#that the audience couldn't take him seriously as a love interest

[livehorses]

The Spot and Disability

It's very interesting to me how ATSV told Spot's story. At a start he's handled as a joke in the movie. Even Miles and the audience with him laughed at the new villain in his introduction. I was personally disgusted when the bread goes across him. Also, the guy isn't good at being bad and stealing an ATM, so he can be considered as a joke.

But it's hard to admit that we as an audience, and Miles did wrong laughing at his face about his new condition. We often mock him when it comes to the bagel joke, but he clearly suffered a lot, and lost it all after the accident. He was being mocked, rejected by everyone, even by his own friends and relatives. He evidently couldn't do anything without any of his holes getting in the way (which is the thing that makes him disabled), he lost his job and was forced to do illegal stuff in order to survive. That left an irreparable emotional damage that shaped him permanently. These are actual motivations for a person to take the wrong path, and even more when you discover you have a power that could give you some advantage over the others.

All of his story is clearly similar to what many disabled people live on a daily basis. "Unfortunately for me and you, this is skin." Sounds familiar? Reminds me of people that have vitiligo, which isn't exactly an illness and it isn't contagious, but common people think it is, and they fear, avoid and reject anyone who has it. Even in these modern days, where society supposedly is for everyone and everyone matters, disabled people are still rejected and disrespected, victims of bullying, mockery and exclusion. They don't get a chance to adapt to this world, not meant for them, and they miss so many opportunities of having a job, to form a family and go places adapted to their unique conditions. This world still needs to educate its people on respecting the disabled. That doesn't mean that disabled people are doomed to become villains, no! That would expand more the prejudices towards them. But what most of Marvel villains, and more, Spider-Man villains, have in common is having an accident that left them disabled: Flint falling on a sand dispenser, Max on a pool of eels, affecting their entire lives. (Not to mention that Doctor Connors was already disabled when he recurred to a not so ethic way to recover his arm, turning him into a lizard-like humanoid)

And yeah, every Spider-Man has a similar (canon) event, they're bitten by a radioactive spider. But rather to turn them onto something horrible, they hit the jackpot instead isn't it? They get attractively buffed, they get cool super powers, they become popular and loved by most people. But the others are treated as villains, and it's true, Spider-Man has to combat crime, and in the end, he shows mercy towards them. But in the end, most of the time their condition is treated as menacing and villanious. That's why No Way Home, brings a fresh vision on helping the villains to get cured or at least treated. (Although, that's not always realistically possible for disabled people, and most of them don't need to be cured or treated like their condition is bad for them)

But the movie leaves it clear it was a mistake to not take Spot's situation seriously. The man might've taken it chill at a start, but the more he was mistreated, the more he got resentful especially with Miles, wrongly considering him the source of all his disgraces, and more when the Super-Hero laughed at him. His power grew at the same time as his anger, and by the end of the movie, Miles admits it, he's his nemesis, they're mutual enemies now, and he's dangerous. If Spot was treated better from the start, with dignity and if he was given a second opportunity, support and optimum laboral conditions, maybe Spot would be now an ally.

How wrong we were, by taking him for granted...

#SpiderVerse #CW: Flasing #Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse #The Spot #SpiderVerse The Spot #Miles Morales #No Way Home #Disability #Jonathan Ohnn

[timetravellingkitty]

Mulan 2020 sucks lol

Written and edited by yours truly

So, Mulan 2020 happened. And I am disappointed. Seriously disappointed. It is utter garbage. I would genuinely prefer it if I watched Mulan II 5 times in a row, and that's saying something.

There is so much to talk about because this has so many issues. I don't think my brain can handle a movie as bad as this for some time. It is a disgrace to the original animated movie.

(Who cares about spoilers?)

And yes, I can and I will compare it to the original movie because it is a remake. It is totally valid to see where this fell flat and where the original succeeded. I'm not saying it has to be like the original cartoon, that is stupid. As I mentioned, it's to highlight the failures of this movie.

Besides, even if we forget the fact that it is a remake, this movie is still horrible.

INTRODUCTION

Mulan 1998 is a classic. It has great visuals, an awesome soundtrack, wonderful and compelling characters, a great message and a cool plot. It's just a great movie in general. It is an adaptation of The Ballad of Mulan, a Chinese legend. Both the legend and the animated movie are about a young girl named Mulan who disguises herself as a man to take her father's place in the army to fight back against an invasion.

As big of a success Mulan was, Chinese audiences thought some things were weird. For instance, having a dragon be a comic relief character, given that dragons are highly respected in Chinese culture. So of course, Disney decided to try another shot, claiming that they wanted to be more culturally sensitive, accurate and closer to the original ballad.

Mulan 2020 is a remake of the original animated movie, and was marketed to be more "accurate to Chinese culture and the Ballad". This claim is, of course, false, because they failed in that aspect. Say what you will about the cultural inaccuracies in Mulan 1998, but at least it was a great movie. Besides, Mulan 1998 didn't pride or market itself on being culturally accurate, the way Mulan 2020 did, so there's that.

CHANGES

I don't mind some changes. And honestly, if there's one thing I appreciate, it's that it isn't a carbon copy of the original (looking at you The Lion King 2019).

Li Shang's character is divided into two characters: Commander Tung and Mulan's love interest Honghui, apparently in light of the Me-Too movement. This is a dumb reason. Disney wasn't comfortable with a superior having a relationship with a subordinate? The hell? The romance between Shang and Mulan was only insinuated at the end, when Mulan wasn't even a part of the army anymore, so there's that. Also, Mulan gave her consent, so I don't know what they’re talking about.

Mushu isn't present in the movie. I can see why though. He contributed quite a bit to the soul of the animated version but a CGI dragon would be very distracting. Also, the director said that removed him to achieve a more realistic tone.

Grandma? No grandma. Mulan has a sister though, who only exists to mess stuff up.

The Huns are replaced with the Rourans and Shan Yu is replaced with Bori Khan.

Mushu is replaced with a phoenix, who acts as an emissary for the ancestors

There are no songs, except in the end credits, which isn't a bad thing. The instrumentals of the songs in the animated one play during some scenes (I'll talk about the music, don’t worry)

CHARACTERS

The characters in this movie are so boring. Our lead character Mulan lacks the charisma her animated counterpart had. She's utterly bland, uninteresting and poorly written. In the original, she knew she wasn't physically strong and that she couldn't solve her problems with her strength, so she used her intelligence and wit. She excelled by working hard and being strong willed and determined. This Mulan is a well rounded character.

Mulan in the live action is given Chi powers (Chi is a big part of Chinese medicine, in case you didn't know). Honestly, I wouldn't be as mad at Mulan being given superpowers, had they actually done this properly! Chi isn't like midichlorians, it's something that flows through everyone. Mulan is naturally born with dumb superpowers and has to hide them because as her dad says, " Chi is for warriors, not for daughters”. There is a problem:

It has been mentioned many times that Mulan needs to hide her superpowers otherwise she will be shunned and ostracised. Then why doesn't she get more repercussions everytime she uses her powers? The worst thing that happens is little Mulan getting looks of disgust when she uses them. On other occasions, when she is now a part of the army, she uses her powers in training and she doesn't get any backlash? What the hell?? Then why even bother in the first place?

The only way for this narrative to work is if Mulan got more repercussions for using her powers.

If I were to make the line "Chi is for warriors, not daughters," work, I would make it go something like this:

*At the end of the movie when Mulan comes home*

Dad: Didn't I tell you that Chi is for warriors, not daughters?

Mulan: "I am a daughter, but I'm a warrior too."

(Yes, I know this is similar to a scene in Avatar: The Last Airbender, but this would be better, tbh. Also, watch Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Let me compare the training montages from both movies.

In the animated one, there is an absolutely AWESOME montage of Mulan training side by side with her companions, slowly gaining their trust. She climbs the pillar with both medallions by using her wit, not by brute force. This Mulan worked hard. Besides, the fact that "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" plays over this is the only thing that makes it better (banger song, thank you Donny Osmond)

In the live-action, Mulan is supposed to lift up buckets and climb on top of a mountain. There are also other training scenes, but those aren't very important. In these scenes, she succeeds with the power of CHI. WHY? Mulan here just achieves her goal because she is oh so special. She didn't work to achieve her goal at all, because she is perfect. No struggling or development here at all.

Mulan in the animated version was more concerned about saving her father. Mulan in the 2020 version is a dumb patriot who can't even do patriotism right ("I know my place. It is my duty to fight for the kingdom and protect the Emperor") How very empowering.

In short, live-action Mulan can do no wrong. She has no flaws, no personality and no charm. Everything comes to her pretty easily, because MAGIC.

Li Shang's role in the live-action is divided between Commander Tung and Mulan's love interest Honghui, as mentioned before. Both of these characters are flat, dumb and boring. Tung exists to tell Mulan to cultivate her Chi and to train these idiots (and to offer his daughter’s hand in marriage to her, unaware that Mulan isn’t actually a guy, but eh). Honghui is there to be a stupid love interest, who gives us an “I am Spartacus” moment.

The witch is by far the most interesting character. She actually has more than one side to her, has SOME kind of depth and you can even feel sorry for her. She is supposed to serve as a foil to Mulan, given that both have similar powers. In case you've forgotten (which is something I wouldn't blame you for), she's an outcast who's now working with Bori Khan. Why is she an outcast? Because of her Chi. The witch has said many times that she could kill Bori Khan in a snap, then why doesn't she kill him? Because she needs acceptance? What the hell? She decides to pull out the whole "We're the same, you and I," stupidity to Mulan, and I can see that. It's just that the writers just didn't put much thought into it. “It’s too late for me” because you saw a woman leading an army of men? Also, why does she warn Mulan that Bori Khan is coming? Unless she's playing both sides, except her motivations aren't made clear enough for this to make sense. Finally, she dies for the dumbest reason. God, it just makes me so mad. She had so much potential, but no. They just had to mess her up.

Bori Khan? MORE LIKE BORING KHAN. Not much is there. His animated counterpart Shan Yu was scary and contributed to some of the darkest moments in the movie. This guy over here is just...nothing. That's all I have to say.

Mulan's sister is only there to mess up the meeting with the Matchmaker. What a stupid change. First off in the animated version, it's Mulan who messed up, because she isn't perfect. She fails at being stereotypically feminine AND masculine, but in the live-action, she literally pulls off a Spiderman cafeteria scene, and the blame is put on the sister. In the animated movie, this scene is groundwork for Mulan wanting to prove herself and going on a hero's journey, providing depth to her character, but in the live-action, she's perfect. What is the point? (I know this section was supposed to be about the sister, but eh). The sister doesn't provide anything else to the movie, so thanks! I hate it. Moral of the story: Girls can do anything boys can, as long as they have superpowers. If you are born special like Mulan, you can be respected, whereas if you are like the sister, you have no significance and in the end, you can just fit in and be irrelevant. Congratulations!

The live action group of guys Mulan met and befriended in the army lack the charm and comedic timing of their animated counterparts. That’s it. Seriously. I have nothing more to say about them, because they don't really have anything going on. I don't even know why they are included, because their contribution is nil, save for them blandly speaking lines from the animated version’s songs ("I don't care what she looks like, I care what she cooks like"), which is seriously cringe.

The dad is there to tell Mulan that Chi is for warriors. A shame, because I really liked the dad in the movie. He was a source of wisdom for Mulan, whose greatest honour was having her for a daughter. In the live-action, he just takes the sword that Mulan is given at the end of the movie. The mom is meh.

The emperor is also meh. At least he was wise and cool in the animated version, but here he just does bed sheet kung-fu.

Did I mention that the dynamics between the characters are unnatural, forced, awkward in a bad way and in no way indicates any chemistry between them? Oh yeah, I didn’t, until now. They don’t establish much when it comes to emotion.

Simply put, Khan (Mulan’s horse in the animated version) had more personality than all of these characters combined

PERFORMANCES

Liu Yifei as Mulan was a pretty terrible choice. She is just a block of wood, who has absolutely no range, and this isn't because of the writing. She is genuinely bad, and is regarded as one of China’s worst actors (I kid you not). She just can’t emote.

Jet Li as the emperor is meh. But hey, he doesn’t have much to do, so eh.

Jason Scott Lee as Bori Khan is fine. He doesn’t suck, but he lacks the command and authority of a character who is supposed to be intimidating, but I guess it has something to do with the writing of his character.

Donnie Yen is a martial art legend, but unfortunately, he doesn't have much range as an actor.

The best performance of this movie is that of Gong Li, who played the witch. Honestly, she is charismatic, charming and has an idea of what she is doing.

To save everyone’s time, simply put: most of the performances are bland and mediocre. Partly due to bad writing and partly due to most of the actors not being, well, good at acting.

CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL ACCURACY

So Disney went all “we like cultural and historical accuracy”, which is nice. For example, the Huns are replaced by the Rourans, a real tribe in China around the time Mulan was supposed to be alive. They also removed the hair cutting scene, because as iconic and awesome as it is, it doesn’t make sense. Chinese men wore their hair long too. You know what? I like these kinds of changes. I appreciate accuracy. If only Disney didn’t pride themselves on their accuracy when they got almost everything else wrong (They somehow got Mulan's house wrong lol). I don't know jackshit about Chinese culture so just go watch that Xiran Jay Zhao video it's very swag

THE BALLAD OF MULAN

In a surprising turn of events, this isn't accurate to the Ballad, like they had marketed it to be (I know, I’m shocked too). In a reference to the Ballad, Mulan is riding a horse and she sees two rabbits running side by side. She goes home and tells her family that she saw 2 rabbits, and she thinks that one was male and the other female, but she wasn't sure. This just misses the entire point of the Ballad.

Long story short, Mulan in the Ballad is actually a seamstress. She joined the army in her father's place. She defeats the barbarians and goes on a ten year long campaign with her friends, after which they meet the Son of Heaven (a sacred imperial title of a Chinese emperor). He offers her a high ranking position, which she refuses, because she just wants to go home. She returns home and her family welcomes her. Sometime later, her friends come to visit her, and they find out that she is actually a woman. The friends are shocked because she has been in the army for 12 years and in those 12 years, they didn't even realise that she was a woman.

Mulan then replies:

The male hare's feet hop and skip

The female hare's are muddled and fuddled

But when two hares are running side by side

How can you tell the male from the female?

Which is where the poem ends.

So, Mulan just going on, judging those rabbits like that makes absolutely no sense. The Ballad is about how no matter how different men and women look, when they live and fight amongst each other, who gives a damn about the differences? You know what would have made sense though? If Mulan got off her horse, went close to the rabbits, examined them, and then made the conclusion that one is male and the other is female. This would actually be sticking to the message of the Ballad. Also, why do they make it ambiguous as to whether she accepts the high ranking position? I assume for a sequel (yes, God save my soul). Here we can see another example of its impeccable accuracy to the Ballad.

THIS ISN'T EMOTIONAL AT ALL

Everything that made the original film good has been stripped away. Every moment that is meant to be emotional is very dull. For example, the scene where Mulan makes the decision to take her father's place in the army is supposed to be a very powerful scene. Mulan is risking it all just so her dad can be safe. She might be killed if discovered, and her family would be dishonoured.

When Mulan comes back from the Matchmaker, she has a moment of reflection while singing "Reflection". This is the beginning of her personal journey, discovering who she is. In this, after Mulan comes back from the Matchmaker, she doesn't have a moment of reflection. The army immediately shows up. Am I really supposed to believe that Mulan feels bad about this? That Mulan is really struggling?

When Mulan’s friends are singing, it suddenly shifts to the striking scene of the burnt village. This, in my opinion, is the best use of tonal whiplash. From this point on, things are getting serious, and the emotional weight of this tragedy is felt. In this, they just randomly show up at the village.​​ There is no seriousness (stop trying to tell me this movie is adult, mature and serious, it just looks like that on the surface).

Their attempts at being emotional are poor and unconvincing, and ultimately, the end product is an emotionless, soulless, depthless entity.

THE MUSIC

The director mentioned in an interview that she didn’t add songs into the movie because it is “unrealistic to break into song when you're in war”, and I don't think I’ve heard anything more false (apart from the concept of a flat Earth). Even I, who isn't going into war anytime soon, know this is false. They instead inserted instrumentals from the original film. Except, it's very weirdly placed. The instrumental for Reflection is placed when Mulan is fighting the Rourans after she reveals herself to be a woman. Like, there isn't any context. In the end credits, they had the original song "Loyal, Brave and True" sung by Christina Aguilera, which was nice. I don't really have much to say in regards to the music. The music is overall forgettable.

THE ACTION

The action may seem weird, but this kind of martial arts is a part of the Wuxia genre, which is what they were going for. Well, they failed. The choreography is bad, the CGI is bad, EVERYTHING is bad. Honestly, if you want a good Wuxia movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon exists. The action is here stupid and stiff.

OTHER DUMB STUFF

Why does Mulan take her armour off before going into battle? That is just stupid. Can't you just take the bindings off? Also, WHY OPEN YOUR HAIR-

Mulan really likes kicking spears (and pointy stuff in general). Seriously. It’s weird.

The CGI is okay I guess, I don't know. The phoenix in some scenes looks pink to me. There are some pretty visuals though.

It is very obvious that there is a green screen used in the scene where Mulan and her friends find the burnt village. And it looks bad. Pretty ugly. It looks bad. The green screen looks bad.

The war strategy is just weird. I can't really say anything about it in text form because how am i supposed to describe it, help- (she literally teleported behind the bad guys in the avalanche scene-).

I like how the animated film, which had a dragon as a comic relief and other silly stuff, is more mature than this.

For what joy does Mulan get another sword from the army? Also, shame the dad is all “oh look at the values written on the sword, they are honourable” even though in the original the greatest honour was having her for a daughter.

How was Mulan even able to tell the gender of the rabbits?

Why not just try to send a warning to the Emperor that the Rourans are coming to get him?

Why does Commander Tung let Mulan lead them-

I AM SO DONE

Well, I think I have said everything I wanted to about this movie. I know I havent talked about its controversies (like filming next to a concentration camp), but honestly, I am done. I am so done with this. This document took 5-6 months of my life. I am kind of proud of this, and there isn't much I have done to be proud of. I did procrastinate on this a bit, and I had stuff going on, but finally, I am done. In the future, if I remember something, I'll add it here, but I think that is unlikely. I never want to watch or even go near Mulan 2020 again. It's horrible, and there is barely anything redeemable. I hate it here. It’s been reported that a sequel is in development. If it’s true, of course I’ll watch it, how else am I supposed to validate my self hate? I am also, of course, the resident “friend who suffers for everyone else’s entertainment”. If you want a live action remake of Mulan, Mulan: Rise of a Warrior exists. Go watch it, it’s free on YouTube with subtitles. I really liked it.

If you’ve somehow made it this far, thanks for reading. I congratulate you for putting up with whatever this is. I would also like to take a moment to congratulate myself for actually committing to this. It was painful yet fun to complain about this to the best of my ability. If anyone wants to add anything to this, feel free to do so. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m out. I have lost my faith in humanity, and I have other things to complain about.

#this was written 3 years ago. are you proud of me yet #i should mention. the animated mulan is one of my favourite movies ever so 😙 #reva speaks

[clay-tries-his-best]

! atsv spoilers !

when i sat down in my theatre seat to see atsv im telling you i was being the most autistic fuck you've ever witnessed. you could practically see the sparkles in my eye, dude.

the spot. my godddd he's so silly. the marketing ploy to make him seem like the side villain from the trailers was so fucking smart. I really thought that Miguel was going to be the main villain considering him fighting miles in pracgjcalky every trailer ever and being in the post-credits scene of itsv. and miles dealing with having to be everywhere at once was very realistic and gave me the classic "oh my god this poor boy this is painful to watch". oh and gwen's beginning scene of the drums just gave me the feeling that the movie was going to be fantastic. like, betrayal, amazing visuals, more gwen?? already a wonderful start. also the fact that the spot's whole reason to turn into a major villain is that nobody, not even the person who caused his disfigurement, would take him seriously- like- HUH???? perfect. wonderful. bro just wanted miles to pay attention to him for a little while.

Pavitr and Hobie were also really great additions to the spider team. Despite the fact that Hobie's accent was so thick and deep that I couldn't understand what he was saying a good third of the time, he still managed to work his way into my top 5 characters of the movie. THAT is good character building. At first I thought he was going to be the stereotypical love rival, considering his first mention was miles getting jealous of him and gwen being friends. I was worried that was how the story was actually going to go when he upstaged miles by breaking done the collider force field, but hes actually a really chill and cool guy. pretty sure he even roots for gwen and miles, so that's pretty funny. Pavitr was also super funny with a great character design. " Chai means tea, you're just saying tea tea! " was probably one of my favorite lines / jokes from the whole movie. His world was also very pretty and SUPER detailed. Props to every artist for Mumbatten.

Miguel and Peter B.'s dynamic was really fun to watch as well. This cryptic emo ass mastermind vampire who has watched people die and destroyed a universe next to this middle aged man in a pink fuzzy bathrobe who's oogling over his daughter. also, the line where Miguel said " I've had the right amount of you today " to peter b instead of " I've had enough of you " like the normal saying goes was kinda queer. just saying. but yeah, great villain, and I do want to see him in the final battle against spot, but I eventually don't want him to be the one to beat spot, y'know? If it was to be anyone, it's obviously going to be miles. Whether it's just miles or miles and gwen or miles and the gang gwen assembled at the end of atsv (WHICH HAD SPIDERNOIR YESSS SPIDERNOIR FANS LETS GOOOOOOO I HAD THE STUPIDEST SMILE ON MY FACE WHEN I SAW HIM IM TELLKNG YOU), in the end it's still gotta be miles.

the collider scene with the spot was really cool. spot may be silly, but he's not dumb enough to be " saved " by his archnemesis who only cared about him when he was about to become a transdimensional eldritch horror. boss move. his final form was really pleasing to look at because you can just see the detail that went into it. Looking at some screenshots, I noticed there were a lot of eyes and I'm pretty sure I saw a version of spiderman (original world 1610 peter, possibly?) staring at miles / the audience. despite him not showing up for another hour, hour and a half, I wasn't mad. If a movie can avoid showing the main villain for that long and still have them integrated properly, just, wow. blown away. oh and this part made me even more interested because his beginning ost, spot 1, I think? his random beats and tunes sounded more silly and disorganized and clumsy, like him trying to take the atm. near the end, he got spot 2, which was more shrill and frightening. I'm not musically trained, and I could still tell that it was scarier, and to me, they sounded very similar. To not have too far of a difference between the two and stroke two entirely different chords is just. ugh. wow.

don't even get me started on prowler miles... RAHHH THE CHARACTER AND WORLD DESIGN FOR UNIVERSE 42!!!! it was so beautiful and scary and breathtaking because there is. no. spiderman. when miles's mom didn't know what he was talking about and gwen wasn't really outside, it hit me like a brick in the head. and alternate aaron??? hello??? he made me physically uncomfortable because of how terrifying his face was. i couldnt even tell if he was wearing makeup or he was just that dramatjcally shaded. the turn miles does to see that it was his dad painted on the wall instead of aaron.... GRAHHHHHH

as an aspiring artist, I can say nothing but wow. that movie, the fact that it was 2 HOURS AND 20 MINUTES???? HELLO??? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WORK THAT MUSTVE TOOK??? unbelievable. and you know that sony felt bad for making us wait on a cliffhanger, so they probably were around 3/4 done with atsv and started working on beyond, so we didn't have to wait as long as we would've if they finished atsv and then started beyond. I'm so glad that those 5 years in the Sony team paid off, because that. was. amazing. my depression is vaporized. im going feral, going wild, going insane. i will not think of anything else until beyond is out. can't wait to see my bbg spot have his villain moment in March 2024!!! <333

#spiderman #spiderman atsv #atsv #atsv spoilers #miles morales #gwen stacy #pavitr prabhakar #hobie brown #across the spider verse #peter b parker #miguel o'hara #spiderman 2099 #spider gwen #spider punk #spider woman #spider noir #spiderman noir

[keets-writing-corner]

I need to talk about RWBY's Jaune Arc

okay this is 1.6k words, immaaaaaaaa put a cut

Okay so going into RWBY back in 2019, that was great right. I was in the middle of getting my degree in creative writing I was seriously burnt out from how formulaic stories had gotten for me, and then comes along my friend being all YOU SHOULD WATCH RWBY. And I said, SURE

now my friend knows my types and she nailed who my favorite character was going to be (Oscar) and she also nailed who my other favorites would be (Ren and Qrow) and I'll admit, 90% of my investment in RWBY was ya know, my favorite boys (Don't worry I love plenty of the girls, it just happened that my top 3 ended up being guys this time around). And wow RWBY was just such a breath of fresh air for me given all the story telling stuff I was learning about in college

and specifically, now that we're like waiting for volume 10 to be greenlit, I'm surprised by how much I've grown to like Jaune

I used to not care for Jaune/find him mildly annoying in Volume 1. He was the... audience stand in, so he had to be a little dumb. He was falling into a little bit of a stereotypical pretending to be confident to impress the ladies role. But ya know, I didn't hate him. He just wasn't my favorite of team JNPR

then volume 2 comes around and he has his whole IMMA INVITE WEISS TO THE DANCE WITH ME :D and I was not about that, it was pushy, and also, I really do not care for that sort of romance in the stories I'm engaging with, and then... it didn't go that route. He realized that Pyrrha wanted to go with him, that he had been unintentionally insensitive towards her, and pursued a girl who didn't even care about him who liked someone else. And Jaune just went "alright, damage control, gonna get Weiss what she wants and gonna give Pyrrha what she deserves" and that was the first time instead of being neutral or annoyed at Jaune I thought ya know, this guy... this guy has good bean potential. I'm interested in seeing where they take him next

And then there's Volume 3. He's been training with Pyrrha, he's been more supportive as a partner, he's been TRYING to be a good leader for his team, like he's not perfect at any of those but he's TRYING and he's lost a lot of the traits that I found annoying originally. Now he's starting to full step into the supportive wholesome leader role. And then, ya know the finale happens and just... ouch. Things were looking up for White boy, and the rug wasn't just pulled out from under him, it also slapped him in the face and threw him down the stairs

Now through Volumes 4-5 Jaune was still in the "I'm pretty meh" about him territory. There were moments where I found myself deeply empathizing with him, specifically in the scenes that showed him mourning Pyrrha, especially because well... I've been there. I've lost someone I was close with when I was 17 too. Extremely different circumstances but that thing where you put on a video of them and you watch it over and over and over because you so desperately want them back, that you're reaching for wisps and smoke of what used to be them all for a brief small chance to feel their presence again. And it's just, it's never enough. No matter how many times you watch the video, no matter how many times you replay their voice talking to you, no matter how many times you listen to old messages they sent you, they are gone and nothing in the world is going to change that. It hurts. It hurts so bad

this boy is GRIEVING

but, he was being bitchy. And look, I don't blame the guy alright. Grief messes you up as a person, it brings out sides of you you didn't know you had, it prevents you from being the best version of yourself. I. GET. IT. But he was being bitchy towards Qrow(aforementioned fave, special mention to that time he slammed Oscar ANOTHER FAVE against the wall), and at the battle of Haven, he initially let his grief and anger get the better of him, and ngl I couldn't watch. (To clarify, absolutely no shade to the writers, this was GOLDEN, peek character writing and whatnot) But that is what Jaune's arc is about at the end of the day. I'm not saying the other characters aren't grieving too, they absolutely are. But Jaune's arc has a lot more focus on how grief hurts and changes a person, how it gets the better of us, and how ultimately, if we want to move forward, if we want to keep going, we cannot just fight it and resist it because it feels icky. We cannot just sit in it because we hate what happened and happiness feels fake and forever gone. We cannot pretend the grief isn't there either.

Cue Volume 6 where he was mostly backstage, but all of this comes to a culmination at Pyrrha's statue and Jaune finally gets a moment where he gets to sit with his grief. Really sit with it. In a way that isn't anger, or repression, or wishing things had been different or that Pyrrha was there. He got to sit with his grief with the reality that it was. He lost Pyrrha. And it hurt. Maybe it was senseless. Maybe he really couldn't have done anything. Maybe it really does hurt so bad. But at the end of the day, it had been Pyrrha's choice to try and do something. And for better or for worse, she tried. And the rest of his team confront him. Ren and Nora are quick to console him, and join in on the grieving. And they also confront him about his behavior in season 5, where he believed that he didn't matter so long as his friends got to live. And here are Ren and Nora telling him, buddy, you DO matter. You matter so much. You matter to us just as much as Pyrrha mattered to us. We all chose to be huntsmen, so let us grow together and honor her choice even if it hurts. We can hurt together and we can take comfort together.

And listen, up until this point, when I was watching RWBY, Jaune was not my favorite. He never had been. He was just a guy that was there going through his own arcs. But after this key moment in volume 6, suddenly I find himself enjoying seeing him whenever he was on screen

for the rest of volume 6 he slips naturally into an empathetic leader. Stealing the ships was his idea but he let everyone take the roles they were good at, he played good support, he protected his team when possible. AND THEN WE GET TO 7 AND 8 and omg

friends

this is when I started loving Jaune. Suddenly, it's like he found a balance, he found himself. He was still hurting but instead of being angry he was being compassionate. He was still goofy and fun, but he was no longer annoying being respectful of people. He was no longer blundering about on the battlefield but he was moving with purpose and with skill. This Jaune feels like an entirely different character than the Jaune we first met back in volume 1. He's fallen into a character role that I personally love. I love the empathic leaders who are a little bit goofy. I love them to pieces. I love their level-headedness, i love their compassion. I love their gentleness. But what made Jaune special is that we got to see how much he had to suffer to get there. He was doing the best he's ever been, and he was being so kind and so humble (straight up, tempted to do a time travel AU fic or something with baby jaune and leader jaune meeting each other cuz they'd be so different)

Then we reach the end of 8 and ya know

THAT happened

and of course Jaune's arc is always about grief. But what a stroke of genius, have him find his footing and then REtraumatize him. ngl, I ALSO have been there, and imo the retraumatization is almost worst than the originally one, especially if you haven't properly dealt with the OG emotions because now THOSE come rushing back AND you've got new fresh ones to deal with. Call me a sadist. Accuse me of projecting my own trauma or whatever, but genuinely I loved what they did with Jaune in volume 9. It was *chef's kiss*. The unhealthy coping, the latching onto and hyperfixating on a single thing that ultimately is the opposite of what he needed, forced to be alone for decades, betrayed by someone he tried to help, being reunited with his friends without having processed or dealt with any of that and STILL trying to be friendly and kind and gentle to them while barely keeping it together- it's just SO GOOD

and ultimately he does break. But his friends are there with him, just like Ren and Nora helped him in volume 6. He's still the gentle leader he's grown into, but now there's just so much more to it, there's so many layers

I'm genuinely so excited to see where they take him for future volumes. He still can't dethrone my favorites BUT he has climbed the ranks of my favorite characters so fast that I wouldn't have believed you if you told me when I started watching RWBY that the character I found most annoying would end up being one of my favorite RWBY characters

soooooo yeah

I really love Jaune now

controversial opinion, I love his short hair

#Jaune Arc #RWBY #meta #? #Analysis #?? #i just needed #to ramble about Jaune #HIS GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IS SO GOOD #I WANT TO SCREAM #again he's not the only character dealing with grief #but he is the character who gets a lot of focus when it comes to grief #watching his growth and arc is very cathartic for me #idk i just enjoy the white boy #absolute loser #I hope he remains a loser #gentle leader loser #10/10

[thebeastofblackmoor]

honest CW Drew Crew endings

Nancy: After multiple seasons spent wondering if her Hudson lineage made her a bad person, her fears are confirmed! Her soul was that of one of the original Hudsons who was the ultimate oppressor and sacrificed children to create monsters that would erase crimes from memory to defend perpetrators. Explicitly out of guilt, Nancy takes to the road alone to erase these beasts from the face of the world. She's in a distance relationship with Ace, though, so that's all we care about.

Ace: Despite being a genius computer hacker, Ace decides to get into medical examination. (Also alone and far away!) I guess the problem with getting a job in the field he was truly gifted at wasn't that he was having a hard time motivating himself or that he didn't have a good group to support him, but that he was not working with corpses! Despite having claimed in the past that he's never had a group of friends like the Drew Crew and showing no interest in the medical field before last season, he leaves them all to pursue medical examination. Except Nancy, who he's doing long distance with I guess.

Bess: After having been kicked out of no fewer than three households in her life and spending her entire childhood friendless and family-less, Bess's first actual home is burned down by an angry mob and her friends all leave town. She is explicitly devastated by this, but don't worry, this sudden and complete massively triggering abandonment is played for laughs! And she has a girlfriend, so rest assured she couldn't be happier.

George: After having been forced to work her entire life to support her sisters, George selects a notoriously difficult, stressful, and cutthroat career path. I guess she's passionate about it, although like Ace, she's never shown interest in being a lawyer for more than a season. We are informed that her mother just... got better offscreen and that her sisters are grown now! (After one in-universe year.) Rather than finally being able to settle down in her home and be cared for alongside her sisters, she also leaves Horseshoe Bay to hit the grindset far far away from her friends and family. But she's not alone! She has the most boring and random man in existence with whom she has 0 chemistry and we've almost never seen her interact with. Seriously, this is a good thing for her, trust us!!

Nick: Nick's ending is the only one that makes even a little sense, since he has had a long-established interest in tinkering and technology and had an established rapport with Tom Swift. However, the career that he got with Swift Industries is only brought up in the very last scene, presumably because the writers had to pull something out of their asses to justify him leaving Horseshoe Bay, too. He also has an eleventh-hour significant other to run off with.

Seriously, I get that the ending of everyone going their separate ways is supposed to feel "realistic" and like everyone is prioritizing their own happiness, but I am baffled by the fact that anyone in the writer's room thought these were good endings. Everyone's paths came out of nowhere and were way too sudden to feel realistic. The writers love to gripe that they weren't given the time to do the ending they really wanted to pull off, but if that's the case, then they should have adapted the ending accordingly! If they didn't have time to set up all these individual career paths, they should have worked with what they had set up. If they didn't have time to get us to love new romantic interests, just scrap that altogether; not everyone needs to be neatly paired off with someone. If they weren't able to show all the magical Horseshoe Bay adventures they wanted to, they should have left the group intact so that the audience could imagine more and the group would still feel whole rather than randomly and swiftly disbanded, especially since they only did one year of in-universe time, and that leads me to believe the Drew Crew will not keep in close contact. It's not like they're long-term friends.

The focus on everyone having a relationship and a career that trumps their friendship and established happiness in Horseshoe Bay just feels icky to me. Like the writers thought that having a high-powered career and an SO--no matter how irrelevant both are to the established character--is the only way to have happy ending and are the only things that matter.

#reminder that i fucking hate the last two seasons lmaooo #cwnd #nancy drew #cw nancy drew #nancy drew cw

[tal-vez-o-quizas]

I was reading, once again, this wonderful post by @aurorabyler and this part particularly struck to me:

And I wholeheartedly agree.

Can I say how much people disregard the actions of Mike towards El or don't think too much of it? Same with El.

Mike going through ST4EP3 is paralleling Nancy's incapability of saying "I love you" to Steve after she called their relationship "bullshit" while drunk (even though Nancy already said that she loved Steve, to his face).

Why is it that people took it seriously when Nancy was unable to say those words when Steve demanded them but when Mike doesn't say such words after El confronted him about it, most of the audience's response is "He's just a teenager", "They're too young", "He doesn't know what love is" or "He doesn't have to say that he loves her to demonstrate he cares about her" while simultaneously saying "Say you love her!", "My man, you can't say those words?!"

How come Steve and Nancy were teenagers but people still took it seriously when they had their "I love you" situation but somehow the same doesn't apply for Mike and El?

How come people were expecting someone who can't even write "Love, Mike" in a letter to his girlfriend or mention the word "love" to his best friend to say "I love you", even after he was confronted by said girlfriend and just said that he cared a lot about her?

A character saying "I care about you" to someone else is THE MOST PLATONIC thing ever and it basically means that person is automatically being friendzoned.

We all know that.

But when Mike says it, it's nothing serious?

When El wrote "From El" in the letter Mike received in ST4EP5, most audience's response was "It just means she's being petty", "Aww she wrote him a letter" or it just caused some laughs.

They downplay every action Mike and El take towards each other and honestly? I'm not even surprised cause most people suppose Mike and El will never have a big issue or something that can break them as a romantic couple because they've been "love interests" throughout the show (as if movies and TV Shows have never broken up long-term relationships ever before).

Why is it that back in ST2, when Steve and Nancy had that fight, everyone automatically thought of Jonathan, who seemed to show romantic interest in Nancy but somehow nobody thought of Will (who was shown pining after Mike) when Mike couldn't say "I love you" to El?

#gee can't wonder why #we all know why #even if people don't think Mike and Will could end up together it's not hard to wonder why Mike has those issues with El and think of Will #it's easy to figure it out when it's a heterosexual couple #but when it's someone of the same sex it's hard to figure out? #please #byler #st4 analysis #st2/st4 parallels #st analysis #anti milkvan #anti st*ncy #mine #my post #my ramblings #tal-vez-o-quizas #byler hope #mike wheeler i know what you are

[fireheartwraith]

Someone accused me of being a hater and that pissed me off so here are all of my thoughts on the Netflix Avatar The Last Airbender live action series. What I liked, didn't like, what I'm worried about or hoping going foward, etc, in no particular order because I was just hate typing. I tried to separate my rambling into topics, but I did that after I had already typed everything. Enjoy

Zuko and Zhao:

I liked most of the fire nation characters. Zhao took some getting used to, but it was a fun new take on the character. I loved Zuko's crew and Azula's scenes. I really hate what they did with the agni kai and Zhao's death though, it really feels like they missed what those scene's meant for Zuko's character. Everyone already said all there is to say about why having Zuko fight back is a stupid idea so I won't comment on it, but having Iroh kill Zhao also pissed me off. He's supposed to die because of his own arrogance and greed and Zuko is supposed to try and help him because he's the type of person who would offer a helping hand to an enemy, despite his father's attempts at beating the kindness out of him.

Ozai:

I like what they are doing to Ozai, it could be interesting and add depth to the character, I just think it would be less ooc it those moments of doubt and "weakness" were in private? Like, in public, he is always this perfect façade but in private, the mask starts to slip away. But I think they’re going for that, so that's okay. It also adds dimension to his relationship with Azula since she also dons a mask of perfection, and this shows that she learned that with him.

Azula:

Speaking of Azula, I'm a bit worried because since we already sympathize with her, she could not be as menacing and intimidating a villain, but I hope it will work out.

Iroh:

I'm really 50/50 on Iroh. I like his interactions with Zuko, but why was he out there spewing fire nation propaganda and justifying his war crimes. My dude, what the hell.

Katara:

I really hate what they did to Katara and Suki. Let me punch someone. I won’t say much because everyone else has already exhausted this point, but yeah. Katara is so much more than a bender and a little sister. Her mother's death didn't just affect her bending, it changed everything in her life. She had to become her mother and take care of her brother when she was so young, she’s kind, caring, and a little overbearing at times. But she’s also prideful, jealous, stubborn, and has a bit a temper. She's not a perfect girl who smiles softly at the world around her. She's angry at what happened to her, she’s resourceful, she's funny, she's dedicated. This show's Katara is a bender, and that's it. And she's a prodigy at it, became a master all by herself because she don't need no man, no sir. Because #feminism is when your female protagonist is relegated to side character with no flaws apparently.

Suki:

And Suki, oh Suki... what did they do to you? Ah yes, cartoon Sokka is sexist, so instead of having him go through character growth spurred on by getting his ass beat by a girl, we'll just make that girl instantly fall in love with him and have an ungodly amount of sexual tension just so she and the audience can ogle at this shirtless man for a good thirty seconds. Yes, that's much better and not sexist at all!!

Sokka:

I like how they are focusing on Sokka's intelligence and other ways to be a hero since I've always loved that detail of his character (i seriously love when in modern aus he's studying engineering, bonus if he has a minor in arts and literature), but considering he *does* become a skilled warrior I fear this plot thread may not payoff. Like "you don't need to be a warrior to be a hero!! But here's some swordbending lessons just in case" is weird. Similar to that is what happened in the cave of two lovers: changing the answer to the riddle was stupid. It makes no sense in the lore AND makes Sokka look dumb. Couldn't he at least be the one to figure it out? The sibling moment was cute though.

Katara and Aang:

What bothers me most (after what they did to my poor girls) is that the gaang don't feel like friends, much less a found family. Katara isn't Aang's earthly attachment. If they wanted to start the romance when they look closer in age that's fine, but they could still be friends? I mean, they tell us they're friends and very important to each other, but are they? They went on a trip together and talked a couple of times. Katara should have broken him out of the iceberg on purpose because it not only shows how she disregards her own safety to help those in need, it is the inciting incident of the show and should be more than an accident. Again, she’s supposed to be a protagonist, the story is supposed to be told through HER. She's the one who should do the intro!! Not Kyoshi, Gyatso and Gran Gran.

She should teach Aang waterbending. This is Book 1: Water, why isn't that boy waterbending. That would further both the plot and their relationship. Which is supposed to be a cornerstone of the show, mind you. And I'm not saying "relationship" as in a romantic one. They should be friends, confide in one another, Katara should calm him down when he enters the Avatar state because this shows how important they are to one another. Gyatso's memory being what calms him down is cute, but if it impacts what is, again, a main plot point of the show (Katara is Aang's earthlyattachment), they shouldn’t do it. Also, Aang should have tried to firebend and accidently burned Katara. This way, Katara learns she can heal (which again is super important. Anyone remember the season 2 finale?) it also causes Aang to block out his firebending out of fear of hurting others again. WHICH IS ALSO A MAJOR PLOT POINT. Give me back Kataang, the show literally isn't the same without them.

Also, much time did the three of them spend together as a crew? Not that much, I feel like. Where's my found family?

Jet:

There are some things that I deeply miss, like Sokka's argument with Jet about the old man. The cartoon is very anti violence, it is definitely its thesis. We can discuss wether they are right or not forever, but the show is arguing that even though the fire nation citizens in the earth kingdom are living in a settler colony that serves the imperialist agenda, they are still citizens and killing them is wrong. This confrontation is so important for both Sokka and Jet's characters, and turning Jet into a terrorist feels like a betrayal of his character. And no, armed resistance like what the freedom fighters do isn't terrorism, regardless of whether or not it's morally right.

Missed theme:

The other thing I miss is Teo, his dad, and the other refugees being in an air temple. It adds a lovely grey area to the whole thing. Aang is pissed off that a sacred ancestral home of his people has been invaded and partially destroyed by machines (which also serves as commentary on industrialization and how historical sites are torn down to build skyscrapers and factories irl. We come back to the industrialization theme that the fire nation brings to the table multiple times, but a really obvious exemple is the painted lady episode in the third season), but also the people doing it are refugees running from an imperialist and genocidal army.

I think they saw the obvious parallels between the cartoon themes and real-world shit happening right now and decided to sanitize it lest they piss someone off with politics. Which ended up pissing me off.

The bending:

The visual effects where fine. Sometimes the humans ragdoll a bit too much, but that always happens. The bending looks good, but the firebenders attacking the monks in the beginning look just as powerful as eveyone else when they should be op because of the comet. The comet doesn't look thag much of a threat right now. Also in the cartoon is implied that Gyatso suffocated like twenty firebenders and himself as his final act, which is much more badass than what we got.

The creatures:

The creature design is very good, specially the ones supposed to look scary, because even the ones supposed to look cute look kind of scary here. Can you imagine anh child buying a live action Appa plushie? Because I can't. I also wish we got to see more of Appa and Aang's relationship. I understand it's probably expensive as fuck to animate, but we need them to be buddies. Remember, we have the lost Appa acr next season.

Script:

The acting is... fine. I just laughed when Aang turned to the camera and started to monologue about his personality, but that’s more on the script than on the actor. Speaking of which: oh god, please stop explaining every lore detail three times in expository dialogue. Sometimes, it's okay to tell not show (pacing, establishing worldbuilding, etc. It's why the cartoon intro exists!) but must you do it every time? And then repeat it??

Costume:

The score is obviously great, and the set design is good. Costume, makeup, and hair sometimes are iffy, but that’s because some things will never look good in live action. Yue will always look more like cosplay instead of a real person, I guess (I still think they could have just tried a very light blond wig or gotten an albino actress or something, but whatever). Wish Zuko's scar was looked more like a burn scar and less like a black eye. The clothes looked good, just a bit too "new" looking. Show me some dirt! They always look more conving when they get dirty and bloody.

They have points to improve upon, but overall, it's fun enough to watch on a weekend. But alas, the original is always better (not perfect, just better)

#avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar the legend of aang #atla #netflix avatar #netflix atla #atla zuko #atla zhao #atla ozai #atla azula #atla iroh #atla aang #atla katara #atla sokka #atla suki #atla jet #long post #live action atla

[goldenpinof]

Yeah in my opinion Phil would still be up for some dapg and podcast and regular joint content and whatnot because he knows that 1) their audience (at least what’s left of it) loves it, 2) HE loves it, 3) Dan loves it. The problem is the usual: Dan wants to do something big and important so he can be taken seriously or whatever, but let’s be real — his attempts so far have led to mixed responses. The book? Wasn’t that great, we can say it now. DD? Still trying to figure out what it was for other than promo for the tour (and the content itself wasn’t good and so 2016). I still can’t believe he decided to ditch the gaming channel and joint content for *gestures vaguely* that. I wish him well and I’ll always root for him, but he really needs someone to give him career advice

i can't believe you're pulling me back with this shit redhgfs i was peacefully existing for weeks not thinking about Dan's failing career ffs. god help me!

RIGHT!!!!! all of what you said! not only career advice but also a reality check, and i mean it in a very nice way. i guess we can agree that he grew out of youtube and doesn't want to do it anymore (partially because of what happened with youtube originals. fuck them). and that's okay. and wanting something bigger, more serious, conceptual, and right for him is also okay. i support that. but every piece of, let's say, work he was trying to do outside youtube turned out to be tied to youtube anyway. and not because he wasn't trying hard enough (well, debatable), but because most of his experience that he is willing to talk about is either already mentioned on the platform or happened because of his youtube career. and also it's the best place to promote whatever he is doing, so he can't escape it unless he hires a marketing team and invests thousands of dollars in a real promo campaign. PHYSICAL as well (non-existent billboards and posters for wad shows will haunt me to death).

the book. i have a question (lots of them, but whatever). have you read it? and if yes, was it interesting from a fan's pov? and god, would i love to know the opinions of people who aren't familiar with Dan and his content. i bought the book in 2021, can't make myself read it because i'm afraid to get annoyed at him repeating himself.

yeah, i also can't believe he is too fucking stubborn to return to what clearly works for us and him with Phil. because it can be a side thing, and he can focus on his stand-up bullshit at the same time. on the other hand, i watched Lilly's interview with Anthony about how her late night show was taking ALL of her time and she couldn't continue to make youtube content. and i thought, maybe Dan is in the same situation. his new projects take everything? but there's a difference! he is not shooting 2-3 episodes per day. and for wad he delegated lots of work to other people. some of them did a shitty job, but that's a different topic. that's why i would pay my own money for dnp to talk about the work processes in detail. that could explain where all these weeks and months go. dd was shot within a few months, partly during the tour. so even that didn't take that much time. and i know there are scripts, and logistics, and rehearsals, and pitches to networks or whatever, and he is probably doing a lot of manager's work himself sometimes. but damn, math is not mathing.

#''I still can’t believe he decided to ditch the gaming channel and joint content for *gestures vaguely* that'' - my favourite sentence #answered #dan #dd #wad #bruhhh

[moontheoretist]

(Screenshots are from anime: Kyou kara Maou!)

If only modern anime had the same approach to pairings as the old ones, some of those anime would be so much better. I have no idea why isekai became synonymous with female harem, but sometimes those harems are so out of the blue there, just for the sake of being there, that you get the feeling that they serve no other purpose than to pander to young men, while the story suffers, because some male character has more chemistry with the protagonist but will never be allowed to be seen as proper possible love interest for no reason.

People who know me will probably know what I will say now. Yes, Tate no Yuusha is one of those stories. That story is so much better when the protagonist either doesn't have any love interest, or they're from a different world than the one Naofumi was summoned to, as the huge part of Tate no Yuusha story is the fight between worlds for survival that creates a perfect simulation of Romeo & Juliet trope. Especially if you look at L'Arc the disaster bi who couldn't even fulfil the one and only objective he was sent to Raphtalia's world for: killing Naofumi.

Naofumi's harem is so out there, that it could as well just not exist. It seriously works thematically better as a father with a bunch of kids trope rather than harem, especially now in season 3 when Naofumi literally has a gaggle of children in his village that he basically raises.

Raphtalia then fulfills the typical trope of a daughter that idolized her father so much that she wanted to marry him. Her infatuation didn't truly disappear when she grew up, mostly due to the fact that she did grow up so quickly as a demihuman that her feelings didn't have time to fade. Most little girls at some point grow out of idolizing their dad, but Raphtalia as a demihuman didn't have the same chance. And I'm not saying it to dig at Naofumi x Raphtalia shippers. I don't condemn any ship and never will. I'm just stating how I see the story and what I feel would work better for this particular setting than forced harem.

Second on my list of possible suitors for Naofumi, when we assume that he wants any suitors at all or is not aromantic (as aro protagonist is also something that I'd want to see more often) is Therese. Hell, it'd be great to see a canon polyamorous triad in an isekai setting tbh.

Another good example is Isekai Cheat Magician, where one of the protagonists - Rin Azuma has more chemistry with Myura than with the second protagonist that she supposedly has a crush on. And ok, sure, she was in love with him for years, so maybe it's not fair to take it away, but at the same time the romance seems unlikely as Taichi doesn't seem to harbor the same feelings and treats Rin more as if she was his sister than a possible girlfriend. Even if I created a poly couple here, it'd always feel to me as if Taichi was a third wheel.

More obvious example is SAO, where love between Kirito and Eugeo is expressed in symbols as well as Kirito's heartbreak at the end of the Alicization Arc, but doesn't strike the audience hard enough to admit that Kirito is truly bisexual and that he loved both Asuna and Eugeo. It's there if you look at it closely, but people still deny it and call me names when I bring up that both Asuna and Kirito are bisexual and that both loved a same-sex character that ultimately died later on. I feel that the story hits harder when you say it was about queer love, especially in Alicization, because then it'd mean that there was huge romance drama going on (Kirito > Eugeo > Alice > Kirito), where all protagonists' love is unrequited. It's the most tragic love triangle.

I also mentioned a manga before that I feel would benefit from it too. Hero in that story is just such a worrywart in regard to the protag.

I'm seriously starved for some good modern isekai with homo or bi male protagonist. I'm getting some w|w recently, but I feel like m|m will never come, as if w|w were easier to get than actual m|m here.

I'm not complaining. I just have this feeling that isekai is avoiding true m|m and instead is only providing us w|w, which tbh we were starved for and want more obviously, but give us some m|m too if you please.

#tate no yuusha no nariagari #anime #writing #kyou kara maou #homosexual isekai protagonist #queer male isekai protagonist #sword art online #isekai cheat magician

[scarletttries]

Hey!

I found your profile thanks to my friend, and you’re doing great job! By the way, wish you everything great for your wedding!

Wanted to make a request for myself 👉👈

- “Moon Knight”

- I like all guys from here, so maybe you can choose by yourself?😅👉👈

I think that will be very interesting

- Me: https://pin.it/CIaLnTa

I’m she/her

- I’d like to have something fluffy (but I’ll accept at your ideas!)

Thank you so much for your well wishes, and your pinterest was so cool to check out I love your aesthetic! I ship you with.... Steven Grant 💞

- You would catch Steven's eye walking through one of London's parks, immediately capturing his full attention. He'd be sat on a little bench enjoying his lunch break, watching you go about your day, spending the full hour trying to build up the courage to speak to you. You look so much cooler than him it's a little bit intimidating and before he gets the nerve to speak to you he has to hurry back to work, cursing his cowardice the whole way back.

- So when he sees you walk through the Museum foyer just an hour later he's convinced it must be fate, the stars aligning to give him a second chance at a first impression. He doesn't let himself waste a second overthinking this time, scrambling out from behind his little desk and rushing over to introduce himself, offering you a private tour despite the unimpressed looks being shot his way by his manager.

- He talks your ear off as you go exhibit to exhibit trying his best to seem cool, and knowledgeable, and not at all like he's desperately trying to impress the prettiest girl he's ever spoken to.

- It would be obvious to you very quickly that he was doing his best to impress you, his blushing pink cheeks and stammering words giving away just how nervous he was to have your undivided attention. Luckily for Steven, you found his awkward nerdy demeanour endearing, thanking him for the tour and offering to meet him at the pub after his shift was finished. Poor Steven would be tripping over himself with excitement as he accepted your offer, spending the rest of his shift staring hopelessly at his watch, begging the time to pass just a little bit quicker so he could be back in your company again.

- After a perfect evening of swapping stories curled up in armchairs next to the roaring fire of a local pub, Steven works up the nerve to ask you on another date, and then another, and then another, until you become the earth that his little moon revolves around, the centre of his whole universe, the force he couldn't exist without. It wouldn't take him long to recognise your kindness and company are something he wants to keep in his life forever, planning how to pop the big question and tell you exactly what you mean to him.

- Both the proposal and the wedding would be pretty low key, any kind of public audience enough to have Steven trembling with anxiety, but he would take your every thought on planning incredibly seriously, wanting this day to be perfect for both of you. Steven never thought he would find someone to be this close with, so he gets very excited that he's finally getting married, reading up on all the traditions and insisting you spend the night before apart so that nothing can jinx his dream come true.

- For that one night he has to spend away from you, he writes you a letter you find stashed secretly in your overnight bag. It outlines the hundreds of ways that you've made his life better, telling you that he's not the same man you met all those months ago, he's happier and more confident and there's nothing that will make him happier than becoming your husband the next day, and being the best husband he can be every day after.

#writing #fanfiction #one shot #requests #moon knight imagine #steven grant fluff #steven grant headcanons #scarlettsweddingevent

[hide-in-imagination]

What do u think abt simbar ( ik that u LOVE simbar but i wanna know ur opinion)

Hm. This is a very interesting question. I take it from your clarification that you're expecting a more in-depth opinion than me just loving them.

Alright, everyone, go grab a glass of your favorite beverage and some biscuits— This is gonna get long.

What do I think about Simbar? I think many things, some from an 'inside the show world' perspective and some from 'outside the show' perspective.

From an 'outside the show' perspective, I feel like the way the writers first approached it was very... basic. Like, they weren't very imaginative in how to bring them together. If you check their scenes in season 2, most of them are almost copy-paste.

Ámbar: *Feels bad* | Simón: *comforts her* | Ámbar: I feel so alone. | Simón: You're not alone.

Like...seriously, couldn't the writers come up with different dialogues? It's a little cringe to watch. I wonder if the actors didn't question why their lines were always the same in every script.

Now, there are three instances in which I think they did it right. The first one was when Ámbar first approaches him and asks him to help her rehearse her song. This works because 1- We, the audience, know she's actually just plotting to eventually use him against Luna. 2- Music is Simón's domain, an intrinsic part of him that Ámbar has witnessed but never really seen up close, she's never really talked to him about it or wondered how he sees music, how he feels it. This scene works because we get to see Ámbar coming in with one clear objective (scheme and manipulate) and walk out with a different view of Simón (someone who cares about putting their heart into every performance, feeling the lyrics and conveying real emotion). All meanwhile Simón 1- has no idea he was ever part of some plan, and 2- doesn't see he has done anything out of the ordinary: he's just being himself.

Which brings us to the second scene which I think works: when he convinced her to sing with that strong eye-shadow make-up Jazmín put on her. This scene works because they're both being themselves: Ámbar worried about her image/how she's perceived, Simón being like "?? First of all, that doesn't matter, what matters is the music you make, and second of all, you look great ?? It's literally impossible for you to look bad in anything ??"

Which, coming from anyone else would be obvious flirting, but Simón is just being Simón. He's sincere and optimistic and has different priorities than caring about image all the time, the main one of those being music, and he's a good person, a genuinely good person of the sort Ámbar has, unfortunately, not met many before. If it had been any other guy just flirting, Ámbar would've just shrugged it off because she's used to that, she's used to compliments that expect something from her, but Simón is just being honest and supporting her going after her dreams for her sake, not because he's interested in getting anything from her, and I think that rattles Ámbar, in a good, unexpected way.

The third moment that worked was when Simón went looking for her during the Vidia competition and then they sang together. Now, the reasons for this are pretty much the same stipulated above, it's kinda self-explanatory, but I will add that I think this was the moment Simón fell in love with Ámbar, when he sang with her. I think I've mentioned this before, and I know I've written it in chapters you guys haven't gotten to see yet. In fact, I think I'll just copy and paste what I've written and put it here. Consider this a snippet from the future.

****She had taken all of her feelings and turned them into song, poured them through her voice, through her eyes that shined with contained tears. She had smiled at him as she sang them, and he had thought— How can someone look so fragile and so strong at the same time? How could someone express so much with just her voice? How could someone smile like that?

How can she be so beautiful?*****

Basically, he just absolutely admires her strength. Her vulnerability, her bravery, her ability to smile through adversity and sound more beautiful than ever. Of course he would lose his heart through music. Of course the moment Ámbar followed his advice and sang from her heart he would fall irrevocably in love with her.

(THE ADVICE HE GAVE HER IN THE FIRST SCENE I MENTIONED. SEE? IT ALL COMES TOGETHER)

*cough* Okay, setting that fangirling aside, let's continue.

From an 'inside the show' perspective, or maybe a mix of inside and outside, I think if you really start analyzing the dynamic, it can be a little... problematic.

I'll get to the main issue later, but first, it all starts with the question... Why did they fall for each other?

And here's why the shameless copy-paste the writers did in season 2 is so annoying, because they drilled us so much with the whole 'I'm alone/you're not alone' that the answer to why they fell for each other seems to be "Simón was nice to Ámbar, and Simón liked her because... he felt special???"

Like, it truly seems like Ámbar just started liking him because he consoled her when she was sad, and Simón started liking her because... he's got a hero complex?? He gets off on feeling like the savior?? And this is problematic because, then, would anyone else that had comforted Ámbar have worked just the same?? If Nico had approached her every time she felt sad and comforted her, would Ámbar have fallen for him instead?? And Simón's sudden infatuation with her after seeing her cry just seems like a weird mix of pity/sympathy and 'he just likes her because she's pretty.' Is Simón just attracted to damsels in distress he can help and feel useful? If Jazmín had been depressed and he had consoled her over and over, would he have fallen for her as well or was Ámbar's beauty just a very decisive factor?

And, of course, we are directed to believe that it was deeper than that (and I, as a Simbar shipper, of course think so). The writers want us to believe that they fell for who they truly are, that they saw each other in a deep way and were captivated by the view, that they connected and got to see things differently.

But again, because of how the writers wrote them, it's all just so very tilted to one side. Ámbar's love makes sense because she's never been treated this kindly and she's never been taught to see the world in the optimistic, supportive, not-competitive-perfection-seeking way that Simón does, so she's got a lot to gain from having him in her life, but what does Simón get out of this?

I once read in a 'writing tips' post about how to write good romance that it's not about what they like about each other but 'how them being together makes each other better?'

And this is where the real problematic aspect of Simbar comes in. When you think about it, their dynamic and the entirety of Season 3 falls into the trope 'Good Girl falls for Bad Boy and saves him' just reversed. "Simón likes Ámbar but Ámbar's bad but she's not really bad, she actually has a heart of gold, but she's going to be very mean about it for most of the story until eventually the good boy's influence brings her to the light and they live happily ever after."

It's disgusting to see it this way, but let's be honest here.

I'm not going to delve further into why the trope is problematic (it's not the good girl's responsibility to save him, she's not her therapist, blah blah blah, we've all seen these deconstructions before), I'm just gonna go straight to the question: what does Simón get from being with Ámbar? How is this whole love affair in any way beneficial for him? (Other than the obvious 'get the object of his affections' bit).

Well, my friends, as the simbar shipper that I am, and as the person that I think has written more words for this ship than anyone else, the conclusion that I've reached is that Ámbar makes Simón more selfish in a good way. And this is even explicitly stated in one of their conversations. Simón thinks too much about others for his own good; Ámbar encourages him to focus more on himself. But that transcends to many things. In general, I think Ámbar, with her world-view and upbringing and her qualities, complements Simón in a way that pushes him to be better. She's ambitious, she's cunning, smart, she knows how mean people can be, she's seen how cruel the world can be. Those are very good things to have considering Simón is kinda head-on-the-clouds, dream big, believes in the goodness of humankind or whatever. Not to say that Simón is not smart in his own way or that he's not ambitious, but he doesn't see goals like Ámbar sees goals, he doesn't see the importance of putting himself first like Ámbar has done all her life, and at the same time, he regulates those sides of Ámbar so that she's a bit more selfless, a bit more optimistic, a bit more relaxed about things. Ámbar brings reality checks to the table and puts him first more than he does himself, while Simón brings the love and support she should've but never had and helps her enjoy and appreciate the little things in life, the ones you can't buy and that have nothing to do with image.

But the writers' execution is atrocious. Simón sounds so preachy most of the time, and Ámbar looks for all the world like she just changes her ways to get the D and not because she truly saw the error of her ways. The first part I think it's fine because Simón needs flaws anyway and I've kinda gotten used to calling him a self-righteous bitch (affectionately), but Ámbar's redemption arc could've been handled better and I think we all agree on that.

Overall, in spite of all that I said, their dynamic is not terrible— If it were, I wouldn't ship them. They did lean into a toxic trope a lot though. But fortunately both have too much personality to completely fall into it: Simón is not just 'the good, virginal girl'; he stands up for himself and stands up for injustices, he saw right through Ámbar at the beginning of season 3 and told her to her face he wouldn't go along with her games, he's got too much of an idea of right and wrong to let the 'bad boy' trample all over him, and he's got aspirations of his own that don't revolve around the romantic interest (regardless of the Roller Band not getting the recognition THEY DESERVED). Ámbar, on her part, is not just 'uwu my parents traumatized me so I'll justify being a little shit to everyone around me, sniff sniff'. Do I even have to explain the complexity of her character? I think there are too many posts already about that. I'll save myself the essay.

So. What's my opinion on Simbar, anon? I think it's a very great ship, but more because of the characters themselves than the delivery (aka, the writers' flawed work). Which is precisely why it is so much fun to write fanfiction about them, because you can do better, and it's sooo satisfying.

Now, I'll finish this with a little defense of the writers because I feel like I've been shitting on them for fifteen pages front and back. They were writing a soap opera. For kids. Literally for small children from ages 7 to above. Did they have to make things complicated? No. In fact, the simpler probably the better. And they also had to write a fuck ton of scripts in record time, many of them on the run while the show was being filmed (at least that's my experience from the inside of a telenovela's writers room). So, I think it's understandable if they did copy-paste. And I think it's also understandable if their plots were not fault-proof because they were not meant to be in-depth analyzed by grown-ass adults.

That was my Ted Talk for today. It's currently 2:03 am here and I can't believe I've been writing this answer for three hours. Actually? Scratch that, I can totally believe that, it sounds like me.

Thanks (I guess?) for the question, anon. I hope my answer satisfied you.

#anon #answered #simbar #simbar meta #I guess #cynthia speaks #I hope this makes sense and has some kind of order- I just typed it as I went #this is basically 'stream of consciousness'- Ulysses is that u?

[waiting-on-a-dream]

𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 (𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐤𝐮'𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝟑 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚)

Haruto: Hello, Haku-chan.

Haku: Good afternoon.

Haruto: Are you finally willing to tell me your motive?

Haku: I already told you. It was to protect my brother.

Haruto: Tell me the full thing. Was he being abused?

Haku: Yes.

Haruto: Can you elaborate on that.

Haku: ...His teacher was really strict and would even beat him for playing wrong. He cried about it to me a lot.

Haruto: Is that allowed? Did you guys report to the school?

Haku: They didn't take the matter very seriously. I think a few other teachers were doing it too.

Haruto: That's horrible. But did you have to murder the guy? Wouldn't switching to another school make more sense?

Haku: Yes, but Kurosaki didn't want to transfer.

Haruto: Why not?

Haku: He wanted to quit music entirely.

Haruto: Ehhh...

Haku: I couldn't let that happen just because he didn't like his teacher! I had to do something.

Haruto: Wait, what?

Haku: Its not that he doesn't like the violin anymore, his teacher was holding him back by not teaching him well. The school we got into was the best of the best, we couldn't just transfer! So...I had to remove the teacher. Then everything will go as planned.

Haruto: Planned?

Haku: We're going to be the best piano-violin duo in the world. That's the promise we made when we were younger.

Haruto: I still don't understand where murder became necessary.

Haku: After I kill Kurosaki's teacher, they'd have to replace him with someone else. Hopefully one that doesn't beat their students.

Haruto: ...And you don't see anything wrong with your reasoning?

Haku: I suppose many people would disagree with the way I handled things, but I don't think there's a problem with what I did.

Haruto: Well, maybe your brother wanted to try something else.

Haku: That's nonsense. He loves the violin.

Haruto: Really? There's a chance he would have-

Haku: I won't entertain that thought. Music is the only path for him.

Haruto: ...Do you hear yourself? You'd rather kill a music teacher than let your brother try something else for a career.

Haku: Don't make it seem like I'm unreasonable. I gave that teacher a warning. I personally went to his house to tell him to either go easy on Kurosaki or stop teaching altogether.

Haruto: And he refused?

Haku: Of course he did. He wasn't even listening properly.

Haruto: Wow. You sure are...something.

[Bell rings, mechanical sounds in the back.]

Haruto: Did he put up a fight while you tried to murder him?

Haku: I caught him by surprise. He couldn't do much.

Haruto: Maybe being a serial killer is your true calling.

Haku: I'm only interested in music for a career.

Haruto: ...Prisoner 005, sing your sins!

[MV description - That's all]

The MV starts with two babies lying in a crib together, swaddled in blankets. The camera slowly zooms in.

"Ah, its you again. Have you come for the final act? The curtains are about to close. Cheers to our encore."

Then it cuts to a teenage Haku playing the piano and Kurosaki the violin on stage. The audience, rows and rows of faceless people, watch in awe. Kurosaki plays with a smile. Haku stares blankly ahead, as if playing from muscle memory alone. His eyes flash green.

"From the start, its always been us two. A piano and a violin, the best duet in the world."

A younger Haku and Kurosaki walk along a blank white space, hand in hand. Pictures of them together flash across the screen. The beach. Their living room. Acceptance letters to music school.

"From the start, it was decided. The only path for us. Whatever the obstacle, I'll be sure to remove it. Nothing will hold us back. Not even me."

Haku sits by the piano in his living room, practicing the same segment of a piece for the bridge of the song. He keeps messing up. With each mistake, his outline turns more and more green. His shoulders tremble. The green takes over the whole frame.

"You both will make the best duo." A cacophony of voices state, piling over one another.

Haku stares at himself in the bathroom mirror. Its the first time he's seen having eyebags. He lifts a hand and slaps it against the mirror. His expression remains blank, but he stares at his reflection in the mirror with ferocious intensity.

"Its too late to change course now. You're not allowed to do things half-baked. Whatever the obstacle, I'll be sure to remove it."

A picture of Haku hugging a crying Kurosaki on his bed. A crossroads appears in the blank space beneath their feet. Kurosaki starts to walk toward the right path but Haku holds onto his hand, forcing him to stop. Kurosaki parts his mouth in surprise.

"So its over now. An obstacle eliminated. He put up quite the fight and stuck to his beliefs 'til the bitter end. I can respect him for that."

A sequence where two black silhouettes, Haku and the man's, dance around on stage behind a screen. The set seems to be a music room judging by the instruments on stage. Haku kicks the man's shin. The man falls and hits his head on the side of the piano. A sudden piano keysmash interrupts the beat of the song. The man grovels on the floor, crawling away from Haku. Haku picks up the nearby guitar, holding it high above his head. The audiences. Fade to black.

"Its always been, the two of us against the world. You're not allowed to do things half-baked. You understand, don't you? The song is coming to an end. I've said my piece, so. That's all."

A door is opened to reveal Haku standing in the rain, splatters of blood running down his face in diluted streams. He wears a blank expression. The camera cuts to reveal that Kurosaki opened the door, now standing still in shock. Lightning flashes across the sky.

┊ ⇄ ◁◁ II ▷▷ ↻ ┊

#watch me make stuff up about music school again #haku actually shows some emotion for once! and his tenses keep switching because he's talking really fast #haku being the only one to have a song with mistakes as part of the melody is... #haku in the vd: !!! #haku in the mv: ._. #prisoner 005: endo haku #prison guard: suzuki haruto #milgram #milgram oc #milgram project #ocgram

[iwasbored777]

I keep seeing these ‘MARINETTE BAD’ posts about how she’s a crazy possessive stalker and poor innocent Adrien/Chat Noir doesn’t even understand how wrong she is. And it makes me wonder if the fandom would show this same energy to Adrien/Chat Noir if Ladybug actually had any recurring conflicting male parties after her. Because, as evidenced by how he lied to Theo in Copycat and his immediate attitude with Flairmidable, we all KNOW he wouldn’t take that well. If Chat Noir actually had a male Lila or Chloe or even Kagami to deal with for Ladybugs affections, I guarantee he would have been SO MESSY about it. There would have been more lies, more upstaging and more tantrums. Even the fact that Chat Noir asks who Ladybug is interested in when she tells him she’s interested in someone else was a little concerning to me. I was like “what is he going to do with that information?”

But just like the fandom is overall charmed by Chat Noir pushing the boundaries Ladybug set, I feel like they would also be charmed by his jealousy? Whereas Marinette…

They would straight up call for Marinette’s removal if she lied and told Lila/Kagami her and Adrien had “a thing” to get them away from him, got angry at some random girl he showed attention to or got pissy at him for rejecting her.

And this isn’t Adrien salt. I love Adrien, flaws and all. I just think it’s interesting, the split in the audience response between Marinette’s boundary pushing and Chat Noir’s boundary pushing.And more interesting that some people paint Adrien as this victim with no agency when he has been very reactive throughout.

The interesting thing is that, neither of their poor reactions and boundary pushing ever get them anywhere romantically with the other. Marinette usually ends up embarrassed in a mess of her own making and he is once again rejected. The same lesson is being taught here but somehow , Marinette ends up with most of the ire and Chat Noir is the poor kitten the mean bug hurt.

I know! I know exactly what you're talking about and I feel the same way. Double standards kill me. Adrien does have his own salters that's true but he doesn't have so much hate YouTube channels and videos, you won't see hate memes on Reddit about him, you won't see anyone calling him out on Quora as the of the worst main character ever, you won't see people saying Adrien ruined Marinette's life but you'll ALWAYS see them saying Marinette ruined his, you didn't see like ten people actually giving two f*cks about her during Ladynoir conflict, you won't see any other girl getting so many haters like Marinette, you won't see the fandom being critical of any other character so much, years from now you won't find that much hate material for other characters but you will find too many Marinette hate stuff, I can't even search her name on Google without hate content popping out, you won't see Marinette sugar being appreciated like Adrien's, you won't see more people hating Adrien than Marinette, that's true. Even the show is sometimes, like you said, really rough to Marinette and doesn't take her emotions seriously but his are always taken seriously. It's not just gender thing, I've noticed Marinette getting hate for stuff people praise other characters when they do the exact same thing. Some people even told me they went from hating on her to defending cuz even they couldn't stand these double standards. Even when Marinette does something good they hate her. Imagine when Marinette haters had enough of it 😅.

And I REALLY got sick of "if she was a guy everyone would call her out-" just stop. Y'all ALREADY call her out even for stuff that weren't her fault what do you mean no one is complaining when literally the entire YouTube and Reddit hates her with passion, and as if I didn't watch other TV shows where male character is the worst person alive and no one said a word.

Maturing is realizing Marinette is a great character and she doesn't deserve the slander. I can't believe people only watch the show with one eye. The fact that the girl is to blame for everything IS a proof that people don't stand for female lead characters. The standards are never the same. I can literally compare the same situations when Marinette received hate both times but she made different decisions and even when she did the thing they defended the other character for she got salt. I hate that. I blocked like at least 200 Marinette haters by now and I ALWAYS find more. Aren't y'all tired? Aren't y'all embarrassed by now? So many wonderful stuff about her will be forgotten and all that's going to stay are these obsessive stalker/abuser accusations which aren't even 90% true lol I can't even watch that for ten seconds without laughing from how dumb and biased it is. I don't know who started Marinette hate but I hope they actually get stalked and abused so they know what real stalkers and abusers are like. People like them would be ready to cyber bully a real person and ruin their life like they ruined this character's reputation so they don't deserve anything better than that.

Sorry if I'm too mean there is just too much anger inside me to be calm 😭😭😭😂😂😂

#miraculous ladybug #Ml fandom salt #Ml Reddit salt #ml youtube salt #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #I hate this fandom #leave marinette alone challenge #marinette deserves better #Marinette deserves a better fandom #ml ask #ask and answer #double standards

[faithlesbian]

in regards to prev post i seriously dont understand what people mean by "female-coded" male characters, which as someone with a url based off my transfemme interpretation of a male character that might sound ironic but i truly dont get it?? like when i say angel is a woman its bc i think he's trans and thats got little to do with him being the damsel in distress in early btvs or any other instances where he might take a traditionally female role in the narrative, bc subversion of gender roles is like part of the Premise Of The Show so if anything him being a Man in those situations is emphasised for contrast.

like i think xyz-coding is one of those terms people complain about losing meaning on social media bc was it not originally a way to signal something to the audience which would otherwise have been censored? as in queer-coding characters that couldn't be textually queer under the hays code? so in turn autistic-coding is writing a character as autistic when that specific word may not be available or understood yet like with sherlock holmes or other characters written to be "eccentric savants" and the like. so what's female-coding? bc i cant think of a situation where someone would be unable to write a textual female character due to cencorship or lack of awareness of the existence of women? and from what ive seen its largely unrelated to trans-coding or transfemme readings of characters its more like 'this character functions as a woman in the story' which unless the author is writing a setting where misogyny is reversed like in the power by naomi alderman for example, how does that differ from a subversion of gender roles? like buffy is a great example of putting a female character in a traditionally male role in a story but that doesnt mean she's male-coded, she's very specifically written to be a woman doing these things and in that sense all her love interests take on a traditionally female role in the story in relation to her, but i never see poeple calling riley woman-coded. im tired and braindead someone explain...

#its not that deep im just confused

[fizzingwizard]

Went to see Across the Spiderverse so I can fiiinally join in the hype hahahaha.

It was fantastic. The whole time I kept thinking how much I wished there had been a movie like this when I was a teen. I loved it as an adult, but as a teen I'd have been like next level obsessed.

Spoilers in between general squee

So Miles Morales is officially the coolest Spiderman. Well, at least he has the coolest movies, haha. Take your pick what Spiderman you like but seriously, I can't get over how this movie is conceptualized. Of course I felt the same with the first one, but this one lit up even further. It's artistic, it's musical, it's action-packed, it's comedic, it's full of heart, and somehow it balances all of that - never seeming too sentimental or too callous or too rushed or too cliche. It could have been any of those things, but instead of running from it, the movie embraces weakness and takes advantage of it. Heck, the core concept of the movie - that there's a "canon," a destiny, which must be fulfilled - could be a metaphor for how a story doesn't feel cliche no matter how many times it's been told if the characters have individuality and agency of their own.

The whole thing was good but the art and music, THE ART AND MUSIC. As for the art, it's so creative, such an innovative marriage of comic book style and computer animation. It doesn't say "This is too much, we won't be believable." Because it's not afraid of itself, neither is the audience. I think what makes it great is that it's got a clear idea tying all the different styles together, that idea being that this is a celebration of art styles throughout the decades, the same way the story is a celebration of our shared human experience.

The music is very Now. It's interesting and fits really well with each character and each scene. When Hobie appeared and it got all awesomely punk rock I could barely resist banging my head hahaha.

Also Hobie is THE BEST. From his character design to his personality to his role in the story, he's just so, so memorable and cool. He's got a small role, but he takes full advantage of it.

Loved Pavitr too, adorable, charming, annoying sweetheart. Really hope we haven't seen the last of him. "This is your daughter who I do not know" x'DDD My one complaint about this movie: I wanted more of Hobie of Pavitr so badly!!

Also Jess!! Pregnant, riding a motobike, and fighting evil. This movie pulled zero punches.

My favorite was Gwen. Gwen was everything. I was so super into her. Anecdote time: When I was growing up, I loved action and adventure stories. My favorite characters and ships almost exclusively involved boys and not girls. I felt bad because I wasn't supporting female characters - but I couldn't help that I didn't like them, or at least not as much as the boys. And I hated any time it seemed someone treated me like a "fan girl" who's just "in it for cute boys." But here's the thing. I did like female characters... in shows made for girls. Like Sailor Moon, CardCaptor Sakura, Utena - in all those shows my favorites were girls, and my ships were het or FxF. But the shows for girls weren't as popular as the shows for boys, because girls would watch both but boys mainly wouldn't. So the boy shows had bigger fandoms and more content and lasted longer.

What I'm trying in a roundabout way to get at is: Gwen Stacy is the proof that I, and many other unfairly labeled "fan girl" types, were really just desperate for great female characters in action shows that were popular with boys too. Your choices back then were: the love interest who is mainly a cheerleader, the love interest who does have some cool skills but never as cool as the boys, the love interest who is really cool and interesting but the story is only told from the boy's perspective, or the strong independent woman who doesn't need a man (aka a horrible, one-dimensional, token example of a "strong female character"). But Gwen. Gwen is none of that. She's strong, she's vulnerable, she needs help, but she's independent, she's fierce but also soft, and she's so far very much got her own natural, organic role in the story. She's hands down my favorite. And if there had been more female characters like her when I was a kid, I'd have loved them as well. So there. Fuck everyone who says otherwise, lol. And I know that there is a theory that Gwen is trans, and if so I will support it for all the same reasons. Just make characters who are fleshed out and real, whether they are boys or girls or trans or nonbinary. Just make them all like that and we won't have to have silly arguments about it! :P

Anedcote over. So, I love that Gwen got her own mini-movie in the first bit. I love the storm clouds in her relationship with Miles. It's not the usual stuff - I mean it is, but it's done in a way that feels really fresh. Her story almost predicts Miles's, or what Miles's could be. She's already lost a Spiderman, and when her father, a cop just like Miles's, discovers her identity, he isn't supportive. So when she hears that part of her canon as a Spiderman may mean her father dies, she's so heartbroken and depressed that she accepts it must be. When she tells Miles that in every universe a relationship between Gwen and Spiderman ends badly, and he responds something like "Then let's make this the first which doesn't," omg. My heart. I love them so much.

And more on Gwen. When it was clear that she was more or less betraying Miles, "for the greater good," I was a little disappointed at first. I loved her bit in the beginning so much and felt sad that she was then degraded to "girl from the wrong side of the tracks who needs to be saved by the hero." But that doesn't happen! Of course she's inspired by Miles, he's a big part of why she's able to stand up again. But he's not all of it. When Miguel throws her into the machine to send her back to her reality, I was so afraid she was going to cry and plead for another chance. But again, she doesn't. She just fights, and when she can't fight anymore, she says "We're supposed to be the good guys." And when she gets sent back, the thing she most feared, she discovers what can change when you take a risk on a second chance. And I think she realizes that her resignation was really fear. A false sense of control felt safer than accepting that our world is really chaos. That's where Miguel, I assume, is still... interesting to see what will go down with him in the future.

And last, Miles. He's just the perfect hero for this movie. He feels deeply. He's got conviction. I never believed The Spot was his real nemesis, so when it turned out to be his doppelganger in the other reality, I was like, omg so fitting. Yeah, it's overdone, but it doesn't feel like it is! Because it fits so well with what the story is trying to do. Miles was able to resist Miguel's rationale in a way the others couldn't because he has those deep convictions and that raw human hope in the future. But for that same reason, if things go wrong, if he fails when he's staked his whole heart on succeeding, the danger is losing his sense of self and turning into Miles the Prowler. It's such a great analogy for grief and suffering and why we struggle through our hard lives.

Just every moment was good. I kept waiting for one that I'd think well this could have been done better, but it didn't come. Maybe Gwen's dad was a little too quick to be ok with the whole portal jumping thing, lol. I really don't care. Such a fun movie and incredibly well made. I know the music and art made a huge difference for me - one reason why I feel like I could stand to watch it again, when I really haven't bothered to rewatch any other superhero movies. (Except the first Avengers, I think I'd still enjoy that if I watched it again.) It just never got stale and held my interest the whole time. And I gotta say: MilesxGwen 5 ever. Hahaha. Idk what the future holds for them (I mean Margo is also a sweetheart and nothing lasts forever...) but anyway I SHIP IT!!!

#spiderman #across the spiderverse

[thelaundrybitch]

Little Blue Hearts Update - Chapter 30

Aloha my Turtle Doves 😍😘

Please excuse my brief absence with your update.

We've been kinda crazy over here recently.

That and my laptop half shit the bed. BUT no fear! I got my new one already 😂

Chapter 30 brings us a new character! and some interesting new insights.

I'm not sure I will be able to update this coming week, as I will be bringing my family into Boston so my husband can take his civics exam 🙌🎉

18+ content - for mature audiences only!

Reblogs only, please!

Little Blue Hearts cover art by the lovely @leosgirl82

The New Girl

~Donatello~

It's always the same.  

I've been having the same dream every night for a couple of weeks now. 

The eerie, apocalyptic looking town. 

The burned house. 

The beautiful brunette in the attic.

Why are we there? What do we need to do? Why is she injured? Is she a real person? Is she in trouble? Where is there? Why do I always wake up before I can ask her anything?

It's frustrating. 

And a bit creepy.

And I need to know what's behind that metal door on the third floor.

But, the more I think about the dream, and analyze it, the more I can't help but realize that somewhere in my subconscious, I am feeling horribly guilty about what happened with Liv. 

And for not realizing that Leo has been in love with her longer than I have.

Dad has me meditating and journaling at least three times a day. He asks constantly if I've had any breakthroughs during the meditation. But I haven't. And I feel like I'm failing him.

I admit though, working with Dad has made it much easier to work through and get over my feelings for Liv. 

Wait. Let me rephrase that.

I'm not over her.

I love her. And I don't think that will ever change.

I'm just working on the type of love I feel for her.

I was in love with her. My heart felt it. The heartbreak I felt was the real deal. As real as when April left. 

Turning inward during these therapeutic meditation sessions has made me realize that my love for her didn't come from a healthy place. I had become obsessed. I sexualized her, and I'm ashamed of that. She was seemingly everything I wanted, because she was everything April wasn't. Yea, the stories Ashley told were great, but it wasn't until knowing her intimately through my stalker-level research, that I decided I wanted her to be mine. 

And that's never ok.

Leo, on the other hand...

He loved her character. Her morals. Her personality.

He didn't even care what she looked like.

He wanted her heart for the right reasons.

He deserves to be with her. She's a good woman.

And I went and screwed everything up. Like, royally.

After the whole guestroom fiasco, and the anxiety attack she experienced, poor Liv has been struggling - in and out of consciousness - for the past twelve weeks. Mostly out. She hit her head hard on the stone floor.

Ashley had been able to get her up and out of bed for the most part, at first. But there came a point where we couldn't wake her up for about 24 hours. Ashley had to bring a doctor down to make sure she was going to be alright.

We also had to contact Liv's Mom, and her workplace. Thank goodness for Michelle, seriously. She has been amazing with Liv. She's taking care of all the legalities with paperwork to get Liv FMLA, and to ensure she doesn't lose her job at the hotel.

Speaking of Michelle, she's been a Godsend with Dad, too. And Raph is finally feeling like he can ease up in the caretaker role he'd taken upon himself. 

It's honestly really nice to have Michelle here. 

And she's here a lot. 

She's here so often, she may as well move in with us at this point. Which I'm totally grateful for because she brings this amazing positivity down here, spreading it like wildfire, and helping everyone's heart heal a little more each time she smiles. We were a disaster before she got here.

Mostly, she's with Liv when she's not at work, giving Leo a break. Or, I should say, demanding Leo take a break. My poor brother is an absolute wreck. Raph even banned him from patrols because he can't maintain focus.

When she's not with Liv, she spends her time with Dad. She's so interested in everything he does. His plants, the healing oils, the tea making. And Dad ADORES her. I'm pretty sure if she ever tries to leave, he's gonna chain her to the lair.

But I don't see that being an issue. 

Because I see her side-glancing Big Red.

And Raph has heart eyes going on for her.

And we all see it. Aside from the pair of them.

It's funny, the big doof is the most confident man in the world with any female you throw in front of him. It doesn't matter their looks, personality, or status. Lets just say, he knows how to sell ice cubes to an Eskimo, and then have them come back, begging for more.

Then?

Enter Michelle, who is genuinely kind, helpful, and attentive to Dad, and Raph's tongue atrophies and his brain turns to mush.

It's quite entertaining, actually.

So, he keeps to himself. And poor Michelle thinks he's not a fan of her presence.

*knock, knock, knock*

"Come in," I say, putting my glasses back on my face and placing my pencil next to my journal.

"Hey," says Michelle softly as she enters my bedroom, crossing her arms in front of her and leaning up against the wall by my door.

"Hey," I respond with a sigh. "How's she doing?" 

"Her vitals are good. She's been talking in her sleep since last night, so I feel like that's a step in the right direction," she tells me, giving me an update on Liv.

I've confided in her a lot. She knows everything. Even the weird dreams I've been having for the last couple of weeks.

She's become my safe space.

"That's good," I tell her.

"How are you sleeping?" She inquires, concern showing in her furrowed brow.

"The same," I say, "I always seem to get to the same point, and wake up. Although this last time she was injured."

"Injured?" Michelle says, slightly alarmed by this new development.

"Yea, she had a gash along her hairline, and on the palm of her hand, and cuts and bruising on at least one of her wrists," I continue. "Truthfully, I think I'm just upset about the whole incident with Liv, and it's just coming out as these weird nightmarish dreams."

"I don't know Don. You're finally taking care of yourself and meditating. What if the meditation has opened your mind to the universe? What if there's something more to it?" She asks. "I mean, you guys have mutagen flowing through your bloodstream. I wouldn't be surprised if you have other... Gifts," she says.

I shrug. "Well, until you can find the science on telepathy during sleep, I'm gonna go with guilt," I say, looking at her with a smirk.

She sticks her tongue out at me and shrugs me off.

"I came to see if you want to join us for dinner. Mike made Chicken Cordon Bleu with mashed potatoes and fresh cut green beans. It smells delicious," she says.

"It is delicious, and yes, I absolutely want to join," I say with a smile.

As I stand and stretch, the door busts open, Ashley's eyes are wide open and sparkling with tears.

"She's awake!" She exclaims.

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