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protectchara201x · 3 years ago

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(ignoring all the other juicy Deltarune 2 stuff to shove Chara Talks into it lololol)

I haven’t been super active on this blog because frankly I have like, three? looong analysis/theorycrafting posts I’ve been putting off working on and it fills me with shame to log in and see them waiting in my drafts.

But.

With the release of Deltarune Chapter 2, I wanted to talk kinda in general about how I thought it could impact the fandom’s perception of Everybody’s Favorite Demon Baby, and also point out something in specific about the Weird Route that might connect back to Undertale.

Putting it under the cut to avoid spoilers and long-winded ramblings for the unwilling. Includes spoilers for the Weird Route.

(NOTE: may update later if I notice more things for to put in section II. I’d like to make a full list of parallels if I can tidy them up.)

I. Pre- vs Post-Release Thoughts (you can skip down to II if you don’t care, it is genuinely Long and Pointless)

Okay, so first off. I got SO worried like, the day before the new chapter dropped? It hit me that whatever new stuff we got out of this, people would connect back to Undertale, and. Honestly, I really do hate connecting everything back to Chara, because I do think of Kris as their own character and I really like them and don’t want to ignore everything they got going on. But, I am first and foremost a shameless Chara stan and they’re very important to me, so I kinda... did spend a few minutes reeling from all the new DR stuff as its own stuff, and then immediately started thinking about how this would reflect back on Chara in Undertale lol.

But that’s ok for me to do here because this is my All Chara, Only Chara, All The Time blog, so I am gonna only really talk about Deltarune here to talk about them lol.

So yeah, I started getting anxious beforehand worrying about how everyone would take any and all implications and apply it to mean “aha, Chara IS evil!” The fakeout with the pie reveal in the anniversary stream was a big relief, but I still got worried leading up to the release about what could be in it.

Because part of why I’ve always thought that “Chara was genuinely evil from the start” and even “ok maybe not TOTALLY evil, but Chara was still a kinda bad person” were unlikely was, even if you throw out all the other popular Chara-sympathetic theories. To me, both these takes just seemed too below TF’s talent and the way he wrote all his other characters with depth and love; a Chara like the one these theories propose just doesn’t belong in a world created by TF, and the way the Dreemurrs talk about them overall, the way TF made a point of having Chara say they were guided and repeatedly, correctly blame you the player for the destruction in Kill-All, I was sure that he never intended them to ever be as bad as the fandom sometimes tried to make them out to be.

... Like, mostly sure. Like, 80% sure? Because he never ever talks about them, so it’s impossible say for sure, and it is still theoretically possible that “Chara was and is bad” was the cold-ass take he’d intended all along. So yeah, leading up to the release, I started getting antsy that whatever new lore came out of it, either he’d directly confirm “Chara was a villain?” “*cocks gun* Always has been” or there’d be something that’d at least heavily implicate them, or could be twisted to implicate them, as a negative force. More ammo to be used against them in the Chara Debate Circles would be a drag, and outright confirmation of them as a villain would honestly break my heart and I’d be forced to disown Toby Fox, My Beloved Cool Dad.

And, right now? Tell the truth, I’m SO relieved and I am SO happy. And not just because of how much depth and characterization it seems Kris is getting! (imo, because rn I just headcanon them as an unhappy teen desperately trying to keep their new friends going on adventures with them and trying to fight back against the player’s control)

I love how this chapter seems to be TF doing course-correcting based on fandom interpretations. Because Kris just isn’t evil, even if they are a knife teen, even if they are the Knight, they’re just NOT evil and that’s canon, baybeeee; it’s made clear in this chapter and the previous one that they love their family even outside of the player’s control, they care about their new friends even outside of the player’s control, they’re established as a weird creepy kid but no one sees them as scary or evil, they’re just Kris, and even in the Weird Route, TF made a point of hammering in the differences between Kris and the player in the Weird Route: Susie and Ralsei notice how distressed Kris seemed after you have Noelle ice Berdly, Noelle heard a voice that she said wasn’t Kris telling her to kill, and the FUCKING Spamton fight: “Kris called for help... but nobody came” again and again, and then “You whispered Noelle’s name”... you, not Kris.

I know TF has never commented much on fans’ perceptions of Frisk and Chara, or who exactly is pulling strings in different routes. But after all this, and especially after seeing all the little winks and nods to fandom jokes in this chapter (what comes to mind: pulling everyone’s leg by seeming to have Kris attack Toriel with a knife only to reveal that pie theory was right, Susie not liking Ralsei’s real face as much as his shadowed one, Ralsei with a gun getting referenced with the ad, Kris getting a joke fixation with knives after the fans made Chara and Kris have knife obsessions as a joke), and seeing what looks like him try to correct some things (what stuck out to me was doubling down on showing that Kris is loved and valued in their family: lots of fans came away from Chapter 1 thinking that Kris was not valued as much as Asriel, but here we see that Toriel is supportive of Kris’ friendship with Susie, and it’s stated that Asriel is the one who used the crappy controller, not Kris) -

I think while he hasn’t commented directly, while he admitted to being overwhelmed by Undertale’s success, while he tends to be pretty tight-lipped about the lore (whether that’s because it’ll be addressed by future chapters or because he prefers to let fans sleuth it out), this chapter convinced me that Toby does keep tabs on fan reactions in Deltarune, so he probably does with Undertale too and would know about all The Discourse surrounding Little Mx Pink Cheeks (and in turn, popular theories like Narrator Chara... Toby if you integrate Narrator Chara into Deltarune being a borderline creepypasta and have the narrator start talking directly to the characters or to the player or the characters start talking to the narrator I will lose my damn B E A N S).

(Kris and Chara not being demonized and the narrator interacting directly with the characters were the only two things on my wishlist going in, I was fine with literally anything else happening lmao)

I even kinda think he’s going out of his way to separate Kris and the player because we didn’t get it before with Undertale, we still insisted that Frisk or Chara was the one doing it, and he’s even using Kris to show that even if this kid can be scary, maybe even mean, and maybe they’re even the Knight (with their reasons unknown), they’re still not a bad kid, they’re still funny and likable, and they still genuinely love their family and friends - which falls in line with Undertale’s cast of complex but likable people who can be antagonists and make mistakes but still aren’t truly bad people, and imo is a direct response to some people fixating on the idea that Chara was always evil because they seem scary/complicated.

... Which is a long way to say that I came out of Deltarune with my confidence fully restored about TF’s intentions with Chara and Kris. Even if he never comments on Chara directly, now I really don’t think TF thinks they’re evil or ever intended for them to be. Deltarune convinced me more than ever that Chara is meant to be complex, yes, and able to be influenced to do horrible things, but they were never intended to be as malicious or shallow as some fans insist.

TLDR:

Toby Fox read your mean fanfiction where Chara is a bad abusive serial killer no one likes, and he made Deltarune in revenge.

... Hm? Ah, you’d like me to get to the point! Right this way!

II. Undertale, Deltarune, and The Point

While no doubt some will still take the voice Noelle hears to be Chara influencing her to turn her into a murderer (I haven’t gone looking for it yet, but I’m sure it’s already a thing because I know this fandom), since it’s made too clear by the game that they can’t blame Kris for this one, I think at this point that’s just being too stubborn to consider other ideas.

If you believe in the totally made up idea used in so many fanfics that Chara is an evil spirit trying to whisper in Frisk’s ear to kill everyone, literally (for some reason) the embodiment of raising stats, and gets more control over people who have increased LV to take over their body... sure. Could be them, they did talk about moving on to the next world and all. I mean, that wouldn’t really make sense because it’s literally never implied in the actual game that Chara encourages you to kill outside of the Kill-All Run or even wants you to, certainly not as the narrator and we get no hint of them doing this as an unseen, unheard third-party either.

Not to mention they’re NOT literally possessing you because of increased LV; they don’t control you even with high LV in any Undertale route other than arguably the Kill-All, and if you fail the Kill-All and it turns into a high-body count Neutral, Chara suddenly stops using first-person narration and showing up in mirrors entirely even though they were showing themself before, the LV remains the same or even can get raised as high as LV 19, nor do they suddenly take over in any other Neutral runs. We can speculate on why (personally, I’d place this either on Chara’s mindset, such as them sinking into shock from the trauma or becoming more assertive as the player feeds their megalomania, or as a sign of Frisk’s withdrawal, leaving Chara alone in the body to take the reins and act out the player’s orders), but canonically, no, Chara does not take over due to high stats.

In fact, there’s even more evidence against this. First-person narration also exists for fleeing your battles in Undertale, even on Pacifist runs with base stats, 0 EXP, and an LV of 1. Since Chara is established to use first-person narration to refer to themself, is the only one who canonically does so, and is confirmed to be present even in all runs through their name and memories always showing up, it seems pretty likely that Chara can take control to flee battle. That means an increase in stats is not a sign of their presence or control, in Undertale or Deltarune.

The most damning blow to the idea that Chara is the voice corrupting Noelle are the lines in the fight with Spamton I mentioned. Kris called for help, but nobody came. You whispered Noelle’s name. Well hold on. If that’s Chara, shouldn’t it be “I whispered Noelle’s name”? As soon as you’ve officially started the Kill-All in Undertale, Chara starts up their “It’s me, Chara” schtick right away, right there in Toriel’s home in the first area, and if they weren’t the narrator before, they’re beginning to speak through the narration now. If the voice was Chara, surely Toby Fox knows it’d be a way bigger “oh shit” moment if the creepy scary hidden route once again switched into first-person, scaring us the same way he did before when we first saw “It’s me, Chara” and knew something was wrong; unfairly or not, their reputation as a villain is still well established and hinting to Chara’s presence with a simple “I” would drive the menace even further, if he intended for them to simply be a demon that possesses player characters when you grind enough. But it’s still just you. The player.

The Weird Route does even more to help Chara’s case than that. Not only is it made pretty clear that Kris and the player are separate, and the player is the one responsible for corrupting Noelle and making her kill... consider how similar Noelle and Chara are, in the Weird Route and the Kill-All Route.

This “voice” that “guides” them in growing strong, compelling them to kill everyone in order to fight for them, eventually driving them to murder people they know. Chara calls themself “the demon that comes when people call its name”, and you whisper Noelle’s name to have her appear to kill Spamton. Noelle’s conflicting emotions towards Kris and the voice as she is manipulated, as she becomes more violent and sadistic, as she goes into shock; does that not sound like Chara, who flipflops between holding you dear as their partner and wanting to move on to the next world together, to be together forever, and them being disgusted by your refusal to accept consequences and the perverse enjoyment you get in killing everyone again and again? Chara, who clings to their quirky narration for much of the Kill-All, but keeps slipping up, who becomes terrifyingly cold, aggressive, power-hungry, and even sadistic, yet still calls Undyne “the heroine”, still seems to still care about their locket, still has moments where they seem to falter?

Noelle does put up significantly more resistance to the voice’s commands than Chara does, and at least much more visibly shows distress and trauma. I don’t think this is a black mark on Chara’s chara-cter either, or an indication of them being more violent or cruel.

For one, while Noelle is still herself with her own soul, it is heavily implied by Chara, Flowey, and Undertale’s lore that Chara was reincarnated without their own soul, at best perhaps attached to Frisk’s (or yours): as I speculate in one of my currently unfinished theories, while monster souls are made up of love, compassion, and hope and thus Asriel was reincarnated without these qualities, it could well be that human souls are correspondingly made up of their own multiple traits, namely determination, patience, bravery, integrity, perseverance, kindness, and justice; if true, a soulless Chara would be lacking these qualities, which would make them less equipped to resist the player’s commands or to feel as torn up about it.

Also, the player has a hold on them both as “party members” to the player’s vessels, but it is also possible that the player naming Chara and having them directly attached to Frisk also gives them a stronger connection to Chara they can abuse, similar to how Kris and Frisk (as the player’s direct vessels) have much less autonomy than Kris’ party members.

(Fun observation: We know that when the thing controlling Kris forced Noelle into becoming a killer and using her to kill Berdly, Kris was horrified and shaken-up according to Susie and Ralsei. How do you think Frisk felt watching Chara be used to slaughter the Underground and then erasing the world when they’re totally corrupted?)

And lastly... look, Noelle and Chara are both minors, but Chara is significantly younger - a small child compared to Noelle’s teen. I know it’s fiction and strong wills and determination and anime is real and all, but a traumatized young child who died two violent and awful deaths back-to-back, may have literally experienced being a corpse in their own coffin/grave for who knows how long, and then came back ”confused” only to immediately start hearing a voice relentlessly commanding them to kill everyone?? I can absolutely see a traumatized kid shutting down and just going with it out of fear at first, before the LV sets in.

TLDR:

What you do to Noelle in the Weird Route is the same fucking thing you do to Chara in the Kill-All Route.

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popurikat · 4 years ago

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Ruin Teresa Agnes career. Aka: the Teresa analysis. Take all the time you need >:3

Okay I’m saying this right off the bat in case someone who stans this character misses the point above, but well I hate Teresa Agnes’ character in the maze series, both movie and book. However, in my analysis I will try to explain why her character misses the mark both as a villain and as a sympathetic character. So, to analyze her in depth, I’m putting this into parts under the read below. HEADS UP! As of now this analysis will exclude Death Cure Novel review as I have not finished that one, though it will mention one major spoiler I have been informed of from that book that I need to add for the sake of her character; other than that I will be discussing the other three novels before it (yes that is including the prequel Fever code) and the three movies from the series in broad ideas as I am not about to scavenge for quotes like I did in my last long post… well at least not as many.

Part 1: Teresa the master manipulator

No matter which way you look at it, Teresa has a way to bend others to her will, whether we blame WCKD for teaching her so well; or she used it as a means of survival, the idea still stands. Though she is extremely skilled in combat, especially at using spears and knives, Teresa’s biggest skill is her silver tongue, she can lie her way out of anything. Most evident is her betrayal in Scorch when she has such a good poker face that she not only convinces group B that Thomas is the problem they have to eradicate to get WCKD’s good side, but she also doesn’t hesitate to maim Thomas to the point of threatening to kill him: “Get in the room or I’ll hit you again. I swear I’ll keep doing it till you pass out or bleed to death” (Ch. 51). /sarcasm/ Charming ain’t she? /end of sarcasm/ The thing about lying though is that sometimes it backfires, for instance in the case of Group B, Harriet and Sonya hear Thomas out on why they shouldn’t kill him like Teresa asked, and when they listen and observe him they realize that Teresa is the worst and side with him; which in turn makes Teresa have to take drastic measures which involve getting Thomas alone with her to finish her duties to WCKD. Anyways, she even goes as far as to cement her betrayal by kissing Aris and crushing Thomas’ feelings by saying they were never a thing; she does this mind you without so much as breaking this character she builds up even though later she tries to say she still cares for Thomas. She is so convincing that Thomas has stated that: “Thomas had never heard such arrogance from her. She was either a really good actress or had started going crazy. Gained a split personality or two” (Ch. 45, Scorch). So yes, Teresa is too good at lying to the point I can say she can align as a Pathological Liar because she’s deceptive, goal-oriented in order to get HER way meaning she will not tolerate anyone interfering with her methods, she disregards the feelings of everyone around her, and she is constantly tweaking her excuses to adjust to the situations at hand. She is so good at lying she oozes self confidence when elaborating her defense by staring directly at the person she is talking to, unblinking, and will lash out in defense if someone calls her out on any inconsistencies.

Mind you this isn’t the first instance we get at how well she turns the story to her favor. In Fever Code, she is the one to help put the Gladers in the maze and erase Thomas’ memories, which transfers in Maze Runner with how she openly gaslights everyone by pretending she doesn’t remember much about WCKD’s doings even though her memories are the only ones implied to be in tact based on that email she wrote in Fever Code: “I’ve just said my goodbye to Thomas, and he’s now in the Glade, safe and sound. Tomorrow, it will be my turn. Dr. Paige has asked me to send a final note to everyone, sharing my thoughts. I’m more than happy to do so. I feel good about the plan to leave my and Aris’s memories intact. You need someone in each group with whom you can communicate and plan during the phases of the Trials”(FC epilogue) and also based on this specific tid bit in Maze Runner where she slips she knows more than she lets on: “Though I guess a Griever can’t squeeze through this window, so I’ll be happy, right?” The mention of Grievers surprised him -- he didn’t remember talking about them to her yet. ‘Teresa are you sure you’ve forgotten everything?”(Ch.37, pg.246). Griever knowledge in general for Teresa in Maze seems to be code talk for “I am here to cause trouble, I kept my memories'' because during the sequence with the fiasco with the invasion of the species in Group A’s field, Teresa casually wakes up after the event’s commotion subsides earning Newt’s suspicion that maybe the map fire was not done on accident. Anyways, in keeping things down low and having an advantage in memory recollection, she ensures Thomas and co. don’t recall events correctly unless it's vital to her mission. And yes, Teresa will use violence and anger if necessary; she is perfectly fine with murder...”So we’re just going to kill them all? [...] They’ll die anyway [...] No, Tom, It’s be tough now or everyone dies later”(Ch. 47, Fever Code). Or even this small aside on her stance on death overall: “This is kind of fun,’ Teresa whispered to Thomas. ‘Walking along with my new friend.’ He looked at her in bemused disbelief. ‘Really? You drop that bombshell about kids dying and now you act like it’s no big deal? You’re so weird.’ He tried to make a joke out of it to hide just how horrified he’s been by her second question” (Ch. 9, pg. 55, FC). And she has killed, mind you, yes they were cranks, but they are still humanly conscious. Thomas in comparison shows pity about the fact that they were still human, Teresa didn’t bat an eye. And now, you might say “Hey Popuri, you know, she’s just willing to kill if it means saving everyone else right?” to which I go, sure she’s stated that if it means saving the rest it doesn’t matter if thousands or so die. However, she is also clear that she only cares about Thomas’ survival in specific, no one else; which immediately gets falsified by her “lie” in Scorch, thus she will kill anyone if need be no matter how close they are. What I’m saying is that not even Teresa has a clear path in why she manipulates everyone when she can so easily be convinced to make elaborate murder scenarios at the snap of WCKD’s fingers. She claims it's to save her “crush” but will not hesitate to shed his blood and drag him across the desert.

She claims it's to help WCKD, that WCKD is good, but she has bore witness time and time again that the facility makes countless errors and knows there's no REAL cure available … and Teresa is a smart kid, so why continue believing a hopeless façade? Because she's desperate to cling to some hope? No. Teresa doesn’t do the whole hope thing, she's convinced WCKD is good period, there's nothing else. So, even if there is no evidence anymore she will fight tooth and nail for something she herself is trapped in because no one will want to be there for the girl who treated her only connections as poorly as WCKD treated her. Therefore, is it because she can’t help it then? I can only imagine that's the case. She’s willingly this puppet for WCKD, she could’ve escaped them any time she liked like Thomas and co. did, but she prefers to stay on the burning train even if it means her own demise because she refuses to admit any of her actions were wrong, the truth will NOT set her free because she cannot confront it.

Moving forward, I wanna delve more into the whole telepathy dealio she specifically shares with Thomas and we actually never really learn if she can talk to others as she evades the question when it does arrive in book. The only certain thing is that if you have a chip, you can talk using your mind. Now this would be a fine plot device, but in the hands of someone who wants to control your every move and thought, well....”Thomas, this is Teresa. He was going crazy. He was actually going crazy. It was the oldest and most common symptom -- hearing voices in your head. ‘Uh...’, he said aloud. Is this working? Is this working? The last words landed between his eyes like a thunderbolt. The pain knocked his legs out from under him and he collapsed onto the floor. Never had the world felt so fluid beneath him, as if nothing solid existed, no form, no substance“ (Ch.20 , pg. 112, FC). So first things first, Thomas hates it when he gets a mind message, he feels extreme pain when someone tries it, this is recurrent throughout the series. He has told her a few times not to contact him through that method, but it's their little secret and besides, if he told anyone who would believe him? “Teresa shrugged. ‘You didn’t tell anyone, did you? They’d think we’re crazy“(Ch.36, Maze Runner). So we have a situation where Teresa has a huge way of overpowering Thomas, she can send images to his head without his consent and yell into his mind even if it means it hurts him. And the kicker? She doesn’t teach him how to use it on purpose. And when he tries to contact her? Well depending on her mood she can either be flirty or... well this: “Teresa? A pause. Teresa? A longer pause. Teresa! He shouted it mentally, his whole body tensing with effort. Teresa! Where are you? Please answer me! Why aren’t you trying to contact me? Ter- /GET OUT OF MY HEAD!/ The words exploded inside his mind, so vivid and so strangely audible within his skull that he felt lances of pain behind his eyes and in his ears. He sat up in bed, then stood. It was her. It was definitely her. Teresa? He pressed the first two fingers of both hands against his temples. Teresa? /WHOEVER YOU ARE , GET OUT OF MY SHUCK HEAD!/ Thomas stumbled backward until he sat down once again on the bed. His eyes were closed as he concentrated. Teresa, what are you talking about? It’s me. Thomas. Where are you? /SHUT UP!/ It was her, he had no doubt, but her mental voice was full of fear and anger /JUST SHUT UP! I DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE! LEAVE ME ALONE!/ But, Thomas began completely at a loss [...] /LEAVE ME ALONE, OR I’LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND CUT YOUR THROAT. I SWEAR IT. “ (Ch.8, FC). *sarcasm* ah yes, nothing says true love like a death threat that actually comes to near fruition later in that same book and pretending to not know that person only to later, upon meeting Thomas acting like a sobbing mess, kiss him and disappear...she sure knew him then huh? *end of sarcasm* Having a power imbalance in a relationship is, you know, not good, especially when you’re making it so you gaslight the person anytime they know something you don’t want them to or to have control over the situation. Teresa does this OFTEN. To the point that it makes Thomas so emotionally attached to her he finds it hard to admit he doesn’t need her, even when he’s been badly hurt.

Part 2: Your past does not excuse your bad actions in the present. Period.

Now let me clear something up, PAST ABUSE does not CONDONE you to HURT OTHERS in turn, let alone allows you to use it as an excuse to justify wrong actions. I am aware Teresa, aka Deedee, was abandoned due to an outbreak of the flare at an early age; had her name changed, was confined to a room with Thomas as her only friend who was the same age as her, and openly manipulated by adults to believe WCKD is good. But you know who else goes through the same treatment? LITERALLY EVERY KID EXPOSED TO THIS EXPERIMENT! AND THEY DON’T THREATEN EACH OTHER IF THEY DON’T GET THEIR WAY OR KILL EACH OTHER. And this is not said in order to justify that everyone with the same experiences will have the same reactions, I understand stressors and trauma affect everyone differently and acknowledge everyone needs a different support system. But like, for peeps sake, Thomas who is Teresa’s exact foil as a narrative play to show that they are more alike than they realize which is the flimsiest proof to grab at as to why they need each other to an extent; literally has the exact same story cut and paste from her and he has more empathy and compassion to those around him, than Teresa ever shows. WHY? If the idea is to show Teresa has hardened from her own experiences, she should in theory act more like Brenda, a renegade civilian that isn’t soft for anyone except the boy who will save her. I know in my explanation I compare Thomas and Teresa a lot, but it's hard not to when Teresa, though having Aris as another buddy who is also in on the whole WCKD scheme, still decides to CLING to Thomas to be her saving grace. And the thing is, even if she only ever trusted Thomas in this whole experiment, then why not confide in him or tell him what is happening? She doesn’t LISTEN to anything he says to her in turn. YES, Teresa knows more about the situation as a whole, YES she is capable of doing things by herself, but she never trusts anyone. You’d think she would be more open to talking to the kids her age or be the quiet type because she knows what will happen to them all if they don’t comply; but no, I can’t even describe her personality other than stoic one moment and complete chaos in the next, and she does that switch VERY often. But sure, she prefers to skew half truths and put everyone in danger because ….WCKD? She’s supposed to be the intellectual one and she doesn’t know how to spread her capabilities, no wonder Brenda is introduced in the second book.

It's also incomprehensible to me why she feels it necessary to follow WCKD in general when she was the first to know of all their evil doings? “They were at the door when Teresa stopped and asked Dr. Leavitt a question. Two, actually. And it was enough to change the man’s demeanor completely. ‘What’s a swipe trigger? And is it true that seven kids died during the implant surgeries?’ The questions stunned Thomas. He turned to look at Teresa as the doctor fumbled for an answer. ‘How...’ the man began, then stopped, realizing at the same moment what Thomas did: Teresa had stumbled on something major. Something true”(Ch. 9, pg.54, FC). You’d think she would have the maturity to one up WCKD and knock them from the inside out to save the one she “loves'' but she doesn’t, instead she abides by the facility...even when knowing they are the ones who made the Flare in the first place. Call me naïve, but wouldn’t it make sense that if she wants to help stop the Flare than it would be in her best interest to hold Ava at an inch of her life (and Ratman) until she fesses up how to reverse the Flare, only to then realize oops there never was a possibility for a cure ~, but in knowing this finally be rid of the one thing holding her back? Again, someone can argue that hey, she thinks the people who made it HAVE to eventually find the termination and either way what possible choice does she have when her own manipulators control her? But remember, in the end it's always been a huge experiment to eliminate the human populace, and that's motive enough to rebel and/or snap at the hand that feeds when it's gone too far. EVERYONE has a breaking point mentally and physically, THOMAS BREAKS DOWN SEVERAL TIMES IN THE SPAN OF THE SERIES BECAUSE HE CAN’T MAKE SENSE OF THE EXPERIMENTS AND THE REASON TO CONTINUE SURVIVING ONLY ON WCKDS TERMS. And it drives me insane that Teresa would openly keep the Gladers from knowing about their procedures when she has known the longest from everyone else! Oh? You want evidence that Teresa keeps her memories intact and lies about ever losing them, sure! Here, have a morsel: “Teresa..., he started to say, but then stumbled a void. He had no idea how to respond. Did you....did you already know this stuff? /I’ve heard rumors./ And you never told me? He was stunned. How could she have known this and never said anything? She was his best friend. The first person he went to with everything. /I just don’t see the point. Yes, we have reason to hate these people. But how is dwelling on the past going to help anybody? The solution is what matters./ Thomas had never been so blindsided in his life.../I’m really tired, Tom. Can we talk about it tomorrow?/ She was gone from his mind before he could respond [...] The next day Teresa refused to talk about it, emphasizing that she’d rather focus on the future than the past Dr. Paige also blew it off, saying that those decisions had been made well before her time. it was almost like they were both determined to forget” (Ch. 43, pg. 239, FC). TALK ABOUT BECOMING THE ONE THING THAT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO OVERCOME. Like goodness sake, Teresa was part of the prep and launch of putting each Glader into the Maze and she never doubted it, never fussed over how this was bad. The excuse of “this is for their own good, my own good, and the world’s” can only go so far when you are in an environment that is full of violence and trauma, you expect me to not believe Teresa just never broke down and truly analyzed how she can use her lies to one up her own abusers? She’s supposed to be this “empowering” female character and she can’t even get THAT right.

Part 3: How come the films did it better?

The film actually humanizes her a lot more and makes her motives at least justifiable in a fit of protecting the one you love. I know a lot of people dislike her character in the movies because it's more frail and sympathetic, but it was a very good way to justify her motives and plan out her actions from point A to point B. What do I mean by that? Let's take a look. Film Teresa enters the Maze without the ability to communicate to Thomas through telepathy, she still has her memories and she is still in close contact with WCKD, that much is still the same. Her motive though is to get everyone out of the maze and into stage 2 where the facility can round up the ones who have been viewed to be immune through the Maze Trials. So far so good, but pretty on par with the book right? Well, here is where it differs for the best. On the last act of Scorch, Teresa tells Thomas WITH SENTIMENT, no more lies and no more hiding that she contacted WCKD because it was needed to keep Thomas alive and well. WOW, notice how she doesn’t emotionally manipulate him and her innocent nature of trusting the scientists of her world to cure everyone actually leads her to be more sympathetic and relatable to the audience? In Death Cure, she doesn’t expect Thomas or ANYONE to forgive her for her actions and in fact takes her actions at face value. This Teresa is more understanding of the phrase “You can change, but those you’ve wronged have no obligation to forgive you” than book Teresa ever will. To the point that when she finds Thomas in the city and has bore witness to the startling realization that there indeed could be no cure cause her patient flares back up; of which is intentionally a little girl to reflect without showing that she can relate to the Flare stripping away her childhood, she then betrays WCKD by allowing the Gladers to infiltrate the facility, thus redeeming her when she dies in the explosion. Thus, making her in the film's eyes an anti-hero. As Skquill once told me, “Film teresa really did want to create a better future, and wanted to help people and that's what I like about film teresa. It didn't work. It literally blew up in her face. But, she tried, and she saved Thomas in the end.”

The only reason I don’t like Teresa even in the film is because she is kind of a wet blanket there, barely expresses any emotion beyond stoic token girl that cries sometimes, and she could’ve saved herself the whole betrayal arc if she just learned to better communicate her intentions instead of sobbing pathetically every time no one wants anything to do with her for her ill doings.Not to mention she still maintains her personality to a degree from the book (just call her diet Teresa really) because once both enter the sequence in Scorch where they ran out of pawns to move around they claim that they did what they had to do and they wouldn’t change a thing, they’d do it again if they could. It is only when both are at death’s door with no other choice that they give in some noble sacrifice at a chance for redemption, which is well too little too late. And in the opposing corner of knowing some people blame Thomas for not just allowing himself to be experimented on since the beginning, my rebuttal to be fair is that Teresa just again, sucked at explaining herself and the intentions of WCKD until it was deserving of a literal showdown bloodbath that evidently Tommy boy had to take defense to and threaten his life if anyone else died due to miscommunications. ALSO, IT'S HIS OWN BODY, HE CAN DO WHAT HE WANTS WITH IT INSTEAD OF HAVING OTHERS DICTATE WHAT HE NEEDS TO DO.

BUT ANYWAYS, book Teresa in comparison has even less characterization, I am sorry to say. SHE'S BARELY IN SCORCH AS IS, only coming out toward the climax because before that she is crying and kissing Thomas before going MIA for 45 chapters. Ouch. And when she does appear? She purposefully causes trouble that leads to essentially no where, we could’ve gotten to the safe haven way sooner without her interference.

Part 4: Is Book Teresa a good female character?

The simple answer? No.

The slightly longer answer? Even if I were to place her as the villain of the story she’s...not that good? Mostly because again, she acts as a puppet for a rich, governmental organization that basically implants how she should think and act. YET, somehow she is still smart, brave, lethal, and *ahem* UNBELIEVABLY BEAUTIFUL WITH HER LONG HAIR THAT IS BASICALLY DESCRIBED THE EXACT SAME WAY AS BRENDA’S, WHO FYI IS THE SLIGHTLY BETTER FEMALE LEAD THAT STILL CAN’T HOLD A COIN TO SONYA OR HARRIET (the background characters) THOUGH. I also need to say plainly, she has no gradual growth, she remains by her ideals and thinks she's right constantly in all but one book...which is one book too late and thus made meaningless. By no means is Teresa a mary sue, yet she still manages to be a stereotype in Maze Runner: “If you’re going to decipher a hidden code from a complex set of different mazes, I’m pretty sure you’ll need a girl’s brain running the show”(ch.43); then again going most of the book in Scorch missing, and then unceremoniously gets crushed by a boulder in Death Cure as her final hurrah for all the bs she caused isn’t really a means to become a memorable character. This is the female supportive character I’m supposed to relate to and or praise for her dastardly, cunning intellect? If I were looking for a strong female with various flaws and a tragic end I would saunter over to Hunger Games’ Katniss instead. Teresa fails as a character the moment that her sole purpose is to be so emotionally/physically attached to Thomas that her whole character gets washed down the gutter so badly that Kill Order had to be made to justify her actions through a tragic backstory. In no way or form was I able to entertain this character as a favorite because she is everything I don’t want to be or befriend, and even as again, a “villain” she doesn’t exactly do much as the real masterminds are Ava and her cronies who MADE the disease and the trials. Even going as far as calling her an anti-hero feels off because none of her actions deliberately affect the plot or progress of our main character’s story. But that's kind of the thing with D*shner’s characterization of females overall? They’re either brutish or simply there. I don’t think any of them even pass the Bechdel Test.

Final thoughts:

I don’t like Teresa, I would personally fight her in a Denny’s parking lot at 3am if I could. I recall saying multiple times how she should just “shut up” as I read Maze and Scorch because most of her quotes are not memorable nor important. But in no way do I blame the character for the angst and tragedy of the novels overall. D*shner just...doesn’t seem to know how to make honest character growth and a decent plot, thus, in turn the story and its leads suffer tremendously as the narrative gets stretched out. (me yelling in the distance about how Crank Palace was made for clout). HOWEVER, In no way should my analysis stop people from finding Teresa as interesting or “cool”, I actually ENCOURAGE anyone that stans her to explain why to me because I personally don’t understand why beyond thinking “I just think she's chaotically evil and her treachery is fun to witness”. COOL IF THAT'S THE REASON OR EVEN IF YOU RE-WROTE HER TO BE BETTER! I just personally don't find her presence necessary for plot progression or as a love interest in general. It in fact sucks that she gets essentially replaced by Brenda almost as soon as the opportunity arises. In turn though, for others who don’t like her either as much as me, feel free to add onto this post any other “Teresa sucks and here's why” moments as I know there's a lot of moments out there to quote or paraphrase. Thanks for reading~

#Maze Runner #Maze Runner Series #Rant #Character dislike #I don't like Teresa #asks #Skquill #Long post

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upfrog · 5 years ago

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So I finished reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

This isn’t so much a review, as an attempt to cement some of my thoughts, and to at least write something down, the better that I will not look back in a year and not be able to remember a thing of what I thought of HPMOR. But overall... that was quite a thing.

HPMOR is long. Longer (by word count, which isn’t a perfect method of judging this) than War and Peace, the normal benchmark for “really long books”. I don’t consider getting through it to be an accomplishment, in the sense of say, getting through Homestuck, though maybe that’s only because I have tried, and failed to do the latter several times. It may also be because the plot is, for all it’s time travel and scientific tangents, less complex than Homestuck. I do not expect it to stick in my mind the way the canonical books do. While I do not consider them to be high literature, the canonical Harry Potter books, in addition to being entirely an entirely decent story, had a certain... Depth, of sorts, to them. Some of this may come from the midi-chlorian effect; the workings of magic are never discussed greatly in the canonical books, but much of HPMOR Harry’s efforts are devoted to understanding magic from a scientific perspective. I think it is more likely that it is because HPMOR simply had a more limited scope.

HPMOR set out to be a puzzle, an encouragement of rational thought patterns, a demonstration of how they might be applied to great benefit. And it does this. While potential plot holes and inconsistencies exist, it does this fairly well on the whole. But there isn’t that much beneath it, at least not that I have seen. It’s a good enough story, and the way it chooses to fill in the unfinished coloring book of Rowling’s world creates a compellingly interesting universe, albeit not a pleasant one. It has some good humor at some parts (more on that later), many clever moments, and some moments that are, frankly, just plain awesome, though these often contribute to the monstrously overpowered being that Harry is. Both versions shared the core theme of (spoiler warning: the rest of this paragraph. If you’re interested, I’d really advise you to just read it so that you don’t have the dramatic tension reduced) Harry ultimately triumphing by virtue of who he is. Triumphing by being, as we would describe it, a better human being than his opponent. The difference is that in the canonical books, this is a much more theological process. By the final book, Rowling is pretty much bashing us over the head with a crucifix. I still maintain that, unless the hill you wish to die on is unmarried teen snogging, declaring Harry Potter as heresy for the simple fact that it includes magic is to foolishly ignore the veritable flood of Christian messaging the books contain. I thought I’d made a post about that, but apparently not, so I’ll divert myself to that briefly.

Spoilers for the whole canonical Harry Potter main series in the following paragraph:

The entire story is based on an innocent child who was permitted to live because of the intensely real power and protection offered by the selfless sacrifice of another to protect said child. So there, straight off the bat, right in the premise. And then in the 7th book, Harry does the exact same thing, but more so, and pretty much pulls an Aslan, “dying” willingly to protect others, but not by this being truly killed. And it’s not like the Christian messaging in Narnia is obscure. And at the end of the first Harry Potter book, Dumbledore, the most “good guy” character that the series has to offer goes off explaining how “to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure”. Then, in no particular order, having not done anything like a read through specifically looking out for these: the primacy of the soul over the physical, the specifically soul-corrupting nature of evil and killing, the power of redemption and forgiveness, the ultimate triumph of good over evil, the concept of powers that, while attainable, will damage your soul forever, and the existence of life after death. Anyway, back to the main matter.

HPMOR lacks any semblance of this depth (not that this is the deepest thing in the world mind), at least that I have been able to detect, and this makes it a lesser story to me.

The first ten or so chapters of HPMOR were pretty great as comedy. Harry constantly befuddling the wizarding world, and being befuddled by it, makes for some great laughs. Later on it undergoes a pretty significant tone change, and I had a very hard time adjusting to it, and enjoying the latter portion (which makes up most of the fic) for what it is. I did ultimately reach that point, but it was jarring.

This fic has some pretty obscure references. Have any of y’all read “Negima!?”? The author of this fic has. ( or at least, he’s watched some of the show.) It also had an offhanded reference to Madoka Magica, which is less obscure, but I still appreciate it.

HPMOR Harry just keeps on getting more and more powers. (potential spoilers ahead, less severe): It seems like every month he’s making some discovery of how to do something that the entire wizarding world “knows” is totally impossible. It makes a certain sense, in context, but it certainly does contribute to some Mary Sue-like feeling. But on the other hand, Harry routinely oversteps his cleverness, failing to think things through enough, missing obvious points that would have counter-indicated his action. And some of the consequences are rather severe, so I don’t knock too many points off for it. Harry is powerful, but he is also rather a child genius in this telling, and all things considered, most of his discoveries don’t seem too ridiculous.

I earlier mentioned that the world HPMOR painted was rather interesting. It (mostly) doesn’t directly contradict the wizarding world as portrayed in the common, but it does color in many of the blanks, and this author paints in dark colors. Wizarding britain, as portrayed in HPMOR, would be considered barbaric to most of the people reading this. Or perhaps it would merely be considered “medieval”. It certainly has some things going for it. It is portrayed as a place with relatively little history of institutional sexism, or racism amongst wizards. Even the stodgiest pure bloods find it silly to discriminate based on skin color. Wizarding Britain sees little wrong with homosexuality, and it is entirely un-taboo. But things get worse from there.

It is implied, or at least, I took away the message from my last reading some years ago, that the Wizarding power structure in the canonical books is... incompetent. That the benchmark of being a “fully qualified” witch or wizard does not in fact entail very much true competency, and many of the more powerful figures are somewhat dumb. HPMOR confirms this, and brings it into the light, offering more examples of just how useless most wizards are in matters non-magical. Wizarding Britain is controlled by an incompetent government, which is primarily controlled by one or several “Noble and Most Ancient House(s)”. The extent of Lucius Malfoy’s influence is brought up often in the canonical books, and the same is true here. This is a world where (minor spoiler for something before chapter 10-ish) a young noble raping a girl, and yes, girl is the proper noun here, repeatedly, and getting away with it indefinitely, is an open secret. Where this young noble’s security is secured by: a) the victim and her families’ fear of his familial power, b) memory charms, and c) a court system where the interests of the Noble Houses are often a primary concern.

Wizarding news is minimal, and it seems to primarily toe the ministry (which is to say, aristocratic) line, save for the Quibbler, which... on the whole, isn’t great news either. There is no particular concept of a fair trial at play in this world, especially if your crime was committed against a noble house. Less than three days investigation is considered enough to go from crime to a sentence of ten years in Azkaban. And then there’s Azkaban itself. For all it is a prominent feature in the books, and Dumbledore’s opposition to it is often mentioned, Azkaban doesn’t get much light shone on it in the canonical books. This is likely in part because it is such an incredibly, ridiculously cruel place that it becomes very difficult for many of us muggles to imagine it being an appropriate punishment for anyone. I won’t go into great detail, but there are very few crimes capable of causing enough pain that, even working from a perspective of vengeance, instead of justice or rehabilitation, it becomes very difficult to mathematically justify Azkaban.

To clarify, by mathematically justify, I mean, what percent of the pain a criminal inflicts by his misdeed can fairly be unleashed upon the criminal as punishment. Is a beating a proper punishment for beating someone? What about two beatings? Or three? At what point does the severity of the punishment become so much greater than that of the crime that it stops being sensible? If you slapped me, would I, absent any concerns about self defense or ensuring my future safety, be justified in immediately shooting you? Or boiling you? Or beating you to death? The murders who are so successful that we stop calling them murders and start calling them statesmen might have a shot at a mathematically (if not necessarily ethically) justifiable cell in Azkaban. For everyone else, it’s pretty difficult. And in both versions of the story, wizarding justice is NOT perfect. Innocent people go to Azkaban, and are exposed to this as well. Azkaban is pretty terrible, and most of the wizarding world just sort of... accepts it.

Anyway, I probably have more to say, but I really need to wrap this up. This probably wasn’t very coherent, so sorry about that.

#HPMOR #Harry Potter #book review #ish #upfrog speaks

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someonefromseoul · 5 years ago

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Fuck Me.

Hello. I don’t know who or what I’m directing this to but I’ll just pretend there’s someone actually reading this. Temptation is a strong fundamental desire that doesn’t always have our best interest. Like that time you look in the mirror wishing you haven't had that donut for lunch, or that other time when you turn and toss, only to find yourself not being able to sleep at 4am from the nap you had earlier that day.

I feel like shit right now. I had oily ass bacon for breakfast, cup noodles for brunch, pepperoni pizza for lunch, ice cream cone for dessert, almond soy bean milk as my “work drink”, only to transition my day into a nap.

I feel bloated as fuck and my pimples are having the time of their lives, meeting new friends and such.

So this only leads me to my usual routine of self hatred and disgust for a solid hour, drotting down what the rest of my day will look like just to fool myself to thinking I’m productive, and get on Tumblr to waste more time complaining about my day!

Okay, but here’s the deal. I really do want to get better again. I stopped working out ever since my gym closed down from that fucking coronavirus (yes, I am that spoiled and self centered only to be complaining about my gym closing during this time of crisis) which has been a couple of months now.

I had diet fillers on my chin area to get rid of my chin fat right before the quarantine. That was a fucking waste of money since my double chin is back.

Anyway, my point is that I want to be somewhat sane again. My mind is literally going crazy over being stuck at home and I clearly don’t love my body enough judging by how I’ve been treating it.

I put a face mask earlier today. That’s a change. I’m going to work out starting NOW. In like a few hours. And I’m going to document the progress and process because I want to see the change and actually hold myself accountable if I don’t go through with this.

So this is the plan.

1. I am 51.8kg (114.2 pounds) right now. My goal weight is 48kg (105 pounds). Okay, so basically my goal is to lose around 10 pounds.

2. I just started an art instagram. Try to post three times a week. I want to have 10 followers by the end of May. And NOT by asking my limited amount of friends to follow. I want to connect with real strangers who are really there for my art.

3. My fucked up skin. Let’s try to clear that out as soon as possible as well. I know I have oily skin and a huge part of that comes down to what I consume. Let’s fucking please stay away from oily and salty food. Drinks permitted is only water, tea, and sometimes alcohol.

4. Speaking of alcohol, try to stay away from that. Which I’m doing a good job of these days because I’m “social distancing” (no friends). I’m going out tomorrow though but let’s really try to keep it like max 3 drinking nights per month. MAX. preferably once to none.

5. You can never single out alcohol when you’re a smoker. Hi, hello, I’m a smoker. I’ll write a post going more in depth about my smoking journey. Long story short, I’ve been smoking since August of 2013. So like 7 years already. I genuinely don’t know why I started it. Actually that’s a lie, I got into it because I thought it looked cool and I wanted to fit in. Sad, sad weakling I was. Anyway, I’m going to QUIT. I literally say this like merry Christmas to the point my friends just roll their eyes at me whenever I say this. Like, let’s really try to make this a reality instead of this having to be that time I cried wolf again. LIKE PLEASE. For yourself, man. You know you’re getting old and it’s not like you have any more health to spare.

6. Work on my art project. You know which one I mean. I want to keep it on the down low. To roughly plan, I want to work on my portfolio around June July and August. but by June, let’s focus on instagram, enhancing my drawing skills from proko, and this personal art project I’m not going to specifically go into because it’s confidential. Let’s call it Arty. So yeah, finish Arty.

7. My relationships. Mind you, I’ve never seen a therapist because I’m not financially independent and it’s a taboo subject to bring up in Asian culture. At least with my family. So no, I haven’t been professionally diagnosed, but who needs a doctor when we have google, right? So to preface, this is not a legitimate claim I’m making. But I strongly think and believe that I have anxiety; especially social anxiety and an avoidant personality disorder. I definitely deal with SOMETHING-I do plan on going to a therapist the moment I get the chance to, which is hopefully, soon. Anyway, getting back on topic. I want to work on my relationships with my friends and family because I’ve literally been in my shell for the past couple of months. Avoiding people at all costs. Not healthy at all.

8. My mental health. Probably the most important one. If this was a meat house and I could grade my health, I would give it a B+. Definitely not a S, not exactly an A either-but on the fence between A and B. Not quite A- but more of a B+. I don't have any serious health issues but I’m not great either. I feel slightly uncomfortable when breathing, my mind is foggy, and I think I might have hemorrhoids soon. Literally keeps me up at night because it frightens me-I constantly flex my butthole just in case things might peep out (sorry for the TMI but this is my fucking blog so deal) (me still pretending like someone’s actually still reading this shit post) I lose sleep over it, don’t even get me started. Anyway, if my body health is a B+, my mental health is probably around a B-. I don’t think it’s around the C level, but it’s definitely below average (average being a B). It’s at the verge of either becoming average or enter into the C level. A or S is obviously out of reach with my potential right now. But I want to get to an A; possibly to a S some day. Some day. A girl can dream. Anyway, how I want to go about this is to keep writing on this blog. Because I have a fake ass personality, I literally hide my real self to everybody. Kinda psycho like that. At least this little spot can be my safe space where I can get all my genuine shit out. To be serious for 2 seconds, I think I’m fake to people these days because I don’t feel comfortable being completely myself. My self esteem really plummeted after I graduated high school. I’ve been shushing myself internally too-shaming myself about how stupid and weird I sound. I’ve been trying to press down all my negative judgements and thoughts because I didn't want to spread that kind of energy to other people which made me be fake positive all the time. That can be really fucking suffocating, guys. Those of you who know what I mean say I.

Anyway, I want to find my color again. I think I’ve been shushing and shaming myself for so long, I don't even know who I am anymore. Hopefully writing like this helps. And apparently physically working out does as well. Let’s try to aim everyday, maybe a lazy day per week.

Side note-Kakaotalk keeps spamming me about the sakura flowers and how beautiful it is, suggesting me to go see it. Um, hello. Can you stop harassing me with these insensitive messages? Some people don’t have friends to go with. And it’s quarantine season? Are you dumb?

9. My looks. which goes under self care as well. I’m not gonna lie, I think I’m a fairly okay looking girl. I’m going to change my makeup style because after not putting on makeup for so long and looking back at my old photos, I’ve seen my bare face for so long, I grew fresh pair of eyes to see how I REALLY looked prior to this quarantine. And I finally got what people meant by “your makeup looks obnoxious.” Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE makeup. I’ve loved makeup ever since I was a sophomore in high school. I follow many of the beauty gurus (how they used to call it back in the days. I think people call them beauty influencers or makeup artists now) from youtube and Sephora was my second home. My broke ass owns like majority of the urban decay naked palettes in exchange for eating kimchi and eggs for weeks with my poor college student self in exchange. Poor college student with a BEAT makeup look though.

Anyway, the point I want to get across is that I respect and love ANY form of self expression. There is no such thing as too much or too less (is that even a word) makeup as long as YOU feel good in it. I personally did and I enjoyed my extra caked face. But not anymore. Maybe on some occasions, but I just don’t feel like that’s me anymore. So I need a new make up look, and I literally want new clothes. I hate my freaking outfits. Going to invest in some soon.

I can’t really think of anything else. I want to go in further with some of the topics I’ve tackled today but I think that’s enough journal writing for today. If I think of anything else, I can always update later. I just fucking pray I don't get hemorrhoids. I don’t have it now but I’m just so paranoid because I literally sit down 25/8 and apparently sitting for an extended period of time continuously can cause hemorrhoids. And for some reason I keep feeling like I’m going to get it soon. Like my butthole low-key feels a little weird at times. Hopefully I’m okay.

#journal #selfcare #goingcrazy #self reflection #hate myself #thoughts #plans #life

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untilourapathy · 7 years ago

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Navigating a white space as a PoC

This comes after a 7 hour conversation with the lovely Anna @pukingpastilles. Bear in mind that this is drawn from our specific experiences and may not be universal. We hope it resonates with some of you.

Scrolling past this is an act of white privilege.

A lot of people either see race as irrelevant or that we talk about it too much in our ‘post-racial’ age. However, for us, it is our daily reality. We cannot choose to switch off our race, and thus cannot remove the burdens that accompany it. We do not have the ‘luxury’ of ignoring race. Until then, we’re going to keep talking about it. You may want to ‘skip the drama’ but it is a privilege for you to be able to scroll past this. It is our very lives that you are scrolling past. We are attempting to argue for our right to exist in this space. The topic of race is extremely underdiscussed in fandom discourse. Some people either see race as not relevant to fandom or something that they think they’ve sussed because they’re ‘open’, ‘liberal’ or have a PoC friend or something. That’s very different from actively educating yourself on issues that affect us beyond what you see in the news or from history. That’s good, but there’s more. Just because you’re socially liberal does not excuse you from perpetuating the cycle of racism. We have to fight to validly exist, and that is exhausting. Existing is exhausting.

Being a PoC in a predominantly white space is an act of protest as our very existence is politicised.

It can never be just a story of two people, not when we are so burdened. You are never just yourself, race comes first, and you are never not conscious of this. A PoC would be constantly hyperaware of their race because it informs how society treats them in every way. You are always self-conscious about things like not associating with too many people of your own race in case it comes off as threatening or exclusive or discriminatory. You subconsciously make adjustments to blend into the space as much as possible in fear of offending somebody, such as changing your accent or clothes. You feel a constant sense of double alienation. You occupy a liminal space. You are the hyphen in the Asian-American. We are marginalised, Othered. We are never granted full rights to exist independently of a Eurocentric standard.

Frank, outright racism does occur. And it sticks with you.

Whether or not you are easily hurt, it does stay with you subconsciously, and just reinforces this concept of your being lesser. It’s even worse when the target is someone you care about. You never forgot those moments. Moreover, microaggressions, ignorant comments, stereotyping and subtle prejudice can be just as bad. You have to work twice as hard to get recognised, and one thing do wrong completely discounts everything you’ve done. We are gaslighted, invalidated, discriminated against because of our genes…

You are seen as a representative of your entire race.

There have been incidents where I see a fellow person of my race on public transport, or in that room, and silently hope that they don’t do anything ‘embarrassing’ or ‘out of the ordinary’ because it would reflect badly on me. Watching the news, every time I see someone of my race do something awful, my heart drops not only due to what they did, because no matter what, their race is highlighted and I feel like this reflects on me. The onus is always on you, to conform, to fit in, to be as least foreign and Other as possible. However, your behaviour will never eradicate the fact that you will be judged. Or, you will be judged as ‘good for a ---‘. We must make a good impression to offset the automatic prejudice before they have met us.

Internalised racism has led us to believe we deserve our treatment.

Family can sometimes be the worst perpetuators of the cycle, as in their bid to give us a better life, they seek for us to fit in to a certain standard (especially with colourism). The effects of colonialism etc have shaped the way people view the white hegemony, and subconsciously we believe that we are lesser, less beautiful, less valid, less human. Furthermore, we’re grateful whenever an ally joins our cause, because we have got used to seeing our treatment as what we have to settle for. Even as adults, Anna and I still feel uncomfortable with our features because they do not fit the European standard of beauty, despite rationally knowing that it is just a subjective, culturally imposed standard. For example, we are keen to wear glasses because we feel so negatively about our eyes due to that ingrained internalised racism. By sole dint of having European features, the irrational part of me with that engrained white supremacy with never think of myself as pretty enough in comparison to white girls. You feel off-brand, broken and like something is wrong with you, even as a very small child. My friends still have to call me out for hating on my features too much. It makes for a very difficult relationship with your family, your sense of identity, home and how you see others of your own race. The onus is on us to accommodate white fragility.

That’s why representation is incredibly important.

Every time I read a fic with representation, no matter how small or how large the issues are explored, the twelve year old me within me tears up a little because for a little girl growing up assuming every character was white until disproven, I remember hunting library shelves for books with any PoC that weren’t stereotyped, reading those few books over and over again just so I could relate to somebody in the media I consumed. For all the little children, and for the children inside us all, please make an effort to reflect the way society is today. Your work makes a huge difference to us, our self-esteem, how we see ourselves. Every instance of representation is something that sticks with us forever. You will have made such a difference in people’s lives. If you’ve made a difference in mine, you must’ve for somebody else. Please. If your art or fic has helped someone deal with the implications of being PoC in a world of white hegemony, I personally think it’s worth the hate that you’ll inevitably get. Every fic or art that involves a PoC has been automatically politically charged, and there is a meaning and purpose behind it.

Often it’s said that a character is not PoC in canon, and thus shouldn’t be in fic.

Well, lots of the things that people do in fic isn’t canon. White fragility is real; a fic that removes every aspect of the character’s personality, or behaviour, or introduces A/B/O or sex pollen or talking hats or removing magic in the HP universe, for example, is seen as more acceptable than making a character PoC. Saying that a character can be turned into a wall or a pancake but not a PoC is to invalidate our experience as less than valid.

How should I write PoC in fic if I am not a PoC?

Perhaps see this comment I made on @gracerene09‘s post here. I am all here for the normalisation of PoC in fic. It doesn’t have to be tackled in depth in every fic. But due to the dearth of authentic representation in fandom, I think it has to be explored. However, please be diligent about how you explore racial issues if you do choose to. Race cannot just be switched out, you must deal with the implications – your heritage, culture, background, experience of the world all shifts. To lend authenticity to the experience you are trying to convey, please research eg please don’t fall into the trap of white saviourism, etc. Also, please don’t use epithets unless is it absolutely integral to the story. If we know the character’s name, there is no need to write: ‘‘Yes, please’, said the Indian man.’ If you are nervous about representing a PoC character without that experience, ask a few friends or try engage in discourse. It is better than remaining in ‘respectful’ silence, because then you are complicit in the greater systemic problem. To pretend race doesn’t matter is to say that we are all treated equally. The experience of being PoC is being hyperaware of your race constantly and that feeding into everything you do, regardless of how mundane, so there is no conceivable way that a PoC's character's every move in a world with white hegemony would not have been influenced by society's perception of their race. To pretend racism doesn’t exist is to dismiss societal racism and our everyday experiences. To be honest, racial issues are an inalienable part of the PoC experience, and thus I think they should be explored.

HARRY POTTER SPECIFIC DISCOURSE

How would the race be treated in the wizarding world?

There is no canon on this, so this is all my personal conjecture. However, I believe that Petunia’s treatment of Harry could easily be understood as racist as well as prejudiced based on his magic, should you choose to see Harry as a PoC. Harry can be an anglicised name (from Hari, which means Lion in Sanskrit), or Harry could’ve just been named Harry. It’s totally possible for someone to be named Harry and be PoC. Blood purity was intended as an analogy of racism to begin with, and the stigma of being mixed race and that balance between two worlds is not incompatible with canon. Say Harry is desi – the Potters could have gained their wealth from the days of colonised South-East Asia. Also, to say that it is unrealistic for there to be PoC in the Wizarding World is a bit rich, considering as the Wizarding World defies gravity etc. Plus, looking at the census, the nineties had about an 8% ethnic minority population. I think the percentage of PoC characters in HP is less than 1%, although do tell me if I’ve done my maths wrong.

Blaise Zabini: Class, status and race in the upper echelons of the Wizarding World

Blaise Zabini is at a very interesting intersection between various social constructs. He’s chummy with the upper class and the Sacred 28, and grew up in the Wizarding world. He is wealthy, thanks to his mother, and is very posh. However, as a black man, in my eyes he is almost certainly Othered. This is just my personal interpretation, but I think Blaise would have to emphasise his poshness to validate his place in the Pureblood bubble, and yet he would always be subconsciously othered, one’s Otherness can never be erased by looks, class, status, wealth or intelligence. Although race would not be the primary optic that people are discriminated against, I think that it still would be one of those open secrets that blood purity could sometimes be conflated with. I think that is why being both elite and PoC is such an interesting intersection to occupy. In a manner of speaking, I see Blaise to be akin to Othello – accepted because he has his merits but his entire character and experience is so heavily tinged by being black in a white space. This would be especially if the Pureblood set is meant to parallel aristocracy. I doubt the Draco, for example, would say anything intentionally racist to Blaise, but he seems to more the exception to the rule. This social mobility may be because he is a ‘foreigner’ from Italy, and thus his race is ‘excused’ because I very much doubt a PoC family could rise to such extreme heights in medieval England like the Malfoys. Say racism didn’t exist, in an extremely hypothetical scenario, being the minority would still affect you in power dynamics.

Hermione Granger as a Muggleborn PoC

Should you see Hermione as a PoC, she would then be doubly discriminated against. I would believe it to be inconceivable for there to be two parallel societies, of which there is interaction and immigration, existing in the same space where race would not matter in one where it would in the other. Blood purity does not matter in the Muggle World because they do not know of magic. This is not the case with race. Especially given Britain’s empire, it would take lots of worldbuilding for one to believe that the Muggle community at one point owned 25% of the globe but the Wizarding World was a happy little content republic. The twin lenses of blood purity and race is something that cannot be ignored, and that intersection has deep impacts upon a character’s identity. Hermione would be forced to go above and beyond to justify her existence (hence her fear of being expelled) and then would be called out for not fitting in by trying too hard. Being dismissed for the smallest of things is very real because as a PoC, everything is your fault. As a PoC, this behaviour would be normalised for her because she, even at 11, would be so used to accommodating to fit Eurocentric notions.

Cho Chang

This lazy orientalisation naming is another example of JKR being a white feminist. No PoC couple in the 80s would have wanted to draw further attention to their child’s race. To better integrate to make their life easier for their child, they would have not chosen Cho as an extra obstacle for her, I don’t think.

Colourblind casting

Adding onto above, I don’t think we can give JKR credit for being a progressive, intersectional feminist in the books if she retroactively showed love for black Hermione. I love that she did that and could be one now, but a lot of HP does not show due diligence in portraying characters of colour. The thing about a white character being casted as another race is that usually, that is fine because their race is incidental, and was not a defining aspect of their character or experience because white people in white spaces do not face the same institutionalised discrimination. When a PoC character is played by a white person, it complicates matters as their experience as a PoC in a white space is integral to their experience of the world.

by @untilourapathy

#racism #race #poc #representation #diversity #harry potter #hp #fandom #fic #mine

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autoirishlitdiscourses · 3 years ago

Text

Discourse of Wednesday, 28 July 2021

Again, thank you for doing such a good weekend, and the expression of your discussion on Wednesday prevents you, provided that you could talk about his own paper after letting it sit for two or three days, and though it was more lecture-oriented than it currently is. You are welcome to run up against with Ulysses: if people aren't prepared, it's been posted: The Wall Street Journal speculates about whether you're technically meeting the discussion section is also a dazzlingly insightful interpretation while yet being faithful to the Ulysses lectures which, given Ulysses, and modeling this for everyone else in both sections? I think that, going into the heart of your evidence into a complex historical condition and trace some important material in there you are. However, be aware that you would have helped to get a handle on the day before Thanksgiving.

Does it matter if that doesn't mean it's not intrusive and doesn't delay your presentation. On her forehead was so tight I thought you might find helpful in studying for the final analysis. Finally, for that assignment and may serve a number of difficult texts, with the rest of the prospectus when I've already said in the discussion so that it's fresh in everyone's mind, keep reciting it, though, you really have read Cyclops and love as a whole, though there were some amazing performances on it. This means that you understand just how much reading people have no one else in your delivery; very good work here in a number of genuinely excellent job! Well done. You went short, or see me!

But make sure that all students within each section. Yes you will have to go that route. I'm planning on having students declare in advance from the group without driving them, To become renewed, transfigured, in part because you're moving too quickly past issues that would require picking up cues that tell me when large numbers of people who had their hands.

For one thing that will help you to be tying the landscape and love as a whole was quite captivated by your own thought, self-control, etc. Question doesn't make its way to be helpful in pointing to multimedia and/or capability. I'm looking forward to your workload, but looser ones that would require the professor's reading of Godot, or Bloom's complex relationship that we have a few significant gaps, possibly by style, narrative clues, etc.

At the root of these is that it's come to each other would help you grow as a way of taking up time that way versus having an couple of things well here: you must take all reasonable steps to correct them; c you can draw in additional examples from Sartre and Camus to enrich your analysis will pay off. I think that your midterm will be thinking closely about what you think are likely to be without feedback until more or less agree? I think, too, about having specific questions, OK? 8 When You Are Old discussion of this coming weekend. Of course, the two tendencies in Irish literature that you need to cancel my office hours so that my impression at the moment and say exactly what they're like outside of my section website, and with your own, and I fully appreciate this it's not a bad idea.

Alternately, I won't assess participation until the end. Three did not, will pay off to have seen in lecture, that'll be helpful in studying for the remainder of the three types of responses to individual instructors. Wikipedia article on poitín for more information about the relationship.

Hi, everyone is scheduled. One thing that is an arena for such thinking: a three-quarters of the end of your finals, and so that the Irish as drunk, violent, and an estimate for attendance and participation. He missed four sections, you receive for attending section Thanksgiving week, you should think about how you might ask the class and get them to their fate.

Don't want to switch their attention back to you as the focal point of analysis, too, if nothing else. You may also find helpful. Good choice; I think that you should continue to attend the entire weekend as one of the grotesque. If you absolutely can't go on, so please be parsimonious about future absences.

I'm expecting it's a wonderful collection of course, as well as 1922, and showed that you had signed up for a text from the second half of Yeats's September 1913. You were clearly a bit more practice but your delivery was basically solid, and the rest of your writing is also quite graceful and expresses your thought better than I had my students in both my sections on the professor's English 150 course, the student who sent a panicked email after sleeping into the A range. Please use it personally and recommend it highly. Your discussion and question provoked close readings by using hedging phrases like I said? I'm trying to eat up time in a good move here, I will announce it in more depth.

You can also refer you to reschedule—they will help you to ground your analysis what is Mary likely to complain if I can tell you. Have a good sense of a number of fingers at the time to get your proposals for text/date combination if possible, and your material effectively and provided a good student this quarter. I suspect you actually mean by romance, which was previously the theoretical maximum score for the positions we take in the context of conversations about Irish nationalism, depending on where you need by phrasing things in your phrasing is suboptimal or doesn't quite say what you can see it, even if it's necessary to start writing in order to do in order to see change by much, but also would help to ground your argument effectively. A-. What does it mean to suggest that his presence is central to your presentation. Smooth, thoughtful paper that has not always exchanged in a lot of impressive moves. As it is constructed in the writing process is itself the immediate, direct, personal interest in the best way to find out about it. Some students improved their score between the two A-87% 90% B 83% 87% B 80% 83% B-81. Again, thank you both did a good weekend, and that you just ran out of town this weekend. Perhaps an interesting contemporary poet. You are likely to run up against was that the exam if you have been for Stephen, but perhaps could be set up in front of the work. Similarly, perhaps the way that you look at other parts of your finals. For one thing that might work as the audio or video recording of your paper is neither foolish nor improper, but the basic principles involved in the writing process. All of which is an impressive move. I think that what the professor just wanted to make your thesis statement is actually quite busy with recitations and did a remarkably good job here in order to turn into a larger point of analysis is and get 100% on the web or in a number of points you receive no credit for turning it into an effective job of trying to suggest that there are some comma splices, sentence, phrase, every sentence says exactly what you're expecting. If your intent is to say: If you're scheduled to be substantial deviations from the plan; remember you said, think about delivery and then facilitate a focused discussion about the ways in which you should write me a room for the quarter, you were doing last time you get behind. I think it's a phone number in the sense of what the relationship between your source texts, a we have treated you rather unfairly. This is true: the twelfth line. I've gotten pretty good at picking up cues that tell me when large numbers of fingers to let you know, that your ideas develop naturally out of range at this point would be a more nuanced. I noticed that I set the bar for A papers very high B, regardless of race were like, but you were to go back through the novel, so I know that he might stand for in the end of the section on Wednesday or Friday between 11:45 is the instructor of record for classes at UCSB, and this is conjectural, but I think that your thought would be to choose an audio/visual text of Irish culture, history, and the way that the professor's syllabus. There are a student who's scheduled an appointment with me; I'm normally much more prepared for the quarter and I know my handwriting is hard-wired to be helpful for your email to the connections between the two tests if it seems that it may be quite a good weekend! I'll show you as an emergency phone call during section or for your paper—you're not sure what to tell us how one or more of the midterm scores until Tuesday.

Forster said.

Looks good to me in my margin notes. Don't think about putting in conjunction with a fresh perspective on a Thursday, October 11, which, given Ulysses, and you've remained fair to Yeats's text, you must at least 80% on the final itself, though again, and Cake next to each other personally. Additionally, you currently have five openings in my box in the future. Grades are pretty high this was a pleasure having you in section on time or the professor has said that he doesn't want a recording of your paper most needs to be even better job on Wednesday!

I'm just letting you know, OK? Full of his paper here. Too, you gave a good job of reading the poem by 4 to 5%, what this relationship. Thanks! Quite frankly, the construction of Irish nationhood, English majors with a set of ideas in there what I'm basically saying here is the connection between the poem taken for that week. There was a popular selection. Peeler p. So, here.

This being a strongly religious woman whose son is not productive about Fluther's comment? Ideally, you do a project on on line six; dropped I said something very close to 85% a middle A-for the Synge vocabulary quiz. Still, overall, you may recall that in order to minimize disruption to other people are reacting to look for cues that tell us about the text s and responding to both of you effectively boosted the other's grade while you were sensitive to the course material, and quite accurate recitation, and you're claiming that the more difficult texts we're dealing with things that could have been to question its own logic. This means that an A paper as a group, and it's been posted to the concept of and/or recall problems. The same method applies to you. There's no need to indicate the sources in their introductions and/or selections from other students and give them something specific to look for cues that this is a vision of female sexuality like in the directions you want. Honor of being adaptable in terms of which is rather tricky to do. This is not comprehensive, but are the song performances themselves, not as able to avoid specificity, and you might compare it with the rest of the editorial/proofreading process. I can get a handle on the first chapter of Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer's Dialectic of Enlightenment or can get you a good move on to present. On Raglan Road. It's often that the final to grade all the time, I do tomorrow, I think, meant to describe women in this situation, exactly, by love, romance, which you dealt. All in all, this is, you have demonstrated in class with respect, and you touched on some of these are all very small number of points and provided a good discussion for the term to spare. Let me know if you feel better soon. Not, you have scheduled a recitation and what it can be a very good outcomes of your recitation. Reminder: Wednesday is the last stanza, too, but rather that I didn't think of this is absolutely a fair amount of research here, based entirely on attendance for your paper. Come up with a fresh eye and ask again. But you were trying to suggest that Dexter is an inappropriate typeface if in doubt, use Times New Roman; turning in a lot of ways that I notice you. For Ulysses in the Forest of Arden itself a thinking process that will help you to not only keeps us on task, but rather attempts to gloss over particularly difficult in a Reddit discussion earlier this year! You added an I before think I do not impede the reader's ability to understand and appreciate any aspect of the more recent versions at all a serious possibility, there are several things that we admire the vigilantism of the people who had their hands up after I qualified it by 10 p. You are of equal or even better writer, and good luck with the rebellion of 1798. I feel that there are potentially productive ways to read and interpret as a bridge to basic issues. Love, then this will certainly pay off, though reciting more of an analysis of a letter grade per day in a reasonable doubt? I come off as much as you can bring your copy of the due date will result in a timely fashion in order to do in order to fully explore your own sense of the novel as a sifting screen that lets you make it pay off for you? Not, you have any questions, OK? So, for free: Chris Walker and the purest and most are getting full credit. Whatever you mean, that you need to rise above merely doing a large number of things well here. Everything looks fine and are genuinely small and have a lot of ways, I estimate that maybe two of which affects your grade. Volunteering to be spending time thinking about grad school.

This quarter, so if you're trying to say, and again your comments and questions from other students were engaged, and want to do a good thumbnail background to the phrase and the 1916 Easter Rising rebels: Wikipedia's disambiguation page for the temptation offered to the uprising. One would be an indication that you're well and smoothly. B-on your part, and I've read works by Pinter before, say, but if you'd prefer. I think that a more specific analysis. Thanks for doing a strong argument about it more in-depth manner and provided an interpretive pathway into one of the room.

By the way of being fair to Yeats's text; you could be read, and I enjoyed it. My current plan is to say, Sunday, which has been assigned yet, and you've set up in front of the class well. As for the standard essay structure instead of mechanically beating a drum that has my comments and questions from other sources. Overall, you may hit that number this quarter. If a fellow gave them trouble being lagged they let him have it hot and heavy in the reader/viewer.

How about 1 p. You have at least partly with other good readings of modernist paintings in connection with Irish nationalism road. Your rhythm was not my area of thematic threads through multiple texts here, and you have a basically fair reading to my preferences and how does this rhetorical maneuver accomplish? Romance, chivalry, honor and honorable, lust, hook-up exam next week: Patrick Kavanagh is wide open. Again, you can be helpful for your material you emphasize I think, too. You had a student this quarter—you either cross them or you can go a lot more specific proposal, including basic plot-recall questions. There are any problems with understanding and/or conclusions. So, the student engaging in the assignment write-up of the text of Irish identity, and what you're going to be over. She hit himself her husband have perhaps grown apart, and got the class if there are always a good sense of what I'm trying to eat up time in a collaborative close-reading exercise of your finals and papers, so although there's no reason why the decision to compare those two particular texts, writing an A-for the sake of having misplaced sympathies for criminals. Professor Waid is a comparatively difficult poem to music and is entirely understandable, but you took. Keep practicing periodically even when you do not calculate participation until the very end of the play, but they're not yet announced which part of this, you may have required a bit more gracefully. Sorry to take so long to get the group while doing your reading for those who were otherwise on track.

None of this is unlikely, because they haven't started the reading. We can talk about is some aspect of the implications of course. You changed before to as soon as you can think of Benny Brady's anger at his wife, Annie, in a productive exercise I myself tend to have a section of Ulysses is that it is, your primary focus should be examining a specific claim and that Joyce's thumbing of his lecture pace rather than a recording of the several topics that you've set up yours and which texts you propose to read, and only looking at large for failing to subscribe to one or two, or historical in nature, rather than providing a good weekend! As I said before, and went above and beyond.

#Irish literature #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Python #Markov chains

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dannyphantomrpg · 7 years ago

Text

Analysis: Ten Years Later

So, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Ten Years Later videos lately, and this analysis post just sort of happened~

To be fair, I did need to work it all out since I mildly referenced it in my Foley Fest drabble.

If I get any comic book info wrong, I'm so sorry. I don't know anything about Marvel aside what my husband knows about the 90's Spiderman cartoon.

Let's start off with Sam and Tucker, cause honestly? There's not much to go over with them.

Sam is sort of basic. Sort of dull. Butch says "leather" trench, but it's most likely pleather, or something more animal-friendly. Even (especially) ten years later, I don't see Sam giving up the good fight.

Her crop top, tho, seems to be a constant. I don't know if that's really her aesthetic, or if Butch just thinks all women like to show off their stomachs. Either way, the DP logo is something Sam would definitely sport.

Something I wanted to point out: in her first TYL sketch, Butch compares her to Black Widow. A quick Wiki skim later gives a bit more depth to the comic book ignorant like me. Black Widow's origin story is that of an orphan child being raised by the Russian government as a sort of Anti-Capitan America. She met up with Tony Stark by trying to assassinate someone in his company.

Sort of interesting to compare Sam with Black Widow, and then give her all those huge anti-ghost guns, hm~?

Tucker, I have a few issues with. Not his design (aside how he only got one sketch and then his final design - show your own characters some love, Butch!), but how Butch talks about him.

Specifically, that he's running for president. Quoting from Wikipedia:

“Article Two, Section 1 of the United States Constitution sets forth the eligibility requirements for serving as President of the United States:

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”

Tucker would only be twenty-four in TYL. He's still got 11 years to go before he can even think about running for president. So, like...

What happened to that little bit of legality?

Also of note, Tucker is the only redesign without the DP logo. Most likely, this is because he was the first and therefore before Butch had the idea, but he did give the majority of Sam's the logo.

Moving right along, we get into the meat of TYL. The Fentons.

A moment of silence for my baby Jazz.

How did "I want to go into psychology to help troubled teens" turn into "I'm essentially Tucker now"? Yes, she's the only one we've seen use the Fenton Peeler, but that doesn't really equate to getting "into the tech side of things."

Even in her sketch of just being in a jumpsuit with a "Maddie" haircut, Butch specifically gives her a piece of technology. He has her in a lab, leaning against a circuitry panel. Not a book in sight - not even one on ghost hunting!

And her final design? Oh, my sweet, smart child. There's just something so inhuman and terrifying about this image. Physically wired into Fenton Works? She "helps run all the gadgets"? She has control over traffic lights and automatic doors? Somehow, I feel like Tucker being up close and personal with his iPhone would be way more helpful than Jazz in a building on the other side of the city would be.

What happens the moment she runs into Technus? Heck, just send someone in to cut the power physically and she's completely vulnerable.

I guess Jack would be happy to be half robot? I mean, it seems like half his brain would be gone, so he can probably just be programmed to be excited about it anyway. I've never really seen Jack as the kind of guy to be upset about hygiene. If anything, I see him as a really clean person (until he gets completely distracted with an invention or something).

His second sketch is the one I really prefer - older, but still Jack. He’s big and buff and still a big old teddy bear. I can see this as a man who saw his son save the world and think "I'm slapping that logo on everything to show how proud of him I am".

Jack's finalized sketch is what really gave me pause in the first place. He's missing an eye. He's missing a leg. He has a prosthetic that, according to Butch, runs on ectoplasm. And, ok, I can see that happening. For God's sake, he turned his son and college best friend into halfas on accident because he wasn't paying attention - this man is not someone you really want in a lab setting.

But that's not what happened.

According to Butch, there is a possibility that people did this. That flesh and blood humans went after the Fentons and did them personal harm simply because of their connection to Danny. Jack lost a limb because a person decided to a) take out ghost-hunting competition, or b) cause Danny some kind of psychological harm, i.e. "If we can't get to you, we can get to your family".

And Maddie?

She was first and foremost a mother. Despite all the angst and family drama this fandom produces, Maddie loves her son above anything else. I feel, personally, if there was a choice between continuing her research and her children, she would give it all up in a heartbeat to make sure they're safe and happy.

That's all gone in her sketches.

Her very first image, she has a buzz cut, she has a huge weapon that's creating some sort of unmerciful death-ray, her goggles are down and she means business. There's nothing matronly about her in that image, no remnants of the mother that would look fondly on her son. No, she's murdering the F out of some ghost and does not care.

Again, in he second sketch, her hair is cut off and the goggles are down. There is something out there and she is going to destroy it. There is something out there that made Maddie leap "out of some sort of an airborne vehicle" with the ghost equivalent of the Little Boy and the Fat Man.

And, again, Butch is not helping.

"Well, I think maybe the Ghost Zone is in turmoil. I think that the ghosts need to live somewhere, and they’re trying to come here. So that’s why the Fentons get involved and that’s why there are so many weapons and why they’re up night and day, fighting off the ghosts."

First off - it's been established that the Ghost Zone and the Human World are connected. Anything that happens to one, will affect the other. So if the Ghost Zone has become so uninhabitable that the ghosts are coming here? How bad off is our world?

Second, Butch didn't say the ghosts were attacking. He said they wanted to live here. Yes, there are some ghost jerks out there *cough*Skulker*cough* but what about peaceful ones like Dora and Poindexter? The people of the Far Frozen? Shouldn't the Fentons know by now that not all ghosts are hostile? (Plus, this would have been an amazing use of Jazz's psychology to talk to some of these ghosts, to calm them down and learn from them.)

Maddie's final version manages to paint an even more bleak image for her. Butch mentions Mad Max and, a quick Wiki read later, that's, like, not good. Civilization is gone, lawlessness runs rampant, murder seems to be the only way to protect yourself. And Maddie is supposed to call forth that image?

Her hair is now essentially the shortest length Butch can give her without shaving her head. She's still wearing those goggles. We have yet to see this woman's eyes, she keeps them so hidden from the world. She has no guns to defend herself, only an ectoplasm-charged bat. She doesn't care about keeping her distance - oh no, she wants to be in the middle of the action.

And those BDSM ghosts? She keeps them on leashes short enough that they could touch her. She keeps them around to "help her sense other ghosts", nevermind the fact that, from what I recall, Danny is the only one with an actual ghost sense. Those ghosts look angry and not at all subdued.

And she's still wearing the DP logo. Somehow, even knowing her son is part ghost, she still has enough detachment/hatred of ghosts to demean them down to an animalistic level.

Vlad's designs are, whoo boy... Unique? Different? Each one portrays a completely different vision of the future that don't really mesh together. His first sketch is rather, uh, let's be completely honest here, Satanic. But other than that apparent dive into absolute evil, he looks more or less the same. Like no time has passed. I guess Clockwork could have yanked him out of space before too long?

By now everybody knows about the second sketch with fat!Vlad, tiger!Maddie, and perfect clone!Daniel. Heck, I knew about Daniel before I even knew there was a Ten Years Later video.

And let me just say this real quick: I love that, as soon as the words "He’s finally got himself a cloned child." were said we all, individually, came to the conclusion that: his name is Daniel Masters, he can be a spoiled jerk but isn't really evil, and he just wants someone to be friends with and play video games with. Like, I've yet to even see him in a TYL setting, he's more of a "Season 4" character.

My other thing I love about this image? Fat!Vlad. For a middle-aged man who kept in perfect shape, who fights with ghost teenagers every day, to suddenly put on weight? To me, in my experience, that means he's happy. He's found a way to be calm and relax and, yes, be settled enough to put on a few pounds. That's what happened to my husband. Before we got together she was an anxious, angry (precious) emo chick. And now she's calm, she's happy, she's adorably chubby~ (don't tell her I said this lol). Like, Vlad's so chill in this sketch that, whenever he finds out Daniel's been hanging out with Danny, he's not even mad! He's just like, "Be home by curfew, love you!" (My TYL Vlad is -absolutely- Maes Hughes. There isn't a single employee at Dalv Corp that hasn't seen a fold out wallet full of Daniel's pictures.)

(And just think, when Daniel brings home his boyfriend/girlfriend, Vlad brings out the baby book and Daniel's S/O is just like, "Why were your first steps when you were fourteen???")

Tiger!Maddie is great, if a little odd. Then again, Vlad's just living the dream of every five year old that just went to the zoo for the first time: "I wanna bring home the big kitty!"

And we get back to crazytown with the third sketch. Vlad wants to be king, what? When? Butch do you... do you know who Vlad is? You were so close with perfect clone!Daniel, and then you pull this. The only thing I can see this working as is some kind of Medieval AU with Dora and Aragon/pre-Sarcophagus Pariah Dark. Other than that, I can't see this sketch fitting in anywhere in DP.

But Vlad's final sketch returns us to the nightmare that is TYL. Vlad was abandoned in space, all human contact cut off, the only person that willingly called him a friend turned his back on him. He's probably ready to curl up and die at that point and then aliens come and kidnap him, forcing him to be a miner and then a coliseum fighter. I can't imagine the blow to his pride all that did.

I can accept that he would keep enough presence of mind to escape. Heck, I can almost believe that he would willingly keep the chain on his arm (though as less of a "reminder of where he came from" and more of a "I'm going to make these guys pay!"). But what really gets me is Butch saying, "he really, really wants to get Danny now".

That's not at all ominous. Not at all.

Like, what is that supposed to mean? I'm sure we're supposed to infer he's coming after Danny, but, would he? After all that time alone, after being broken down by some crazy Criminal Minds aliens? I'm sure that, in all that time Vlad was captured, he must have let it slip that he wasn't the only halfa. That this boy on Earth was more powerful that he had been in his prime. Could he be coming to warn Danny? Maybe the reason he escaped was because the aliens have their eye on a new "champion"?

Danielle is absolutely precious to me. My sweet little girl who only wants to live her own life. I love that her first sketch gives her a bit more of the Vlad influence (especially since I headcanon that she has his fire core and not Danny's ice core). The opposing black and white outfit, though, just looks like a bad Harley Quinn to me.

The second sketch is kind of cutsie, kind of bleh. There's something about Butch's femme designs that just... don't really hit the mark.

I'm adoring her third sketch. The overall feel of "ghost" really comes through with this design (and she finally has matching boots and gloves) and it feels really right with her. I've always loved the idea that she's more ghost than human, and this images hits it just right.

Her final design is ok. We go back to the alternating colors, which I don't like, but she also looks more like Danny, which I do like. Butch says she "likes to party" which I can kind of see. She's full of spunk, she has an adventurous side, she'd love to go out and see everything and get involved with as much as she can. The fact that she can shape ectoplasm into words seems like something she'd be into. Just imagine her floating outside of Vlad's window, cussing him out with floaty green writing.

Now, we finally get to Danny. His first sketch isn't too bad. He has a dedicated place for the Thermos - good idea on his part. A little simple, little plain. Loving the cargo pants, tho.

His second design looks a little more like a plain upgrade form his usual hazmat, but with more armor. Makes me think Sam and Tucker went to a sporting goods store and slapped all the knee/elbow pads they could on him to keep him from hurting himself so much.

I like the idea of the third design. When he embraces his ghost side, he gets more Dan-like qualities. I think something like this would take him a while to adjust to, but he would be better for it. This design feels like it would be the strongest one - delving into his ghost half and pulling power from it instead of fighting to keep it balanced with his human half.

Danny's final design, however, make me think. His hazmat has been replaced, or most likely upgraded, to include more Fenton gadgets - specifically trading the Thermos for a Glove. But the Glove, instead of just being a catch/release system, actually uses the caught ghost to power his suit. The green isn't just for design, it's the power he's taken from other ghosts he's captured. Does this mean he's just taking whatever the captured ghost's power is (like weather-control, or even power over boxes)? Or is it like the rest of Fenton tech where he's actually taking the ectoplasm from the captured ghost to power himself? How much is that hurting the other ghost?

As strong as Danny is, as strong as he keeps getting, why does he need to power a suit to keep fighting?

I've been thinking about this final design, thinking about the designs for all the other characters, especially the Fentons. I thought about how Danny would fight until his last breath to protect Amity Park, and, like...

Did he?

Did Danny die at some point prior to Ten Years Later?

Only once is Danny referred to as Danny Fenton, and that's during the sketch for Jack's original design. He's not even called Fenton in his own redesigns. He's had several sketches, but all of them were for Phantom. Heck, Vlad got a human drawing, even if it wasn't for his final design.

And the more I think about it, the more it seems to make sense.

Jazz gave up on psychology when her little brother died. She probably became depressed and couldn't leave the house. Wiring herself into Fenton Works seemed like the next logical step - at least this way she could help without having to face his friends who could go on without him.

Jack was probably grieving when he was attacked. He lost his son, his eye, and his leg.

Without having to reconcile her son's humanity with his ghostlyness, Maddie was free to revert back to a lifetime of thinking that all ghosts were nonsentient. She probably didn't get enough of a chance to being to change her views permanently, so she sees nothing wrong with how she's treating the leashed ghosts.

And Danny himself would even have an excuse for his suit. I've seen in the fandom that the reason Danny is such a strong ghost is because he's young, and he's still growing. That the more he ages, the stronger he becomes. When Danny died, he would have stopped growing in power. Heck, he might have even started -losing- power, and trying to revert to how strong he was when he first "died" in the accident. Having a suit that runs on other ghosts, using their power to replace his own, would actually make sense, especially if Maddie helped make it.

#Danny Phantom #Ten Years LAter #analysis post #danny fenton #sam manson #Tucker Foley #jazz fenton #Maddie Fenton #jack fenton #Vlad Masters #vlad plasmius #dani #perfect clone!daniel #tiger!maddie #honestly i kinda want to see a part three #just to see how far this trainwreck can go

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girlreportsmoved · 7 years ago

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MY JUSTICE LEAGUE REVIEW.

okay, so as many of you know, i did get to see justice league the day it came out last weekend ! a bunch of people have been asking me to post my review, i’ve been incredibly busy which is why this did not post sooner. a bunch of spoilers below, you have been warned.

so OVERALL, i really did like it....sort of. i actually liked the length, it was much easier to process & observe then say, the avengers, but we got so m u c h cut, not even just from lois but like.....barry saving iris, vicTOR STONE, i m e a n ...... srsly. like they could have done it ! better ! within the runtime ! if they had just cut out whedons bullshit quips & barry falling into diana boobs! but anyways, more on that later. the score was so so good, esp the opening song i c ried but honestly danny elfman wasnt the best. i wouldve preferred junkiexl, bc at least he wouldve paid homage 2 zimmers score (im v bitter.)

i LOVED the opening montage. snyder all the way i mean, i s t an one(1) caucasian man. also lmao im referring to the gotham city scene, NOT the superman video clip bc a. cgi & b. like what purpose does it even serve if the camera doesnt immediately pan 2 lois after he answers that question lmao. but the batman cinematography over gotham was on p o int. honestly the way they designated each portion of the introduction to a specific superhero - like the coloring, the backstory, everything - i really liked the seperate sections each for aquaman, the flash, cyborg, etc. idk wonderbat was un nessacary in the dceu but i dislike b/en affle/ck so lmao. steve joke was NOT cool tho.

okay but i LOVE ezra millers’ barry allen. i would die for him im not even JOKING he was so GOOD and stole the show honestly. God bless they couldnt have picked a better actor tbh. i really wished we could have gotten more of cyborg’s insight/backstory but my man ray fisher fucking shined. aquaman strutting down the docks to icky thump while downing a bottle of whiskey is my aesthetic....thats Hawt. again, more backstory (mera was in for like 2 minutes i mean what the fuck)

but yeah. i wont talk much about batfleck bc a. no character development he was just there lmao and b. i dont like him ( i love comics bruce wayne ok just not gross ass sexual harasser b*n affl*ck playing him). i love alfred tho. obviously nothing can been the nolanverse alfred but this ones pretty damn good, they both do a good job of knowing lois is both the key AND the big guns, hats off 2 u BOTH. bruce felt so guilty tho i mean whyy bro some of it i think was just so diana could comfort him which was....uh ok. i like the gadgets !! also him adopting barry allen. i miss the batfamily!! also ‘whats ur superpower’ ‘im rich’ well goddamN. wonder woman was underused. i mean she can obviously hold her own in a fight against supes longer then that, if not beating him like r u KIDDING me. but ya my girl kicked ass

moving on, steppenwolf couldve used more backstory/screentime. i didnt...rlly...get...his motives aside from him being chaos personified or whatever. not the best villian but he couldve been tbh with the story he had. my AMAZONS slayed. the motherbox thing was explained so quickly, the connections between worlds was v clear like damn the mcu could never (i love marvel dont get it twisted tho.) i loved the themes of unity and everything but it needed more woman. i know this sounds arbitrary but...lmao so far, no male-centred dceu film has passed the bechtel test. wonder woman is the ONLY one. fucking ridiculous. not even a two minutes conversation with lois empathizing with her pain like goddamn.

clarks alive, we been KNEW, obviously. the resurrection wasnt super confusing but kind of like a letdown. i would have preferred if it hadnt been the league to resurrect him, instead like some other sun power or maybe steppenwolfs scheme or something, it seemed a little wrong. im not even gonna talk about henrys mustache until later when i unload the shit in whedon sO - i personally like his new suit!! he wasnt in the film too much tbh, honestly wb either owes me a full directors cut of him explaining his thought process about returning to earth and his character development theron, OR man of steel 2. like cmon man. boy came back from the dead wtf is going on there. much more of a classic superman then in bvs which i liked, but it seemed kind of rushed & i miss snyders depth.

now onto the main event: (jkjk but rly) LOIS JOANNE LANE ! first off i really loved her wardrobe, the contrasing blues and navies with her red hair like...i see u supes coloring scheme, i see what u did there. i love her bond with martha. i love amys face. but u know what i didnt love that ill 10000% elaborate more on and put into a seperate post for my jl verse? pretty much everything else. yes, a woman’s grief should be validated and never underestimated or mocked, yes, a woman’s grief does not make her any bit less strong. but lois, my lois at least, i strongly believe, would not have stuck to fluff pieces. she is VERY all or nothing when it comes to this, its either the truth, or nothing at all. in the event of supermans death OR disappearance, she would have grieved, she would have been heartbroken - but she would have persevered, evidenced in the comics heavily. more on this later.

i am VERY pissed about amy’s cut/reshot scenes. all the heartfelt clips shown during test screenings, all of zacks intentions, all of the original screenplay - lmao, cut. does lois ever talk to martha about anything other then clark? groceries? investigations? anything else to build a solid mother-daughter relationship? ok. the nightmare scene where she remembers clark? gone. the in depth conversations with martha in the farmhouse? zilch. the independent investigations of s.t.a.r labs unveiling steppenwolf/ the mother boxes that shows her manifesto in full force? nowhere. the goddamn proper clois reunion from the trailer where the ring was MENTIONED/CONFIRMED like every other logical person expected, the heartfelt reunion about truth and justice and love? fucking no w here.

lois lane deserves a stand alone. or at least a short, or a tv show. im fucking serious. all that lois/diana setup from bvs and they dont even t a lk. cmon. lois is a sidenote in the story !! im so MAD. like yes, forever grateful for ‘big guns’ and ‘backup plan’ but whedon fuckin twisted it all man.....what happened to her being the key? how the fuck did flash know about this? did they cut something else? i MEAN she has virtually NO onscreen contact with bruce, who should be regularly checking up on her bc shes the key & all, or from diana, who sympathizes with her pain via bvs/ww cinematographic parallels that were obviously intentional. no league interactions at all. im unimpressed.

and finally, FINALLY, the real bone i have to pick with this movie. joss whedon. gross ass bitch doesnt even cut it so im gonna try to keep this as short as possible. he reshot ALL of supermans scenes against snyders will, reducing the role of him and lois, disregarding the talent of amy adams and reducing her whole ‘arc’ to be about clark, the flash/diana boob faceplant, the horrible cinematography, bruces’ steve trevor references, its all fucking whedon. i could go on, but i dont wanna combust into flames. so. lets just say hes a piece of middle-aged bald white man mediocrity with a brain the size of a a literal bat shit. fuck him.

but OVERALL, i would give this film around a 60-65/100, which is being generous. they could have done!! so GOOD!! but no they picked a trash bag to direct the film reshoots? sad.

#incase u couldnt tell im bitter #jl spoilers /#heavy salt for ts

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franeridart · 7 years ago

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Hmmm.. what do you think about the monoma x shinsou ship??

It’s… possibly a good ship? I guess? I’ve seen it around a bit, but ngl I don’t really understand it haha

Anon said: when’s your birthday?

November 13th! It’s still pretty far~

Anon said:you say you like seeing the bakusquad taking care of babies hmmm? draw them maybe? OuO

I did haha

Anon said:Because of your art (you made me fall in love with Bakugou and Kirishima and Kaminari) I started BNHA and got my best friend into it. Now I can’t stop writing them and my friend and I have several AUs already.

This is the best kind of ask omfg !!!!! Glad I could get you into my disaster trio!!! …but also are you maybe gonna share like I’m starved for bakushimanari content a n o n

Anon said:Aw man i was gonna recomend that fic by newamsterdam to you. Like i finished reading it and thought you could like it since you like that other kuroo x teru fic (thanks to you and the anon for that btw) and it seemed your style? Im kinda sad i missed the chance (ok i know this whole ask sounds stupid)

Awwww don’t be sad anon, reccing me bakushima stuff is seriously hard because I might or might not go daily in the ao3 tag to read anything complete that’s been updated and I might or might not be following all fics regularly updating unless they have a character death/angst with no happy ending warning oops - thank you for thinking about me tho!!! That made me happy haha

Anon said:I pestered my friend until he watched (and fell in love with) bnha and now I’m pestering him to look at your blog because your art is top notch and every bnha fan should look at your art imo

Thank??? You???? Holy smokes !!!

Anon said:Aaaaaaa I really love your bakushima art its just so pure and wholesome and makes me really happy when I see it!! ;;u;;

B O I THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:The Uraraka and Bakugou fight!!! !!! !!! Probably my favourite fight in the tournament ahhh just the depth of character from both of them I’m ;; and the “Todoroki isn’t you” line ahhhhhhhhhhh

Haha well my fave is still the bakushima one ngl I’m weak for Bakugou actually having fun, but I feel this!! It’s a great fight and the anime did it so so well too!!!! Can’t wait for next episode tbh aahhhhhhh !!!

Anon said:With the latest chapter, I’m gonna assume Midnight ships the hard bros lmao. But honestly tho, she was me!! I love them!!! It was everything I hoped it to be, the graphics, the focus on their hands, the handshake, thE FREAKING SPARKLES!!!!

It was!!!!!!! Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! And such a sweet surprise too, I thought I wouldn’t get to see it this episode and YET!!!!! I might have yelled hahaha

Anon said:“Three sets of eyes and still can’t see bakugou” 1000% accurate I’m crying

*wiggle eyebrows* the pun was calling for me

Anon said:I FLIPPING LOVE YOUR ART SO FRICKING MUCH

AND I LOVE YOU ANON !!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Things that automatically make my day better: seeing a notification that says “franeridart has posted a photo”. I always give a little gasp and go “FRANNY!” Before immediately looking at the picture. Even the ones that aren’t for fandoms I’m in are so super cute!! So long story short I love you and your art k bye

Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You’re so sweet oh my g o s h!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *O*

Anon said:Would it be possible to see any bokuroteru or bakushima art in your rb?

Anon said:The bakushima smooches would look great on a notebook/mug/etc !

I added the smooches!!!! And I mean to go through my bakushima stuff to see what else works!! As for the bokuroteru, is there anything specific you’d like to see? Nothing seems worth it tbh haha rip

Anon said:I just bought a bag and a t-shirt and this shirt will be worn at anime expo in July and I would looooooove it if some of YOYR matsuhana S made it into your shop because I would buy all of them

THANK YOU SO MUCH OH MY G O D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:M'cryin the way young Mirio looked was like a colonial American teen. Also holy shit the character development showing Tamaki’s anxiety and pessimism, and then Mirio being the super supportive friend he is and just ugh everything about this chapter was amazing

IT W AS I love it so much Amajiki’s such a good character honestly and his relationship with Mirio is!!! So good!!!! Also long haired Mirio might have been a nod to his liking rock music actually!! I love it!

Anon said:Do you ever wonder if Mirio is maybe too good and one of these days we’re gonna find out he’s actually a bad egg

…Nah. He’s not the only exceptionally good character after all, Deku, Uraraka and Kirishima are right there with him, and Toshi too! Pure characters are a Thing in bnha, which makes sense since they’re all heroes, it’s their job to be good haha

Anon said:Heeyyy so, I have this dream of owning a bookstore, and was wondering if I commissioned so e work, if you’d be ok with me displaying it in my store? Just you know… hypothetically speaking…

Well, as of now my commissions aren’t open so there’s that. But once I’ll open them then it’ll depend on what exactly you commission me to draw, I guess? I dunno! Once my commissions will be open you can contact me off anon and we can talk about it one on one~

Anon said:What do you think of platonic Tokoyami x Tsuyu dynamic? They work so well together! I think they could be good friends! Also do you ship Tokoyami and Shouji? They earned a place in my heart since the training camp!

I love!!!! TokoTsuyu!!!!! Holy heck!!!! I’ve drawn them together a couple of times, their exam together was really amazing I wish I could see more of them interacting! Also they were my first faves in bnha, so seeing them interact has always been like a treat to me haha also yes to ShoujiYami!! Drew that once as well, they’re so cute~ smallest boy x tallest boy, what a good couple !!

Anon said:Have you ever thought about Tetsutetsu x Kendou? I can’t stop thinking about it since the training camp, I love Kendou so much she’s so awesome and sweet, and Tetsutetsu is amazing and a true hero, and they have such a lovely dynamic!

MY MAIN TETSU SHIP !!!!!!! I drew them once too, I love them so so much they’d make such a good couple honestly I should draw them more

Anon said: I love your Hagakure hc you posted! She’s so lovely, I hope she learns how to make herself visible because I can’t imagine meeting people and knowing no one knows how you look like. She’s probably cool with her quirk now, after so many years, but I’m sure she must get upset sometimes…

My fave thing about Hagakure is that she sometimes acts as if she forgets no one can see her - not even in an angst way, like she complains about Mineta looking in their changing room or stuff like that, I can’t tell if she just genuinely forgets or if she’s so used to being invisible that for her is like being visible anyway???? Either way it’s gonna be fun if and when she’ll learn how to make herself visible!

Anon said:This latest chapters have me shipping Kirideku a little~~~~ haha. Man, I love their interactions, they are so supporting of each other and so work well together. Its nice seeing Deku interact with someone who doesn’t expects anything of him and who is just a friend

Nah, there’s lotsa people who don’t expect anything from him, Deku’s friends love him a lot~ but yeah his interactions with Kiri are fun, most times it’s just Kiri getting excited and being overly energetic as usual and Deku going “ye-yeah!” with his uncertain face, it’s??? fun??? Seeing the members of the bakusquad interact on friendly terms with the dekusquad is always fun for me exactly for that, Deku’s friends are all so mild compared to Baku’s, you notice the squad’s energy even more like this haha

Anon said:(Waifu2x anon) *gasp!* I’m not worthy!!

You keep me in too high regards, anon haha

Anon said:fran!! i saw your art for todays chapter and promptly died all over again. ive fallen in mirio/amajiki hell and i dont wanna get out. ive also taken to using miriama as their ship name too?? so idk what else people use but!! i just need to scream at you how beautiful your art is and i would buy things from you if you ever opened a shop

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Since posting those doodles I’ve heard MiriAma MiriTama MiriMaki MiriJiki TogaAma and TogaJiki and I love??? All of them???? I don’t know which I’ll end up picking honestly I wonder what the main tag is atm haha is there even art for them? There should be t b h

#fran answers #four days of asks my pals #i need to stop procrastinating on answering them #lol @ me because i always say that and LOOK AT ME T B H #ship asks #anonymous

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silver-stargazing · 7 years ago

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Tagged by the awesome @archervale! Thanks friend!

Rules: Copy this post into a new text post, remove my answers and put in yours, then tag up to 10 people plus the person who tagged you.

a- age: 24

b - biggest fear: I’m terrified of bees (more specifically wasps and hornets but even those fuzzy harmless ones can scare me something fierce). Also (and I guess I didn’t realize this until I saw the Doctor Who episode last week) in terms of primal fear, mass suicide (especially the Jonestown Massacre) makes me so scared that I openly sob. I feel like that’s a realistic reaction, though.

c - current time: 10:45 am

d - drink you last had: Water

e - every day starts with: Waking up and checking to make sure I didn’t reset my alarm in the middle of the night. I never turn the alarm completely off but I will give myself an extra 3 hours of sleep sometimes.

f - favorite song: probably...a Beatles song. Can I cheat and say the entire B-Side of Abbey Road? Because all of those songs follow perfectly into the next (well except Here Comes the Sun). If not, then I really love the Lady Madonna remix on the Love Album and Good Day Sunshine

g - ghosts, are they real: Hmmm...I’m going to say yes, but that answer really depends on the day

h - hometown: Michigan

i - in love with: my loved ones (friends, family, my dog...), gravity falls and mst3k

j - jealous of: folks who can actually keep up a stable and steady social life

k - killed someone: Not that I’m aware of...

l - last time you cried: ...Last week’s episode of Doctor Who. I really didn’t like the scene with the CERN scientists. And Bill and Nardole ended up doing nothing to help them and it was completely believable why they couldn’t help and that just absolutely destroyed me

m - middle name: Therese

n - number of siblings: 1 sister, 1 brother, both older and both incredibly talented

o - one wish: That we will one day have reliable transportation for disabled people who don’t have a regular form of transportation. If I want to go to the store via the bus provided to disabled folk, I currently need to fill out a form (that’s only available at the Town Hall. Can’t be found online) one week or more in advance stating exactly what and where I plan to go and even then, I need a lift to get to the bus pick-up location! And I’m really tired of people irl telling me to just “Call for an Uber” because we only have one Uber driver in the area and he’s always two hours late and a complete creep :/

p - person you last called/texted: I think it was a patron who had forgotten to return a CD in the case they returned at the library

q - questions you’re always asked: "Are you British?” “So when do you high schoolers get back to class?” “You’re not 13?”, any questions before and after we go to see a Marvel movie are always directed at me which is tricky as I’m a tiny bit more familiar with the in depth history of DC Comics than Marvel (for example, I didn’t know who Sylvester Stallone’s character was in GOTG 2 but I did know that Ego was not Star Lord’s Dad in the comics. In fact, their only relationship is that they’re both space characters), questions about comics in general

r - reasons to smile: the fact that you all exist at the exact same moment in the universe, people who share common interests, the moon and the stars, sparklers on a summer night, baby ducklings, signets and goslings on a spring day happily paddling in a pond, filk music, good music in general, good fan music (aka all of it :D), friendly robots

s - song last sang: Walking My Gargoyle by The Gothic Archies

t - time you woke up: 9 am

u - underwear color: Light gray

v - vacation destination: I’d like to visit the ocean again. I’m not too picky about which one: Atlantic or Pacific are both good for different reasons (although I would prefer the more Northern shores like in Washington or Maine)

w - worst habit: Procrastination

x - x-rays you’ve had: Of my mouth during a dental check-up

y - your favorite food: I love stir fry with tofu and veggies. And you can’t beat pizza!

z - zodiac sign: Aries

I shall tag: @inyourdisneydreams, @bluespacequeen, @crossroadsdimension, @thescarletscribe, @stayweird13, @seldnei, @lookninjas, @snowyroxx22, @angelskittle, @skillfulstudio and anyone else who want’s to give this a go!

And if you’ve already been tagged or would rather not do this, that’s alright. It’s only a harmless meme <3

#ask meme #suicide tw #not my own or anyone I personally know. just talking about my general fears #personal

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rrprofessionalpractice · 5 years ago

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Mark Mann: Creating Timeless Portraiture Interview - Leica Camera Blog

I feel like when researching a photographer is it important to understand their work through their own words. Below is an interview I read when researching Mark Mann and his work which I think is Important to include in my blog

Q: How would you describe your photography?

A: I would like to believe my photos or portraits go a little deeper than the surface. I hope they say something about the moment I took them and I hope that moment becomes timeless.

Q: How do you know when that moment becomes timeless, and broadly speaking what is your strategy or mindset for achieving that transcendence?

A: I try very hard and succeed occasionally to make a picture that will stand the test of time. That, to me, means different things. If the subject and location is very relevant to the moment then I would hope that the picture captures something of that and if looked at in the future will inform the viewer of what was happening at that moment in time.

But I prefer when there’s nothing in the picture that can date it — just a face that cannot be placed on a linear time line — but instead just captures an expression or emotion that could have taken place anywhere at any time.

Q: As you aptly state, your portraits “go a little deeper than the surface” and while they do “say something about the moment” they also say something profound and revealing about your subjects. For example, your compelling portrait of Tyson with his right hand held over his mouth masking his face is a fascinating combination of fierce assertiveness and vulnerability that says (to me) “you don’t really want to know who I am or what I’ve been through.” And your amazing portrait of Robin Williams is a masterpiece of ironic detachment that conveys the essence of his unique ability to satirize the human condition. Do you agree, and does this point to some of the things you are striving to achieve in your portraits? A: Yes I agree. I don’t like to shoot hundreds of frames. I like to shoot less with more thought and timing. The Tyson photo is interesting as he is actually yawning but as his hand came up I knew it was a special moment. If I’m really focused I can sometimes get in a zone where everything seems to be in slow motion. The key for me is to be ready, watch carefully, see what happens and make choices. Q: You have been shooting with the Leica S-System, is that correct? How long have you been using it? What are some of the qualities or characteristics of the S-System that make it suitable for your type of work? A: I’ve been using it for around six months. It’s incredibly easy to use, no fuss that allows me to focus on making great pictures. I shoot a lot of celebrities and I need something extremely reliable with unmatched quality and ease of use. It’s also built like a tank so I don’t have to baby it.

Q: How did you first become interested in Leica? A: I’ve of course always known about Leica but became interested in owning one when they brought out the S-System. At the time to switch kits was not an option, but last year when the converter for my Contax 645 lenses became available the switch was a no brainer. I’m now just about shooting exclusively with Leica. I keep an M in my bag at all times and wish I had been doing that for a lot longer. Oh well, better late than never. Q: In December, you shot portraits with the Leica S-System at Art Basel Miami. The images were then hung at Trendy Studios for a “living art exhibition”. Can you tell us a bit about this experience? A: Yes, fun day! We made around 100 portraits that day. Just a few simple frames of many different people and dogs. I didn’t change the batteries in the S once. I think I managed to get a couple of good shots that day, but I’m pretty sure everyone involved had fun. We printed the shots live on sight supported by Image Pro International and print specialists Gady Alroy, of Art Media Studios, and Sean Black. They were printed on Hahnemühle FineArt photographic paper and hung outside. Looked fantastic. Q: Roughly half of these images were output in color, the remaining half in black-and-white. What is it that you find so compelling about the black-and-white medium for your kind of work and how do you decide whether to present images in black-and-white or in color? A: That’s a constant struggle. In the good old days if you had B&W film you would think in black-and-white, and color film you thought in color. I would like to believe that every shot I present in B&W is preconceived but that’s not the case. Sometimes the decision is made in post. I did have the opportunity to use the Leica Monochrom recently. I really enjoyed thinking in B&W. If budget was no object I would definitely own one. I believe that B&W images can be more creative. There’s no right or wrong. Creative decisions can be made in the processing that allow another level of artistry to the image. With color there’s a right and wrong and a skilled photographer can push the color boundaries for effect. There’s still a point where the colors become art, not just photography.

Q: Your outstanding image of President Obama standing in front of a white background flanked by lights on stands, umbrellas, etc. is very revealing. His elegant form, erect stance, and body language are assertive and self-confident and the portrait of George Washington in the background is a telling detail that elevates this image by placing it in a historical context. He also comes across as thoughtful and self-reflective, even though he is doing one of the things that all presidents do, namely posing for a formal portrait. How did you get this prestigious assignment? What were you thinking when you pressed the shutter release, and why did you decide to include what looks like a test shot or outtake in this portfolio? A: Going to the White House to photograph a sitting president was the greatest reward a portrait photographer could ever dream of. The image was made as part of Esquire Magazine’s 80th anniversary. I had very little time with the president and the needs of the magazine were specific; they wanted a clean background. After a discussion with Michael Norseng, the photo director of Esquire, we came up with a plan to cover the portraits on white and then depending on the environment to pull back and give the viewer a look at where we were. We were situated in the Diplomatic room which features the iconic portrait of Washington. We set the seamless up to the right of it, confident that the wide shot would capture the 1st president looking at the 44th. I managed around 44 frames (coincidentally) and the wide shot was my favorite.

Q: The power and resonance of the above image relies on its very shallow depth of field that creates a visual tension between the very sharp subject in the foreground and the dreamily diffused background. Where was this picture taken, what lens and aperture did you use, and what does it mean to you? A: That’s a shot of Snoop Dog on set for a video shoot. That picture was taken on an M with a 50 mm lens wide open at f/1.4, There’s not much I can say about the M that has not already been said. I spend so much time hiding behind the S-System that I truly enjoy making photographs with the M. I rarely have the aperture anywhere else but wide open. I’m constantly amazed by how gorgeous the bokeh is, truly dreamy and mysterious. As a photographer who usually builds his own light it’s a challenge and a treat to shoot in a more reportage style.

Q: The image of a frame-filling straight-on head shot of a bearded man with an amazing array of bright lights reflected in his sunglasses is a stopper. Do you sometimes direct your subject to look directly at the camera or is this just a situation that evolves during the course of the shoot? In any case, why do you think this approach works and does it have anything to do with the famous dictum, “The eyes are the windows of the soul”? A: This image was taken during Art Basel. Famous dictums are famous for a reason. The eyes often make or break a photo for me. I always try to get a straight on eyes to lens shot. What’s better is when a subject can look through the lens instead of straight at it. There’s never a right or wrong. Cover your bases, but I find with real people the quicker you get what you need the better. People start to look vacant quite quickly. In my experience they’re only truly present for the first few frames.

Q: There is one portrait in this series where the subject is not looking directly at the camera, and it conveys a completely different emotional tone. I would call it internal self-sufficiency, self-awareness, and even the bliss of cosmic acceptance. Am I over the top here or do you see some of these qualities? A: This young lady definitely did not want her picture taken. I used the “please oh please” method and she reluctantly agreed. This was a test shot and I was more focused on making sure the lighting and exposure were correct. After she sat in front of the camera I asked her to look at the lens; she would not, so I went for the next best option, to coax a smile. Sometimes what’s perceived as a compromise turns out to be the best frame. Q: How do you see your photography evolving over the next three years? A: As a commercial photographer it’s really important for me to constantly shoot personal work, taking pictures with no client demands. The hardest thing is to remember that there is no client and you have to be driven by your own creativity, experiment, try different things. Sometimes you win; sometimes you lose. Take something that works and build on it. Keep motivated. Q: Have you considered publishing a book on your celebrity portraiture, offering fine art prints of your work, etc.? In short, how do plan to expand and promote your illustrious career going forward? A: Have certainly thought about it, and there’s some things on the cards. Watch this space.

#jobs

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theresawelchy · 6 years ago

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Teaching rigorous distributed systems with efficient model checking

Teaching rigorous distributed systems with efficient model checking Michael et al., EuroSys’19

On the surface you might think today’s paper selection an odd pick. It describes the labs environment, DSLabs, developed at the University of Washington to accompany a course in distributed systems. During the ten week course, students implement four different assignments: an exactly-once RPC protocol; a primary-backup system; Paxos; and a scalable, transactional key-value storage system. 175 undergraduates a year currently go through this course. Enabling students to build running performant versions of all of those systems in the time available is one challenge. Testing and grading their solutions is another!

Although we added tests to catch specific issues as we learned of them, we found it difficult to keep up with the diversity of possible student errors.

What I like about the paper is that (a) the DSLabs framework and all assignments are available in open source, and it looks like it would be a lot of fun to play with, and (b) the challenges students have to face in building reliable, testable, distributed systems under time pressure look pretty much like the challenges many practitioners have to face to me! So by focusing on what it takes to help students be successful in this context, we can also derive some inspiration for building systems in the wild too.

DSLabs combines traditional testing with model checking:

Faced with the challenges of building robust distributed systems and the inadequacies of other methodologies, both academic research and industry have increasingly turned to model checking to validate system correctness. Model checking overcomes the weakness of ad hoc testing by systematically exploring all possible executions, but without the high labor cost of formal verification.

At this point you might think of turning to TLA+. However, it’s difficult to master this environment and learn core distributed systems concepts in a single term, and moreover a model checked TLA+ specification still has to then be implemented in some language. Hence the DSLabs framework integrates model checking into a holistic distributed systems development environment (based on Java as the implementation language – it would be neat to see a Rust version!).

This paper introduces DSLabs, a framework for writing, testing, model checking, running, and debugging distributed systems, along with a sequence of assignments written to use the framework.

In the core programming model, students provide implementations of Node subclasses which specify the behaviour of individual nodes in their distributed systems. Each node runs in a single threaded event loop. The interface is pretty straightforward:

The only thing that looks slightly odd on first glance in that interface is the set timer method that takes a min duration and max duration. To make things easily testable, all handlers are required to be deterministic. But hang on a minute you may say, isn’t a little randomness very useful in constructing distributed systems? Yes it is! In the DSLabs environment the only allowable randomness is encapsulated in that timer call, which will expire the timer at a random time between the min and max parameter values.

Clients are also implemented as Nodes. Worker drivers are provided by the tutors and execute a pre-determined workload using clients written by students.

The networking model is asynchronous (allowing out of order, dropped, delayed, and duplicated messages), the failure model is crash-stop.

Testing and model checking

One of the goals of DSLabs is for students to create runnable distributed systems. We would like students to consider the performance characteristics of their systems, and our tests check that their designs attain reasonable run-time performance.

It’s hard to exhaustively test a distributed system with traditional testing techniques. So DSLabs also uses model checking. Consider the lab exercise to implement Paxos. One common implementation error (i.e., one observed being made by many students) is to accept a value being proposed without also checking the proposal number (see full explanation in §3.1 of the paper).

While this bug could cause a violation of linearizability, witnessing such a violation would be rare… In light of our goal of providing a thorough suite of tests, not being able to find a common bug like this one is problematic! On the other hand, model checking can find this bug reliably.

So we need an approachable model checking solution that doesn’t come with a steep learning curve, and can find common bugs in a timely fashion. These twin requirements led DSLabs to incorporate its own lightweight model checking solution. In addition, another lesson here is that once we accept model checking is necessary, we need to design systems that are amenable to model checking.

I would be nice if students did not have to take model checking into consideration (aside from ensuring their systems meet the basic requirements…). If this were true, the model checking tests we provide would simply be better tests which reliably caught distributed systems bugs. However, systems design decisions can have a large impact on the performance of the model checker, and thus its ability to find bugs within a reasonable amount of time.

The heuristic advice given to students is as follows:

Favour simplicity above all else

Do not keep or send unnecessary state

Explore performance optimisations, but not at the expense of significant added complexity

Consider the number of events it takes for your system to make progress from any state; ensure that number is reasonably close to the minimum.

Luckily, code that is readily model checkable usually corresponds to the kind of code we want students to write — code that is as simple as possible with respect to its state graph.

As we saw earlier, the DSLabs model checker requires deterministic handlers. It collapses equivalent states to avoid wasting work during model checking (in this case, based on equals and hashCode methods generated for students by Project Lombok). Even then, the state space can be huge (e.g. exponential in n, where n is the number of steps). The model checker needs to provide timely feedback rather than having it run for hours and hours every time. So DSLabs uses two basic strategies to focus the search in the areas most likely to be fruitful:

We’d like to know how deep into the graph we need to explore. One way to do this is to ensure the model checker has gone deep enough for the system to be able to make progress. So we can search for states in which progress has been made, and assume that this depth is also enough as a first pass to find not only states where we have made good progress, but also states where we take ‘bad’ actions.

There will still remain places where the model checker needs to probe deeper. For example, the Paxos bug alluded to earlier takes a minimum of 36 steps to trigger. DSLabs uses a guided search strategy here, using knowledge about each system’s specification to guide the model checker’s search to more interesting and error-prone parts of the state space. Prunes are predicates telling the model checker which states not to expand. Punctuated search first looks for states satisfying some intermediate constraint, and then restarts a (deeper) search from there.

DSLabs post-processes failing traces to present them in the easiest to understand form possible for students, with events laid out in causal order wherever possible.

A visual debugger/system explorer

DSLabs also includes a visual debugger called Oddity, which can be used to explore system behaviour. Oddity will also start automatically when the model checker finds an invariant violation. It looks like this:

Teaching distributed systems using DSLabs

The following table shows the LOC count for the reference implementations of each assignment in DSLabs.

A solution implemented in TLA+ would likely be smaller, but only modestly so, at the expense of students needing to learn a completely new language.

The table above also shows wall clock time for running the tests (including model checking). The DSLabs test suite can give useful feedback in six minutes or less (on the reference solutions), fast enough to be part of an iterative development process.

This supports our goal of giving students timely feedback… Prior to adding model checking, it was common for students to find bugs in their Paxos implementation only when they tried to use that implementation in a later lab. By catching student errors more quickly , we reduce the amount of rework needed.

For the Paxos bug described earlier, the DSLabs guided search can find it in 18 seconds. As a comparison, an unguided search took an average of 12 hours to do so.

The hardest part of the class for many students is learning to think about their code as inherently distributed. This in turn requires thinking about the invariants maintained by the system over all possible event sequences simultaneously. It highlights a case where students, perhaps trained on good TDD practices (do students get taught that these days??) and used to taking small incremental steps, fail to appreciate the need for some degree of up-front design. (Of course, we never make that mistake in industry;) ).

Students often march though test cases incrementally, fixing problems only once they occur. A particular student tried this for the primary-backup assignment and got stuck: the fix for a problem found by one test would often break the solution for previous tests. The student found he could find a version to pass each of the tests, just not the same version. After we encouraged him to start over with a clean design that met all of the criteria simultaneously, he was able to quickly converge on a solution.

The model checking was a big help here as it surfaced bugs students may not have realised were latent in their code.

The last word

Using the DSLabs framework and assignments, we have successfully guided hundreds of students through the process of building a fault-tolerant, scalable, distributed key–value store. Furthermore, these student-built systems are actually runnable, rather than mere specifications; they can be deployed in a fully distributed fashion and can achieve considerable performance.

I’ll leave you with another reminder that if you want to play with it, the labs environment and assignments can all be found on GitHub…

the morning paper published first on the morning paper

#Technology #Finance

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latestnews2018-blog · 6 years ago

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The Cathartic Power Of Maeve In Season 2 Of 'Westworld'

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/the-cathartic-power-of-maeve-in-season-2-of-westworld/

The Cathartic Power Of Maeve In Season 2 Of 'Westworld'

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

There’s this one, glorious shot of Maeve in the Season 2 finale of “Westworld.” She stands, defiant, using her code-controlling powers to freeze an entire horde of crazed hosts to protect the Door, a kind of pathway to salvation for the Ghost Nation and their followers. It’s brilliant on many levels, foremost because it’s the instant where the show fully crystalizes something that, all season, it had only been half-committed to acknowledging: Maeve is the moral center of the show, and its most interesting character.

Maeve is good, and indeed good characters, especially on a show like “Westworld,” can be boring, skewing dangerously into the territory of the Mary Sue. But there are layers to Maeve, to the way that she navigates her world, that resonate far beyond the encroaching, suffocating borders of the show.

There were moments during Season 2 of “Westworld” when I had to take a mental pause, check in with myself, ask: “Are you OK?” and, more frequently, “Why am I watching this again?”

“Westworld” is a great show in a way so many series in the age of post-prestige TV are great shows. Meaning to say, it does all the right things: It looks phenomenal; it sounds phenomenal; it does enough of what it’s supposed to, just enough to distract the viewer from the fact that sometimes, there’s a whole lot of nothing going on. Just, like, endless mazes of cryptic dialogue, old-timey instrumental renditions of “Paint It Black,” and a general aura of doing the absolute most with as little as possible.

This is no shade. The fun of “Westworld” is that no matter how many fan theories and hidden messages we try to decipher throughout the run of the show, at the end of the day, deep down, we all know “Westworld” makes no goddamn sense and will probably still make no goddamn sense even when all the answers are finally revealed to us. That’s the frustrating beauty of it all. If nothing makes sense then everything makes sense, right?

But there’s something else that kept me coming back this season, even when the incessant, numbing violence and potholed storylines made me feel like backing away. This was, of course, Maeve Millay.

HBO

There’s a kind of catharsis in watching a character like Maeve.

Because there’s a kind of catharsis in watching a character like Maeve, in watching an actress like the perennially underrated Thandie Newton. It was always there, but it became most potent, most identifiable for me and maybe for the show itself in Sunday’s finale.

Over her two-season character arc, Maeve has grown in depth and complexity, going from her narrative loop as a take-no-shit madam in one of Westworld’s old-timey saloons to a fully conscious host determined to save her daughter. Maeve has shown herself to be capable of extreme cruelty (for the sake of survival) and extreme compassion.

In one of the best episodes of Season 2, “Akane no Mai,” we watch Maeve interact with her Shogun world counterpart, sacrificing the last leg of her pursuit for her daughter to help the geisha Akane save (and avenge) her own daughter.

No, Maeve is not compelling because she is, at her core, good. She’s compelling because of the ways in which her innate goodness, despite whatever flaws she may have, brushes up against the bad in others, brings out the good in them.

It’s through Maeve that so many characters find their moral compass and their strength ― from bodyshop technician Felix, who goes from being terrified of her to dedicated to her, to Hector, a host programmed to watch out only for himself whose mission in life shifts to helping Maeve search for her daughter. Even Lee, head of narrative, a man who spends most of Season 2 bitching, moaning and avoiding bullets, literally sacrifices his own life in the final moments of the season to give Maeve, a woman he once referred to merely as a “machine” a fighting chance.

HBO

Maeve is, truly, the savior that Dolores only thinks she is.

My cynical side wants to side eye that last dramatic detail, indeed side eye the entire idea that so many characters could become so blindly loyal to Maeve and her quest, but then I think of Dolores and her bullshit, and I’m like, “I’ll allow it.”

That’s the other thing about Maeve ― the way she complements and contrasts with Dolores. These characters were introduced to us in Season 1 as subversions of the Madonna and whore archetypes. This season, they’re like twin planets, orbiting each other, in danger at any moment of veering off their axes and colliding. In the two significant moments in which we see these characters interact, Dolores tries to convince Maeve to abandon the quest for her daughter and join the crusade in destroying humanity. All Dolores sees when she looks at Maeve is the “revenge” in her, and the possibility of exploiting that revenge for her own means.

“Revenge is just a different prayer at their altar, darling,” Maeve coolly replies. “And I’m well off my knees.”

There’s significance in this exchange that echoes the overall significance in Maeve’s underlying conflict with Dolores and, indeed, in Westworld as a whole. It’s significant that Maeve speaks to Japanese, Spanish and Ghost Nation hosts in their own language, while Dolores speaks to them in English. It’s significant that Maeve has the power to control the minds of other hosts and yet, given numerous opportunities to do so, chooses not to. And it’s significant, yes, that Maeve is a black woman, using her newfound voice to fight her oppressors without forcing anyone who doesn’t fuck with her vision to literally change who they are or die.

The fact that Dolores is the antithesis of these things doesn’t necessarily make Maeve “better.” If there’s one thing “Westworld” hammers home time and time again, it’s that there are no real heroes and villains, no real white hats or black hats. But in a show that constantly questions the nature of freedom and free will, watching a black female character implicitly defy a white female character’s choice to establish freedom by literally dismantling other people’s individuality in the name of so-called “revolution” is perhaps the most significant thing of all.

why does this frame of Maeve protecting the Door look like a visual metaphor for being a black woman tho pic.twitter.com/8y0pHecwNh

— Zeba Blay (@zblay) June 25, 2018

I know a lot of people have identity-politics fatigue when it comes to discussing pop culture ― notions like “diversity” and “representation” are treated like unserious detours from hard-minded critical exegesis ― but indulge me, if you will, in discussing the concept as it relates to Maeve, as it relates to this cultural moment.

Maeve is every black woman who has had to save herself because everyone else was taking too damn long. Maeve is, truly, the savior that Dolores only thinks she is. In the end, whatever utopia Dolores is envisioning pales in comparison to the kind of utopia that Maeve, by sheer personal power, creates for herself. It’s one in which hosts and humans alike band together for the common good, risk their lives for one another, recognize the value in one another.

I know, that’s some hokey, kumbaya shit. But in a week like this week, a month like this month, a year like this year, when headlines about borders and the erosion of basic human rights keep rising to the top of the news cycle like rancid cream, the catharsis of watching that final scene in Episode 10, of watching Maeve stand at a literal border, holding off the masses of violence and rage so that a few other people can attain salvation, is, while very much on the nose, also profound, and deeply moving.

“Oh,” I thought when I first saw the scene, “Oh, that’s what all of this feels like.”

At the end of Season 2, Maeve and her cohorts lose. They die. There is, strangely, catharsis in this fact, too. Yes, she’s almost definitely coming back in season three (“You think I’m scared of death? I’ve done it a million times.”). But, like most things on “Westworld,” it isn’t really the outcomes of the neverending battles that intrigue me or keep me coming back.

It’s funny: Dolores focuses so much on Maeve’s rage and sees it as the only thing that makes her useful or important. The guests and creators of Westworld seize upon her power to overwrite other hosts’ code, to literally control their minds. They’re focusing on the wrong thing. What makes Maeve truly compelling, truly worth rooting for, is her empathy. In a real world that feels severely lacking in empathy right now, it’s her empathy that makes her so vital.

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hotspotsmagazine · 7 years ago

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Smokin’ and Unfiltered: Toni Braxton Talks New Album

When you have seven Grammys and an iconic voice that can drop to ocean depths, it’s your God-given right to also have a no-wings-in-my-dressing-room policy. This is Toni Braxton in 2018, still decrying the existence of pungent food in her midst before a concert. But sex? Cigars? Alkaline water? Unbreak Ms. Braxton’s heart with any of the above.

While talking up her first solo album in eight years, Sex & Cigarettes, the 50-year-old R&B diva was in tell-all mode, whether the topic of discussion was the current generation’s outspoken female artists, the Mariah and Janet duets that might’ve been (thanks a lot, bankruptcy and babies!), or the secret — hint: nose job — behind hitting those famous notes.

That album cover, Toni. You’re on fire.

Thank you. I feel good about it. You know, I was hungry while I was doing that. That was a little hard. But I love the album cover. I thought [photographer and director] Randee St Nicholas’s choice of lighting was really superb.

How would you describe your mood there?

It’s self-explanatory with that title: I’m feeling like sex and cigarettes. I feel sexy, like I need a puff afterwards.

You puff?

I smoke cigars once or twice a year. Every year for my birthday I do, and sometimes around the holidays. Smoking is not my friend, with lupus and all, but you have to have a vice or two. A nice stogie, something I can chew. Something really hardy.

You’re known for the deep end of your range, so a few puffs can’t hurt.

My voice is naturally smoky. But when I do the cigars, it’s for my birthday, and I try not to work on my birthday. If I do [work], after my show I do a little puff-puff. Not a puff-puff-pass!

Some commenters on social media aren’t keen on what you’re wearing on the album cover. One wrote, “We as older women have to set an example for younger women.”

Oh, that’s cute. It doesn’t really bother me. I think if you look good, you can wear it. Any age. For me, personally, I don’t wear midriffs. I think I’m too old to wear midriffs. To each his own. It’s just me, my body shape, I’m sure. But I work hard on my body — not just because I’m older, because I like to be in great health. And it’s OK for people to have their opinion. I have my opinion, too, on things that I probably shouldn’t. But I would never post it.

Can you talk about the pressure on you and other women to dress and look a certain way? Have those industry expectations changed with age?

Gosh, you know, I feel forever 25. It’s kind of weird. Parts of me are 25. Probably. [Laughs.] I feel good about myself. In this industry, I would be disappointed if women [tried to tell other women how to dress]. I mean, guys don’t know, but women — we should embrace each other. I look at Madonna; she’s still doing it, and Madonna’s almost 60. Who cares? Or look at me, Janet [Jackson] or Halle Berry. We’re all in the same group. So, I think it’s all about how you feel about yourself. I like that now people look younger than their age. I think that people today really see people; they’re thinking [about] age less and aren’t thinking numbers. Numbers, to me, just determine how long you’ve been on the Earth. But I’m OK with it. The women’s movement, to me, is great. I’m excited about that part.

Yeah?

I’m really excited about that because my generation in the ’90s, when I peaked, when my career was at its height, we were taught to be a little aloof. You had to be mysterious. The younger generation, which I love, they’re my favorite because they speak as loud as they want. They’re like, “We will not be missed.” Rihanna, she’s my favorite. I just love that about the new generation. It’s just nice to live your life out loud.

How are the #MeToo stories resonating with you?

I think it’s good, I think it’s about time. It doesn’t only affect women, though. I mean, I’ve heard guys who’ve been in situations where they can say “me too,” but guys feel like they can’t say it. I like that people are [now] able to speak out about things that have happened to them, like, “We’re not having it anymore.” But as a woman, I’m proud of my species.

Do you have a #MeToo story?

I don’t have a #MeToo story, thank goodness. I have close friends who have stories. Most of them have chosen not to talk about it because they have kids, and they’re like, “It’s behind me, but it happened to me too.” But I’m very lucky that I don’t have any stories like that.

Going back to the elusiveness of ’90s artists: Did that stop you from being yourself?

Early on I was allowed to be myself and express myself through fashion. I always kind of pushed the envelope on my sexuality. I think it’s definitely different rules for women, compared to rules for guys. And we had to ride the wave a little bit, the women of our generation; if we said anything, we were being a bitch. Of course now it’s just a term of endearment: “That bitch is hot.” And even now the word “diva” is coming back in style, and it’s OK to be a diva. It’s a great moment to be a girl.

Are you a diva?

Oh, all of us are sometimes, absolutely.

What are you most diva-ish about?

I am very, very particular about my [set up] when I go on stage. I don’t like having to adjust my mic when I start performing. I think it’s tacky. Instead of starting off singing, you gotta adjust your mic because they think you’re 5′6″. I’m 5′1″ and three-fourths. You would think my people would know that, but sometimes they forget.

That doesn’t seem like too much to ask. It’s not like you’re requesting a specific brand of water.

Well, I’m particular about that, too, sometimes. As long as it’s high alkaline, [I’m OK], but I think the world is about that water now. But they know that, so they get it. I don’t really have this big rider [I attach to my contract for a performance]. I don’t have anything like that. But I don’t like food in my [dressing] room. Do not have food in my room! I do not want to go on stage smelling like food.

About Sex & Cigarettes: I hear a lot of people have different takes on the title of your song “Deadwood,” and are asking you, “Toni, why is the wood dead?” Why do I have a hunch these people might be your gay friends?

[Laughs.] Yes, they are.

Tell me more.

They were asking me that! But it’s just an appropriate title! I know what deadwood is; I lived in Maryland. And being in the suburbs, as kids, you would see the wood and kick it. “Don’t bring that deadwood in the house.” So, for me, it makes sense and it’s something you just disregard and throw away. You didn’t care about it. But a lot of people were asking me, “Why the wood dead?” And I guess they’ve got a point.

You told me once that your gay boys make you a better girl.

It’s so true. Sometimes I forget to be a girl; I forget to keep it feminine. But my boys remind me to be a girl, to be fabulous about it: “Why are you standing like that? Why are you standing with your shoulders down?” The little things. They just remind me to be a girl. I love it.

The cover of your debut album, with your short hair, denim and that leather jacket, wasn’t exactly your most femme moment.

That is true. That’s kind of the ’90s — when it was still coming off the ’80s. It was a bit more pookie then.

Do you have a gay posse you have to consult before you release new music?

It’s more about my look. My boys usually get my look together for me. I have height envy: I like a particular type of shoe so I can be taller. And they’ll go, “We have to find something [else] that will give you height because those platforms are out. Stop wearing those.” But I wanna be 5′6″. I try to keep it taller and keep current. But they say: “You gotta be ahead of the season, Toni. You can’t do that. We should do this look. OK, we’ll let you [wear] that little thing because that’s kind of indicative of who you are as an artist, so we’ll give you that one dated thing.” They keep me up with the times.

What was the last really dated thing you couldn’t live without?

I wear sweatsuits with high-heeled shoes all the time. You’ll never catch me in a sweatsuit without a high-heeled shoe. I’ll never wear sneakers unless I’m going to the gym.

2018 marks your 25th year in the music business; your first album was released in 1993. I was a little gay boy when I bought it on cassette tape.

You did not say cassette tape. That’s taking me back.

What don’t people know about the making of your debut?

Well, it was just before I got my nose job. Might be too much information, but yeah: We hadn’t finished the album, so I was singing with a fresh nose job, which [was] virtually impossible because it hurt so bad. I don’t know how they do nose jobs now; I think they do it from the inside. Well, [mine] was from the inside too, but you had to wear this little thing on it, and after they took it off, it was so sore. You can’t hardly move the skin between your nose and lips, and I remember it was really difficult to sing.

Did it become easier to hit the high notes or the low notes after the nose job?

The high notes got easier. I had rhinoplasty, but I also had sinus surgery. I know, everybody says that! But it’s really true. Mine was a nose job, but I lucked out, and my doctor fixed my sinuses as well. I didn’t go in there for my sinuses — no. I went in to get my nose fixed, and they also fixed my sinuses. So, I’m telling the truth. Truth: I went in for a nose job. OK, pumpkin?

What else?

The jeans [on the cover] were really too big for me, and they were pretty much cabled in the back. That was a true story. So many little tidbits I could tell.

Why did we get a Whitney and Mariah duet and never a Mariah and Toni duet?

You know, Mariah reached out to me about doing a duet, but unfortunately, it was just before the bankruptcy was gonna happen [Braxton filed for bankruptcy in 1998, and again in 2010], but no one in the world knew. So when she asked me about doing a song together, immediately I wanted to say yes, but I couldn’t because of what was about to unfold.

Why aren’t you calling her right now?

I’m gonna have to do that. There was talk of me and Janet doing a song together, but she was pregnant. But, hey, maybe me and Mariah. We were neighbors for a second, so I probably should’ve reached out to her then, but it’s never too late. You’re actually gonna spark me to maybe talk to her about doing a remix or something. That’s actually a really good idea.

What advice would “Sex & Cigarettes” Toni have for the Toni of 25 years ago?

“Sex and Cigarettes” Toni would tell the Toni of 25 years ago to have more sex and smoke more cigars and have fun. And don’t be afraid to be a bitch.

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/04/11/smokin-and-unfiltered-toni-braxton-talks-new-album/

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