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troofless · 2 years

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Thoughts on Xenoblade Chronicles 3

So I recently completed Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and my overall review is that I enjoyed it less than 1 and 2, and even then those games had its problems. Maybe if I actually played the game I’d grow to like it a bit better (I watched my sister play the game) but I highly doubt it.

Gameplay:

I’m not a fan of realtime combat but from what I can see the combat is just Attack -> Use arts -> Chain Attack -> Rinse and repeat. Of course there’s other gimmicks like buffs and debuffs and the Break combo and Ouroboros and Soul Hacker... but Chain Attack is so ridiculously overpowered nothing else matters. Seriously. Also the Chain Attack music overriding every solemn boss battle fight - hell, even the final boss fight in some sections! - kinda sucks.

Story:

Oh boy! This sucks ass! Let’s get into it.

The first chapter already showed some major red flags right from the start. Unlike 1 and 2, where we had time to meet each new character and get acclimated to them before a new party member showed up, I feel this game shoots itself in the foot by introducing Mio, Taion, and Sena (and Manana, sure) all at one go. FOUR new characters. And all four of them immediately adapt and become buddies with the origin trio (and Riku) - with absolutely no conflict whatsoever. Barring the first scene where Lanz rightfully throws a fit over working with past enemies, there’s no other time where any of the members are put off by the other side, not even an inkling of prejudice or whatsoever. Like, I know I hated how racist Rinwell was in Arise, but you seriously couldn’t have given us a few moments of conflict? It all felt so unnatural.

They’re given their Magical Girl Gundam (Vandham) powers, and then we meet Moebius, who is just a knockoff Mumkhar. Moebius brings some levity into the situation by killing off a bunch of NPCs we were totally invested in and totally did not know were going to die (and apparently are going to come back as DLC so there’s that. I swear no one can stay dead in this game it’s such a turnoff). Moebius turns the main characters into the enemy of the world and Moebius and the casts run away from their Colonies. (By the way, at this point the Moebius we met? Was actually Joran and D. Fucking JORAN was there. We’ll come to this later.)

The game then starts to play a stupid ass game of Whose Turn Is It To Catch The Character Development Ball, as we cycle through Lanz, Taion, Sena, and Eunie’s arcs, most of which are just shoved in our face just to create small ‘filler’ arcs on their journey to Sword March.

Lanz: I like Joran a lot, but ultimately Joran brings up more problems than he solves.

Taion: Isurd and the horned girl’s dying as a backstory was okay until the game decided that Isurd needed to play the bad guy for a while before revealing that Isurd was controlled and not bad all along! And also that Taion was a coward back when he was young.

Sena: She has literally ZERO character arc until halfway through the game. She is blander than fricking corn starch.

Eunie: It was so obvious that Eunie’s character arc was filler. We already know (or suspected) that dying and reincarnating was a thing because of the first part of the sequence where the Masked Melia regrows fully grown humans from a pod instead of birthing them. Her remembering her past lives is literally never explained, by the way. She just remembers D and freaks out for half of a pointless chapter before somehow overcoming it through the power of Eunie Personality and saving the day because she’s kickass, I guess.

Noah and Mio get some romantic moments where they talk... but not really. It’s mainly Noah talking about his sword and Mio foreshadowing that she’s going to die really soon. The only romantic moment is when they exchange flutes, but other than that their romantic relationship feels shoehorned in, unlike Rex and Pyra/Mythra (Rex’s speech about Pyra not being a weapon during his second encounter with Morag and the arm bandaging sequence was cute and so defining) and Shulk and Fiora (That’s Dunban Over There and the kiss...).

Then we meet Ethel, arguably the most badass character in existence but has one of the worst character arcs in the game. I feel so sorry for her because she was done so dirty. Ethel serves as a great introduction to how powerful Moebius can be... but also how inexplicably DUMB and BORING Moebius as a villainous cast are. The moment we killed the Moebius I knew this game was going repeat the same formula over and over again like Jojo Part 3. Whose Moebius’s turn is it to die next? What special powers did they have? Oh look, they’re dead. We slash the Flame Clock. There was no tension to the villains at all that it’s honestly pathetic.

Next up is Isurd, who is mid but introduces Joran as the best villain in the game. The TRUE Mumkhar and a truly satisfying morally grey villain, I loved it every time Joran came up and confronted Lanz, showing how Lanz changed because of Joran. (And then Noah gets all the good bits with Joran for some fucking reason like fuck off Lanz was the most emotionally impacted by Joran’s death he should have been the one to convince Joran to stop being evil-)

We then storm the Keves Castle to smash the Annihilator, and most likely the Flame Clock and kill Melia while we’re at it. Because of course it’s not going to be just a sneak mission. (It was not a sneak mission.) Meanwhile Mio is marching closer to her end date and sparking a ton of death flags but we ignore it.

We kill a bunch more Moebius in the process and find out that being in Ouroboros form past the limit results in an Annihilation event - which, by the way, in the end of the story, is never truly explained. Moebius form is supposedly a perfect form of Ouroboros, which is a mix of Keves and Agnus who are said to be imperfect forms but Nia says that Ouroboros exists outside the flow that Z controls so technically Ouroboros form should be a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FORM from Moebius form. And that’s not even bringing in that ‘All of us have Moebius in us’ bit.

Ethel and Cammu (who idgaf about) die in a horribly scripted death after having a stupid ass revelation that they want to die killing each other while the real enemy lay before them. They could have killed off the real enemy, who was threatening their Colony, but for some reason these two commanders who have been known to be be good commanders that treasure their Colony... decide to kill each other for kicks. Yes, and they don’t even justify it with anything like ‘if we die then they won’t be able to threaten our Colony’. No, the two of them just kill each other because ‘we’re free now :D :D’. Even Noah comments how stupid their deaths were.

We destroy the Annihilator and of course we defeat Moebius DJ who retreat. Then in the middle of escaping we stumble into the Throne Room and meet Melia and fake Noah. We find out Melia was a fake! Hooray, the real Melia is good after all! HONESTLY THIS WAS SUCH A DISAPPOINTMENT. I would have much preferred that Melia and Nia be evil, but to find out that they were being controlled was kinda anticlimatic especially since the trailer hypes them up to be villains. Fake Gold Cheap Knockoff Edgy Noah busts out the Sword, but the Lost Numbers then bust into the Throne Room and save the day, leaving the main cast to scatter and continue on their way to Sword March. Hooray.

We then meet the absoulte MILF Monica, who leads us to the City. We get a lore dump but in an okay engaging kind of way. This portion of the story was okay-interesting. We get a breather from Moebius bullshit and see a glimpse of how the ‘rightful flow’ of things are in the City, as well a confer a renewed goal until the main cast to defeat Moebius and set things to right like the City.

Next is saving Ghondor, the absolute amazing GOAT. I love Ghondor, she’s amazing. But Shania decides to betray us for the motivation of wanting to reborn and have a better lot in the next life... except that’s kinda dumb, because once you die the core part that makes up you is... lost? So the person in your next life isn’t you anymore? This was literally the struggle of Blades in the second game? So what’s the point? Also, this part is kinda dampened with the knowledge later on that in Joran’s case a rebirth doesn’t exactly mean you’ll do better in life AND in fact shows no proof that Shania won’t be a loser when she’s reborn. (I didn’t do Sena’s Ascension quest because I didn’t want to see more of Shania btw. I think she did fine as a secondary villain that died.)

N and M reveal themselves to be Noah and Mio past incarnations that exist somehow. Also M shows off her neat powers. Cool... I guess. And Taion brings up the Mondo and says something about the Mondo targeting people possessed by M, except this isn’t reflected in gameplay at all so you even wonder what’s the point of that except to show that the game had to somehow deus ex machina a way for M’s powers to be nerfed without invalidating the existence of it because it has to exist so Mio can swap consciousness with her later on in the fight, and.... ugh.

They get captured and sent to jail. Boohoo. Noah shows emotion for the first time in forever. Shania comes and gloats. Then execution day arrives and the big twist arrives - that M and Mio have swapped consciousness. N freaks out and we defeat him with the power of friendship and save the day once again.

Next is saving Nia. (Miyabi’s quest was a thing along the way but fuck Miyabi. How did we have her as a Hero but not Joran???? Fuck Miyabi.)

Moebius DJ appear and snipe Nia, and Mio’s only explanation for not foreseeing this was ‘I’m sorry guys I should have known Z was monitoring me’. So somehow Z knew Mio teleported to the City to warn Monica and Ghondor and didn’t tell anyone, but he told DJ about Nia. How very convenient plot powers. Nia comes back from her stupid fakeout death and loredumps all over us the true nature of this world, a revelation that the previous two games only did at the very end of the game, so that was a thing I guess. She tasks us with storming Origin, the final dungeon of the place, and saving Melia and killing Z. Cool.

Let’s just forget the stupid sideplot about building the ship to dive into the sea because by the end of the game apparently the City has built enough ships to send a fucking army down there so I guess they had a whole ass supply of Origin Metal they didn’t want to share with us and made us go on a long ass sidequest for it.

We do just that and free Melia, and note that throughout all this Z JUST LETS IT HAPPEN, DESPITE BEING LAUDED AS AN OMNIPOTENT GOD OF THIS WORLD.

We also meet Crys but fuck Crys. Dude appears as Moebius for one fucking scene as foreshadowing and dies just as quickly. One major reason I hate this game is that dead people can never stay dead which massively takes away the emotional toll I felt looking back at the characters’ backstories and how their deaths were supposed to change them and spur on their growth. XBC1 did it once with Fiora, and 2 did it once at the end with Pyra/Mythra, but this game did it with Joran, Mio, Miyabi, Crys, Shania (apparently), Ethel(?) and Lanz and Sena (almost when they went past the limit once until X nerfed them). I get that this game is about life so themes of reincarnation is to be expected, but the game also heavily pushes that reincarnation and playing with lives is bad, so bringing back all these dead characters really confuses what the main message is supposed to be.

We also meet X and Y who have an introduction cutscene but no death cutscene because the game knew we didn’t give a shit about them.

We then kill Z who has like five different forms and stupid stage gimmicks that don’t add to the epic gameplay experience and also it’s really fucking stupid how he teleports above the theatre every time just to spawn a barrier but the moment he teleports back we break it with a scripted chain attack anyway. We also get to kill X and Y again, as if to really hammer in the fact that they were really high up in the Moebius hierarchy, apparently. (Did I mention that Z has no scene where he shows that he has bonds with the other Moebius or that they respect or him as the ones who made them Moebius? Because Z is just a concept and not a human being but the rest of the Moebius are? Fuck Z. Seriously.)

We finally get Melia and Nia as heroes and we save the day,

Yay! But wait, not really. M and N die but not before they spout a fucking long ass monologue where Noah cries and tells them they can live but M and N are like nah fuck that if Joran can’t live then we who have killed millions don’t deserve to either and fuck off into the void. And also the two worlds are splitting apart, meaning Noah and Mio are going to be separated. Okay. And also the scene where Taion gives Eunie a notebook about tea? Absolutely ruined by the fact that at the end of the game the world reverts back to before the collision happens and Noah, Eunie and Lanz have no memory of having fought together meaning they have essentially all died. Very good ending I see.

Fuck this game’s story, seriously...

Main Characters:

Noah as a main character is kinda flat... until you realise the whole point of his role in the story is to act as a foil for N.

Noah is calm and rational, and the de facto leader of the trio. His relationships with Eunie and Lanz are really nice to see and these three honestly feel like comrades with how they look out for each other and care for each other when they look like they’re feeling down. But he doesn’t have any moment with Taion and Sena other than when discussing where to go next on a journey with Taion, the other de factor leader of his trio, and his relationship with them feels more like a coworkers kinda situation, which for the main protagonist is already raising some alarm bells.

His motivations are vague at best. He’s shown to really hate killing people, at least moreso than the rest of his friends, which leads him to accept his role as Ouroboros quickly at the start of the game. We’re quickly shown that he’s meant to like Mio as the main het pairing of the game. And he wants to take down Moebius to bring back a choice to everyone, which is all nice and good but is incredibly impersonal and unrelatable to the player.

And for some reason he wields the Sword of Origin, which is... different or the same? From Lucky Seven? Which was given to him by Riku, who takes the mentor role in the game but has no significance to the plot whatsoever other than to give Noah cryptic advice when he’s feeling lost and to give the players a reason why Noah got the Sword of Origin to begin with? Which can somehow slash Flame Clocks and cut through anything in existence? You know, it was really unclear.

Past main protagonists get their motivation from obtaining the Xenoblade - Shulk gets the Monado and goes on a journey for revenge, Rex gets the Aegis and goes on a journey to Elysium to fulfill his promise with Pyra. And Noah... just has the Xenoblade from the start, given to him by Riku. In fact I’d go so much to say that the Ouroboros Egg is more of a Xenoblade than Lucky Seven or the Sword of Origin/End, but... eh. Also when Noah throws the Xenoblade away at the end of the game the effect is kinda lost when you realise that 1. He can just rematerialise it (assuming Blade powers aren’t lost because Z is dead) and 2. It would have been much more impactful if he’d just thrown away Lucky Seven instead.

Mio is bland and uninteresting. She has a sad backstory about Miyabi which is nice until you realise Miyabi isn’t fucking dead, and that’s about all she has going for her. She’s a combat genius that grew to realise the weight of life and the importance of her duty as an off-seer. Also, she loves Noah. And again, is just there to serve as the romantic interest and conflict for N later on and M dying. Very bland hope indeed.

Lanz is amazing. Tough beefcake guy, Reyn Number Two. Agonises over Joran’s death. His ideals of strength is so obviously compromised after Joran dies and it’s so evident how he changes and mellows out after Joran’s death. That alone is enough to make him a good character and his moments with J are the most of his part in the game. A shame that Noah gets to claim most of the talk no jutsu bit.

Sena is so. Bland. Why did it get so long to get to her character story? We find that she’s secretly hiding an inferiority complex and puts up a facade of being a cheerful go-getter chipper genki girl but is actually really depressed behind it. Except that she doesn’t even show the genki part very well. Every time she’s shown before her character arc explanation, she’s always paired up with Mio and calling her Mimi. That’s it that’s her character she’s just friends with Mio and calls her Mimi and looks up to her. Her being friends with Shania was nice and when she rejects Shania and says they’re nothing alike is amazing. But throughout the game, Sena leans too far into the nice unassuming girl most of the time that we don’t get a glimpse into her inner self at all. We could have had moments where she breaks character and relapses to her true self, but nope. She’s just plain old boring Sena whose only trait that stands out is ‘One more for the road’ and ‘Yippee!’ and doing training exercises with Lanz around the campfire everytime a cutscene happens at night.

Taion is one of the better fleshed out characters. Because he’s the de facto leader and tactician of the group he naturally has more important moments in the game, but it’s also charming to see his dorky side come out occasionally like with the baby or at the end of the game with Eunie and the ‘at least let me be second or third...’. He should snark back at Eunie more often honestly to make the friendly banter more natural, but most of the time it’s just Eunie taking potshots at him which makes the relationship less interesting.

Eunie, huh... I don’t like Eunie because she’s just a carbon copy of Nia but a thousand times worse. Everyone likes her though and her snarky bits lighten up the mood during scenes but the fact that no one comments on it makes the moments fall a bit flat on its tone. Where’s banter like Nia and Zeke, or Tora or Riku Nopon goofy moments? I get that this game is supposed to be more subdued but geez. Overall, the group dynamics are not fun at all to play around with.

Riku is the mentor character of the game and is a total tsundere. He gets a few moments at the start of the game and then none at all nearing the end of the game after telling Noah he could have drawn Lucky Seven all this time.

Manana only exists for the Tirkins stealing their food plot and the food buffs mechanic, which is apparently a scam, so... lol?

Main Villains:

Z: Fuck Z. Dude literally explained that his motivations were to grant the inner wishes of the world for the endless now and give people an equal chance of winning through rebirth... and then threw that all away to say that he made both sides kill each other because it amused him. Pick a side, bitch. Fuck you.

Fake Gold Ass Noah: Why he and Noah are separate beings are really unclear. Why was Noah reborn? When Noah became N technically he should have been cut from the flow (like I assume Joran and Dirk were) but Noah was reborn. The game never explains it, only saying vague things like Noah and Mio were born from hope while N and M were born from regret.

Joran: Amazing backstory. I love him. The moments we are shown of him as a kind soul with an inferiority complex, leading up to his heroic death as someone who had surpassed Lanz and the rest was amazing. The fact that he was obviously twisted by Moebius and its power resulting in a god complex personality that struggles with his remnants of who he was before shown how he keeps visiting Lanz Noah and Eunie and talking to them is amazing. How he was given a chance to stop being evil and he hesitated, was amazing. What was not amazing was how he was shown that he could be more than this... and he chose to fucking die a heroic death. Again. Fuck you, game. We could have had Joran as a seventh party member and it would have been amazing. It would have made sense.

Shania: I love how Shania has an inferiority complex and grew up imitating strong people around her, and her misunderstanding Ghondor led to them growing apart and her eventually thinking that she was better off not existing and leaving her lot to the next life. The way she committed suicide was natural, but... did she like not stop to think for a moment that with the Agnus Castle taken over and the Queen being revealed to be a fake, there was no way for her to be reborn since the Queen is supposed to be the one rebirthing people, AND the Moebius all fled meaning she has no reason to trust that they would rebirth her herself, or am I missing something?

Worldbuilding:

Honestly it was unclear and multiple points feel like the game was trying too hard to mesh 1 and 2 colliding as a plot point and a whole new worldbuilding with Z’s reincarnation plot point that it came out like a mess of spaghetti. Nia can just create the Ouroboros Stones! The Sword of Origin just exists! Was probably built by a bunch of Nopon! Origin was hijacked by a concept!

Sidequests:

I love Zeon’s Ascension Quest. I love Kite. I think Juniper is cute and her Colony makes sense and is literally the better version of whatever Ethel (and Cammu) had going on with their ‘we have a choice!’ thing. I love Ghondor and Monica. I hate Fiona’s quest and I just hate Miyabi period.

Overall:

I enjoyed this game less than I did its predecessors. Gameplay wise it looks great, the UI looks smooth, I hate how the Menu Theme cuts off the overworld music, no driver combos means Chain Attacks make the game too easy, Hero grinding is boring, story has many plotholes and I was honestly not engaged at all from the moment we killed the first Moebius and held no special attachment to any of the main characters. Also it’s canon that Rex fucks all three of them.

Peace out.

#troofless plays games #xenoblade mumblings

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vtori73 · 2 months

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One thing I realized about the bigger part of the JJK fandom that bugs me is that I feel sometimes they are projecting their own prejudices onto the work. What do I mean by this? Basically, while JJK does have issues with how it could spend more time on the girl/woman characters it's definitely not worse compared to a lot of shonen especially compared to ones similar to it and some of what people perceive as misogyny is more so their own misogyny/ poor analysis of JJK.

One moreso small example being the fact that people are quick to say and believe that the girl/women characters have contributed nothing plot or story wise to JJK which is extremely false and makes what they have done seem like nothing and meaningless & they genuinely believe any of them could be replaced by anyone/boys or men which isn't entirely true but even if it were... you could basically say that about any character almost in the story someone was saying Nanami was useless to the plot for fucks sake but we all know it's bullshit doesn't change with the girl/woman characters either.

One example of a character you can replace without also changing the story would be Mai, her being Maki's SISTER is integral to the plot and Maki, the story would not be the same if she was a boy because while there are men who are treated poorly in the Zenin clan it's only if they don't have or have low levels of curse energy while Mai & Maki are also treated poorly not only because of that but because they are woman who are meant to serve the men as well. Maki's arc was about overcoming and defeating an abusive misogynistic family FOR HER & HER SISTER! She, unlike Toji who just left she was forced to come back and made it everyone else's problem because of it which brings to my next example of fandoms own misogyny bleeding into JJK.

Maki keeps being compared to Toji and while I get it of course let's not pretend that a LOT of this continued instance that Maki is Toji 2.0 is just a misogynistic analysis of her character and peoples insistence of it are just diminishing her character and actions. Maki is a BETTER version of Toji, Toji wishes he were Maki, Maki is not an irresponsible deadbeat who SOLD off his child for money and only regretted it as he was dying. Sure, on a technique/power scale they are the same but power isn't the only thing that is a measure of their character (despite everyone wanting it to be because it's a shonen so I get but also... no). Maki IS better, she not only left but dealt with her horrible family and didn't become just some assassin for hire to fulfill her whims of gambling. Sure we can't say for sure how Toji would have been if he were Makis place and had his wife killed by them but also... that would have never really happened mainly because there would be no point for his family to go after him after he left. They went after Maki because as a woman and someone with no curse energy she needed to know her place and so needed to be reminded of it & why they were always interfering with her goals. Maki unluckily had a sister with some curse energy too so they also used her to get back at Maki which caused a further hatred & riff between Maki & Mai but they still cared and loved each other otherwise they wouldn't have cared if the other had died in that disciplinary pit.

Maki and Toji are similar and I won't deny that but denying Maki is her OWN character who is probably objectively better than Toji is just fandom being misogynistic! "Well one eyed cat compared them," yeah COMPARES and that happened maybe once or twice, but fandom won't shut up about it despite the fact that Gege does this ALL the time because he likes to, it's part of his storytelling, he likes to call back to older scenes! And again, that doesn't somehow make her Toji 2.0 because of it. I honestly don't even think Gege is trying to make her that either, she is too different from Toji, not to mention she has never met him or anything, i would get it if there had been even SOME connection to them besides the family thing but there is nothing else to connect the two besides Heavenly Restriction which is JUST a technique doesn't mean she's suppose to be Tojis replacement (technically I do think she is but not because he misses Toji she was always meant to be a better version of Toji OR what is more correct Toji was a weaker inferior Maki and Maki replaced him).

I'm also going to argue now after thinking about it that she is supposed to be better than Toji on a technical/skill/power llevel as well because SHE FUCKING DID WHAT TOJI DID TO GOJO AKA BABY GOJO BEFORE HE BECAME EVEN MORE POWERFUL AND MAKI DID THIS TOO SUKUNA THE KING OF CURSES WHO DEFEATED GOJO WHO WAS AT FULL POWER (yes, I know Sukuna is in a weakened state, so was highschool Gojo if we are being honest)! Sure, the scene was probably moreso just a callback but maybe also possibly to establish the power level Sukuna is at right now... But who knows, for NOW I would much rather just claim it Maki is more powerful than Toji! 😛

Oh, also yes, I do not think it's at all farfetched to think fandom misogyny is coloring people's perception of the series ESPECIALLY considering how much misogyny is in fandom in general(not just JJK) that people within don't even notice and let slide so it's not hard at all for me to think some wires are getting crossed.

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iamthenightcolormeblack · 3 years

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My Thoughts on Pride & Prejudice 2005: Style over Substance

Kicking off my Pride and Prejudice adaptation review series with the most popular of all the adaptations: the 2005 movie. This film stars Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy.

1. GENERAL THINGS I LIKED

The cinematography and the soundtrack. Every shot is a painting, especially with the gorgeous landscape scenery. The music is beautiful and dreamy; I have listened to the soundtrack more times than I've watched the film. Both the cinematography and the soundtrack effectively transport the viewer back to the film's romanticized version of "the past," when life was simpler and people lived slower lives, waiting for their Mr. Darcy to sweep them off their feet.

Originality. The film takes a unique approach to the story by focusing mainly on the romance between Darcy and Elizabeth and emphasizing how the natural surroundings reflect the characters' mental state/emotions (pouring rain during the first proposal and stormy skies when Elizabeth hurries home after Lydia runs away). Though one can disagree with the creative changes made, I like how this film isn't just a remake of what came before it.

Elizabeth's walks through the countryside. The film expresses her desire for freedom through her countryside walks. For instance, the Netherfield walk is shocking to Caroline Bingley because it demonstrates Elizabeth's independence.

The comedic parts are great thanks to the creative additions made. For example, the "excellent boiled potatoes" joke isn't in the book, but it perfectly exemplifies Mr. Collins' poor social skills and pretentiousness, as he tries to make an overly formal comment about an otherwise mundane dish.

2. THE CASTING

The acting is good, although I don't always agree with how the characters are portrayed.

Keira Knightley. I like how she's the right age for Elizabeth, who is around 20-21 years old; Knightley was around 19-20 when she played Elizabeth, plus she has gorgeous eyes. She perfectly conveys the pride, confidence, and biting wit of Elizabeth, as she holds her head high in an imperious manner and has a direct, piercing gaze. However, I don't like how this version chooses to simplify Elizabeth's character into that of "free-spirited nonconformist tomboy," who is a nature-lover and runs to the countryside to console herself when things get tough (ex. running to the lake after rejecting Mr. Collins). This is a contrast to the Elizabeth Bennet as presented to us in the book, who acts like a typical "lady" for the sake of her social reputation; she mostly keeps her thoughts to herself except when talking to Jane or Darcy. Elizabeth is powerful not because she rejects society outright; it is because she does not submit to societal pressure to marry and makes her own choices (ex. rejecting Mr. Collins).

Matthew Macfadyen. His Darcy is cold, aloof, and remote, yet shows signs of a rich inner life and unrequited yearning for Elizabeth as a soulmate. I like how this version shows Elizabeth peeling away his cold exterior like the layers of an onion, until his heart of gold is revealed. While I think Macfadyen is a good actor, I disagree with the interpretation of Darcy solely being a lonely introvert, as it neglects his primary character flaw of pride.

Tom Hollander's Mr. Collins. Probably the best casting, as he perfectly portrays the bumbling awkwardness of the character and is more sympathetic than the gross Mr. Collins in the 1995 BBC miniseries. He is short, has a nasally voice and officious manner that makes him annoying yet fun to watch.

Simon Woods as Mr. Bingley. He's so friendly and eager to please, like the character is in the book.

Rosamund Pike's Jane Bennet. Utterly angelic and motherly, need I say more? The perfect antidote to Elizabeth's savagery.

Rupert Friend's Mr. Wickham. Handsome and dashing in a red soldier's uniform. It's easy to see how a girl would fall for him and ignore his debauchery, but also obvious that he is deceptive. For instance, he keeps claiming that he is insignificant and unnoticed, when he basks in the attention of Elizabeth, Kitty and Lydia.

3. OVERALL CHARACTER AND PLOT DEVELOPMENT

Since this is a movie, character development is a challenge, and the film relies on changes of outward appearance/dialogue to show character growth. For instance, we get to see Darcy's change from cold and remote into warm and loving, while Elizabeth admits that "she was wrong" about Darcy and slowly comes to respect him.

The first half (beginning to Darcy's proposal) is great because it effectively introduces the audience to the cast of characters (the family, Darcy, Bingley, Caroline, Wickham, and Mr. Collins). It also contains all the comedic parts and sets up the conflicts that drive the story. Overall, this half is more faithful to the novel because it has the social satire aspects of the story and sticks to the key plot points while developing the characters.

The second half is rather lackluster compared to the first because it focuses solely on resolving the plot points introduced in the first half. This part of the book contains important events for Elizabeth's character development (getting the letter, visiting Pemberley, dealing with the fallout from Lydia's elopement), but the film rushes through them to get Elizabeth and Darcy married. Instead of focusing on how Elizabeth overcomes her prejudice of Darcy and starts to love him, the film relies on aesthetic shots of flickering candles/landscapes to serve as quick transitions between the scenes. Though we have plenty of evidence that Darcy loves Elizabeth, we don't see much evidence that the love is mutual until the second proposal, only that Elizabeth starts to see him as a friend.

Another reason I don't like the second half of the film as much as the first half is the reduced dialogue. This second half has a lot of quiet moments devoted to nature scenery/Elizabeth staring in the mirror. Reducing the dialogue, with the exception of the letter scene, doesn't make sense because the plot/action of Pride and Prejudice is furthered through the conversations the characters have (after all, wealthy Regency women likely spent much time indoors/making social calls). While one can argue that the reduced dialogue is meant to show that Elizabeth is reflecting on her mistaken prejudice, without access to Elizabeth's interior thoughts, the audience doesn't get to see Elizabeth actively confronting her false assumptions about Darcy, unlike in the book, where she says out loud to herself: "Until this moment, I never knew myself."

Notable Scenes From the First Half of the Film:

The opening scene. It sets the tone for the whole movie with the beginning shot of a field at dawn, which ties in nicely with the second proposal scene near the end. By presenting Elizabeth by herself reading a book, it communicates to the audience that Elizabeth is "not like other girls," and it shows the imperfect, yet loving family dynamics of the Bennet household.

Elizabeth roasting Darcy after he dismisses her as "tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me." During a conversation the Bennet family has with Darcy and Bingley, Mrs. Bennet commits a social gaffe when talking about Jane's many admirers and how one sent her poetry. Elizabeth saves the situation by commenting that bad poetry can kill love, and Darcy comments that he regards poetry as "the food of love" and asks how to "encourage affection." I like that the film included this little exchange from the book (although it takes place while Elizabeth is visiting a sick Jane at Netherfield, and not during the first ball), since it was skipped over in the 1995 miniseries. The best part is Elizabeth's sick burn: "Dancing. Even if one's partner is barely tolerable," which is made even better when she walks away from him with a triumphant smile on her face.

The famous Hand Flex. After Darcy helps Elizabeth into the carriage (by holding her hand) so she and Jane can head back home, he glances longingly at her before wringing the hand with which he touched hers. It's an important hint of his growing love for her, as well as his struggle to repress those feelings. This is a wonderful bit of character development as it reveals that Darcy has a heart.

Mr. Collins having a meal with the Bennet family. The awkwardness is palpable as Mr. Collins tries to show off his social skills and give pro tips on charming ladies. This is all topped off with this amazing comedic joke: "These are excellent boiled potatoes. Many years since I've had such an exemplary vegetable." Another brilliant bit: after Lydia cannot contain her laughter, Lizzy, after giving her father a mischievous side-eye, slaps Lydia on the back to hide her laughter. Best line besides the excellent boiled potatoes: "Believe me, no one would suspect your manners to be rehearsed."

The Netherfield Ball dance between Darcy and Elizabeth. It is staged like a clash of personalities in the beginning, while the creative filming technique of separating the couple apart from the crowd of dancers foreshadows the budding relationship between them. I also like how sarcastic the dialogue is--Elizabeth is trying to win a battle of wits with Darcy but he successfully avoids her traps while reminding her that she doesn't truly know him and cannot make judgements about his personality.

Mr. Collins trying to introduce himself to Darcy. It's so comical because of the significant height difference between Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy (Collins is dwarfed by Darcy). The height difference effectively represents the significant difference in social status between the two men and makes Collins, with his pomposity, look ridiculous as he fancies himself part of the nobility but cannot properly introduce himself.

Mr. Collins' proposal--one of the funniest scenes in the movie. Mr. Collins clumsily tries to flatter Elizabeth with a tiny flower, and it gets even funnier when he so obviously misreads Elizabeth's disinterest and outright exasperation (he doesn't understand that no means no!). After Mr. Collins bends down on one knee to propose to Elizabeth, the film emphasizes Elizabeth's towering presence over Collins to show that the two are a mismatch. The fact that the proposal takes place in the messy dining room reflects Collins' view of marriage as a business matter that he wants to get done with quickly, since the location of the proposal is not very romantic.

Elizabeth roasting Darcy yet again at Rosings Park. Elizabeth eagerly recounts to Colonel Fitzwilliam Darcy's impolite manners at the first ball; Darcy confesses that "I do not have the talent of conversing easily with people I have never met before." I like how the nervous and quiet delivery of that line shows to the audience that Darcy is an introvert, and it shows that he's an honest person, since he abhors "disguise of every sort." The scene effectively highlights Elizabeth's prejudice towards Darcy as the audience feels pity for him when Elizabeth tells him to practice.

"This is a charming house." During this scene, Darcy visits Elizabeth while she is alone and awkwardly attempts to make conversation with her. Macfadyen is a master of body language; Darcy says little but expresses a lot (ex. the nervous fiddling with his gloves). He tries to express his feelings for Elizabeth but gives up and abruptly walks out of the room.

The first proposal. What a climactic scene (but not very faithful to the book)! The music, thunder, and rain perfectly complement the volcano of emotions that erupts when Darcy cannot repress his feelings any longer. This scene has some of the best sexual tension ever; the two get closer to each other until they almost kiss. While this scene is great to an objective viewer, I don't like that the modified dialogue changes the original meaning of this scene (more about this later).

The letter. Elizabeth has a moment of introspection when she is forced to question her judgment, and Darcy delivers his letter. I like the shot of Darcy riding farther and farther away from Elizabeth, signaling that he is becoming increasingly out of her reach.

Notable Scenes from the Second Half of the Film:

Aunt and Uncle Gardiner arrive right after Elizabeth comes back from Rosings and they take her away to a vacation. I didn't like how they were introduced too quickly; I was thinking to myself "how did they get there and where did they come from?" Luckily we are treated to more glorious shots of the English countryside (the one with them under a large oak tree is my favorite).

Visiting Pemberley. I was puzzled by why Elizabeth laughs as soon as she sees Pemberley for the first time because in the book she was in complete awe of it. Also it doesn't make sense why she would touch his expensive stuff it's not her house...or is it? The good thing is that the embarrassment the two have upon meeting each other again is definitely palpable. Georgiana is sweet, but a little less shy than she was in the book.

Darcy smiles! After introducing Georgiana to Elizabeth, he smiles for a brief time at Elizabeth, and she smiles back. It's a great moment showing how Elizabeth has drawn out his goodness, and indicates that Darcy has transformed for Elizabeth. She also starts seeing him as a friend and her prejudice against him seems to have reversed in this moment of mutual recognition.

Lydia's elopement. Keira Knightley's fake cry was off-putting. Then Darcy only talks to her for a little bit and doesn't help her much (unlike in the book, where he asked her to sit down and got her some wine to make her feel better). I don't know why the aunt and uncle are in this scene because it's very important in developing Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship. In the book, the two are alone, and Elizabeth choosing to tell Darcy about Lydia's elopement is a sign that she trusts him, while Darcy's concern for Elizabeth further confirms that he still loves her. This extremely brief scene flickers quickly, and it takes only a few seconds before Elizabeth is crying in her carriage, while the sky is dark and ominous.

Bingley rehearsing his proposal with Darcy. This added scene, which is not in the book, is so funny because of how Darcy roleplays Jane, while Bingley has so much anxiety about her not accepting him. It's a nice glimpse into their friendship and it's also funny because Bingley is getting proposal advice from someone who failed very miserably at proposing.

Sunrise on the Moors. Another objectively beautiful and romantic scene that is definitely not faithful to the book. The two meet each other in a field in their nightgowns and profess their love to each other while blessed by the rising sun.

4. MAJOR FLAWS; OR, HOW THE FILM DIVERGES FROM THE BOOK

In earlier book adaptation reviews, I stated that I welcomed creative changes as long as they reflected what was already in the book (ex. literary elements and character development) or the author's intent, since film and books are different mediums and some storytelling techniques that work in books may not work on film. This movie is undoubtedly well-known for its creative changes, especially in terms of historical setting and dialogue. While these creative changes entertain the audience, I feel that they change the meaning of the story as presented by the book.

Here's the biggest issue I have with the movie: Darcy has no pride. The film interprets his "pride" as a misconception strangers get from Darcy's cold manner and inconsiderate remarks, but in the book he is an arrogant person who views his social inferiors as beneath him and treats them poorly. In the movie, his whole character is fashioned in the modern image of the "sensitive man," who is kind and considerate if only the outside world would appreciate his uniqueness. Thus, Elizabeth's prejudice against him is entirely without merit. While making Darcy a more sympathetic person highlights how wrong Elizabeth's prejudice is, the fact is that both of them have "pride and prejudice." Some fans have commented that Darcy is like a sad puppy at times. It's hard to see how he's a good match for this Elizabeth's fiery spirit, only that he wouldn't infringe upon her freedom to roam. A lot of YouTube comments I read were people expressing their desire to "hug Darcy" or console him after Elizabeth rejects him; this doesn't make sense because Darcy is an unsympathetic character until he is forced to change in order to earn Elizabeth's love. Apart from becoming kinder to Elizabeth and the Gardiners, Darcy never really changes in the movie; he still remains a socially awkward introvert.

The re-interpretation of Pride and Prejudice as purely a romantic novel: The emphasis on romance means that the other elements of the book--the social criticism, secondary characters and the dialogue--are de-emphasized for the sake of the romance between Elizabeth and Darcy.

The film's approach to the story echoes Charlotte Bronte's criticism of the novel: "And what did I find [in Pride and Prejudice]? ... a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but no glance of a bright, vivid physiognomy, no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck. I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their elegant but confined homes." This version of Pride and Prejudice utilizes Romantic elements not in the book (ex. the storms, the landscapes) to increase the passion that the characters feel but cannot express.

Pride and Prejudice is perceived as a "boring" book because much of the drama takes place indoors (ex. Darcy's first proposal is in Mr. Collin's home), whereas in the film, there is greater emphasis on the natural scenery in keeping with its Romantic interpretation (lots of the "open country" that Charlotte Bronte desired). While the landscape scenes are beautiful, locating the action indoors, in the grand houses of the nobility, emphasizes the repressive, tradition-based nature of Regency Era society that Austen criticized (in a subtle way). These houses reinforce social hierarchy, for instance; the interior of Rosings Park is showy and stifling because it it represents Lady Catherine De Bourgh's wealth and power over those around her. Locating most of the scenes indoors visually represents the "confined and unvarying" lives of Regency era women and makes Elizabeth Bennet's independent streak much more significant.

Some of the social constraints that Elizabeth and Darcy face are removed. For example, Elizabeth is much more direct in her criticisms of others (ex. the "barely tolerable" insult), whereas in the book she largely confines these criticisms to her intimate friends such as Jane and Charlotte Lucas. While this effectively shows how badass she is, Elizabeth likely would not have taunted Darcy in such a direct way, as it would have been considered impolite and likely harmed her social reputation in a society governed by rigid adherence to social etiquette. And of course, Darcy likely would not have been walking around the English countryside in an open-chested shirt although we may have Colin Firth's wet shirt to blame for that. The importance of following etiquette rules is shown when Darcy offends the whole village by refusing to dance with anyone during the first ball. As a woman in a patriarchal society, it would have been even more important for Elizabeth to follow the rules, as her social reputation was important to her chances of making a good marriage. By de-emphasizing the rigid social norms that govern the characters, the obstacles to Elizabeth and Darcy's marriage are less significant, and it seems that the only thing standing in the way of their being together is Elizabeth's unreasonable hatred of Darcy.

Also, in many of Austen's novels, the hometowns of her heroines and its inhabitants are their own characters; the power of gossip in determining one's social reputation for the "marriage market" is de-emphasized in the film. In Pride and Prejudice, a major reason Elizabeth doesn't discover Wickham's bad character at first is because of the "general approbation of the neighborhood" and social popularity he has in Hertfordshire. After Lydia elopes, the family is in a bad situation with regards to marriage prospects because the village had "generally proved [the Bennets] to be marked out for misfortune." In the film, the role of the village is relegated to that of a place for entertainment and nothing more.

Others have noted that the film also exaggerates the social divide between Elizabeth and Darcy by turning the Bennet family into peasant farm-owners who have messy hair and wear plain, homespun clothing. This justifies Darcy's social prejudice against the Bennets, which undercuts Austen's message of morals, actions, and treatment of others being a better indicator of character than class rank (the rich people in this book, with the exception of Darcy, Georgiana and Bingley, are shown to be lazy or plain ridiculous). While Darcy may be richer than Elizabeth, and have better connections, they are both members of the gentry--after all, they do not have to work to maintain their lifestyles. Instead, we are presented with a conventional rags-to-riches story, where our poor but virtuous heroine is rewarded with a rich Prince Charming who takes her away from the squalor of her home to his great big palace.

Ultimately, the story is changed into an argument for love, specifically the passionate kind, triumphing over all; Elizabeth overcomes her hatred of men as "humorless poppycocks" to be with Darcy. Near the end, Mary reads out of a book claiming that a lady should give in to her passions and surrender to love, which doesn't make sense as the marriage based entirely on passion (Lydia and Wickham) is shown to be less than ideal.

While Austen does believe in following one's heart (ex. Persuasion, where Anne Elliot regrets rejecting Captain Wentworth because of his lower social status), others have commented that she presents the ideal relationship as a balance between mind and heart. Charlotte's practical marriage to Mr. Collins represents the traditional view of marriage as an "economic proposition," it is entirely logical and calculated, whereas Lydia and Wickham's marriage is the other emotional extreme, motivated entirely by sexual infatuation. Before Elizabeth acknowledges her love for Darcy, she must respect him as her intellectual equal. Here's the passage from the book where Elizabeth realizes she loves Darcy: "She now began to comprehend that he was exactly the man, who in disposition and talents, would most suit her. His understanding and temper, though unlike her own, would have answered all her wishes. It was an union that must have been to the advantage of both; by her ease and liveliness, his mind might have been softened, his manners improved, and from his judgment, information, and knowledge of the world, she must have received benefit of greater importance." Elizabeth's decision to marry Darcy is not only a result of her heart's desire, but it comes after she does some thinking and concludes they are compatible and would be able to live with each other on a day-to-day basis.

Something else I find ironic is the director's (Joe Wright's) claim that he aimed for realism in the film, given that Austen already depicted Regency era life realistically by focusing on social norms, class, and wealth:

The director, in his quest for "realism," features the messy environment of the Bennet household, which doesn't make sense given that they are still relatively wealthy (when defending herself, Elizabeth tells Lady Catherine that she is "a gentleman's daughter"). Also, they have servants to clean things up, so why would the house be in a constant state of disarray?

Lastly, how is the second proposal scene is "realistic?" It is a moment of "psychic communication" between Darcy and Elizabeth which is out of character for the book. They both "can't sleep" and walked, in the words of Wikipedia, "across the moors" to see each other ok this seriously reminds me of Wuthering Heights. The scene is powerful because every woman wants to be told that "you have bewitched me body and soul" but "realistically," this doesn't happen (and this line isn't in the book either).

"REALISM" IS THE REASON WHY WE FUSS OVER HISTORICAL ACCURACY!!! HISTORICAL ACCURACY ALLOWS PERIOD DRAMAS TO BE REALISTIC!!!!

If the characters wore historically accurate clothing (different from the loosely inspired, modernized dresses/hair in the film), it would have emphasized the lack of freedom women had in Regency Era society and reinforced the importance of following social norms to succeed in a patriarchal society.

Bad Script Changes:

This film is known for its modernized script, which makes it easier for a mainstream audience to watch the movie. However, it also changes depictions of the characters in ways that undercut the meaning of the book.

Elizabeth Bennet, man-hater:

"Oh, they [men] are far too easy to judge. Humorless poppycocks, in my limited experience."

"And which of the painted peacocks is Mr. Bingley?"

"Men are either eaten up with arrogance or stupidity. And if they're amiable they're so easily led that they have no minds of their own whatsoever...No, they bring nothing but heartache."

I know these snarky comments are fun and reinforce the modern perception of Elizabeth Bennet as a feminist heroine. However, book Elizabeth doesn't rail against men as a whole; she just wants to find love rather than be forced into an advantageous marriage. Her idea that marriage should be based on love and respect, along with her unwillingness to compromise on that ideal, is what makes her revolutionary, not her complete apathy towards the opposite sex.

"Don't you dare judge me!" While it foreshadows Elizabeth's flawed judgment, this outburst is out of character for Charlotte Lucas, who in the book is level-headed and makes practical decisions. As with the majority of the bad script changes, it is too modern and doesn't fit with the 19th century style language used elsewhere in the script.

Darcy's lack of pride is shown in the modified lines of the first proposal (which were hard to catch because they were spoken super fast):

"I can bear it no longer. The past months have been a torment. I came to Rosings with the single object of seeing you. I had to see you. I've fought against my better judgment, my family's expectation, the inferiority of your birth, my rank and circumstance, all those things, but I'm willing to put them aside and ask you to end my agony. I love you. Most ardently."

These lines completely change the meaning of the first proposal. Apart from the famous opening lines ("In vain I have struggled. It will not do. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you"), Austen makes clear that Darcy still regards his higher social position and Elizabeth's inferior connections as obstacles to their marriage. His first proposal to Elizabeth is a means of getting rid of the suffering that his unrequited love has forced upon him; he still does not accept Elizabeth as his equal, which is why she rejects him in the first place. Clearly he is not "willing to put [social norms] aside" when it comes to "his sense of her inferiority." The modified lines also make Darcy much more romantic by having him state that he came to Rosings to see Elizabeth; the book does not specify that this is the case; he just came on a routine visit to see his aunt and Elizabeth happened to be there. As I said earlier, Elizabeth in the book rejects Darcy because of his lack of respect for her, but in the film, he seems to show nothing but respect for her. They even have an almost-kiss, which doesn't make sense given that she hates him so intensely at this point in the novel.

"He's so, he's so...rich." Elizabeth utters these when trying and failing to find a reason not to visit Pemberley. This declaration does not make sense because Elizabeth has formed in the very least a grudging respect for Mr. Darcy; without access to her internal thoughts, one might take this line as evidence that she still hates Mr. Darcy.

“Just leave me alone!!!” After confronting Lady Catherine, Elizabeth flees to her room to find some alone time. This doesn’t suit Elizabeth’s character because 1) she acts like a temperamental teenager and 2) she is estranged from her family. In the book she gets closer to her family after Darcy’s first proposal, not the other way round. In some JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America) articles I read about Pride and Prejudice, the authors observed that Elizabeth isn’t concerned about her family early in the novel; her motivations are largely self-centered, she keeps her head above their foolishness and doesn’t have intimate relationships with anyone in her family with the exception of her father and Jane. Only after she receives the criticisms of her family’s behavior from Mr. Darcy does she look out for her family; for example, by advising her father not to let Lydia go to Brighton (and she becomes right about it harming her family’s reputation). The film also makes Elizabeth even more isolated from her family by omitting the fact that she tells Jane about what happened between her and Darcy. Elizabeth learning to care for her family is an important part of her growth which the film omits.

5. CONCLUSION

I still think this film is worth watching, even though as a purist I disagree with the creative changes made, namely the emphasis on the romance over the social comedy. It is obvious that the screenwriter/director didn't strive to replicate the book exactly and aimed for a romantic re-interpretation.

The film has had a positive impact since it introduced a lot of people to Jane Austen, including me.

Here’s my story: when the movie aired on TV, my mother, who is a 1995 die-hard, started ranting about her hate for this version, so I picked up the book so that I could watch and compare.

As a romance movie it is excellent, because it has plenty of sexual tension and quotable romantic lines, along with a couple we can root for. The set design, music, and set design also make watching the movie an experience. It's very easy to love this movie just for the cottage core aesthetics (although aesthetics cannot cover up the flaws of this film).

On a side note, I find it funny that the Wikipedia article for this film states that it "failed to have the cultural influence" of the 1995 BBC miniseries. In fact, many people my age (17 or 18 years old) who have read the book consider this movie the definitive version of Pride and Prejudice and some don't even know that the 1995 miniseries exists!

Whether you love or hate this film, all I ask is that you don't call it Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

@colonelfitzwilliams @appleinducedsleep @obscurelittlebird @austengivesmeserotonin @princesssarisa @dahlia-coccinea @firawren @cobaltzosia

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emerald-amidst-gold · 3 years

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Okay, I need to rant because I’ve had this thought of “Why isn’t Solas a bi option in DA:I?” for so freaking long. However, I didn’t really think more about it other than, “Well, maybe because it’s going for a specific aspect of forbidden love. A softness and gentleness that wouldn’t work with a male Lavellan.” But no. The more I think about it, the more that explanation doesn’t make SENSE!

So, as you play, you talk with Solas, you get to know Solas, he gets to know you and blah blah. BUT, have you ever noticed that NONE of the conversation voice lines change depending on your gender? Solas never once points out a direct correlation about your gender. The man studies SPIRITS, who, for all intents and purposes, have NO gender. So, the whole argument of “Oh, well, he’s from the time of Arlathan. It was probably a very traditional minded place that would frown on same sex relationships.” Now, that I can understand since most of Thedas operates the same way, but our dear wolf is the god of REBELLION. Do you think even for one second that Solas would have given a damn about what others thought of him and his decisions? Especially when he, in various moments, tells Blackwall, Sera, whoever, that he was hot headed and young, that he thought he was right about everything. Yes, that more or less foreshadows the things he ended doing with the Evanuris and the Veil, but the principle is the same for his own personal choices.

So, taking that concept into mind, let’s go back to the perspective of the Solavellan romance. While the voice lines never change depending on your gender, the options of how your Inquisitor responds do. However, only to FLIRT. Literally. That’s all. That is all that changes. And while I do like the flirting options because “Oh, hello, Mr. Smooth. How you doing?”, sometimes I don’t pick them even when I am a female Lavellan because they feel..hollow to me. Why? Well, for one, they seem to come at very inopportune times. Like for example, when Solas is discussing the identity of spirits and how they’re not considered people because they have no physical form, you can literally just disregard anything of what he just said in favor of flirting. I dislike that. It comes off as you aren’t interested in what he has to say because your mind is fixated on the physical qualities behind those words; something he just more or less said shouldn’t matter! So, I, depending on my Inquisitor, always choose anything BUT the flirting option for that conversation. It’s more meaningful to me that your Lavellan interacts with Solas in a heartfelt way rather than a sexual way.

So, that leads me back to why I think Solas should have been a bisexual option. Since the conversations don’t change, the major scenes don’t change, and your overall bond with Solas doesn’t change, why should it matter that your female or male? My current Inquisitor, Fane, has just as much of an attachment to Solas as a male than if he were female. Granted, I have taken liberties with headcanons and fanfiction to shape a deeper relationship between the two (I’m sorry. I’m a sucker for past lives AUs), but if most people, not just me, can think in such a way, then why couldn’t the developers? What? Is Male Lavellan too base for Solas to offer to take away the vallaslin? Is a possible romantic relationship too scandalous, even though we have various same sex relationships in the series? It’s not like I’m angry and kicking my feet like, “Why can’t we have the kiss scene as a male? It’s not fair!”. Hell, with Fane’s story, Solas and he don’t even kiss until after the Temple of Mythal! I’m serious! Maybe not even then! Why? Because, one; Fane isn’t an overly affectionate person; he’s subdued, but mostly confused of what he’s feeling. And two: I freaking LIVE for relationships that are centered around an EMOTIONAL connection; not physical. Fane and Solas were in an emotional relationship centuries before Inquisition; mainly, when Fane was still a dragon. So, that relationship simply continued once Fane regained most of his memories and Solas stopped being all, “You deserve better than me.”. Well, it wasn’t THAT simple, but you get the point. Fane and Solas grew close through learning about each other and overcoming prejudice that the two had about each other; not through physical actions.

Anyways, back to the main point, Solas should have been bisexual. I see the romance as a spiritual connection; not a physical one, despite the kiss scenes because even those are very reserved, very subdued, and very careful (Except for the first one. HO!). Even so, they didn’t even have to integrate those animations for the male lavellan model to placate people. No, I would have simply been happy that it was ACKNOWLEDGED in game that you were in relationship with Solas; kiss or no kiss. There are asexual people, you know? Just a thought.

Anyways, thank you for coming to my ted talk, even if it is a little scattered. My thoughts like to jump a lot. However, this isn’t me bashing Female Lavellan or anything. I just feel like a lot of people were robbed. Gender doesn’t adhere to emotions or ideals. Love is love; no matter the form someone takes. You love a person for their personality, not their hair, eyes, or what they have biologically. You love a person for their spirit, their mind, their way of thinking. The physical aspects are simply bonuses that allow you to see the person for which their personality embodies. THAT is what the Solavellan romance is to me, and that’s why I adore it so much and why I thought it could work for either Lavellan because nothing changes to make one gender more preferable than the other.

#dragon age #dragonage #dragon age inquisition #solavallen #solavellen hell #solas #inquisitor #lavellan #ted talk #I'm a ranter #don't hate me pls

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youneedasoultraveller · 3 years

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Is Nicky the only one headcanoned by people as bad with languages or are Nile and Booker seen the same way too (Andy is of course excluded from that due to her age and Joe is universally depicted as skilled with languages) ? I would expect Nile to be seen as bad with languages due to the American education system but it doesn’t seem to be the case.

Hello! Post-response me would like to apologise once again for the length of this post :(

I have personally not found a single fic where either Booker or Nile were depicted bad with languages; at most I found fics where Nile cannot speak languages other than English yet and you have the rest of the Guard routinely teaching her this and that idiom.

So, no, in my experience the only one that I saw people actively headcanon as bad at languages is Nicolò. Even though exactly as you point our if we want to go by stereotypes the one that should have been hc’d as such should have been Nile precisely because the large majority of Anglos are monolingual and the way languages are taught in their educational systems is horrendous to say the least (I will never forget my experiences studying Arabic in a Canadian university).

As it stands, Nile is shown using a couple of words of Pashtu, and if I remember correctly it is mentioned that she speaks Spanish in her presentation card, but if it’s the average American knowledge of Spanish “mi casa es su casa” then I would not call that speaking it. But these are just suppositions :)

So canon doesn’t give us much, that we know. And this is where headcanons come in. Like I was saying, usually people would not write Nile as multilingual but as someone who is in the process of learning several languages.

No one is indicated that she is bad at it, although if you ask pratically anyone in the world they will tell you that Americans and Brits are the worst at both learning and speaking other languages, because in those cultures there is a deep imperialist bias engrained – whether they are aware or not – that everyone in the world speaks English, so they can spare the effort to try to pronounce properly another language, or, God forbid, learn it at all. Nothing indicates us that Nile butchers or not other languages, and no one ever takes it into account.

As for Booker, he is French so normally Anglos would have also made fun of his way of talking if it had not been for Matthias.

And now I reach my point. The main reason why Nicolò is consistently depicted as terrible at languages is because of Luca’s Italian accent, and the fact that you can see he is not as fluent in English as Marwan and Matthias are, who are like him not native speakers. This even though the man speaks five languages.

I am not going into the whole mess with interviews with native English speakers who treated him as if he were dumb just because he could not really understand their accent (I myself often have to slow down and ask for a repeat, because some accents are just not as immediately intelligible as Anglos think), given that it has been discussed at length.

The only thing I want to stress is how this headcanon is extremely imperialistic, condescending and plays once again into the harmful stereotype of the dumb, illiterate Southerner.

Linguistic discrimination is a thing, and it’s a thing everywhere. By linguistic discrimination I don’t just mean that against people who cannot speak a major language (or the “official” language of the country they are in), but it also affects accents.Accents have everything to do with geography and class: it is a marker of where you are from, and plays into prejudices linked to the social standing and the class usually associated to that accent. Now, languages are a natural process, in continuous evolution and adaptation, whereas standardised languages (including a standardised pronunciation) are artificial choices. Just think of British vs American English: they are both theoretically the same language, but they diverge in several instances in terms of both vocabulary and pronunciation.Whip this up to the max when it comes to speaking a language that is not your own. The sounds and grammar structures of your mother tongue have an impact on the way you process a different language. That’s why it’s difficult for Spanish-speakers to pronounce S + consonant at the beginning of a word, or why Slavic languages have a harder H sound (again at the beginning of a word). Even when you have the grammar and pronunciation down to a T and are virtually indistinguishable from a native speaker, it does not mean that people who lose their accents and speak like a BBC tv host are any better at languages than people whose accent is still noticeable, or whose speech flow may be slower.

Having an accent does not qualify the level of fluency in a set language. Not speaking like a dictionary does not qualify the level of your intelligence (and I cannot believe I have to even say that).

And yet having an accent is politicised for classist and racist purposes. If someone does not blend in 100% with the majority, it means that something is lacking in them: usually it means they do not have the same level of education, which means they probably come from a lower class, or that they also are foreigners. So they are less than, just because their speech is deemed as not up to par with that of the majority.

@lucyclairedelune meant this when she brought up the example of Gloria from Modern Family, saying “you don’t know how intelligent I am in Spanish”. I want to make an example that is closer to my heart. Elena Ferrante in her wondrous Neapolitan Quartet described the life of a girl who was trying to escape from the material and psychological misery of the slums of Naples in the 60s. To do so she migrates North to study at one of Italy’s most prestigious university: here, however, she is bullied for her accent that clearly marks her origins and (prejudicially, since people of the South were in general poorer) status, class, and, finally, categorises her as less intelligent. Just because of her accent when speaking standard Italian. As a Southern Italian woman, I have often felt like I had to mask my own accent, both in Italy and abroad, to be taken seriously. This regardless of my academic qualifications or how many languages I speak.

When people describe Nicolò as bad at languages simply because Luca has an accent and speaks English slower and less fluently than his co-stars, this is the context that this treatment plays in. Subconsciously (or consciously) it adds to the image that a big chunk of the fandom is painting of him as dumb and ignorant. No one else. And the fact that (luckily) no one ever uses Nile’s monolingualism as a marker for being less intelligent is also because being American is still taken as the standard, as well as the fact that unfortunately Nile (like Yusuf) is going through positive discrimination by which she cannot have any complexity or flaws (starting from hardly ever acknowledging the fact that she herself was part of an invader/occupying foreign force which has bombed and killed civilians in Afghanistan, and was in the midst of a military operation exactly in this sense).

According to that specific discourse, Nicolò is being given every single possible flaw, in order to be opposite to Yusuf. Again, because this fandom, with its Anglocentrism and Puritan incapacity of overcoming black-and-white oppositions, cannot seem to accept that we have a beautiful interracial, interreligious same-sex couple of complex individuals, who can both be smart at the same time. I myself think that Yusuf historically is better at languages than Nicolò, as he was a merchant (and an artist), and I love this difference about them, but conflating intelligence with proficiency in one single language (because it’s only proficiency English that we have been discussing, let’s be honest, if the show had been shot in German we would not be talking about Luca’s issues with the language probably) is an utterly imperialistic, condescending and ridiculous thing to do.

I probably lost the train of my thought (and I had two beers in the meantime, so I am too tired to reread), but what I mainly wanted to highlight is that this mocking attitude towards Nicolò is rooted in both a wider downgrading trend of his character, and on a general approach towards non-English speakers that Anglos have virtually everywhere.

#nicolo di genova #the old guard #the old guard meta #the old guard discorse

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ahsxual · 4 years

Text

Perfect Day

Pairing: Arthur Fleck x Reader

Summary: You and Arthur are excited for your first date, since it's an essencial key for your relationship.

Genre: Fluff

Warning: sexual harassment (literally one sentence, nothing too serious)

Word count: 2,7k

A/N: I don't know how to feel about this one... I wanted it to be romantic and cute, yet I feel this isn't enough to express my feelings for him... anyways, I really hope your opinion is different! :)

Gif Credits: @arthurflecc <33

Today is the day I will finally find true happiness, Arthur thought. Last day, you invited him to have dinner at your place, since none of you could afford an actual date, and that way you could spend some time alone. You work with him as female clown for a couple weeks now and that's where you met him: he, besides Gary, was the only one who's truly kind and respectful, not some jerk like Randall who would always make some unwanted comments on how pretty you are. With that, Arthur got the courage to defend you, a gesture you noticed and really appreciated. That's when you decided to invite him as a thank you gift for what he has done (and maybe because you thought he was really cute and a real gentleman).

To Arthur, that morning seemed brighter than any other he had lived: he could swear that the birds were singing to him, like it was a sign from nature and destiny telling everything was going to finally be ok... as long as he was by your side. This time, the sky wasn't covered by depressive and heavy gray clouds like every other day: instead, it was replaced by the sweet scalding yellow sun and the gorgeous shade of baby-blue. Even the stairs weren't painful to walk anymore and the runs to the bus weren't as stressed and tiring as they used to be. He came down the stairs bouncing with joy, like he was a kid who just got his favorite ice-cream flavor for free. People even looked at him awkwardly, but he couldn't care less. Nothing could ruin this day to him.

Once he entered Haha's, his heart started to beat way too fast once he realized he would see you in a matter of seconds. He couldn't wait any longer, so he quickly ran to the room of clowns, hoping for you to be the first thing he would lay his eyes on once he got there.

"Hi, Arthur!" you happily said as soon as you saw him, realizing that he had been standing there for a while, staring sweetly at you. However you didn't mind: you knew his intentions were utterly good.

"H-hi Y/n! You... you are very... b-beautiful today." he finally got the courage to praise you, to speak his mind out loud, even if he stuttered meanwhile. He was with his red waistcoat and pants, and a white social shirt, an outfit that suits him just perfectly.

"Oh, thank you, you look really good too! And I'm glad you liked it, I want to look good for our tonight's date." you teased him, just to see his cheeks turn redder than they already were. You were with your date's outfit on, because you were planning to go home right after you left Haha's. You wanted to surprise him, however he arrived sooner than you expected, so you didn't have the time to change into your clown's work outfit.

"A date??" he seemed surprised for you considering your meeting an actually date.

"Yeah, sure. Don't you want to call it that way?"

"Yes!! I mean, i-if you want to..." he correct himself, after realizing he sounded too excited than he should.

"Ok, great! Can't wait for tonight." you said gladly, earning a sweet tooth wide smile from him.

"Me too Y/n, me too..." after sharing an intense and intimate exchange of glances, you decided to break the reconforting silence between you. That silence told and shared way more emotions than any possible spoken word, but you couldn't risk any other coworker complain about you two to Hoyt.

"Well, I'm going to get ready now. Talk to you later, ok?"

"Uh... sure." he understood, giving you once again a thin, shy smile.

You both did your work for the rest of the day, not wanting your secret love to interfere and prejudice your professional life. Both of you knew how demanding your boss could be, so you better not test his limits.

The day was finally near to its end, so you went to your locker to collect your belongings and then change into your clothes, before joining Arthur who was already waiting for you outside.

"Are you ready?" you asked once you got near him.

"Absolutely." he calmly, yet enthusiastic answered. You wanted to overcome your shyness, so you slowly interlocked your arms with his. You could tell that he was a little hesitant by the sudden affectionate gesture and seemed to paralyzed, looking intensely at the spot where your arms found each other.

"Arthur? Are you ok?" you were scared that you crossed the line without meaning it.

"Y-yeah! I'm sorry, I'm just... not used to being touched..." he got upset, remembering how miserable and lonely his life was... but not anymore. That's the past, and now you are more then willing to change radically his and your future as well, putting all that suffering and intense pain far far away behind him.

"It's ok Art, you are safe with me, I promise you that. But if I do something that makes you uncomfortable, please let me know." before your lovely night started, you needed to make sure that he would be comfortable: you wouldn't forgive yourself if anything bad happened to the man who supported you and made you feel like the only beautiful woman alive, and you being the responsible for it.

"Thank you, Y/n. That's really nice of you... I really appreciate that." he made that sweet stare towards you, one that makes you melt right away every time.

"Come on Art, my stomach is already complaining." he happily laughed, and you acknowledged his smile.

When you arrived home, it was impossible for you not to notice: he was quiet, yet so observant with everything: sometimes he would even touch so softly your belongings, and you would just smile, feeling nothing but comfort and acceptance. How can anyone consider me as someone so essential and special in their lives?, you deeply thought. But that's just how Arthur was: he always manages to feel like it's only you and him against the world, the rest being irrelevant.

"What do you want to eat? I can make your favorite plate... or at least I can try." you softly laughed, feeling a little nervous by your kitchen skills. You really wanted to impress Arthur... especially on your first of many dates. He then looked at you with wide eyes, swallowing his dry throat from growing anxiety. "What's the matter? Did I do anything wrong?" you started to get even more nervous than you already were, now being you having your mouth and throat dry.

"No, no, you didn't do anything wrong! I-I just..." he paused for a moment, not being able to look at you since he felt very ashamed. "I'm not hungry... I'm sorry..." he said slowly with a low voice, derived from his embarrassment.

"Oh..." you felt a little sad if you were honest: you bought a bunch of food so he could choose freely what he wanted to eat and make this day special by making him a surprise... but you couldn't blame him: you knew about the secondary effects from the meds he takes, the lack of hunger being one of them. "It's fine, don't worry about it." you tried to relax him, which you did since he offered you a kind smile right after, just like his big, yet fragile heart. You tried to think of something else: you couldn't miss this opportunity to be with him, both of you being so busy with your lives that the time you spend together is absolutely rare and precious, being as valuable as gold, or diamonds, or even more. "I got an idea!" a cliche, yet romantic idea came to your mind. "What about... seeing a movie? Or a tv show that you really like? While eating popcorn, obviously." you winked at him.

"Sounds like fun." he smiled. "But... I-I never... ate popcorn. Never had the chance to try it..." he shyly said. You felt bad for him... in our childhood, it's the most delicious thing to eat, a sweet that brings us joy, happiness and even peace, for some. But now, him being in his middle 30's, how has he never eaten or at least tried it?

"Then seems like you're going to have this delicious experience with me instead!" you gently laughed, trying to make him more comfortable. This time he gave you a toothy grin, staring at you like he was in heaven and you were the only pure angel in it. You blushed at his staring, so you decided to look away and do the popcorns instead. "Make yourself at home! You can sit on the sofa if you want." you offered while pointing to the most comfortable furniture you had. He instantly obeyed you, sitting on it awkwardly since he was afraid of doing something wrong that could annoy you. Yup, that was definitely the last thing he wanted to do... mainly on this special day.

Once you finish the popcorn, you sat right next to him, being way closer than he expected. Not that he minded, no no, not at all, but he couldn't help but to shake unstoppably by the complex emotions he was feeling from the warm and soft human contact... from the most perfect human being in his eyes.

"Before we watch it, I want you to prove this delight first. But you have to close your eyes! It will taste better, I promise." you grabbed one popcorn kernel and signaled him to open his mouth. He instantly felt tenser and his frail heart started to beat furiously because of your gesture. If someone had told him when he first saw you, that he would come to your house and spend these moments with you, he would've laughed by the immense unlikelyhood. But here he is: in your house, with you. He shakingly opened his mouth, slowly closing his big ocean eyes right after. When he tasted it, it was like he was 7 again, living his lost happy childhood: it was sweet, crunchy and tasted like happiness, this feeling amplified with you by his side. "How is it?" you curiously asked while smiling by his reaction.

"This is so... wow." that's all he could say.

"You want more? This bowl can be just for you, I will do more for myself." the moment you got up, you felt your arm being gently, yet firmly grabbed.

"Wait!" he suddenly said, removing his hand from your arm right after, not wanting to scare you away. "I-I'd rather share them with you... i-if that's ok..." His shyness was something you could never be tired of: it's one of the words that describe him the best, making him look immensely cute to your eyes. You felt genuinely happy because he was making a move on you: as little or even insignificant that gesture was to everyone else, it meant the world to you.

"Sure, sharing is always better, right?" you shared a glare that spoke the untold love for each other, yet not unknown. "So... what do you want to see?" you finally asked.

"I don't know... maybe-" suddenly he noticed the tv, that was already on, presented the Murray Franklin show, catching immediately his attention. "Murray!!" once he saw it, it was like his shyness was never there: the carefree and excited Arthur who you never had the chance to meet, was now shown. You even felt jealous for a moment, seeing all his attention was now in the show.

"Oh, you like Murray? I watch him from time to time, the show is really funny." he turned his attention to you again, seeming surprised by your answer.

"You do...?" his grin shined even more once he discovered you had more things in common, one of them being something he admires and even considers as a dream, the main goal in his professional life.

"Of course! Who doesn't like to laugh and relax after a tiring day of work? Laughing is the best medicine for happiness." his smile broke, slowly decreasing into nothing. "I mean, when you really want to laugh, not when you have to." you remembered his condition, so you corrected yourself.

"I heard that my whole life, so I guess you're right..." he seemed mindful, looking and playing with his own worn hands. You gently grabbed his hand into yours.

"Don't worry Arthur, I'll make sure you really laugh, not just because you can't control it or because you forcely have to. I promise you... I will do my best to make you happy everyday." these moments and words were unforgettable to him. He couldn't see his life without you anymore: the only way he could be truly happy is by your side, the only way he could survive... is only by your side.

"Thank you, Y/n. I... I-I really enjoy these moments I spend with you. They're the only thing that make me feel happy and alive. You make me feel like... like I'm real and seen... and you have no idea how much that is important to me." you felt so proud of him for being able to speak from his mind and heart without hesitance, and utterly special for being the only one who entirely owned his trust.

"You don't need to thank me, Art. It's my pleasure to be with you, a man who's so kind and respectful like you. If others can't see it, it's not your fault. Like I use to say, it's their loss for not seeing someone so good in front of them. But I can see it... and we all only need the ones who really care about us in our lives, the rest is just the rest. They don't matter." now was your turn to speak the honest truth. He didn't have to say anything for you to understand how right and perfect he thought you were: it was like destiny was telling him to not let you escape... because you are his soulmate, his one and only person who came to this world with the purpose of filling him, to fill his heart with pure love, compassion and comprehension. "Oh, the show has already started!" both of you were so distracted or, should I say, so concentrated on each other, that you didn't even notice what was happening around you: the world always stops when you are together.

Once you decided to see the show, you shared the made popcorn and some laughs, Arthur always making sure you would laugh when he would. Every time Murray made a joke, Arthur looked at you, concentrated on your expressions while admiring your beauty. It was an incredible spent night: you laughed, ate popcorn together, supported each other... with time, you even hugged him softly, only for him to gladly return it, yet shyly, as predicted. If you two were honest, you would admit that you wanted so badly to share a sweet, passionate and meaningful first kiss... but that has to be preserved for your future dates, since the respect you have for one another it's incomparable to any other: you want things to happen naturally, without hurry, because what begins fast... ends quickly as well, and that's the last thing you want to happen, for sure.

This was the last piece of the puzzle that was needed to finally go forward your relationship: you belong to each other, like your hearts are attached and only function correctly when you are together, like the universe had and still has wonderful plans for you... and both of you are so glad to finally be able to be by your soulmate's side... forever.

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leportraitducadavre · 3 years

Note

Hi! I have been reading your naruto metas and I have been liking them very much. But I was wondering if you like Sakura there's at least one redeeming characteristic of her you like at all? 😆

I don’t hate Sakura nor dislike her, I’m sure I gave that impression because I do focus mainly on her flaws rather than her strengths, but I have no problem with her whatsoever. I do enjoy her in the manga, it’s just that, like I said before, I’m not blind to her characterization. Sakura was not made to be perfect, no character in Naruto can honestly say it’s an impeccable cinnamon roll, Sakura has many defects which I’m sure to point out when asked about her, but I never denied her strong points.

I wish to let something clear before continuing to the second part of this ask, I don’t particularly hate any character in the manga, perhaps I’m harsher on some characters than others (Tobirama and Hiruzen might be the exceptions, in all honesty), but I don’t hate them. I might dislike them and see them as nonsensical or irrelevant, but hate is a word I do not often use (except, like mentioned, for the two characters previously pointed out). I do, however, find parts of the fandom of some characters I critique rather unnerving because I found myself often being attacked by my analysis of them.

It seems as if, to most part of some characters fandom, the idea of their favorite having flaws -as any character should have, otherwise it would be absolutely two dimensional and boring-, it’s impossible to comprehend, so they justify their idol’s actions with a poor reading of the canon material, sometimes manipulating the manga/source to fit their narrative, or personally attacking those “against” them. I have been called many names by many fandoms (one in particular) during my time on Tumblr, misogynistic and sexist are two of the words they often love to use, providing no evidence as to why they chose to label me as such. Throwing those words to justify why I’m in the wrong -words that, I’ll remind you, have such a heavy and deep meaning behind them that they are enough to dismiss any type of validity I could have-, is with the sole purpose of painting me in a negative light that justifies why I noticed (or, according to them, invented) flaws in characters that they weren’t able to see. It reduces both me as a person and my argument "against" a certain individual because then all my analyses are based on the premise of a prejudice that I have towards women (even fictional ones), denying any kind of value or validity that my analysis might have.

With that being said, and I reiterate, I do find some characteristics of Sakura rather likable. She did look for a new teacher, she did master medical ninjutsu (she did, however, have natural good control over her own chakra, but that doesn’t diminish the accomplishment) and she did care for Naruto. I do proclaim that she’s egoistical and often puts herself as the center of people’s lives (like when she confessed her “love” for Naruto because she believed she was the sole reason why he still looked for him, but, against what many believed, I don’t think she did it out of malice, but out of concern and, ultimately, guilt), but those things just highlight the moments she proclaims that she doesn’t want to see Naruto’s dream to be crushed during the Chünin Exams, for instance.

To be honest, I find the argument against whether Sakura has -or has not, more flaws than strengths rather nonsensical, why should it matter in the decision of ultimately liking her or not? It’s about what do you think about her character at her core, call it “chemistry” with the reader if you wish to do so. If you like her, you will (or, at least you should in theory), see her flaws as the things that make her three dimensional, they are not something to point out just to diminish everything she accomplished, but to give her deeper characterization. Furthermore, those flaws are something she might look forward to “overcoming” to an extent, she is only 16/17 and unlike most of her peers, she hadn’t experienced as much as them. She, unlike her teammates, was not forced to mature as quickly as they were because she was not under the pressure of either “saving” the word or revolutionizing it, nor was she the child of any prophecy, or was the sole survivor of a massacre, or watched her parents die, and so on.

#naruto #naruto manga #sakura haruno #sakura #kunoichi #anti sakura fandom

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fantasticsportsenglish · 3 years

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Fantasy Croquet

This sport apperead in Alice in Wonderland Queen's.

Book written by Lewis Carroll.

Publication Date November 26, 1865

This book is about Alice in Wonderland is a world in which a girl must make her way through life alone, away from educational norms. With the help of the magical experiences of little Alice, Carroll refutes the idea of his time, that the world of adults, with its moral principles (sometimes questionable) was the model to which the world of children had to adapt. Alicia's dream world is not ideal, and it is not without danger either. However, the young heroine manages to overcome all challenges thanks to her impartiality and her ability to judge things from a childish perspective, but without prejudice. Thus, Carroll presents the child as a fully capable member of society and as an independent being. With her direct and carefree style, Alicia mercilessly discovers the selfishness, fears and violence of adults.

Sport Fantasy Croquet: Well, it consists of hitting hedgehogs like a ball, using a flamingo as a mallet, and making them pass under the Soldiers Naipe, who previously must have placed themselves on the ground forming arches with their body, and later, they got up to leave. across the field. However, the playing court is completely irregular, as it is undulating with ridges and ridges as well as holes and grooves that make it difficult for the hedgehogs to move.The aim of the game is to pass the hedgehog under six Playing Cards twice, back and forth, and in the end to reach a stake driven into the center of the field. All players play at the same time, without waiting their turn, arguing and fighting all the time.

Rules:

Croquet is played with a mallet, four balls, blue and black with red and yellow, on a field that contains six bows and a central peg. It can be played in solos or doubles, in this case each player in the pair will play with a certain ball during the game.

The number of players can be: 1 against 1 or 2 against 2.

It is a game in which the differences between men and women, young and old, do not influence.

How it ends ?

The match is won as the case may be:

In the classic game, the winner must score 26 points. After the game there always has to be a winner who has to play against all the losers.

In the 14-point game, there is no way back, so each ball must cross only six small arcs and reach the peg.

You can also play against time: where the winner will be the player who has scored the most points.

Why did I choose it? Mainly because it is the only sport that I have really seen, or rather I remember seeing it in the movie, and now have the opportunity to report on it.

I would like to try it? I really think that if the way it is told and how the characters play, it is like a way in which they encourage me to be able to play it.

#lol

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mediaeval-muse · 3 years

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Book Review

Radiance. By Grace Draven. Self-Published, 2014.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Genre: fantasy romance

Part of a Series? Yes, Wraith Kings #1

Summary: THE PRINCE OF NO VALUE Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined. THE NOBLEWOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn’t just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she’s known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light. Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.

***Full review under the cut.***

Trigger/Content Warnings: sexual content, bullying, violence, blood; references to infanticide, ableism, torture, and incest

Overview: I learned of this book when an artist I follow on tumblr mentioned it as one of their favorites. I had high hopes after seeing so many 4 and 5 star reviews, but unfortunately for me, I wasn’t as enthusiastic as most people seem to be. While I did appreciate that the hero wasn’t a gruff, emotionally damaged, violent man, I personally found the story as a whole to be rather dull. There were way too many scenes that focused on domestic life at the Kai castles, and while that could have been an interesting plot in itself if the stakes were high enough, the political drama wasn’t developed enough to be thrilling, nor was the Kai court different enough from the human one to be a tale about immersing oneself in a new culture. Even looking at this book purely through the lens of romance, I don’t think there was enough there; while I don’t think the hero should have been mean to the heroine or something like that, I do think the relationship could have benefitted from developing a little more, and for Draven to have really dug into the nuances of what changes when a couple moves from friends to lovers. Thus, this book only gets 2 stars from me.

Writing: Draven has a simple writing style that fits well within the romance genre. It flows well and balances telling and showing so that worldbuilding doesn’t feel too info-dumpy. My biggest complaints are things that are easily fixable, like correcting typos and moving flashbacks around so that they occur at more appropriate moments. Other than that, I don’t have too much to say about the writing; it was fine.

Plot: In a way, this book is a Beauty and the Beast retelling: two people must overcome their revulsion to the other’s appearance before they fall in love with the good character underneath. Behind this main plot is a political drama in which several kingdoms are vying for territory, making and breaking alliances while a conniving queen does her best to stay in power.

Regarding the Beauty and the Beast plot, I really liked that Radiance seemed to adhere more closely to the core themes of the original fairy tale than a lot of other retellings I’ve encountered; instead of a story about a woman trying to tame the “bestial” man with her womanly charms, both characters in Draven’s book have to learn to see the other as beautiful by learning to appreciate one another’s culture. The main scenes that come to mind that do this well are the times when Ildiko (our heroine) finds beauty in the Kai death ritual (the mortem light) and when her expectations are subverted when it comes to the food the Kai eat (not the scarpatine, but the other dishes). I also liked that Draven devoted a lot of time to detailing why the Kai found human eyes so off-putting, and Brishen (our hero) comes to appreciate them when learning to read his wife’s emotions. If anything, my main complaint is that I think Draven could have done more to enhance these themes by tweaking her worldbuilding; the Kai were different from humans in a lot of ways, but so much was the same (court politics, social hierarchy, etc.) that I think the task of learning to appreciate a different culture wasn’t difficult enough. I would have liked to see the Kai have a completely different social structure, one that was so alien to the human characters that learning to see the beauty in it proved to be more of a challenge. Because adapting wasn’t too hard and Brishen and Ildiko seemed to have no moments where they suddenly realized they loved rather than just respected or liked the other, I was frequently bored, mostly because there were so many domestic scenes without relationship milestones - instances where Ildiko and Brishen came together as a couple, bonding over things that challenged them to grow as people.

The political plot, in my opinion, was a little ho-hum and wasn’t nearly present enough to be important. We are told that there are rising tensions between three kingdoms, and some people disapprove of the marriage alliance between Brishen and Ildiko, but it kind of felt like a background threat, in part because there were so many scenes depicting feasts (4, by my count) rather than political intrigue, or we get scenes like Ildiko dropping her mother’s necklace in a vat of dye and then Brishen offers to take her to the next town to repair it. Sure, a couple of bandits try to kill Brishen and Ildiko, and some treachery happens later in the book, but the middle section mainly consists of feast scenes, domestic life, or petty drama. I wanted a little more substance to the non-romance plot; perhaps the marriage could have been more explicitly important for the well-being of the Kai kingdom as a whole, and Ildiko has to use her skills to make the Kai more loyal to her. Or, Draven could have gone another route and made the Kai queen to have a clearer political agenda throughout the book other than just being mean to everyone around her. It is mentioned that Brishen and his brother are afraid to cross her in part because magical ability diminishes with each successive generation; maybe that could have been a major focal point or hurdle when plotting against the Queen, rather than an incidental detail that only returns later in the book. Either way, I wanted the politics to be more than just background, and for there to be much higher stakes that will be felt by more people than just Brishen and Ildiko.

Characters: Ildiko, our heroine, is a human woman who enters into an arranged marriage with a Kai prince in order to seal an alliance. I really liked that a lot of the story was centered on Ildiko learning to acclimate to Kai culture and navigate their court politics, and I think it was smart to show that her experience as a courtier in the human kingdom helped her survive the Kai one. I do wish Ildiko’s personal arc had been more about her overcoming her prejudices to appreciate a different culture; while Ildiko isn’t outright racist or resistant to adapting, I do think it would have been more emotionally satisfying if she had clearly entered the marriage with a lot of assumptions about the Kai that turned out to be untrue. If that didn’t sound appealing, maybe Ildiko’s ability to navigate court politics could have been more integral to the plot as a whole, rather than her rather passive role during the final showdown.

Brishen, our hero, was a pleasant surprise; he was kind and considerate, and he didn’t let his power-hungry parents turn him into a gruff, emotionally-unavailable husband. While I did like that he was kind, I also wish his personal arc had been more about overcoming his assumptions about humans or overcoming some other personal conflict, such as balancing his duty to his people/kingdom with his desire to escape the more toxic elements of it. In that regard, I think his romance with Ildiko could have served an interesting purpose: by teaching Ildiko about his culture, he learns to appreciate it more while also finding an escape in her. It would also be cool if he realized that duty doesn’t necessarily mean obeying the monarchs, but doing what’s best for the people.

Supporting characters were a mixed bag. Some, like Brishen’s cousin Anhuset, were interesting but didn’t seem to have a subplot of their own, while others, like Queen Secmet, seemed one-dimensional. In some ways, the one-dimensional characters ensured that most of the focus was on Brishen and Ildiko, but I would have liked a little less feasting and a little more high-stakes conflict that involved these side characters functioning in ways that developed their own arcs.

Romance: Ildiko’s and Brishen’s romance follows a friends-to-lovers arc. When the characters first meet, they instantly bond over their willingness to be honest about their feelings regarding the other’s appearance and culture. I liked that they didn’t start out as completely repulsed by one another, and the friendship bond made for a good safety net when Ildiko has to face the Kai court. I do wish, however, that there had been more explicit developments in showing how the relationship moves from friendship to romantic love. For example, I would have liked scenes where Ildiko has moments of realization regarding what a good man Brishen is, and where Brishen realizes how good a woman his wife is, both in reaction to major plot points (rather than what we get, which is stuff like Ildiko watching Brishen prepare to spar or something). Some of those moments are there in the plot as-is - I’m thinking scenes like when Ildiko learns what an honor it is to have Brishen carry a mortem light for someone beneath his class - but I think there could have been a more defined romance arc.

Worldbuilding: I really liked that Draven didn’t feel the need to overwhelm the reader with worldbuilding details, but I also think she should have done more to make the world feel more purposefully crafted. My biggest problem with Draven’s worldbuilding is that certain elements seemed to be present for no reason at all, or because they were convenient details. For example, the Kai make this very expensive dye called amaranthine, and though we’re told that humans benefit from trading for it, the amaranthine isn’t really involved in an interesting way other than for Ildiko to accidentally stain her skin with in a moment of thoughtlessness. Also, during the last big showdown, we’re randomly told that there are magefinders and a temple which shields the Kai from these magefinders. It felt like these details were inserted for convenience, and I wish more was done to make the setting feel like a character itself.

TL;DR: Radiance does a good job at subverting some expectations, but ultimately doesn’t have a plot that challenges the characters to grow, either individually or as a couple.

#book reviews

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ambarto · 4 years

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This is going to be a kind of serious post, basically what I want to do is explain why in my headcanons about Elves, and Valinorean Elves in particular, I often end putting various types of -phobia in their societies, mainly because I only now realized myself exactly why I do it. I’m gonna put this all under the cut in case people don’t want to deal with it, also there’s gonna be some discussion of bigotry (including real life one) of various kinds ahead, just to warn y’all.

I want to preface this by saying I don’t have any kind of issue with taking fantasy universes and making them a utopia where prejudice doesn’t exist. It’s a a great form of escapism, and I also have my hcs about certain settings from various fandoms being free of homophobia and all other forms of discrimination. I do tend to include a certain degree of general queerphobia in my works, at times, because I find it cathartic to have characters overcome problems I face in my own life, but overall I don’t have a problem if someone points at LotR and says “I think Middle Earth doesn’t have homophobes”. But I was a bit confused myself as to why when it comes to Elf society in particular I just found myself unable to believe that there would be no discrimination due to sexual orientation. I mean, it’s not like anything in canon indicates homophobic Elves are a thing, and yet, idk, I guess something just rubbed me the wrong way.

But then I got this like, sudden enlightenment and I get what the problem is now. It’s the fucking amatonormativity.

If anyone isn’t familiar with that term, amatonormativity is essentially the belief that all human beings should one day find an exclusive, monogamous, long term, romantic relationship, and that if you don’t you have failed as a person and will never know true happiness. Amatonormativity has effects pretty much on anyone, in our current society, but it’s especially hard to deal with for me, given that I am an aromantic person and the idea of being in a romantic relationship gives me hives. In particular, I’m aromantic and bisexual, and me and my fellow alloaros tend to be viewed as shallow, immature, sluts, assholes that only use people for sex, and so on along those lines, because we experience sexual attraction but romantic attraction. And this is in our current, Western society, where things like casual sex and one night stands and so on are overall accepted, outside of conservative circles.

Now let’s move to Elves instead, and specifically that bit about Eldar society Tolkien put where sex marks marriage. I’m gonna leave all possible headcanons and interpretations off to one side, and just take the text literally. To Elves, Tolkien tells us, sexual desire is something that only happens together with romantic attraction, and to act on that desire means to marry one person. I, like most people, tend to project on fictional characters, and let me tell you, that kind of society would be hell for aroallos. If there is really such a strong connection between romantic love and sexual attraction, someone like me, that feels the latter but not the former would be likely considered at least extremely weird, if not straight up wrong or broken in some ways.

What kind of reference would an aroallo Elf have to understand and explore his feelings? What kind of shame would they feel, by failing to be in the way everyone in that society would be expected to be? I can just picture young and confused Elves marrying someone because they felt physical attraction to someone and thought obviously they must also be in love, except they were not, and now they’re stuck trying to match feelings they don’t and will never have. I can imagine intense disapproval if two aroallo Elves decided to be in a purely sexual relationship, and people insisting of course they are married, when the Elves in question are not, and they don’t want to be, and are maybe straight up romance repulsed. It raises the question of, would romance repulsed, aroallo Elves feel disturbed by their very sexual orientation, because sex is so strongly tied to romance that they struggle to separate the two?

And all of this tirade about aroallo Elves brings me to the other side of the coin, alloace Elves, Elves who do fall in love but do not and will never experience sexual attraction. Again, if marriage and sex are so closely tied, then I can imagine how disturbing it would be for an ace Elf to be told they have to have sex if they want to marry the love of their life, and how they may come to doubt if they do have feelings after all, because they were always told they would feel sexual desire upon falling in love and now they just don’t.

And - polyamorous Elves? Elf society is so incredibly monogamous. They’re supposed to marry someone they love and never love anyone else again. Finwe had to straight up ask the Valar for permission to remarry, and his first wife was dead. What about Elves who fall in love with two people at once, with three or with four or with ten? Who find new people they love centuries after they married, while still loving their spouse at the same time? What of Elves who don’t marry because they cannot choose between their lovers, and torment themselves because they have to pick one, they can’t possibly have both? What of those who have a romantic relationship, but also wish to have a purely sexual one with another person, and a queerplatonic one with yet another?

I’m not saying these problems can’t be fixed in fanfiction. Fandom exists to find aus and fix whatever problems someone has with the source material. If you want to make your Elf society perfect, go for it, I won’t stop you or berate you and I may even give your fics a read, if they seem like my kind of thing. But while canon Eldar society doesn’t seem to show discrimination against gay Elves, it would be extremely unwelcome for aromantic, asexual and polyam Elves. I know that kind of society would not be a utopia for me, not without throwing LaCE and bits of the Silm out of the window entirely, and because I wouldn’t be safe as an aromantic person I also can’t help but think “if they wouldn’t accept me, who else would they not accept? If aphobia exists, how far of a stretch it is for homophobia and biphobia and so on to also be there?” The only kind of -phobia I really cannot associate with Elves is transphobia, and I have reasons for that, but anything relating to sexual orientation? Yeah, I don’t know about that.

Thank you to anyone who read to the end of this, I hope you understood what I’m trying to say because I’m feeling kind of emotional about this topic and I don’t know how well exposed my thoughts are. Also again, I’m not trying to attack or pick a fight with people who prefer to headcanon Valinor as being homophobia-free, I 100% respect you and your preferences.

#my meta #idk lowkey unsure about tagging it that but i guess it is a meta so #also totally ok to reblog if you guys want

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howtosurviveaphysicsdegree · 4 years

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Equality, diversity and inclusion in Physics

Equality and diversity are very important to me. But more often than not people who think they stand for equality don’t, because they feel like promoting more diversity in physics will somehow lower the prestige and make what it means to be part of the physics community less reputed. This is what inequality looks like. Because whether you are male, female or non-binary, whether you are Black or white, whether you are neurodivergent or not, these factors do not influence whether you are good or bad at physics, mathematics, or any area of science. People feel, mainly straight white men if I’m honest, that outreach and encouraging people to get involved in science, is not worthwhile because “the people who want to be scientists will end up being scientists” and that they shouldn’t need encouragement to get there, because dedication and overcoming barriers is ‘character building’.

But, with respect, I disagree entirely. A white man can grow up watching TV where all the scientists on there look like him. Where he can go to school and just say the words “I want to study science” and he will not face prejudice, he will be able to get the normal qualifications, not experience prejudice, and overall the route is relatively easy, particularly if they went to a private school. The statistics of those at Oxford and Cambridge, no matter what they say, still have a disproportionate number of people from the public schools such as Eton, Harrow, etc.

Women get a different outlook. I was privileged enough to attend an all girls school. This meant I didn’t feel overshadowed by my male peers at school, and I was just able to be myself, and I do certainly think I was somewhat blinded by this and I didn’t really acknowledge the amount of stereotypes and injustices that exist. But this only emphasised that they did exist by the time I went to University. At University I was suddenly in male dominated classes. Surrounded by people of so many different backgrounds in the overall university environment, yet in Physics it still was predominantly white men from public school. And honestly, I don’t blame the university for this at all, I do believe it is a problem in society as to what girls subconsciously see as welcoming or unwelcoming environments, and physics I believe is seen as unwelcoming to women.

The point of ED&I isn’t to put unqualified minorities into science which could dampen their prestige, ED&I is about trying to change the fact that minorities often have to work 3x harder to get the same or less credit than they would get if they were straight, white and male.

The bias of some men that they think, not even consciously most the time, that they can just speak over you because your idea isn’t as good as theirs, even when it turns out you are right.

The fact that certain members of faculty will refer to male students of your age as ‘bright young men’ and yet I am still referred to as a ‘wee girl’. This is a direct quote from one male member of staff. This choice of language is demeaning and makes women feel excluded and inferior.

For gender non-conforming, non-binary and transgender folks, the language used by some senior (male) members of staff belittling them, stating things along the lines of “all these boys dressing up as girls just to make an impression. Do they know how stupid it makes them look?”, again, a direct quote of a male staff member speaking to another (female) staff member who, I might add, looked extremely uncomfortable. This isn’t ok behaviour and honestly, it won’t change unless you call it out. Be active. Stand up for yourself and those who don’t have a voice or who are too scared to speak out. In addition, people being able to just openly say how ‘silly’ they think pronoun badges are, or how they think it ‘unnecessary’ for people to state their pronouns in email signatures. Does it affect your quality of life? Does it hurt anyone? Are you well-educated/an expert on this matter? No? Then don’t comment. No one is forcing you to do it but at least don’t belittle the people who aren’t being dicks. To be honest, I never wore pronoun badges or put my pronoun in my email signature before hearing this comment. But after hearing that comment I did both of those things. Even if you’re not trans, be an ally. Don’t make a marginalised community feel even more alienated. Make it normal.

The necessity that so many postdoctoral roles so often require you to spend a few years in the States and that this is not viable for many women with children who can’t just travel from country to country with a toddler or an older child who has friends at school and doesn’t want to move. This is an equality issue. Having a child doesn’t affect your worth as a researcher. It doesn’t make you any lesser, but it does make it harder for you to get a job that suits your lifestyle. That is inequality. By stopping a mother from getting a job she is well qualified for you could be preventing a scientific advance that that person could make in the future. Instead they choose to leave the field because they need security.

The latest news that the new honorary fellows announced by the IOP - there are more honorary fellows named Brian than there are female fellows. Does that scream equality and diversity to you?

Recently I was harassed on social media by straight white male, senior academics. None of whom I’d met before. Being called so many different things; being called Leftist and it being meant as an insult. Being called naive. Literally being called “one of the crazies”. But I will take this abuse and harassment even if it leaves me in tears in the small hours of the night, if it gets the message across and proves that free speech doesn’t mean speech free from consequences. Because it doesn’t and if someone is a racist or discriminating against minorities even if I can’t get them fired because my voice means so little I will move heaven and earth to make sure everyone knows their true character. Because they are wrong and this is a battle that they must lose and the day we give up standing up for ourselves is the day they win.

#physics #physicsblr #equality and diversity #edi #women in stem #women in physics #black in the ivory #feminism #institute of physics #studyblr #productivity #phd life #academia #systematic racism

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mahmancat · 3 years

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Why Are We So In Love With Cats

Cats and also their human followers are a misunderstood lot. This I discovered when I composed "Why cats never ever became male's buddy" discussing how the recently mapped cat genome reveals that, compared with canines, residence cats are only partially tamed. The reaction on Quartz's Facebook page was legendary. The article obtained almost 1,700 remarks more than any other post on Quartz's Facebook page, ever. What triggered this outpouring? I referenced the feline stereotype frequently traded among dog people that cats are passive-aggressive and also psychologically unavailable.

On the face of it, pet people appear to be less touchy. Our short article in 2014 on pets' genetic wildness (" Quit coddling your pet dog he's 99.9% wolf") was widely read, but it sparked minimal feedback from pet dog people in any way as well as certainly no outrage.

So why do pet cat individuals come off as so darned delicate? Possibly since they are. Research studies weightgal.com do without a doubt show feline individuals often tending towards higher nervousness as well as moodiness than the pro-canine team. Current research likewise recommends animal owners with even more aberrant characteristics are additionally inclined to feel more anxiety regarding their animals' sensations towards them. Whether consciously or otherwise, both media as well as society appear to love to massage this insecurity in.

Yet many in the pro-cat camp suggest that the bond they show to their felines transcends to what pet dog individuals experience with their pets:

Sounds quite bitter, possibly. But on this point, at the very least, the pet cat people are not as crazy as the stereotype maintains. Their animal of selection has actually greatly stood up to the human meddling that has actually in some way hewn chihuahuas as well as whippets from the genetics of wolves indicating: cats simply aren't programmed to please individuals the way pets are. And also this might explain why feline people seem to have an extremely deep bond with their animals.

Meowing martyrs

This disliking on felines thing it isn't all that original. The pomposity's real leader was Pope Gregory IX, who declared in 1233 that during Satanic masses, the Devil took the form of a black pet cat.

Throughout Europe edumattress.com , the Catholic Church tortured as well as carried out pet cat proprietors for witchery. Considering that having pet cats could obtain you burned at the stake, individuals started slaughtering residential felines a fad worsened by the false impression that pet cats triggered the Black Fatality

, which started ruining the continent in the mid-1300s. Europe's entire domestic feline population was really nearly erased, and also lots of 10s of countless "witches" were burned at the stake over the following 400 years.

It wasn't simply Catholics who had it in for felines, though; Queen Elizabeth I's crowning celebrations consisted of melting a cat active (so joyful!). To today, cats withstand torture as well as persecution that just doesn't seem to take place to dogs. For instance, individuals could claim this concerning certain pet dog types pit bulls or poodles, state yet not about pets as a whole:

Canines, the people-pleasers

Against that backdrop, it's not actually all that surprising that cat individuals may be tired of combating the dominating knowledge that pet dogs are a lot more charitable of spirit than felines. And also, scientifically speaking, this bias is unfair. Recall that canine genetics have been shuffled around for centuries to suit human requirements. While people throughout the ages were melting and also brutalizing cats, pet dogs were by their sides bring ducks, going after foxes, and also eliminating Attila the Hun's enemies, among others of the abilities they were reproduced for.

This brings us back to the development issue. Once again, house felines are mainly an item of all-natural, as well as not man-made, choice they trained themselves, you could say.

Dogs, not so much. Starting between 11,000 and also 16,000 years earlier, when pet dogs were first trained from old wolves, they have actually been bred to please individuals. The convenience with which people can reproduce them likewise suggests that human beings have selected for genes that make pet dogs extra appealing to them as well as not just for skills, however likewise for aesthetics as well as individuality avantsuccess.com .

That lack of enigma might have something to do with why Hollywood, the media as well as the basic population is extra likely to relate to dogs than pet cats, notes Mikel Delgado, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley as well as an expert cat actions specialist.

" I assume part of the [media prejudice] is because pet cats are less transparent to us they show up to have less facial expression," she states. Canines, comparative, are thought to act on their whims as well as conveniently mirror what appear to human beings to be familiar feelings. Yet pets have probably been reproduced for these traits, states Delgado. "They were fed since they can wrinkle their eyebrows, and also we bred them additionally to mirror our own expressions," she states.

The feline aura

Extra intriguing, however, is what turned up in the comments section at the end of Delgado and also Reevy's survey, in which pet dog owners of both types might mention on their pet of selection. Cat people rhapsodized regarding their cat's uniqueness, composing points like "my feline is the smartest." Canine proprietors, on the other hand, often tended either to celebrate their animal's obedience or make general statements concerning all pet dogs (e.g. "I love pets" or "pets are sweet!"), states Delgado.

The Facebook remark string lends even more proof to the pet cat part of that phenomenon. Dolly, Boris, Buddi, Cuddles, Snowy, Salem, Isis, George Hubert, and Noodle are amongst hundreds of other felines applauded in occasionally TMI-levels of information.

This makes good sense. Pet cats' freedom, absence of openness, and also self-sufficiency implies when individuals ultimately reach harmony with their kitty, they have actually overcome massive all-natural obstacles to develop a bond of mutual respect.

Why do we enjoy cats so much?

We're all cat lovers. That's why we're right here. But have you ever quit to wonder why we locate felines so amazing loveable?

With Valentine's Day just nearby, it seemed the perfect time to explore our attraction with our self-domesticated feline pals.

A few of that innate love could be instinct, based upon felines' one-of-a-kind facial functions manjacompany.com .

Konrad Loren z, that likewise uncovered the concept of inscribing, thought that human beings are drawn to baby-like features, such as large eyes. Because cats have reasonably big eyes symmetrical to their faces, also when grown, we feel an instinctual protectiveness over them.

The response can also depend on just how felines domesticated themselves. Unlike pets, that were bred from wild wolves to be searching tools as well as family members friends, pet cats most likely complied with human beings because that's where the victim was. Throughout background, any place people went, vermin followed, providing an enough food resource. Fast forward hundreds of years and cats have identified that humans will certainly provide sanctuary, safety and security, and food, without all the initiative.

That's one of the reasons it's so vital to have fun with your cat. He has strong hunting reactions that require exercising. Even if he seems material to sleep throughout the day, he actually needs an opportunity to show off his skill at pouncing, chasing, and scratching. Even simply a few mins a day with a wand plaything, like our Wiggly Stick can maintain kitty feeling frisky and also engaged.

There's likewise proof felines see us as part of their "litter," utilizing vocative sounds like mews and also chittering to attract our interest a habits that's just utilized between mommy pet cats as well as their kitties in the wild. Recognizing your cat sees you as an equal is certainly reason to dole out the love.

One more piece of the problem might lie in a pet cat's unique purrs, which they make use of to calm themselves when they're worried or to share satisfaction. Proof even reveals that a cat's purr can heal both pet cats and also humans alike. As well as there's absolutely nothing like a pleased purring cat in your lap.

It's likewise likely that several of us find pet cats to be a challenge, and that's why we discover them so appealing. Unlike pets, pet cats typically just reveal affection on their terms. So when they do finally show how much they like and depend upon us, it seems that a lot more satisfying.

If you're a meme lover, you could adore cats due to the fact that they are "made of liquid" or since "if I fits, I sits" seems to be their concept. Felines can fit in almost any container. In tight spaces, whiskers help them figure out if the area allows sufficient for their body. Yet likewise, pet cats love a basic cardboard box or a play tunnel like our very own Hide and also Sneak.

In all honesty, though, it's most likely the toe beans. Have you seen the tiny cute pads on the bottoms of their feet? Exactly how can you not enjoy an animal with such lovable toes?

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