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#i will hear no criticisms or critiques thank you for understanding
placedupon · 9 months
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I'm fully on board with criticizing people who say China is evil and bad – it's propaganda. But can you recommend any good reading on why China is actually an important leftist project and not more imperial state capitalism? This is the critique I hear from my Western left bubble, but I don't feel thoroughly educated on this and am receptive to alternative arguments.
Thanks and sorry for posting from my weird kink alt – it's the one that's on my phone and I can't sleep. 🌻
For the specific question you're asking, I think the works of Mobo Gao are the best, but I'll also include some books about the Chinese revolution because I believe they provide some critical context. Of course these recommendations will be in English, because I'm not good enough at reading Chinese to understand Chinese texts (working on it!)
The Battle for China's Past: Mao & the Cultural Revolution by Mobo Gao deconstructs a lot of the sinophobia and anti-communism in the way the west (and many Chinese people) view the cultural revolution. In a similar vein, The Unknown Cultural Revolution: Life and Change in a Chinese Village by Dongping Han is about the authors village and how the cultural revolution & communism was able to empower previously downtrodden peasants.
Constructing China: Clashing views of the People's Republic by Mobo Gao is more about modern perceptions of Chinese people, and how sinophobia is produced on a global scale. Very important text.
On a more historical side, I think the works of Han Suyin are essential: she was one of the only english writers who spoke positively about China (and lived in China!) during the communist revolution. Her autobiographies, starting with A Mortal Flower gave me a lot of insight into many critical events in Chinese history.
She also wrote biographies which were heavily researched. I'm currently reading Wind in the Tower: Mao Tsetung and the Chinese Revolution. She was also friends with Zhou Enlai, and wrote a book about him titled Eldest Son: Zhou Enlai and the Making of Modern China, which I've heard very good things about.
In terms of modern writers who are fighting against Sinophobia right now, Vijay Prashad is incredible. The Qiao Collective has many good articles about China. The podcast Decolonized Buffalo has some great episodes about Chinese history and modern anti-communism.
If I think of more recommendations I'll add them later.
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kedreeva · 2 years
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Hi! i hope it's okay to messages you about this. your posts about concrit have been so encouraging and helpful! Today i was talking to someone who isn't active in fandom much, but she read this really nice fic and asked me about commenting, and she said that obviously she wouldn't be mean but concrit is okay right? so i told her that unless the author asked for it, she shouldn't, and she didn't understand why, so i tried to explain it with that "you've brought cookies to work" thing, and she said that actually, she would want people to tell her if there was something she could do better, because otherwise she would make the same cookies again next time and people would have the same critique and not enjoy them, so no one gained anything. and it's great that she would want the concrit, but she shouldn't assume that others do. and then she said she thinks people who won't accept criticism have a weak character, and why wouldn't they want to improve, and she won't comment on the fic at all now. and i guess that's better than leaving concrit, but that was still so frustrating. i sent her some of your posts, but i don't think she got it, unfortunately. anyway, thanks for listening!
Hi! It's perfectly fine to message me about this 💜
Unfortunately sometimes people are just not at a place of development where they can put themselves into anyone else's shoes. "I would want this so everyone else must too" is a very narrow scope of vision and learning to think "I would want this, but I should not assume everyone does and should ask them to make sure" instead can take a lot of effort. Some people are willing to put in that effort, some aren't. You can try to teach them, but ultimately it's on their shoulders so don't beat yourself up about it if they don't want to hear it.
I've come to prefer the "taking a walk" analogy over the potluck one. It goes like this: If I'm out taking a pleasure stroll with some friends and a stranger comes up and starts critiquing how I walk or why, I'm not going to feel particularly charitable toward them. Someone coming up to me to explain how I need to walk in order to run in marathons isn't going to do anything but annoy me, because the point of taking a pleasure stroll with friends isn't to run a marathon. It's to hang out with my friends doing something we both like for our own reasons, as a fun social activity. It could be the best advice in the world, but it's the wrong context in which to provide it, so it doesn't matter. It's worthless because the person giving advice obviously doesn't understand anything about my motivations or goals and didn't even bother to ask if I wanted help in the first place; all they're concerned about is making sure they look smart.
The other thing that's important to both analogies is the idea of just... Basic manners involving consent. Your friend would want to be told, but if you want to reopen the dialogue, ask her which is better: someone at a potluck coming up unprompted to say "your cookies have too much salt," or someone coming up and saying "hey, you baked the cookies right? Do you mind if I give you some advice for next time?" and then respecting the answer. She also has the option of saying "hey, I made the cookies, does anyone have any pointers for next time?" which allows her to consent up front.
Anyway, I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates you attempting to educate your friend on common fandom manners. I hope she learns better in a gentle way.
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soleminisanction · 7 months
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Sorry if this is weird ask to get but I just wanted to say that I actually like steph a lot more after reading your critical posts about her lol XD like.. at first I just thought she was the most boring character alive, just a basic blonde like so many others in dc, easily replaceable and I didn’t really understand her appeal. But then I read your critical posts and I was like :0 I’ve been fed a boring fanonized version of steph all along!! She has an actual personality! Incredible! A bad personality but still lmao :p at least it’s there! and I really love villainous/morally bad characters so it’s been fun to just kinda indulge in reading your posts and getting to know steph’s darker side which I really like, I wish less people would straight out ignore/deny or downplay her bad aspects because I find them so so so much more interesting than the stereotypical quirky teen hero trope she’s been shoehorned into as of late. Also wish ppl would stop acting so fragile around her character like I know she was the center of a huge sexist scandal in comics a few years ago but it feels like everyone is stepping on eggshells in regards to even slightly critiquing her character in fandom spaces lol, I mean sexism is still alive and well in comics sphere but how does critiquing steph harm that discussion in any way yknow?
Well that's a delight to hear. 😆 Sincerely, thank you! My point exactly! You've put it all very well! Modern fanonized quirky-girl Steph is really boring and it's a waste of potential, and that's frustrating.
And keep in mind, that huge sexist scandal that defines her entire character and that people still use to defend treating her with kids' gloves to this day? It happened TWO DECADES AGO. 2023 is its twentieth anniversary and it's STILL the only thing she's actually known for outside of her niche fandom, aside from being Tim Drake's designated beard. And it's not like every other woman in comics doesn't have a moment (or two, or dozens) like that somewhere in their history.
It's just... yeah, like you said, it's frustrating and dumb that people are so delicate with her that they stifle all the potential she could have to be a really interesting, complex and flawed character. I'm glad you took away that point from my ramblings, it's exactly what I was going for. 😊
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balletomaneblog · 2 months
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People might roll their eyes for me saying this - but I truly am impressed by Khoreva’s improvements since her return to the stage. Like, can we take a second to appreciate just how much she has grown? Especially after touring in China and her most recent Don Quixote. I notice that she’s much more interactive with her partners, as well as more expressive in general. She seems much more confident on stage. I think she’s maturing into a wonderful artist who - while not quite there yet - will absolutely be deserving of principal status someday.
I recognize that not everyone has the same taste in dancers, and she is understandably not everyone’s favorite ballerina, but I do wish her detractors would give credit where it is due. While it is true that she has a lot of privilege, it is also true that she works very hard - and it shows. I wish people weren’t so quick to discredit her.
This also might be a controversial opinion, but I really don’t see what’s wrong with her social media presence. She seems like a young person who loves ballet and is sharing that with the world. She’s also contributed to the rising interest in ballet over recent years (almost as an ambassador for her art of sorts), and I see more people loving ballet as a good thing. Social media isn’t going anywhere, so we might as well get over ourselves and embrace it. Maybe my bias is showing, but I find her a lot more tolerable than some of the other influencer-type ballerinas.
Anyway, thanks for listening to my thoughts! I know my opinion is a popular one with her international fans, so maybe I’m beating a dead horse. Still felt compelled to share though. I appreciate that you always seem to take a kind and balanced approach, even when offering critiques.
So so sorry for the late reply! Thanks for sharing, I love chatting on here about this kind of thing.
I've spoken a bit about Khoreva before and I'm definitely not hiding that I'm a Khoreva fan so I'm totally in agreement with you.
I don't always love the "instagram ballerina" thing because there are some dancers on social media who seem to focus more on number of turns, hyperextensions, etc rather than artistry. However, Khoreva is definitely not one of them. I find a lot of her posts to be really interesting and insightful and I love her adagio combination videos. I especially like her youtube account because I'm grateful for any opportunity to watch more videos of Mariinsky performances.
I've also spoken some already about how much I've enjoyed seeing the growth of Khoreva's acting skills in the past couple of years and the new maturity in her after she returned from her injury. You're right, It's totally valid for Khoreva to just not be someone's favorite dancer (everyone has different taste), but I really feel like the excess criticism she gets is a David and Goliath kind of thing. She's just been given so many opportunities and advanced so fast that it's easier for some people to root for dancers like Khiteyeva (whom I also love) who spent years in the Corps de Ballet waiting for their shot.
I was so upset to hear that Khoreva is out on another injury so soon and I'm hoping that she recovers fully soon!
Thanks again for sharing!
P.S. Why on earth has Khoreva not performed Grand Pas Classique yet? This needs to happen!
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raptorsaurusmelain · 6 months
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Let me show you... Youtube - chapter 23
I think I want to post it on AO3, is this a good idea ?
Warning : no proof reading, English is not my mother tongue.
Trigger warning : once sentence speak about unaliving themselves.
If you are interested in reading this fic, the tag "#twst lmsyy" will give you all the chapters.
─── ・ 。゚☆: .☽ . :☆゚. ───
The woman didn’t understand the sentence really well. She turned her head. No one. [Strange… I was sure someone was there.]
Victoria looked at Crewel with her eyes full of questions. “Did you speak to me ?”
Crewel patted her head. “No. Hearing voices ?”
Victoria frowned. “... Maybe.”
Like magic, she received a text. about the painting. She smiled “I am sorry, I gotta go. Thank you for spending all this time with me.”
The man coveted her. He feathered the back of her hand with his mouth. “No big deals, it was wonderful to spend all this time with such a beautiful woman.”
Victoria reddened. “Thank you for the compliment… Goodbye.”
She flew to the art room. She was panting by the time she arrived. “I am here for the painting !”
A teenage boy greeted her. “Hello, I am the painter ! Nice to meet you.”
Victoria looked at him from head to toe. He seemed near a good burn out. They had the same dark circles and pasty white complexion, indicating the unhealthy lifestyle they lived. They even had the same fake smile plastered on their face. Damn it was like looking at a gender bending mirror.
The boy spoke first “Mh, about the canvas… Do you really want to buy it ? It is a depressing one… Ladies normally prefer bright paintings with flowers and cute animals on them…”
Victoria nodded. “No, I want this one. It is really a melting pot of raw emotions, I like it. It reminds me of myself.”
He seemed troubled. “Oh… Ok… Then for the price..”
They discussed the price. Once she gave him the money -after insisting to pay him rightfully- she asked. “This painting feels like something you already experienced. Is it you ? Or someone you know ?”
The boy had a faint smile. “I am the one in this painting…”
Victoria felt tears coming out. “You know… If you have help, everything will get better. I know it for sure.”
The poor teenager squeezed her hand before she went away. “Thank you..”
She turned around with her new addition when she heard a faint whisper. “Whore.”
She turned her head as fast as a human could to see who was speaking. No one again. [I don’t like this at all.]
When she was in the corridor she was stopped by a voice she knew. “Mrs Devi ? What are you doing here ? You should be watching the games.”
She smiled facing the man. “I could tell you the same professor Trein.”
He coughed. “I was merely patrolling inside the school.”
The cat in his arms meowed. He added/ “What do you have here ? A painting ?”
She nodded and showed him. “Indeed ! A fellow student made it. I think he has a lot of talent, the emotions are so raw. I love it.”
Lucius seemed intrigued by the canvas. He sniffed it. Trein frowned. “It is… an unusual taste in painting.”
Victoria shrugged. “Well you need a little bit of everything to make a world… I don’t critique people’s taste in food, don’t critique my taste in paint.”
The duo was stunned by her comeback. “I am not criticizing your taste, I just find it original.”
Victoria, deadpan, looked at him. “‘Original’ often means ugly. Like when we say that a hat is ‘original’ when it is just plain old ugly. In short, I have a painting and I am going to hang it, if you excuse me. Humpf!”
Trein was left speechless. Lucius meowed. Trein asked the cat. “What do you mean I screw things up ?”
Victoria came back quickly to the dorm to hang her painting in her bedroom -after watching a quick tutorial on how to hang a frame on old wood wall-. No one had good taste in paintings here. She could spend hours looking at it without getting tired of it.
She heard noises then a good “Victoria we are hoooome.”
The woman welcomed the duo. “Hello dearies ! How were the games ? I filmed your game of course !”
Yuu became shy while Grim boasted confidence. “Nya ha ha !!! We were awesome, no ?”
Victoria applauded, smiling. “Of course ! Everyone has witnessed the great Grim in action !”
Grim continued to laugh. This time it was Yuu’s time to speak. “You… Aren't you going to ask us about what happened before the match ?”
Victoria looked at the Child and asked. “Do you want to speak about it ?”
Tears filled Yuu’s eyes. The woman guided the Child to the sofa and Grim said. “You are a cry baby, subordinate !”
Victoria clicked her tongue. “Shh Grim if you want tuna later.”
Grim shut his trap and Yuu began to speak. The fear they had when Ruggie was hurt, the disaster it was to escape the attacks,... They had a lot to unpack, like last time.
She let them cry all they needed. It was to a point they fell asleep on the couch. Victoria covered them with a duvet before preparing dinner. She made tuna mayo onigiri for everyone and left a plate covered with cellophane on the table. She wrote ‘For Yuu <3’ in her best penmanship.
She was in a dire need of sleep.
Tag : @boba-tea-fish @hipsterteller
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Hi! You convey your thoughts so well that I wanted to ask you: what do you think about (chapter 48 summary spoilers because I don’t know if you’ve read it from Keru!!!) Ugetsu trying to help Mafuyu reconnect with Ue/music at syh’s show? At first Ugetsu’s energetic mission to get him there felt out of character for me, but I think it’s going to read differently seeing Ugetsu having moved on and moved forward with his life in growing outside of his own codependent relationship with Kaji.
Hello! Thank you for being patient, I am back! I personally think that mix_18/chapter 48 was done ✨~SUPERBLY~✨. @morievna captures it pretty perfectly in her meta on Mix 18. I believe that Ugetsu was very much in character and he is, as you said, displaying some differences due to his growth as a character.
GIVEN | Ugetsu 1.0 and 2.0 similarities and differences
Remember, Ugetsu and Mafuyu are 🎶MUSICAL MIRRORS 🎶  because they both use music as an outlet to express, understand their own AND other people's emotions. Ugetsu therefore knows that Mafuyu NEEDS to attend the SYH concert in order to know how he is feeling.
Ugetsu and Mafuyu's mentorship is mostly Ugetsu taking the lead to drive Mafuyu to confront music. So Ugetsu has always been quite energetic when it comes to talking to Mafuyu.
Code_16 Ugetsu 1.0
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Mix_17/Chapter 47 Ugetsu 2.0 👇
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However, the energetic attitude back then was laced with criticism and a bitter pain. His liveliness was lined with a sense of falsehood. We see that in Code_16/Chapter 16, Ugetsu 1.0 who organised the Tchaikovsky tickets for Mafuyu and Akihiko. However Ugetsu liked inspiring by showing Mafuyu how cool he was at the violin concert, he was hoping for Mafuyu to also join the "lonely genius bubble" club, to become like himself, to rely solely on music to process trauma and communicate with others to avoid difficult conversations.
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Mafuyu doesn't want to turn out like Ugetsu 1.0. And just like you said, having moved on and moved forward with his life in growing outside of his own codependent relationship with Kaji, Ugetsu 2.0 here realises that this
1. stagnation of feeling he has to choose between Akihiko and music 2. never properly communicated with Akihiko on how the other party was feeling
that led to their toxic relationship. Ugetsu smiles knowing that Mafuyu doesn't quite understand that yet. Then Ugetsu says,
"Either way, there is no going back for me."
and later on
"Didn't you pretty much neglect factoring what the other party thinks about this?
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Ugetsu is hoping that Mafuyu will learn in his own time that being in shutdown and avoid the other party will ultimately make Mafuyu end up like him. So it's not too late for Mafuyu and Uenoyama!
What Ugetsu 2.0 does differently is rather than showing off or critiquing, he tells Mafuyu:
how he is not great and still working on building his human relationships and taking care of himself
how he has no idea what the future holds, maybe he'll be in NY longterm, he doesn't know
shows vulnerability but is being a realist that he can't go back in time to change things with Akihiko.
What he demonstrates here is the imperfect humanness of being a professional musician. Professional musicians don't have certainty and don't have it all together. He is telling Mafuyu that uncertainty about life is perfectly normal. Ugetsu also knows that Mafuyu, just like himself, connect with others best through music. So if Mafuyu wants to figure his feelings and connect with Ue, he NEEDS to go to the concert. But Mafuyu is putting too much pressure on this event to give him complete clarity. Pre-debut and post-debut is still full on uncertainty. So why not just "learn more about it?" Why not just listen?
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I find it so funny that Mafuyu says "did you even hear me" because Ugetsu has been the best listener and actively doing something to help him. Ugetsu is still musically driving Mafuyu to confront music like before. However, he doesn't place himself on a pedestal for Mafuyu, or let Mafuyu process music on his own (like in CODE 17)
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or feed into the unhealthy mindset of the "lonely genius".
He holds Mafuyu's hand to face the music together.
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Just a sidenote but I LOVE that even though Ugetsu is running and leading Mafuyu, look at how gently he holds Mafuyu's wrist. 🥺 It's like he is holding a new violin bow, understanding how delicate Mafuyu's temperament is right now 😭😭😭
Also observe how tenderly and genuinely Ugetsu smiles now compared to before. It's now grounded in wisdom and self-reflection. Kudos Ugetsu 2.0 also being able to listen to Mafuyu talk about his issues while before, he tended to emotionally dump on Mafuyu about his own issues.
Of course what I love is that the crowd then separates the two and and Mafuyu is pushed further to the front. Ugetsu reassures Mafuyu that he is strong enough as an individual to face Uenoyama, paralleling the "It's okay" in Code_27 where Mafuyu first said to him that he is strong enough as an individual to face a life without Akihiko.
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To summarise, Ugetsu in my opinion was very much in character and displayed tremendous growth. We can all learn from Ugetsu:
Face changes in life with vigour and keep facing it despite feeling scared, uncertain and unclear. Change is just a fact of life. Avoidance, rumination and stagnation makes things worse.
---
If you like what you read, all I post is basically Given analysis content!
Masterlist of my Given Metas
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kaitcake1289 · 1 year
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i love your MQ art so much and i love seeing it in the tags! how have you been liking S3 so far?
first of all thank you so much anon! secondly you did not ask me to rant about this season but its the perfect opportunity to so forgive me lol
so far this season has unfortunately felt really off for me (save for the first 2 eps + most of the christmas ep + sarian) and now this may just be me being overly critical since these characters are so near and dear to me but here are what i think are some of the main flaws with this season:
the constant metaverse and nft promotion. this one is the most evident and the main reason why the first half of this season feels like a miss for me. it becomes a problem when every single character is shown openly endorsing anything crypto related, even characters that would realistically never in a million years like nfts (rachel mythic quest im looking at you) and the one character who is at all negative about nfts gets sent down to the basement never to be seen again. they even state in show how nfts have done explicitly good things! (giving carol a promotion) now i understand that this may have some part to do with ubisoft's involvement in the show and how pro-nft they are but if they weren't gonna do a fair honest critique about the subject of nfts/the metaverse i'd rather them not do it at all!
scrapping the foundation made in season 2. now listen i really didn't like them basically throwing away rachel's writer arc, brad's reserved janitor act and hera entirely AND HEAR ME OUT it could've worked a lot better if they stretched out this development over the course of the season but it all just feels soooo rushed. like take hera for example, the decision for poppy to give it all up could've had a much better effect if the game was shown more to be a primary focus of the season (an issue that's the next point) to up the emotional attachment the audience can foster for the game, theres so much they could’ve shown of poppy genuinely pouring her heart out into the flawless system shes constructing all to the build up that thats all the game can really be, a system, missing that it factor. with brad he essentially reverts back to the HOMIE with extra steps in less than 3 episodes, which is a bummer since seeing brad coming into the season humbled, confined to a role with significantly less power could've built on that fear, that grasp for control and even his raw power, HOMIE or not. with rachel as well scrapping her writer arc felt forced especially after the heartfelt speech she gave to see her giving up essentially because she wasn't excelling right away
too much happening and yet not enough somehow???? episode 3 and 4 especially feel really short to me like they feel like filler which i would be okay with but as the season stood we had also so many arcs being set up, janitor brad, david being in charge, grimpop, and a whole movie but it felt like all of it was the B plot for me at least
I'm not saying the season doesn't have things it does right; jos character this season has been the funniest shes ever been + some bits were really funny + the christmas episode and sarian helped me like the season a lot more (mostly bc those eps were detached from the main plot and were about the characters) and the cast stay stunning but yea. im curious to know others thoughts on the season and whether you agree though!
tldr more like midthic quest am i right /hj
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real-life-senshi · 6 months
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for the pgsm subtitles, I was wondering if you knew if the seaofserenity subs are more accurate than the ones you're watching? that was the version I watched, and I'm curious to know the difference.
thank you so much!
Hello hello!
Yes, I can confirm seaofserenity subs have better translation and subtitle quality than Miss Dream subs! It's generally more accurate and has a better grasp of the nuance in the Japanese dialogue!
Here's an example comparison using the scene I was most critical of for mistranslation with the Miss Dream sub.
Seaofserenity sub
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Miss Dream sub (+ my own re-translation)
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The fact the Seaofserenity managed to eloquently include the piece I mentioned about Ami aiming for "100 points" into its subtitle as a "perfect score" shows they are much more proficient in writing subtitles than I am as well!
However, as you can see from my screenshot, the copy rendered by Seaofserenity has a stretched video ratio horizontally, turning PGSM's 4:3 video ratio into 16:9. The visual colour quality is also a bit off (slightly faded)with Seaofserenity. As a video editor, gif maker and visual-quality snob, that's why I went with Miss Dream with live blogging. haha
That being said though, a perfect translation across languages is nearly impossible to achieve. While Seaofserenity sub is generally more accurate, they still may not always be catching the same nuances from the original dialogue I bring up in my live blog.
Another example from this scene is this:
Miss Dream sub & my own re-translation
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Seaofserenity subs
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Both Miss Dream and Seaofserenity translated "ura" as "dark", instead of "hidden" like I did.
I hope this helps, and hope you get to enjoy watching the show! :D
While I know you were only asking basically a Yes/No question, I want to also take this chance to explain myself a bit better...
While I have been critical of Miss Dream's sub, it's important for me to continue to reiterate that the efforts Miss Dream sub has made for this fandom are tremendously positive and should be celebrated, and the only reason why I can make those critiques and go deep into semantics is that I'm NOT actually trying to sub a show fully. It's incredibly hard to rewrite a script and try to make every single line cohesively written, especially when Japanese has such a different grammar structure. I can do what I do when live blogging because I can both "re-translate" and have the space to explain myself. When you are actually subbing a full episode, not to mention a full series, that space for explanation does not exist and you can only make the best choice forward. I would also weigh writing a good story through the scripted lines above aiming for full accuracy. At the end of the day, both Miss Dream and Seaofserenity undoubtedly delivered a great story to non-Japanese, English-speaking audiences via subbing the live-action!
I'm also not sure about Seaofserenity and Miss Dream sub if either subtitle team members are fluent Japanese speakers, or may include native Japanese speakers or not. Where I do feel very fortunate is I'm Cantonese born and grew up in an environment where Cantonese and English are simultaneously being regularly used, which means trying to translate and navigate two languages with significantly different grammar structures is quite second nature to me in my mind to catch all these nuances. Japanese grammar and vocabulary are much more relatable and connected to Cantonese/Chinese than English, so that gives me an edge in understanding some of the cultural and linguistic context just from hearing the dialogue, including recognizing and grasping the full meaning of words or idioms that English just doesn't have a direct equivalent for.
I also studied linguistics in my undergraduate studies with a special interest in semantics, so analyzing text and going hard on explanation is something I'm very used to and enjoy. lmao
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lunar-years · 2 months
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you have really fantastic thoughts and are very insightful and well spoken! I agree with you about a lot of what you said- corporations being the number one polluter but blaming individual people as a distraction, the type of discourse you’re willing to engage with, etc.
I will say my biggest issue with TS right now is still her lack of stance on palestine. I totally get that it’s kind of odd to look to celebrities for guidance on geopolitical issues… but then I think about her impact. she is the number one artist in the world. just her instagram post telling people to register to vote was a huge deal! her voice could be soooo impactful to the people suffering from literal genocide and yet… radio silence. I guess that just really rubs me the wrong way. when does PR strategy become less important than speaking out against genocide? I just wonder what impact on the public opinion of the war she could have if she just spoke out, or even showed solidarity with the ceasefire now movement in some way!
I will also say I do agree with a lot of the criticism surrounding her behavior at the grammy’s. I love TS but like… time and place beloved. I 100% understand why people are frustrated by that as well. and I do agree that she has weaponized misogyny as a defense against critiques. it’s not misogynistic to be critical of the things I mentioned. especially when she has so much actual misogyny coming at her lol.
anyways, thank you for receiving my rant. it’s always so nice to hear your thoughts, you’re truly very smart and well informed!!!
of course, thanks for sending me your thoughts! ❤️ I think it can be understandably be very frustrating to know someone has a massive platform they aren't using to speak out on important issues. It's disappointing to know that were she to say something, it could make a big difference, yet she's choosing not to. I get that, and if that's where your line in the sand is for why you can't support her/enjoy her music/whatever, I absolutely get that too and I completely respect that standpoint.
My thoughts basically boil down to...
1) Taylor's big platform comes from being an artist/singer/songwriter/performer, not from speaking out on world affairs or political & humanitarian issues. She's an entertainer. It can really suck to come to terms with this, but in my opinion (and again, I totally understand if someone disagrees with me here), she isn't obligated to be that person. it isn't her job, and she's never claimed it to be. We can not like it (I personally would love it if she were more outspoken), but I do not demand that she speaks out, because I have decided it is something I willing to accept about who she is so as to still remain a fan of hers. A person shouldn't have to be everything to everyone just because they are famous.
2) Again people are going to disagree with me here, but I cannot express to you how much rather I would her not speak on something she isn't adequately informed on over her saying the wrong things very loudly. I have no idea how well informed Taylor is about what's going on in the world, because she is not exactly forthcoming, lol, so I don't want to say i don't trust her to say the right things, but...well. The last thing we need is misinformation being spread around by more celebrities who didn't check their facts or source their knowledge, at which point the discussion online shifts into bandwagon hating of celebrities and away from the actual issues themselves.
3) This could very well come from me running in Taylor fan circles online and therefore seeing more Taylor content that anyone elses, but from my perspective this kind of criticism is disproportionately lobbed at Taylor Swift over others high-level celebs. Many celebs haven't spoken out, many celebs fly their private jets excessively (and are in fact bigger carbon-emitters than taylor) yet don't receive the same energy in terms of widespread online disapproval. In some cases, it absolutely feels like an instance of "I already hate her and this gives me a reason to feel justified in that hatred and get more people on my side!" Again, there are people online more focused on calling out and canceling celebrities than helping the causes they claim to care about so passionately. Our effort should be on elevating the platforms of people who know what they're talking about, on the voices of the Palestinian people and the reporters and activists striving to be heard, rather then demanding people with existing platforms (from being musicians, no less, lol) speak out about things they don't the first thing about it.
The criticism of Taylor I most agree with is the stuff that involves her being a hypocrite. Like, there's no doubt that she calls on feminism when it benefits and conveniences her and largely drops it the rest of the time, which definitely does rub me the wrong way. For instance, the press article after the ratty breakup that was all, "No one would be treating me like this if I were a MAN" was deeply misguided and wack, lol, based on the (incorrect) assumption that people hated that she'd had a rebound boyfriend as opposed to the reality, which was that people hated the fact that she'd associate so closely with an undeniably abhorrent person. Like Taylor, in this case this is not about you being a woman, and you are absolutely deflecting from valid critique aimed your way. For instance, how you can claim to care about and protect your POC and black fans and then date someone who's a blatant racist? Similarly, her claiming to want to be more outspoken in Miss Americana and then never following through from that point on, it's very disappointing! She shouldn't say she wants to be more involved and then never get more involved. She shouldn't use politics for clout then drop it when she feels she no longer needs it.
Curious about what rubbed you the wrong way about the Grammys? Was it the album announcement or her alleged Celine Dion snub? My thoughts on the Celine thing are: She clearly hadn't expected to win, she was overwhelmed and excited and didn't even have a prepared speech, and whilst it was definitely a misstep in the moment, it was a human one, and it's very clear they talked backstage, Celine posted the picture of them, and there seems to be absolutely no hard feelings between the women actually involved, so to me it's a complete non-issue. My thoughts on the Grammys album announcement: It was for the fans, not the people in the room. It was also her time on a stage to say what she pleased! She was being recognized! So I don't think it detracted from anyone else's moment in the spotlight. Fans online got excited, but it's not like people stopped caring about anyone else at the Grammys or the other major performances/moments, lol. Also, it's not so different from Beyonce announcing her album during the Super Bowl. A bit wrong time wrong place? maybe, but it's all meant in good fun. It is music, the grammys are a celebration of music, we are here to have fun! A very low-stakes issue for me.
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joe9cool · 1 year
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A/N. Before this chapter starts I want to say I only own my Characters. The LA Chargers, their employees are real people. The gossip is for storylines only. I don't know their stories in reality. This is my story and doesn't reflect their real lives. Thank you.
"Alright, we got everything?" Sara yawned and nodded her head as she got in the car. It was 2am and Justin wanted to be at his parents by the afternoon. She could understand he didn't get to see his family very often during the season and he was excited. Despite the fact that she was exhausted, his happiness rubbed off on her.
Everything was packed up. Nova was asleep in her carrier, still on a high after the catnip she was given. They began the eight hour drive. Justin's phone was navigating, even though he insisted he knew where he was going.
She loaded up on snacks. She packed protein bars, cookies, an uncrustable and Capri suns. (Justin busted out laughing when he saw that one.) He was a bit annoyed when she made him stop at the twenty four hour dunkin donuts. (She placed an order ahead and ran inside in disguise to get it) however the stop was in handy as he sipped the coffee she got him and ate some of the sandwich. 
"Just let me know when you want to switch." Justin rolled his eyes. "Babe, I did this drive all by myself. I'm fine. Also be careful of the liquids, we are going to be hitting a long stretch with no rest stop."
"It's dark, I'll just pee on the side of the road." He sighed. "That's fine. I got my water bottle if I need to go." Sara wrinkled her nose up in disgust. "Ewww boys." He laughed. "Hey its extremely effective."
She used the car's Bluetooth to play some music. He didn't have any preferences so she put on Lord Huron. While listening to "meet me in the city" she told him about her upcoming projects with the band. He was genuinely interested in hearing about what she had planned.
Justin felt bad about not paying attention in the past. Truth was he was all science and sports. Yes he watched movies, but he never really thought about the background of what went into it. Sara explaining her being behind the camera and coming up with ideas. It was fascinating.
"I had no idea you selected the music for the scenes of your show. That's awesome." He smiled, proud of his girl. "I'm going to be honest though. I have never seen a single episode. So I don't understand it."
Sara was a little hurt. "Well it's about college kids coming together after leaving their small town, conservative neighborhoods. You know, coming of age. I'm shocked you haven't seen an episode. Have you heard of it at least?" He nodded. "We have to watch it together."
"Oh no I don't watch anything I'm in. Unless I have to, like a movie premiere that's it. I'll never see it again." He looked at her as he signaled to get on the expressway. "Why?"
"I am my worst critic, I cringe when I see myself." She shrugged. "I guess going back to my high-school days where I would do plays and then my family would critique me."
Justin never thought of it that way. He was forced to watch his old games to go over mistakes he made. He didn't care for it, but it was part of the game. It brought him to another thought. "Well on the topic of your family." He began. "You never talk about yours really."
"I love my immediate family. But I don't know. Sometimes I feel like a disappointment."
"Thats ridiculous. You are more successful than them combined." He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Sara nodded. "I guess, but my family is very businesslike, very Wall street. My dad is a CEO of Lincoln Financial, an investment company. My mom is an economics professor at the local community College. My oldest sister Katie is a financial advisor along with her husband. Middle one Brittany is a lawyer, same as her husband. Alyssa is a stay at home mom. But she has her degree in Pre law, and then there's me."
"You have a degree in psychology though."
Sara sighed. "So did Katie, but my dad made her go to business school because he didn't see any potential in it. When I told my dad I was going to do psychology in high school, he was mad. But hoping I would use it for pre med and pre law. When I told him it was a backup because I wanted to be in the entertainment industry my parents agreed that they wouldn't pay for it. Not a dime. They covered my sisters tuition and dorm fully,but not me. It hurts, I think they feel bad about doubting that. But they never said anything to me."
She smiled. "They have my back and are very supportive. But I don't know, I feel left out sometimes. They were all very athletic and involved, whereas I hated playing sports. I hated being put out there at something I wasn't good at. It wasn't until I joined theater in middle school that I found my niche. My parents rarely went to my plays, usually because it fell around nationals for Alyssa cause she was in dance.
"Not to be rude, but I don't really consider dancing a sport." Justin shrugged his shoulders. "What about aunts and uncles?"
She rolled her eyes. "My aunt is the fucking worst. Always cuts me up when no one is around. She will Make sure to remind me I'll never be good enough like my sisters or small like them" He looked at her questioningly. "I'm the tallest, and the largest in body frame. It pisses her off that her oldest isn’t in show business because she’s prettier.”
Justin was mad. "Fuck them. You don't need them." He grabbed her hand. He noticed she was shaking. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."
"It's fine, we had to talk about it eventually." Speaking of which, she had to talk to him about leaving in January. That would be a topic when they got home, she decided. Wanting to get off sad topics she smiled. "I hope your mom has all the baby books out."
He groaned and she laughed. "As soon as I told her you were coming my dad texted me and said she was in the crawl space digging them out." She giggled. "Aww come on you were probably the cutest kid. She pinched his cheeks. "Baby Justin with the chubby cheeks oh my god." He smiled and blushed. "Stop it."
She laughed. "So it's your mom, dad, and Patrick right?" He nodded. "Yes, Mitch is in New York in med school. Funny though you took a picture with his girlfriend when you were in New York."  
"Really? Wow what a small world." He smiled. After a minute he asked. "Did you tell your family about us?"
There it was. He was worried if more people knew. "Don't worry, I didn't say anything." She said. 
He furrowed his eyebrows. It actually hurt to know that her parents didn't know anything. "May I ask why?"
"Well for starters I know you don't want many people to know about us so I just didn't say Justin understood the first part. He did value his privacy, but he didn't realize how much his comments hurt Sara. "It's not that I don't want people to know. I'm okay with close friends. It's just when it gets revealed to the public I know things will change." He thought back to his and Bella's conversation. "You have to give me time to adjust." She turned towards him, surprised. "Really?"
"Yes. Sara I really like you and see this going somewhere. I think it's time we discussed going forward. I don't see this as a casual fling."
She smiled and grabbed his hand, kissing it "I see this going somewhere too." He smiled. "I'm glad."anything. Also my family is very overwhelming. The moment I say I'm seeing someone they will be on the first plane to Cali to grill you. Then the others will know and I'm not going to subject you to scrutiny."
She was quiet for a moment
"Can I confess something?" He looked at her. "I thought you were just going to be a fling." 
He was surprised. "Really?" She nodded. "I kinda swore off dating for a while. Then I saw you at the wedding and thought you were cute and tall." She laughed. "I approached you thinking it was going to be a one night stand thing. But then I just chickened out and called you for a date."
He laughed. "Well I'm honored. Can I be honest as well? I wasn't going to call at all, I was too intimidated." She busted out laughing. "I knew, that's why I called you."
They laughed together. "That was really bold of me. I thought for sure you would go for someone like me."
"What makes you say that?"
She almost said it. It was on the tip of her tongue. She chickened out again. " Well don't pro athletes usually go for skinny blonde girls?" She noticed his hesitation. "I'm going to be honest, I've just always ended up with blondes. But I like brunettes as well. I got a gorgeous one right next to me." She cooed.
She was happy, this was the most honest conversation they ever had since their relationship. It was progress, and while Sara could admit that she was toxic in the way that she never really injected herself in his hobbies she felt really guilty over invading his privacy. She had no reason not to trust him. He was with her almost twenty four seven. There was no reason to suspect him cheating his own teammate backed him up.
A teammate she was stringing along. 
As on cue her phone buzzed and it was Joey.
Hey 
It was four in the morning. What could he want? Her read receipts were on unfortunately. Still she decided to ignore it
She looked at Justin, she needed a distraction. "You know what I'm most excited for?" She asked
"Hmm."
"To see your childhood bedroom."
"Why?"
"I don't know, because of the memories you have tied to it. Where you had your struggles, how you celebrated the highs and dealt with the lows. Photos of your friends and family. Also I'm sure you have jerseys hung up. I want to thank you for trusting me with that "
He smiled. "I'm happy to reveal it to you. I know I'm not the most open guy and I struggle with feelings, but this is important to me, you're important to me."
Sara's heart was going to burst with joy and love. "Well technically I got the hard part over, I met your parents." He laughed. "Yeah now you get to meet my youngest brother. Which is easy, he's a pain in the ass though. I'm sure he would say the same for me."
"What would he have to say about you?"
Justin laughed. "That I beat up on him a Lot, which I did when I was younger. Also I was a neat freak."
"You still are, you got me containers for my makeup and toiletries to keep them separate."
He rolled his eyes. "Okay? And you find what you're looking for faster." She was silent for a moment. "Okay, point taken."
Another couple hours went by with some playful bickering about the music. (He joked that her music was depressing and she said he had the taste of a dad going through a mid life crisis.) They settled into a comfortable silence. Finally Sara saw the 'Welcome to Oregon' sign. She squeezed his hand tighter.
It was nice to see the change. Even though they just crossed the border she noticed Justin looked more relaxed than he had the past couple of weeks. She knew how stressed he was, so she hoped he could truly relax and reset, seek comfort in his family. The weather changed to dark and dreary. "I love it" She said.
"What?' She blushed as she realized she spoke her thoughts out loud. "This weather. I love it, perfect weather to be in bed, reading a book, sleeping. Or making love."
They came to a red light and he glanced at her. "my house in Oregon isn't as glamorous as LA. But I love it "
"Justin because I'm a Hollywood actress doesn't mean I have people waiting on me hand and foot. I don't need fancy things, my house is pretty modest for LA isn't it?"
He nodded "yes. I'm sorry. I don't mean it offensively. My idea of Hollywood starlets is completely different." He paused. "Still can't believe I met Bella Hadid." She laughed. "Crazy isn't it? When she was up and coming I was still in my college dorm."
"Yeah and I was starting at Oregon." She felt bad. This is his trip for him, and she wanted this to be about him. This territory was for his stories to tell.
It was still a bit before they hit Eugene, but Sara was already in love. It was gorgeous and the scenery was perfect. The fall really brought that out, completely atmosphere from the busy Los Angeles. Justin looked at Sara as she took in the sights. As they were on the road she offered to switch many times, as they initially agreed to share the driving responsibilities. But Justin had no intention of doing that.  He wanted her to take in the scenery, and he had done this drive many times by himself.
Plus this made him feel like a man, driving his girl to locations. He loved that he was so much bigger than her. He loved that she comforted him during hard times, that she validated his feelings. Everything about her was perfect. He loved watching her get ready in the morning. He loved that she was the first person he spoke to in the morning and the last one he spoke to before he fell asleep
It was in that moment he realized he loved everything about her
He loved Sara Christine Wozniak.
The realization hit him so hard that he didn't start driving until the car behind them honked and startled them both. Embarrassed, he began driving while Sara laughed at him. She was scrolling instagram and decided to post photos she took in LA the other day while out. Just in case she had to cover her tracks.
It's a good thing she did.
Twitteruser: My dad just saw Justin Herbert in Oregon! Looks like he's taking a break
 I would need a break from Lombardis offense.
Probably re enrolling in OSU to play ball there.
Was he with anyone?
Twitteruser: he said there was someone in the seat next to him. Looked like a girl with dark hair, had a baseball cap on.
Are you sure it was him? I thought he was dating that blonde reporter.
Twitteruser: yeah long hair, silver Porsche with the Oregon plate. He said he couldn't get a look at the girl, who was very secretive.
He probably has a secret girlfriend and is using Taylor as a cover up
Twitteruser7: what a player.
Yeah dude needs to focus on ball and not pussy.
On Tumblr.
Anon message : have you seen this? [Link to tweet] interesting. I like the theory that he has a secret girlfriend she probably lives in Oregon
Interesting anon. However we don't know if this is legit. Let's not make this a thing and go through all of his followers with dark hair and message them.
Anon2: what are your thoughts?
I'm not going to add any fuel to the fire. I have my own opinions but he's a twenty four year old guy having fun. I'm thrown for a loop cause I was pretty sure I knew who he was seeing, and it wasn't a brunette.
Anon: Maybe it's Sara?
I know for sure it isn't Sara Wozniak. She was posting photos of Los Angeles.  I can't see them together. Sorry. Now unless there's photo evidence  I really don't want to talk about this.
Anon: great another girl to add to the list for these crazies to stalk. He's home, maybe it's a fucking relative.
True, he has plenty of female relatives with dark hair. I'm surprised he went home though, he told the media he was just going to treat it like any other week.
Anon: he didn't want any scrutiny. He needs to reset and I feel that this is good for him. See family and recharge, glad to see he has a support team. 
Yes this will be a good mental reset before next week. 
Sara’s anxiety began to spike as Justin got off the main roads and turned on a residential  street. She could see Autzen stadium in the distance and smiled thinking of how Justin played there. 
"we're going to my house first to drop off our stuff. Maybe get a nap in." He yawned and saw it was 11am. He looked over at Sara. "That sound good?" 
"That's perfect. We would have gotten here a lot faster If I drove." She teased. He was a rule follower, only going the max five over.
"Okay hun, and you had how many speeding tickets?"
She huffed. "Only two and the cops in Pennsylvania are jerks. I was running late for school." He laughed as he pulled into his driveway. She took in the sight, it was alot smaller than his home in California, but it was nice, and homey. Perfect home for a family to grow in. They pulled into the garage and once the door was closed He jumped out and opened the door for her. She grabbed Nova’s carrier and litter box and made sure to set it up as soon as he unlocked the door.
They had a brief back and forth about the bags. (She reminded him he was still injured.,) and they settled in. "I'm going to assume you have nothing." She opened the fridge and was surprised when it was fully stocked with everything. Justin smiled. "My mom stocked up on everything when I told her we were coming. Also Patrick uses this place when his girlfriend comes to visit." She nodded in understanding before she unpacked everything in his room. It was a similar setup to Los Angeles. Once that was done she smiled as she took in the photos. He had his trophies, memories of his time at University of Oregon. There was one trophy she was memorized by.
"Thats the Campbell trophy." Justin came up behind her and caressed her shoulders. "It's awarded to the most academic athlete."
Sara leaned into his embrace. "You're so smart. Tell me something, I found an article that said you were looking into med school if the NFL didn't work out."
"That's crap. People assumed that because of Mitch. I didn't really want that. I probably would have been a biology teacher like my dad. I was a teacher's assistant and I really liked that."
"Hmm so you would have been the hot guy sitting next to the professor. I would have tried to hook up with you?" He smiled. "You would?"
She laughed. "Naw this was at college. I would have stared at you like a weirdo and stalked your social media."
"Jokes on you, I didn't have social media. Plus we probably wouldn't have had any classes together." Acknowledging the two year age gap." Sara nodded. "When you were at UCLA did you attend any football games?"
Sitting on the bed she thought about it. "Yes, my roommate freshman year was dating someone on the football team so I went. But I wasn't really interested, so I went to a party with the team. Told one of the guys I wanted to be an actress and he laughed before he tried to fuck me."
Justin sat next to her. "What happened?"
"As soon as the show took off he was in my DMs, he also told the press that I fucked him and was a 'wild animal in bed'
"Asshole."
"I mean what are you going to do? My friends stood up for me, it was a back and forth on twitter. I don't want to talk about that though " She laid on the bed. "I want to take a nap and maybe have a snack later. Then we will meet everyone."
He began to strip off his clothes, "that sounds like a good plan to me." Sara followed suit, and when they were stripped down to their underwear they crawled underneath the covers. Justin pulled Sara to him. Content and relaxed, they fell asleep, ready to enjoy their mini vacation.
------------------------------------------------------------
It was 2 o'clock when she woke up to an empty bed, slipping on her glasses, she sat up and stretched. She heard commotion in the kitchen? She heard voices, however it wasn't Holly or Mark's.
"Bro I'm sorry I didn't know you were here already."
"Shh you're gonna wake her up." She knew Justin's voice.
"Who?"
"My girlfriend, dipshit. Besides, don't you have practice or something?"
The unrecognizable voice. "Well you get certain perks when your team has a winning record, you remember that don't you?"
"Shut up?"
"Wait a second, girlfriend? When the fuck did this happen?"
"Four months."
"Mom and dad know?
She could tell her boyfriend was irritated. "Yes they know they met her when they visited LA. So does Mitch too."
Wait, Mitch knows? That was news to her, in a good way. But he never mentioned that.
"So you're telling me you just show up here with a girl that the whole family knows about except me? Well dude I want to meet her!"
"Not now! When she wakes up and gets ready we will be over Mom and Dad's for dinner!"
A laugh. "Oh so you had to break in the bed first huh? Ceremonial first girl in the house." 
She heard a slap and then an "ow" following. She stifled a laugh, knowing how red Justin probably was. "Shut up Patrick."
Oh so that was Patrick, the youngest of the Herbert brothers. She should have figured that out. She wanted to go out there and meet him but not like this. It was best to pretend she was still sleeping.
"Well you're in luck cause Carly surprised me as a late birthday gift."
She heard the panic in Justin's voice. "She's here? You didn't tell me she was here. I wasn't planning for that."
"I know, that's why I said surprise genius. She got here last night."
"Well, she isn't coming tonight is she?"
"Uh yeah she's staying with me. You never had an issue with her being over. What's the deal?" Oh he was worried about her knowing. God forbid one more person knew about them.
Anger flared up inside of her, but then she thought rationally. She was a big Star, and if someone blew their cover that was it. However, she would think Patrick's girlfriend would be trustworthy. 
The rest of their conversation turned to Oregon games. They had come off of a win vs UCLA so there was a lot of trash talking on Pat's end. Once he had left she heard Justin head towards the room and she quickly laid back down and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep. She heard him enter and felt the bed move. His large arm wrapped around her stomach. He kissed her cheek. "I know you're not asleep." She could hear the smile. She steadied her breathing, putting on the performance of a lifetime. "You can pull that with anyone else but you can't with me. You don't like to sleep on your back." Still, she persisted. 
His finger slid down her side, creeping up on her side, he moved towards her arm Pitt and she held her breath. One night he discovered her weakness that she was extremely ticklish and used that to his advantage. Of course he was going to use it here and she felt his hand move off of her and she thought she was in the clear, but to no avail as he went to the other spot which was her neck. He began to poke at the sides of her neck. Her lips moved, then she gave up and began laughing really hard. Justin joined in. "Gotcha!" He kept up the antics and Sara tried shoving him away. "Jerk! That's not fair." He kissed her.
"How long have you been up?"
"Long enough to know Pat came." He rolled his eyes. "You can ignore him, he's an ass." She smiled and kissed him, he responded. Soon enough their tongues were battling for dominance. Of course he had to win. He grabbed her neck and she moaned. The kiss was broken "so, if you want." Justin breathed. "I never gave you a tour of the house." 
"I want a tour of something else." She reached underneath his shirt. He grabbed her hands and held them to her sides. "I think the house tour is more important." The smile on her face told her everything. Jerk was teasing her. "Besides, patience is a virtue."  He got off the bed and motioned for her to follow him. Upon stealing one of his shirts she followed him.
He took his sweet time explaining each room, how each appliance worked. She tried so hard to pay attention when he would go into detail explaining something significant that happened to him or a memory. It was hard to focus when he looked delicious. She had known before the conversation with Patrick he must have showered cause she noticed his hair was wet. Also he was shirtless, a massive weakness for her and he knew it. Again, what a jerk. Justin took her into the basement and she gasped. It was a guy setup with a bar, a pool table, a video game setup with a big television. That wasn't what grabbed Sara’s attention, there was a piano in the corner collecting dust. She noticed he was looking at her. "I didn't know you played."
"I don't. I bought it for decoration from my buddy. You play?" She nodded. "One of the first things my parents enrolled me in. I always thought it was such a beautiful instrument. My brother in law plays too." She walked over and ran her hands over the keys. "Have you thought about taking lessons?" He shrugged. "Not really. It's just for decoration.
"Such a shame, I think you would look hot. If you want I can show you some basics." He smiled. "I'd like that a lot." He walked towards her. "You want to see the backyard. "
"You got a swing set?" He raised his eyebrows. "A swing set?"
"Or a hammock?" He shook his head no. "Come on Herbert!" 
"What? I only grill in my backyard, and it's not hot enough for a pool." He smirked. "I do have a hot tub. Which Patrick uses for recovery."
"Really Justin? You should have told me! I didn't pack any swimwear!"
"That shouldn't stop you. I mean, we can just skinny dip." She turned to see the mischievous smile on his face. "Hmm I don't know. I'm saving myself for marriage."
He busted out laughing. "Yeah okay. You call what you did something a virgin would do?"
"I'm a woman of many talents." He let out a "hmph" sound and grabbed her hand to lead her back upstairs. Once they reached the top of the stairs Sara thought about the time they needed to be at his parents house. "I should start getting ready."
"It's only three we got a couple of hours."
"Thank God I made those cookies yesterday." 
"You know my parents wouldn't care if you brought something or not."
"And I told you this before Italians never show up empty handed." She thought about that comment she made to Joey. While Justin and Patrick were talking, she saw he had messaged her a couple times wishing her a good trip and to let him know how it goes. She wasn't going to respond to him. "I need to get ready." Before Jusgin could respond she went back to the room and began sorting through her bags to find her makeup. Once she did she plugged in her curling iron. Her hair wasn't due for a washing but she felt her body did, so she quickly did once over in the shower and got out. It was nice and cool in the room, so she decided to just get ready naked.
She was doing skincare when Justin walked in. He was enjoying the view of her bent over the bathroom counter. Their eyes met in the mirror and she knew the look on his face. "Justin, no we do not have time. I need to get ready."
He leaned against the doorframe. "It's not going to take you the whole two hours to get ready. I only need ten minutes." She pushed out of the way to grab something from her bag and he followed her like a lost puppy. "Baby."
"Justin, not now. Once we stop we won't be able to stop." He smirked. "I could just say you're too tired from the trip." She rolled her eyes smiling. "You can't wait a couple of hours? Patience is a virtue." She used his words against him. He groaned. "Damn it Sara." She laughed and shooed him out the room so she could get ready in peace.
He sat on the bed and watched her routine as she applied her skincare. As much as he fussed about her doing the facial on him, he secretly loved it. "We can do another facial night if you want." 
"I knew you would love the skincare routine!" She called.  He couldn't resist and smirked. "Who said anything about skincare." She whipped around and playfully glared at him. "Oh I have a dirty mouth huh? You got photos of me with your baby gravy on my face."
He wrinkled his face. "Well I'm not turned on anymore. What I meant was you could sit on my face." He noticed she stopped her makeup application. Justin smirked as  the tables turned. She glared at him. "I know what you're trying to do and it's not working." She looked down at her phone. "Times are ticking. I don't want to be late."
"Okay I'm done." He took out his phone and began to browse instagram. "Hey Sara, do you have a personal account on Instagram?"
"Yes, it's ChristopherW14. He typed it in and found it. The profile was locked, and it showed a picture of a guy overlooking the sunset. "Who is this?"
Her makeup was done and she was spraying something on her face. "It's a random picture I found on Google. So far no one has detected it being me. It's a I don't even follow it on my page " He hit the request, and a few seconds later her phone buzzed with the notification. She accepted it and headed into the room to get dressed. It was cool, so she decided on some light jeans and a gray t-shirt with a checkered sweater. She looked at Justin who was in his usual Nike attire. It was him, it was charming. He noticed her stare and he was self conscious. "What?"
She shook her head. "Nothing. You look good." He blushed. "Stop, I feel like a slob compared to you." She walked up to him and stood on her tippy toes to kiss shit chin.  "I would still smash." He smirked. "Gave you the opportunity, but noooo you said we will be late. My parents are down the block." She rolled her eyes and went to grab her purse. "Let's go". He led her to the garage and she was confused before she could ask if they could just walk. She remembered he didn't want the neighbors to notice. While he was not a big star in Los Angeles, he was a big celebrity here.
She couldn't help but laugh though as he backed out of his driveway and pulled into his parents driveway in less than two seconds. Their home was set up exactly like Justin's, except there were female touches to let her know that his mother was there. He pulled out his keys and unlocked the door and Sara took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves
The first thing she noticed was a large black dog bounding towards her at full speed. Before Justin could yell or stop the dog she found herself on her ass and laughed as the dog excitedly sniffed and barked while his paws where on his shoulder.
"DYLAN!" Holly rounded the corner as Justin grabbed the dog's collar to pull him off of his girlfriend. "Oh my god I'm so sorry he gets so excited around new people." Sara got off the ground. "It's okay, I love dogs. He's a good boy." She scratched his tail and that calmed him down. Once he recognized Justin he was excited and began whimpering and trying to jump on him. "Yeah now you noticed me. Miss you buddy." Justin patted the dog. "Pat must have forgotten to lock him up "
"What kinda dog is he?"
"Lab mixed with Pyrenees." Holly and Sara embraced. "So nice to see you again."
"Same to you. I love your house." It was warm and inviting. You could tell a loving family lived there. "Oh thank you, Mark is outside finishing up lawn work. He does these things at the silliest times. Come on, everyone else is in the kitchen." The young couple followed Holly as they entered. Sara could see Patrick and a blonde woman, their backs facing her.
Patrick turned around, and as soon as he made eye contact with Sara he froze. It was comical really. 
"Pat what's wron-" the woman who was presumed to be Carly, turned around and froze. Shock flooded both of their system as they came face to face with the woman who was on the big screen and their TV screens
Sara was used to this reaction, however coming from someone she was trying to impress was a bit nerve wracking " she smiled awkwardly and waved. "Hi I'm Sara." She addressed Justin's brother first. "You must be Patrick." She held out her hand for him to shake. "It's really nice to meet you." Carly snapped out her daze first and grabbed her hand. "Oh wow! It's nice to meet you! Wow, um Patrick told me Justin was seeing someone but… wow." Sara had to laugh. "I'm so sorry, we are just a little star struck right now. Aren't we?" She hit Pat in the ribs with her elbow and he suddenly remembered where he was. "Oh yeah where are my manners? I'm so sorry! Hi I'm Pat." He shook her hand. He looked at Justin. "How the hell did you land her?"
"Patrick!" Holly slapped him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry Sara, I wish Mitch was here, he is the less obnoxious one out of these two." Justin feigned hurt. "Hey now don't lump me in with Patrick"
Carly rolled her eyes. "You are both idiots. Even Mitch has his moments. You can ask Isobel." They were interrupted when Mark came in the back door. "Oh you guys arrived. Hello Sara. I'd hug you but I got to shower first." She smiled. "That's okay, good to see you again Mr. Herbert " "It's Mark remember" He winked. Patrick interrupted.
"Wow so this is why you guys didn't say anything. Well welcome. Sorry I acted a little off putting, it's not everyday my brother brings home a movie Star, or a girl for that matter." Sara laughed, and her fears sorta melted away. So far The rest of the Herbert family was cool, and if Mitch was like this, then that would be a breeze. 
"Holly, do you need help with anything?" Sara set the container of cookies down (which almost were crushed by the massive dog) rounding the corner she could see Holly was sautéing vegetables. "No thank you Sweetie. Everything is almost done." As on cue the oven beeped. She put on the oven mitts and opened the oven to reveal a small turkey. Justin saw it as well. "Gosh mom, I didn't realize it was thanksgiving." He joked
She put the turkey on the counter. "Oh stop it, it's rare to have you home so I thought it would make it special." Patrick smiled. "See? And Mitch isn't here. Obviously we are the favorite sons."
"I never said that." Mark came downstairs, hair wet from the shower. "Looks good babe," He kissed Holly, and Sara smiled. They reminded her of her parents and how they interacted. She noticed Justin looking at her and they met eyes and smiled.
Holly finished up the sides and announced to everyone that they can fill their plates. Mark carved the turkey while everyone helped themselves. They took their seats and began eating. Sara had to say, the food was delicious and she complimented Holly on it.  Conversation was flowing and she loved it. It felt like family. It felt like home.
"I'm sorry I have to ask. How on earth did you two meet?" Carly looked between her and Justin. "He is the most shy guy I've ever met. When I came over for the first time. He was just in his room, barely said hi. I thought he hated me."
"I was preparing for the rose bowl! I was really focused. Justin defended himself. "Anyways. We met at Joe Grant's wedding in July."
"Didn't know you had the game or the confidence to approach her." Patrick smiled.
Justin closed his eyes. He knew what was going to come next. Sara chimed in with a smirk. " I was the one who made the move. I approached him, gave him my number, called him, and set up the date."
Patrick busted out laughing. "I should have known! I knew he didn't have the balls." He slapped his older brother on the back. "I can already tell she's too good for you "
Mark chimed in. "Hey! Don't scare her off I like her" Sara felt warm at that comment. When she first met Mark he was nice, but he wasn't open like Holly, and being emotional with anxiety it worried her. She was still incredibly nervous and as much as tried not to show it Justin picked up on it. She was twisting the ring on her middle finger and under the table he noticed her leg Bouncing. At one point he put his hand on her knees to steady her. She looked over and he met her with a reassuring smile.
Meanwhile The Herbert family (including Carly) were noticing these things. Justin was attentive to Sara, asking if she needed anything or making sure to include her in the conversation. The glances he stole were filled with adoration and…. Love. Patrick and Holly met eyes many times and they spoke a thousand words without saying anything. Mark was taking it all in, smiling to himself.
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"I love your family." Sara couldn't stop grinning as she got into bed. Justin looked up from his book. Setting it down, he kissed her on the cheek. "I'm glad. They love you too, you know."
She looked over. "You really think so?" He knew she was looking for that reassurance. He smiled. "I wouldn't lie about something like that." And he wouldn't. "My mom likes that you call me out on my shit."
After dinner, they got on the topic of board games in which it led them to a loud boisterous game of Jenga, and then Sorry! (In which Sara finally beat him to Patrick's happiness." They didn't leave his parents house til about midnight. Patrick was leaving Friday for his game at California. However Justin and Patrick were going to the Oregon practice facilities early before everyone else to get some throws in. Holly and Sara echoed the same concerns. They didn't  want Justin getting hurt while attempting the throws not being under supervision of the Chargers. "Are you sure you want to throw tomorrow?"
He laid down and faced her. "I'll be fine, you really think I didn't clear it with the medical team before we left?" His tone had 'duh' written all over and Sara felt dumb "Well when you say it like that I feel stupid." He kissed her cheek. "Don't feel that way. Now let's get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow. She raised her eyebrow in questioning. "Make sure you get your golf stuff ready while I'm gone. I got the course where I held my event closed down for me, you and my dad." He saw the apprehension on her face. "Don't worry you will be fine."
She was a little bit worried. Golf was still athletic and she wasn't the best person to explore athletics. Maybe that's why she insulted him and put golf down a little bit. However it was important to him and she wanted to show him that she would at least try.
Justin turned off the light and cuddled next to her. With a sigh she settled against him and closed her eyes.
A.N. Welcome to the adventures in Oregon! 
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beesmygod · 10 months
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Is there like a specific bit of AGS you want criticism on?
i think this (being confronted directly)+ time away made me have to really think about this and what i would even want from criticism. i feel like i know a lot of my comic's shortcomings: the art starts very bad and while it improved, it still has many problems with staying on model and basic structural issues. its difficult to follow yet still formulaic on a page by page basis. speech bubbles can be messy and unintuitive. its very much the creation of a single unskilled psycho so having it critiqued under that lens and understanding compared to how you would critique professionally edited or team created work would at least make me feel more tethered to reality. do people see what i see?
but if i know all this then its not really helpful to ask for someone to just tell me what i want to hear. like, what do i really want??? when i finished this chapter i just felt so tired and ashamed, even though, frankly, i really enjoyed making it. imo i should be over the moon to be making whatever i want for an appreciative audience who kinda lets me do whatever.
unfortunately, i think its the dark hearted beast named "desire for recognition" which should be beaten to death every time it rears its ugly head. this beast will possess you to do evil things for the nebulous concept of "more". what the fuck do i need more for
i dont know anon. i want something i cant have i think and i should be doing brain training to get over it. but thank you very much for your offer :)
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byleranalysis · 1 year
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It's so wild to me that you get criticized for your analysis videos like you're reaching with them and that it's digging too deep into it. All you're doing is using the same visual language rules that almost everyone in the industry uses to explain the camera movements and what the industry generally uses that camera movement/shot type to communicate.
Because everyone in the industry uses the same textbook and basic visual language consistently, that allows the audience to understand it in a way similar the level someone who has picked up a language only by hearing it spoken. They just might might not be able to explain the specific grammar rules (to extend the language metaphor)
But that doesn't mean that those rules don't exist, it just means that pattern recognition is one hell of a thing.
Say it louder for the people in the back. Seriously— I am so appreciative of this ask for verbalizing what I have been trying to say.
Others say I am digging too deep but in doing so, they make it somewhat obvious they haven’t delved into how film/tv production works. My video analysis are very minimal/basic descriptions of the camera movement and composition that I can make. I mean, I only have about two sentences to describe the visuals without needing to create another text box. I am simply using the terminology + subtext for certain shot types that have been established for decades. It’s quite literally a unanimous common language used while filmmaking. Look at how international films can still convey the same visually thematic + emotional presence as those made in Hollywood. Physical language does not impede the visual language that has been established for years. (Just to add, international films —especially Chinese cinema + Bollywood IMO— have such an incredible amazing style that’s built off the Hollywood standard and I love it. Anyways-)
I am completely down for others to critique my interpretation or share their own viewpoint. However, I have never received any healthy criticism on my video analyses. For example, “Do you think *insert camera move here* could also suggest ___*”. It is almost always some hateful message about how I suck at filmmaking + I am so wrong. Or, “critiques”covered in blatant homophobia or an actual question that slowly dissolves into passive-aggressive remarks towards me or the idea of byler. Just ask what you want to ask. It doesn’t need to be stooped in anger or aggression.
Let me be honest though, there are a couple theories I have stretched on and I make it pretty clear that it could be a coincidence. Some of them are just for fun and I don’t think there is any harm in throwing around such theories. This is a fandom. Not everything has to be incredibly serious.
However, I do take my video analysis very serious and try to be as unbiased as I can while still being someone who ships byler.
Thank you —again— for this wonderfully written/explained ask. I went on a bit of a tangent but your point/metaphor is absolutely worthwhile.
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caelumsnuff · 11 months
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Finally found yours and everlastingspirals blogs. Sorry if this is a bit weird but I just wanted to say that I really appreciate what you write in the Redacted fandom.
I personally like listening to Erik's content but I'm understanding that it's rare to hear actual criticism of his work. Like it's such an echo chamber in the fandom that when I first saw some of your posts, I actually found it so hard to read and almost felt offended (which honestly, why should I be offended that someone has a drastic opinion to me???) Like, that's a problem.
So I guess I'm just trying to say that I hope you keep doing what you're doing, cause we need to have different opinions to consider when discussing content
Hey im glad you found us! @everlastingspiral is very cool and i respect their opinions :3
Im glad you appreciate what i write! That makes me happy ^-^
And hey! I actually do enjoy listening to Erik's content, it's become a special interest of mine sometime within the past year and a half. I also just so happen to understand that the writing isn't the best, at least in respect to the plot aspect (i do think Erik has some real strengths in other aspects of writing). I also just really enjoy critical analysis and critique, so i do have a lot of fun writing the redacted critical stuff (as well as the fanfics, if that wasn't obvious :3).
Yeah it's okay to feel that way when you see critique of stuff you love! God knows i feel that way with some of my other special interests getting criticized sometimes, but hey! I think it's beneficial to read different opinions, and i am going to continue to share my own. It's good for your brain to be able to read critique you don't agree with, see where their thinking is coming from and follow their logic, and then go "Okay!" and move on whilst continuing to disagree.
Thank you for the ask, anon <3! I hope you stick around, it's always good to have open minded people around :)
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iguessitsjustme · 7 months
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choose violence ask game 19 & 25
Hello my dear anon. Thank you for indulging my feistiness right now lol.
19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...
I don’t know how to answer this question. I have no shame. Never have and never will. Is there a show I should be ashamed of liking? Maybe I should be ashamed of liking Something, Crunchy Crunchy but I’m not. That’s the chaos I crave at all times. Also again, I have zero shame. None. I don’t know what it’s like to have shame.
25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing
I feel like I’m normally the person complaining so I don’t know if there’s any complaints I’m sick of because I, personally, never tire of complaining. It’s better for my mental health if I complain. So let’s see…a complaint that I’m tired of. Hmmmmm….
Okay I got one. It’s aggravating to see people complaining about people critiquing shows. I feel like a people sometimes conflate critique for not enjoying the show and those two are not mutually exclusive. I have seen friends of mine get enormous amounts of hate for simply critiquing shows (specifically popular shows) and have people yell at them to just stop watching if they don’t enjoy it. People can enjoy things and still want them to be better. Critiquing things is actually how we get better shows. I understand people want other people to love what they love and might not want to see that some people don’t think it’s perfect but that doesn’t mean they should send hate to the people who criticize it.
Choose Violence Ask Game
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my-strange-attraction · 7 months
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Man people really do be straw-manning you and then interpreting all of your arguments in the worst faith possible and acting like that makes them So Smart And Correct. I’m sorry you gotta deal with all these bozos with zero reading comprehension or critical thinking skills. Just wanna add because it’s been seriously bothering me and I don’t remember you ever bringing it up: one of the core tenets of the original op’s post that you responded to was basically ‘this identity is bad because I’m a lesbian and those people aren’t lesbians in the exact same way as me so they’re hurting the lesbian community because I don’t want to see them when they don’t share all of my experiences and (gasp!) talk about men and their relationship to men sometimes because *I* don’t want to hear about men’ and I just. Idk man if that’s what his argument boils down to its kind of a shitty argument. Even ignoring all of the terf rhetoric (which you correctly pointed out) I can’t even begin to understand why someone would want to be in a queer community where everyone fits into neat little boxes and everyone with your label experiences their orientation exactly like you. Aren’t they forgetting that the whole point of the queer community is that larger society attempted to put us in boxes we didn’t want to be in and categorize us into labels and lifestyles we didn’t want? Why would someone ever parrot the actions of our oppressors and do that to other queer people, when they know what it feels like? I can’t even fathom being that selfish and closed minded
>your argument is chock full of straight up lies  Love how this was said in response to your rebuttal of an argument that CONTAINED ITS OWN “STRAIGHT UP LIES”!! Like pot meet kettle lol. Specifically referring to that one bit that was like “uwu bi women tried really hard on purpose to distance themselves from the lesbian community” because that is straight up not what happened!! I haven’t said anything yet but it’s been bothering me for a while and that one ask has so much fucking Audacity that I couldn’t stop myself from Pointing It Out this time. Ahistorical bullshit and they’re accusing YOU of lying. The audacity of it all I can’t
Anyway these guys are just mad that bi lesbians get more bitches than they EVER will. I heart bi lesbians I love you bi lesbians I hope y’all stay winning mwah <3
I'm assuming these are all from the same person because of the timing? If not, sorry for not doing separate responses.
Yeah, this whole thing has been pretty frustrating to be honest. In a way it's even worse than actual terfs, because these are people who are philosophically not that different than I am, and if we met in real life we probably wouldn't even know that we disagree. I mean, I do talk sometimes about label anarchy with some of my friends, but we have to be close and you have to get me in a philosophical mood. It's really frustrating to be openly disrespected as a person for one opinion that, though it does happen to be really important to me, doesn't come up in my everyday life (or, likely, theirs either).
The whole pronoun thing really got to me too. I KNOW they were just strawmanning, and I KNOW it wasn't really a valid critique of anything I said, but the suggestion that I would even consider purposely using the wrong pronouns for someone is upsetting. I don't think he even noticed before an anon pointed it out as a way to invalidate my argument. I don't think it upset him (or the anon) as much as the anon said it did. I still apologized though because I'm not going to not apologize for using the wrong pronouns.
Also I know jack shit about history because it doesn't stay in my break but yeah actually I do remember reading about that! That's crazy, I can't believe they called me a liar when they don't know their history. I mean, I don't either, but at least I'm honest about it.
Thanks so much for sending these messages! Not gonna lie, I was going a bit crazy with all this and the only anons I was getting until now have been the hate ones that I've shared and a few hate ones that I just outright deleted. I know people agree with me because I've seen the likes on my posts, but it's nice to have someone defending me as well, so thank you <3
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epickiya722 · 7 months
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Why does mha keeps getting criticised by people who watch/ read it just for the sake of doing so and ? It seems like these people have not even a basic idea and don't want to understand any character at all , I don't even understand what series they are reading because the criticisms seem so unnecessary and invalid and it seems like these people don't read or watch the series carefully at all. And it seems like most of their criticisms would completely vanish if they just watch the series carefully , I think they just need to binge watch the series , that's all.
The thing that irks me though is that by creating these generalised non canon interpretations which get so popular, these sorts of people hurt the series' credibility. Many people don't want to watch it because of these ridiculous takes and these ridiculous takes are just everywhere, I hardly hear any praise for mha anymore , even I have some criticisms for the series but I have a lot of praise for it as well and I hate that the series we love just keeps getting mischaracterised by these people so often.
Honestly, I don't get what goes people who do that constantly, and even enough have whole blogs dedicated to "critiquing" BNHA.
It's gonna sound salty, I know but... I don't think I'll spend my time judging every single aspect of a manga and its anime that's about superheroes and villains and the protagonist is a high school boy with green hair and have these off-the-damn-wall ass takes about it 24/7.
Like... does that sounds like something that needs to be critique like some college written exam?
I said it before, but I'm not giving criticism until I'm done with a whole thing. Be it just a chapter or the whole story itself. Even more so, critiquing it is the LAST thing on my mind.
I'm looking to be entertained first, damn it. I'm going to have low expectations at first because that leaves room to be pleasantly surprised. I'm not gonna automatically assume the worse and judge every single detail of this story that has character that SHOOTS TAPE OUT OF HIS ELBOWS.
I got into BNHA because of YU-GI-OH! A MEME!!
You think I'm gonna do a complete turn into deciding watching the anime just to judge it instead of looking to be entertained?
Where in the hell is the fun in that?
There is a character with a BIRD HEAD AND A SHADOW PAL!! I'm going to enjoy that, thank you!
Like, I understand judging a whole season, an episode or maybe an arc and going "didn't like, felt kind of rushed". But thoughts like that come AFTER. I don't go in with a judgmental attitude because I'm going to expect the worse and not enjoy what I could have, but I didn't because I missed it looking for the flaws.
I hate it when leaks come out because I see so many people go "Well, that chapter is boring, I'm not gonna like it".
UM?! IT'S JUST LEAKS?! I rather have the whole chapter, clear pages, translated before I judge the chapter because that's like tasting a slice of tomato and then going "I don't like the sandwich".
YOU DIDN'T GET THE WHOLE SANDWICH!!
Leaks make me excited to read the whole chapter or at least want to so I can understand what's going on.
People are so quick to judge something before having a full experience. I can't be around people like that and it's why I limit myself from the fandom a lot of times.
It's why I find the mischaracterizations annoying, too. I came to realize some people tend to think this character is like this, something far from canon, and they only seen season 1. I had someone do that to Midoriya. "He didn't grow, he's so whiny" and they only seen season 2 and said Kirishima would be a better protagonist.
I adore Kirishima, he is one of my faves. But... come on now. I'm not tolerating the Midoriya slander.
I just...
Look, yeah, BNHA has its flaws. I have my moments of when I go "NOOOOO". But that's the thing. Shouldn't we learn from those flaws? Create and explore from them as we are a fandom?
If BNHA was a "perfect" story, a flawless story then what could someone, let's say, who wants to create a manga could learn what not to do? Or how about the fanart, theories and fanfics we get to enjoy from the missing pieces that have yet to be discovered?
Example, a minor character's backstory! Like someone will complain about, let's say, Ojiro doesn't get enough love in the story. Yet, there are people who have the same sentiment, but instead of just constantly posting about it, they post headcanons. They write their fics and share them.
That right there is what makes being in a fandom FUN.
Again, not saying we shouldn't have our complaints and not judge. But why do it all the time? If you're gonna critique this anime and manga all the time, makes me question if there is anything you like about it. Let alone, if it's obviously not entertaining you and making you feel any bit of enjoyment, why are you still here? What, just to suffer?
Just drop BNHA and call it a day, jeez.
And before anyone go "but they're are people who pay to be critics", um... not everything a critic says is negative, some of those critics I feel just never know what fun is, and I'm sure they do have other hobbies and other interests they're engaged in. I doubt all critics ever do is critique.
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