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ego-meliorem-esse · 3 months

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Do you hc America to speak other languages or is he a fully English bimbo? To my knowledge, NASA requires Russian fluency, I don't think many other US-government level agencies require another language but I could be wrong. I know Spanish translations of official documents are increasingly accessible but English is still the de facto language.

What I will say is that the notion that Alfred, as a superpower in the modern age, does not speaks several languages is absurd to me.

The languages i hc him to know, besides English, are:

Spanish - first and foremost. Though Alfred does have more of a Mexican dialect when speaking Spanish, which slightly annoys Antonio. As it should.

German - very good at it! Gets the accent almost perfect. For Alfred, German was one of those easier languages he learned. With most nations, Alfred speaks English. And not really because he doesn't want to or try to speak their language, but mostly because it's rare that other nations expect this dude to speak their native languages. Not with Gil tho! Their conversations are full of German-centric memes. Alfred is a big fan of Mitten im Leben. Unapologetically so! He knows enough German to understand the shitty acting in the show.

Mandarin - this on is very straight forward, it's good business. He uses it too much for diplomatic purposes to find joy and interest in speaking it. Sad really, as its a fascinating language.

Russian - also very straightforward, he works at NASA for commissions and contracts and its very common to speak it. Even besides that, the Cold War required it as well. His Spotify playlists are full of post communist songs of Russian, Polish, Yugoslav origins but he'll die before show it to anyone.

Japanese - He stutters and takes his time when speaking Japanese. He learned it but rarely uses it nowadays.

Korean - man, he tries. It's a relatively new language under Alfreds belt. But his problem is that he sounds very flat when speaking Korean. Nowadays he uses it more than Japanese though!

French - oh this is a very fun one for me to get into. Contrary to popular headcanoning, I hc him to struggle with it. He does understand most of verbal French, but as a child he started learning it and at that point he wasn't really all that interested in other languages. He had other shit keep his focus. So, while he did hear a large amount of it growing up, he had few attempts to speak it himself. Even during the American revolution, when he made his way across the pond to woo his french patrons, he was mostly spoken to in English. In their minds he was not very cultured. A mixed race country bumpkin putting his big boy pants on for the first time. As annoying that was for Alfred, he had other shit to worry about. And Matt rarely spoke French when living with Al and Arthur so there wasn't really an opportunity there for Alfred. This is one language that he is constantly passively learning, which is hilarious bc it's one of the first ones he should have known lol. I get that this is a very niche hc and makes little sense but i find joy in it. And also in François' frustration.

Plus a limited knowledge of other languages. Alfred is trying to make time to learn more languages, but finding time for it is a challenge.

I'll expand on Alfreds knowledge of both specific classifications of Algonquian and Iroquois languages in a later post.

All that said, Alfred is, in heart and soul, an "English bimbo" 🙏

#what a polyglot little guy #hetalia #ask meli #hws america #alfred f jones #hetalia headcanons #my headcanons #historical hetalia

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eroticcannibal · 8 days

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No literally being poor and living in a desert what was my mother thinking.

Anyway what sunscreen do you recommend?

Honestly my reccomendation is UK centric. Soltan fucks. Its cheap for sunscreen, its higher quality than any other widely available brand and there is always 50+ 5 star available.

Assuming nothing has changed since I last checked, my reccomendations for americans is.... not american sunscreen. (This includes non-american brands being sold in stores in america). The US has less options in terms of approved ingredients and more lax legislation regarding UVA protection. Only about half of tested US sunscreen reaches EU standards.

This CERTAINLY applies to almost every black run american based sunscreen company I personally have checked. Honestly and this is just my experience looking into this last year take this with a pinch of salt, those brands advertising as for black skin, focusing on "no white cast" often offer less protection than other brands.

Its hard to check what is actually available for purchase to people in the US myself so if anyone in the US could reccomend something affordable with adequate protection (50+ spf and whatever the equivalent to 5 star uva protection, I WILL CHECK) that would be great.

Also fun awful bonus fact! Very few brands meet their advertised protection! Not every brand gets independently tested but do look up if any tests have been done.

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bedknees · 8 months

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You always leave your cool headcanons in the tags! If you're up to it, do you have some for Simon and Betty your up for sharing? I'd love to hear them 🥺

lol sorry ha ha! I like whispering in the tags a lot lmao. And sure! I don't think I ever really gave headcanons on these two disasters but I have a ton so buckle up, and thanks for the ask. ^^

Betty

She was born to Russian Jewish first-gen immigrants somewhere in New England. They were medical doctors by trade, running a practice together and everything. She is an only child. Her parents worked a lot so she was often alone at home when she got old enough.

Due to relative solitude at home, Betty became an avid reader and allowed it to occupy her time when she was lonely. She has a particular penchant for mystery novels that persisted into adulthood. Her general love of the unknown led her into being interested in real world mysteries.

Her birthday is April 11, 1966 - making her an elder Gen X and an Aries.

Has always been very smart, especially in regards to mathematics and has a minor in it. It's definitely her forte, if not made obvious by Temple of Mars.

She is bipolar II and has learned to manage it well over years, as long as no major stressors enter her life she is pretty good to go [crying cat giving thumbs up image]

Loves plants and mushrooms! She's especially fond of succulents. Very adept at fungi identification and foraging properly.

When she's not deep into her work, she likes taking nature hikes either on foot or on her bike. She's always loved the outdoors.

Betty loves all genres of music, but is particularly partial to Depeche Mode and Journey.

She also loves all animals, but really enjoys alligators and crocodilians. The first time she went down South and saw an American Alligator just casually hanging out near a river, she nearly burst into tears.

Simon

His birthday is August 25th, 1965. He is a Virgo because of course he is. Just misses Boomer status, as Gen X began in '65 lmao.

His father was a first-generation Russian/Yakut immigrant, while his mother was a second generation Filipina American. They were borderline hippies that met at a music festival, but break the (objectively flawed) stereotype by being very well educated with successful careers in teaching.

Simon had a younger sister and developed Older Sibling Syndrome that defines part of his personality to this day.

Stemming from his parents, Simon has always had a thirst for adventure. In addition to being exposed to camping at young age due to his family taking him to festivals in his youth, he also has always had a general inclination to explore the unknown.

Loves 60s-70s rock and roll a la Mountain and Jimi Hendrix, but just prefers the genre in general. This manifests later a bit in Ice King's love for Marceline's music, which is of course rock-centric.

He is autistic; his first special interest was cryptids, something that never really left him. He eventually developed one for playing the drums (also seen in IK later) and Cheers obv. His main interest is by far ancient artifacts. He was the kid that checked out books on Ancient Egypt every week.

Got his PHD in Archaeology by 27 due to being wicked smart and starting intro college classes all the way back in his Junior/Senior years of high school.

Unironically tuned into Art Bell's radio show because of his cryptid and conspiracy fascination. He never actually bought into any of it (mostly), but it was fun for him!

Is a cat person full stop. He will sometimes take walks in his neighborhood and be greeted by all the outside cats that he has made a point to get to know!

Simon and Betty

Met at a University-held science and sci-fi convention right before Betty was to leave for Australia. Simon held a small panel on the Enchiridion, talking about its history and his search for it. Betty fell fast and hard. They both did. After the panel they talked for hours about it.

Their shared love for mysteries and adventure made them a perfect match. They shared a ton in common and became inseparable almost instantly.

Were the couple that rarely ever fought, but they also possessed a level of obvious codependency. Betty was the first person to ever make Simon feel so seen and he loved her wit and eccentricity, and Simon proved so smart and sweet and genuinely interesting that their pull was magnetic.

#ask #anon #long post #headcanons #mymeta #betty grof #simon petrikov #petrigrof #atimers #adventure time

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historia-vitae-magistras · 1 year

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Expanding on the parental feelings ask (in a non-current events direction):

What do you think about Arthur specifically? He's the quintessential jaded bastard, as you've noted, but he also has those very strong paternal feelings. But he's also constantly quashing them due to aforesaid jadedness. So how does that shake out with his people, in general and throughout time? (Like, he's trying to be a better parent to the weans post-world wars - does that translate at all into more paternal feelings for his people?)

Also, if I can ask for two - what about François? More paternal because his people aren't disappointing (sorry Mattie!), or is he just not that type in general?

So after the war, the world, but especially the west, saw a massive baby boom. It's the first time in human history that the vast majority of children grow up to become adults. Some historians theorize this allowed parents to become very invested in their children and, when paired with the suffering the war generation went through, created a contemporary culture in the anglosphere that was very family-centric. People are just popping out babies left, right, and centre. Cultural shifts affect nations the same way they affect people.

So Arthur, who is rapidly losing hard power and increasingly reliant on soft power, is doubly motivated to act paternally. And that does reflect in his interactions with his people. He's always been relatively good with children as they are small and nonjudgmental and tend to like him, but a large part of that extreme jadedness that has coloured his worldview does dissipate somewhat. He wants those policies about the NHS, housing, public welfare, parks and everything else that increases the quality of life more than he ever has. He wants more education; he might even make a scholarship for Kiwi students together in Zee's name at Oxford when he downsized properties. When he's not a toff, drunk off his ass or otherwise terrifying, his citizens will just hand him their children on a train, tram, or bus like, "hold this for me while I tie my shoe, would you?" And suddenly, Arthur just has his hands full of some cranky toddler named something insanely British. Prunella or something similar. And the kid is now utterly contented in what's supposed to be a complete stranger's hold. But Arthur is the weird mascot of like one-third of an island asking, "Yes, good morning, how do you do? Rather a rude face you're making at me, little one, but it is quite early!" So the child is happy enough.

As for Francis, in nationverse, he's paternal in a very broad way. He wants his women to have babies and his schools and universities full of talented children. He wants to make the best of everything he has at his disposal. The French State was the first in the world with regard to what we would now call pro-fertility reforms. And in the aftermath of two world wars, I can see him taking a much more vested interest in the lives of his individual citizens. He's protective, he will absolutely throw shit to protest alongside them. He enjoys young adults very much, and many French university students have had an unexpected cash windfall if they impressed him. He'll move himself on the train for pregnant women or women with small children. He'll even help a tourist haul their overly large stroller down the steps because Americans never plan for facilities lacking elevators. But I don't see him enjoying time around children very much at all. Francis holds a baby fine and will find them a novelty if they're beautiful or otherwise charming babies. Outgoing, social and mature children catch his eye. Francis can engage them for at least a short while, but he doesn't enjoy and has little tolerance for any who are shy, clingy, picky eaters or otherwise excessively needy. The second a baby starts crying, it's back to its mother or caretaker. He's a fastidious man very attached to aesthetics, who likes to eat good food and drink good wine, has nice things and enjoys peace and quiet. Children are messy and unorganized, they're picky eaters, they can't exactly drink a 1997 Chateau Gilette Creme de Tete, and children break things and cry often.

#the ask box || probis pateo #Francois || temperee par des chansons #Arthur || stone set in the silver sea

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joff-season · 3 months

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I've never seen 1999's Godzilla, so I was surprised to see a song by rage against the machine on its album. And unlike other movies like the matrix that has songs from this band on their soundtrack, someone actually got the band to make a song just for this movie. And since rage can't make a bad song, this is worth a listen.

But let's go into this deeper. On the surface this band and this movie are a good match, ratm makes very angry music, and Godzilla is a very angry bo. But the similarities go even further than that. Godzilla is a character written to highlight some of humanities problems, specifically war and nuclear testing, whereas rage write songs critical of the government and its life choices. However, whoever it was that made Godzilla 1999 obviously had some clear misconceptions of even the surface level of the character, so most likely only hired the band because of the surface similarities.

So as such, this is not a song about the results of humanities interference with nature, this is a song about the entertainment industry itself. I mean, you've got lines like "they got you thinking that what you need is what they're selling" and "buy their products or get laid to waste", this is a song about the money centric nature of entertainment media. Even further, there's lines about overwriting American history to paint a better light on the country through film. To highlight how crazy this all is, the line "Godzilla, pure motherf****ng filler" (can I swear on this app?) in a song for the Godzilla movie.

It's important to note that Godzilla could have been that movie, it could have easily been written to contain those themes considering ideas presented in Japanese-made Godzilla stories. But instead they wanted to recreate Jurassic Park for profit. Insane.

Anyway, it's a good song too. The biomedical, pulse-like bass tone that opens the song and continues throughout it is sick and also really fitting for a Godzilla vibe. I love the way Zack puts emphasis on the syllables in "cinema, simulating light, I'll drama". Tom Morrello's guitar does not take as much attention as it does in other songs, but I do think this song is a really good example of Zack de la Rocha's lyrical flow.

And it's fun to think about this music playing while Godzilla walks through New York. Does he do that in the movie?

Americanize, americanize, view the world through American eyes

#album cover #godzilla #rage against the machine #music #Spotify

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chris-aok · 27 days

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American Kaiju Films

Growing older sometimes means discovering you're into things you weren't into before. This is the case for me and American kaiju films.

I want to be clear that I understand the thematic reasons why Japanese kaiju movies are better. Japanese Godzilla ostensibly isn't about Godzilla: It's about a great many things including but not limited to the devastation caused by nuclear weapons. American Godzilla by comparison is a spectacle of big monsters fighting each other and I'm here for it.

I had seen Godzilla (1998) and while I liked a few songs from the soundtrack, I never really felt any great attachment to the film or the genre after seeing it.

I remember enjoying Pacific Rim (2013) and finding it had moments of bad-assery in equal measure to its moments of ridiculousness (I blame Charlie Day). It also had a very memorable line from Idris Elba's character: "Today, we are cancelling the apocalypse!" Epic. I'm really glad Guillermo del Toro made it.

I think I started taking the genre seriously with the first instalment in the MonsterVerse: Godzilla (2014). It was dark, serious, and everything was menacing (As it should be: We're dealing with creatures that could wipe us out.) Also, Godzilla looked permanently pissed off: I loved it.

I honestly didn't expect to enjoy Kong: Skull Island (2017), but I did. Kong is a bad-ass. The backdrop of the Vietnam war was an interesting choice as well.

Kong has since been my favourite of the two "main" kaiju protagonists. He's more interesting as a character than Godzilla and I think the studios know it too because the latest instalment, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) is a Kong-centric storyline and Godzilla feels like more of a supporting character in it.

I think the franchise has gone completely off the rails at this point and the plots in the latest instalments are ridiculous, but who cares? We just want to see big monsters fight and these movies do not disappoint in that regard. The people have spoken and this is what we want to see. Like Werner says: "Do not avert your eyes."

youtube

#post #godzilla #kong #monsterverse #king kong #movies #film #cinema #kaiju #godzilla x kong: the new empire #Youtube #godzilla x kong: the new empire 2024

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glareandgrowl · 7 months

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Everyone Saw it coming if they are on my blog but

Kiyotaka Ishimaru for the ask game plsssss !

Ask game Here

Sexuality Headcanon:

Now, see, starting off with a kinda hard one... Taka's an interesting bean in what I calculate his sexuality to be. Most people assume Gay since... ya know. And while I don't think that's necessarily a bad take, its the popular take. And I am one who tends to shy away from popular takes. (I am also one to vehemently project onto the characters I love). Hence, I HC Taka as Demiromantic! (and demisexual to an extent...)

Forms strong emotional bonds with people close to him? Check. Only ever seems to fall romantically for those he is extremely close with??? DOuble check babeyyy!

Gender Headcanon:

Aaaand now its simple. Taka's a male. Cut and dry. Rather fondly a guy, I must say. He strikes me as the kinda guy who would be so excited to share with you that he uses he/him pronouns! He probably did some soul searching when he first learned of transitioning and other gender orientations only to find he was rather comfortable and happy where he was. (you know he spent hours studying to learn all he could) and would be all for helping others explore their gender too!

I know a lot of people hc him and mondo both as trans, but personally I think hes just very proud of his manliness.

A ship I have with said character:

I couullddd go the easy route and say Ishimondo... But you all already know that. Instead I'm going to go with a more... scandalous... ship.

Its KiyoKiyo. Korekiyo and Kiyotaka. Its my guilty pleasure ship.

Now, granted, I imagine this as a Korekiyo who has shaken himself of his 'sister's' grasp and is "normal" (Ie LOTS of therapy), so its more like the shy introvert getting dragged along by the loud golden retriever boy but I digress. Its sweet to me. Tall lanky and smol but strong.

(And YES this originated from Danganronpa Redemption FIGHT ME---)

A BROTP I have with said character:

Once again I could go with an obvious, that being Chihiro or Hina, but you ALREADY know this and I GO AGAINST THE ORDINARY!!!

I think Sayaka and Taka would be great friends :3

Hardworking, burnout-having besties who have to be told numerous times to slow down and take a break by their chiller, sweet yet partially annoying boyfriends.

A NOTP I have with said character:

There are so many... who do I begin with... Genuinely who do I begin with. Alr I hardly see this one in the wild but Kokichi and Kiyotaka I despise. Either that's just because I hate kokichi but-- BESIDES THE POINT. Hiro and Taka is another one I don't particularly like.

I get where it comes from, the few times they interract in the canon could be seen as brotherly (I GUESS) from Hiro's standpoint but-- Idk it just kinda rubs me the wrong way. Hiro's character in general does that...

A Random Headcanon:

Taka enjoys, and is really good at boxing. (Or wrestling) Like how some stories I've read put him on the football (soccer for us americans) team (or rugby ig idk.) I have a (self-inflicted) HC that Taka has slight anger issues hes still recovering from as a child and ABSOLUTELY uses the environment of controlled violence as a way to work off pent up steam. Any sport could do that really, but the inherent homoeroticism of wrestling is just *mwah* too good to pass up.

I know people like to HC he's into some kind of martial arts lessons for the same kind of vibe, and the art of him and Peko, but I find the inante physicality of using yer fists and body as a much more... *Taka Centric* activity. Idk.

Its the same reason he really enjoys thrill rides like rollercoasters and horror movies (if he can stand to not postulate the entire plot the whole time, ruining climactic moments and making people shush him.)

General Opinions:

HE GOT FUCKING ROBBED IN CANON MY BOY---

anyway feel free to ask me about more characters!!! This was fun :3

#longsheepanswers #kiyotaka ishimaru #danganronpa #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #ishimondo #kiyokiyo #ask game

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smhalltheurlsaretaken · 8 months

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Howdy there! Been following for a while and enjoying the content! I just saw your recent post on Catholic Churches and I do feel there are some legitimate reasons and defenses for rather decorative and even extravagent churches and religious buildings. I think certain arguments involve these buildings intentionally distinct (excluding the obvious practicalities you mentioned in Church History, such as persecution). Sometimes I think the mass or churches as buildings become a little too informal, instead being treated as social gatherings first and foremost, and not places of worship. I also think certain arguments for beauty in a material or physical sense of worship, can be made as the bible is filled with many instances of beauty in worship (at least adequately so) being an important in praise (the temple as you mentioned).

Now I certainly see strong arguments for things becoming extremely superficial or focusing more on appearances or ritual than on faith and love for God and neighbor. I also think if there are fellow Catholics of mine being vain about Churches, than certain priorities may be out of order. I will just say that I think I have shifted a bit on this issue compared to how I used to view it. I also apologize if I've responded rather sloppily, its been a while since I've read up on apologetics on this issue, and I am not a super talented writer.

Again, I love the account and am glad I found it and the positive takes on fandoms, faith, and random wholesomeness XD

Hey! The discussion about whether or not worship buildings should be ornate is an needlessly fraught one. I think it's fine to seek to honor God by putting our best into everything we do for him. At the same time, there's always a lot of worthy causes the money and effort can be put towards, causes that glorify God just as much (and I won't ever deny that the Catholic church is capable of great acts of charity and can be very serious about its duties towards the poor, more so than many Protestant churches). So decorated buildings or not, what matters is always what's within, we can definitely agree on that. God repeatedly says He despises the rich offerings made to Him when they are made with unrepentant, proud hearts - but people can take pride in their austerity as a well, and the offering of their simplicity can be just as repellent to God if they think they're made superior by it 🤷

What really, really bothered me about the attitude towards church buildings that I came across is that Catholics were blaming Protestants for something they were historically directly responsible for. Protestants churches didn't use to be barren before they were forbidden to have any churches at all (and their possessions were confiscated) - and sure, that was a very long time ago, but it was plain dishonest (or really ignorant) of the person to act like the cultural difference came out of nowhere. If that person's american, it still doesn't change that the European history of the different denominations is what's shaped them to this day. (And that's without getting into how much Catholic churches were directly influenced by Roman paganism regarding the emphasis on statues and altars, which is a whole other can of worms. Still, it's very ironic to be told we're worshiping God wrong if we're at all critical of practices and imagery that can be traced to pagan syncretism. And by the way, mega-churches with smoke machines and light shows are just as pagan imo, and people who don't like those aren't 'spiritually sterile' either.)

I don't much care for buildings either way, I've been in utterly spiritually dead Protestant churches, I ever won't pretend they don't exist (I'm not Protestant either, in fact). But to hold fellow Christians in contempt because their worship buildings aren't pretty enough (very subjective and typically Eurocentric/American-centric tbh) is antithetical to everything Jesus, the Apostles and early Christians lived and died for.

Anyway, you've been very nice about it, and I'm glad you like my blog! The posts definitely weren't aimed at all Catholics, just the people making those outrageous claims.

#ask #anonymous #church history #catholicism #christianity

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destinygoldenstar · 3 months

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I think it’s important of a reminder that I personally think it’s fair to critique for what a media DID do, not what they didn’t do. Because what you expect could not be the writers goals at all, and you only end up disappointed when it doesn’t do exactly what you expect.

Cause if I had a nickel for every January release of a third act of a franchise season I’m into that I’ve been disappointed by when the rest is otherwise really good…

Blah blah two nickels.

I already talked about the Total Drama Reboot ending. In all honesty I think the reception is understandably more split than anything else. Either you love the third act or you don’t. I just happened to fall in the latter category. I loved the first 8 episodes though. It’s more of a ‘This was great until it wasn’t’ situation.

And what do you know, there’s another show that also had a January third act that had me sum up that season.

Hirogaru Sky Pretty Cure.

This season was GREAT. Until it wasn’t.

I think that’s the perfect phrase for this season.

Now for context, though I don’t talk about it much in my posts, I follow all kinds of magical girl tags.

Magical Girls are my special interest. I’ve written more magical girl stories than I’ve published online. My OC, GoldenStar, can be classified as an OC if you wanted. Magical Girl shows just press my autistic buttons so much and I can never get enough of them. (Except Magical Girl Site, that show can burn in my memory and never come back in my head)

You don’t know what the genre is, it’s a sub-superhero genre that’s (most of the time) female centric, that involves (usually) a team of girls finding powers, having beautifully animated transformations into superhero personas with big hair not suited for combat, and they, with the power of love and friendship, kick ass and save the day.

Think Winx and Lolirock if you’re western.

So naturally, I couldn’t get enough of Pretty Cure back in the day. As it was basically the perfect ‘magical girl obsessor campsite’. As every season of the show has the benefit of having a brand new cast of characters each time, and therefore different lore that keeps things fresh.

I guess best way to explain it to western users is ‘Power Rangers but magical girls, and animated’

Which is an ironic way to explain it cause Power Rangers is actually an American Adaptation of a franchise called Super Sentai… made by the same company that made Pretty Cure.

I kinda had a falling out with the franchise though. That’s because, and let’s be real here, the newer seasons are kinda lousy.

Now, hold on, it’s not all bad these past five years. I loved Healin Good and WILL defend it. Tropical Rouge was decently fun and had some great episodes. But compare the seasons these past five years to some of the older ones like Heartcatch and… yeah, there’s a noticeable writing dip.

Especially when you get into Delicious Party…

That was the first time I ever downright hated a Pretty Cure season and got angry at multiple points. And if I wasn’t angry, I Aw as bored to tears. Not a good combination. Just so so SO much wrong with this season from beginning to end. (And saying that opinion got me blocked from Fandom.)

But then Hirogaru Sky was next, and yes, wow, it started out PHENOMENAL. I was blown away again and completely invested again. This season seemed like it was doing all kinds of shake ups to the franchise and taking the entire structure in new directions. While also paying homage to the first season with the duo team structure. I loved its main characters and their dynamics throughout the show. The designs are gorgeous. The first half is thrilling and intense and some of the best of the franchise since Hugtto. Back then, I was about ready to call this an S tier season and in my top 5…

This is why you wait till a season is done before you go say stuff like that. I learned that now.

Now, I’m not actually going to dunk on the ending this time. Because bottom line is: It’s one very stupid plot twist after another to the point where it’s like they can’t make up their mind what they want, none of the build up throughout the show amounted to anything, and the final battle is horrifically paced and completely botches the character arcs of certain people. Sora in particular.

Not THAT Sora. That Sora had an amazing payoff. I’m talking about Pretty Cure Sora, not Ninjago Sora. Dragons Rising was really good and actually stuck the landing.

But I do think we’re hating on this season for all the wrong reasons. I know we all made predictions about where the story was headed, and almost all those theories became wrong.

Like, I know we all predicted, myself included, that Shalala was the twist main villain. This turned out to be wrong. But they didn’t have to do that if they didn’t want it.

It’s the same thing with Total Drama. We all predicted Damien was a finalist and that turned out wrong. But I chose not the criticize that show for not making him a finalist because, well, the writers didn’t want him to be a finalist. That’s okay. Instead I criticized how they handled the role in the story they gave him. You know, what they intended.

Just because your theories were wrong, does NOT make it the end of the world. You can definitely claim that your theory would have been the better story route than what we got. BUT fact of the matter is, you’re not the writer. You don’t get to decide what the writers want to do with their story. And saying you do cause you’re a fan is just entitlement. (Go make a fanfiction if you’re gonna be that petty about it)

I keep saying, don’t criticize what the writers didn’t do, criticize what the writers DID do. Try and see what the writers were going for. Not what you wanted.

We all expected going in that Hirogaru Sky would be this epic hero-ideology season. This big philosophy on what it means to be a hero and the ups and downs that came with it. Kind of like a Kamen Rider Kuuga type of story. There was all kind of foreshadowing that Sora was going to endure quite a bit of an arc upon realizing her hero idealism was kinda trash.

We got that about the first half, then nothing. What we got instead was NOT a morally grey complex narrative. We got a simple black and white world where Sora’s hero idealism turned out to be pretty much perfect from the start, and the villain is literally just as ‘evil for the sake of evil’ as you can get. It became ‘I don’t know if I scan grow up to be a hero’ instead of ‘being a hero kinda sucks’.

So when that wasn’t the theme we got, and it wasn’t this morally complex story that we all hoped for… yeah I can see people getting angry.

But that’s not the problem for me. Because they wanted a black and white story. So they did a black and white story. So we gotta judge it by what they were going for.

Now yes, Shalala being the villain instead of who we got would’ve been preferable, if only cause the villain we got is just awful as a character and fails as a villain in almost every front. The hero role being muddied out would’ve been juicy in angst. But it’s not what the writers wanted to do.

So instead of criticizing what it’s not. I’m choosing to criticize it for what it is. That the villain was horrifically built up and a terrible character, and the final battle is horrific pacing that leaves no satisfying conclusion for Sora because of bad pacing. She gets slapped with dark energy juice and all it takes to snap her out of it is Deus Ex Machina from her BFF? Seriously? You couldn’t think of a better way to resolve that?

Just because it didn’t say stuff about being a hero that you want them to say, doesn’t mean they said anything at all. And if you want to rewrite this season to say the stuff you thought it should have, then go ahead. No one’s stopping you.

Basically, I think the third act distaste for Hirogaru Sky is justified, but people are pointing out the wrong reasons why it’s distasteful.

I said it once, Ill say it again:

You HAVE to have a solid third act. Because that’s what people will walk away from. If you try something fancy and screw up, people are gonna remember the botched ending rather than the whole story. Even if the rest of your story is fantastic.

#pretty cure #hirogaru sky precure #cure sky #sora harewataru #writing advice #writing community #writeblr

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sammysam999 · 2 years

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I have seen a number of posts about non-americans (specifically europeans) escalating "small jokes" by throwing back serious issues about us politics and how this is to gain superiority. And while I would agree that there is quite some window dressing and indeed a need to proof superiority I honestly think it's also that americans underestimate just how us-centric they often are even in discussions about social justice.

I say this as somebody who got to engage with various people in this kind of discussions in my voluntary work but also on the internet.

You got people who have their social awareness awakening on the internet (I think sites like tumblr and twitter can help to educate amd mobilize people but damn are they bad for nuance) and it's great I think because they get aware of stuff they didn't notice before. But the information they have is vastly focused on the US and for those from the US that is not in itself a bad thing I would say, because of course that's what gets people: The stuff directly affecting them! However many kind of stay to engage with things on a somewhat "superficial" level, by taking this information they read in posts and tweets and because of how social media works today they gain support for sharing that level of knowledge with others even if they never engage in actual actions to deal with the issues the point out.

Of course not everybody has the resources to invest themselves into direct action, and educating people is a fundamental part of activism, but... social media is I feel not nurturing actual education at times? More often it's about flexing who knows the most and the best correct terminology, and to show those who are "wrong" that they are worse morally.

This is a thing not specific for the US I would say, but one that generally comes up with purely online based activism. However, as much of the net is US centric just by numbers and who owns the sites we are talking about it skews discussions towards perspectives that are mostly applyable to the US... which some people seemto be aware off even if they got no idea about the way certain issues show themselves outside the US.

"In the US we got this thing called gentrification" for example is a sentence said very literally to me... Just to clarify gentrification happens outside the US too. It does, with a different historical context for sure but ...uh people outside of the US can know the term because it impacts their lifes too.

And here comes were the bitterness for non-USians lies I would say: It is a luxury to not have to care about the political and social issues of people outside your country, a luxury I would argue Europeans have towards a bunch of countries themselves, but nobody involved in activism, really nobody at all, can ignore US politics, because of its far reaching impact (Trump stopped US founding of ngos that offer abortion -> maternal deaths rise worldwide just as they did before under Bush just as an example).

It hits different when people from the US make an "innocent" joke about topics that are closely related to areas of conflict in your home country. I hits different when people comment your own political work with questions if you know this or that totally only american issue/or worse can't stop doing unknowingly the far right's work in my country by being all like "well you at least got no troubles with..." - The argument that racism in Europe is not an issue because it looks different from the US is literally a way for the altright to undermine the work done by activist against racism and yeah in the comflicts on this side you hear it often in a defensive way from Europeans (seriously people stop, racism is alive and active in Europe), but on the other hand you got people from the US claim that every example of racism brought up by people in Europe is "just" xenophobia not actual racism.

And the argument that we at least got good health care ignores how the neo liberal politics at work since the 90s also erodes the social system in Europe for decades. It is tiring to explain "No we also are fighting an upwards battle" to get drowned out not just in our issues we describe but also the ways we found to defend ourselves. And I am very sure it's just worse for people from South America, Asia and Africa.

Does the escalation seem overblown and smug? Yes. Is there often a part of superiority complex in there? Yes, too. However it's not just that, it's some real annoyance how we literally can't escape to have to discuss USpolitics in our activism, while some of the most basic fields of conflict go completely under the radar except for "innocent" jokes.

We could learn much more from each other and we can be stronger together too. The alt right is terrifying well interconnected internationally, especially the fundamental christian right: They got ties to the current government of Poland and Hungary, they were involved in Bolsonaro's campaign and election, they also chumped up Trump, and with that knowledge the current developments become much more terrifying as an international attack on women's and queer rights. Something many people in and outside the US point out since years.

If we want to fight back effectively we got to network as much too and I think being aware of cultural differences is key to do so effectively. And many people in activism are aware and use it as learning opportunity. But especially from people who just get into activism or are just used to us centric activism it would be just nice to acknowledge that their positions will - especially with the current way the internet is structured - always be just a bit louder as the rest of us. The same with us Europeans just shortly behind in terms of space we take over many other voices.

#activism #internet activism #us centrism #western centrism

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kaldurcalm · 2 years

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Between the dallas observer and gamespot, I'm beginning to think that actually I'm a better writer than many paid editorialists.

This is classic "white people go to an ethnic restaurant and rely on the the staff to make up for their ignorance." They did say they used google, but STILL left "we don't know what that is" in the editorial.

You are writing for a paid publication. You have the time to do a five minute google search to look up guanabana, which you named, so yes, you do know what that is. You were just told.

If "soursop" also means nothing to you, then I don't know why you wouldn't, you know, look at the thing that told you its name was soursop instead of sharing with the world that the strange new fruit baffled you, teehee.

This could have been an opportunity to introduce a lot of people to a new, interesting ingredient. Instead, they forewent information completely.

It took me one minute to find that the fruit is from the Carribean and has medicinal qualities-- though experts warn against using it for cancer because we haven't done any studies on it, so there's no research to back it up.

It took me two minutes to research AND write that last paragraph. For an article like this, you don't need much more.

They don't even NAME the yellow drink. Hello? There's a menu? All you have to do is highlight the menu items and select "search."

(Given the context, I'm guessing they were talking about papelon with lemon, because that's the only unfamiliar drink on the menu that SEEMS to be yellow in color. I'm relying on search images here, which aren't always the most reliable, but other menu items are familiar and I don't think passionfruit drinks are usually yellow, so unless they misjudged the orange juice my money's on that one.)

They also called tequenos "their take on mozzerella sticks," which strikes me as highly disrespectful. It's very US centric and assumes our food is the default, instead of assuming that another culture would come up with a similar food on their own, without our influence.

Now, it's possible that I don't know something about Venezuealan-American culture, but I did look it up and they date back to the 14th century.

They're not a "take" on anything. They are similar to cheesesticks.

This entire post took me somewhere around fifteen minutes and I did more research than they did. It's about the same length, too.

The only thing that keeps me from storming in and demanding they hire better writers because I can do better is that I do NOT want to work for these people. I don't want to be constrained by people who don't care about this sort of thing. I don't want to be associated with people who think it's funny to be ignorant.

Not knowing about a culture isn't bad, it's the way white people from the US in particular make a jokey thing out of it that's galling. You have a brain. Please use it.

#sorry not sorry #villain era i guess

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honeydewdonutgirl · 5 months

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I feel like we’ve got to talk about movies and the myth that no one’s going to the movie theaters these days, and how utter bullshit that is.

This is a long post, but I’m tired of people talking out of their asses with little to no context that makes it seem like the movie industry is just failing as a whole. And look, I can’t speak for how popular it is to go see movies ANYWHERE other than America, but simultaneously other countries have their own domestic earnings and releases to worry about as well.

I went to see a lot of movie this summer. I got lucky and a local theater did $7 ticket Tuesday, so and friend and I jumped at that chance and went to see, pretty much any movie we wanted to this summer.

And let me tell you, every single movie I saw, the movie theater was packed. Middle of the day on a Tuesday. Granted, these were summer releases, and this was is a nice movie theater. But I’m also sure, that unless people wanted to be going to see these movies, they wouldn’t be here middle of the day on a Tuesday.

Yet companies CONTINUE to use this myth to blame audiences for their low earnings. And I think THAT is bullshit.

So the meat of the myth: the “proof” that no ones going to the movies any more is supposedly evidenced by the fact that barely any movies reached a billion dollars, and most of them didn’t even make back their budgets.

You’ll hear this thrown around, A LOT. Probably alongside the fact that a movie must make 2.5x its budgets before it can actually turn a profit. Followed then by people throwing around large numbers without any breakdown of what those numbers actually mean.

But what does they actually mean? Well, let’s put the money where our mouth is. Some lovely people on the internet have done some very basic math for me, to understand that $100 million dollar box office returns, at ROUGHLY $10 per ticket, evens out to be about 10 million people, give or take a million (given the actual flux of ticket prices).

This also translates to: for a movie to make $1 billion, 100 million people must see this movie, give or take a few million. Movies that do make a billion dollars, do so through both domestic and international earnings.

There are ROUGHLY 330 million people in America (according to google), meaning 1/3 of the American population would have to ALL go see a single movie to make $1 billion domestically (which just… is not happening). I could break down demographics, but let’s keep this part simple by just accepting that, movies aren’t made for EVERYONE, and we all have preferences.

So haw many Americans actually saw the popular movies this year?

Bear with me, I’m about to break down some numbers so you can actually see how this translates to movie earnings this year (2023).

I took these numbers from Box Office Mojo by IMDB Pro. I’ll use the top ten movies from this year to make my point. I’ll also be using domestic (American) box office earnings, since the conversation around “nobody going to the movies anymore," from my perspective is often American-centric.

Barbie: $636,207,871 ~ 63.6 million people The Super Mario Bros. Movie: $574,934,330 ~ 57.4 million people Oppenheimer: $325,757,735 ~ 32.5 million people Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: $358,995,815 ~ 35.8 million people Fast X: $145,960,660 ~ 14.5 million people Across the Spider-Verse: $381,311,319 ~ 38.1 million people The Little Mermaid: $298,172,056 ~ 29.8 million people Mission: Impossible 7 : $172,135,383 ~ 17.2 million people Elemental: $154,426,697 ~ 15.4 million people Ant-Man: Quantumania: $214,504,909 ~ 21.4 million people

To simplify this into words, all of the top 10 movies of this year saw a domestic box office earning of AT LEAST $100 million. Which translates to a MINIMUM of 10 million people going to see each movie. That’s a lot of people. Many of which who likely do not overlap as an audience (And that IS important to clarify).

How many of these movies made money according to 2.5x rule? 5 of them.

So let’s get one thing straight. The reason why movies need to make back 2.5x their budget (before they can start making money) is because their budget is… actually not their total budget. The budgets we see are specifically for the money that was used to make the movie, it does not include marketing at all. The 2.5 rule then accounts for the money that we don’t know about, that was spent on marketing.

Okay, so understanding that let’s look at the known budgets for each of these movies, and then give a minimum number of people who would of had to see the in order for it to make back it’s budget.

Barbie - $145 million ~ 36.3 million people The Super Mario Bros. Movie: $100 million ~ 25 million people Oppenheimer: $100 million ~ 25 million people Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: $250 million ~ 62.5 million people Fast X: $340 million ~ 85 million people Across the Spider-Verse: $100 million ~ 25 million people The Little Mermaid: $250 million ~ 62.5 million people Mission: Impossible 7: $290 million ~ 72.5 million people Elemental: $200 million ~ 50 million people Ant-Man: Quantumania: $200 million ~ 50 million people

The only 3 that managed to do this domestically were the top 3. AND they even SURPASSED the 2.5 rule domestically. They alone proves that people are going to the movie theaters… when they want to.

So then? What about the others? Are nay sayers right? Are people just not going to the movies anymore? Yeah, if you’ve read this far you know just looking at the numbers, that’s total crap. Plenty of people are going to the movies.

I’ll be honest, such big numbers make it actually hard to understand in terms of what they mean. The key to understand is, Millions is a fucking lot, even in comparison to greater millions. A “small percentage” of Americans is still a large number of Americans. Don’t let the math confuse you.

The issue here is, every movie is trying to be a blockbuster. They’re having money funneled into them in alarmingly high quantities, (which somehow never seems to be actually going towards the people who are making the movie) whilst all competing against each other, and companies are expecting every single one to make a billion dollars.

And, look, in all honesty there ARE LESS people going to the movies than historically done. But let’s also talk about WHY that is.

Let’s quick fire about some OTHER reasons why people “aren’t” going to the movies.

The Rise of Streaming: Yeah, when you’re paying hundreds of dollars for streaming services just so you can watch anything these days, some people are going to wait for it to come out. I HAVE heard, that DVDs used to be added into total earnings. That’s not happening anymore, thanks to streaming services. Thus: lower box office earnings are to be expected

The Rise of Ticket Prices: Let’s be real. Millions of people are going to the movies, but also, the number of people BELOW the poverty line, is higher than it’s ever been before. And an IMAX ticket for Regal is $28. You better be fucking kidding me that any movie is fucking worth that. Especially when THE MAXIMUM you’d likely pay to rent a movie at home is $19.99 (early access). And most chain theaters aren’t offering ANYTHING special with that. And the theaters themselves aren’t exactly that NICE. (Many of them have had to renovate this year in order to justify ticket prices.)

Other Distractions: More than ever the world has so many things to keep us distracted, to keep us entertained. Combined with the other two reasons, uh yeah, sure, less people ARE technically going to the movies.

BUT… and this is a big but, to act like nobody goes to the movies anymore because every single American isn’t lining up at theater doors anymore, you’re kidding me right? Millions of people go to the movies every year. We're treating lower numbers as "little to none" numbers, despite there being perfectly good reason why LESS (NOT NONE) people are going to movie theaters these days. But yeah, with more lackluster productions than ever and over the top, unreasonable expectations for EVERY SINGLE MOVIE, it’s gonna make it look like movie theaters aren’t doing well.

The true moral of this story: American capitalism has capitalismed a bit too close to the edge, and company’s money making schemes have, unsurprisingly, come back to bite them in the ass. But let’s get over this nonsense of “no one goes to the movies anymore,” and let’s talk about some of the real issues that plague the entertainment industry. The real issue being with the companies who make the movies. I mean, the strikes didn’t happen for nothing.

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