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#why does she have such little screentime :(((
daisyachain · 1 year
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there’s one version of an f/m/m triangle that crops up so often I’m surprised there isn’t at least a tvtropes/vernacular name for it. Miyokichi/Kiku/Shin. Molly/Fitz/Fool. Asuka/Shinji/Kaworu. Futaba/Taichi/Touma. not-really-but-you-could-shove-it-in-here Luthien/Beren/Finrod. Utena/Touga/Saionji is a twisted spun-on-its-head version of it. Specifically comprising:
masculine male character A: either is the protagonist or a character on to which male viewers can project.
female character B: a secondary character and A’s official love interest, often kept apart from A by story/circumstance/gender roles. Shows some resentment of the trials she’s put through by the story in being A’s lover such as being shoved to the side, cut out of his life, or put in danger.
less masculine male character C: another major character, A’s devoted sidekick, feminine and/or conspicuously cold toward women or sexuality, somewhat ill-used by A but not resentful about it, as a contrast to B.
The dynamic is used pretty equally by female and male creators, though probably with different purposes. Outside the story, there’s a clear explanation for how the roles are divided: men are main, women are peripheral. Obviously the female love interest has to be on the margins of the story. Obviously the male main character has to have an ally in-story who can bounce dialogue back. Any human person has to have a best friend (for men, has to be male) and a lover (for men, has to be female). The major character male bestie and the minor character female gf is the minimum character dynamic you need to sustain the main character as a believable construction.
Except within the story, the dynamic begs far too many questions. On B’s part: her other half and love interest uses her for sex once every few chapters and dumps her to go off on another plot-relevant adventure. She’s kept in the dark, talked down to, pushed away, and distrusted. Her place at her sweetie’s side is occupied by Some Dude and no matter how much she puts into their relationship, she’s always going to be a prize for after the mission. Why does she stay with him? What could possibly attract her about this bestubbled grunt machine whose passion for the sword outmatches anything she’s given him?
On C’s part: he gets used as an emotional support crutch, designed to service his best friend’s every need at the expense of his own goals or story. He’s a housewife, he’s a domestic, he does every thankless story task with a smile because he has to provide the exposition/set up the plot/set the plan in action that carries the main male character to victory. He doesn’t have a love interest of his own, meanwhile the most important person in his life is obsessed with a woman he barely speaks to. Why should he care so much about someone who only takes? Why is he committed to this one-way friendship? What does he think of taking the backseat, providing support, submerging his own will for the sake of a person instead of an ideology?
On A’s part: if he’s a red-blooded heterosexual male character who pursues a woman as is acceptable, why does he dig himself so deep in with his designated ally? Through dialogue and because he has to in order to show the audience, he exposes his heart and soul to C and keeps him in his pocket for as long as we are watching, so why then does he cast him aside so easily? He invests the most time and energy into his relationship with C, cultivating love and loyalty there, but he draws the line so firmly in the sand that the audience is sure he’ll never, ever step aside for one minute to follow the friend. Why does he choose a man for his emotional battery? Why doesn’t he communicate with his supposed partner? Why does he choose to use B and C for sex and solace respectively, and why don’t they ever mix?
The gender dynamics wrap around to simple: women aren’t up to being equal partners to a cool guy, so you need a male wife to do everything for you and appreciate the protagonist’s sick abilities. romance with a man is perverse and impossible, so you need a female love interest to prove that the protagonist isn’t gay and fulfil the audience’s needs. But in-between all of that you could ask some interesting questions of the spoke character, A, the male protagonist whose actions are taken as normal. the question being: bro. what’s wrong with you
#kelsey rambles#aaaaaand the only thing that satisfactorily calls the A-character on his mistreatment is the podcast CARAVAN. which is not good#actually i'd go as far as to say it's bad#rgu goes into it a little but it's nowhere near the main focus of the series#using asuka-shinji-kaworu as the example that just sucks so bad#shinji's treatment of asuka is so horrible and misogynistic and despite her screentime. in shinji's mind she's never more than peripheral#and gets dumped at the last second and turned into a corpse. she's an object of desire and he refuses to recognize the ways they're the same#on the other hand shinji loves and idolizes kaworu.....only in as far as kaworu is his own dream guy who gives him everything he wants#and never makes even the slightest hint of a glimmer of expectation of anything from shinji in return#the moment kaworu's desires become explicit--he's not only killed but erased from the story altogether#eva rebuild 4.0 does this in the most insulting way possible by farming him off with....rei?#not to try and take eva rebuild seriously but the way it expands on kaworu and sidelines asuka is somehow insulting to both of them#even moreso than the original series was. which is saying something#someday i have to read the eva manga because i hear it takes kaworu in a more problematic direction that is still a direction and so better#or as for SGRS--shin is far more loving and devoted to kiku than he is to any woman and takes a killing blow for him#he watches him in life and guides him through the underworld. he gives more to kiku than he gives to anyone.#yet as a character any possibility of like-liking kiku is denied. what's the damage there?#how does it make story sense? why does kiku have a more serious relationship with a woman than the ostensibly straight shin?#the answer is The Misogyny but even then it's jarring to have shin's plain love be obfuscated with the constant references to being straight#as opposed to kiku. who actually has girlfriends and not one-night stands#it's nonsensical to read shin as a straight man and yet any possibility of him returning kiku's feelings is barred off blacked out redacted#leaving us with a dog's breakfast of a dynamic that IS fun. because in this case it's intentionally bad. and the author is winking at us
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frobby · 4 months
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every single person in the haikyuu fandom has an unimportant fave
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#okay rant time lol. spoilers for 6x18#i think i will have to say that this may have been my least favourite of all 6b episodes#haha ik i should probably give myself time to process the episode but idk i'd rather just write everything out#i just. just yesterday i was complaining about some people treating 911 like it's the buck show and today... it was the buck show?#and like! an episode being extra focused on one character is absolutely fine!! great even!! i really enjoyed 6x11!!#but in the season finale you expect each character to get a more equitable amount of focus right?#and like. even 4x14 which had a significantly less focus on eddie than one might expect had the will scene#and maddie had a bit less focus in that episode too but even she quit her job and it was obvious she was Going Through Stuff#and these slightly restricted screentimes gave jumping off points for their respective very spectacular s5 arcs#but this episode? like it wasn't that it didn't focus on other characters but it was mostly buck#and... idk man it does make sense given that he had the longest running plotlines this season but also#i just wish we had focused more on other characters as well#and like? as for buck? the couch?#i'll be honest i'm disappointed they introduced romance this season for buck at all when the season began with him choosing to be single#i really thought he wouldn't date at all for this one season at least yk?#and yeah ik we live in an amatonormative world but cmooon a guy can have his happy ending without getting together with someone#also bucktalia feels a little odd to me rn especially given the number of false starts they had#if they'd done this exact same storyline but at the beginning of next season i'd probably love it... right now tho i'm very meh over it#as in there is potential but it's like... idk mannnn why do we need him to end up with someone at allllll... i'm too aro for this shit#starting something new this close to the end of the season instead of tying off the two arcs that were already ongoing for him#was certainly a choice#aah well. at least natalia seems good for him. she came back which is the most important thing buck would want in a partner right?#still tho. i really wish we'd gotten to know more about the new henren baby than we did#i wish we'd gotten to see madney discussing plans instead of just the exact moment where they decide they want to marry on the patio#i wish we'd gotten the entire conversation that lead up to chris hyping (or snarking at) eddie to call marisol#i wish we'd gotten bathena hurriedly packing for their trip and may making fun of them as she helps#i just wish we'd gotten more of others!!#oh well. at least we still got chimney time and captain hen and cheddie working together and hen and eddie leaning on each other#you win some you lose some i guess#anyways if you actually read all the way til down here thank you for your time hehe
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diseasedcube · 1 year
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i never thought i'd be missing fushi this much
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crabbunch · 25 days
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persona games really love to throw out the most compelling concepts for characters that threaten to violently rip out all of your organs and then trip over themselves because. surely women cannot have meaningful character arcs. please i only want to contemplate the horror of having your mind rewritten and complex sibling relationships
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demilypyro · 6 months
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So I've seen a few too many people on twitter talking about The Kiss Scene from the new Scott Pilgrim anime. People saying it's fetishistic and indulgent, people calling it male gazey, etc. And while the kiss itself is certainly a bit exaggerated, I felt like writing a bit about why I disagree, and why context is important, like it always is. But it basically turned into an extended analysis on the metatextual treatment of Roxie Richter. So bear with me. It's a long post.
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What really matters about this scene is not the kiss itself, but what precedes it. Not even just the fight scene just before it, but what precedes the whole anime series, really. And that's the Scott Pilgrim comic book, and the live action movie. Because in both, Roxie is a punchline.
She's a joke. Her character starts and ends with "one of the exes is actually a girl, I bet you didn't expect that." Jokes are made about Ramona's latent bisexuality, the movie especially treating it as funny and absurd, and her validity as a romantic interest is entirely written off by Ramona as being "just a phase." There's a fight scene, she's defeated by a man giving her an orgasm which implicitly calls her sexuality into question (come on), and the movie just moves on. It sucks. It really, really sucks.
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The comic fares a little better. It never veers into outright homophobia like the movie does, and while the line about Ramona having gone through a phase remains, Roxie actually gets one over on Scott when Ramona briefly gets back with Roxie. But Roxie is still only barely a character. Like all the other evil exes, she's just a stepping stone towards the male protagonist's development. She barely even gets any screentime before she's defeated by Scott's "power of love." But Roxie stands out, since she's the only villain who is queer, or at least had been confirmed queer at that point (hi Todd). In a series that champions multiple gay men in the supporting cast, the single undeniable lesbian in the story is a villain. She's labeled as evil, made fun of, pushed aside in favor of the men, and then discarded. Her screentime was never about her, or her feelings for Ramona. It was about the straight, male protagonist needing to overcome her. And that was Roxie Richter. An unfortunate victim of the 2010s.
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Fast forward to current year, and the new anime series is announced. Everybody sits down to watch the new series expecting another retelling of the same story, and.... hang on, that straight male protagonist I mentioned just died in the first episode. And now it's humanizing the villains from the original story. And there's Roxie, introduced alongside the other evil exes in the second episode, and she's being played entirely straight, without a punchline in sight. No jokes are made about her gender, no questions are made of her validity as one of Ramona's romantic interests. The narrative considers her important. In one episode, she already gets more respect than she did in either of the previous iterations of Scott Pilgrim. And this isn't even her focus episode yet... which happens to be the very next one.
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The anime series goes to great lengths to flesh out the original story's villains and to have Ramona reconcile with them. And I don't think it's a coincidence that Roxie gets to go first. While Matthew Patel gets his development in episode 2, Roxie is the first to directly confront Ramona, now our main protagonist. This is notable too because it's the only time the exes are encountered out of order. Roxie is supposed to be number 4, but she's first in line, and later on you realize that she's the only one who's out of sequence. She's the one who sets the precedent for the villains being redeemed. She's the most important character for Ramona to reconcile with.
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What follows is probably the most extensive, elaborate 1 on 1 fight scene in the whole show. Roxie fights like a wounded animal, her motions are desperate and pained. Ramona can only barely fight back against her onslaught. Different set-pieces fly by at breakneck speed as Roxie relentlessly lays her feelings at Ramona's feet through her attacks and her distraught shouts. And unlike the comic or the movie, Ramona acknowledges them, and sincerely apologizes. And the two end up just laying there, exhausted, reminiscing about when they were together.
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Only after this, after all of this, does the kiss scene happen. Roxie has been vindicated, she has reconciled with the person who hurt her, the narrative has deemed that her anger is justified and has redeemed her character. And she gets her victory lap by making the nearest other hot girl question her heterosexuality, sharing a sloppy kiss with her as the music triumphantly crescendos.
It's... a little self-congratulatory, honestly. But it's good. It's redemption for a character who had been mistreated for over a decade. And she punctuates the moment by being very, very gay where everyone can see it, no men anywhere in sight. Because this is her moment. And then she leaves the plot, on her own accord this time, while humming the hampster dance. What a legend. How could anything be wrong with this.
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aziraphale-rights · 10 months
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So, what is the deal with the world’s most conspicuously uneaten Eccles cakes? (A meta)
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Well, I wouldn’t say it’s bad writing, not even the on-purpose-as-a-secret-message kind. I agree there is a visual ‘loose thread’ here that the creators wanted us to notice, but I don’t think the meaning has anything to do with Metatron or the eventual plan for S3. I think the eccles cakes are all about what’s going on in this episode with Crowley and Aziraphale, and they’re unsettling in exactly the way they’re meant to be, even if we might not register the full implications consciously on first watch.
On the most straightforward level, this shot is the punchline to a joke set up by Aziraphale and Nina in the coffee shop. Crowley orders six shots of espresso, bound to get him all worked up and stressy. Aziraphale, who desperately wants Crowley to be thinking clearly when he learns about the Gabriel situation, says to Nina: ‘What do you sell that calms people down?’ And she replies: ‘Eccles cakes.’ From this moment on the cakes are a visual symbol of what Aziraphale needs from Crowley right now.
That’s why they get so much screentime as we cross the road and go into the shop. Aziraphale won't leave those eccles cakes behind because he’s still hoping that Crowley will respond to the request they represent: Please stay calm, please be patient and listen to me with empathy.
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But Crowley never does respond, and as he storms out we get that close-focus shot of the abandoned plate to make sure the subtext hits home. The cakes are framed sitting in front of the horse statue, brilliantly dressed up in Crowley's sunglasses, to remind us that they were brought there for him and he's dismissing them. (Crowley is the frantic horse who can't be managed!)
There’s another level to it, though, which doesn’t fully become clear until episode 6. The episode 1 meeting in Nina’s café is the first time that Aziraphale and Crowley share a scene in the present-day in S2, which means that the last time we saw them together was when they were dining at the Ritz. As viewers, we quickly recognise the visual language of their partnership: a table for two, a drink, a dessert. It feels familiar. But the food gets delivered and then nobody eats it. On that level, it is a set-up without a pay-off and it really niggles as you watch. S1 closed out their relationship with a happy toast after a resplendent dinner; S2 opens it with a snack that gets ignored. The dynamics of who offers food to whom are also off, atypical. It’s a sign of how things are going to go later on, hinting at the fact their dynamic is dysfunctional right now, even though it might seem OK on the surface.
Which brings me, finally, on to the other thing I’ve wanted to point out…
The punchline is that Crowley doesn’t eat the eccles cakes, but the really subconsciously disconcerting thing is that Aziraphale doesn’t. That he seemingly never planned to, and never orders anything for himself. In fact, we don’t see Aziraphale eat anything substantial in any of the present-day scenes in S2. The only things he consumes onscreen are sherry, tea, and a travel sweet. (Oh, and Manipulation Coffee, which is definitely a callback to Crowley’s disastrous sextuple-espresso.) We see him with food, yes, but primarily he wants to give it to other people.
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For me this little detail of S2 – not something you even fully notice until you think about it – is a very telling understated cue in terms of Aziraphale’s post-Heaven state of mind. It's about what amuseoffyre puts so well in another meta: 'the whole series looks like he’s having so much fun doing silly human things, but there’s this brittleness to it.' At first glance, we see Aziraphale interacting with food and assume he is now living the happy Earthly life we wanted for him, but on closer inspection he's not engaging much in the pleasure of eating for his own sake. He gets a quick sweet pick-me-up on his way somewhere else in the Bentley - all alone - and that's it. He's too anxious, too busy, he doesn't have time. Crowley doesn't have time to invite him for lunch.
I find it fascinating that Gabriel gets a squillion cups of cocoa in this season, waxing all lyrical about them, and Aziraphale gets none. Aziraphale's mug becomes Jim's mug, even. And he mostly makes the tea to show Muriel how to blend in. In short, S2 Aziraphale is terribly preoccupied with looking after/managing others, and not taking the time to look after himself. Like the Maggie and Nina match-making, all that kindly treat-offering is displacement, displacement, displacement.
No wonder it all goes wrong.
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rizsu · 1 year
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mansae, mansae, mansae sunarin, kenma, bokuto, kageyama.
sum. ib ( inspired by ) mansae from seventeen (kpop) !!
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suna rintarō
inarizaki student suna — he thinks he's cool & slick when talking to you but he gets a little fidgety because of his overwhelming feelings for you
comes up to you in class like "yo" but it's not just any yo, it's a "yo please let me be your boyfriend i love you" but he's not going to say all that.
you guys are deskmates so he sneakily reaches out to hold one of your fingers saying "damn, it's cold today!"
suggests café study sessions when there's no practice (this is an excuse to be with you)
professional volleyballer suna — oh he's still awkward but a little bolder. we all know suna's the cameraman for ANYTHING so yes, he does use you as his personal photo dump.
definitely has your chats pinned. his screentime is high but when you're available to talk? that goes up to HOURS.
when he confessed to you, it was really sceneric. like you know all those fancy restaurants, 5 star hotel weekends, cute little dates to some garden— i mean he has money so why not spend it??
after any match, he comes over > throws himself face down on your bed > begs for you to massage his back > sleep.
kenma kozume
nekoma student kenma — you are his personal room. leaves everything in your care if he has practice or won't be able to use his switch at all.
kenma the typa man to take years before he confesses. he has plans he cannot afford to mess up. meticulously planned plans.
when his class is over he immediately makes his way over to your class and waits until you're out.
conversations usually go like:
"hey, let's go to the gym" > "what about lunch??" > "we can send lev for lunch i dunno."
he LIVES for the way he can just not talk and yet you two would be in a comfortable silence.
uni student & gamer kenma — drives to your house so you guys can go to university together.
if your courses are different — he waits for you at the caféteria and then you guys go wandering about waiting for the next course
if your courses are the same — sits next to you and you guys end up gossiping the entire class. "oh right did you hear about lev's interview?? it was.. something..!!" #1 lev hater (he loves lev)
invites you over for "just the weekend" but you end up staying the entire week.
kageyama tobio
karasuno student kageyama — awkward. very awkward. i know you guys saw the way he freezes up at anything that's not volleyball.
"uh- damn- hi- uhm, can you help me??" yeah you gotta help him or else he can't go to the practice with seijoh to settle his beef with oikawa.
really shy?? he literally cannot form a proper sentence without having hinata's help from the sidelines. sometimes he goes mind blank while staring at you.
does he answer anyone's messages? hardly. does he answer yours? immediately.
professional volleyballer kageyama — still awkward but not as much. isn't as bold as suna but he doesn't think before speaking and just lets it out. you can be wearing rags and he'd be like "wow you look so pretty.."
has this one pic of you furiously scooping out ice-cream while wearing some powerpuff girls pajamas as his lockscreen and wallpaper.
holds your hand like his life depends. he's asleep? holds your hand. scared bc of the horror movie? holds your hand. walking into the house? holds your hand.
a cutie honestly.
bokuto kotarō
fukurodani student bokuto — he does NOT care! will let you know he likes you and will court you until you give him an answer.
likes it when you massage his head after practice but you have to restyle it ++ tries to fit you in on any trips whenever they're going to practice with nekoma/karasuno/some other school
there was this one time he walked you home since he "lives nearby" but it was like?? 6pm so your mom made him stay over. she adores him.
lets you use his volleyball jacket(?) and loves it when he sees you down the hallway wearing it. whether it's tied around your waist or you're wearing it, he loves it.
professional volleyballer bokuto — made you his personal manager. talks A LOT about you when drunk,, to the point where sakusa had to tape his mouth shut.
"yeah so like y/n's so pretty i just wish—" "please shut up bokuto."
stole one of your perfumes bc he loves your scent and cannot live a day without your scent (exaggeration but you get me).
once bokuto messages you, there is no end. he WILL tell you every little detail about his day and honestly you love it :(
he can SING. whenever you guys are driving about it turns into a karaoke session.
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ok so here is how i personally would fix barbie movie. disclaimer i am NOT fixing the politics of barbie movie bc i don’t care. the problem with barbie movie as like a piece of screenwriting is that it’s actually a vision board of like seven different movies and no one ever went back to figure out which of the various things it’s trying to say is the thing they want to make sure it’s actually saying. i am fixing barbie to be a more cohesive toy commercial for children and nostalgic adults with milquetoast normie lib politics like god and feminism intended. also disclaimer because as i said barbie movie is a whole bunch of half-movies in a trench coat i don’t think this is the only way to fix barbie movie. there are i am sure many options depending on which barbie movie you would like barbie movie to be.
me personally i would like to see the barbie movie that focuses more deliberately on the america ferreira character. one of my favorite lines in the movie was when america ferreira’s kid asks her why she’s going into barbieland and she’s like “because i’m a boring mom and i never do anything!” i found that really charming and funny but also resonant as a perspective many women can relate to either personally or by thinking about their own moms. (i know i always say relatability is for babies but guess what! so’s the fucking barbie movie!) i think we can keep the broad set up of margot robbie barbie waking up to a wrinkle in her seamless universe, but i would introduce us to america ferreira in the real world more thoroughly before the two of them collide. (goes without saying but i personally am dropping the mattel execs plot entirely. i will put it back in my improved barbie script for the low low price of 8 million dollars.)
this does not have to be a huge investment in terms of screentime! the magic of film is it’s a visual and highly visceral medium and a few well selected moments can tell us everything we need to know in less than five minutes! but the goal here is to take america ferreira’s purpose in the movie, which is to Say Feminism by Naming Impossible Standards Of Womanhood, and dramatize it by showing (not telling!) us america ferriera in her day to day life struggling with impossible standards of womanhood. she’s weighed down by trying to be the perfect mom and the perfect wife and the perfect corporate employee. i think the mom-daughter stuff can be standard “my sweet little girl who loved hanging out with me is now an angsty tween who thinks i breathe wrong” fare but if you want a little more (pin this for later) i think you can have her be stressed that her daughter is a tiny hyper rationalist who likes doing math and reading books about evolutionary biology and resists her mom’s efforts to get her to do their nails together or decorate her notebooks for school or whatever. she’s proud of how smart her daughter is but she’s worried her kid is growing up too fast and losing the precious window of opportunity she has to be carefree and creative and full of wonder.
so now we still have the situation where barbie has to leave barbieland to find her human and the human world is scary and the kid is mean to her and then she finds america ferreira and realizes, omg it’s you. and they wind up in barbieland because obviously i want to keep “i’m a boring mom and never do anything” but this time instead of fleeing mattel it’s for uh…. reasons. weird barbie explains it. to fix the fabric of barbieland barbie has to bring back her human and they have to mumblemumble. again mattel i will happily work out the details for a mere 8 million dollars. but the key idea is that in this version the notion of what barbie stands for is clear: she stands for creativity and childlike wonder. and the lesson america ferreira has to learn… somehow… is that even though she’s a grown-up and a mom,  she’s also still a person and she’s allowed to carve out room in her boring mom life to ways to be creative and seek out the beauty in life. (please do observe that What If A Mom Was A Whole Human Being is in fact a longstanding concern of feminist thought. #girlpower) and if we’re doing the advanced daughter option described above, she reconciles with her daughter by recognizing that actually her daughter isn’t growing up too fast; she just finds wonder and joy and beauty in different things than her mom does, and that’s ok. she’s been pushing her own vision of joy on her kid because she’s been denying it to herself, and now that she can see herself more clearly she can also really hear what her daughter’s been telling her. (maybe the daughter somehow inspires her mom to figure out how to save barbieland? maybe we have one of gerwig’s beloved meta branding jokes about the time they made a barbie that said math is hard and letting me put that in the movie is actually amazing PR for mattel as a corporation? all this and more for 8 million dollars payable to me.)
the big takeaway about barbie is now less what if there was normal barbie(?) and more, normal vs. barbie is actually a false dichotomy! it’s possible to be a rich and complex enough person to be a stressed frumpy boring mom and also a sparkly creative dreamer! there are always ways to add sparkle to your life, and if you go on mattel’s website after the movie comes out you can buy some for as low as $19.99! (i said i wasn’t going to fix the politics of the toy commercial and by god i won’t!) there is no wrong way to barbie. you are already barbie if you only want to be. montage of america ferreira looking amazing in barbie-style bright clothes and idk signing up for an art class she clipped a flier to in her notebook to sigh sadly over earlier in the movie. this is actually better not only as a movie but also as a toy commercial and PR for the barbie product which this movie brands as maximally inclusive while retaining its aspirational glamor. literally where is my money mattel.
i think this version can even include gerwig’s nod towards her key theme of Woman As Artist only without coming completely out of fucking nowhere this time, because now after her adventures in barbieland reawakened america ferreira’s creative passion, we can say that barbie is inspired by her own adventure with this woman who after all filled her life all these years with so much beauty. barbie now aspires to that. she wants to pay it forward and find ways to fill the world with beauty too. the human world is scary and will change her, but she knows that holding on to her essential barbie essence is a choice she is strong enough to make! mattel barbie be the dreamer®️ art kits starting at $34.99! these would literally print money mattel at this point it’s more expensive NOT to give me 8 million dollars.
you will notice i have not said anything about ken. this is because i simply don’t believe we need to be asked to care about ken in the barbie movie. on the rewatchables podcast episode about mean girls even bill simmons agreed one of the charms of the movie is that none of the guys in it matter at all and i confess this is my vision for barbie. but mattel once my check clears if you feel strongly about this i actually think we can keep the idea of barbie and ken’s somewhat one sided relationship that he wants to escalate but she doesn’t, but make her reluctance to be upfront about what she wants less about she just wants to be nice and more about the idea that ken offers her a sense of safety and she wants things to say the same forever. when she recognizes that she’s ready for change she can also realize that the reason she wasn’t ready for change with ken was because deep down she knew she didn’t want her relationship to change the way he was envisioning. so she has a little more actual agency in the idea of having led him on because she was using him for something that he no longer wanted to provide. ooh maybe actually you could have him make a move AFTER things have started going awry and she actually thinks this is part of what’s broken in barbieland… and so barbie’s arc really is about going from someone who wants things to stay the same forever to someone who’s ready to change and grow, which involves overlap with america ferreira’s deal because they’re both moving beyond a dichotomy of barbieland/childhood (static and beautiful and fun) vs. the human world/adulthood (dynamic and exhausting and dull). notice how we are making a movie about barbie growing up that also reinforces the idea that barbie is for all ages, which is something your first attempt at the toy commercial didn’t do.
change can be beautiful! growing up can sparkle! storylines in a movie can complement each other thematically to create a satisfying sense of cohesion! you can still make the i am kenough hoodie because as barbie is letting go of ken she helps him believe in himself not just by telling him to because the script says that’s what happens now but by sincerely expressing her appreciation for all he’s given her in the time they had together! see how if you put just a little more thought into it all the parts of a movie can actually work together instead of feeling like they come from a bunch of different movies? i am happy to explain this at greater length once my check clears. for a lousy 8 million dollars i will even bother to think of a plan for how the integration of weird barbie into barbieland can actually serve as another button on the idea that change and self-expression are good and go together and are actually what barbie is all about, which is an amazing concept to put in your toy commercial for a toy who has so many outfits. i look forward to discussing this with you further.
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zz0nie · 6 months
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Genshin Hcs, Women EDITION.
Furina, Navia & Clorinde.
notes; im not the most familiar with the girls, ESPECIALLY clorinde, imo she's just not have enough screentime to deduct enough things out of her. :( Sorry if shes ooc
Furina
You definitely need to have high patience for Furina, as her outgoing performances of being Fontaine's Archon, she must act the part! Holding your hand - basically dragging you - across Fontaine. "Oh this would look AMAZING on you, simply amazing!" She would announce to the world as she is holding a piece of extravagant clothing against you. Maybe it was on purpose to let people know you were close, as it comes with a little matching trinket she also coincidentally owns. She wouldn't admit it to your face though.
Like previously; she would LOVE to take you places, whether it be sweet treat testing, clothes shopping or just being in awe at the scenery around you, for Furina would frequently be looking back to make sure you are enjoying yourself. If you point it out to her, she will - much to her dismay - refuse to admit she was looking at you and would in fact try change the subject to a cat she saw walking on the roof of a building behind you.
Would 100% LOVE to be fed cakes she enjoys, something humane and sweet while you are sat in her room together, as a recorder you were suggesting for Furina to listen to for a while runs quietly in the background. As much as she loves to be fed, she would tell you to open up and go "Ahh" as she gently places a small piece of a cake in your mouth.
She will talk a bunch on the return after watching a "performance", If you just admire her she will either become more flustered or will feel more entitled to keep on talking, you wouldn't mind either way. While she talks she uses her hands to communicate with gestures, as you sit across from her, head resting in your palm as you listen. Maybe take note on any if they have any romantic drama, she might be hinting at you that she wants something.
Will force you to come to meetings with her, and if it is with someone who makes her anxious, expect her to hold your hand and play with your fingers cautiously.
Has 0 shame in PDA, however, would prefer to keep it to a minimal of hand holding or hugs in public, she prefers to verbally tell the world you are hers and she is yours.
Navia
Many many Baking dates! If you can't bake, that's okay! Stir something for her! Or help her by cleaning something up. Just you being there makes her so happy you want to enjoy something she does.
Definitely goes and buys matching pendants for you, if you aren't that sort of person she will find an object that you can both hold dear to you. Such as matching teacups! She is a very flexible person when it comes to gifts. She loves buying you whatever she can, however she does prefer to stick to sweet goods.
Dancing in her kitchen together, or if you're alone any make-shift kitchen she creates in the moment. While waiting for the macarons to bake, you gently place your hand on her hip and lift her arm up, swaying slowly as she giggles and places her hands on you in return, gliding around as you twirl with her.
Loves it if you ask her for anything, any help, you two are there for each other so why not make use of it? She can become a very busy woman though, so don't go over boarding the requests!
She plays with her hair when she is nervous, just grabs a strand and twirls it in her fingers. If she doesn't want to be as obvious, the hem of her dressing will become her new best friend. Gently twisting the fabric on her hands, rubbing it together as unease sets over her. Hold her hand - give it a soft squeeze - let her know she is okay and you are there.
Clorinde
(once again, i apologise if this is ooc)
If anything does ever happen she's quick to find out and come to your aid, you are her priority. If you're clumsy she'll keep a box of aid on her at all times, due to this while you walk she will have an arm hovering around your side, as she isn't a fan of PDA herself, she will keep a distance between the two of you.
Practically acting as a bodyguard as most people assume when you are first spotted while walking together in the streets. No one will confront you or try straggle for higher prices around the two of you. It’s like walking a doberman, you have big scary dog privileges.
She will refuse to teach you her sword art. However, she will be 100% on teaching you how to defend yourself - if you don’t know how to - coming close and personal to you if you posture is off, standing right behind you as she helps you position yourself for defence or attack. She just wants to make sure you’re safe when she can’t be there to help you. Though, while you two are together, she's soft like putty, completely melts in your arms and just wants to relax. You are her safeguard at home when you are alone.
Clorinde is serious and always ready to take things head-on. This does not involve a private life full of fun and puns. She may be slow to catch onto sarcasm too, taking everything you say seriously - she wants the best for you - even if you made it rather obvious that you were joking. She, was not - which may have causes a couple small arguments or surprises.
She loves animals as much as she may not admit it. She’s probably had a few pets in her lifetime, so when she comes to you and you’re holding a stray kitten, she can’t say no to you when you both send pleading eyes her way. You didn’t think it would be that easy, but it was all worth it when you see the two of them on your sofa, sleeping together, Clorinde holding a protective hold against the kitten who’s snuggled into her neck as she’s on her side. Gently pulling a blanket and kissing her forehead gently you wish her a good sleep.
When Clorinde has to go for duty for longer than usual, you’ll see her gazing out into the window or door as she is in her office. She looks up expectantly as her door opens, however to her dismay it wasn’t you. Wow, how she missed you so much. When the person leaves her office she pulls out a picture you took of the two of you for her, with a small note on the back, “Miss you so much, remember to take care of yourself!” She looks, smiling at the picture before swiftly place bc it back in her pocket. Another person came in.
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autistic-robin · 14 days
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more dynamics i need to see in st5 for my mental wellbeing
1. el and dustin. that’s it send post. they were genuinely so sweet in season 1 and i miss their mad scientist/test subject vibe immensely. i know el and lucas are going to be paired up this season because of their shared connection (polyamory) to max, but i would love to see more scenes between dustin and el— maybe some lighthearted bonding over their matching leg injuries or daddy issues.
2. mike and robin. i don’t think you understand i need this like i need air. will has already had his gay awakening he doesn’t need a queer life coach!! mike on the other hand is out here in the TRENCHES. this man is down critically horrendously morifyingly BAD for will but is convinced el needs him and that will could never reciprocate his feelings. he needs robin’s gay intuition and advice if anyone does.
3. steve and jonathan. HELLO??? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HELLO???? i know this is pretty much guaranteed to happen in st5 because full-circle character development and hammering in themes and blah blah blah but i’m still gonna talk about it because listen. steve got his shit rocked by jonathan one (1) time and immediately decided “fuck my idiot friends” developed a moral conscience and SHOWED UP AT HIS HOUSE to apologize. he wasn’t there for nancy he had no idea nancy was there!!! he bought jonathan a new camera!!! he was so respectful of nancy and jon even when nancy dumped his ass a season later!!! yet we never get closure between him and jonathan or even a conversation and i’m PISSED about it. matt and ross duffer rectify this or else.
4. hopper and jonathan and will. you see the vision. these kids have never had a stable father figure who truly understands them (i love bob but he was only there for st2 and was sweet but naive) and everything they’ve been through. jonathan DESPERATELY needs to be de-parentified and released from the emotional burden of constantly putting will and joyce before his own needs and dreams, and hopper desperately needs to feel like he can protect his family instead of “cursing” them. will needs a loving father figure who supports his queer identity, and hopper only had a fire lit under him in s1 when joyce mentioned it could have been a hate crime. this is like textbook recipe for healing and closure for these characters.
5. joyce and karen? i just think it would be neat. we know karen’s getting more involved this season and i think she should get to be a little gay for joyce as a treat. we had crumbs of their dynamic in s1 and on a more sincere note i honestly think joyce could help give karen the courage to leave ted or demand better from him moving forward.
6. nancy and mike. if they don’t have a genuine conversation i’ll actually be fuming raging pulling my hair out. i get it i get that they’re both emotionally repressed but GOD i wish we had more moments with them talking about their trauma or empathizing with each other’s survivor’s guilt and crippling savior complexes. all the “max and mike are the same character in a different font” business is very valid and i agree madwheeler is like ten shots of espresso injected directly into the bloodstream HOWEVER, nancy and mike’s traumas and emotional issues are so so similar please let them talk about it!!!!
7. steve and robin???? please for the love of god????? literally what the fuck was happening in s4 they were NOT given enough screentime together. not cool. i want them BACK on their queerplatonic bullshit in s5, fully codependent disgustingly clingy like god intended.
8. jonathan and el. i just want them to be siblings together!!! we got a lot of willel sibling vibes in s4 and some sweet jon-and-will moments, but i would love for them to delve into jonathan and el’s dynamic. this girl is a big reason why will was saved in s1 and we just… never really see the byerses address that? jonathan has a lottt of self-blaming tendencies when it comes to will and i’d love for el to help remind him he isn’t responsible for protecting and saving his brother all the time. conversely, i’d love for jonathan to remind el that she’s just a kid and that the weight of the world shouldn’t be on her shoulders. they’re both really soft-spoken and sweet characters with hard veneers and i feel like they’d pair well together for more emotional scenes.
9. literally the entire byers-hopper family they are the heart and soul of the show and i will never forgive the duffer brothers for losing that in s3-4 in favor of expanding the scope of the story. i miss them.
10. steve and el. i would maim and kill for this dynamic actually. both of them are involved in love triangles and have arcs centered around independency and platonic/found familial love, and steve has his whole mom-of-the-group shtick that could be really endearing paired with el’s plucky weird-little-girl vibe. idk i just think they would be a cute team, maybe paired with dustin or lucas.
11. stoncy and robin. literally give me this team or give me death. i miss stoncy’s iconic end-of-season-1 monster-hunting trio dynamic SO MUCH i would give anything for them to go on a sidequest and really just hash it all out with each other. and robin could offer steve moral support and comic relief— while we’re on the subject i would also kill to see her and jonathan interact!! like they are so similar in that brooding-noncomformist way and i feel like they would either immediately gravitate toward each other based on values OR immediately clash due to their personality differences. jonathan is all quiet and avoidant and robin can be… A Lot (said with love) when she’s not masking like s3. i just think they’d be funny together.
12. this is devolving quickly so scott clarke and the party. no i will not elaborate. thank you for your time
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bibibbon · 3 months
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MHA mustard deserved better
Mustard is a character that many of us forget but surprisingly his character really stuck to me for some reason.
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Mustard is around 13-14 years old and was part of the training camp attack. His quirk is known as gas and looks very similar to midnight it also has a very similar effect to midnight's. I think that it's such a shame that his story was never explored and that we never got much of what happend to him. We don't even see him in the final arc. All we are told is that mustard is captured by the police after the attack and is then imprisoned to never seen him again.
I think that if MHA wanted to truly and properly redeem villains or explore the idea why villains became the way they are we should of gotten more exploration when it came to mustard. You can easily assume that mustard probably had a horrible life that drove him to villainy because how is it that you become a villain and don't have enough of anything to change out of your middle school uniform. How is it that a 13-14 year old knows how to wield a gun and there are so many more questions like how was mustard treated?
Personally I would have it so that we are shown more about mustard. How did he end up where he is? How did shigaraki even allow him to join? Did he somehow stumble or was in the wrong place at the wrong time and just got swept by the crowd? Who taught him how to wield a gun? And so many other questions to build his character. Mustard felt like an empty character with wasted potential. From the little amount of screentime we can tell that he acts like a child and is a bit annoying like a middle schooler would be but he definitely acts,fights and does so many more things above his age. I personally would be more interested in a tiny arc to explore how society failed mustard. Why is his name mustard anyway? He is one of the only characters who we don't know his real name so does that mean mustard could of been a name a bully gave him?
For some reason thinking about the character of mustard distinctly reminds me of middle school Izuku midoriya. They seem ironically similar in a way🤷‍♀️.
Also can we talk about how after he gets captured nothing really happens. Like where does mustard go? He is too young to go to prison so does MHA have something equivalent to a delinquent center or juvenile detention? Do they just let mustard rot in jail? Does mustard have a family that tried to fight his case? Did the family get any backlash (like toga's family)? So many questions to think about. Was there or could of there been a rehabilitation programme out up for mustard. Like mustard is young and shows a lot of signs that say "society failed me" or something similar so was there or could of there been something similar to that.
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I personally think we should of gotten some mustard and midnight interactions. They have similar quirks with similar effects one became a hero the other a villain they don't have many differences I wonder if midnight struggled with her quirk I wonder how she would interact with mustard.
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leikeliscomet · 4 months
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Racism in the ace community is seen as a joke from the outside and a confusing concept in the inside but it's pretty bait tbh:
Barbie, Wednesday and Elsa are ace-coded but not canon aces but they're widely accepted as ace icons in the community. Lacking genitalia, disliking romance and being single are not inherently asexual yet the community happily claims them as ace solely on those reasons. But Selah Summers? Nah she actually didn't say the words "aroace" even though the director confirmed it so she didn't really count. Abbi Singh? Nah she had a girlfriend and her superpower is being a succubus and it's not like the Imperfects actually addressed the themes of an asexual lesbian South Asian woman and her sexuality or anything. Fei Hargreeves? Well yeah the actress and producer confirmed it but she never said it on screen. Ace characters of colour always get held "screened" for approval to be "real rep" in a way white aces aren't its so weird (this also happens to gay aces but that's another post)
Almost anything involving Yasmin Benoit. The reason she's unacceptable ace rep is because of misogynoir. She's spoken so many times about never dating and not having sex (which mind you is none of our business and she shouldn't need to explain herself in the 1st place) and yet she's "too sexual" to represent the community. Again with the nitpicking, popular white ace accounts were so quick to dogpile her for not-so-good takes but when she speaks about racism? Crickets. When she spoke about sexual harassment? Crickets and not only that but they defended her harasser. The main ace activists that defended her were other Black aspecs.
Not understanding how desexualisation affects POC. Specifically, Black women are excluded from representations of love and sex because we're seen as undesirable. It's common for TV/Film to pair up everyone but the Black girl, or have a rebound Black partner for the non-Black main character who's disposed of when they're ready for their "real" non-Black partner again. This isn't done for Black aspecs benefit. It's a form of dehumanisation. Friendship especially in m/f is needed but exclusively pushing for friendship between Black women and non-Black men when there is romance coded or confirmed and shaming Black women in fandom or in show for shipping the Black female character is not doing what you think its doing.
Not understanding how sexualisation effects POC. Again linking to Yasmin, POC, especially Black people have been sexualised due to white supremacy. The "allosexual privilege" framework fails to acknowledge this because Black people's sexual attraction and sex is seen as aggressive and animalistic. Black people aren't "allowed" to be ace because of this sexualisation and why Yasmin regardless of what she wears or does is seen is too promiscuous.
Not acknowledging ace POC as ace rep. Again, where was the acknowledgement of Selah and the Spades as groundbreaking rep? The first aroace darkskin Black girl as a lead in any film? Sherronda J Brown spoke about Big Mouth's Black ace character and someone said it didn't count just bc they dislike the show. Again with Abbi and Fei the community didn't make noise for them like they did Todd from Bojack Horseman or Florence from Sex Ed (mind you the gap between how they did Florence vs O is jarring in itself) Isaac from Heartstopper was inspirational for many aspecs and I wont take that away but the way he's instantly credited for ace representation when he has so little screentime compared to the others is wild.
Just tired tbh. "Listen to POC aces!" "POC aces are valid!" Prove it then...?
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gartenofbanny · 10 months
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Barbie Wire..oh boy what a mess she is. Barbie Wire isn't that much of a mess because of how she's written, she's a mess because of how little she has. Out of all the antagonists in Helluva Boss, Barbie Wire has the most missed opportunities, which is sad to even think about. This is a character that has been recognized by the fandom ever since the pilot was released yet in her debut she has lesser screentime than Verosika Mayday. Who knew that Blitzo's ex would get more screentime than Blitzo's actual relative, but screentime isn't the only problem I have with this character. Viv and her crew had a couple opportunities to mention or show Barbie Wire in previous episodes or even outside the show, but they didn't for some reason. Despite Viv stating that Helluva Boss mainly centers around Blitzo and his history, they never expanded on Barbie Wire, who is Blitzo's sister.
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The Circus
The Circus was the first episode in Season 2 showing Blitzo and Stolas as children. While most of the episode centered around Stolas and Blitzo, we got to see Blitzo's childhood for the first time. What his occupation was, how his father treated him, his relationship with Fizzarolli, and how he first met Stolas...wait..that's it. Those were the only things we actually saw in The Circus.
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Despite literally being Blitzo's twin, Barbie Wire wasn't shown or mentioned once throughout this entire episode. They instead gave that sibling-like role to Fizzarolli who isn't even related to Blitzo at all. Barbie Wire wasn't even mentioned by Cash Buckzo when he tried to convince Blitzo to steal from Stolas' home.
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There were people assuming that this character right here is Barbie Wire, but different horn patterns. So an episode showing Blitzo's childhood for the first time doesn't even show Barbie Wire once, what a great start.
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Lack of Hype
Barbie Wire had very little hype for her character as time was going on. Viv and the other creators did very little to showcase her or even try to make an attempt to hype her up, the fandom has acknowledged and appreciated Barbie Wire's existence more than the creators themselves have. Let that sink in.
For this section, I'm gonna bring up a character that actually had hype and that's Andrealphus. Now personally, I don't believe Andrealphus was planned until Season 2 was being developed because you'd think a character like him would be mentioned way more especially by Stella in Season 1. Anyway, Andrealphus had some hype surrounding him with his design and role released in February 2022
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And in one of the teasers of Western Energy, we actually get a gif of his Frozen-themed birthday cake-shaped manor hyping up his character even more. While he was underwhelming as hell in his debut, people were looking forward to the episode just to see him for the first time.
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Are there any gifs featuring Barbie Wire for Unhappy Campers? No, there aren't. The only gifs that advertise Unhappy Campers are three gifs of Moxxie and Millie in their mediocre human disguises.
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People only knew that Barbie Wire was going to be in this episode due to a teaser trailer for Helluva Boss that was released last year. I'm pretty sure some folks didn't even know that Barbie Wire was even gonna be in this episode getting into it.
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I almost forgot to mention, the latest merch sale for Helluva Boss completely forgot to mention the new Barbie Wire pin that was released. Not sure how the hell they missed that, but I'm pretty sure it was intentional.
Very little screentime
Barbie Wire does not have much screentime and the screentime she does have doesn't really explain much of her character. Half of her screentime consists of her fighting Moxxie and Blitzo and the other half of her screentime consists of her shit talking Blitzo and we don't have a clue as to why she hates his brother.
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Barbie Wire has more screen time being mentioned by Blitzo and other demons than she actually appearing in the episode itself. Hell Barbie Wire legit has more screen time just being featured in posters or being mentioned by other characters in previous episodes than she does in her actual appearance in Unhappy Campers overall.
Remember when the robotic version of Fizzarolli was introduced in the beginning of Loo Loo Land and was the antagonist throughout the entire episode. What the hell happened to that? Oh I know, Helluva Boss as of recently loves to maintain two or three plots which makes the pacing out of order which as a result makes the character screen time shorter.
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Lady Blitzo
Personality-wise, Barbie Wire is just Blitzo but female. She uses her body to manipulate people to get what she wants, works for an illegal business, hates damn near everybody, is violent as hell, and blames others for her failures. There are very few differences between Barbie Wire and Blitzo, I know that there probably are differences but I don't know what exactly those differences are because we don't know a lot about Barbie Wire. More on that later.
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Her Human Disguise
I never had a problem with Barbie Wire's true form because I don't care about her looking exactly like Blitzo. She's literally his twin, why wouldn't they look the same? It is one thing for Crimson and Moxxie to look alike since they're father and son, but it's understandable that Barbie Wire looks like Blitzo.
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wait did Barbie Wire get a redesign?
But what isn't understandable or even makes sense is Barbie Wire's human form looks very similar to Velvette as a Sinner.
Why does Barbie Wire, a Hellborn demon from Helluva Boss look somewhat like an older version of Velvette a sinner from Hazbin Hotel? This is the second new character in a row who looks like an already-designed character. And like the 5th character overall who has a design similar to a previously made character.
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And why the hell are her forearms so huge but everything else is thin? I know Blitzo has big forearms but isn't he also muscular? It makes some sense with his build but Barbie Wire isn't muscular at all. She's literally a fallen-off pop star junkie.
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Vivziepop has been drawing and designing for almost a decade as a hobby and as an occupation yet she can't make a design that doesn't have remnants of an already-made design. Too many characters look similar to each other in both Hazbin and Helluva that sometimes you forget who is who.
They can literally do so much with Barbie Wire's human disguise, but they just made her look like Velvette but skinnier.
Lack of character story
There's..not much to Barbie Wire that actually answers questions that people had. The most popular one being, "Why does Barbie Wire hate Blitzo?" In Unhappy Campers we don't get a reason as to why Barbie Wire hates Blitzo, we just know that she hates him for some reason.
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I still can't with Blitzo's puppy dog eyes
At least when Verosika made her debut in Spring Broken we're given a few lines as to why Verosika just despises Blitzo. Blitzo ran away with her car all the way to Wrath and maxed out her credit card on horse riding lessons and possibly never came into contact with her again up until Spring Broken. And in Ozzie's we're given even further clues as to why Verosika hates Blitzo as she literally insults him in the last few lines of her portion of "House of Asmodeus". But with Barbie Wire, Blitzo's blood related twin sister, we get nothing. We just know that she hates Blitzo and never wants to speak with him again.
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We don't even know anything about her personally either. What was her relationship with Fizzarolli like? What was her relationship with Verosika like? Why did Verosika insult her? How did she obtain an Asmodean Crystal? All of these questions, no canonical answers. Just fan theories and speculation which..is a huge ass problem with Helluva Boss and to an extent Hazbin Hotel too.
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Conclusion
Barbie Wire is unfortunately a wasted potential and a huge missed opportunity writing wise and at this point I'm not even looking forward to the new characters at this point especially the female ones because I know the writers won't do the characters any good. Thank you all for reading and I hope you all have a nice day!
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franzkafkagf · 9 days
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I noticed that Aegon's fans are divided into two teams - the first one sees him as a completely heartless, almost psychopath, the other one like in this analysis.
https://www.tumblr.com/very-straight-blog/750648583572881408/it-really-tires-me-how-some-fans-try-to-make-aegon?source=share
What do you think about it and how do you see him?
Basically I've written a few things on him already; here, here and here as well as the many web weavings i have on him hihi <3
I see him as a super nuanced character; he is deeply (and I mean deeply) broken. That's why I love him, there's so much there in terms of characterization, even with the little screentime he had.
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He is so desperate to be loved but destined to be hated by everyone around him (thank you tgc for this quote, lives rent-free in my mind forever)
Rhaenyra sees him as a threat (she has this fear that her father will replace her with him, someday)
Alicent deeply loves him but is too hard on him (she genuinely thinks all her sons will die if she doesn't make him king; he needs to be strong. strong for them, strong for her.
Aemond is resentful towards him. Resentful of his weakness. He has everything Aemond ever wanted. Why isn't he happy? He would be happy and grateful (he wouldn't).
Viserys wanted Baelon. He is not Baelon.
Forced to marry his sister, he never wanted this for them (in canon,,,, I'll live in my little helaegon delulu land)
He is the kicked dog of the family. He is the only one we see being physically reprimanded. It happens time and time again, this was a deliberate choice by the writers. All of Alicent's fears and grudges and love (ugly, desperate love, but still love) towards Rhaenyra are loaded onto him -> I wished we saw them interact, they are so alike :(
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What does a kicked dog do? He runs back, tail between his legs. He tries so hard but somehow it doesn't work. He feels like a failure, he runs off, avoids the pain. He doesn't want to face his reality. He drinks, he indulges in anything that will make him forget
I did not ask for this. I've done everything you've asked me to, and I try so... I try so hard, but it will never be enough for you or father.
He acts out, engages in super self-destructive behaviour -> remember when the brothel madam said that Aegon doesn't go to nice places? It's like he is punishing himself.
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I'll also have to speak about his assault; kind of a baffling writing choice to introduce him as a r*pist but it is in line with his characterization. He is a prince, of course he can take anything he wants, right? It was just harmless fun, right?
This behaviour doesn't stem from cruelty (like it did with Ramsay or Joffrey) it comes from the entitlement he feels. He might be the scapegoat of the family, but he is still a spoiled prince -> I actually love this about his character too. Purely good/purely victimized characters are BORING! He is interesting, there's both evil and good in him, he is so extremely complex I want to SCREAM.
I can see him going on an arc, not repent, but change. Grow into the man who can sway the people of Dragonstone to his side, grow into the role of king. Become the type of man who would rather live in pain than dull his senses with milk of the poppy. HIS ARC WILL BE INSANE!!!!!
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I know a lot of fans want him to be less whiny, less pathetic, less grey… but honestly? He is perfect the way he is in the show. I genuinely love how he is written (I would've wished to see some interaction with his kiddos and Rhaenyra, that is all lmao) and I know he will be amazing in season 2.
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low-budget-korra · 3 months
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Comments on Netflix's Avatar The Last Airbender
*spoiler alert*
First of all I'm gonna start by saying it is one of the best adaptations I've seen so far. And that's the key word, adaptation. I've seen a lot of fans and others complain about some things that honestly, doesn't make sense because some things only work in a cartoon(just as much as some things only work in a book or a video game)
And before I start to talk about some topics that I judge important, I also wanna say that the production is fantastic, from the costumes to the CGI. It all looks amazing. (A part from Yue's wig)
1. The Script
It's not easy to pick 20+ episodes and make it fit in only 8 but damn they did a hell of a good job, especially when judging what was important to show and what they could let it go. Some fans commented that since there's no fillers, the Gaang and others miss some development but I think that for the universe of the live action what we got here it worked.
I can express how much I like to see Ozai and Azula's relationship and how it is now clear that he uses the siblings against each other, manipulating them to get what he wants. But I will admit I miss the fear Azula had, since it's implied in the show and some extras that she does fear Ozai, and fears becoming like Zuko.
I hope the 41. Is just fine after the battle in the north. See all of them bowing to Zuko after discovering that Zuko was the one that saved their asses and was heavily punished by that...it was beautiful. I loved the writers did that, give names and faces to Zuko's crew and a beautiful yet sad arc when Ozai banished his son and the men who he saved.
I also loved that they put weight into things that was treated as a joke, like Katara talking about her mother. She was a little kid who saw her mom get murdered in front of her and the live action made sure to let us know that it is not okay to make jokes about something so traumatic. All of the deaths here have tons of weight in it, it's not some random person, is someone we met, someone we liked, someone who helped. The costs of the war, something the cartoon manages to show us but know in live action, with real people, the massage gets stronger.
And they didn't forget Iroh's past like the fandom does, which is great. That actor, the earthbending soldier really let it all out, that's how you use the few screentime you have.
Sokka's isn't sexist and y'all were making a storm outta a cup of water, is not like Sokka sexist didn't go away after like the 4 or 5 episode in the original show. I think the live action was able to bring more depth to him in comparison to the first season of the cartoon. We see how he feels about his father's, the absence of him and his duty as warrior who kinda doesn't want to be a warrior.
I need a Gyatso in my life, I didn't know I needed to see more of him until the live action gave us more of him. Kyoshi was the Thor coming to Wakanda from this season, WHY THE FUCK BRYKE DONT WANNA GIVE US A KYOSHI SERIES? She is absolutely a jewel of a character. Roku and Kuruk, damn poor Kuruk man, so much pain in his words but again that's what it means to be the Avatar, it's not fun and games. Zhao saying to Aang what Korra villains said to Korra😭 that the world doesn't need the Avatar anymore, it hurt.
Guys I'm gonna say it, there's no way in hell for anyone to ship Kataang here. I'm saying this because some shippers complain that the secret tunnel part was different but c'mon, look at Kiawentiio and look at Gordon, it would be so s awkward and weird and just wrong. I know they don't have a big age difference, is only like 3 years but when they filmed Gordon looked so much younger than her, maybe in the next seasons the difference won't be that big.
The pace is good, once you start you don't wanna stop.
2. The Acting
Everyone is really good at capturing the essence of it's characters and somewhat making them their own. The highlights for me were Dallas and Ian, Its like they came straight from the show. Ken Leung's Zhao was also amazing as he was way more threatening here than he was in the show.
Kiawentiio was the Katara we were looking for, she is kind yet strong, brave and caring. And Gordon was Aang, sure, he has to learn a few things since he slipped a few times in his acting but nothing that could ruin the experience, that kid is good and just needs some experience.
Elizabeth Yu was Azula. It was different but yet the same character, is like learning something new of her and I like how cleared she show emotions with her eyes. Maria Zhang had great chemistry with Ian and I can't wait to see more of Suki. Arden Cho and Yvonne Chapman as June and Avatar Kyoshi look like they came out straight from the cartoon. Daniel Dae Kim...man is Ozai, so cold, so sharp, so scary, already way better than the cartoon version. I wanna see more of Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Iroh since the character he really starts to shine in book 2.
3. The live action doesn't have the spirit of the OG?
Yes, it does have. The thing is now that we are seeing real people, things get dark one way or another but I don't think it ruined the spirit of the show. Aang is still a kid, Sokka still making sarcastic jokes, Zuko still annoying as hell, Katara still hopeful and strong... There's everything there really.
The thing is stuff like genocide, murder, war, death and suffering are, for some people, better to watch as pixels in a cartoon than real people.
I think it's a great adaptation and I would recommend it to every fan.
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