not as bad as the Simba. “ “The Lords of Sunlight.” That’s what they call themselves. Like the blazing mane around the heads of their kings, werelions liken themselves to the sun. All things have a place and an order and rebels must be reminded of this fact. The real fact, of course, is that the other tribes dislike the lions; the Simba may call themselves “Lords of Sunlight,” but many other cats give them another name: “The Dark Kings,” an unflattering comparison to the Khan. The Simba aren’t villains; they’re magnificent lords, slayers of demons. Things are simply out of order. When the balance is  restored, when the humans know their place and the cities become graveyards, the lions will be proven right. The demons of the modern age can be traced to the end of the Impergium and the laxity of the Changing Breeds. The Simba mean to put things in order, and if that requires bloodshed, so be it. Warfare is the sport of kings” “ Werelions value strength and order. Despite their bloody reputation, Simba adore their loved ones, and watch their Kinolk closely. Children and kittens are raised within the pride and must constantly prove themselves to survive. “ “ Each pride has one Mtolo (“father”), or dominant male, and several Kirii (“wives”) and Anwana (“young hunters”). Small prides defer to larger ones, and may owe allegiance to a Chakuva (“High King”) like Black Tooth. “ So, Simba are very patriarchal, very hierarchal, and want to run everyone else and feel they’re entitled to do so by birthright,  and the more I talk the LESS it sounds like Shaw actually? Like don’t get me wrong, he’s proud and power-hungry AS YOU KNOW, but what sets him apart from Apocalypse or Magneto or Xavier is that Shaw has never sought to have mutantkind follow him. He has his own ideologies, but he has never sought to lead others or enforce it on them. So really, the Simba mentality of “we should be in charge because it’s us” DOESN’T work for him, nor does the idea of being entitled to do so, as Shaw’s “power first” mentality is all about EARNING your position, not deserving it automatically. It’s all very Fabian though! So I’ll leave that here as a bonus for you instead of going back and deleting it lol. yEAH HE’S A BAD KHAN, BASICALLY And his Pyrio, no matter what cat type he is, would be Night.  Each Bastet has a “Pyrio” meaning a classification of their general personality and what fields they’re likely to pursue and be talented in. “Like the Dark Father Cahlash, the favor of the Night indicates a sinister or hidden nature. Most Bastet with this Pryio tend to withdraw from others, concentrating on their own business unless interrupted. Although they might not be actively malignant, they have short tempers and quiet ways, and fiercely guard their privacy. Night Bastet prefer occupations such as assassin, scholar, scientist and dark mystic. In the wilderness, the Night cats are hidden hunters and man-eaters, with nasty dispositions and an eerie reputations. These are the cats whose deeds are told around campfires for years to come. If you’ve got a disposition toward the Night, activities that cause others discomfort, reinforce your private space or protect some valuable secret from outsiders can refresh your Willpower.” So yeah. Shaw is a night kitty.  Rats are not the type that fit him the MOST, but I drew him as a RATKIN WARRIOR anyway. Because rats. Also while I drew him as a Warrior, he could also be an Engineer or a Plague Lord (specifically sylphyllis; every Plague Lord contracts with a disease spirit and embodies its most horrific symptoms and I just love the idea of this hideous terrifying syph-ridden Shaw) And hey, he can get into the “culling humanity” and “survive so that you may breed” deal! Most wererats also have very little kindness towards the weak either, despite being the underdogs of the Fera themselves. Likewise, hyenas aren’t the breed that fit him the most but I kinda dig the idea of him as an Ajaba? Their role was choosers of the slain, tasked with culling the sick, dying, and unfit. They were called rainmakers because of the tears their task brought to others, and they did not spare even their own. Then, the Simba came to their lands, and enacted genocide against them. They left Africa and spread across the globe, now breeding indiscriminately to survive and can be any race. What holds them together now first isn’t any duty, but the desire to simply stay alive. And both those things---culling weakness, and being knocked off his pedestal and now forced to fight for scraps in the shadows to survive---seem fitting for Shaw. The philosophy is obviously what he’s always had, and the degraded position reflects where he currently is in canon. He’s not usually the underdog, but he is here---but doubtlessly a brutal one, the Fera equivalent of a gang leader, recruiting  Also they’re matriarchal and I kinda like the idea of him having to deal with that, as....that kind of fits too? Shaw was the only MAN of note in the Hellfire Club. All the other most iconic, powerful, threatening members were women, and Shaw’s never really had a chance (or tried to fuck with) any of them. He’s USED to being around a ton of badass ladies who are calling the shots, that’s just TUESDAY for him.   Finally---FINALLY-- I could see him as the odd human-born Rokea. A Great White, of course. Again, it was probably his mother who was the Fera, some monstrous creature who came on land and mated with his human father, only to spawn this boy while still out of the water. All Rokea are ugly in their human state, but Shaw looks better than most due to being born on land and as a human, and he is also able to move through---and thrive---in human society. Since he is seen as a Betweener---one of the Rokea who “betrays” the Sea by living on land instead---stepping into what should be his natural habitat is always risky for him, as other Rokea WILL kill Betweeners on sight. And the single-minded nature of sharks leaves little room for explaining oneself.  Oh did I say finally SURPRISE I HAVE ONE MORE. The peaceful, matchmaking, extinct Apis don’t really fit SHAW aT ALL, and they’re EXTINCT, but I love the idea of him turning into a HUGE BLACK BULL. So here’s my explanation. The deal with the Apis is that when their numbers reached the single digits, a last handful of young Apis called Last Hope went into the Deep Umbra and haven’t been seen since. The “hook” in the 20th anniversary Changing Breeds book for their return is that maybe they finally came out the Umbra and back to the physical world. My idea is that he and HAVEN are mebers of Last Hope who have re-emerged in modern times to bring back their kind---something that rests entirely on SHAW’S shoulders, since Haven’s womb was cursed by the Wyrm. So it’s up to him to just breed with as many women and cows as possible. So he’s got an excuse! And as for why he’s so un-Apis, my explanation is that the trauma of their species being wiped out and the time that was allowed to fester in them during their long sleep in the Deep Umbra, drove Haven and Shaw to two extremes of Apis behavior. Haven took on the gentle caretaker side to the extreme, becoming so pacifistic she can’t fight or defend herself. Shaw went the other end, becoming so enraged and resentful that he’s become more like a bloodthirsty predator himself.  Eventually, they both fall to madness after re-emerging, but in the opposite ways that everyone expect. It’s the sweet gentle Haven who ends up Frenzying other of control in a berserker rage, rampaging across the city in massive bovine form, causing untold death and destruction until she’s put down. . . .while the cruel violent Shaw falls to a “cow version of Harano” sinking into a depression so profound he goes catatonic up until Haven’s own loss of sanity, at which point he throws himself on her horn. The story ends with the last of the Apis truly dead, but with a new hope for the species living on in Shaw’s children, who are showing signs of being Kinfolk or Apis themselves.

[ranma-rewatch]

Episode 17: I Love You, Ranma! Please Don’t Say Goodbye

Howdy dowdy, everyone! We are getting so close! So close to finishing the first season of Ranma 1/2! Last episode ended with Akane still having no clue who Ranma is, so this time they’ll resolve that? I think? I am fairly sure she remembered him throughout the rest of the series. I guess I’ll see how after I rewatch the episode, which for you will be with the next paragraph.

There we have it! The end to Shampoo’s introductory arc! How did I feel about it?

That’ll be more clear later on, let’s start by going over what happens in it. Ranma and Akane head back to her house, with her still unaware of who he is. Her family is only now starting to understand that this is actually happening, that Akane has somehow actually forgotten Ranma.

Shampoo shows up, when she glomps onto Ranma out of pure instinct Akane attacks him. Realizing that there is some part of her memory left unaffected, Shampoo goes to do the attack again, but Ranma intercepts it and steals the shampoo. He immediately tries using it on Akane, but it just knocks her out, it doesn’t regain the lost memories. Dr. Tofu shows up and reveals that’s because the formula he stole only takes memories, it can’t give them back.

Luckily, he has a book that has the recipe they need. Unluckily, Kasumi shows up and in his lovestruck silliness he rips the book into tiny pieces without realizing it. With no other choice, Ranma decides to head to China, since they’ll have the shampoo formula needed there. Everyone asks for personal souvenirs (though I don’t know how he’d buy any Ranma is usually broke) and Akane wonders why this stranger is doing so much for her.

Speaking of that very question, Ranma quickly runs into Shampoo, who wants to know why Ranma is trying to get Akane’s memories back so much. All he says to that is that he doesn’t like the idea of being forgotten by someone. Clearly, that is all it is, there is no other context to the situation.

She messes with Ranma a bunch, faking him out with a bunch of other kinds of shampoo, but eventually after a lot of hijinks Ranma is able to strike a deal with her: all it will take to get the memory-restoring shampoo is killing the ‘girl Ranma’. Well, half-kill, Ranma could at least negotiate to that.

And if you need someone to half-kill Ranma, of course there’s no one else to go see except Ryoga Hibiki. Only problem is, for once he doesn’t want to beat Ranma up, no matter how nicely Ranma asks. After all, if Akane’s memory is never restored, it gives him a chance to be with Akane instead. Still, Ryoga does have a temper, and Ranma eventually goads him into a fight...that Ranma quickly wins, unscathed.

Mr. Tendo and Mr. Saotome step up for the job, but Akane sees them attacking this poor defenseless (and as she sees it, weak) teenage boy and tries to stop them. That annoys Ranma, since he’s going through all this pain for her, but when he insults her in annoyance, she reacts to it. So, Ranma insults her a bunch and her memory comes back.

The only problem there is, now that Akane remembers Ranma, Shampoo is back to wanting to kill her for being an obstacle to getting with Ranma. This leaves Ranma with what he feels like is no choice, and he shows Shampoo that he’s both the man she loves and the person she was trying to kill. (Without mentioning the curse, mind you, instead telling her that he has just been ‘pretending to be a guy’) As he seemed to expect, she jumps to wanting to kill him, but it quickly becomes clear she’s crying, and she runs away, telling Ranma they’ll never see each other again. Then there is a short scene of Ranma and Akane having a spat. The end.

I think this time I'm going to start with the stuff I liked. I appreciate the structure of the narrative here, as Ranma tries one thing after another, any way he can, to solve the problem. It moved fairly quickly and was a good fodder for some jokes.

The bigger reason I liked the episode, of course, just comes from how far Ranma is willing to go to help Akane. He plans to swim to China, by himself, if it means getting her memories back. He can say whatever he wants, but I do feel like this episode was great at showing just how much he really does care about her.

It also made fairly good use of Ryoga, though it’s something they’ve done with him a few times now. By this point, it seems his love for Akane and how he sees Ranma as the thorn in his side have become his primary character traits, rather than his original driving hatred. That’s not necessarily bad, but I’m glad that, as far as I remember, it won’t be his main focus forever.

That last scene with Shampoo is also fairly strong, though I’ll get more into my thoughts on her in a second. All of the things I liked aside, there was definitely one part of this episode I really didn’t care for.

It probably sounds dumb, but I just really didn’t like the solution to the memory loss. To put it more specifically, I like the idea that they’re able to break through what’s been done to her through her connection to Ranma. I just don’t like that it involved Ranma insulting her over and over again. Like, I get it, he’s a dick to her sometimes, that reminds her of him more than all the nice things he’s been doing.

But it’s also just rough to watch, at least for me? I didn’t find it funny. In a way, the whole thing casts a strange shadow on the entire Ranma/Akane dynamic. Arguing a lot is one thing, but the sheer level to which Ranma was insulting her felt closer to negging then anything else. Especially because it’s all focused on how Akane looks, things that are clearly a big insecurity for her.

Enough worrying about those two, let’s talk about who this arc was more properly about, Shampoo (no last name)! This is our first Character Spotlight in a while, so let’s make sure it’s done well!

Let’s talk about her voice actresses, shall we? Her original Japanese voice was provided by Rei Sakuma, who was also the cat Jiji in Kiki’s Delivery Service (which is kind of funny considering something happening to Shampoo next season). Like some of the other voice actresses we’ve talked about thus far, she was in the idol group DoCo. For English, she’s portrayed by Cathy Weseluck. Some of her more well-known roles are as Near in Death Note and Spike in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. (Both of which are not roles I’d expect from Shampoo’s voice actress.)

They both play Shampoo very similarly, I’d say. Shampoo has a very high-pitched voice, and at least so far her vocabulary in ‘Japanese’ isn’t very large, so half the time she sticks with Chinese instead. This gives her an almost baby-like quality to her voice, which is contrasted by how cold it is when she starts talking about how Ranma or Akane have to die. What I would say as a point of delineation, at least so far, is that Sakuma’s performance feels more genuine, while Weseluck makes it seem like the childishness is just a front, it doesn’t sound sincere.

That kind of voice, genuine or not, is pretty emblematic of what we’ve seen of Shampoo thus far. Namely, that she’s fairly simple. Shampoo is chasing after Ranma, to kill or to marry, because of ancient traditions of her people, not because of what she really wants. Yet she pursues him relentlessly anyway. She’s eager to fight, eager to love, and absolutely willing to use underhanded methods to remove anyone from the picture if they get in her way.

I will say that, in terms of fighting ability, it’s pretty vague thus far how good Shampoo is. Ranma is capable of beating her with no problem over and over again, but she never gets to really fight Akane, all she does is give her hair the works.

Speaking of Akane, I will say that Shampoo’s presence does highlight certain aspects of her character. They’re both rather jealous, and prone to violence over it. But where Akane and Ranma are still trying to work through their baggage, Shampoo is down to cuddle from second one. Shampoo is also the first other fiance of Ranma’s, though that’s less something planned out for him and more something he made happen by accident.

I guess it’s time to talk about it, no use putting it off any longer. Shampoo has never really been a character I liked in the franchise, and part of the fun of this Rewatch is seeing how my thoughts have grown on her. I used to just kind of find her annoying, but now there’s more there too. Namely, racism. Yeah, the broken English/Japanese she speaks, combined with how she’s written in general, give Shampoo a kind of ‘dumb’ quality that never sat well with me, especially now that I know that it’s emblematic of the kind of stereotypes Japanese people tend to have about people from China. I still hope to have my opinion changed on Shampoo, but it hasn’t really happened yet.

It hasn’t been made clear yet, so I will say now that I do like this episode. It has some good comedy, I enjoy the hints of Ranma’s burgeoning devotion to Akane, and it closes out Shampoo’s initial storyline pretty well. But I’m also mixed on it, mostly just because of that insulting scene. It’s strange, having a story that I liked about 80% of, because it’s difficult knowing how to weigh that 20% that I didn’t care for. (Also, can I just say I hate that the title feels like a lie?) In the end, I’m placing this just one spot above the last episode, which means the current standing is thus:

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 15: Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands

Episode 9: True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 13: A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 17: I Love You, Ranma! Please Don’t Say Goodbye

Episode 16: Shampoo's Revenge! The Shiatsu Technique That Steals Heart and Soul

Episode 8: School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga

Episode 11: Ranma Meets Love Head-On! Enter the Delinquent Juvenile Gymnast!

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

Episode 10: P-P-P-Chan! He's Good For Nothin'

Episode 14: Pelvic Fortune-Telling? Ranma is the No. One Bride in Japan

Next time, we are closing out the season! It’s kind of strange to consider that, I’m actually almost done with the first season of the series, known here in the States as “Digital Dojo” and in Japan as the only season of Ranma 1/2. (The next season to the end was all Ranma 1/2 Nettōhen) Will I like I Am a Man! Ranma's Going Back to China!? That’s the big question, and I’m eager to see. Ta ta for now!

[tonyglowheart]

Idk who to talk to about this but last year I came across a white couple that got married as Wangxian and am kind of dreading people getting married as bride!XL (I mean I don’t think I’m comfortable with it even when they’re cosplaying the character’s Period but I’m trying(maybe failing) to be generous) bc it’s specifically CHN marriage tradition. Knowing how people can love EAsian media yet be racist towards us anyway, the growing global sinophobia just makes this feel worse. Am I overreacting?

Hi anon!

I don’t necessarily think you’re overreacting because your personal sore points are informed by your specific life experiences and the kinds of racism and microaggressions you’ve encountered and grown weary and leery of. I know I have points where I react to/against, that doesn’t affect everyone, and may not even affect a majority. At the very least, there’s reasons why I shy away from engaging with fic and specific fandoms in certain spaces, that I know are valid for me, and may be discussed as far as how it parallels or plays into wider trends, but that that doesn’t necessarily mean it translates to blanket prohibitions or guidelines or such.

From what you’ve described to me, I think I’d be wary of it, but not altogether against it? I think if someone is doing a cosplay wedding.... that’s kind of whatever to me. When something becomes a media franchise like that, I kind of feel like that kind of thing is going to happen. It may not be perfectly equitable as far as like playing into issues of Orientalism and colonialism/postcolonialism/neocolonialism go, but also from a more personally pragmatic point, there’s only so many fucks I have to give, and there’s things that, if for no other reason than personal sanity, I have learned and am letting to let go. We can’t redo the history of the world so as to completely erase or eradicate Western colonization or the structures and patterns laid out in history for neocolonialism.

Another thing I have to grapple with, is that we/I shouldn’t turn our ire to the individual. On an individual level, the specific person isn’t enacting systemic inequality, even if their actions play into it. The best we can hope for, if we have the energy and means, is to reach out and try to connect with people and explain our perspective and our history, to see if we can connect with them in such a way that they understand what we’re saying and where we’re coming from. That’s not something that can be forced or brute-forced.

The bride!XL matter... yeah is more of a sticking point - although to me, bride!XL’s costume is still a costume, its patterns and motifs are slightly atypical for your traditional bridal attire. I do also want to kind of point out that the “traditional” Chinese wedding attire tends to be based off a Qing dynasty style and design, which has a further internal complexity of it being “Chinese,” but not being traditional Han ethnic clothing and rather based more on Manchu traditions. Similar to the topics ppl grapple with regarding the qipao/cheongsam, and part of the reason for the hanfu revival movement.

For me personally, I find it... unideal for people to be dressing up in a “costume” for marriage, especially when it DOES tie into the culture, but at the same time I feel like if people are going out of their way to dress as bride!XL (and not just “oh I found this “bridal costume” and thought it would be cute”), then that means Xie Lian and TianGuan means something to them. Watching wedding dress shows, the whole Western tradition of white or close-to-white gowns IS very strong, if not with the bridal party then with the families, so poteeentially for them to break from that, hopefully to me means that it DOES mean something to them, even if it may not be what I or we want it to. I think for me, if people were co-opting marriage traditions or customs in an uniformed matter, I’d be more tilted about it lmao, but that’s me and my comfort level.

I feel you tho on racism and sinophobia and people who will consume EAsian media but still be racist towards people. I think that’s a valid point of contention. I think you see it played out in the greater fandom :/ Not, tho, always in every case that’s popped up as a “racism” issue. But I do think it’s there, and I think some of the recent discourse on racism in fandom - which was prevalent what feels like a year ago but was actually a couple months - also has roots in real issues and trends.

Hrmm tl;dr tho? I think you’re valid and not necessarily overreacting, because there IS a lot of history and honestly, contemporary actions and trends, which make that uncomfortable and possibly even damaging. But at the same time.... I think generally on a fandom level, these individual situations are somewhat inevitable especially for larger-reaching fandoms (as far as like the fandom bell curve goes), and aren’t necessarily single-handedly enacting and enforcing all of those bevvy of -isms. And even then, as an individual, we can’t stop other people from making the decisions they make and doing the things they do with their own lives. The topic is complicated bc we have the the confluence of fandom competing needs and racial/social justice competing needs which is, you know, complicated by additional swathes of intersectional identities and issues. 

I’m sorry I don’t really have an easy answer for you or any kind of reassurance or anything. But I don’t necessarily think you’re discomfort is invalid, but at the same time I think it’s a good opportunity to try to reflect on it, interrogate what might be some more extreme impulses you might have as far as reacting or responding, and practice self-care where you can as far as curating your experience to be as harm-free for yourself as you can and focus as much as you can on the aspects you can control instead of remaining in the agonizing of the factors that are outside of your control. Because as much as it might gall me, there ARE factors I cannot personally control or influence, and that can even include people who are, on paper, in my immediate sphere of influence. If they don’t want to listen to me or find other competing needs more compelling, I can try to reach out and explain where I’m coming from all I want, but I can’t force anyone to reciprocate or honestly, even listen. So instead of focusing my energy onto the minds I can’t change, I think in the long run it’s more productive and more enjoyable to focus on the things I CAN affect. And on some things, I find I’ve had a better/more enjoyable time blacklisting instead of focusing overly on the factors outside of my control and trying to force things outside of my control to somehow happen anyway.

Now of course, it’s easy for me to SAY that now lmao. I mean, I know I’m not without flaws or salt. My saltmines run deep and my wounds remain rather sensitive and not yet numbed by time and my salt does indeed runneth over, maybe more often than ppl who aren’t me and who are following my blog for specific things would rather. And I don’t have it in me to always be magnanimous or extend people good faith without a second thought, especially if it’s something that hits a trigger. But idk, psychologically speaking, and even just from a personal level, it’s not helpful to me or even potentially to others to be so focused on things I can’t control or influence and to like be stuck in suffering so much. We only have so many hours and so many brain cells to devote to things.

...I literally have no clue how to wrap this up oh god. uhhh real tl;dr ig: anon I think you’re valid, but also like... from my personal experience... I’m suffering either way so for me I’m like. might as well learn to let it go so I’m not actively suffering over this particular thing and either free up braincells to try to building towards thriving or so I can suffer about things that are due to “me” reasons, or short of that, I do not see.meme it so at least I’m not being actively triggered by it (I think this is more where I’m at right now,,,, lmao,,, F). Ur valid tho, I know the struggle of “am I the one being issues” but that ALSO becomes stifling (or it did for me), when I felt like I had to shut up and behave so as to not ruffle Westerner feelings. But also suffering is rough and I encourage you, for your own peace of mind, to explore ways to lessen your suffering, bc that shit is rough.

[gojira007]

Movie Meme

Took me a bit of time, but I was tagged by @bunnikkila to list my nine favorite movies, and since I can’t help but be ridiculously verbose about that very topic, you can see them all under the cut 8D

As for who I tag?  Well, as always with the caveat that you are free to ignore if you don’t wanna, I’ll go with: @elistodragonwings @kaikaku @donnys-boy @robotnik-mun @sally-mun @fini-mun @werewolf-t33th  @cviperfan and @wildwoodmage​

and don’t worry, if you DO go for it, you don’t have to get as Extra as I did about it XD

9.) 

Look, the meme is about Favorite Movies, not necessarily the BEST Movies, OK?  And for the most part this list consists of films where that division is less meaningful in terms of how I evaluate the other movies on here.  But in this specific case, “Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie”, which is ultimately not all that different from the “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ TV show it spun off from and thus not particularly impressive as a work of Cinema Qua Cinema, makes the cut primarily because it’s a movie I know so well and have enjoyed so often that I can practically recite the whole thing to you by rote; I quote it all the time in my day-to-day life, I think about it often when I need a little smile, and it’s also become my favorite tool for introducing newcomers to MST3K as a whole since it was designed with a slightly broader audience in mind than the more willfully-eclectic series.  And given how much I love MST3K As A Whole, that’s an especially strong factor in its favor.

8.) 

Looky looky, @bunnikkila, we (unsurprisingly) have a pick in common!  I’m sure this is the one and only time THAT’S going to happen on this list. 8D

Y’know, nearly thirty years (and one fairly useless remake >_>) later, I think the thing that impresses me about “The Lion King” is just how much it is still able to grab me emotionally.  Some of that is unquestionably tied up with how strongly I associate this movie with my family, all of whom it became very special to as a Shared Experience.  But I also don’t know of a lot of people who haven’t had that same emotional experience with it, and that to me suggests there’s more going on here than just Nostalgia.  The mixture of Shakesperean plotting with Disney’s signature strength of Character, for one thing, granting the movie’s story an Epic Scope that never forgets the emotional inner lives of its cast.  The music for another, not only its instantly-iconic song-book but also its memorable score, armed with both Big Bombast and Gentle Sentiment.  And the unforgettably gorgeous animation, rendering every last element of its world with believable naturalism and strongly-defined personality.  All of it, together, makes for what I still personally consider the Crowning Achievement of the Disney Renaissance.

7.)

I think, if I had to name the thing I find most lacking in far too many modern Action Movies, it’s Clarity.  They all tend to lard their plots up with a bunch of unnecessary contrivances and complications in hopes of making themselves appear more clever than they actually are, and all it usually does is just dilute the impact of the whole thing.  “Mad Max: Fury Road”, by contrast, is all about Clarity.  I could sum up literally its entire plot in a paragraph if I wanted, because it is basically One Big Chase Scene from start to finish, never really deviating from that structure for more than a few minutes at a time.  And that, combined with its exceptionally well-crafted Action Sequences, means that the full weight of its visceral power hits you full force every time.  But don’t be fooled; that simplicity is not to be mistaken for shallowness.  Indeed, precisely by getting out of its own way, knowing exactly what it wants to do and why, “Fury Road” also delivers a story that is, in spite of what you might guess, genuinely subtle and smart.  Every character is immediately unforgettable and compelling because their role in the story is so well-considered and their personalities all so stark.  The world it crafts feels at once fascinatingly surreal and yet All Too Real at the same time because even its most Fantastic elements are ultimately just grotesque reflections of things the audience knows only too well.  And most of all, it tells a story with real, meaningful Themes that are deeply woven into each of its individual elements, such that the whole thing is deeply satisfying emotionally, but also piercingly Relevant in all the best, most affecting ways.

6.) 

Oh look, another pick I have in common with @bunnikkila!  This must be the last one, right?

But yeah, this is just a legitimately great movie, at every level, in every way.  Stylistically, it is one of the most radically inventive things to have ever been made in the world of Western Animated Movies, gleefully mixing together a vast array of Aesthetics and Techniques that are at once viscerally distinct and yet coherently connected, all rendered with a fantastic eye toward the world of Comic Book Visual Language that keeps finding new and extremely fun ways to play with that instantly-recognizable iconography.  For that alone, I would call it one of the greatest triumphs of 21st century animation.  But then, on top of that, the story it tells is one that is simultaneously Arch and self-aware, delivering some of the most fantastically hilarious punch-lines imaginable more than a few of which are at the expense of the very franchise it is working within...but also entirely earnest, sincere, and emotionally affecting.  It is, at once, a movie that manages to be about The Idea Of Spider-Man in its totality while also being about just one kid coming to grips with who he is, what he can do, and what his life can be.  I don’t know that I can remember the last time a movie so immediately and unmistakably marked itself as an Enduring Masterpiece, but “Into the Spider-Verse” absolutely pulled it off.

5.)

Ordinarily, I would cheat and give this slot to the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy in its totality.  But somehow, the fact that this is about “FAVORITE” movies instead of just what we think the BEST one is compels me to narrow it down to just one.  And if I had to pick just one, it would be the first of the three, “Fellowship of the Ring”.  It’s not necessarily anything that the other two movies get wrong, either.  All three of the LotR movies possess many of its keenest strengths, after all.  For a starter, there’s the keen understanding of how best to adapt the source material without being enslaved to it; capturing many of its most iconic moments while cleverly tweaking elements to make them more cinematic, knowing what scenes to focus on for the sake of more clearly focusing the emotional through-lines of the story, and knowing what scenes, no matter how good on the page, ultimately don’t fit to the shape the adaptation has taken.  There’s also its pitch-perfect casting, each and every actor doing a fantastic job of embodying the characters so well that even as your personal vision of them from the books may differ radically from what is on-screen, they nonetheless end up feeling Right for the part and a strong, compelling presence.  And there’s the deft visual hand of director Peter Jackson, who knows exactly how to craft a Middle Earth that feels at once lived-in and real but also Fantastic and magical.  “Fellowship”, for me at least, thus wins out mostly because it has the good luck of being adapted from the strongest of the three books, the point at which the narrative is at its most unified and thus has the strongest overall momentum.  But also because so few movies have so swept me away with the sense of stepping into a world I have always dreamed of in my mind’s eye, and that’s the sort of thing that can only happen at the beginning of a journey.

4.) 

Now here’s a movie that is literally sown in to my very being.  It’s the last movie my mother saw in theaters before becoming a Mom.  I grew up watching the “Real Ghostbusters” cartoon all the time and playing with the attendant toys; I had a “Ghostbusters” Birthday Party when I was, like, four years old.  It has been my annual Halloween Tradition to get myself a big Cheese Pizza and watch this movie for about as long as I’ve had disposable income to myself.  There is, quite literally, no point in my life where I don’t remember “Ghostbusters” being a fixture in it.  And as a nice bonus?  It is, legitimately, a Genuinely Great Movie.  I realize that isn’t quite as universally agreed upon these days as it was even a few years ago (thanks, Literally The Worst Kind Of Virulently Misogynist Assholes lD; ), but I still feel pretty confident in saying this one really is That Good.  I still find basically every one of its jokes hilarious; even now I could quote just about any one of them and get a laugh.  I still find its central premise, What If Exorcism Was A Blue-Collar Business, a brilliant, almost subversively clever one that takes The Supernatural out of the realm of The Unknowable and into a world where even you, an ordinary person off the street, can in fact fight back against it.  I still think it’s one of the all-time great examples of how to balance Tone in this sort of High Concept Genre Bender, by allowing The Story to be played relatively straight while allowing the comedy to flow naturally from the characters’ reactions to that story, allowing its Ghostly aspects to land as Genuinely Scary (or at least Worth Taking Seriously) without getting too Stern and Serious about it.  And I still listen to that unforgettable Title Song all the time!  So yeah, even if I could be more objective about it, “Ghostbusters” would almost certainly make this cut.      

3.) 

And so we come to the third and last pick I have in common with @bunnikkila, not coincidentally a movie that played a key role in solidifying our friendship, as bonding over our shared love of it was a big part of how we got to know each other on deviantART waaaay back in the day <3

By 2008, I really didn’t think it was possible for a movie or comic or TV show to really become “part” of me anymore, the way things like Sonic the Hedgehog or Marvel Super Heroes or Some Other Movie Character Who Might Be At The Top Of This List had.  And then “WALL-E” came along and proved that to be completely, utterly wrong.  I didn’t just love this movie, I was inspired by it, to a degree of strength and consistency that I’m still not entirely sure has yet been matched.  And to be sure, some of that is undoubtedly because the movie had already basically won the war before I’d even bought my ticket; Adorable Robots In Love is something like My Platonic Storytelling Ideal, after all.  But even setting that aside, “WALL-E” is a movie where even now I can’t help but be keenly aware, and gently awed, at the beauty of its craft; indeed, watching this movie in a theater did a lot to make me better understand why movies work on us the way they do, because I left that theater chewing so much on every last one of its elements.  Its gorgeous animation, the way it conveys Character through Actions more so than language, the dream-like quality of its musical score (even as i type this i get teary thinking about certain motifs), the clear and meaningful way it builds its theme and story together so harmoniously, and the particular perspective it takes on our relationships with each other, with our environments, and with our own technology...all of it speaks to me deeply and profoundly, and it’s no coincidence that I have seen this movie more times in theaters than any other on this list (twelve times, for the record, and I still remember each and every time XD).

2.) 

This one needs no personal qualifications, to my mind.  Yes, I have some degree of nostalgic attachment to it for having seen it relatively young with my brothers and being deeply moved by it then, but it’s not at all like the kind of Nostalgia I have for “The Lion King”.  “Princess Mononoke” is just flat-out, full-stop a complete Masterpiece, not just my personal pick for one of the single-best animated films ever made, but one of the best films period.  It’s almost difficult for me to put into words how great this movie is, certainly in a way that hasn’t been repeated to death by thousands of other smarter people, because no one of its elements quite answers the question of why it is so great, to my mind.  Yes, the animation is absolutely gorgeous with a design sensibility that brings Ancient Mythology to life so vividly that its influence can still be felt today (The Forest Spirit alone has been homaged all over the place).  And yes, the music is hauntingly beautiful, at once capturing the gentle rhythm of nature but also the elegiac tone of Life Moving On.  And yes, the story is an incredible mixture of the Broad Mythic Strokes of an Ancient Legend grounded in all too human Emotions and Ideas about the balance of nature, the full meaning and cost of Warfare, and perhaps most important of all, about how we determine Right and Wrong when everyone involved in a conflict is fighting simply for the right to survive.  But all of those things add up together to something even greater than a simple sum, because each one isn’t just good in its own right but because each element so perfectly reinforces the other.  And even having said all that?  I really could just carry on singing this movie’s praises.  Just...an absolute masterpiece, top to bottom.

1.) 

I don’t imagine any of you are terribly surprised at this, right?  I almost feel like it’d be redundant to explain my love for this movie, given how self-obvious I imagine it is to basically everyone who knows me Literally At All.  But heck, I’ve rambled on this long, why not go all the way?  Because the thing of it is, “Gojira” (to be clear, the original Japanese movie from 1954 rather than its American edit, “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” from 1956) doesn’t just top the list by being a Great Movie.  Though to be clear, it really is.  Flawless?  No; there’s a reliance on puppetry that even for the time can be a bit chintzier than the movie can really afford, in particular.  But brilliant, even so, a heart-wrenching example of Science Fiction Storytelling As Allegory, one that, in a rarity not just for its own genre but indeed for many movies in general, very meaningfully lingers on its deepest, darkest implications.  Many a film critic has pointed it out, and it remains true: the stark black-and-white photography heightens the sense of Implacable Horror at the core of the story, and the way the central Melodrama, a tragic love triangle that carries with it many aspects of Class Conflict and Personal Desire VS. The Collective Good, ties back into the main story is truly beautiful in its elegance and emotional impact.  Still, for me personally, it tops the list, now and always, because it is a movie that affirmed something for me, that the character I had fallen in love with as a child convincing his family to watch a monster movie with him on television to prove his seven-year-old bravery, really was as genuinely as powerful and meaningful a figure as I had always imagined him to be. 

[positivity-studies]

10 Questions Tag

Thank you so much to the lovely @yourstudyfriend for tagging me : )

Some of these answers are pretty long, I apologize!!

1. Do you like videogames? What is/has been your favorite? I like to call myself a casual gamer, and by that I mean I almost exclusively play Pokémon and the occasional other game. I have every main series Pokémon game that has ever been released for the DS/3DS (well, one from each set that is, like I don’t have Diamond AND Pearl) and a few other side games, so 13 total. If I had to choose a favorite, I’d pick Pokémon Platinum and Pokémon SoulSilver because they’re so unique compared to many of the other main series games. I turned 21 in quarantine, and my original birthday gift (tickets to Dear Evan Hansen on tour) didn’t happen, so I’m getting a Nintendo Switch and Pokémon Sword for my birthday instead as soon as I can find a Switch in stock somewhere (it is NOT easy). I’m really looking forward to playing the new game on the new system, and maybe I’ll save up and branch out and try some other non-Pokémon games : )

2. What album is your all-time favorite? Why do you recommend it? My all-time favorite album is Sam Tsui’s debut album Make It Up, which was released in 2013!! Sam is my favorite singer/songwriter of all time, and I’ve been listening to him for over six years now; the title song from Make It Up is the song / music video that introduced me to his music and his YouTube channel, and it also happens to be the first song I saw him sing live way back in 2014 (he used to open shows with it). So needless to say, the album is pretty special to me. On top of that, I am so impressed by the fact that Sam and Kurt Hugo Schneider (they work together on YouTube a lot) wrote and recorded and produced the whole thing completely independently without any kind of record label or anything. The album has everything from feel-good jams (including a song that’s basically become my quarantine anthem) to some of the most beautiful songs in the entire world. It’s absolutely fantastic, and no album compares for me. Fun fact: I wrote an entire paper about it for one of my classes this past semester, and it was honestly a highlight of my quarantine.

3. Who are your favorite YouTubers? I used to be really into YouTube but I’m not anymore, though there are still a few that I’m subscribed to (most of them are musicians, though): Sam Tsui and Kurt Hugo Schneider (obviously, based on the answer to the last question), Rosanna Pansino (she was the first YouTuber I ever watched!), Cimorelli, and Alex Blue. I used to really love Tyler Oakley, Troye Sivan, Connor Franta, Ricky Dillon, all of the OGs from the early to mid 2010s, but I don’t have the time to keep up with them all anymore unfortunately. There are a few others that I’d like to start watching and/or catch up on, so hopefully I’ll have time while I’m still stuck in quarantine!!

4. What type of art is your favorite - music, visual (fine arts, sculptures, design, etc.), drama, or literature? Oh gosh, this is hard!! I guess I have to pick music, though I also love musical theatre so I guess that combines two of them? And I’m a bit of a graphic design nerd as well, though I wish I was better at actually making the designs myself.

5. Do you keep a journal? What about a planner? I don’t keep a traditional journal anymore, but I do keep a planner!! I have a Passion Planner - I discovered the brand on Instagram a few months ago and I bought one for myself and I absolutely LOVE IT. I really love the freedom of bullet journaling but at the same time I need a little bit of structure to get started, and Passion Planners are the happy medium I’ve been looking for. I also love the brand’s focus on reflection and growth. I highly recommend checking them out.

6. Do you like to dance? In your room, or in public places? What’s the best song to dance to in your opinion? I’m not much of a dancer in the formal sense, but I do enjoy a good dance party : ) I dance by myself in my room sometimes, especially during quarantine. I don’t think I can pick ONE best song to dance to, but the first one that I thought of was Cut to the Feeling by Carly Rae Jepsen (or really, any of her songs - they’re all bops).

7. Which Disney princess are you? She’s not a princess so I’m not sure if this counts, but Elsa!! I’ve always loved Frozen since it first came out, and every time I rewatch the movie (or the second movie, or the shorts, or the Broadway musical...) I find even more ways that I relate to her and identify with her. If I had to pick an actual princess though, I’d pick Anna, because I am just as awkward as she is and I too hate mornings ; )

8. What mundane aspect of life do you enjoy more than others? Is sleeping too obvious of an answer?

9. Do you like celebrating your birthday? Why/Why not? And if you do, what was your best birthday so far? I generally do, yeah! I just think it’s really fun to celebrate making it through another year. I don’t think I have one particular birthday that I consider the best (though I did spend my 5th birthday in Disney World), but surprisingly my quarantine birthday actually ended up being really special despite it, you know, being quarantine. I watched musicals and Disney movies with my family, and a bunch of my friends surprised me with a Zoom call (though I kinda found out about it before it happened, oops). The highlight, though, actually happened the night before - Sam Tsui (this is my third time mentioning him in this one post lol) did a spontaneous livestream on Instagram that night and took song requests so I sent him mine and told him my birthday was the next day, and he wished me happy birthday and played my request and I could not stop smiling : )

10. What’s your favorite type of bird? A bluebird - or, if we’re talking fantasy birds, phoenixes are pretty cool!!

Thank you for reading that long rambly post - here are my questions:

1. Do you have a favorite day of the year? What is it? 2. What makes you smile? 3. What is your favorite TV show and your favorite episode of that show? 4. What song speaks to you most? 5. What is your favorite type of chocolate? 6. What book do you think everyone should read? 7. Are you a morning or a night owl? Do you wish you were the opposite? 8. What is the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to you? 9. What is your favorite memory? 10. What has been the highlight of your quarantine?

I tag @purenerd, @lattesandlearning, @myhoneststudyblr, and anyone else who’d like to do this!! I can’t wait to see your responses : )

[bladekindeyewear]

HS^2 bloggin’ bonus 2020-02-01

bladekindeyewear:

Boy that sure is a new HS^2 bonus I should blogread.  And there was a commentary on the Patreon for the last proper upd8 too.

I’ll… do it sometime this weekend, not right away.  (Had a stomach virus through Monday and Tuesday that’s left me pretty fucked over and still waiting for the aftereffects to flee.)

Alright, taking a crack at both of these now.  (Both light on images and quoting, since it’s all Patreon material.)  So what’s going on here?  Are the bonus chapters splitting into separate stories perhaps, following the lecture in one and the PS^2 crew in another?  Also, from the replies on the previous:

gaaraofsburbia said: It was very good and I was very happy

Good to know.  Time to read, bonus first! *clicks link*

...the title of a book someone’s holding.  Bookmarked (with a red flag?).  Uh huh.  Good start.

> ==>

“A picture book for young parliamentarians.) ...oh wow, it’s Carapacian even.  Did the Mayor have anything to do with this book?

--Wait.  Waitwaitwait.  This isn’t-- the authors wouldn’t go back in time and show us like-- PM and the Mayor trying to start the-- nooo.

> ==>

Oh shit, never mind.  This is a book ABOUT the Mayor.  Starting from him farming on Skaia and continuing from there with a focus on societal structures presumably.  So, sort of like what I just said but not quite as goddamn heartwrenching, most likely.

You know, this WOULD have been a good opportunity for the authors to finally bring some canon awareness to all the rampant Breath and Blood visual-and-textual symbolism around WV and PM’s arcs, giving people some HINT of their potential importance outside some crazy unproven blog post on some crazy wrong person’s blog.  But I’m not really convinced Andrew or his new replacements, er... y’know.  Care.  About letting us know about all that cool shit.  Or even dissuading us if we were somehow wrong.  Just gonna... let us haaaang in the breeeze there forever, more likely.  :T

...this is still what I’m most bitter about regarding the end of Homestuck, as you can obviously tell.  Thinking -- still believing -- that we found something beautiful and deliberate he’d done, but refusing to have canon openly acknowledge any of it so that 99% of readers will never have a clue about it and the few of us who caught on -- if right -- are just regarded as nutters, and if wrong, NEVER have what we need to finally disprove and accept that wrongness thanks to his silence, thus continuing to believe wrongly and be regarded as nutters.

So I just keep reading and... vacillating.  Vacillating on whether to believe any of this will get brought up in HS^2 canon, or whether to cynically fear they’ll take the worst route:  Doing things EXACTLY like Andrew did and dropping only vague hints that keep it an implied-only, unconfirmed mystery forever.  Because that’s what made the comic popular!  And it’s “safe”.  :(

...man, gut issues really bring the pessimist out of you, don’t they.  Let’s keep reading.  Once upon a time there was a simple farmer...

> ==>

Horrible kings kept fighting and didn’t care about the land, destroying it underneath their war.  Right.  (Mostly paraphrasing here and from now, mind you.)

> ==>

WV wanted to stop the kings, but the kings had power.

> ==>

That power had to be destroyed too.  (Shows the rings.)

> ==>

Hm, the journey that ends up in the rings’ destruction to the desert?  Are we going to fill in some context here?

> ==>

--And made friends with curious creatures and powerful people!  (Showing the fake Can Town built with Dave and Karkat along the meteor trip.)

Assumedly internalizing all those practice-town lessons, of course.

> ==>

--Oh, cool!  So one of the first things WV and PM did upon coming to Earth C to start their founding process was destroy the rings, the temptation of that power, throwing it into the Forge.

EDIT: krixwell said: "I don't know exactly how it reads in the bonus update because I'm not a patron, but WV and PM throwing the rings in the Forge happened before they entered Universe C, and was shown in HS proper (8107-8111, 8123-8126 and at the beginning of [S] Act 7). It was required to light the Forge and send the Genesis Tadpole to Skaia." Ah, file that under more things I forgot about, then.

> ==>

Where once nothing,

> ==>

Earth C was founded/born, etc.

> ==>

Ah okay!  So with a backdrop of the Town Hall under construction, we’re getting some context specifically as to how and why the Mayor set up society the way he did on Earth C.  Especially the challenging question of who would govern the world and how.

> ==>

Oh shit, text dump!  :D

The problem was unfortunately compounded by the fact that when the topic of fair and effective governance is broached, most sparing intellects immediately assume a certain posture. Not one of surrender or admiration, but of abject and interminable boredom.

This fact makes it hard to treat such a fascinating subject with the proper amount of attention and enthusiasm, BUT WE SHALL DO OUR BEST TO UNDERSTAND REGARDLESS.

Alright, loving this.

Also, this’ll undoubtedly put into context just how MUCH the Mayor had to think about how society would work best to have set up -- and how little comparative thought Jane put into the process when just drafting up something United-States-like and familiar.  Remember how awful it was the childlike way the Condesce essentially kept trying to recreate her familiar surroundings and rule structure on Earth?  It was only natural that her Life-aspected protege would make similar errors, I suppose.

Back to reading this long page... I won’t just quote all the details of this representative system, because that’s up to y’all to pony up for.  But I’ll note if there’s anything interesting in it that makes me think.  Let’s see...

...Hm!  The number of seats each kingdom got in parliament was based on voter turnout... THAT’S a heavy incentive to get out the vote, if your kingdom can literally lose influence if you don’t.

On the happy occasions where the maximum number of seats were allocated in all four quarters, this was known as a "full House".

Oh, fuck you.  :)

...oh dear, that was only the beginning of the card slang.

I’m not going to list all of them here.  They make sense in context, which is even worse.

Without going into too much detail, consorts all tend to have significantly shorter lifespans than the other citizens of Earth C. Because of this, a large number of House Rules were dedicated to describing exactly what to do if a seat was vacated mid-term due to the death of its occupant.

Not the carapacian kingdom, the consort kingdom.  Don’t panic, y’all.

The DELIVERY OF JUSTICE (DoJ) was founded to keep the peace and arbitrate in all legal matters, and its members were the brave soldiers of God in this righteous crusade.

They also took care of the MAIL.

Oooooof course.  :)

Unions get their rep, if only for a pun...

Oh, hm.  The Mayor’s office is much like a ceremonial-only monarch’s office without serious power.  Etc etc...... reading...

So governing Earth C was a complicated affair, and only became more convoluted over time. But the really important thing was that, despite all this complexity, it worked. It really worked. At one point, a whole field of mathematics was developed just to explain why the interim government worked so well, and they ended up proving it categorically. It was theoretically perfect.

Ppfffff

--ah.  And then the Mayor has a chill as he looks at the clouds and somehow anticipates something terrible happening to it all.

That’s it for the bonus.  I’m guessing the next chapter of this separate bonus story will go over some sort of threat the system endured, while the Mayor was still alive, possibly?  Or cut forward to the creators’ arrival and how that fucked a bunch of stuff up?  A sort of demonstration on why the gods who create a universe shouldn’t take charge of those living in it or such?  Hm.

Alright, if that’s it for the bonus, let’s see what’s available for Patreon commentary... here we go, just the one for the latest mainline upd8 that I knew had come out.

Sketches and Commentary: Chapter 3, How Are Your Feelings

Before starting into this, I want to note that I do have SOME ray of hope for more Awake Jade involvement to shine against my previous rant -- because that OTHER callie-controlled younger Jade body is coming, which I’d forgotten about.  As soon as the pursuit crew arrives in-system and THAT Jade finally gets there through whatever black-hole-powered teleportation magic she’s using (with Aradia and Robodave), it’ll be completely safe for OUR Jade to be awake and active at will.  Theoretically.

So... y’know, that’s nice.  Whenever that will happen.

So onto the commentary, we’re starting with that stupid ship.

(I think I actually said something along the lines of, "this is stupid, so we're using it." I know my Homestuck history. For those interested, the ship is modelled after a schooner, and continues the Homestuck tradition of spaceships that look like regular sea-faring vessels, only with additional stuff bolted on. - Pip)

...Yeah, can’t blame you there.

This is Jake’s “second best” ship. It makes me really nervous to think about what the third-best looks like.

Flying booty shorts, most likely.

...yeah, I did notice that latest upd8 playing with colors in a way the comic rarely even did, it was pretty nice.  Glad to see they appreciate it too.

...Yep, Karkat getting owned just for the sake of it, there.

First off, Jade’s outfit. It rules. Alt!Callie may have violently forced her consciousness inside of this innocent girl’s brain, but damn these threads are sweet. She’s managed to keep Jade pretty on brand, while throwing in a couple embellishments of her own. That’s what we call “making it work”. 

Yes, you’d better WELL fucking acknowledge what you’re doing by keeping Jade in a miserable isolated state for three years.  A G A I N.

Nice bit about the casual showing of Dave’s eyes as evidence that Dave’s recovering through some of his old mental blocks.

Dave and Karkat are wearing each other’s shirts, which is traditionally a very gay thing to do. Even more notably perhaps is the fact that Karkat is wearing crimson without a hint of complaint. Again, I doubt this was an intentional move on his part. Just, sometimes you’re coming out of the shower, it’s chilly, and your boyfriend’s shirt fits. Busting through mental blocks should typically come across as whispers to me, rather than shouts. 

--Hm, never considered the latter angle.

Karkat is being pretty mean to Possessed Jade. Which sucks, but this situation is incredibly stressful, and Karkat tends to react to stress by being mean. Treating Jade like an irritant allows him to put some distance between himself and the reality that he may have lost another friend. 

Guh.  That one stung  :(

Initially the panel directions here were “everybody pauses to contemplate Dirk fucking Strider” 

Mhmm, and you figured it’d be more unsettling to reverse it and remind us that the Prince is aware of all of this too.

Roxy’s heart-shaped sunglasses have become such a thing in the fandom that I kind of can’t imagine him without them at this point, so we decided to make it settled law. 

Mhmm, I figured that was how they played it.  One of the ways they’re incorporating fandom involvement.

Sometimes I feel like it should be Xam who does these commentaries, since there’s so much incredible shit going on with the art here that I’m really only equipped to comment on with shit like “oh wow, look at these colors. Green and purple huh. Wild. There’s also some light.” 

It’s pretty understandable to have the writers take the lead on most commentary as opposed to the artists... normally.

But then you’d have the weird places where they’d have to work together without necessarily giving away their game.  Like, all that WV/PM Breath/Blood visual representation I mentioned.

I still don’t know if they’re gonna give away the game on that eventually -- or if Andrew even gave them enough to go on to properly REPLICATE that sort of thing in this official continuation, even though my mind keeps telling me it’d make all sense to -- but if they are thinking about it, I doubt they’ll first show their hand in the commentary.

I love Kanaya’s new outfit.

I understand that sure, but will she be sticking with this outfit through the action though?  Looking like a mourning nun?

Kanaya’s nursery story is, of course, The Little Prince, a French fairytale from the 1940’s. It tells the story, rather appropriately, of a young Prince traveling through space looking for something he believes he has lost.

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

I’m not sure why I keep thinking about this quote. Probably some shit that has to do with “themes” or something.

Hinting that once he’s beaten down and likely dying from this stupid exodus plan, at least some part of Dirk may finally realize that any fulfillment and purpose he was looking for with this megalomaniacal nonsense was left behind in the peaceful life he fucking ruined for everyone to do all this.  The Heart-blind bastard.

God, Dave is just losing family members left and right, isn’t he? Really makes you think. 

Gdi.  :(

“Maybe it was naive to think a bunch of twenty something trauma victims could run a society.”

There it is. That’s the whole Epilogue.

And Andrew just had to let us ruin our naivety.

Wow. There really are just a whole lot of feelings in this chapter, aren’t there? It’s very aptly named. And it’s also actually the first part of HS^2 that got drafted; at least the first part that actually made it into the final draft. I wrote it earlier in 2019 when we were still kicking around ideas of what an Epilogue follow-up would actually look like. 

Huh.  Yeah, I can imagine when writing all this it would make sense to write/use this chapter first, as a knee-jerk reaction.

I do really think Karkat would have been a great president. He would have hated it, but he would have been good at it. 

I’m glad the authors are in agreement with everyone else with a brain on this one.

Did you guys know that Karkat still feels immense survivor’s guilt for murderstuck?

Yes.  Yes we did.

(Some continued remarks about how Karkat’s self-loathing is like a singularity that draws all blame onto himself in his mind etc.)

Apparently there was a metal gear reference in this second-to-last conversation?  Don’t tell me, I don’t care.

Eat the fucking pancakes, dude. 

A good place to end the commentary.  See y’all when there’s more content!

[jastersmohnson]

Rewatching Masters of Sex: Volume 6

Season 3 Episodes 1-5

I've always adored the first half of season three.  Perhaps it's the fact that it's the only point in the series where Bill and Virginia are all "lovey" towards each other until the end of season four.  Or perhaps it's the naivety that the season hasn't gone horribly wrong yet.  After taking a few weeks off from Masters of Sex, I'm back to tackle this season.  So, in the spirit of Bob Dylan, let's go ninety miles an hour down this dead end street.

I kid, of course.  I do genuinely like season three!  But immediately you could tell something was off with this season, right before it even started.  Because in the recap for episode one, there's a bizarre part where they're recaping Libby's tryst with Robert, and they include that scene from "Mirror, Mirror" where Libby witnessed that lynching.  But it's inserted in a way to imply that it was Robert who was lynched.  Jeez, what a dishonest way to start the season!

The choice to do flashbacks in the season premiere, going back from Masters and Johnson's press conference, was weird.  I think it all worked together in the end, except for the bizarre mention of Virginia's qualifications that are never really brought up again in any other episode.  Did she end up getting her degrees?  I think she did because Virginia mentions she has a degree in psychology in episode three, but it was really unclear.

I enjoyed the family aspects of "Parliament of Owls" a great deal.  I feel like season three could have been helped if they had just kept the family stuff isolated to this season premiere and episode two.  But I liked seeing Bill interact as a father, this being the first time in the series where we actually see him interact with his children, I believe.  Virginia's issues with her children really foreshadow her speech in the delivery room in the following episode, but more on that later...

Or, actually, more on that now!  This brings us to the pregnancy storyline that engulfs pretty much the entirety of "Three's a Crowd", arguably the most polarizing episode of Masters of Sex (as opposed to "Monkey Business", which was universally panned).  "Three's a Crowd" is one of the lowest rated episodes of Masters of Sex on IMDB, and similar to last seasons "Asterion", I think that this episode was jarring for a lot of viewers, but similar to "Asterion", "Three's a Crowd" is one of my favorite Masters of Sex episodes.

Similar to the season premiere, episode two also plays with time, because while "Parliament of Owls" featured flashbacks and flashforwards, "Three's a Crowd" pretty much catalogs the six month remainder of Virginia's pregnancy.

Apparently, Showtime had some legal issues with one of Masters or Johnson's real-life children.  I don't know, I honestly can't even remember what went on but I remember thinking that it seemed pretty ridiculous.  You would imagine, doing a semi-autobiographical show like this, you'd mention their children.  I don't know.

What I don't understand is that the children introduced in these first two episodes--namely Howie Masters and Lisa Johnson--are actually the names of the real children Masters and Johnson had separately.  I mean, if Showtime was trying to get out of legal issues with real life people and what not, why name the new children actually their names?

I don't know what more to mention about these first two episodes of season three than what has already been mentioned.  They're really underrated episodes, and even if they are a bit shaky, "The Excitement of Release" is a structurally strong episode that many critics say got season three back on track.  My biggest criticism with episode three is how much Tessa took up focus.  I mean, I can understand and even appreciate the amount of time episodes one and two took up on family considering there was a time jump and showing how the kids have aged is a decent way to highlight the passage of time.

But business is back in session!  The book is out!  There is no need to devote so much time to Tessa as they had.  And if things aren't bad enough, Tessa doesn't have an episode off until episode eight.  WHAT?!

The rest of the episode does a fine job at showing how Masters and Johnson are dealing with the publication of the book.  I read a review saying how this episode does a good job at showing how the publication of the book has effected everyone's lives around them, and I actually have to disagree.  It would have been nice if the writers did that (and this is a criticism I have of the writing this episode), but they didn't.  Sure, Tessa mentions that she's being bullied, but we never see that.  We don't really see how the book has affected Libby.  The book hasn't really affected Bill's kids.  But what we got was still good.  The montage of Virginia and Betty talking to investors was nice enough.

Back when Masters of Sex season three aired, before I watched "Undue Influence", I saw that the AV Club gave the episode a C-.  I was pretty shocked.  And considering how things turned out later in the season, I bet they were regretting giving that episode a C-!  "Undue Influence" continues the tradition of episode titles I don't understand, which is a real theme for this season.  "Parliament of Owls", "High Anxiety", "Through a Glass Darkly".  What?  I shouldn't have to do a Google search to understand what an episode title means.  Do your jobs, MoS writers!!

I'm kidding.  You know, "Undue Influence" is a fine episode.  We finally get a check-in on Henry, which is nice considering I don't think they even mention Henry's name the rest of this season or in the entirety of season four.  I can understand not getting the actor back but you literally just could have mentioned it.

Now I'm getting agitated again.  *Sigh*  What else is going on this episode?  Let's see... Tessa--Nope.  Uh, I guess Libby's checking in on her neighbor... pass.... erm... Margaret Scully is in a throuple, yeah yeah... Betty reads Dale Carnegie oh isn't that something--OKAY now on to this season's bright spot!

"Matters of Gravity" is arguably the best episode of the series to date--or at least comes close to beating "Fight".  Even the family stuff in the episode works!  As opposed to the total bore the Tessa and Johnny stuff has felt like, it really fit well with the general premise of this episode, with Virginia's mother coming to town and Bill facing the "bullies" of Maternity Hospital.

Bill's gravity speech is particularly well-written and could serve as the pinnacle of the series--summing up the entire series in just a three minute scene.  All that continues with the next installment, where season three takes a turn for the not great.

Parliament of Owls: A-

Three’s a Crowd: A

The Excitement of Release: B+

Undue Influence: B+

Matters of Gravity: A

[jeyne-stark]

So, bit of background info about me: I’m a religious studies/history double-major, with focus on magic and religion in medieval Europe. (I am the coolest kid on campus, can you tell? Absolutely rad as hell.)

But I was flipping through some of my notes and I realized. The Old Gods of the Forest are kind of…not actually a religion.

(What? you say. Of course it’s a religion, they’re gods that are worshiped, isn’t that what a religion is? and the answer is Sort of; welcome to Religion Studies 101, I’m Professor Synne If-youll-have-me.)

So according to Ninian Smart, who is my grand-professor in that he was my professor’s professor and this is definitely how academia works, there are seven aspects of a religion that must be met in order for it to be a religion and not, like, being a really intense fan of a football team or something.

Here’s the seven requirements, with my thoughts on whether the Old Gods qualify, please argue with me:

1. Mythic narrative. Sacred stories, whether an aetiological tale (a “Just So” story that explains various phenomena, like “why are there rainbows” or “why do those people over there speak a different language”) or historical legends about heroes and villains, form a backbone of the religion. This is usually in the oral tradition, but sometimes they get written down.

We don’t technically see any of this in canon with the Old Gods, but I’ll give it a pass on this one; Old Nan at the very least knows them. If I ever magically end up in Westeros I’m finding her and taking notes because she’s clearly the best-informed person around. 

2. Ritual practices. These can be frequent and regular, like going to church on Sunday, or more infrequent, like sacrificing animals to appease the gods and end a drought, but these are formal, community-unifying events.

The closest we see to this in canon is weddings, which…yeah, those count, but I would LOVE to see more ritual practices, okay, like…hey, since “the man who passes the sentence should be the one to swing the sword” is part of the “Old Ways” (see number 3), maybe we should see the Old Gods involved in the execution—maybe praying for the gods’ forgiveness? Something, anything, please? Or there’s mentions of “name days” instead of “birthdays,” which in the real world was the feast day of the saint you were named after (mine is July 8, just btw) but since saints are not part of the practice in the North, this implies a particular day in which a baby was named, separate from the day they were born, which is also a thing in real life, and if this ritual was held in the godswood and involved, say, presenting a baby to the Old Gods and formally naming them…yes. That would be good. Okay moving on before this turns into headcanon hour (message me about this, I have thoughts).

3. Philosophical doctrines. Why do we exist? What is goodness? Are ideas real? Is what is real important? Do we have souls, and are souls immortal? What is the right thing to do? All religions have some kind of response to these questions. (You will note that I did not say they have answers, just responses. Answering a question with another question is still a response!) 

The North follows the “Old Way,” which involves this sort of thing. Game of Thrones isn’t a look at philosophic systems and so we never meet the gang of RS and Philosophy students that debate subjective vs objective definitions of goodness, and what it means for “the man who passes the sentence [to] be the one to swing the sword,” but I know they exist. I had dinner with them last night.

4. Social institutions. Priests and their like, in the simplest definitions, but this also includes things like the concept of “the Church” in Catholicism. These are the, well, social institutions surrounding religion. Kind of exactly what it sounds like. A lot of people nowadays are distrustful about these, hence “spiritual but not religious” people who hit the other criteria but skip this one (and usually ritual practices as well).

The Old Gods don’t really have these. This is the part where it falls down in its religion-ness. There are no priests. There are, as far as I can tell, exactly two greenseers around, and no particular societal role for them. Wargs don’t seem to have any societal status either. It doesn’t have to be as structured as the Seven and their septons of the unclever names, okay, but give me something to work with here!

5. Material culture. Art! Architecture! Music! Literature! Symbols! The physical (well. mostly physical, because music does count) objects of the religion. The stuff that’s funded artist’s commissions since literally ever. The stuff archaeologists love digging up.

The North doesn’t have this. The closest they come is the weirwoods, which they didn’t even make.

6. Ethical laws. “Don’t kill people” and the like; these are the rules of conduct. Some religions have more of these than others, but they all have some things that are done or not done. 

Despite the Faith of the Seven being the one with “all the rules,” the Old Gods do have some, so that counts.

7. Emotional experiences. This is the one that can’t be studied scientifically, but the most important one. Funny how that works, huh? 

The Old Gods pass this one, too.

In conclusion, the Old Gods pass 5/7 generously; because they don’t have a societal institution or material culture, they aren’t a religion in the anthropological sense.

[kithmet]

Astrology: VirtueMoir Edition (Part 1—Scott Moir)

On today’s edition, we thoroughly unpack Scott’s birth chart. The next post will be on Tessa’s chart (if there’s enough interest after this). Beware: long post ahead and lots of astrology talk. I’ll try to be as clear as I can.

Please note: I’ll try my best to explain astrological terms, but as briefly as possible as I only have so much time. For certain stuff I will include links to further reading if you’re interested in learning more about them. 

I’ll also preface this by saying: these are my own opinions based on my own astrological knowledge. I do not present them as fact. 

Scott Moir’s Birth Chart

This might look like nonsense to some of you, but I’m going to spend this post dissecting this very circle chart. It is how each of the planets were aligned when Scott was born, and the signs that were in each of those planets at the time. Please refer to this image, especially when I discuss his chart shape. 

I got this from astro.com, which is the most accurate site for these readings. We don’t know his exact birth time so we will do this reading without the knowledge of his astrological house placements or his Ascendant (otherwise known as the ‘rising’) sign. However, that still leaves us with a lot to talk about.

I’ve organized this into sections in case you want to search for specific things. I know a lot of you want to know about Scott in reference to Tessa, and I do refer to her a lot throughout this reading, but this has an emphasis on who Scott is as a person. 

Scott’s Important Planetary & Asteroid Placements

For this section, I’ll be dissecting how the major planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter) impact Scott’s personality. I personally don’t find Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto to be incredibly impactful on a chart as they’re so far from the sun, and change very rarely in sign between years, so I’m going to leave them out.

Sun in Virgo: the Sun sign is the core and identity of a person.

For more on how this manifests through Virgo in Scott, refer to my explanation below on his Virgo stellium. That is Scott. 

Moon in Sagittarius: the Moon sign is the feelings, emotions, and tone of a person.

Scott is passionate and fiery and intense. Refer to my explanation below on his Sagittarius stellium for more information on that.

Mercury in Virgo: a person’s Mercury sign is their communication methods—their reasoning, rationality, the process of exerting and taking in information.

Scott’s Virgo in this placement might indicate that he pays a lot of attention to detail. 

He might be an over-thinker, and as a result is very critical of both himself and others. 

He is probably very useful because he completes all the goals he sets out to do. He needs routine and order.

Venus in Virgo: the Venus sign rules love and relationships, as well as beauty and pleasure.

Serving others brings Scott pleasure, according to this placement. It says that: “The only problem in relationships is that you may believe that people like you for what you do, rather than for what you are. You may underestimate your own worth and not understand why other people like you. Learn to love yourself as well as others.” This is incredibly relevant to Scott, as he might think that people like him because he’s an elite figure skater, and not for who he truly is. The underestimation of his own self-worth is also reflected on his self-deprecating comments, at times. He always strives to compliment Tessa, who is his best friend, but he simply says, “I’m okay,” with regards to himself.

Regarding Scott’s love life, though, @thevirtch​ has already dissected that aspect of his chart very well in this post.

Mars in Virgo: the Mars sign represents the energy, action, level of aggression, and sexual desires.

Virgos are perfectionists. They want to be good at everything they have to put effort into. As a human being, Scott (unless he’s on the ace spectrum, which I’m pretty sure he’s not) will have sex, is having sex, does have sex, et cetera. He’s a perfectionist at it. He wants to be good, and he will literally achieve it because Virgos set their minds to things and almost always achieve their goals. 

He wants to please because, as his Venus in Virgo says, pleasing others gives him pleasure. 

Mars in Virgo is notoriously known as one of the ‘kinkiest’ Mars placements in the zodiac. Proof in the link. He is down for whatever his partner wants.

Virgo Mars likely have sex to exert the stress from their lives, but funnily enough, they treat sex like it’s another job for them to excel at as well.

Jupiter in Aries: the Jupiter sign is about the life’s purpose, meaning, justice, and fortune. 

His only planet in Aries. I wrote a lot about his Jupiter in Aries singleton (otherwise known as the ‘bucket handle’) in the Scott’s Chart Shape section of this post, so please refer to that in addition to this.

Scott likely attracts good luck when he acts as the leader of his communities, demonstrates enthusiasm and positivity, and inspires others. So far in his life this has been true. He’s also said he wants to continue his career by inspiring others and giving back to the skating community—I’m sure that good luck will follow him throughout his life, in this case.

I would also like to touch on some important asteroids. I’d touch on Chiron, which is a person’s biggest wound in life, but because we don’t have houses (due to not having his birth time) and I feel like it would be inaccurate because of that, so I’m leaving it out.

Lilith in Leo: this asteroid is known as someone’s ‘dark side’. 

Definition: “These people are very proud, or even stuck-up. Lilith in this sign may indicate the struggle "I against the rest of the world". These people are self-centred and selfish. They do not acknowledge other people. It is not always easy to live with this attitude because the likes and preferences of our partner should be taken into account as well.”

I feel like this is quite accurate from what we know of Scott’s ‘dark side’. If you watched their reality tv show (which, of course, was a lot of bullshit but there’s some truth to the stuff that happens in it), you can see that Scott was once quite selfish, inconsiderate of how his actions or tempers might affect Tessa, and very prideful.

Juno in Aquarius: the soulmate asteroid.

Please note: Scott’s partner doesn’t need to be in the sign of Aquarius—but the way he romances them and the things he looks for in a partner might embody Aquarian characteristics. 

Friends to lovers is a huge thing for Juno Aquarians. If they aren’t friends first and foremost, the relationship won’t last. Strong friendship foundations in a relationship are essential.

I’m not going to say what we’re all thinking. We’re all thinking it. We all know it. Anyway.

Emotional aloofness might intrigue Scott. He’s attracted to emotional unavailability... why? Who knows. Maybe it’s the mystery, intrigue, and challenge to figuring them out. He’s probably into people with strong air sign placements.

Can I just drop in here that Tessa has a Gemini stellium and a Libra moon, which screams emotional aloofness? Yeah? Okay, moving along...

Traditional relationship structures don’t bother Scott. He’s adaptable and open to weird arrangements, as long as it works for him and his partner.

Can we collectively say: platonic business partners, anyone?

Eros in Libra: this asteroid represents the raw sexual energy in a person.

He is flirtatious and charming. He aims for sexual equality. He might disregard his own needs because he’s focusing on pleasing his partner (because Libra signs always want to be likeable). Communication is sexy. Falling in love, repeatedly, highly appeals to him.

This is probably accurate for Scott, especially when thinking about his Virgo in Venus which is also all about pleasing your partner (and being good at it). The falling in love stuff—probably true. Scott is a serial long-term dater, so he probably chases finding that feeling.

Scott's Virgo Sun & Stellium

Scott is a typical Virgo because he has his Sun sign (which is someone’s truest identity and their core) and three other major planets in Virgo. This means he has a Virgo stellium, which is 3+ planets in the same sign. Therefore, Virgo energy is extremely present throughout Scott’s chart.

Virgos are known as perfectionists. They are analytical thinkers, and very critical—especially of themselves. If Virgos do not reach the standard which they set for themselves, they tend to be self-pitying. They have impossibly high standards for both themselves and the people they surround themselves with. 

Does this relate to Scott?: Scott is said to be a perfectionist with his skating. He is extremely self-critical—when he makes a mistake in a performance, he clearly dwells on it and beats himself up about it. He continuously aims to be the best version of himself, and surrounds himself with the best people. Scott also might tend to be overly critical of the people in his life because of this.

Virgos are incredibly goal-oriented. They have a set list of goals and things on their to-do lists, and they take pride in completing these tasks. Because they’re so goal-oriented and perfectionists, when Virgos set their sights on something, they are very likely to excel in that thing. 

Does this relate to Scott?: Scott is a go-getter. He wakes up early and wants to complete his goals for the day. He’s said many times that he feels a need to set goals and that completing them brings him pride. He’s also very good at the things he choses to focus his talents on. He is not mediocre at anything he wants to be good at.

It’s rarely talked about, but Virgos are also very nurturing. They want to make the people around them feel better in whatever way they can. If you need advice or someone to help you out, go to your Virgo friend.

Does this relate to Scott?: I may not know him personally, but from what I’ve seen of his interactions with Tessa, he is very comforting. He is also seems to be very nurturing with his family and the other people he cares about.

They are sarcastic—and sometimes this is used as a coping mechanism. It might come across in a bad way from time to time, because Virgos can be blunt. They are naturally funny and witty, due to the fact that Mercury rules the mind, so they are intelligent beings.

Does this relate to Scott?: He is hilarious and quite smart, but sometimes can be blunt and it comes across in a negative way. 

I think that it comes out because of his Virgo, but it stems from how strong his Saggitarian energy is as well, but we will get to that later. 

Examples: “I hate this event”-gate, every other time Scott has publicly criticized his competitors and previous coach, etc. 

Virgos are an Earth sign (which is an Element). This means that Virgos are stable, loyal, and rely on routine. That being said, Virgos are the most flexible Earth sign because they are also a Mutable sign (which is a Modality). Mutable signs are extremely adaptable, to new people and new environments, and welcome change within themselves. (This is a link on more information about the Elements and Modalities of the signs.)

Does this relate to Scott?: I’d say so. He’s clearly very loyal to Tessa. He relies on routine. He seems to be a very adaptable individual—in that he gets along with almost anyone. He is ever-adapting and changing, but at the same time, very stable and steady in how that change comes.

Scott’s Sagittarius Moon & Stellium

Now, all that Virgo information is great and all, but we’re forgetting one of the most important parts of Scott’s personality: his intense passionate energy. Where does that energy stem from? Not his Virgo placements, but his Sagittarius stellium. Scott has Sagittarius in his moon sign (which rules his emotions and tone of character—a very important placement), and two other planets, therefore he has 3+ planets in Sagittarius. 

Sagittarius is the hilarious sign—they are the ones that make people laugh. They are weird but in a good, funny way. They are blunt, straightforward, and sometimes can come across as abrasive.

Does this relate to Scott?: Scott is funny, that’s a given. He’s always doing weird stuff to make people laugh. He’s also extremely blunt: if he has an issue, he will state that issue. He also quite literally said on that reality show that he’s bringing two condoms to the Olympics. Like, who is he? Copy and pasting what I said before, but more examples of his abrasiveness: “I hate this event”-gate, every other time Scott has publicly criticized his competitors (and previous coaches), etc. Even after the Olympics, he said there was a “clear technical difference” between him and Tessa and P/C. Other people might hold that in—but not Scott.

People with strong Sagittarius placements are confident and sometimes extroverted. They are very positive—often, if a person is ruled by Saggitarian energy, they are optimistic about everything, and like to look at the silver linings. They are lighthearted. 

Does this relate to Scott?: He is most definitely extroverted and confident. He always picks himself up after he falls and brings a positive energy to everything he does—rarely does he bring negative, dark energy. 

Sagittarius is the sign of adventure and spontaneity. They are impulsive and reckless, and can sometimes be impatient. They want to travel to fun places and they want to try new things. They are independent.

Does this relate to Scott?: Between Scott and Tessa, he is the one that wants to visit atypical travelling countries and do atypical things (he literally said he wants to go to Australia to learn to surf and go to Africa for a safari... again, who is he?), he is the one that wants to try new foods and makes Tessa try them, he is the adventurous one, he is the spontaneous one.

I don’t think Scott’s recklessness or impulsivity need explaining, but it’s kind of clear by the things he says without thinking sometimes.

People ruled by Sagittarius are typically philosophical. Sagittarius is the sign that rules morals and ethics, so they might have a strong moral compass. 

Does this relate to Scott?: With this one, who knows. From the podcasts I’ve listened to where Scott speaks, he is clearly a big thinker and likes to reflect. He’s also very well-spoken. 

Everyone has heard about the cheating rumours regarding him and his girlfriends, and if they’re true, then who knows? Maybe he has a messy Rising sign which impacts that aspect. 

That being said—Scott is loyal, and that relies heavily on his morals. He did not think it would be right to leave Tessa when she was injured, and therefore stood by her because of that. He also didn’t think it would be okay to leave Marina in 2013, despite the rumours that she was on the American’s side. I think it’s because of his moral compass.

Sagittarius is a Fire sign. They are all about passion, enthusiasm, and they have hot tempers. However, this sign is also a Mutable sign, which means he is adaptable and welcome to change.

Does this relate to Scott?: Obviously. Scott’s abrasiveness comes from his temper and bluntness and passion—all which come from his Sagittarius placements. His passion is evident in positive ways in how he interacts with people and how he feels due to his Sagittarius moon. Everyone and their mother calls Scott passionate, and he himself has said he has a bad temper. Sagittarius being a Mutable sign is relevant because Sagittarians are always welcome to trying new things, just like Scott.

What is his Ascendant (or ‘rising’)?

The Ascendant is one of the big three of astrology (which are your sun, moon, and rising signs). Definition of the Ascendant sign, taken from this website: “Together with the Sun and Moon the ascendant is one of the most important single factors... The sign tells us a lot about someone's personality, temperament and constitution. It typifies our immediate, instinctive reaction and shows how we present ourselves to the world.” The rising sign, lucky for us, is one of the easiest signs to guess when looking at a person. Why? Because it is how they instinctively react, and how they seem to other people. 

I’m personally willing to bet my money that Scott has a water rising—that’s why he’s known as ‘the emotional one’—not just between him and Tessa, but also as an individual. Yes, his Sagittarius moon makes him passionate and full of intense emotion, but that emotion manifests in different ways in fire signs than it does in water signs. I believe Scott feels a lot of emotion as a result of his Sagittarius moon and stellium, and then presents that emotion via his Ascendant sign, which (in my opinion) is most likely a water sign.

Which water sign would that be? Not Scorpio. Scott doesn’t project Scorpio energy to me—Scorpios have darker energy, are secretive, and almost always have trust issues because of their natural paranoia. Scott, on the other hand, has a blind faith in people and trusts in the good of humans (example: Marina-gate). This is because of his Sagittarius energy, but I also really think that he isn’t a paranoid person like a lot of Scorpios. Scott does not seem like that to me, and rising signs are all about how people present themselves to others.

Personally, I think he is a Cancer rising. Why Cancer, and not Pisces? Because he is so family-oriented, and proudly shares how nurturing he is to other people. Cancers are the mothers and nurturers of the zodiac. They are also very sensitive, both as humans and to their environments and the people they interact with. Pisces risings are more dreamy.

Some more information about Cancer risings: they’re warm, kindhearted, moody (warm to cold very easily), easily hurt, defensive, and very protective of the people they care about.

If he isn’t a water rising by the grace of lord knows what—I’d vote Aries rising. They’re childlike, fun-loving, passionate, and have a lot of energy and emotion. If not Aries, then Capricorn, because they are such driven workaholics. 

That being said—he already is hardworking because of his Virgo stellium, and he’s already passionate because of his Sagittarius stellium. That is why I really do believe his Ascendant is in a water sign—if not Cancer, then Pisces. He already has enough Earth and Fire energy—where does that all emotion come from? Why does he cry easily? It has to be his rising sign.

Scott’s Chart Shape

Something that is rarely talked about is the shape of a person’s natal chart. Scott’s chart shape is in the ‘bowl and bucket’ formation, which is defined on this site as: “All planets but one are distributed together (‘bowl’ of the bucket) and are opposed by another planet - singleton (‘handle’ of the bucket).”

The bowl of Scott’s bucket is tested by the handle of the bucket. All of Scott’s planets are in the bowl, which is the top right corner of the chart (and please look at the chart to know what I’m talking about). These planets are tested by his Jupiter in Aries bucket handle. 

I find it interesting that Scott’s handle is in the planet of Jupiter, because Jupiter is the planet that is all about luck and fortune. Scott has indeed had insane good luck in his life—meeting Tessa, getting paired with her, both of them growing to be the exact, appropriate heights for one another, the chain of events that led them to dominating three Olympic cycles. That doesn’t happen easily. Sure, they worked very hard, but they also had the good fortune of Jupiter by their sides. 

That being said, he has also had bad luck in his life. Tessa getting injured a year before the Olympics? Having to skate their first Olympics with an injured partner? Having that partner go through two surgeries? 

Read this carefully: “Jupiter [bucket handle] can manifest as a God/Deity Complex. We often find the Messiah Complex with its sense of “I can do anything!”... A young man named Stephan heard a Biblical quote, “With God all things are possible.” He was fourteen at the time and blithely replied, “I don’t know much about God, but that sure is true for me!” That is a Jupiter in Aries [bucket handle], only Fire sign! One of the dangers with a Jupiter singleton is a bad case of hubris; that means the feeling that, “I am equal to or better than the gods!” Jupiter eventually extracts a price for that, for Jupiter is also the ‘wrath of God.’” 

Does this relate to Scott’s life?: Hell yes. Scott himself has said that he was too arrogant growing up, too cocky, thought he could do anything. It was only when wrath was given to him by the power of the universe in bad luck that he was able to tone down his bad case of hubris and become the Scott we know today, who is much more down-to-earth.

Some other significant things about people with this chart shape:

People with this chart shape tend to have a tendency to live their lives to extremes. Jupiter in Aries bucket handles are also incredibly ambitious. This is relevant to Scott because he could have been a figure skater, but he didn’t have to be a five time Olympic gold medal athlete. 

I’ll also briefly point out that this bucket handle is at the 29th degree—which, in astrology, is a critical degree and basically makes this placement even more intense. You can read more about it here.

In summary, though: the 29th degree means that this handle will be tested a lot with decision-making—so Scott’s fortune is repeatedly tested by having to make decisions as a result of either his good or bad luck. This is relevant, especially to the stuff about Tessa being injured. Scott had to make the decision to stick with Tessa during this time. He was tested, apparently, by the universe.

Other Important Notes

Below we have an image of the breakdowns of how heavy Scott’s chart is in each of the planets, signs, elements, and modalities.

Scott is ruled primarily by mutable signs (as he has two stellia in both Virgo and Sagittarius). 45% is a lot. This mutable energy can manifest in both good and bad ways:

He is extremely adaptable and flexible to new environments, new people, and trying new things.

He might be indecisive, unreliable, easily distracted.

Often changing how he perceives the world, other people, and himself as a result of new perspectives.

Unafraid of change and bringing new elements to the table, especially career-wise.

He is practically half Earth energy, which is amazing to me. Stable, loyal, committed to the things he invests energy into. His Earth energy comes all from his Virgo stellium and Capricorn Neptune.

That being said, his second biggest element is in Fire, which accounts for Scott’s passion and intensity.

The reason why Scott is an elite athlete with five Olympic gold medals? His abundance of Virgo energy, high at 24%. He is a perfectionist, driven to accomplishing the things he sets out to do, and often meets his goals.

Conclusion (TL;DR)

Scott is a perfectionist and driven because he wants to excel in achieving his goals. This is because of his Virgo stellium. He is passionate and full of enthusiasm, positivity, and intensity. He is funny and straight-forward. This is because of his Sagittarius stellium. He appears to be emotional, and I believe that is because he might have his Ascendant sign in a water sign, either Cancer or Pisces.

I would continue yapping but this bitch is the length of a fanfic one shot and it’s 7k long. What the actual fuck is this. Goodbye, and hope you’re all enlightened!

Seriously though, if you read all of this, thanks for that. Feel free to ask me any astrology questions if anything needs clarification! Love from your local Aquarius sun, Sagittarius moon, Scorpio rising. 💓

[lilmajorshawty]

Pros & cons of being a Saturn dominant thanks!

Sorry I took so long to get to this!!! I actually know someone very close to me who has Saturn as one of his dominate planets.

But pros -extremely mature and or practical and realistically inclined more then most

-very ambitious and capable of meeting the “demand” be it a relationship/be it family/be it work. They have the ability to not only get it done but they place their entire focus on what ever it is that they believe is deserving.

-very loyal and traditional types. As in their more likely then not going to hold your secrets to their grave. Be at your side through sickness and health. And always be there in your times of need.

-very dependable. They always have their shit together and this is usually because most Saturn doms don’t like to have clutter and mess be it emotionally or publicly so they make sure to have their affairs in order so for that they are usually very not picky about schedules and plans and follow through always.

-very dedicated and persevering! And never waiver once they’ve decided to get something done.

-have very nice bone structures and can have a older look to them and while looking younger when they’re in their older years of age! So they can also be late bloomers sexually and in terms of success and so on.

Cons:- often can be way to serious and pragmatic.

-can have a harsher and more stale outlook on life and unless Saturn is well aspected or placed in a happier house say the fire houses or an earth house at the least it can be a Debby downer type of person.

-can be a bit on the less affectionate and or “lovey dobey” side of things.

-can be hard for them to take it easy

-super blunt and harsh personalities and most of the time it’s an accident! And it’s just how they are.

-they aren’t bullshitters and don’t like to sugar coat or play games so at times it can seem like they’re very blunt and mean but really they just don’t want to waste their time.

-slow moving people like I mean seriously 😂(I love this though) but yeah they like to take their time and although they might rush others doooo nootttttt rush them.

-also may not believe they’re beautiful or deserving even though they are :(