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immaturityofthomasastruc · 4 years

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#5: The One With Astruc's Self-Insert

In my introductory post, I said the main inspiration for this blog was @hypocrisyofandrewdobson. For those who don't know, Andrew Dobson is an infamous webcomic artist known for drawing webcomics that tend to demonize people he's come across in public or people who disagree with him online (either critical of his art or his political views), while portraying himself as the victim or wise man calling them out on their differing beliefs.

If you want to learn more about this guy who I consider to be far worse than Astruc, check out the blog in question. And no, I don't know why he draws himself as a blue bear.

Why am I talking about this? It's one thing for some schmuck on the internet to use his work to respond to criticism, but the creator of a popular animated series dedicating an entire episode to attacking his critics and trying to get others to feel bad for him is another story.

The second episode of Miraculous Ladybug's third season, “Animaestro” served as a wake-up call for fans (myself included) to make them realize how immature Astruc could be. The plot centers around the premiere of a movie about Ladybug and Cat Noir directed by Thomas Astruc, who voices himself in the original French dub.

And this isn't just a brief cameo like what Stan Lee did in the MCU. Astruc is the Akumatized person this episode, so there's naturally a lot of focus on him. Throughout the first half of the episode, Astruc portrays himself as this timid man who nobody recognizes or respects, like this idiot who doesn't know what animation is.

Doorman: This is a private event, sir.

Astruc: Huh? Excuse me? I'm Thomas Astruc, the movie director.

Doorman: You filmed Cat Noir and Ladybug? What are they like in real life?

Astruc: Er, it's an animated movie. It's all cartoon characters. We don't actually film anyone. See, there's this whole team that draw the chara—

Doorman: Whatever. Who would want to see Ladybug and Cat Noir as cartoon characters?

Get it? Wasn't that meta joke hilarious? This is how much I was laughing:

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And Astruc continues to get about as much respect as Rodney Dangerfield when he interacts with other characters like Jagged Stone and Chloe.

Jagged Stone: Ladybug is one of my best buds! I can't wait to see her movie!

Astruc: Well I—I'm the director, so actually it's more my movie, so to speak.

Jagged Stone: Oh, so you're the one who created the story?

Astruc: Well, technically the screen writers wrote the story, inspired by Ladybug's exploits.

Jagged Stone: Oh, okay. So you did all the drawings?

Thomas: No, no. The animators do all the drawings.

Jagged Stone: So what do you do then?

(Later on...)

Chloe: So you're the one responsible for this movie?

Astruc: Yes, yes! Exactly! That's me!

Chloe: Then you were the one who left Queen Bee out of the trailer. You're lame, utterly lame.

I can't believe Astruc had a scene where he interacted with Chloe and didn't insult her at all.

The episode is determined to make the audience feel bad for Astruc. Nobody respects him and what he does. Isn't that saaaaaad? Nobody cares about animated film directors like Walt Disney or Tex Avery anyway. Not even these stupid children understand how hard Astruc works.

Several Children: Ladybug! Where's Ladybug?

Astruc: Hey there, kids!

Teacher: Ladybug isn't here children. We came here to meet the director of the movie. Children: (frowning in disappointment) Aww.

(Astruc looks visibly disappointed.)

Way to insult your primary demographic, Astruc. I thought you said kids have a better understanding of these stories when people criticized the writing of a certain episode (It's that scene in “Puppeteer 2” if you're curious/don't value your sanity).

It's almost like you're using that as an excuse to half-ass your work while still getting to claim this show is so groundbreaking.

In case you can't tell, “Animaestro” is one of those episodes. The ones where the showrunners decide to dedicate an entire episode to attacking critics of the show in a blunt fashion. Whenever a show addresses criticism, they either create an obvious strawman character to parrot the opinions of fans who don't like their work, or have someone defend the show and insult the critics directly.

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The problem isn't that they're ignoring criticism. It's their show, and they aren't obligated to listen to critics or fans who don't like the direction the show is taking. On the other hand, they aren't obligated to fight back like this and treat their audience like crap. Any show that does something like the three clips I showed you usually comes off as petty and immature because they dedicate so much time to insulting the critics.

Even during the Akuma fight, Astruc has to call out Ladybug for having problems with his movie in-universe, obviously representing critics of the show Astruc claims have no right to criticize the show while it's still airing.

Ladybug: What's with that trailer too? I am not scared of cats, at all.

Astruc/Animaestro: You haven't even seen the movie and you're already slamming it?

Cat Noir: He does have a point, you know.

Ladybug: I wasn't slamming it. It's called constructive criticism!

Yeah, how dare Ladybug be angry that this movie is portraying her as a powerless coward dependent on Cat Noir as opposed to a confident and brave superhero. She just doesn't understand the genius of Thomas Astruc!

And of course the character Astruc claims is “perfect” is the one to take his side.

And that's another problem with this episode, the metatextual references. Before he gets akumatized, Astuc says he spent three years of his life working on his movie. I get that time in this show is weird (we somehow had episodes taking place on the first day of school, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and the first day of Summer), but how did Astruc's self-insert work on a movie based on a superhero who has only been active for a year? Meta-wise, it's an obvious reference to the scorn Astruc has gotten from fans after working so hard on his show, but the only people who would get that reference are the ones who are aware of Astruc's reputation online.

Self-Insert aside, I actually think the titular Animaestro is one of the more visually impressive Akumas featured on the show. Animaestro takes on several forms based off several different forms and eras of animation, like flash, anime, rubber hose, and they all stand out. Granted, some of them are obvious parodies of other characters like Goku or Sailor Moon, but the actual Akuma fight is fun to watch. According to the Mexican Miraculous Ladybug Twitter account, this episode took two and a half years to create, and it shows. It's too bad the story behind it is completely insufferable, almost like the cartoon equidistant to Pixels.

But then comes the part that honestly makes the episode worth it, mainly for how unintentionally hilarious it is. Do you want to know what Animaestro's weakness is? Do you really want to know?

Animaestro is physically incapable of moving unless someone is watching him. I am not making this up.

Ladybug and Cat Noir literally defeat Animaestro by getting everyone to stop paying attention to him.

I could make so many jokes with this, but I can guarantee you're already thinking of something just as good, if not better, than whatever I write.

And there's the end where Astruc gives Marinette his ticket to the movie, which prompts Marinette to kiss up to him for no real reason.

Astruc: Sorry, I guess you don't know who I am either.

Marinette: Of course do. You're Thomas Astruc, the movie director!

Astruc: She recognized me. Somebody actually recognized me!

Nothing happened to make her change her opinion on the Ladybug movie, she didn't really say anything to him earlier in the episode that connects to this exchange, and outside of a few lines Animaestro said, she doesn't even know why he got akumatized (even though ironically she and Chloe accidentally contributed to it because of the awful subplot involving Kagami I talked about last time). If anything, it comes off less like she actually appreciates Astruc's work, and more like she's stroking his ego just to keep him from getting akumatized again.

So yeah, this episode is awful, and the fact that it came out right after the controversial “Chameleon” only proved to show what kind of direction the show was taking this season.

But honestly, even if Astruc still wanted to make about how he doesn't get enough respect the episode could have potentially. All he had to do was make a simple change: Instead of making it about validation for Astruc as a creator, make it about validation for animation in general.

It's a common misconception that animation is only used for shows and movies aimed at children, so the episode could reflect it. Instead of the huge turnout where several celebrities appear at the premiere, instead, the turnout could be a lot smaller, with the media dismissing it as some stupid kiddie flick. Instead of getting akumatized because he gets humiliated in public/getting no respect from anyone else, Astruc gets akumatized because he sees the audience didn't go wild for the movie after the premiere. All he can hear them say is that it's just “kids stuff”.

So when Astruc is Animaestro, he goes on about how important animation is. How it's helped produce propaganda since World War II. How it helped improve special effects in big blockbusters. How the medium is used to create movies that simply can't be filmed on a physical set.

After defeating Animaestro, Ladybug shows up to talk to him. She had seen the movie earlier, and actually enjoyed it. She had a few problems with the story, but they were just minor nitpicks and inaccuracies Astruc wouldn't know about, and she was blown away by the animation. She tells Astruc not to be deterred by his critics, and continue to do what he does. As a designer in her civilian life, Ladybug knows the joy creating brings her, and both she and Astruc want to spread that joy through their work.

Back at the premiere, Astruc thinks about what Ladybug said to him when he sees some kids reenacting a scene from the movie. Astruc walks over to them and asks what they thought of the movie. They said they loved it and how energetic it was. When he tells them he is the director, the kids' faces light up and they say they want to do what he does when they grow up, bringing a smile to Astruc's face.

Isn't that a much more humble approach instead of what we got? It would have helped Astruc come across as more sympathetic, especially with animation fans. But instead, we got an entire episode of Astruc whining about how misunderstood he is.

And you know the footage used for the movie at the beginning? Remember that, because I have a huge rant about it saved for a later post.

For now, here’s an example of a creator appearing in his work done right.

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dream-a-little-bigger-x · 4 years

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Chapter 25 -- Perfect Harmony | Charlie Gillespie

Summary: Emily Fox is a talented 17-year-old with a passion for all things music. Her dream is to become a successful singer-songwriter one day. But to achieve that dream, she needs to get into one of the most prestigious music schools in her district – it’s all been part of her plan since she was six. Sadly enough, those schools cost a ton of money that her parents don’t want to invest. They don’t even want her to pursue her dream. So, now Emily’s hustling, working at the music store to save up to get into college. That’s until she meets Charlie, an annoying seventeen-year-old boy with the same dream as her. The only difference is, he’s just doing it. He doesn’t need a fancy college to pursue his dream to become famous with his band. He just writes his songs and books small gigs here, there and everywhere. Will meeting Charlie defer her from her dream college, or will he actually help her achieve the dream?

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x OC (Emily Fox)

Warnings: mentions of death, sexual assault

Important note: the characters of Charlie, Owen, Jeremy and Madison are based on the characters they play on the show and i do not own their names, only OC are mine. The songs aren’t mine either, they’re all from the show except for one.

~|Emily Fox|~

The boys and I have spent every waking hour together, working on music, working on the band. The dark void in my heart having been filled up by these three wonderful dorks and our music. While I’m building up my idea of a new future again, the boys have been building me up; giving me more confidence in my singing and my being. They supported me with every thought or idea I had about what college to go to or what idea I had for the band. Anything I said, the boys were 100% behind. It’s rewarding and refreshing to find a group of people to vibe off of so easily, especially after being a time apart and realizing how big of an impact they make on your life. It’s brought life back into a world that has crumbled apart. “That sounded tight, you guys!” I say, high-fiving Jeremy when we call in a break on rehearsals. “I can’t wait to play these songs live!” The boys chuckle while putting away their instruments or, in Owen’s case come from behind their instrument. “If we ever book a gig again,” Owen says solemnly. “Don’t give up hope, you guys. I’m sure we’ll book something soon,” I reassure them, and myself. Besides the Open Mic Night, we haven’t had the opportunity to play anywhere. Mostly because I was coped up in my room, crying all the time, and didn’t see the band for a good week. But you know… Still sucks. “Yes. You. Will!” Mitch’s voice resounds in the store. I hadn’t even heard the bell over the door ring; we were too busy chatting about gigs and rehearsals. “I think I might have a gig for you, Muffin.” He holds up a piece of paper, smiling smugly. “At the Orpheum,” he replies. I glance over at my bandmates to check if they heard it too. Judging by their bulging eyes and surprised glances, I’m sure they did. “Albeit it’s a school event, but you know… Still the Orpheum!” “What’s the gig exactly?” I ask, urging him to elaborate. “Bobby’s old school is holding a benefit. At first, they wanted to just do it in the school, but they booked a lowkey famous band and sold so many tickets, they can’t pack them all in the gym. And they’re looking for a band to open for them. You want me to make a call? I think you being Bobby’s niece will help us out a little.” I look up at the boys to see what they’re thinking. They’re eyes are sparkling like never before. The Orpheum has been a dream since they were Sunset Curve. “Please, try!” I tell Uncle Mitch. He grabs his phone and dials a number. The boys come closer to me as we watch Mitch in anticipation. We just hear a lot of ‘yes’ and hums until Mitch hangs up. “What did they say?!” I ask impatiently when he’s not telling us anything for an agonizing minute. Mitch almost looks upset, like he doesn’t want to disappoint either of us. “EMILY AND THE FOXES IS PLAYING THE ORPHEUM, BABY!!” He shouts really, really loudly. The four of us burst out into cheers and happy jumps and high fives. Without thinking twice about it, I grab Charlie’s face in my hand, staring into his eyes, and yelling, “THE ORPHEUM, CHARLIE!” When I realize how close we are, I slowly let go. For a while, we just look at each other until Jeremy and Owen make us snap out of the trance. That night, we celebrate in Jeremy’s garage with pizza, a movie and just each other’s company. My heart is full.

“Your VIPs are here,” Amanda, the showrunner, tells us as she knocks on the door of our dressing room. Today is the day; we’re playing a gig at the Orpheum. The gig we’ve been practicing all day and night for. “Come in!” I shout and get ready to greet Mitch, Madi and Charlie’s and Jeremy’s parents. Instead, I find my parents head in first, followed by two people I don’t know. They’re around my parents’ age. Neither of them seems too happy to be here either. “Mom? Dad?” I hear Owen say as he joins me at the door. “Surprise!” Madi and Mitch say at the very same time, showing off jazz hands. “Y—You… What? Huh?” Owen stutters and stumbles over his words, not sure what to say. I know they don’t have the greatest relationship either. He must be as surprised, if not more, as me. “Your Uncle Mitch called us,” mom starts with a small, careful smile on her face. “He caught us up on everything and told us about your show tonight…” dad continues. “We didn’t believe our little girl was playing the Orpheum!” I glare at my mother. “I thought you didn’t want to support my music career?” I ask, gritting my teeth. “We didn’t at first… But you have to know, Princess, we’re very proud of how far you’ve come,” says dad, placing his hands on mother’s shoulders. “Yeah, I came this far without you. Instead of you supporting me and believing in me from the start, I had to turn to my uncles. They didn’t choose to take care of me, but they did anyway. They love me and support me with everything I do.” Mitch gives me an appreciative smile. “I came this far because of Madi being by my side every single moment of every day I was angry and sad about my own parents not even loving me enough to be behind me 100%.” She grabs my hand and kisses my knuckles. “I came this far because of Charlie, Jeremy and Owen. They all became my family who supported me and cheered me up and comforted me because my own family couldn’t even do that for them.” I turn to Owen’s parents. “With all due respect, misses and mister Joyner, but your son is the most amazing and thoughtful person I have ever met. He’s been like a brother to me, and I can’t believe you as his family would ever do to him what you did to him. So, I’m sorry…” I turn back to my own parents. “But unless you’re all 100% behind us, I want you to leave.” “Emily…” Owen starts, but his father interrupts him. “No, she’s right, Owen. We should’ve been there for you and listened to you to learn about your world. We shouldn’t have reacted the way we did and we’re so sorry…” “We’re really proud of who you’ve become, Owen,” his mom chimes in, “Because you’re proud of who you are and everything you’ve achieved all by yourself. So, I hope you find it in your heart to forgive your old folks?” Owen glances at me, and after I’ve given him an encouraging smile, he launches forward and embraces his parents. My heart swells at the sight. “Emily…” my mother captures my attention. “Please, let us stay? We really are sorry for what we did to you. We should’ve never kicked you out. We should’ve never doubted you could make something of yourself. You’re part Mancini after all…” This is the first time she’s ever even slightly mentioned Uncle Robert. “I see so much of my brother in how you act and how ambitious you are… Please, let me just witness how you grow into a performer the way he did?” She sniffles, and that’s when I realize I’ve started crying too. I nod my head, granting them the permission back into my life, and the three of us hug. Mom holds me the way I wanted to be held so many times since the day she kicked me out. It’s nostalgic and rewarding. “What a sight this is,” Uncle Mitch says and when I look up, I find Charlie and Jeremy hugging their families too. For a while before the show starts, all of us hang out in the dressing room with our families. Luka, Owen’s sister has joined, as well as Jeremy’s two brothers. I’m glad I got to know all of them. Now, our Emily and The Foxes family has grown from the band-plus-Mitch-and-Madi to one big, happy family. Nothing can take this away from us now.

I take a deep breath, glancing over at our families in the front row, and after hearing Charlie’s “You got this”, I start playing the first notes on the piano to our new song. “Running from the past Tripping on the now What is lost can be found, it's obvious And like a rubber ball We come bouncing back We all got a second act, inside of us” The boys then chime in with their instruments as I grab the microphone, joining the boys to jam out with them. “I believe I believe that we're just one dream Away from who we're meant to be That we're standing on the edge of Something big, something crazy Our best days are yet unknown That this moment is ours to own” I turn from Jeremy to Owen and then to the crowd. I can’t look at Charlie yet. I know that if I do, I’ll want to kiss him, and we can’t have that. Got to stay professional. “'Cause we're standing on the edge of great” “On the edge of great” “Great” “On the edge of great” “Great” “On the edge of great” “'Cause we're standing on the edge of great” Charlie then takes the next verse whilst I walk out to the edge of the stage to interact with the crowd. “We all make mistakes But they're just steppingstones To take us where we wanna go It's never straight, no” I glance back at him as we sing together. He even gives me a little nod to beckon me to him. “Sometimes we gotta lean Lean on someone else To get a little help Until we find our way” Instead, I walk to Jeremy’s side of the stage, giving those people a bit of attention. “I believe I believe that we're just one dream Away from who we're meant to be That we're standing on the edge of Something big, something crazy Our best days are yet unknown That this moment is ours to own” I make my way back to Jeremy, dancing along to the rhythm he and Owen are giving me. “'Cause we're standing on the edge of great” “On the edge of great” “Great” “On the edge of great” “Great” “On the edge of great” “'Cause we're standing on the edge of...” I step onto the piano stool to give me a boost onto the grand piano itself. I crawl across, staying put on the edge as the boys and I go for the bridge together. “Shout, shout C'mon and let it out, out Don't gotta hide it Let your colors blind their eyes Be who you are no compromise Just shout, shout C'mon and let it out, out What doesn't kill you makes you feel alive Ooh-oh” Jeremy and Owen quit playing their instruments, and though we’d said this would be an a Capella moment for me, Charlie’s guitar riff surprises me instead. As I kneel in the middle of the piano, he makes his way over to me, giving me an encouraging smile. “I believe I believe that we're just one dream Away from who we're meant to be That we're standing on the edge of great” While I hit the high note, standing up onto the piano, the boys continue with the chorus. “Something big, something crazy Our best days are yet unknown That this moment is ours to own” We lapse into the chorus again, the crowd getting rowdier and cheerier with the second. This feeling right here is one I want to feel forever. With Charlie and Owen and Jeremy. And with Madi and Mitch next to me. The boys quit playing their instruments after the last chorus as I take my seat behind the piano again, securing the mic into the stand. To my complete surprise, I feel Charlie coming to sit next to me, and we sing the very last bit together in the same microphone. “Running from the past Tripping on the now What is lost can be found, it's obvious” As the crowd breaks out into a loud cheer, I can’t move anymore. All I can do is stay put and stare into Charlie’s beautiful hazel eyes that I’d missed so much. I inch closer. He inches closer. All the way until our lips touch in a soft, love-filled kiss. A kiss I’d missed for so long. “I love you, Emily Fox,” he whispers, his forehead pressed to mine. “I love you too, Charlie Gillespie,” I whisper back. Little do we notice my microphone is still on until the crowd bursts into even louder cheers. The both of us look up into the crowd first, then to Jeremy and Owen, who simply give us a proud smile, and then back at each other. He grabs my hand in his and leads me towards the middle of the stage where the boys join us too. Jeremy takes my hand, and Owen and Charlie hold hands too. The four of us take a bow, soaking in the feeling of the cheers at the Orpheum. We actually played the Orpheum. Emily and the Foxes. Me and my boys. Me, my two best friends and the love of my life. Forever. Together.

Taglist: @parkeret @lukeys-giggle @gingerxarmy @lovesanimals @hannahhistorian92 @marinettepotterandplagg @thequirkybookaholic @ashleyleblancx @calamitykaty @lolychu @bookdealer5 @tenaciousperfectionunknown @hemmingsness @siennanoelle01 @iainttakingshitfromnobody @ifilwtmfc @luckylouiebug @kiss-themoongoodbye @camiladelrio98 @myfriendscallmebeans @caitsymichelle13 @thedarkqueenofavalon

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waynedunlaptheorgandonor · 5 years

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alpha/beta are carol/daryl foils: an analysis no one asked for; twd s10 spoilers, obviously

hoo boy. okay, so i’ve been intending to write this for days, but i had to let it marinate, and also i haven’t been sleeping and couldn’t concentrate long enough to write it down, but whatever, i digress. “we are the end of the world” was something, wasn’t it?? it is so weird to have a plotline in twd that’s like...good? and SO refreshing to have a villain who isn’t a macho, rapey, white dude. i personally believe that all showrunners should be women from now on. oh, i’m digressing again, my apologies.

here’s the actual content, under the cut bc it’s a fucking novel:

so, from alpha’s very first episode, when i saw her shaving her head, i literally thought, “oh, so she’s carol’s foil and they’re going to have an inevitable showdown, huh?” guess who was right? this bitch. but what i didn’t catch right away was how beta is also daryl’s foil, and how the main focus of this season is alpha/beta vs carol/daryl.

let’s take it apart individually first, yeah?

carol vs. alpha:

like i said, the scene that made me instantly aware of what they were setting up was when alpha shaved her head. carol’s hair was a big thing in season 9, and the fact that we had just had henry talking about carol growing her hair out long, juxtaposed with alpha shaving hers off, is what set the alarm bells off for me. i have said over and over that i don’t believe kang does anything unintentionally, and girl loves her symbolism, so those two opposing scenes was a taste of what she was setting up.

carol and alpha are both near-indestructible forces who also happen to be mother’s suffering the loss of their children at the hand of the other. (carol isn’t directly responsible for lydia, but she’s included with “the others” that took lydia from alpha, so i think alpha still sees her as part of it.)

carol and alpha both have transformed themselves to fit within the confines of the world they currently live in, while recognizing that their children weren’t meant for it, even within their own grief. let us refer to figures a and b (lol) below.

figure a:

here in “the grove” we have creepy girl who i hate and am terrified of asking carol if sophia died because she was weak, and carol straight up is like, “yes.” she doesn’t even sugarcoat it. she accepted that her daughter wasn’t going to survive from the jump, because “there wasn’t a mean bone in her body.”

figure b:

here we see alpha losing her goddamn shit, because she’s having a come-to-jesus moment with beta about losing lydia, because she can’t have lydia and be the alpha at the same time, because lydia “is not like” her.

conclusion: carol and alpha both mourn for their daughters, but have accepted that to be the people they need to be in the apocalypse, their children needed to die (or in lydia’s case, be dead metaphorically). in short, carol and alpha are two sides of the same coin. they’ve both found ways to survive, except one is for the good guys, and the other is for the bad guys, and now they’re head-to-head, and it is d e l i c i o u s.

moving on.

daryl vs beta:

idk why the parallels didn’t occur to me when they had daryl fighting beta. i blame henry, he was distracting me by being a delightful idiot (rip my dumb bitch), but that seed was planted in season 9, too. go kang for continuity. who knew twd could do that? anyway.

the big thing that compares daryl and beta is who they were before they found carol and alpha respectively. we obviously don’t know a whole lot of details about beta’s life, but we have enough to extrapolate and compare, and extrapolate and compare we shall.

alright, so we got our favorite lovable, filthy redneck, who grew up abused and isolated, and then here comes the apocalypse, and the only person he has left is his brother, and that’s what defines him until he loses him, both when rick chained him to a roof, and then again, after a brief relapse, when merle sacrificed himself.

next we have beta, who again, our info is limited, but he does not become “beta” until after whoever that walker alpha puts down is gone. judging by the size, approximate age, and the closeness beta had to him, i’m betting on, you guessed it, his brother.

observe:

figure a:

figure b:

these are both turning points for these men, where they Fully Become the dudes that we know. daryl couldn’t be the daryl we know and love until merle was gone for good, and whatever his actual name is couldn’t become beta until smiley face shirt guy was smooshed.

(side note: how fucking rank does that t-shirt have to be by now? at least the mask dries out, but do you think that t-shirt is just like, melded into beta’s skin at this point? gross.)

so time for the fun part.

alpha/beta and caryl in season 10:

season 10 finds both duos in similar circumstances, by which i mean, alpha and carol are losing their minds, and beta and daryl are like, “uhhhh, you ok?” the men are these women’s confidants, their person, the one they trust and love above all others. carol saved daryl and brought him into a community, and alpha did the same thing with beta. you want more visual aides? well, sure thing, scout!

figure a:

we’re carylers, we already know carol’s the reason daryl has the confidence and self-esteem to become part of the group, but juxtapose this with the following pic, which i will label

figure b (again):

and you will see that alpha sees something in beta that no one else does. she sees this lonely, talented man, who’s adrift and in solitude, and she essentially calls dibs. sound familiar? inorite?

so daryl and beta are now loyal to a fault to their women, and this season already has them being wary of how they’re acting. yes, i have more pictures. i like taking screenshots, okay?

figure a:

one of the first scenes we get with caryl is daryl asking carol if she’s still thinking about alpha, and if she is Dwelling, which is interesting, because...

figure b:

...that’s exactly the same thing we get with alpha and beta. the first scene in “we are the end of the world” with the two of them in present day is him questioning her motives, and then later on he’s like, “fuck, are you Dwelling?”

and both women immediately are like:

and neither dude knows wtf to do about this, because they’re used to the women being the strong ones. carol’s whole, “you’ve got to feel it, but not me, i’m good repressing, conceal don’t feel” thing, mixed with alpha’s, “we’re living like the dead and the dead don’t feel emotions so obviously I Am Fine” motto is what their boys are used to, but suddenly carol is hallucinating dead children, and alpha is making shrines, and our poor dudes are like, “plz stop???” esp bc they know these women are FUCKING TERRIFYING, and should never be left to their own devices if they’re being crazy crackers.

ergo, both men are clinging to the hope that they can bring the women back from the brink. my last visual aides, yes i know, how sad:

figure a:

figure b:

both scenes have these dudes reaching out to their women and essentially expressing, in their own way, “i’m worried about you, can you plz stay within eyesight at all times, ilu,” bc neither daryl nor beta is equipped to have a nice long sit down conversation about feelings, and obviously carol and alpha wouldn’t bother to entertain it in the first place, so like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. they tried.

will it work? unlikely! because after that showdown at the end of both eps 1 and 2, these bitches ain’t about to stop for nothing. they just straight up made enemies for life, and they’re going straight harry potter with this shit, neither can live while the other survives, someone has to die, and while beta and daryl are not super on board with this whole “being bonkers and bent on revenge” thing, you better bet your ass that they’re going to make sure their woman is the winner, which means they automatically are paired up against one another as well.

so in a nutshell: we could have just stuck goatees on mmb and norman reedus, cast them as alpha and beta, and called them mirror!verse caryl (star trek reference, yay/nay?), because they’re mother fucking foils setting up for the mother fucking fight of the century, and oh my god, can you feel it in your bones how exciting it is that it’s not going to be a rick + negan dick measuring contest again? i am So Hype.

and ofc, as a hardcore caryl shipper, i obviously have to throw in that alpha and beta are totally in love (which is esp fun, bc whisperers aren’t supposed to feel love, uh oh, vulcan violation, yes i made another star trek reference, bite me), and if they are paralleling caryl, well...extrapolate from the evidence.

i love kang, you guys. i love how she tells a story. i love that she knows how to tell a story. this show is good again, and idk how she did it, but damnit, she did.

thus endeth my pointless critical analysis. forgive me. i was an english major and have absolutely no other use for my degree.

i’m ashamed too.

that’s all. tomorrow is the early release of the caryl episode, i mean the new episode. looking forward to dying a valiant death with the lot of you. until then, friends.

deuces,

-diz

addendum: i was editing this, and was trying to think if there’s a parallel to the bracelet scene, and the only thing i could think of that alpha gives beta is his mask. she encourages him to take the face of his brother(?), and that keeps him grounded, which is interesting, bc my prediction for the bracelet is that it’s going to end up being a grounding device for carol when she’s dissociating. i don’t have a solid conclusion drawn there, but i thought i’d mention it before posting, just to plant the seed.

k, done 4 real, bye

#alpha/beta #do they have a ship name?#bc i'm worried it's gonna get tagged in that weird kink stuff #gdi #whatever #moving on #caryl #carol peletier #daryl dixon #twd s10 spoilers #twd #dunlap tp

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the-swift-tricker · 4 years

Note

May we hear your critique about Gotham's version of Bane? You listed good points for your last post.

this is one of three asks currently in my inbox relating to Bane and my opinions about him and i honestly couldn't be happier

okay so i didn't watch the whole arc that involved Bane on Gotham but i've read up on it in the past and seen enough scenes to give my take on it

to begin with the biggest problem in my opinion is that Bane in the show is a white American soldier. that's pretty fucked up for multiple reasons. now obviously Bane is Latino in the comics (i say obviously even though a lot of people apparently have a difficult time remembering this?) and that's an integral part of his character. i mean come on he wears a luchador-inspired mask 90% of the time. so whitewashing him yet again was pretty fucked up of the Gotham showrunners. the other big issue is making him an American soldier. Bane is an ex-political prison from a fictional Central American island that was imprisoned since childbirth by the corrupt government for the "crimes" of his revolutionary father. turning Bane into little more than a jackboot thug for the US government was, i believe, an incredibly offensive choice.

also his look was abhorrent. he looked like some weird time-traveling cyborg from the future. just...completely off the rails.

beyond that i found it annoying how easily he was taken down in the show. like obviously i don't care too much about this or how he looked since i don't even see him as Bane but it's been a recurring thing in media to portray Bane as a really easy lightweight and i think that's pretty suspicious. in the comics he's basically the only person to ever completely beat Batman. and he did that through strength, intelligence, and ingenuity. in Bane's original comic appearance he was able to discover Batman's secret identity by simply observing him and deducing that he must be Bruce Wayne. then he set a very careful strategy into play and released all of the worst members of the Rogues Gallery in a massive jailbreak, forcing Batman to spend months recapturing them all before Bane ambushed him in the Batcave and literally broke him across his knee.

and yet all i've seen in most media for the last three decades is Bane presented as an overly confident brute who's only good for dumb muscle, is completely dependent on his strength-enhancing Venom, and can be taken down by cutting of his supply and landing one solid punch.

interestingly the only two things i can think of where he's allowed to be something other than dumb muscle is Gotham and The Dark Knight Rises. and incidentally he's whitewashed in both of those. huh. but i'm sure that's just a coincidence.

#thanks for the ask #it was fun venting anger over bane's treatment outside of the comics #bane #gotham #batman #bruce wayne #gotham city #the dark knight rises #the dark knight #dc comics #swift-tricker's posts #asks

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go-diane-winchester · 5 years

Text

How come Misha gets away with causing so much damage to this show?

Thanks for the conundrum @staycejo1:

That is a good question to ask. How does Misha get away with so much? The reason is simple. Misha is smart. Compared to Jared who is merely scholarly or book smart, and Jensen who is intelligent with regards to cinema and various arts [he hit the nail on the head with wincest, year ago], Misha is shrewd. I don't like the man, but I have to admit, he is very smart. He is using something I learned about whilst studying Public Relations: networking. Networking requires skill. You need to know how to talk to people and you need to know which people to talk to. If you network properly, you reap major benefits. There are a few cliques that Misha might be networking with: SPN production personnel, SPN alumni and cast members, Creation Entertainment, media personnel and selected fans.

SPN Personnel and affiliates

I elaborated on these people in other posts.

Bob Singer:

Bob Singer has been a co-showrunner for almost all the time that SPN has been on air. He handles production while the other co-showrunner handles the story. And yet, this man never gives the impression that he is a showrunner. When Sera Gamble killed off Castiel, rumor has it, that Singer fought to bring the character back.

Eugenie Ross-Lemming and Brad Buckner

She is Bob's wife and was brought on board with her writing partner, Brad Buckner. Since season 7, she has enjoyed many promotions. Now she is a co-executive producer on the show. Nice to work for your husband, huh. She and Brad butchered Sam's character until recently. I think Jared told them off. They were demonizing Sam to elevate Castiel's status. Currently, they are not writing destiel. They are not stupid. They are writing enough material to keep Misha on the show.

Robert Berens

Robert or Bobo Berens started off as a writer and moved up to co-executive producer. He allows the leads to be abused by heller fans, that he follows online. Remember, he is the one following problematic fans and not the other way around. Does that even make sense?

What personal stake do they have in keeping Misha relevant? Well, they all take their cue from Bob, and he is a close friend of Misha's. If Bob has a stake in Random Acts or Gish, then it might explain why he isn't willing to let Misha go. But I don't have that information just yet.

Stands

Misha has shares in Stands. For awhile now, they have been pushing destiel related merch. When they start to regret it, you will see a change. This is because hellers are already complaining about getting duped by Misha regarding the merchandise. We will just have to wait and see.

SPN alumni, cast members and affiliates

I spoke about these people before so I will gloss over them here.

Kim Rhodes and Brianna Buckmaster

They needed Misha for Wayward Daughters. They have affiliation with a bunch of fans who are involved in the Travis Aaron Wade scandal.

Osric Chau and Orlando Jones

I don't think Osric had any personal stake in elevating destiel. He really loved SPN and the fanbase. He was probably trolling destiel for fun like Orlando Jones does. The minute both men realized how problematic the hellers are, they slowly backed off. I don't think Orlando Jones has spoken about destiel in a while. He still is a friend with Misha as is Osric. I don't think these actors have any ill will. So far they just seem like a couple of trolls. Misha's networking failed with Destiel but succeeded professionally because these two men may be able to ''hook him up'' with other projects.

Creation Entertainment

Someone once pointed out that Adam, the CEO of Creation Entertainment, is in fact, Misha's cousin. I don't have any sources of that. However, for awhile CE was pushing a lot of YANA and destiel related things on their con circuit. The reason is because they have financial stakes in Misha's charities and thought that pushing destiel might make his fans shell out more money. The cockles photo ops probably gave them the erroneously impression that Misha himself, is profitable. Recently, however, this happened.

https://jolygram.com/profile/creationent/photo/1842990860569353024_552397215

They added a caption: Name a better duo. We'll wait. So was Cockles not better anymore? Misha is not profitable, so all of a sudden, CE loves the leads. I think they realized that when Misha's entire con fails but one of Jared's sweaty hoodies which he wore all day, fetches $8000 during an auction, that maybe they were betting on the race horse that dances rather than runs to the finish line.

Their personal stake was money which is why they dropped Misha and destiel related endeavors like a hot potato. Misha's networking failed here. Well, not completely. I heard there might be a new Misha con. I think they want to be sure that he is a failure before letting go completely.

Media Personnel

There are many kinds of mediums that are available to Hollywood. Some are more important than others. There are small trendy little pointless media outlets, usually social media outlets, like Hypable, ONTD and Geekiary. There are bigger more credible ones, also known as mass media outlets, like E! Entertainment. The heads pick up on news coming from the mass media. They don't bother with small outlets, and that is where Misha does his networking. He has people working within these outlets who are not legitimate reporters. They are merely gossipers and shippers in disguise. These outlets are invited to meets to disseminate information and that is where Misha connected with these viruses. Some of these pseudo-journalists have since been demoted, reprimanded or fired for misinformation.

What is their personal stake? Self-importance. Hellers and their sock accounts keep these peoples social media handles active.

Selected fans

These are fans that are overly invested in either Castiel or destiel. Most of them are nobodies but because of their association with Misha, they are recognizable figures. These are meta writers and influencers within the fandom. Their names are:

Lua James, with a twitter handle, poptivist. Real name: Theresa Cotter

Influencer who regularly attacks Jared on SM, and fled California after Travis's house was vandalized. Close friend of Kim Rhodes. Destiel shipper. Claimed to be a Journalist. Not sure about that. Followed by Kim, Matt Cohen, Robert Berens and Briana on SM.

Monica Gleberman

Very big shot. Lua's bosom buddy and Swagger magazine journalist or editor. She is a minion who lied that she had sex with Jensen and Jared. Commits fraud.

Emily Cleghorn

Influencer. Not sure if she is a meta writer. Runs the SPN anti bullying twitter handle and Exorcising Emily blog on Tumblr. J2 kicked her out of con once, because she made them uncomfortable with a tweet. She got into a twitter fight with William Shatner over destiel.

Reba Snodgrass

Runs small cons like Wayward con. Proven liar. Has to know Misha personally in order to run the cons.

Janelle Clay Davis

Influencer, also known as intelligentshipper on Tumblr and GhostofBobby on Twitter. Claims to be haunted by the YED. Pushes destiel like a religion. Cyber stalks people. Posted a selfie where she is posing with a gun recently.

Sara Burnhope

Knows Misha and his parents personally. Random acts volunteer as well as Gish participant. Might have worked with YANA although I am not sure about that one. Attacks people on his behalf on social media. Cyber bully. From the UK. Might be an influencer. Not sure if she writes meta.

Melanie Adeline

Regular con-goer and influencer. She has fans of her own. She belittles Jared to his face. Destiel shipper. Knows Misha and Briana personally.

These influencers and meta writers are important because without them and their overreaching meta, Destiel will fall flat. Misha accidentally tagged their meta once in a tweet. Or so he claimed. What is their stake, other than canon destiel? Self importance. These randos are suddenly important people, because Misha put them in that position. They are the ones who encourage people to vote for Misha for awards, and harass the execs for destiel. They are the ones who attacked J2 for the Nolacon joke and influenced others to follow suit. The above women were implicated in the Travis Aaron Wade scandal. There may be more, but these are the worst of the worst. As far as I know anyway.

So to answer the question, why does he get away with this problematic system that he has put in place? Notice, that he is affiliated with small fries. Misha, like I mentioned before, is a nobody. People are not linking the irritation they are dealing with, to Misha. Misha's criticism of SPN's misogyny was reported in those petty small media outlets where his hellers are working. And it was written in a such way that he is portrayed as a good guy. If E! spoke about it, Misha would have been in trouble because Pedowitz and gang pay attention to E! not Hypable. That's why they don't fire him. They don't know what he has done because he has spn people in his back pocket covering for him.

Even J2 don't have time to look through their own panels. They are certainly not paying attention to Misha's panels. So obviously Jensen doesn't know about this.

If Jensen was aware of this, a fistfight would have broken out of the set. Jensen would have boxed Misha's ear. Because this is sick. This was apparently at one of the Chicons. I don't know which one, because I can't stomach looking at that over bloated loudmouth. This is proof that the leads have no time to spare looking at this man's panels. So he is confident enough to say these things knowing full well, that the lead are too busy to care about him. He's behavior goes unchecked, and his continued presence on the show ensures that Gish and Random acts are continually funded. He needs Castiel to keep these two machines running.

Excuse the typos.

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