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nocek · 3 years

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Don't spare us the long rant! We want to hear your thoughts!

Oh you are going to regret this ;P

So here goes my loooooooong angry rant about Taskmaster and also the Black Widow movie in general.

Let's start with my point of comparison. Captain America the Winter Soldier was a good movie. It's still in my top 3 Marvel movies as I'm sure is for many people. And statistically speaking everybody likes Bucky. He is like the most beloved side character right after Loki. I guess.

Anyway. My point is that Taskmaster and Winter Soldier have bit for bit the exact same building blocks: hypercompetent antagonist that is a serious threat to our hero who just can't win with in one on one combat. But then plot twist: our antagonist was just a victim and puppet without free will in hands of actual villain who is bland bureaucrat.

So why did Winter Soldier worked really really well and Taskmaster was just ehh.. ok?

Well the short answer is that catws was a much tighter movie that had clearer goal (and also that goal/theme was singular: good things get corrupted with time and sometimes you get to start over) compared to black widow which had to jump through too many hoops and still somehow managed it but it wasn't as graceful as it would be if they (as in executives) resigned from one or two hoops and flips and explosions.

And I'm omitting a BIG disadvantage of making a prequel movie about a character that they killed off in shitty way. Though that created one of extra hoops for them to jump through: quickly build up Yelena as a character.

And character build they did. Because srsly Yelena is awesome and I love her. BUT. That came at a price.

Lets compare to catws. The new character there is Sam (and kiiiiiiiinda also Natasha a bit but that's a topic for a different rant) who is nowhere near as well build as Yelena. At the beginning. Because he had time to be fleshed out and naturally grow in few different movies and then we got a deep dive in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

But Marvel can't give Yelena few movies because she will appear in Hawkguy an Hawkeye series and also Marvel is generally dividing their assets into: outer spaaaace, down to earth heros and magic stuff (aliens, androids and wizards ;P). But also they can only create so many things in a year.

So yeah. Yelena offtopic can be summarized that I love that we have her as we have her but it came at a cost of air time of the movie.

So comparing the movies again:

Catws had the theme of good things being corrupted with time. And the theme was underlined 3 times through Peggy, Bucky and then Shield/Hydra. Which are interconnected and also make nice scale from inner conflict of the main character to the outer conflict of the movie.

In Black Widow there is the topic of the past evil that never went away and is still taking away free will from people. And again we have it shown through 3 outlets: Yelena, Taskmaster and Black Widows. But there is also whole family subplot attached to Yelena and there is Red Room attached to Black Widows. So as you can see things are getting crowded. Which in turn make the theme a bit blurry.

I mean, sure, the Red Room should be the Shield equivalent. Even it could take smaller space because good Shield turns out to be evil Hydra is generally more time consuming to explain than Red Room bad. But still combining Red Room and Black Widows make things a bit crowded.

(There is a reason why the surprise subplot of there is more Winter Soldiers was in separate movie and was kinda handwaved and cut to minimum. But they couldn't do that here).

But it's time to stop my ranting about whole Black Widow movie and focus on comparing Taskmaster and Winter Soldier.

Because to be honest both are bare bones of character and more of an carte blanche in the movie. Both have barely any screen time yet there are colossal difference which stems out of:

first introduction: as I mentioned they are hypercompetent and unstoppable threat that you can't win with, you can only hope to run away (both done equally well)

programmable killing machine:

For Taskmaster we just get a scene with her watching other heroes fighting at the screen. For the sake of building up the mystery of character we think that "he" is just watching. Maybe learning or more likely just being creepy. The information about the chip and literal programming is given to us much later in the movie which makes this scene lose the power. idk how it will work on rewatch? Maybe better? Hopefully. right now there is too many new movies in cinemas to go for a rewatch and disney+ still isn't available here -.-

For Bucky we have literal torture scene. You just can't be more blunt than that. It also hammered the next point in.

there is human behind the mask:

Winter Soldier is introduced with full face mask which he gradually loses and then we have the big reveal of not only: that's a human but also that's a human our main hero cares about deeply.

With Taskmaster they fucked up it for chap plot twist. We are learning quite late that oh snap that's Antonia (that we don't really care about) and our main hero kinda feels guilty about her.

I think the big difference is what kind of character Steve and Nat are and also the way they reveal this secret. Steve actively recognizes Bucky by himself and is very openly shocked. Nat is passively told and shown that hey, this is Antonia. And there is no time in the movie for Nat (and for us) to be shocked because that's the 3rd act and we need time for explosions and stuff.

Besides, the problem is that all the big plot twist reveals are boring on rewatch (stil big props for Pacific Rim and giving us the monster reveal in like second minute of the movie, I will never not appreciate that).

Also on related shitty note. We the audience. Bucky is handsome and vulnerable and we can drool all over him (and oh man, we the fandom did a fair share of drooling). Antonia is disfigured and not sexualized in any way. Which I'm actually grateful for but there is no pretending that doesn't make a hell lot of difference. But that's a whole different, ugly and big topic I'm not remotely qualified to write about. I'm just angry ranting here.

they don't have free will:

For Winter Soldier we have amnesia + torture tropes which to be honest have been done over and over again and it shouldn't have worked as well as it worked. Bit it did. In context of Black Widow movie it worked because it was just one guy that actively broke through brainwashing with active help of the hero.

In Black Widow there is a lot of characters that are pasively "woken up" out of mind control over and over again by active protagonist. Unfortunately the repetition kinda cheapens it. Especially in comparison to main gut punch right in the feels scene in the other movie. Which is why it's not fair to compare the two.

So lets talk about lack of free will aspect itself. To be honest the mind control aspect in Black Widow was done really great from story perspective. Evil scientists perfected it to the point it being (bit handwavey but) completely impersonal but also completely dehumanizing to the subject. So I'm buying that it can be completely switched off in equally efficient and impersonal way. Even the way they explained it with Alexei the pig was great and terrifying... to a point. Because then kicked the main problem with this movie. Clearly some execs came and saw it and went whoa... that's too dark for pg13 blockbuster. Let's put some cheap jokes here. And it happens over and over again in this movie :S

humanizing flashback scene that ties them to main hero:

For Bucky, sure we had Captain America First Avenger but a movie needs to stand on it's own legs. That's why we have the flashback scene which shows us that Bucky cared about Steve. Leaving it at the narration in Smithsonian of "best friends since childhood" would be just telling us. And we needed to be shown and we needed a space for the "till the end of line" so it could come back and stab us right in the feels.

Also because we are ignoring previous movie Russos cleverly made us care about Winter Soldier because Steve cares about Winter Soldier. And we already know and like Steve so building up our main character gives us more mileage out of new bare bones character (because let's be honest, Winter Soldier is just that). Two birds one stone thing.

In Black Widow there is no such thing which IMHO is the main reason Taskmaster doesn't work. We just get information about cardboard cutout: insert cute little girl here (only told, not even shown actual cardboard) and all of the emotional connection to Natasha is: I know that my boss that I hate has a daughter, she got in the crossfire. Which means nobody cares.

All it would take is adding a short flashback scene. idk Dreykov is an asshole and doesn't care about Antonia but she is she cutest and most adorable little girl. She treats the Black Widows as older sisters. Hell if you want to make it more horrorish copy of the idea of Thor wanting to be a Valkyrie when he grows up or T'challa wanting to be a Dora Milaje. Little Antonia wants to be Black Widow when she grows up because they are badass and they are nice to her (and are also slightly confused by her) because she is nice to them and is only person that treats them as humans. Hell we could have short interaction between her and Nat. Just a smile between them would be enough.

You could get a lot of character buildup mileage out of such a short scene.

But it couldn't happen partially because the movie didn't have time for that but we didn't get that mostly because it would show us instead of telling that Nat killed a cute little innocent girl for her own personal gain. (well she thought she was destroying Red Room but mostly wanted to get away - vide she didn't check on Yelena or other widows. But I wouldn't hold that against her. It was put your oxygen mask first kind of situation. But still it would make her look bad)

Besides, that would take guts to actually show.

And technically they could have afforded to have that guts. That was last movie with Nat anyway. It would actually make this plotline about her feeling guilty about Dreykov's daughter and red in her ledger work. But well... It was last movie so they wanted to leave us with the most goodest and bleeding hartest and heartwarming mary sue version of Nat with just telling us without showing hey, she got dark past.

On the other hand if we had the rumored Endgame plotline of Nat running an orphanage. Damn that would tie to this plotline so well. We could tie the loose widows also. Dam we were robbed here I tell ya >.<

Ok I'm overdoing offtopic about Nat. Sorry

design

So yeah. Design wise Winter Soldier is like great. For Taskmaster, she sure looks cool but also kinda generic? If in 10 years you'd show me her and say it's antagonist from GI Joe or something I'll believe you :S (not touching the debate that in comics something something because unfortunately I don't know Taskmaster from comics. Although I hear that few recent ones were quite good so I'll check them out sooner or later)

snapping out of mind control

I mentioned before. It would be unfair and there is no point comparing main emotional scene of the movie versus means to an end that were repeated several times through a movie.

Natasha freeing Antonia even if she thought that Antonia will kill her because that would fair was great. What I'm annoyed is a cheap fakeout that went with that. It was just after the bombastic finale with explosions and all the cgi shit. Even without looking at the movie runtime it was obvious there will be no extra fight scene.

In catws it worked because the cgi pew pew extravaganza was a background noise and was part of a continuous fight. In BW helicarriers fell already, there was a second of dust settling and then Nat throws away the shield (uses that capsule). Tension just fell from highest place in a movie (quite literally lol), trying to rise it again for such a short moment just doesn't work.

But that's the general problem with Marvel movies. Bombastic CGI fest as grand finale that probably is "outsourced" and then actual director comes back and needs to end movie super quickly.

disappearing act at the end

So in catws there is mystery of what will Bucky do. We are given some hope since he dragged Steve out of river and visited the museum but thats all. I mean there is this annoying Marvel thing of skipping over the interesting ending of last movie and starting with next plot point. We were hoping for the grand roadtrip/hunt for Bucky but nope. We must run ahead with all the plotlines (same way I'm sure that the Spiderman is Peter Parker and he killed a guy thing will be already dealt with in the beginning of the next movie -.-) But that's bonus mini rant.

In BW they needed to wrap up to many plot lines too quickly so Antonia wakes up and that's all. We don't get a suggestion what she may do. The problem of the chip she still has installed is omitted. There is nothing. She just fucks off to lalaland with other Black Widows the end. Because we needed ending for Nat's actual family which was ok but also kinda rushed.

As I mentioned waaaay before (god, this rant is pretty long) too many hoops to jump through.

Which really sucks because if they added that one flashback scene just for Antonia and spared few more minutes for the overall ending it would work so much more better.

And I even know where they could have saved few minutes (besides the explosions thingies). The supply guy. One extra character in a movie with too many characters. In catws the supply problem (with wings) was solved with nbd shrug. If you wanted to show that Nat has her own web of contacts it should be more than one guy. IDK in Budapest there could be 10 second scene with neighbor saying hi nice to see you again we reinforced the walls after last time. In Norway we could see her visiting some special secret supply stash run by some rando before getting to the mobile home.

But oh she was on the run so that would be too many people. Then cut the people entirely. The shitty helicopter can be worked around with joke that I'm not on speaking terms with Stark rn and that's the best we can have on short notice.

Eh.. side rant again. Sorry.

So to wrap it up. I actually really would love to see what will happen with the loose Black Widows and Antonia because here they were really underdeveloped. And while widows were more of a group hero and we have Yelena as a representative so in a way it balances out but Taskmaster needed so little extra care to make her character so much better and I'm a tiiiiiiny bit salty about it.

#text post #long post #very long rant #black widow #black widow spoilers #black widow movie #black widow 2021 #taskmaster #antonia dreykov #i kinda doubt we will see her again #but one can hope #if anyone actually read through all of this congratz!#and thank you #let me hug you #(and I'm sorry it's so long)

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kinsey3furry300 · 3 years

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A very confused Star Wars Fan desperately tries to justify their belief that “Caravan of Courage” shows the way forward for the franchise. No, really.

Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve loved Star Wars. And I mean, all of it. The books, the games, the Lego, the spin-offs: I even enjoy the Holiday Special in a The Room so-bad-you-just-need-to-see-it sort of way. But particularly the films. But here is when we run into the big problem: I’m just the wrong age. The original trilogy launched before I was born, the prequel trilogy hit cinemas when I was already a teen and while I went and saw them and enjoyed them, I was at that age where I was self-conscious about seeing a “kids” film, and hyper-aware of how silly and cringy those films were in parts. So my indoctrination, my inoculation with the Star Wars bug didn’t happen in the cinema, and it didn’t happen with any of the main franchise works. It happened on home video, on a skiing trip in the French Alps in the early 90’s. I’d have been about 6, and this was the first time I’d ever been abroad other than to see relatives in Ireland. And I loved it: to this day I love skiing, but more than that, I have very, very fond childhood memories of this trip. This was shortly before I lost my biological mother to cancer, she’d have received her diagnosis just after we got back from the trip. This was when my younger sister stopped being an annoying screaming thing and became and became an actual person I could talk and play and share ideas with, this was before the combination my mothers long illness and my father having just launched his own IT start up meant I didn’t see him or her any more, despite the fact they were in the same house as me. This was this wonderful, nostalgic child-hood bubble when my family was intact, and nothing could ever go wrong. I skied all day with mum and dad, and would come back to the chalet in the evening. It was an English speaking chalet, I met my first real-life American there, and having grown up in the 90’s in the UK nothing was cooler than making friends with an actual American my own age. He had a hulk Hogan action figure with springs in the legs so if you put him on a hard surface and punched his head down, when you let go he’d jump really high in the air. We used to play with it together in the bath, back in that weird 90’s time-bubble when it was possible to convince two sets of parents that this kid you’d just met was you best friend in the world and of course shared bath time was, somehow, normal and appropriate. And fresh from bath time, tired from the day, the parents would give us some hot coco, dump us kids in front of the tv and grab the first shitty low-budget VHS they could find to keep us distracted while they went to the bar. In this particular time, in this particular place, that shitty low budget cartoon was the complete set of the 1985 Lucasfilm/ABC Ewoks cartoon, plus the two spin off movies, and to this day that cheap, kitschy, kind of bad series has a special warm and cosy place in my heart. I remember being enthralled by the world, in love with the characters, applied by the bad guys and the injustice they caused (to this day I’m still irate about that time Wicket lost his set of beads documenting his progress towards becoming a full warrior and the older Ewoks basically said, tough, you need to re-earn all those merit badges from scratch. This struck me as exactly the sort of bullshit an adult would pull, and pissed me off) and on tenterhooks about what would happen to the characters.

It was also, by a coincidence, the first ever Star Wars media I was exposed to, and the above combination of events probably explains a lot about me.

So I was surprised, the other day, when scrolling Disney+, to find they’d added Caravan of Courage AND Battle for Endor to the roster in my region. Surely Disney wouldn’t want their slick, cool brand associated with this old trash? Surely there could be no place for this in the post-Mandalorian Star Wars cannon? Surely this is a horrible mistake some intern made, right?

Unless…. What if I’ve miss-remembered? What if it’s not just rose-tinted nostalgia goggles, and it’s, in fact, secretly really, really good?

I rushed to my comfy chair, got a blanket, dimmed the lights, made some coco (with rum in it, because why the hell not?) and sat down to re-examine this lost gem.

And wow: it’s every bit as shit as you’d expect.

It has aged exactly as poorly as you’d expect a cheap, mid 80’s direct to video spin-off to age. Caravan of Courage? More like Caravan of Garbage, am I right?

And yet… I still enjoyed every moment.

And it was sitting there, in my pyjamas, watching a cheaply made direct to video cash-grab from just before I was born, seeing it again for the first time in nearly 30 years, and I realised something.

It doesn’t really matter if this film is bad, so long as I enjoy it. And if it doesn’t really mater if this is bad, then I, like many Star Wars fans, wasted a huge amount of time and emotional effort on being butthurt about stuff I didn’t like about the Rise of Skywalker and it’s ilk. Because somewhere, right now, a tired and frustrated parent is putting Disney+ on to keep their kids quiet for two hours. And they won’t think too hard about what they put on, so long as it keeps little Timmy busy for a bit. Somewhere, right now, a kid is watching Rise of Skywalker, and it’s the first Star Wars media they’ve ever seen.

And that’s okay. Because we don’t know what that kids home life is like. We don’t know if it’s good or bad. Maybe it’s great, maybe it’s about to take a dramatic plunge like mine did, and this moment here will be the cosy, warm memory they look back on in 30 years time, and that’s beautiful. They’re getting introduced to a fun, wonderful fantasy world that could be with them all their lives, through good times and bad, and as fans we should be happy about that.

Star Wars will never, die: it’s too darn profitable, Disney will never let it. And while I hope they learn from their mistakes and make sure every future Star Wars is a timeless gem of story-telling, statistically, if you keep making enough films, some of them will be bad. And while I’d like them all to be great, it’s still okay if they’re bad.

Because nothing can take away my memories of that week in that chalet. Nothing can take-away my memories of when they put the original trilogy on in cinemas for the special edition and I had my jaw hit the floor with how good it was on the big screen, not knowing or caring who shot first. Nothing can take away you memories of the Original Trilogy, the Prequels, or the Clone Wars. Nothing can tarnish the bits of the sequil trilogy that you like, and there are good bits in there.

But wait, what about continuity? What about the sacred, perfect written time-line that used to exist?

Well, what about it? Have you seen any other big, epic fantasy universe before? They’re all a mess. A work of fiction, particularly fantasy, can be extensive, or tightly written, but not both. Harry Potter is only seven books, and the last two feel, tonally, like they’re from an entirely different series. I love them, but the grim-dark kicked in so fast you’ll get whiplash. The Hobbit is a perfect written self-contained novel, and LOTR is *The* big boy high-fantasy trilogy: fast forward 50 years, and Christopher Tolkien is desperately squeezing every last drop of money out of his father’s corpse by finishing and publishing every unfinished note JRR ever wrote right down to his shopping lists. Even Dune goes of the rails with sequels. I can only think of four fantasy works that are both extensive and consistently tightly written, Song of Ice and Fire, Wheel of Time, Malazan: Book of the Fallen and Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe. And even then, the prequels and spin-offs mess with the timelines: the Dunk and Egg novella’s change some character’s canonical ages and timelines, Wheel of Time was going slowly off the rails even before the Jordan died, Forge of Darkness made what was a good metaphor for the creation of it’s world into a literal war deep in the past, and Sanderson’s first Novel Elantris got a re-write to bring it more in line with the rest of the shared universe. The MCU, oft held up as the modern example of tightly planned, well thought out ongoing storytelling, is a lie: it was never as pre-planned out as Disney wants us to think; the first Iron Man, apparently, barely had a script, with Downey ad-lib-ing most of his scenes. None of the MCU films are direct sequels to each-other other than Infinity war and Endgame. There are three Iron Man films, and Three Thor films, and none continue an ongoing story line across multiple films, and the Cap films barely continue an arc, but only where Cap’s relationship with Natasha and Bucky is involved. Much like these, Star War’s cannon is a complete, nightmarish, confusing, tangled, illogical mess. And it has been since 1984, as Caravan of Courage proves. It was never consistent and well planned.

And that’s okay.

I used to care about plot holes. I used to care about which works were cannon in Star Wars lore. I’m over that now. I’m happy to imagine the books, films and games not as a blow-by-blow historical account of a galaxy far far away, but as campfire stories from within this fun, imaginative world that we’re all invited to listen to. Stories that are in-universe myth and folklore, that we can all snuggle up and listen to while drinking highly alcoholic rum and remembering better times, knowing that wherever the future throws at us, no matter how the world goes to hell around us, we’ll still have the memories, and the ability to make our own new stories in the wonderful Star Wars world we all share.

And that’s okay. No, more than that: that’s beautiful.

Also Star Wars is completely unambiguous on the fact we’re allowed to kill fascists no matter how many times they keep coming back with a new logo, so that’s timely I guess.

So, there’s my hot take two-years after everyone else stopped caring about this stuff, as per bloody usual. Tell me why I’m wrong below, and does anyone else have any truly awful spin-off shows that they kind of have a nostalgic soft spot for?

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crowdvscritic · 3 years

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round up // NOVEMBER 20

Hi, I’m tired. Actually, my friend Celeste created a piece of art that puts the emphasis needed on that sentiment:

I’m very tired. November felt like it was three years and also felt like it went by in a blink and also I’m not sure where October ended and November began—how does time work like that? (I’ve yet to see Tenet, but maybe that will explain it.) But like Michael Scott, somehow I manage, and lately it’s been like this:

Late-night Etsy scrolling. Browsing beautiful, non-big-box-store artwork is very calming just before I go to bed. I’d recommend Etsy stores like Celeste’s chr paperie shop, which I know from experience is full of great Christmas gift ideas.

Taking a day off of work to do laundry. I’m not sure if it’s more #adulting that I did that or that I was excited to do that.

Eating Ghiradelli chocolate chips straight from the bag. I actually don’t recommend this as a healthy option, but this is also not a health blog.

Watching lots and lots of ‘80s movies. One day I’ll ask a therapist why this decade of films is so comforting for me despite its many flaws, but for now I’m just rolling with it.

Reading. Have you heard of this? It’s a form of entertainment but doesn’t require screens—wild!

Memes. All good Pippin “Fool of a” Took jokes are welcome here.

Leaning into the Christmas spirit by ordering that Starbucks peppermint mocha, making plans to watch everything in that TCM Christmas book I haven’t seen, and keeping the lights on my hot pink tinsel tree on all day as I work from home.

This month’s Round Up is full of stuff that made me smile and stuff that sucked me into its world—I think they’ll do the same for you, too.

November Crowd-Pleasers

Sister Act (1992)

If in four years you aren’t in an emotional state to watch election results roll in, I recommend watching Whoopi Goldberg pretend to be a nun for 100 minutes. (Though, incidentally, if you want to watch that clip edited to specifically depict how the results came in this year, you’ll need to watch Sister Act 2.) This musical-comedy is about as feel-good as it gets, meaning there’s no reason you should wait four more years to watch it. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

Nevada Memes

Speaking of election results, Nevada memes. That’s it—that’s the tweet. Vulture has a round up of some of the best.

youtube

SNL Round Up

Laugh and enjoy!

“Cinema Classics: The Birds” (4605 with John Mulaney)

“Uncle Ben” (4606 with Dave Chappelle)

RoboCop (1987)

I’m not surprised I liked RoboCop, but I am surprised at why I liked RoboCop. Not only is this a boss action blockbuster, it’s an investigation into consumerism and the commodification of the human body. It’s also a critique of institutions that treat crime like statistics instead of actions done by people that impact people. That said, it’s also movie about a guy who’s fused with a robot and melts another guy’s face off with toxic sludge, so there’s a reason I’m not listing this under the Critic section. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10

Double Feature – ‘80s Comedies: National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) + Major League (1989)

The ‘80s-palooza is in full swing! In Vacation (Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10), Chevy Chase just wants to spend time with his family on a vacation to Wally World, but wouldn’t you know it, Murphy’s Law kicks into gear as soon as the Griswold family shifts from out of Park. The brilliance of the movie is that every one of these terrible things is plausible, but the Griswolds create the biggest problems themselves. In Major League (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6.5/10), Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, and Wesley Snipes are Cleveland’s last hope for a winning baseball team. Like the Griswolds, mishaps and hijinks ensue in their attempt to prevent their greedy owner from moving the Indians to Miami, but the real win is this movie totally gets baseball fans. Like most ‘80s movies, not everything in this pair has aged well, but they brought some laughs when I needed them most.

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens (2020)

They’re born a minute apart in the same hospital, but they don’t meet until their 30th birthday on New Year’s Day. So, yes, it’s a little bit Serendipity, and it’s a little bit sappy, but those are both marks in this book’s favor. This Time Next Year is a time-hopping rom-com with lots of almost-meet-cutes that will have you laughing, believing in romantic twists of fate, and finding hope for the new year.

Double Feature – ‘80s Angsty Teens: Teen Wolf (1985) + Uncle Buck (1989)

In the ‘80s, Hollywood finally understood the angsty teen, and this pair of comedies isn’t interested in the melodrama earlier movies like Rebel Without a Cause were depicting. (I’d recommend Rebel, but not if you want to look back on your teen years with any sense of humor.) In Teen Wolf (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 5/10), Michael J. Fox discovers he’s a werewolf.one that looks more like the kid in Jumanji than any other portrayal of a werewolf you’ve seen. It’s a plot so ‘80s and so bizarre you won’t believe this movie was greenlit.

In Uncle Buck (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), John Candy is attempting to connect with the nieces and nephew he hasn’t seen in years, including one moody high schooler. (Plus, baby Gaby Hoffman and pre-Home Alone Macauley Culkin!) This is my second pick from one of my all-time fave filmmakers, John Hughes (along with National Lampoon’s Vacation, above), and it’s one more entry that balances heart and humor in a way only he could do. You can see where I rank this movie in Hughes’s pantheon on Letterboxd.

Lord of the Rings memes

This month on SO IT’S A SHOW?, Kyla and I revisited The Lord of the Rings, a trilogy we love almost as much as we love Gilmore Girls. You can listen to our episode about the series on your fave podcast app, and you can laugh through hundreds of memes like I did for “research” on Twitter.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (2019)

Most adults are afraid of children’s temper tantrums, but can you imagine how terrified you’d be if they caught on fire in their fits of rage? That’s the premise of this novel, which begins when an aimless twentysomething becomes the nanny of a Tennessee politician’s twins who burst into flames when they get emotional. The book is filled with laugh-out-loud moments but never leaves behind the human emotion you need to make a magical realistic story.

An Officer and a Gentlemen (1982)

Speaking of aimless twentysomethings and emotion, feel free to laugh, cry, and swoon through this melodrama in the ‘80s canon. Richard Gere meanders his way into the Navy when he has nowhere else to go, and he tries to survive basic training, work through his family issues, and figure out his future as he also falls in love with Debra Winger. So, yeah, it’s a schamltzier version of Top Gun, but it’s schmaltz at its finest. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

November Critic Picks

Double Feature – ‘40s Amensia Romances: Random Harvest (1942) + The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

Speaking of schmaltz at its finest, let me share a few more titles fitting that description. In Random Harvest (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Greer Garson falls in love with a veteran who can’t remember his life before he left for war. In The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Gene Tierney discovers a ghost played by a crotchety Rex Harrison in her new home. Mild spoiler: Both feature amnesiac plot developments, and while amnesia has become a cliché in the long history of romance films, Harvest is moving enough and Mr. Muir is charming enough that you won’t roll your eyes. You can see these and more romances complicated by forced forgetfulness in this Letterboxd round up.

The African Queen (1951)

It’s Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn directed by John Huston—I mean, I don’t feel like I need to explain why this is a winner. Bogart (in his Oscar-winning role) and Hepburn star in a two-hander script, dominating the screen time except for a select few scenes with supporting cast. The pair fight for survival while cruising on a small boat called The African Queen during World War I (in Africa, natch), and the two make this small story feel grand and epic. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

A young man’s (Dennis Price) mother is disowned from their wealthy family because she marries for love. After her death, he seeks vengeance by killing all of the family members ahead of him in line to be the Duke D'Ascoyne. The twist? All of his victims are played by Sir Alec Guinness! Almost every character in this black comedy is a terrible person, so you won’t be too sorry to see them go—you can just enjoy the creative “accidents” he stages and stay in suspense on whether our “hero” gets his comeuppance. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1937)

What would you do if you found out you were to be someone’s eighth wife? Well, it’s probably not what Claudette Colbert does in this screwball comedy that reminds me a bit of Love Crazy. This isn’t the first time I’ve recommended Colbert, Gary Cooper, or Ernst Lubitsch films, so it’s no surprise these stars and this director can make magic together in this hilarious battle of the wills. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

The Red Shoes (1948)

I love stories about the competition between your life and your art, and The Red Shoes makes that competition literal. Moira Shearer plays a ballerina who feels life is meaningless without dancing—then she falls in love. That’s an oversimplification of a rich character study and some of the most beautiful ballet on film, but I can’t do it justice in a short paragraph. Just watch (perhaps while you’re putting up your hot pink tinsel tree?) and soak in all the goodness. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 10/10

The Third Man (1949)

Everybody loves to talk about Citizen Kane, and with the release of Mank on Netflix, it’s newsworthy again. But don’t miss this other ‘40s team up of Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles. Cotten is a writer digging for the truth of his friend’s (Welles) death in a mysterious car accident. Eyewitness accounts differ on what happened, and who was the third man at the scene only one witness remembers? 71 years later, this movie is still tense, and this actor pairing is still electric. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

The Untouchables (1987)

At the end of October, we lost Sean Connery. I looked back on his career first by writing a remembrance for ZekeFilm and then by watching The Untouchables. (In a perfect world I would’ve reversed that order, but c’est la vie.) In my last selection from the ‘80s, Connery and Kevin Costner attempt to convict Robert De Niro’s Al Capone of anything that will stick and end his reign of crime in Chicago. Directed by Brian De Palma and set to an Ennio Morricone soundtrack, this film is both an exciting action flick and an artistic achievement that we literally discussed in one of my college film classes. Connery won his Oscar, and K. Cos is giving one of the best of his career, too. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9.5/10

Remember the Night (1940)

Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in my favorite team up yet! Double Indemnity may be the bona fide classic in the canon, but this Christmas story—with MacMurray as a district attorney prosecuting shoplifter Stanwyck— is a charmer. I’ve added it to my list of must-watch Christmas movies—watch for some holiday cheer and rom-com feels. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

Photo credits: chr paperie. Books my own. All others IMDb.com.

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rwdestuffs · 3 years

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The fine line between “waiting too long” for a reveal, and “not waiting long enough.”

I’ve said in a couple recent posts that there is a fine line between “waiting too long” for a reveal, and “not waiting long enough.”

And again: I do want to reiterate that this is a hard sweetspot to land in. So I’m not going to fault the writers for being too late with the fire hag’s backstory too much here.

When crafting a backstory for a character, it’s important to know what that story is from the get-go. Now, I’ve read plenty of fanfics that basically did more or less, the backstory we got for Cinder here. And they go out of their way to emphasize that all the time.

The downside is that Cinder’s character didn’t really establish that this was what was going on, outside of her Cinderella inspired name.

So what’s up with the whole “’Do you believe in destiny?’ ‘Yes.’“ thing? It kinda gives off an idea that Cinder believes that it’s her destiny to do all that for power.

Now, props to the writers (I’m not sure how to feel about typing that), but making Cinder believe in destiny when her corresponding relic is the one of choice is kinda smart. But the problem is that it’s not capitalized on.

So after all the inconsistencies with her character, Cinder’s whole backstory is that she was abused by her adopted mother and sisters. Which, again: I’ve read plenty of fanfics where this is indeed Cinder’s backstory. And credit where it’s due, it does sorta explain why she targeted Weiss back in volume 5.

But the problem is that since Cinder’s motives were so inconsistent, we don’t see what all this means. There were several opportunities for Cinder to have had her backstory revealed.

The first example was right after she killed Pyrrha. Having her most heinous action being immediately contrasted with them trying to earn her sympathy points would have been an interesting take. But it could have just as easily been too soon.

These guys did Hazel’s backstory too soon as well. In a sense, there is a reason why he’s mad at Oz. Hyping it up would have been an interesting way to develop his own story and they could have had more time to come up with something that wasn’t stupid as hell. Instead of doing something smart like “Oz reduced his sister to a statistic” or “Oz was directly at fault for his sister’s death” it’s instead “Hazel’s mad because Oz is constantly sending kids to fight against an immortal opponent.” By doing this too soon, they didn’t have enough time to think of something that wasn’t dumb. Instead of using Hazel’s backstory to make Oz look morally gray or morally ambiguous, the writers basically made him to be the one who defects.

Emerald is RIGHT THERE! The abused homeless girl who was stuck on the streets who just wanted to be able to eat is RIGHT THERE! Emerald could have easily been the one that would have been the one to defect.

Who am I kidding?- She’s going to defect along with Hazel.

If Hazel acts as an actual father figure to Emerald, that would probably be neat.

I got off-topic here.

Cinder’s backstory doesn’t really work in this context either. That Rhodes guy is a huntsman, right? Why didn’t he do something to help Cinder? Why didn’t he report the abuse she was enduring?

Oh wait, those people are rich. They probably have the same immunity as Jacques.

The point is that he should know what she went through, and should have offered to help her instead of doing… that dumb fight.

Another issue?- These writers took the complaints about Jaune’s backstory reveal back in volume 1 and took the absolute WRONG THING from it. The audience isn’t sick of multi-episode arcs dedicated to a single character, they were upset because it was dedicated to a character that wasn’t the main characters back in volume 1. Jaune getting FOUR FUCKING EPISODES TO HIMSELF OUT OF SIXTEEN BEFORE YANG OR BLAKE GOT THEIRS is what made people upset. Only an idiot with an ego the size of the moon would think that it was because people hated backstories.

Oh wait, Miles is writing this series.

Jaune’s backstory was also something that was revealed too soon. But that’s mostly because the other main characters hadn’t gotten theirs yet. Because Miles thought that the generic white kid whose initial wasn’t in the title that he voices was a bigger priority than the B and the Y of the show.

Not only was Cinder’s backstory revealed too late, but it wasn’t something that was adequately foreshadowed. Something that would have been a good indicator?- She looks at food service and she gives them a big tip and treats them with the upmost respect. “The evil fire lady gives food service employees a large tip and treats them better than other customers?- What gives?” It would signal the idea that there is more to her than the first appearance.

The issue is that these guys are kinda winging it. They didn’t plan on Cinder’s backstory ahead enough.

Again: Not faulting them too hard on this one. Landing the sweetspot for the right time to reveal a backstory is hard, especially for villains. So I’m not particularly mad at the Cinder backstory reveal. But really, I don’t think the writers should be surprised if people still don’t have sympathy for the fire hag.

#rwde #writers crit #miles crit #cinder crit

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fanfics4all · 4 years

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Gabby

Request: Yes / No

Don’t be shy, request things! <3 Have a nice day/night

Spencer Reid x Fem!Male!Reader

Word count: 4794

Warnings: Child abduction, Murder, Ya know Criminal Minds stuff

Y/N: Your Name

Y/N/N: Your Nickname

Y/L/N: Your Last Name

A/N: I’m doing this whenever I feel like it honestly lol

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK!

If you want to be on the tag list for anything (My series fics, specific character fics, or just all of them) All you have to do is send me an ask and I will add you!

Masterlist

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

We were on the jet quickly for this case. We were racing the clock for this one, something none of us loved doing. There was a lot of pressure with cases like this. A little girl was missing and Garcia was telling us the rundown.

“It is now three hours and counting since four year old Gabby Hoffer was abducted from her cousin Sue Walsh’s car.” She said.

“Why would anyone leave a little girl alone in a car at night?” JJ asked.

“Sue told local authorities that she was a couple blocks from her house, she didn’t want to wake Gabby up, she was in and out of that mini mart in under four minutes.” Garcia answered.

“That’s a pretty tight window of opportunity. Whoever took her must have been stalking them.” Morgan said.

“Is there a history of child abductions in this area?” Alex asked and everyone looked at Hotch.

“No, but the local registry shows a high concentration of sex offenders. We have no time to waste.” He answered.

“We do have an eyewitness, but his recollection is limited to a dark van that he saw pull up next to Sue’s car.” Garcia said.

“That’s pretty vague. So we don’t have a color or know who was driving.” Rossi said.

“Are there cameras that we can look at?” I asked.

“Yes, there is one camera, it’s in the store, but it’s ancient, but the footage is being sent to the lab right now for enhancement.” Garcia answered.

“SSA Canning is on the scene with the southeast regional card team. They’re conducting neighborhood and roadblock canvasses.” Hotch informed us.

“We all know what to do. If this is a stranger abduction, we’ve got fewer than 24 hours to bring Gabby back alive.” He added and I looked down at the tablet. Gabby looked like such a sweet girl, what monster could want to do anything to a child? Everyone ended up separating and working on their own theories, while looking over the little information we had. I was sat on the other side of the plane and Spencer came over.

“Are you alright?” He asked and I looked up at him.

“Yeah, cases like these always make me a little on edge, you know that.” I answered.

“I think it makes us all on edge.” He said and I nodded. Spencer reached over and gently grabbed my hand.

“She’s in good hands with us.” He said and I gave him a small smile.

“I know.” I said and gently squeezed his hand back.

It was still dark out when we landed. We immediately hopped into the cars and went our separate ways. We had Garcia on the line to give us any more information we needed.

“Garcia, where are Gabby’s parents?” Alex asked.

“Away, but not together. They’re divorced. Mom, Kate, is coming back from a caribbean cruise with her new boyfriend. And Doug, Gabby’s bio dad, is a long-haul trucker who is on the road. And this is where bad turns to worse. Dad has a history of drug problems.” She answered.

“Since Gabby’s under five years old and her father’s whereabouts are unknown, statistics say he’s more likely the offender than a stranger abduction.” Reid said.

“He could have been the one who stalked them and grabbed Gabby.” Rossi said.

“Morgan, you and JJ head over to Sue Walsh’s house. See if any of the neighbors have seen Gabby’s father lurking around.” Hotch ordered them.

“Alright, got it.” Morgan said. They went to the house, while we went to the mini mart. The local PD had a set up of pretty much everything they needed.

“Five hours and twenty-three minutes since Gabby was taken. Witness pulled up to pump number two here, saw the van parked there. Blocked his view of Sue’s car. Said the brake lights were on.” SSA Canning said as soon as we got out of the car.

“The driver could have kept his foot on the brake while someone else used the sliding door to grab her.” Hotch said.

“It’d be smart to use a partner out in the open like this.” Alex said.

“We have nine registered sex offenders within three miles. Sometimes they work in tandem, we have teams going door to door now.” Canning said.

“That’s good, cover your bases. But it’s the ones we don’t know about who are the most dangerous.” Rossi said.

“What’s the word on the parents?” Spencer asked.

“Mom and boyfriend Rodney are confirmed off conus. They’ll be at the P.D. soon.” Canning said.

“What about the father?” I asked.

“Still not answering his cell phone. It’s not pinging off any towers either.” She answered.

“So he shut his cell phone off. That’s odd for a trucker.” Alex said.

“Unless it’s a countermeasure. The dark van could have just been a transport vehicle to get Gabby to his truck.” Spencer said.

“You’re thinking he waited for the opportunity to take her?” SSA Canning asked.

“But would he really want to look suspicious like this? You’d think he’d be smarter since he took her out of the car and drove off in under four minutes.” I said.

“He has motivation given that he lost custody. We should check rest stops for his truck as well.” Hotch said.

“The problem is, interstate 59 is just three blocks away, and it goes to Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia.” Rossi said.

“We’ve got the borders covered. Nobody’s getting out of here without a fight.” Canning said.

“Agent Canning, can you get video footage for us from a five mile radius? We need to see if there’s any video of this dark van coming or going.” Hotch asked.

“Not much hope there, Katrina took out a lot of the security and traffic cams. They haven’t been replaced.” Canning said.

“Is Sue inside? We need to talk to her.” Rossi said.

“An Agent drove her home and is staying with her in case there are any ransom demands. She’s a wreck. Not sure you’ll get anything new. Excuse me.” Canning said and walked off.

“Alright, Blake, you and Reid stay with Canning’s people. If Gabby was a victim of opportunity, then the unsubs didn’t have a plan and they could still be in the area. Dave and I will go to the police station and interview Kate and the boyfriend. Y/N, we’ll drop you off at Sue’s house, I want you to talk to her.” Hotch said and walked off with Rossi. I went to follow them, but Spencer stopped me.

“Be careful.” He said quietly.

“I will, you be careful too, okay?” I said and he nodded with a smile. I quickly followed the two men into the truck and we were off.

Hotch and Rossi dropped me off and I knocked on the door. I noticed a woman looking at me from the house next door, but ignored it. The cop that was staying with her answered the door and I noticed Morgan and JJ inside.

“Y/N?” Morgan asked and nodded at the cop to let me in.

“What are you doing here?” JJ asked.

“Hotch wanted me to talk to Sue, him and Rossi went to the station and Spencer and Alex are with Canning and her team.” I said.

“Alright, well, we’ll go ask the neighbors some questions, you got this?” Morgan asked and I nodded.

“I’m good, you guys go.” I said and they nodded.

“We’ll wait for you outside when we’re done.” JJ said and I smiled. They left and I turned towards Sue.

“Hi, I’m Special Agent Y/N Y/L/N, may I sit?” I asked and she nodded.

“I’m sure you’ve answered these questions already, so I’m sorry, but I have to go through them with you again.” I said and she nodded again.

“Was there anyone related to you that could have done this?” I asked and she shook her head.

“No, Kate’s the only family I got. She’s more like a sister to me than a cousin.” She answered.

“Her parents took me in after mine died.” She added.

“I’m so sorry, were you young?” I asked and she nodded.

“I was eight.” She said and started crying a little.

“I’m sorry.” She said.

“It’s okay, this is a hard time right now.” I said and gently placed a hand on hers.

“Is it okay if I ask you some more questions?” I asked and she nodded.

“Did anyone take a special interest in Gabby since you’ve had her? Like did anyone ask about her alot, or offer to watch her for you, anything like that.” I asked.

“No. No. I always had her right by my side of me… except… I was only gone like one second! I got her to sleep finally and I didn’t want to wake her.” She cried.

“I understand, but there’s nothing you can do about that now, okay? You just need to focus on helping us find her.” I said and she nodded.

“So think back, was there a delivery man? A service worker? Anyone?” I asked.

“No.” She shook her head.

“A neighbor?” I asked.

“No, nobody. I don’t know, maybe everybody. I mean she’s so nice. She smiles at everybody.” She answered.

“What about her father? Have you seen him? Has he tried to contact you?” I asked.

“No, he’s always on the road. He never calls.” She answered.

“Did he know that you were watching Gabby?” I asked.

“I don’t think so.” She answered.

“Okay, Sue. Do you know anyone with a dark van?” I asked.

“No, no. I’m sorry, I just can;t even believe this is happening right now.” She said crying a little harder.

“I know, but that’s all I need to know right now.” I said and got up.

“Just stay here and call me if you remember anything else that could help.” I said and left my card on her table.

“Thank you.” She said picking it up and looking up at me. I nodded with a smile and walked outside to see JJ getting in the car and calling someone. I quickly walked over and got inside.

“She’s seen a van.” JJ said as we both got inside.

“Please tell me she’s safe.” Garcia answered.

“Not yet, but we’ve got a lead on a dark van. It could belong to a plumber, check local businesses.” JJ said.

“Well, that’s hardly anything.” Garcia said.

“You’ve had less.” JJ said.

“True.” She said.

“Come on, baby girl, we need an I.D. and location right now.” Morgan said.

“Uh, there are four plumbers in the immediate area. I’m pulling registrations. Eh, white minivans are all the rage. There’s the little family plumber, they have a bluish van that’s dark.” Garcia said.

“Run employee background checks.” Morgan said.

“That won’t be hard. It’s only the owner and his nephew, Ian Little, 25. He was released last year, for slinging bennies and heroin.” She answered.

“Where is he now?” I asked.

“Sleeping, I imagine. I’m sending you his home address. There it is. Morgan started the car and we were on our way.

“You find anything out Y/N/N?” He asked.

“Nothing much. She was really stressed about everything. She couldn’t remember things very well and I didn’t want to push her too hard.” I said and checked my phone. Spencer had texted me and asked if everything was okay. I answered and told him everything was fine.

Morgan, JJ, and I walked into the station with Ian Little. Morgan had him and his face was blood, but not from Morgan. Hotch and Rossi watched us take him in the back, but Hotch stopped me.

“Anything from Sue?” He asked.

“No sir, nothing.” I said and he nodded.

“What is he doing here?” A woman asked walking out of a room followed by a man. I could only assume this was Gabby’s mother and her boyfriend.

“What the hell happened to his face?” She asked.

“You know him?” Hotch asked.

“Yeah. Doug used to buy drugs from him. Do you think Ian helped him take Gabby?” She asked. Rossi walked off to follow Morgan and JJ into the interrogation room.

“Y/N, go help Reid.” Hotch said and I nodded. I walked into the room they had set up for us and smiled at Spencer looking at a map and trying to figure something out.

“Need some help?” I asked.

“Hey, how did it go with Sue?” He asked with a smile.

“Nothing really helpful, but we just brought Ian in.” I said and sat down near him.

“The father wasn’t with him?” He asked.

“No.” I said with a sigh and started off into the distance. I’m not sure how long I zoned out for, but Spencer had come sat next to me and placed his hand on mine.

“Y/N.” He said and I shook my head. I looked at him and he looked back at me with concern.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I said.

“Really? Because I’ve been talking to you for the past ten minutes and you looked like you weren’t hearing anything I was saying.” He said and I blushed.

“Sorry, I guess I zoned out.” I said and he gently squeezed my hand.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Nothing, come on, we have a girl to find.” I said getting up and started looking through some papers. Before Spencer could protest, Morgan and Rossi walked in. Morgan called Garcia.

“Talk to us baby girl.” He said.

“There are no calls, but Ian’s cell pinged off three cell phone towers outside of town on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I sent you the locations.” She said.

“Cell tower range and directionality can be dramatically influenced by atmospheric, electromagnetic, and traffic capacity variations.” Spencer said while drawing on the map.

“Meaning?” Rossi asked.

“He means a cell phone can travel to the same location but ping off of different towers on different days due to independent outside variables.” I said not looking up from the papers.

“Garcia, can you see what’s at this intersection point?” He asked, making another mark on the map.

“39-30 latitude, negative 89-42 longitude.” He said.

“Uh, that would be the old little farm. And that’s little, not like diminutive, but little family. That’s where Ian grew up.” She said.

“So Doug went missing three nights ago and Ian’s been at that farm each night since then.” Morgan said.

“Holy crappy childhood.” Garcia said getting our attention.

“You can’t make this kind of sadness up. It’s also the place where Ian’s dad killed his mother with a shotgun and then turned it on himself.” She said and I covered my mouth in shock.

“Oh my God…” I whispered. Rossi took the map and went to go tell Hotch to try and get information. It was morning now and the team had found a body. Canning, Morgan, Spencer, and I were sent out to take a look at it. They set the body down in front of us and Morgan ripped open the bag. It was a man.

“Who the hell is that?” Canning asked.

“It’s our main suspect.” Morgan said. I shook my head and sighed. Spencer gently grabbed my hand and squeezed it. He usually didn’t do things like this while we were on a case, it wasn’t profesional. We all got in the car and headed to the farm to search for anything that could help us.

“Searched the entire property. We found Ian’s van in the barn. No sign of Baggy anywhere. What have you got?” Canning asked us when she came back after half an hour.

“Coroner says Doug died from blunt force trauma to the head. Then it looks like Ian tried to burn Doug’s body here, which, of course, was harder than he thought it would be, so then he dumped Doug's body in the water.” Spencer answered.

“Sounds like rage followed by just about every disposal method that we know of.” Morgan said.

“Even wrapped the body, weighed it down with rocks. Could it be remorse?” Canning asked.

“It’s more like concealment. We see it alot when there’s a connection between the vic and the killer.” Morgan said.

“Coroner says Doug’s been dead for at least 72 hours.” Spencer said and Morgan looked at me with a raised brow. He knows I’m never usually this quiet.

“That would be the same day he got here.” Canning said.

“So what did this guy do to get himself killed?” Morgan questioned looking at the burnt dirt that we stood around. Canning left soon after to go back to the station.

“What’s up with you girl?” Morgan asked and I looked at him confused.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re never this quiet, what’s up?” He asked.

“Nothing, I was just thinking too much, sorry.” I said and started my way to the car. When we got back everyone was in the room they set up for us. We were going to go over what we know.

“We know that Ian picked up Doug on Sunday, then he was killed. What if they surprised Sue at the house?” Rossi asked.

“And Doug was threatening to take Gabby.” Morgan said.

“They could have been trying to protect Gabby from him and he was killed by accident.” Spencer suggested.

“Except they went to extravagant lengths to cover it up.” Alex said.

“Okay, that may be true, but it still doesn’t answer where Gabby is or what anyone’s motivation is in hurting her.” I said and everyone looked at me.

“We can keep theorizing, but every minute we do is a minute Gabby is out there.” JJ said.

“Dave.” Hotch said and he and Rossi walked off.

They came back fifteen minutes later and informed us that Ian told them what happened. That Sue killed Doug because he was trying to see Gabby. Morgan and JJ were sent to Sue’s house to see if it was true. One they found the proof Hotch, Alex, and Rossi went in to see how she reacts.

“Kate’s right. Sue’s never gonna tell us where Gabby is. It’s her final move to punish Kate.” Hotch said walking in the room with Rossi and Alex.

“Sue wants to inflict maximum pain upon Kate.” Spencer said.

“So you’re thinking she’ll do whatever it takes to make Kate suffer and keep on suffering.” Rossi said.

“Not knowing what happened to your child would be the ultimate torture for any parent.” I said.

“But if Sue killed Gabby, chances are eventually we’d find the body.”

“She’d need to find a way to get rid of her permanently, without killing her.” Rossi said. Everyone went their separate ways to try and figure out how to find this little girl. Spencer had pulled me over to the side, but before he could say whatever he wanted to say, his phone rang.

“It’s JJ and Morgan. Hello?” He answered and put it on speaker.

“Nothing’s out of place. In fact, all of Gabby’s things are packed up as if she was preparing to go back home.” JJ said.

“That’s strong evidence of a false allegation.” Spencer said.

“So all of this was arranged by Sue for what? To get back at Kate?” Morgan asked.

“You should have seen her with Kate. She was relentlessly sadistic.” I said shaking my head.

“So, Sue planned this with whoever was in the dark van. But there doesn’t seem to be any paper trail of it here.” JJ said.

“And there’s no electronic trail either. There’s no computer or cell phone. Outside of a landline, this girl’s living tech-free.” Morgan said.

“That’s because she’s hiding something.” Spencer said.

“Yeah, Alright guys, thanks.” Morgan said and hung up.

“Before any other interruptions come up, what’s wrong? And don’t tell me nothing because I know it and so does the rest of the team.” Spencer said and I sighed.

“I didn’t see it…” I said and he looked at me confused.

“I didn’t see through her act.” I said and he sighed.

“It’s not your fault Y/N, people like her are good at hiding what they really feel.” He said and I shook my head.

“If I saw it earlier we wouldn’t have wasted so much time!” I said and he pulled me to him.

“It’s not your fault, none of us saw it.” He said.

“But I’m the one that really talked to her. If I wasn’t so distracted I could have maybe seen it!” I said.

“What’s got you so distracted?” He asked.

“We found something.” Alex said before I could answer him.

“Sorry, did I interrupt something?” She asked.

“No, we were just talking, we’ll be right there.” I answered and she nodded. She left and Spencer let go of me.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” He said and I shook my head.

“It’s not important now, finding Gabby is.” I said and walked off to join the rest of the team. They caught us up to speed and then we were going to tell Canning.

“Disrupted adoptions?” Canning asked.

“That’s what the people involved are calling it. They’re also referring to it as re-homing. And it’s been happening underground for some time now.” Spencer said.

“Until now, it’s mainly been overwhelmed adoptive parents of problem children from overseas.” Alex said.

“Good people go on the site looking for guidance or services, but bad people offer to take problem kids off their hands as a last resort.” Spencer said.

“So they just give them away to some random couple?” Canning asked.

“Calling them couples is a bit generous.” I said.

“The article talks about these people who pose as families, but really they’re just freaks looking for access to kids.” JJ said.

“And no one’s keeping track of them…” I added.

“Why isn’t this illegal?” Canning asked.

“Well, ‘cause it’s a relatively new practice, and unsurprisingly, no legislation’s been written yet.” Hotch said.

“So how did Sue manage to give Gabby away?” Canning asked.

“She posed as Gabby’s mother and gave her to a woman who claimed she knew how to deal with troubled kids.” JJ answered. Garcia had been working on a list of possible people while we were talking.

“Garcia, we’re out of time, we need something.” Hotch said.

“Okay. There are three families who responded to Sue’s post.” She answered.

“Do any of them own a dark van?” Rossi asked.

“There’s a Nicole Jones. She owns a blue ‘03 caravan. She lives in a shack twenty miles south of where you are off interstate 59.” She answered.

“Let’s go.” Hotch said and we were on the move. We got to the house, guns out and ready. Spencer, Alex, and I went around back where we found a barn. We walked inside and found her hide.

“Guys!” Reid called as she slowly rose up with her hands in the air.

“D-don’t shoot me.” She said.

“Where’s Gabby Hoffer?” Spencer asked.

“She’s gone.” She answered and we cuffed her. She wouldn’t say anything more.

“She must have panicked and gotten rid of Gabby.” Alex said.

“This poor girl…” I whispered.

“Garcia, who else from the area answered Sue’s post?” Hotch asked.

“Uh… There’s one woman, Michelle Fader. She ran in the same sick circles. And she owns an old van. This Fader’s a real winner. She was evicted from her last known address.” Garcia said.

“They probably won’t risk going back towards the abduction site, which means they’re headed southwest. Let’s go.” Hotch said and we all went back to the cars.

“Okay. The woman I hope you’re about to arrest had all her biological kids taken from her five years ago because another child died while in her custody.” Garcia said while we were on the road.

“She was never charged?” JJ asked.

“Oh, no, she was, but for neglect. She didn’t spend a minute in jail. Social workers haven’t come by her house at all because none of her kids are in her custody.” Garcia answered.

“They have no idea she’s been finding new children online…” I said shaking my head.

“Those poor little darlings are being treated like trash. They don’t know that anybody cares. We care. We care.” Garcia said.

“Garcia, widen your search to any known male associates of Michelle Fadeer.” Hotch said.

“Yeah, will do.” She answered.

“Oh… I got a picture of Fader with some guy who could win sleaze of the century award. And he’s got his arm all possessivey around a sweet little girl.” She said.

“Run facial recognition software and get an I.D. on him.” Morgan said.

“Okay, I got a match. Micheal Feehan. He is the perv in the picture with Fader. He’s not in any registries, but he has got a list of accusations. None of them were proven because all of the victims were too young.” She said and I had to hold back tears.

“Garcia, did you get the address?” Hotch asked.

“Running it now.” She said. She sent it to us and we got there as quickly as possible.

“Please, give me a reason.” Rossi said pointing his gun at Feehan.

“What the hell is goin’ on!?” A woman shouted coming out of a room.

“Michelle Fader, you’re under arrest for staging a child abduction.” Hotch said and put his gun away.

“I didn’t do nothin’. Look, I was trying to help that girl.” She said.

“You have the right to remain silent.” Hotch started reading her, her rights.

“I have only tried to help that girl. She wanted a fresh start. She couldn’t take care of her own babies anymore.” She shouted as Hotch and Spencer took her out. JJ and I walked further in the house trying to find Gabby and possibly the other kids.

“We’ve got Gabby. And there are other kids back here.” JJ called.

“Are you okay?” I asked, bending down.

“Can you take me home now?” Gabby asked and I smiled at her.

“Yes, sweetheart. We’re gonna take you to your mommy.” I said and she smiled. Spencer had come over and smiled at me.

“Okay, come on.” I said and lifted Gabby up. The other two kids followed and we took them back to the station.

“Mama!” She shouted as soon as she saw her. I set her down and she ran up to her mother.

“Oh, my sweet baby!” Kate said and held her in her arms.

“I missed you, mama.” Gabby said.

“I missed you so much.” Kate said.

“Why are you sad?” Gabby asked.

“I’m not sad.” Kate answered.

“So those are happy tears?” Gabby asked, wiping the tears off her mother’s face.

“Yep.” Kate answered and I walked back to the team.

“Y/N… you okay?” Morgan asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“They don’t have anywhere safe to be…” I said looking at the other kids.

“It’s not ideal, but they’ll be in foster care. Until they find a family.” Alex said.

“Yeah, but how many more kids like that are out there?” Rossi asked.

“That’s a good question.” Hotch said and Spencer pulled me into another room.

“Are you better now that we found her?” He asked and I nodded.

“Yeah, a little…” I said.

“Now will you tell me what’s had you so distracted?” He asked, grabbing a hold of my hands.

“I’m pregnant…” I whispered, looking at the floor.

“W-what?” He asked, shocked.

“I’m sorry.” I cried, but Spencer pulled me to him.

“How long?” He asked.

“I found out last month. I didn’t know how to tell you.” I cried.

“Shhh, it’s okay.” He whispered and tried to help me calm down.

“I’m going to be a father?” He asked, making me look up at him. I nodded with a slight frown and he furrowed his brow.

“What’s wrong? You’ve always wanted kids.” He asked.

“I know, but do we really want to bring a child into this world? I mean just look at how many monsters are out here and that’s just the ones we know of…” I said and he gently grabbed my face and kissed me.

“Yes, the world is messed up, but we help make it a better place.” He said.

“I know, but-”

“But nothing Y/N, you’ve always talked about how badly you want kids and although it’s a little earlier than I thought it would be, I’m excited to be a father.” He said and I smiled.

“It’s not too early for us?” I asked.

“We’ve been together a year, I think it’s okay, if it’s okay with you.” He said and I smiled.

“We’re gonna be parents.” I said and he kissed me again.

“We’re gonna be parents.” He whispered back.

Tag list: @les-bio-lie @tashy-bear @xrosesareredx @ashwarren32 @hollie-blogs @schisbro87 @lover-of-books-and-teas @nerdygaloresposts @alex--awesome--22 @teenwolfbitches2 @genius2050 @drw0301bieber @softgamerking @lady-of-lies @simonsbluee @ravenmoore14 @pettyjayy

#Criminal Minds #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds season 9 #spencer reid #spencer reid imagine #spencer x reader #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer x fem!reader #spencer reid x fem!reader #fanfic #criminal minds 2020 bingo

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couldbeasong · 3 years

Note

1-60 for the ask meme

Ope sorry I did not see this until today. I think I know the one? If it’s not the one you meant just lmk lol

1. Selfie?

You can have this picrew but I wish to be unperceived.

2. What would you name your future kids?

For female names I like: Harmony, Slyvia, Edelweiss, Bethany, and Opal

For male names I like: Uriah, Aiden, Kai, Levi, and Luke

3. Do you miss anyone?

My grandpa and Midnight (old dog)

4. What are you looking forward to?

Going on vacation in a few weeks, the end of the semester, and seeing @calligraphywitch tomorrow

5. Is there anyone who can always make you smile?

@calligraphywitch and my other girlfriend. They’re hilarious lmao

6. Is it hard for you to get over someone?

Romantically? Not really. You kinda gotta just accept it and move on. In the past, always being like: this will never work because of reason xyz helps.

Friendship wise? Absolutely. It depends a lot on the emotional investment I put into the relationship, but I find myself still missing people I haven’t talked to since High School or Middle School.

7. What was your life like last year?

It was weird being a freshman in college and trying to survive. I had a lot of family problems going on along with one of my best friends from High School being on her death bed for a while. A bit of a crisis of faith as well. But we survived, God willing! I miss pre-pandemic times tho

8. Have you ever cried because you were so annoyed?

Ask my brother. I’m sure there’s been an instance.

9. Who did you last see in person?

My grandma across the room from me!

10. Are you good at hiding your feelings?

I hide them so well I can’t even find them!

I like to pretend they aren’t there and repress them a lot but idk if I’m good at hiding them from others per say.

11. Are you listening to music right now?

I’m in a zoom meeting for class, so I guess my professor's voice?

12. What is something you want right now?

Freedom

13. How do you feel right now?

Kinda tired, kinda nauseous, kinda bored. Idk I probably need to drink some water.

14. When was the last time someone of the opposite sex hugged you?

Uhhhh idk about a week ago? My last hug was probably a week ago too XD

15. Personality description

I like to think I’m funny

16. Have you ever wanted to tell someone something but you didn’t?

I work in customer service- everyday (:

17. Opinion on insecurities.

Everyone is insecure about something. It’s kinda fascinating how even though all of humanity is exactly the same (in terms of our struggles and insecurities, we don’t vary) we still judge others for having them. Confidence is seen as a virtue and the most attainable goal. Society profits off of your insecurities tho so be aware of what they are and don’t let yourself be scammed.

18. Do you miss how things were a year ago?

Certain aspects perhaps. But 2019 is gone. It performed and then it left. It can’t hurt us or help us anymore. There’s little use in dwelling on that and wishing for 2020 to be 2019.

19. Have you ever been to New York?

No, but I swear Ima go one day and see a show on Broadway.

20. What is your favorite song at the moment?

I have like three I’m cycling between rn

When You’re Home from In the Heights

Wake Up by Jenny Owen Youngs

Together by For King and Country

21. Age and birthday?

Old enough to know better and October

22. Description of crush.

He’s super great and super intelligent, not to mention super in love with God. Frankly, he deserves better than me. I gotta lot of self-improvement that needs to happen, but we’ll see what happens XD

23. Fear(s)

Heights, drowning, spiders, super dark streets and rooms, not being good enough

24. Height

5′5″ respectfully

25. Role model

It’s changed through the various stages of my life. Rn tho a few of my Christian online friends

26. Idol(s)

I mean I stan Brian David Gilbert, but I don’t idolize him lol

27. Things I hate

Cheesecake, sickly sweet stuff, when someone grabs the receipt out of the printer even though it’s way more effort for them to do so than for me just to hand it to them and it throws me off of my rhythm, fudge

28. I’ll love you if…

You exist (and even not then because fictional characters just hit different lol)

29. Favorite film(s)

Tangled, Ella Enchanted, Enchanted, Howls Moving Castle, Princess, and the Pauper

30. Favorite tv show(s)

Brooklynn 99, Parks and Recreation, Ouran High School Host Club, My Hero Academia, and Bojack Horseman (I’m going through a phase with it rn lol)

31. 3 random facts

Blue is my favorite color, I own almost nothing in blue, people are better at identifying members of their own race better than members of other races.

32. Are your friends mainly girls or guys?

Girls- they’re easier to talk to and approach. Tho I stan and love my guy friends. They are kings.

33. Something you want to learn

Everything? Idk I have an insatiable desire to learn and it switches. Consistently, I want to learn how to make my own clothes, play either piano, guitar, or violin, and detail cars.

34. Most embarrassing moment

Uggg I’m not talking about it and neither is @calligraphywitch

35. Favorite subject

I really enjoyed Statistics as much as I have hated it. My all-time favorite class I have ever taken tho was AP US Literature

36. 3 dreams you want to fulfill?

Graduate grad school, get married, travel overseas

37. Favorite actor/actress

uhhh probably Chris Pratt or anyone who was on Parks and Recreation. Tho Broadway actors, I love Christian Borle

38. Favorite comedian(s)

John Mulaney

39. Favorite sport(s)

I miss playing softball and volleyball so prolly those

40. Favorite memory

There are too many to count. But usually, involve good conversations under the stars after 2 AM.

41. Relationship status

Have a picrew of my sister and me. Keep scrolling and mind ya business (jk ily anon)

42. Favorite book(s)

The Bible lol but fictional book wise, I will always love the Warrior Cats series. Red Queen was pretty lit. The Hourglass Door gave me a love for time travel aus lol. And Library Wars is near and dear to my heart.

43. Favorite song ever

You can’t ask me thisssss

Idk Hope is what we crave by For King and Country

44. Age you get mistaken for

24-30 it depends on the context

45. How you found out about your idol

@calligraphywitch

46. What my last text message says

No xD not disney

47. Turn-ons

When you have a musical playing and the end of one song is the start of another so they bleed into each other. CHILLS or when a line of poetry just expresses how someone feels. OR when different parts harmonize just right

48. Turn-offs

When my computer deletes my homework right before it’s done

49. Where I want to be right now

In a little cabin in the woods

50. Favorite picture of your idol

51. Starsign

Scorpio

52. Something I’m talented at

Reading peoples emotions

53. 5 things that make me happy

Music, Friends, Deep Conversations, Hugs, and God

54. Something that's worrying me at the moment

So much to do so much to see

55. Tumblr friends

Friends and mutuals include:

@calligraphywitch @an-assortment-of-forks @repentance-brings-healing @synthetic-blanket-hairs @loneallegiance @boywiththewand @knightof-cups @a-lil-strawberry @linkedwolf @indygo @obnoxioushair

There’s plenty more than that and I love you all ^^

56. Favorite food(s)

Tacos, Crab Ragoons, Salty Foods, RICE

57. Favorite animal(s)

Wolves and cats

58. Description of my best friend

Artistic, beautiful, supportive, hardworking. She is hilarious and an amazing person. There’s so much to the many reasons I love her I just can’t do it in words

59. Why I joined tumblr

Back in the 7th grade, my friends all had one and helped set me up with one. And that’s that.

60. Ask me anything you want

You want nothing ig lol if you want to submit one I can answer it still

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jamiejohnsontalk · 4 years

Text

LGBT Representation in Jamie Johnson as Compared to Other Kids’ Media

Pinned to the top of my blog because I’m quite proud of this post, and I still want newer followers to be able to see it.

From what I know, LGBT representation is relatively new in media. Not just kids’ media, but media in general. I don’t even think I knew what gay meant until I was like 11. And I didn’t know that religions didn’t exactly have the greatest opinion of gay people till my GCSEs. In that sense, I was lucky. I knew I was gay before I knew what homophobia was, so I have always been comfortable with who I am. But others didn’t have life that... Well, simple I suppose. I’ve always known who I am, but other people, well, in the worst case scenario, gay people can become homophobic themselves and grow to hate themselves. This might seem like a sidetracky introduction, but I think it shows the importance of LGBT in media. For someone like me, it can help to start to normalise gay people to my family. Even though they’re still homophobic, at least they’re able to watch programmes with LGBT characters in. I met someone who’s dad wouldn’t watch any shows with LGBT characters in it. And for how rare gay people used to be in media in general, they’re even rarer in kids’ media. Why is it that Disney Channel only had their first gay main character in 2017 when homosexuality was legalised in... 2003 in the US. Wow, I can’t lie, I looked up that statistic expecting it to be way earlier. OK, but it was legalised in 1967 in the UK. So why did I never see any gay characters in my childhood? I’ve known I was gay since I was 9, but I must have first seen a gay character in, OK, it was Doctor Who. Captain Jack was pansexual. So I did have some LGBT representation. But there wasn’t much. And again, not in kids’ media. So, let’s look at some of the kids’ media that changed the landscape for LGBT rep in kids’ media. Sarah Jane Adventures and Wizards vs Aliens We’ll start with what I think is probably the worst types of LGBT representation. First of all: Wizards vs Aliens. Benny came out. But I can’t remember the show ever talking about it again after he came out. Sarah Jane Adventures. Yes, it’s not Russell T Davies’ fault that he never got the chance to let Luke come out in the show, and yes, he got to have Luke come out in the memorial episode for Sarah Jane on YouTube, but even before Liz had... Luke had left the main cast, so his coming out would have still meant less to audience members. Gravity Falls had a coming out at the very end of the show, and I believe so did Adventure Time, so they fit in this category too. Compare that to Dillon from Jamie Johnson. Yes, there’s a reasonable chance we won’t see him again after this season, but if it is, he gets to leave on a high. We get to explore his coming out journey. Steven Universe Steven Universe is great for LGBT representation, and it’s great for normalising LGBT representation. You’ve got a huge variety of LGBT characters, because the Gems are all gay (Except Rose). So you can understand that there are different types of gay people (Love Victor did that too, but I’m not sure how many people would watch it). Steven universe is definitely the gayest kids’ show. High School Musical the Musical the Series fits in this category too. Carlos is out and proud. And we don’t see his coming out, more his love life. Again, great rep. Normalises gay people. Jamie Johnson is nowhere near the level of gay that Steven Universe or High School Musical the Musical the Series is, but I think that it’s less meaningful than other shows I’ll mention and Jamie Johnson. It’s the same reason Victor said “Screw you” to Simon at the beginning of Love Victor. We don’t want to see gay people who have it easy. We want to see gay people who are like us. Who have been through stuff and have come out the other side alive. We want hope, but that doesn’t come from seeing gay people who have it easy. I see people playing football and risking corona and I’m jealous. I want to play football again. I see gay people have it easy: Same. I wish I could have it that easy, and it makes me sad. Steven Universe is a great show, and has great rep, but I think even kids’ media should have something closer to home. Andi Mack and Diary of a Future President I love how they portrayed Cyrus and Bobby. We got to see Cyrus’ story from realising he liked guys to being able to say “I’m gay” to showing his crush he likes him (though homophobes can pretend the bench scene was just a friendship scene). Cyrus’ arc was great, and the bench scene was perfect and the only problem with it was that it deserved a fourth season so we could see Cyrus and TJ in a relationship. Diary of a Future President though. I was heartbroken when Bobby didn’t come out to Liam. But then I found out there was a season 2 and I was OK, because it’s hard to come out. It’s as if all the shows make it so easy to come out to the first person, but it’s not. The first real life person I came out to, I came out at 22. And they had come out to me first. And I had to write it down on my phone. I couldn’t say it out loud. So yeah, seeing Diary of a Future President take it slow is amazing, and I love it, and it’s also what they did with Dillon. Some people think that they only really intended for Dillon to be gay from season 4. But, I think that they’ve known since the beginning. I plan to do a character analysis on Dillon after my rewatch, but I think I found something that shows they must have known since at least season 2. (I expect the analysis will be a lot shorter than this. Sorry for the crazy length. And if it’s a crap read. I don’t essay well). But if they knew from the beginning, that was a brilliant move on their part. The only thing that makes me unsure is how Dillon took 3 years to realise he might be gay, but it’s possible that he denied it to himself until he realised Elliot was gay. Because there’s no way he wasn’t thinking he was gay in season 4 episode 5. He didn’t think he was asexual, his reaction to Ruby’s foster mums suggested that he was interested because they were gay. But regardless, I love that they took it slow. Not everyone can come out as easily as others, and having someone like Bobby, or like Dillon, is so much more meaningful than Cyrus, even though Cyrus is an amazing character. Bobby and Dillon are more relatable because they’re finding it tough to come out. The Dumping Ground I kept trying to decide whether I thought the dumping ground or Andi Mack/Diary of a Future President had better LGBT representation. In the end, I decided that I preferred the Dumping Ground’s representation. Yes, in Andi Mack and Diary of a Future President, we get to see the coming out journey of Bobby and Cyrus, but even though Andi Mack touched on homophobia, a lot of people didn’t even realise Kira was blackmailing TJ, making him afraid of how people would react if they found out he was gay. A number of people just thought TJ was being an idiot. But the Dumping Ground had a gay couple wanting to foster Gus. And IIRC, Johnny thought it was wrong because they were gay. Something like that would foster (see what I did there?) potential discussion between parents and children about gay adoption. Some kids watching the show might have been gay and if they watched it with their parents, they could talk about it with them. Gage their reaction. Maybe even come out to them. The Dumping Ground’s episode was great. And then May-Li came out. And we never got to see her full journey, But we did get to see her journey to being accepted by her grandmother I think. And that’s something. And Now On To Jamie Johnson Just like the Dumping Ground, Jamie Johnson has been able to tackle serious issues. I mean, season 1 dealt with Jamie’s cheating father. You’ve got Zoe being a carer, Dillon getting diabetes. But in terms of LGBT representation, it’s season 4 and season 5. Season 4 episode 5 was incredible. I remember telling all my friends about it, and how amazing it was that CBBC were doing this. To recap: Ruby said her heroes were her foster parents, causing Dillon to ask Ruby about it. She thought he was being an idiot, even though in actual fact, he was excited that someone else was gay and trying not to show it. Dillon told his dad that Ruby had foster mums while he was telling him how Ruby’s biological parents weren’t in her life anymore. Liam, Dillon’s brother, used it to rile up Ruby’s sister Alba until she attacked him. She probably would have gotten expelled from the club, but Sienna filmed the incident so everyone found out what really happened, and it was Liam who got expelled. I think Alba only got excluded. What I find really awesome about the storyline though is not just that they had it. It was that the consequences of Liam’s actions set the course for the rest of the season, aka Dodgy Duncan. Liam’s actions caused the club’s image to go down the drain, and sponsors to leave, and that’s what made Duncan turn to the dark side. And it’s a subtle way to just say “Homophobia is bad”. Because Liam’s homophobia caused all the problems in the rest of the season. The First Time Dillon Let Himself “be Gay” Dillon took a long time to come out. And, like me, I think for a long time, nobody really suspected he was gay, in real life or in the audience. He never really showed it. I’m pretty sure when I was a kid, I would act super offended and upset if someone jokingly called me gay. So, yeah, it’s a slow burn. And we didn’t get any hints that he was gay, but that happens. Gay people are good at hiding, I think that’s why gay kids are often portrayed as loving theater. They already have to act their whole lives. It’s not easy to be in the closet. But I think that once Dillon was able to leave his father’s shadow, he was able to be more comfortable with himself, leading to him coming out to Elliot in episode 7. I think he had crushes before, specifically Michelle from season 2, but Elliot was the first time he felt like he could be himself. So here we have two massive points from other shows, but they haven’t been done together. The discussion of homophobia in the Dumping Ground, and the Slow Burn from Diary of a Future President. Social Media Presence Andi Mack made a huge deal about Cyrus being gay, like a week before the episode where he came out aired. HSMTMTS had Carlos be a gay stereotype from the trailer, and OK, Steven Universe was always gay. But Jamie Johnson, and the Dumping Ground didn’t make a big deal about it beforehand. They didn’t scream to the world “Look at us! We’re woke!” They showed it. They let people see for themselves, they let people debate for two weeks on Dillon’s sexuality, and they didn’t tell everyone that this was the episode Dillon would come out (though they made sure that everyone knew they should watch this episode). They just let people see for themselves. And after the episode aired, they made their move. They had the Jamie Johnson logo in rainbow colours to celebrate pride, they had a guide on how to react if someone comes out to you, and they had a history of pride, and I expect they’ll do even more on their social media after this week’s episode. @tkstrand reckons the Delliot post is Jamie Johnson’s most liked instagram post. I don’t know whether the other shows did this, but it’s a great gesture regardless. Oh, and there’s the fact that they’re doing a Bafta zoom conference on how they tackle issues. Choosing the Right Character and Breaking Ground for CBBC A lot of people on Instagram said that they thought it was Boggy who should be gay, and while I think either storyline would be great, I think that the writers made the right decision. 1) Boggy is an amazing person. He’s not afraid to be himself. I think, if Boggy was gay, then he wouldn’t have as much trouble coming out as Dillon is having. Of course, Boggy is going through stuff right now, but I still think he would have been a lot braver than Dillon and so we wouldn’t get the storyline we’re getting now delving into homophobia 2) If Dillon does have a minor or major role in season 6, we might get to explore homophobia in professional football, which would be super exciting 3) While Boggy is an amazing character, I’d reckon kids tend to gravitate to the coolest character as their favourite. And while Boggy radiates cool. (Seriously, check out the two posts I made on how sarcastic he is. And just look at his hat at the beginning of episode 1!

But Dillon is the more traditionally cool character, so he’s more likely to be a fan favourite (that and the fact that he’s the best developed character in Jamie Johnson). So for those who aren’t necessarily homophobic, but don’t really understand homosexuality, Dillon is the perfect choice to have written as gay. Because after next week, the people who don’t believe Dillon is gay might leave the episode with a new understanding of LGBT people. It’s been done with TJ, who’s also a cool character, but people who want to ignore the gay subtext can because it was never said out loud in the show. And I reckon Dillon is a groundbreaking character for CBBC. Benny left soon after he came out, Luke left before he came out, May-Li is part of an ensemble cast, so in terms of a small number of main characters (the core 4 in JJ being Dillon, Jamie, Zoe and Boggy), so I think Dillon is the first gay main character (not ensemble character) on CBBC who has gotten a major gay storyline. Could be wrong, let me know if I am! Groundbreaking in General From what it looks like, the next episode is gonna focus completely on Dillon’s coming out storyline. Forget kids’ media, I don’t think I’ve seen an adults’ show that has an entire episode solely dedicated to an LGBT storyline. (Even Reunited from Steven Universe wasn’t completely focused on Garnet). Love Victor was jam packed with side stories and I think even Real O’Neals always had side stories to it. If another show has done this, I’d love to hear, but if Jamie Johnson really has the whole episode dedicated solely to Dillon, I think it’s huge. I only hope it doesn’t mean that the storyline will be forgotten about in the last 4 episodes, but since the head writer of Jamie Johnson is LGBT, I have no doubt they’ll do it justice. Does Jamie Johnson Have the Best LGBT Representation in Kids’ Media? No, I don’t think it does. Andi Mack has 2 seasons where we follow Cyrus on his coming out journey and Steven Universe has a lot more LGBT people, including a non-binary character. But in the aspects Jamie Johnson does well, it excels at. The homophobia storyline(s), and Jamie Johnson’s instagram presence. And having the best developed and best defined character be the one to show kids how to treat gay people. Thursday could be a historic moment for Kids’ television if they do this right, and I think they will. So I hope that everyone enjoys the episode! No, I swear this wasn’t a long promo for the next episode. No, I am not sponsored. Yes, this post was extremely long, I’m really sorry about that. I hope it’s worth the read. If not, don’t worry, this will almost definitely be my longest post. No, I don’t know how to have a “continue reading” button. Does anyone happen to know how? Thanks! Edit: Apparently 4 O Clock club had a gay main character first, so I got that wrong, but I still hold that Jamie Johnson is groundbreaking.

#jamie johnson #delliot #lgbt representation #analysis #long post #Seriously this is a super long post

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maraudererasmut · 5 years

Text

A/S/L

You've been connected with a stranger. Say hello!

Stranger: Hi

You: Hello!

Stranger: asl?

You: Really? That's the first thing you ask?

Stranger: isn't that what people do here?

You: Not if they want to have a real conversation…

Stranger: does anyone actually want to have a real conversation on this site?

You: I mean… I do. Why, you don't? Why are you here?

Stranger: if I said sexting would you judge me?

You: Yes.

Stranger: well then, I'm here to talk to random people I guess?

You: Nice catch.

Stranger: I thought so

You: Do you use this site a lot?

Stranger: define a lot

You: Everyday?

Stranger: no

You: Once a week?

Stranger: …

Stranger: maybe.

You: Hey, I don't judge. I'm here, too.

Stranger: why are you here?

You: I dunno, I'm just bored, I guess? I like talking to people. Especially strangers. It doesn't matter what I tell them or what they tell me. We'll never meet again.

You: Y'know?

Stranger: yeah I get that

You: You can be completely honest with a stranger. You don't have to hide anything.

You: Except, of course, your name and address and any identifying information…

You: But everything else is fair game!

Stranger: makes sense

Stranger: so is there anything in particular that you wanted to talk about?

You: Oh… um… I don't know. I guess not. How about you?

Stranger: no

You: Okay… um… What kind of things do you like? Do you have any interests or hobbies?

Stranger: i like drawing I guess

You: Oh, that's awesome! What kind of stuff do you draw?

Stranger: just random things…

Stranger: sometimes what's on my mind, sometimes comics, sometimes characters from things that I like

You: What kind of things? Books? TV shows?

Stranger: um

Stranger: tv shows I guess

Stranger: books too

You: Which ones?

Stranger: well…

Stranger: have you heard of the timetale series?

You: Oh my god, that's my favourite!! I love the Timetale Series!!

Stranger: the books or the movies?

You: The books, obviously. Don't get me wrong, the movies are fine, but the books are SO much better! They go into so much more detail! You actually get to learn about Tesser's character and his motivations! Not to mention they completely took Arch out of the movies altogether!

Stranger: and I thought I was a dork

You: Haha, sorry. I get a little nerdy when I'm talking about things I like!

Stranger: don't be sorry. tts is my favourite

You: Who's your favourite character?!

Stranger: seith

You: Oh my god, SAME! I love the way they've developed his arc! And the fact that they weren't afraid to make an openly gay character! That's so important in fiction. God, I want him to end up with Tesser so badly.

Stranger: he won't

You: Why do you say that?

Stranger: have you read book six yet?

You: Of course.

Stranger: tesser likes finley

You: No he doesn't! He sees her like a sister!

Stranger: no

Stranger: it's obvious that they're going to end up together

Stranger: that's how books like that work

You: This one is different! I honestly think the author is going to make the main character bi. I really do!

Stranger: seith won't end up with tesser anyway

Stranger: he's gonna end up with camden

You: Camden?!

Stranger: yup

You: Why do you say that?

Stranger: because of the sexual tension

You: That's not sexual tension! They hate each other!

Stranger: exactly

You: It's not gonna happen

Stranger: it will

Stranger: and when it does I'll say I told you so

You: How? We're on RandoChat. It'd be statistically impossible to match with me again!

Stranger: you could always give me your email address

Stranger: that is

Stranger: if you wanted to continue talking

You: …

You: I guess…

You: Maybe at the end of the chat…

Stranger: cool

You: So… what else are you into?

Stranger: I like music

You: What kind of music do you listen to?

Stranger: mostly classic rock

Stranger: stones

Stranger: beatles

Stranger: zeppelin

Stranger: acdc

Stranger: queen

Stranger: I could go on

You: Those are awesome bands! I'm a big fan of Queen myself.

Stranger: who isn't

You: Good point.

Stranger: learning the guitar now actually

Stranger: hoped I could play bohemian rhapsody before christmas

You: Awesome!

You: Why Christmas?

Stranger: iunno

Stranger: it's just an arbitrary date

You: So…

You: What do you do? Are you in school? Do you have a job?

Stranger: I'm in school

You: What do you study?

Stranger: english

You: Seriously?

Stranger: yeah why?

You: Well, your grammar kind of sucks for someone who studies English.

Stranger: my grammar's fine

Stranger: I just don't care about typing properly or anything

Stranger: what about you mr grammar

Stranger: what do you study?

You: How do you know I'm a guy?

Stranger: just a hunch

You: Well, I am, but you shouldn't assume that.

Stranger: but I was right

You: And how do you know I'm in school?

Stranger: another educated guess

You: Do elaborate, please. How did you make an “educated guess” about my age?

Stranger: well, you like tts

Stranger: if you were that much older than me you probably wouldn't have read the books

Stranger: if you were that much younger than me you wouldn't have grown up with the books and would therefore probably like the movies more

Stranger: so I'm guessing you're around 21-22 ish

Stranger: you also live in a commonwealth country

Stranger: because you added a u to favourite

Stranger: I'm gonna guess you're in the same timezone as me

Stranger: because if you were in australia it would be pretty damn late

Stranger: and if you were in canada you'd probably be eating supper or something

Stranger: tell me if I'm way off base

You: …

Stranger: yeah that's what I thought

Stranger: so mr early twenty person in the uk

Stranger: what can I call you?

Stranger: other than stranger of course

You: ….

You: You first.

You: Actually…

You: Can we use nicknames? Is that okay? I just… It's weird giving out my name to someone in the internet, y'know?

Stranger: sure

Stranger: I'm… padfoot

Stranger: 21

Stranger: I live in england

Stranger: your turn

You: I'm Moony. Also 21. Also England. Please don't stalk me.

Stranger: I promise I won't

Stranger: anyway you have as much information on me now as I have on you

You: So the name Padfoot… where'd that come from?

Stranger: friends called me that in highschool cause I was so quiet

Stranger: I always snuck up on them

Stranger: my email address is even [email protected]

Stranger: how'd you get the name moony?

You: I have Lupus, so my friends in high school used to joke that I was a werewolf. Get it? Lupus? Anyway, because of that, they called me “Moony”

Stranger: oh… I'm sorry

You: No, it's fine. It happens to people. I'm over it. Not the Lupus, I can't get over that. But I'm over the pity party. It's not something I stress about anymore. It's just part of my life now.

Stranger: shit…

You: Ahaha! Okay, enough about that! Let's talk about something less depressing!

Stranger: yeah okay

Stranger: you never answered the question about what you study

You: Computer Science. I want to make video games one day, so I'm a coder.

Stranger: cool

You: Yeah…

You: Oh, shoot! I just noticed the time! I have to scram!

Stranger: oh

Stranger: it was really awesome talking to you

Stranger: honestly

Stranger: if you wanna keep chatting later you can always give me your email address

Stranger: but only if you want

You: Oh! Yeah! I forgot that! It's [email protected]

You: It was awesome talking to you, too! I hope we can do it again sometime!

Stranger: yeah same

You: Bye!

Stranger: bye

You have disconnected from the chat. To start another chat with a stranger, click here.

#text fic #my first text fic!#wolfstar #wolfstar fic #to be continued #my writing #my fic #ficlet #internet texting #wooo!#the omegle fic that nobody asked for #but i couldn't help myself #it was such a weird time for the internet!#omegle

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drake-the-incubus · 4 years

Note

1-50. Your turn >:3

1. Think of the last person who said I love you, do you think they meant it?

I hope so! Hey @hero-of-bowerstone do you love me?

2. Would you date an 18-year-old at the age you are now?

I’m turning 22 and have done nothing with my life. It depends. I don’t really know many 18 year olds.

3. When’s the last time you were aggravated and happy at the same time?

Re-reading my favourite book series a couple of days ago. Menoetius please love yourself more my baby, my child. Also writing my last fic is probably sooner. Cause Xiphrus needs love.

4. Would you ever smile at a stranger?

Uh… how the fuck do people smile?

5. Is there someone mad because you’re dating/talking to the person you are?

Uh yeah. He’s blocked and hopefully will leave me the fuck alone.

6. Have you heard a song that reminds you of someone today?

Uh not really. I have tailored playlists.

7. What exactly are you wearing right now?

A t-shirt, shorts and underwear? I need to change actually but that requires a shower and I’m too lazy to get that ready :/

8. How often do you listen to music?

24/7. Unless I’m watching a video/video calling, I’m constantly listening to music. When I say I’ve listened to a song for a week straight, it’s likely the song has been looped… for a week straight.

9. Do you wear jeans or sweats more?

Sweats, jeans fucking suck and cause issues I’d rather not deal with.

10. Do you think your life will change dramatically before 2013?

I mean the year already passed but back then I was going into 7th I think? If you mean the turn of this year, yeah I fucking do look at the world.

11. Are you a social or an antisocial person?

Anti-Social. I don’t like spending time with people too much and need a lot of alone time. That being said I crave attention from friends.

12. Have you ever kissed someone whose name begins with the letter ‘A’?

I don’t know? I’ve kissed a lot of people I have forgotten bc of truth or dare. Not that I recall.

13. What about ‘R’?

See the same as above.

14. Can you drive a stick shift?

No, and legally if I drive I’m going to be arrested as my learners expires soon and I a) have no glasses, b) can’t concentrate on the road to pass a driver’s test. Also why the fuck do people drive those, it’s… so unreliable.

15. Do you care if people talk badly about you?

If they’re not telling me to my face, yeah. If you have a problem with me, bring it up to me. I don’t like people talking behind my back. That being said, nah. Talk shit about me to my face all you want I don’t give a shit.

16. Are you going out of town soon?

I’m spending the next month in another province so the answer is, already out of town. I’ll be going out of this town quite often.

17. When was the last time you cried?

A few days ago I cried over Menoetius losing his fucking shit at love and then again when Joxeia was struggling.

18. Have you ever told someone you loved them?

Plenty of times. Then it got thrown back into my face almost the same amount.

19. If you could change your eye color, would you?

Yes and no. If I could have full heterochromia with a blood red eye I’ll fucking take it. That shit’s cool and I still love it. Otherwise only to make my own centerlized-heterochromia more distinct. (Blue/Green Split)

20. Is there a boy who you would do absolutely everything for?

My boyfriend? IG. I mean fictionally a lot of boys. IRL I don’t think I could do everything for anyone. Not my style.

21. Name something you dislike about the day you’re having.

I’m hungry and I can’t finish the series I’ve been waiting on bc scanlators dont have the final two chapters.

22. Is it cute when guys kiss you on your forehead?

No. Ew. It reminds me of what parents are supposed to do. Otherwise why’re you checking my fever? What’s the point?

23. Are you dating the last person you talked to?

Uh depends on what that’s defined as. I talked out loud, verbally to my boyfriend so yeah. Otherwise, no.

24. What are you sitting on right now?

A very uncomfortable arm chair/lazy boy type thing.

25. Does anyone regularly (other than family) tell you they love you?

My boyfriend. My friends. Also bold of you to assume my family tells me they love me.

26. Have you ever wanted someone you couldn’t have?

Yes, I want a lot of people. Fictional characters are nice, man. Otherwise kinda. On and off.

27. Who was the last person you talked to before you went to bed last night?

Staff on a server.

28. Do you get a lot of colds?

Yes! It fucking sucks because I sound like I’m dying MORE now.

29. Where is the shirt you are wearing from?

RTX 2018 when I went down there. Wish I could go again.

30. Does anyone hate you?

I would think, someone does, I'm not the most likeable person in the universe. I secretly think everyone does.

31. Do you have any empty alcohol bottles hidden somewhere in your room?

I should fucking hope not. If there is my boyfriend is going to have to answer some questions.

32. Do you like watching scary movies?

That’s my favourite movie genre.

33. Do you want your tongue pierced?

Ew no. Someone else does and I hate them for it. No that shit is… no. Good on other people but I know ppl who have had it and no.

34. If you had to delete one year of your life completely, which would it be?

Um… 2016 bc that ruined my life :)

35. Did you have a dream last night?

Fuck if I know. I woke up hungry and focused on that.

36. When was the last time you told someone you loved them?

Yesterday. My boyfriend.

37. Do you think you’ll be married in 5 years?

I don’t know if I even want to be married, but given what’s going on if I’m not then my bf might cry? So I think yes if we get the finances.

38. Do you think someone has feelings for you?

Uh… my boyfriend. But otherwise? Yeah. I’m fairly aware a lot of people develop feelings for me. It kinda weirds me out bc 90% of the time it’s never romantic.

39. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now?

Uh. Statistically speaking someone probably is.

40. Did you have a good day yesterday?

Nope. I don’t really think it was a net good or bad day.

41. Think back 2 months ago; were you in a relationship?

Yeah. We’re two years in September.

42. In the next 48 hours, will you hang out with a girl?

I currently share a house with my sister in law. We just had a conversation when I reached this question actually.

43. Has anyone told you they don’t want to ever lose you?

Yes and that brings up bad memories.

44. What’s the best part about school?

I got away from my abusive parents. Got to write in class. Met some friends. Uh. Learned about many things, people who’re 13 and spent five minutes learning about, argue with me on them. I learned how to write and use none of that knowledge now.

45. Do you have any pictures on your Facebook?

I wish I didn’t, but yeah because I had to upload things for my parents. Including images of before I was out as trans.

46. Do you ever pass notes to your friends in school?

Yup. Pretty common past time.

47. Do you replay things that have happened in your head?

Obsessively. So much so I’ve caused issues. So now I keep fictional worlds going as a coping mechanism.

48. Were you single over the last summer?

Nope. Won’t be this one either,

49. Is your life anything like it was two years ago?

Hahaha. Fuck no and im glad for it. Not with my parents, not struggling with other issues, not with my ex. Shit’s baller.

50. What are you supposed to be doing right now?

Probably writing a fanfic or planning a book. Cleaning. Could use a shower. Will I do any of these? Probably not, my boyfriend jacked my PC.

#ask game #lol this was p easy to do #long post

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sparklyjojos · 6 years

Text

400 pages into Cosmic, the plot picked up rather fast so here’s a short (’short’) recap of what’s been happening

As a foreword: the JDC books have weird chronology, so while Cosmic was released first, it takes place in January 1994. That’s two months after Tsukumo Juku solved the Geneijo case in Joker (solved it on the day of his 20th birthday, no less: 31.10.1993), and fourteen years after Ajiro Souji and 6-year-old Juku solved The Saimon Family Murder Case. (This chronological mess actually causes Seiryoin to spoil the other books in this. Which I understand, because the tragedy that was Geneijo influenced a lot of character development of the detectives.) After Geneijo, in December 1993, Juku traveled to England to help with the case of Jack the Ripper’s copycat, ‘Jackie the Ripper’, and since he’s still caught up in that case when Cosmic starts, he can’t (yet) go back to Japan to help Ajiro with the Locked Room Lord case. (The real reason is probably that Tsukumo Juku is like Son Goku, if you don’t carefully keep him away from the plot he’ll solve it in five minutes and there goes your tension)

---

So, the second part of the book starts with that thing I quoted about an unnamed mysterious androgynous stranger in a non-disclosed location sending a package with non-disclosed contents to JDC. (Hm, who can that be?)

Then we mostly follow Ajiro Souji, the JDC representative and a telephone detective, who’s having a very bad time. As if the initial murders and Pyramid Mizuno dying wasn’t enough, there’s also the thing where a guy they suspected to be the Locked Room Lord died in the locked room no. 20, and his place had evidence that he knew about the victims beforehand (but how?...). And then one of the newest victims of the Locked Room Lord is just a kid, murdered nowhere else but in Geneijo. That coincidence (or is it?...) spooks everyone in JDC, especially given that Souya -- Ajiro Souji’s son and the assistant of Ryuuguu Jounosuke -- was murdered there during the case just months earlier, and the wounds are still fresh.

(So basically, in 1980 Ajiro solved the Saimon Family Murder Case that had claimed Juku’s family including his birth parents, and then in 1993 Juku solved the case that had killed Ajiro’s son. It’s almost poetic, in a very tragic way...)

Anyway, stressed and exhausted Ajiro falls asleep and has a dream where he talks with Tsukumo Juku, who I guess is how his subconscious is showing ‘reason’ to him (Descriptions of their long-lived intergenerational friendship and mutual trust are really great, btw. Ajiro even notes that just hearing Juku’s voice is enough to calm him down completely, and that everytime they talk on the phone they’re both so happy as if they haven’t heard each other in years. Aww. Ajiro may be sort of a paternal figure to Juku, but it’s too early to tell for sure.) Anyway, dream!Juku tells Ajiro that to solve the current case he should ‘think backwards’, that is, think about the distant past; even more distant than the Saimon family case.

---

Upon waking up Ajiro is told that JDC got a mysterious package: a manuscript signed by a famous detective novel author Dakushoin Ryusui (濁暑院溜水). There are two problems here. 1) Dakushoin died in Geneijo, and the detectives even saw his corpse, and 2) the manuscript describes the first 19 locked rooms... including the ones that happened just hours prior to getting the package.

Other parts of the manuscript are 3 stories happening in 3 different times: in the Heian period, Edo period, and at the beginning of the 20th century. (It seems that what the dream!Juku told him about ‘distant past’ was true, huh.) The first two talk about alleged historical events when a ‘vengeful ghost’ called the Locked Room Lord caused the death of 1200 people each time, the third is about the famous mystery writer Edogawa Ranpo trying to uncover the truth about these events. The latter two stories feature a hundreds of years old man, Hikami Sensai, who relays the previous Locked Room Lord cases to the protagonists by giving them the previous written down stories.

Oh, and then there’s that part of the manuscript that talks about the future, predicting that JDC will fail to solve the case, the Locked Room Lord will complete his plan of killing 1200 people in a year, and then on New Year 1995 JDC will get another message from him that in that year, as well, 1200 people will die...

Ajiro is really spooked now. Soon after, when he calls Juku and discusses the contents of the manuscripts with him, they both suddenly realize they did briefly meet an old man called Hikami Sensai before -- fourteen years ago, right after the Saimon Family Murder Case. (There’s a very cute flashback, with Ajiro telling li’l Juku that he will surely one day grow up to be the pillar of all the detective work in Japan. Juku looks at him in a silent promise, his eyes shining with determination. I can’t overstate how much I love their relations in this.) They also talk about how the Jackie the Ripper Case and the current Locked Room Lord Case may have something in common, but we don’t learn the details.

---

Soon, Ajiro sets up a meeting to discuss the manuscript with other detectives. We meet the rest of the usual JDC cast, among them:

-- Hikimiya Yuuya, the statistics guy with a vast knowledge of mystery novels, usually Tsukumo Juku’s assistant (not now, since Juku’s abroad)

-- Ryuuguu Jounosuke, the cryptography guy who wears all black, refers to everyone with very polite suffixes while talking about himself in third person, and while he looks really young he’s actually a few years older than Juku

-- Kirika Mai, who mainly uses reasoning by elimination, who’s trying to figure out who her parents were (they died when she was a baby), and who holds Juku in very high regards after he saved her and helped her get into JDC

-- Tsukumo Nemu, Juku’s younger sister by adoption (ie. she’s a Tsukumo by birth, Juku is a Tsukumo via being adopted by Tsukumo Ranma), whose reasoning is more based on ‘vague feelings’ about what happened than precise facts. She’s 18 in this book. She and Kirika seem to be great pals and work as partners, probably because tagging along through the Geneijo case made them understand each other

-- Amagi Hyoma, who mainly drinks and sleeps a lot and I’m not sure what he’s even doing there

We also meet some not-detective assistants, as well as a bunch of police officers, including Tetsuko, an older sister of one of the Locked Room Lord’s victims.

Working together (mostly using Ryuuguu’s cryptography skills) the detectives discover that the names of the victims are all anagrams or otherwise wordplays on the names of the characters in the manuscript. It seems that whoever wrote it was either the murderer, or somebody who knew about the murderer’s plan, and encoded the victims’ names in the charactes’ names as a sort of ‘key’. The question is who wrote and sent that manuscript; Hikimiya (who’s a mystery nerd and read all of Dakushoin Ryusui’s books) believes it was written by Dakushoin judging by the style, word choices etc., but Dakushoin is dead (right?), so what’s going on? Some parts of the manuscript are different than reality, eg. the names of the victims, or that time a guy in one of the locked room stories calls JDC and talks with Ryuuguu -- in reality it wasn’t Ryuuguu, but a guy called Yaiba who picked up the phone. So maybe the writer lost contact with the culprit after some time and just guessed stuff? This entire mess is confusing to everyone.

At the point I stopped reading, the detectives all pair up and start serious investigation, chasing clues needed to discover the truth about the manuscript in many different places -- Dakushoin’s own house; Geneijo; the place where the guy suspected to be the Locked Room Lord lived that apparently has photos and maps related to the victims; a historical literature university group that can probably tell whether the Heian and Edo parts of the manuscripts are genuine or not; and also the place where Ajiro and kid Juku met that mysterious old man fourteen years ago...

---

Impressions so far:

I really, really like the parts with Ajiro and Juku. As you can probably tell.

Welcome to ‘things that only make you cry if you’ve read Tsukumojuku and also care too much about stuff’, featuring my poor detective son having a happy life and loving friends, and Serika and Tsutomu Kirika and Nemu being bffs and detectiving together.

There are some boring stretches, which I expected since Seiryoin’s slow pace is often criticized.

Juku’s biological dad was actually called ‘Ryusui’, even with the same kanji as in [Seiryoin] Ryusui, dkjfhkgjd, I mean yeah Seiryoin technically is his dad but still, really. I feel like at one point I’ll have to pull out one of those old Mary Sue Tests and put Juku through it just to see how many points he gets

The ‘historical’ stories were as expected a hell to read because of some archaic vocabulary and fragments like ‘Emperor X had two sons, Y and Z, and their mother was W, and then Y married J and had kids K and U with her’, that I guess the Japanese reader would recognize as historical figures but I don’t know anything about them and I got a bit lost. Yeah, that’s the fault of my ignorance.

This may sound funny, but if I didn’t know anything about the series and got to this point? I’d probably be 100% convinced that Tsukumo Juku is the Locked Room Lord. Solely because he’s hanging out conveniently away from the plot, and everyone describes him as so kind and smart and unearthly beautiful and trustworthy that he must be tricking everyone, right? I guess Seiryoin is playing on the readers’ expectation... by not playing on their expectations. The thing is, we don’t even know yet that Juku can faint people with his looks (a bit weird since you’d think somebody would mention that already). So all the descriptions like ‘his dangerous beauty’, or phrases that can be read as his looks / voice being both ‘amazingly beautiful’ or ‘terrifyingly beautiful’, or that his face and smile are juuust a little too perfect -- all of it kinda reads as if he’s actually ~secretly evil~, and not a genuinely nice man who just happens to also be basically the world’s least lethal basilisk.

#sparkly reads cosmic #maijo and jdc stuff #long post

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remembertae · 7 years

Text

Beverly Hills, 90210 “Nancy’s Choice”

(Photo: FOX)

S6 E19 Jan. 30, 1996

WRITTEN BY: John Eisendrath and Meredith Stiehm

SYNOPSIS

California University student newspaper editor Susan has been nominated for a Collegiate Press Club Award. Her boyfriend/newspaper colleague Brandon believes she’s sure to win for last year’s notorious feature story about an anonymous young woman (“Nancy”) who had an abortion. The two discuss her odds as they walk into the newspaper office, where they find Susan’s ex-boyfriend/ex-editor Jonathan hanging out with all his former colleagues. Unbeknownst to Brandon, CU has invited Jonathan to the awards dinner since he’d served as editor when “Nancy’s Story” was published. Brandon assumes Jonathan is attending the dinner as Susan’s date and jealously stomps out of the office, even after Susan assures him there’s nothing going on between her and Jonathan.

Later at the student union, Jonathan and Susan chat about the awards. She wonders why he came for the ceremony. He insists he’s there to support her, adding, “Who else knows how much you sacrificed for this story?” Susan winces and Jonathan apologizes, but Brandon approaches before they can discuss things further. After Jonathan leaves, Susan explains to Brandon that Jonathan never approved of Nancy’s story because he’s pro-life and thinks Susan “infringed on her privacy.” When Brandon asks if she did, Susan admits to pushing Nancy to tell her tale, but also believes the story helped her subject heal. When Brandon wonders why Susan cares so much what Jonathan thinks, she explains that he was her mentor and his disapproval hurt. And when she admits she’s still bothered by Jonathan’s disapproval, Brandon stomps off again.

Brandon asks his friends Steve and Clare to come to the dinner so he doesn’t have to deal with Jonathan alone. But then he and Susan bicker more later when she refuses to print his column until he does more reporting. Taking her editorial decision personally, Brandon tells her to have fun at the awards with Jonathan.

On the evening of the awards, Brandon dons a suit but heads to a local diner, The Peach Pit, instead of the dinner. Peach Pit proprietor Nat asks Brandon why he’s ditching the ceremony. Brandon can’t figure why Jonathan came back to town to celebrate Susan’s nomination for a story that caused their break-up. Nat tells Brandon he’ll never get an answer if he doesn’t show up for the dinner and compete for Susan.

Brandon arrives at the awards dinner right before Susan’s category is announced. After he sits down, someone at their table asks Susan what her article was about. She answers, “It’s about a woman’s right to choose.” Steve asks why it’s never the man’s right to choose, to which Clare and Susan both make snarky remarks about men never getting pregnant. Jonathan chimes in to say he doesn’t believe men or women should be able to choose. Brandon asks, in open ear shot of their entire table, if Jonathan broke up with Susan over the article. But before he can answer, Susan is announced as the best feature story winner.

Susan nervously accepts the award on behalf of all women who’ve faced Nancy’s difficult decision. “If Nancy were here tonight,” she says, “I can’t say she might not regret her choice. The effects are that profound and the consequences are that lasting. That’s why winning this award is very special – it honors more than choice, it also honors courage.” She leaves the stage visibly unnerved.

Brandon and Susan take a walk after the awards. He suggests she tell Nancy about her win, to which she replies, “I’m Nancy.” Brandon guesses correctly that Jonathan was the fetus father. She explains that after her sister died in a tragic accident the year prior, she and Jonathan got drunk and had unprotected sex. And when Jonathan learned of the pregnancy, he asked her to marry him. Susan gets weepy telling her story and Brandon embraces her. She asks him if he’s now turned off by her and he assures her that he’s not.

Jonathan approaches the two of them and Brandon lets them be alone. Jonathan is still upset he never had any input in Susan’s decision. She says she wasn’t going to change her life over a mistake, to which he angrily responds, “That’s a great way to talk about a child!” Susan claims he was pro-choice until he didn’t have one. Despite his resentment, Jonathan says he can’t help but forgive Susan and congratulates her for her award win.

Back at the banquet hall, Brandon hands Susan her award and tells her, “Doubting your decision doesn’t mean you made the wrong one.” All Susan can say is, “He forgave me. Now if only I could forgive myself.” She asks Brandon to hold her and he does.

KEEPING IT REAL QUOTIENT

I find this tale very interesting within the context of Beverly Hills, 90210’s previous abortion stories - season 2’s episode about reformed “bad mom” Jackie’s unplanned pregnancy and season 4’s two-episode arc about college freshman Andrea’s oops fetus. In a way, one could interpret this episode as the alternate reality Andrea might have experienced if she’d chosen abortion instead of birthing baby Hannah and marrying fetus father Jesse.

Susan and Andrea are remarkably similar characters - intelligent, intense (one might say “uptight”), proudly feminist women who serve as newspaper editors at different points in the series. Both women have a somewhat competitive relationship with Brandon, and are attracted to him. Both characters are accidentally impregnated by their non-Brandon college boyfriends and, at least at first, both choose abortion. When Andrea pursues termination despite Jesse’s pro-life stance, he threatens to break up with her. Between the prospect of losing him and the shame of terminating her offspring (she tearfully apologizes to her fetus the night before her appointment), Andrea changes her mind, marries Jesse and has her baby. The outcome of her choice is complicated. Hannah is born premature and suffers serious health problems during her infancy. Andrea struggles with balancing parenting and her studies. Jesse proves to be a judgmental, pushy, yet not particularly helpful father/husband. Both he and Andrea end up cheating on each other and consider divorce. Though they patch things up enough to keep their family together, one has to wonder if she might have been happier having an abortion and telling Jesse to kiss off.

With Susan’s story, we get an idea of how Andrea might have fared had she just gone through with it. And, no surprise to me, it looks like Susan’s decision was a good one. Jonathan is a jerk (to the point that he makes bratty Brandon look like a great guy in comparison). Essentially, it seems he offered Susan the same ultimatum Jesse gave Andrea - marry me and have this child or I break up with you. And if that weren’t enough manipulation, now he’s trying to sabotage her new relationship. Why ever would she be inclined to birth a baby she doesn’t want just to be with this guy, when instead she can continue pursuing her academic goals and be editor of the newspaper?

And yet, Susan remains plagued by shame. Not only does she second-guess her decision to abort, she still cannot forgive herself. For what? The abortion itself? Or getting pregnant in the first place? A decent narrative that centers the abortion-seeking character would answer that question, but the writers dumbly assume Susan must feel guilty about something, even if they don’t explain what. Her point of view feels so un-feminist. She internalizes Jonathan’s disapproval. And when she tells Brandon the truth about “Nancy”, she needs to know he doesn’t see her as damaged goods. There’s this moment after Brandon asks her (very judgmentally) how she got knocked up by accident, only to check himself and say she doesn’t owe him an answer to that question. But then Susan says, “Yes, I do.” No, you really don’t! People fuck up and get pregnant by mistake literally all the time. This “mourning my dead sister made us forget the condom” bit is overkill, but the writers probably thought we needed that maudlin detail to feel any sympathy for her. Because unlike Andrea, she actually went through with the abortion. And so she must do penance.

I’d somehow missed this episode when it originally aired and knew nothing about it until it was recently highlighted on the Beverly Hills, 90210 podcast “Again with This”. In her scathing recap, host Tara Ariano commented on the fact that both Jesse and Jonathan were eager to raise their girlfriends’ babies, noting, “This seems statistically unlikely that, of this sample, it would be one hundred percent anti-choice on the dudes’ side.” I’ve discussed the “overzealous fetus father” trope before, and how I believe it’s way overrepresented in the dozens of abortion episodes I’ve reviewed for this site.* Making the male partner disagree with the abortion-seeking woman is such a hackneyed source of abortion conflict, but the trope doesn’t have to be done this poorly. Again, in a smarter story, we’d have more discussion about Susan’s claim that Jonathan became anti-abortion simply because he didn’t have any input (we might have wound up with something like Mimi-Rose and Adam’s story from Girls). Or perhaps, if Susan had to be at odds with Jonathan, she could have been more secure in her decision, as Jackie was when she discussed her past abortion with daughter Kelly back in season 2. But no. Instead, there’s this sense that Susan should want her ex and her beau’s forgiveness. She may have dodged premature motherhood and an unhappy marriage, but vague, inexplicable guilt is her trade-off for maintaining that freedom.

GRADE

D+ I’m glad Susan had her abortion. Her stupid, unnecessary guilt trip (that does not suit her character) sucks, but it’s still better than her starting a family with Jonathan. That’s about all this dopey, lazy, stigmatizing episode has going for it.

Including this episode, we’ve reviewed 51 abortion stories. In 35 of those stories, the fetus father is made aware of the pregnancy. In 20 of those 35 stories, the pregnant woman either considers or goes through with an abortion, and the fetus father disagrees with her choice.

- by Tara

#abortion #abortion episode #beverly hills 90210

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vincepaige · 7 years

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Response to Buzzfeed “36 Questions Women have for Men”

Before I jump to any fast conclusions or start insulting you, let me just take my time to answer those questions with the least amount of swearing possible for me.

1. “How does it feel to be the same sex as Donald Trump?” I dunno. Why would I care? Oh, he has a penis and so do I, that makes me a bad person now? I am also the same sex as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and several other people who are/were working on making this world a better place for mankind. So? Does this automatically make me a good person? Fuck, no. You’re the same sex as Paris Hilton, does that mean you also have a brain that’s propably the size of an apple? Okay, fine with me.

2. “Why do you hate Romcoms? Or do you just feel like you need to hate them? - Everybody likes The Notebook, everybody likes Beyoncé, it’s just a fact.” I don’t hate Romcoms, I’m just not too big on the matter because I am usually not interested in the topics depicted there. Plus, you like to get mad about video games or porn, because you think they depict women in a way that is unrealistic and gives men unrealistic expectations that women can’t fulfill. Now, tell me: what do Romcoms and this kind of stuff do? Do they depict men in a realistic way or maybe in a way that YOU fucking wish was true to real life? Hm, I wonder why men wouldn’t like that. Do men cry about it all the time? I guess not, what a fucking surprise. Now don’t get me wrong, there are really, really good Romance movies, Hunting and Gathering for example is fucking good, but maybe that’s because it’s based on a novel by Anna Gavalda, who is just a good writer. Anyways, I didn’t like The Notebook, and I also don’t like Beyoncé. Fuck Beyoncé. It’s called opinions, I don’t know if you heard of that.

3. “Why do you make women sit around and talk about men in movies, when y’all easily just sit around and talk about boobs for hours?” Who? Who the fuck talks about boobs all the time? Since you’re not a man and thus don’t actually know what men talk about when there’s no women around, let me enlighten you: it’s not boobs. We talk about our personal interests, cultural topics like music or art, our hobbies, our experiences or current events. Maybe sometimes the topic of boobs will come up, but it’s not the big thing you make it out to be. Men don’t always think about sex, even if that’s what you have been told. I know a lot of women who talk about dicks and their sexual experiences a lot, too, so I don’t get why men talking about boobs is a bad thing.

4. “Why do you automatically assume that you won’t like a TV series or movie that starrs a female lead?” I don’t. I liked the Hunger Games movies a whole lot, for example. What about the new Star Wars movies? The thing is: I personally know that I won’t like something like the new Ghostbusters movie, because there’s women just crammed in there, not because there is a female lead. I couldn’t even give less fucks about the main character’s sex when I watch a movie.

5. “Why are you surprised when women are funny? - I’m propaly funnier than you!” You know what my reaction to a funny woman is: I laugh or, if it wasn’t that funny, chuckle. How did you even come up with this question? There are a lot of funny women. If you want a good answer to this question, watch the video The Amazing Atheist has made on this topic, I think it’s called “Tumblr feminists” or somtehing like that. There he explains that humor is basically something we use to cope with dark topics such as war, racism or stuff like that. We laugh about dark humor because it shows just how absurd our world is. PS: the woman in the video who said she was propably funnier looks and acts like she has no sense of humor at all. I don’t even think she’s funnier than my 4-year-old stepnephew.

6. “Why do you think we are obsessed with you when we hook up? - 9 times out of ten, I just want you to leave, too. I’m busy, I got shit to do.” I call bullshit. You know, sometimes, when two people hook up, one person might decide they want more from the other person than just having sex with them. To be fair, that happened to me at least three times so far. So, if this is a possibility one has to consider, it only makes sense to take caution, right? Right. I don’t even want to argue about this topic. PS: what shit do you have to do? Make stupid videos crying about being oppressed by the patriarchy? Jeez, I’m starting to insult you, and we are just 1/7 done. Oh boy.

7. “Why can’t I sleep with as many people as I want to without being judged? When men do it, they are congratulated.” By whom? Do you really think men celebrate with their friends when they managed to have sex with a woman? I’m going to tell you a secret, but you have to promise you won’t tell anyone, okay? We don’t. We talk about it, and sometimes, we are like “Nice, man”, but not like “Wow, you banged that slut”, more like “it’s nice that you had sex because sex is something people really fucking enjoy”. Do you get my point?Secondly, nobody cares about your sex life. But if you have sex with a whole lot of partners, it will eventually be disgusting at some point. Do you want to have sex with a guy that stuck his dick in, like, 100 different meat flaps? Yeah, that’s what I thought. PS: I don’t think you noticed that most of the people that do “slut shaming” or whatever the fuck you guys call it, are women themselves, who think they are better people or more pure than others by telling them they’re sluts.

8. “Why do you consider a woman a tease if she doesn’t sleep with you after three dates, but a slut if she sleeps with you on the first date?” Let me repeat myself: Who? Which guy even thinks like that? Were there no more cliché things you could think of that in some magical cliché-world men are thinking?

9. “In what world does “no” mean “yes”? - “No” means “no”!” So you’re talking about rape now, huh? Fuck off. I’m not gonna talk to you about rape, because people like you have made the word lose it’s meaning.

10. “Why do you say women are too emotional to be leaders, then justify catcalling by saying “men just can’t control themselves”?” I’ve never heard a man say either of that. But if you want a somewhat logical answer: women are naturally more inclined to show their emotions, which is something that can be seen by looking at facial expressions and the way of speaking. When women talk, they usually express a lot more of their emotions through facial expressions, as well as the tone of their voice. Listen to a man and a woman say the same sentence. The man’s voice will mostly stay the same, whereas the woman’s voice will change tone and pitch a lot more. As a political leader, you don’t always want other people to know what your thoughts and feelings are.

11. “Why do you think that just because you are nice to me, I owe you my body?” I don’t. You don’t owe me your body, even if I give you a new sports car as a gift. But if I am being a nice person, and a woman I find attractive is a nice person, too, and it seems like we are getting along well, is it really that far off to come to the conclusion that it might be okay to make a move? A move that doesn’t include force, that is. In today’s society, being nice doesn’t seem to be a basic human trait anymore, so it takes some effort to always be nice to a person. There are people out there who think they deserve a fucking medal for being nice, and they are wrong, but if I am nice towards someone, it’s most likely to gain their affection. So yes, if I am nice to a woman, that sometimes implies that I would like to sleep with that woman. If she’s being nice, too, I might be led to assume that she thinks similarly, so some people get frustrated if their expectations aren’t met.

12. “Why would you ever send an unsolicited dickpic?” How about you don’t ask men in general, but the people who do this? It’s not like all men are just taking pictures of their genitals and spreading them around the world, retard.

13. “Why do you think it’s okay to harass women, but when somebody does it to your sister, it’s not okay?” WHO? Who in the world says it’s alright to harass anybody? 3rd wave Feminists just like to overreact to everything, calling a guy tapping their shoulder a rapist and shit like that. What you think is harassment is NOT harassment in a lot of cases. Not gonna argue about that either.

14. “How does it feel to interrupt me when I’m in the middle of making a point during a meeting?” You make it sound like MEN ONLY interrupt WOMEN ONLY. Here’s the cold, hard truth for ya: Everyone gets interrupted sometimes. You’re not that fucking special.

15. “Why do you have to sit with your legs spread wide open? I get that you have balls, but you don’t see me walking around with my arms spread open to make room for my boobs.” A: Because sitting with your legs spread is comfortable as fuck. B: If our balls were located elsewhere on our bodies, so they wouldn’t be squished between our legs when we sit down, we wouldn’t do it as often. If your boobs got squished by your arms, you would spread them all the time. Did you even think about that question for the fraction of a second? PS: Do I complain about women taking up more space with their enormous bags? Or about fat people taking extra space with their, you know, fat bodies?

16. “Why are women perceived as the “weaker sex”, even though we literally birth you?” Congratulations, your body is able to do what it was designed for. I guess you women are better at giving birth than men. Listen, on average, women don’t possess the physical strength of men. That’s just biology. If you want to be perceived as strong, build up some muscle, or do something that makes men look strong, for example: become a construction worker or join the military. What, you don’t want to do hard physical labour all day or risk your life on the battlefield? Women are statistically much less likely to lose their lives during work, because most dangerous jobs are taken by men. (Women make up 47% of the workforce but only account for 7% of the work-related injuries.) If you want to be perceived as strong, why don’t you do something else than sit in a comfortable, propably air-conditioned office, making videos about why you hate men and why the world is so unfair?

17. “Why is it so bad to show your emotions? - It means you’re human.” I am raging at you right at this moment. Rage is an emotion. Fuck you. I already answered the question why it seems like men show less emotion. Oh, and maybe it’s because of fucktards like you, who tell us to “man up” and drink out of mugs that say “male tears”. You’re starting to contradict yourself there. Boys are often being told that “boys don’t cry” and other bullshit like that. If a man shows too much emotion, it’s perceived as a sign of weakness. You talk about privilege all the time, but has it ever crossed your mind that women are privileged because they can show their emotions anytime they want without having to think about social consequences or being called a pussy or a faggot by other members of our society? Let me ask you two questions: How often have you heard someone say “If you were a real man...”? And how often have you heard someone say “If you were a real woman...”? That’s right. You make statements that you think are absolutely true, because you think you understand how this world works, yet you don’t seem to put ANY thought into these questions.

18. “Why are you always trying to prove your masculinity to me?” Look at my answer to the previous question, you egocentric fuck. Have you thought about the slight possibilty that people just behave the way they do because they enjoy behaving this way instead of trying to impress you. You are a selfish cunt.

19. “Why the fuck isn’t it ladylike to cuss? When did words get gendered?” It’s also not gentlemanlike to cuss. Cursing is not a “man thing”, if you want to curse, than fucking go ahead, I don’t give a shit. But cursing is generally impolite, EVEN IF A MAN DOES IT. Do I have to spell everything out for you? And when words got gendered was propably the same time 3rd wave feminism was invented. Before that, nobody gave a fuck about “genders”. There were men, women and transgender people, and everyone seemed to be alright with that.

20. “Why is your first instinct to doubt women who have been sexually violated or raped?” Because accusing someone of fucking rape is a big deal. Even if he’s proven innocent, his reputation will be severely damaged, and in many cases, their lives are ruined. So, it doesn’t really make sense to give the maybe-victim the benefit of the doubt. There is this thing called “The Assumption of Innocence”, which means that someone accused of any crime is legally innocent until proven otherwise, which is the right way to do it. It’s kinda like this “pics or it didn’t happen” thing, but more serious. If you accuse someone of rape or sexual violence, you gotta have proof. Also, you throw the word “rape” around, calling every fucking tiny thing rape, it’s lost it’s meaning and maybe that’s why people do not believe rape victims as much anymore.

21. “Why do you assume that a woman is angry because she’s on her period?” I don’t, usually I’m trying to comfort my female friends when they tell me they’re on their period. But, to give you an answer: a lot of women (not all women!) are easily irritable during their period due to hormones, and that’s why men tend to be careful or blame bad moods on periods. Maybe women should talk about why they get angry at their significant other more openly instead of expecting them to know what the deal is. “Oh, he should be able to figure it out!” Yeah, no. Fuck off. I’m not a mindreader, so you either tell me what’s wrong or you deal with it by yourself.

22. “Why do you think women that wear makeup are false advertising? We could say the same about your dick size.” Are you actually comparing those two things? It’s not hard for a woman to enhance her facial features using makeup, while on the other hand, I don’t even know how I could make my penis look bigger than it is. It’s not like I can put some foundation and some highlighter on my dick and make it look two inches bigger, you retard. 23. “Why isn’t it weird that there’s a bunch of old white men, sitting in a room, making legislation about what I can and can not do with my body?” It would be exactly as weird if it was a bunch of black men, so mentioning that was not just unneccesary, but also pointless. To make this portion of your sentence viable at all, you have to make assumptions about people based on their skin color, which is racist. Don’t dare to try and tell me otherwise, you have to be a racist to make this work. Do you expect to fight racism with racism? Plus, those are the people that your country voted to make legislation. There have to be laws in a country, and I don’t know of any law that restricts you if you want to do stuff to your body. Oh, and wasn’t it a room full of white men that decided women should be allowed to vote? 24. “Why are straight guys so obsessed with lesbians?” Well, I personally am not. But it’s easy to figure out. Let me refer to the explanation ShoeOnHead did in one of her videos: straight men are attracted to women. Lesbian porn features two (!!!!) women at once, naked and doing sex stuff. It’s two of a thing a straight men likes, together. Why is it strange to like that? Also, lesbian porn is the kind of porn most searched by women. Why are women so obsessed with lesbians? And even more important: why are many women so obsessed with gay guys?

25. “How does it feel to get kicked in the balls?” If you can’t figure out how it feels to get kicked in one of the most sensitive regions of your body, you must be pretty dumb. But let me explain: sometimes, the pain is so intense, that the body releases adrenaline and other chemicals to numb the pain immediately, so sometimes it might even take a few seconds for the agony to kick in. Other than that: try to imagine a severe pain in your crotch, cimbined with the feeling of having to throw up creeping up to your stomach. There are cases of people throwing up or blacking out after getting kicked in the balls, so there you go.

26. “Don’t you ever get tired of trying to be manly all the time?” Who says I am even trying to be manly? And: don’t you ever get tired of trying to be “womanly” all the time? Don’t you get tired of putting on all this makeup and wearing high-heels? To answer your question: not really. It comes naturally to most men, because, well, they are men.

27. “Why are you so afraid of gender equality?” Who the fuck are you talking to? And do you even know what the fuck you are talking about? To quote Dr Shaym: “You cannot pretend to be a movement for equality when you are only concerned for the issues of one gender and completely disregard or downplay the issues of the other. It’s that simple.”

28. “Why do I deserve to be paid less than you? - In what world does 77 cents equal a dollar? - In what world does 68 cents equal a dollar? How is this fair?” Apart from the fact that the number even changes randomly, I have something for you to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjWBXbGVyQU For those of you who are to lazy to click an this link and watch a video that’s about half a minute long: the wage gap doesn’t exist. It’s based on statistics that don’t take into account: -the different jobs of the people surveyed -the hours worked -that men are more likely to ask for raises and promotions -that men retire later -that men are less likely to take time off -that men are more likely to work overtime among other factors, meaning this statistics mean nothing. Don’t you think if companies could get away with just paying women less, they’d hire women to save money? PS: Actually, there aren’t 36 quesions in the video, because these four questions are basically the same thing. Stop talking about makeup and dicks, because THIS is false advertising for sure.

29. “Why are you intimidated by a woman who makes more money than you? That’s awesome! More money!” I’m not intimidated by a woman who earns more than me. And if more money is awesome, why the fuck are you cunts still bitching about men allegedly earning more than women? It’s more money! I am beating you with your own fucking argument, that’s how bad you are at arguing!

30. “Why are opinionated women seen as bitches, when opinionated men are seen as bosses?” Do you even go outside? Have you ever even interacted with human beings that are not part of your stupid ideology?

31. “Why don’t you speak up when you hear your male friends behind closed doors make jokes that are offensive to women?” Because a) I’m not a woman, so these jokes don’t offend me. b) There’s noone around that would be offended, so why speak up? c) we’re talking about fucking jokes here, alright? Again, I get the feeling that you don’t understand humor. I highly suggest you watch the video by The Amazing Atheist I told you about earlier. Do you speak up, when you hear your female friends behind closed doors make jokes that could be offensive to men?

32. “Why are you so afraid of recognizing your own privilege? It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. Just recognize it and do something about it.” Tell me about one legal privilige that I as a man have that you as a woman don’t. Because I can think of stuff that’s the other way around.

#feminism #buzzfeed #cancer #anti sjw

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anovel70 · 5 years

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May 2019 Update

My goals this year have been simple as I narrow down my interests from the previous years. At the beginning of the year (before I got busy and forgot to post my stuff), I came up with three major categories of everything I wanted to do in 2019. Since then, things have changed because of my dislocated shoulder and failures.

work - do good at my job, actuary, investment, do my own taxes and loans, organize my life

social - making friends, find a girl, looking clean

entertainment - Pokemon, TV, running

With work, I don’t know what to think of it. I haven’t gotten fired yet, and I hope I don’t in the future. My coworkers have all been laid off or resigned, which probably gives me job security. I’m struggling with learning my role, and no one really has availability to help me. My coworker is still trying to make me look bad, even though I’m new.

As for my actuary exam, I failed. I got 51.5 on the exam while the pass mark is usually 53. I don’t see the pass mark being any different for this sitting. Failure wasn’t a thing I had considered when I made my plan. Now, I plan on retaking MAS I in the fall, Exam 5 in 2020, and Exam 8 in 2021 before taking a break to focus on my engineering exam.

In May, I just want to sit at Starbucks and focus on statistical programming on R. R is widely used by actuaries and I need to get good at this program. Plus, it helps me understand the material even better if I can integrate it to my studies. I’m not going to be studying for MAS I specifically, but I am going to use the guides from various actuary exams to help me learn and use R to solve problems. In June, I should get my official score report back, and I will start studying for MAS I again.

With R, there are four textbooks that are required reading for exams. Even though R is not required, it is still useful to know to put on your resume. I will separate my learning out in chapters. There are 10 chapters in Statistical Learning, 12 chapters in Time Series, 15 chapters in Bayesian, and 8 chapters in Linear Mixed Models. I don’t care about learning R or learning material in the exams. I will only care about learning practical uses of R, and using R to solve problems in these textbooks will be ideal. There are 45 chapters in total, so I will work at them at a rate of one chapter a day. That will bring me to the end of June, which will be time to start studying for MAS I again.

Now that I’m done studying for actuary for now, I want to figure out what my finances are. My mother made me sign up for a bunch of credit cards that I have not kept track of throughout the years. I also want to handle paying for my student loans myself and keeping track of my two bank accounts. I already have an Excel spreadsheet I used for stocks last year. Now I’m going to expand that spreadsheet to include all of finances. I need to include web links, passwords, and usernames in this spreadsheet.

The first quarter of 2019 was bad. I dislocated my shoulder, then I got sick at speed dating at a college with uninteresting girls. In February, I’ve been watching old scenes from Gossip Girl, Friends, and How I Met Your Mother. I have no idea why. I remembered a scene from 2015 I thought was really funny on Friends. The thought just popped out of nowhere. I haven’t thought about that scene in three years, but somehow I remembered it. It was the last episode where Phoebe thought something was wrong with the phalange.

With TV this year, I hope to watch the Office and Pretty Little Liars, but we’ll see how far I get with this goal. Also, I need to continue watching Game of Thrones, 13RW, and Stranger Things. On top of that, I need to watch Kim Possible Live Action, Pokemon Live Action, and Frozen 2. I watched Kim Possible Live Action, and I watched Christopher Robin live action. I found it on the plane. Then I watched a Wrinkle in Time and now I’m focused on the Man in the High Castle. I will start watching Game of Thrones on May 5.

The only good thing that happened to me this year is my trip to Montana for work. I have a friend from Montana, so I was texting her a lot but that sort of ended after I came back home.

The Man in the High Castle is great. It takes place after WWII when the Axis powers won the war. America is divided between Japan and Germany, while Italy is somehow not referenced, even though they helped the Axis powers. I liked the fact that Germany bombed Washington DC to end the war instead of America bombing Japan to win the war. It is almost like a parallel universe. Also, instead of the Cold War happening between the US and Russia, it happens between Germany and Japan, which is really interesting if you think about it. At first, it looks like Japan is the good guys, since they are underpowered and do not have weapons of mass destruction. Plus, their people have more freedom than under Germany’s rule, but still not as free as the US.

All the main characters are very likeable. Even Hitler is likeable in this timeline. Although he is mostly referenced and only shows up no more than twice in the series, he is the one that’s keeping the peace in the world. However, he’s about to die in 6 months, which will start a war that Japan is guaranteed to lose.

So you have Joe, who’s working for the Nazis, but is considering joining the Resistance against the Nazi and Japan because of his affection for Juliana. Juliana joins the Resistance when she sees her sister gets killed and now she wants answers. Her boyfriend Frank lost his family and is framed for shooting the Japanese crown prince because he actually made a gun and was about to do it. But instead, Ed protects him, who is the biggest bro in the series, and now its Frank’s turn to save Ed from Kido. Frank is working with an antiques seller, Childan, who successfully sold a fake antique, which Frank outed in the first episode of Season 2.

Kido is on everyone’s cases and I really don’t like him. He’s the head of the Japanese police and his main focuses are Ed and the shooting of the prince, even though he found the Nazi who actually killed the prince. He killed Frank’s sister and her family when Frank wouldn’t tell him where Juliana went because they wanted a film from her. Once they found someone that stole Juliana’s bag, it was revealed that this person did not have the film he was looking for, so they freed Frank. He’s also after the Japanese mafia who has a film that Juliana needs to get for the resistance, but the mafia has warned him that they will go public about Japanese officials doing illegal activities if anything bad happened to them. Lastly, he’s after Tagomi, the Japanese trade minister who wants peace between Germany and Japan. He does all this, and yet he claims he is “not a monster” in the second episode.

Now let’s talk about how awesome Tagomi is. He wants peace. He gets a German Nazi Wegener to give him plans for a bomb so that Japan will be on par with German in terms of nuclear weapons. He then gets Wegener out of the Pacific States of America (California) before Kido can accuse him of conspiracy. I love the rivalry between Kido and Tagomi throughout Season 1, but it looks like they won’t be in any scenes together in Season 2. Because of Wegener, Kido thinks Tagomi is responsible for the crown prince’s death. He tries to get Tagomi to stop drug trade from the mafia. He disapproves of hiring Juliana to help Tagomi. Kido says goodbye to Tagomi when he was going to commit an honorable suicide since he failed to find the crown prince’s killer, only to realize he could blame Ed. Tagomi also has a vision of a more peaceful America, which is basically what happens in our timeline. He’s one of the few good guys working in the government.

Unfortunately for Tagomi, his contact Wegener gets arrested by a Nazi, John Smith, who’s been giving Joe instructions. John is also a respectable character, and I like him, even though he wants to kill Juliana for being part of the resistance. He wants to get rid of traitors within the Nazi ranks because Hitler does not want another war once he’s gone. Hitler is aware that there will be war and he does not want this. Hitler is portrayed as a good guy who’s trying to resist war, which is strange because we usually see him as a bad guy in our timeline. Also, the Nazi’s sign in America is an eagle carrying the Nazi swastika, which is really cool because Hitler did not completely remove America’s heritage when he took over.

I really want to see stories in other places, like the UK and France. They do mention Mexico and South America, which makes me wonder what happened to places like China or India. Apparently, the characters want to “flee to Mexico”, but what does that mean? Its actually kind of ironic how Mexico is the “safe place” in this timeline since in our timeline, Trump wants to build a wall.

With Pokemon, that’s been coming along nicely. I’ve finished catching the 403 Pokemon in the Aloladex so now I’m hoping to borrow some games from the library. However, a lot of those games are missing, which puts a dent in my plans. I might have to buy a flashcart sooner than expected if I want to catch them all.

Now in Pokemon, I need to make sure I have one Pokemon from each evolutionary line. I also want them to have their Hidden Abilities. If they evolve by trading, I’ll include the evolved form instead of their base form. For Golem, I will have to include both forms, but the Kanto Golem should have its HA. Since I can search by symbols now, every Pokemon in this breeding living dex that I want to keep or has its HA should have a star so I know which ones I should keep. A heart will mean that it has good stats but no HA.

So my week-by-week plan in May is the following:

5/13: Finish up running, finish watching Man in the High Castle Season 3, start learning R, start learning about my finances, clean up my old computer, finish getting gift Pokemon in Ultra Moon and practice for the VGC weekend

5/20: Grab some friends for the long weekend, finish watching GOT last season, play Pokemon VGC weekend

5/27: watch a bunch of movies, RNG Pokemon Black, finish organizing my Pokemon

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