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guettaes · 1 year

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When I lose you? Part 1/?

i once said that i might be doing a story about how leon kennedy lost it on his mission. Well here's what I wrote down his story, I did it with feeling. That is, this scene was supposed to be a graveyard. and in principle there will be a second part but not sure. I hope you guys like it.

Warning: dying man, a man dies, almost bloody detailed sentences, grave detail.

and sorry for the English translation, not the best I hope you will like it.

"We only have to wait three months and the wedding can come Adolf." Leon kissed Adolf's hand and took it, they were on duty to kill a terrorist and also clear the territory, now they were just sitting in a dilapidated house and watching the view.

"How long have we been a couple Leon?" Adolf asked curiously.

"We've known each other since 7 years Adolf,. Or we've known each other for 10 years." he looked at Adolf with a smile.

"It's been a very long time." he chuckled and wondered what else might come now, and Leon noticed as he watched Adolf there. "Hey, don't think bad Adolf anymore." Leon told him to turn around and look at her. "Here I am Adolf I live and prosper, as I do every single day we go on a mission, and you say the same thing to me." Adolf looked at him in Leon's eyes and smiled at him. "And I know I'm cheering you on in this situation." Leon smiled and approached him and Leon kissed Adolf passionately losing his quiet dominion, Leon knew how to seduce her. Before captain Price came.

"What are you two doing in the dark?" Price asked and approached.

"Ah, Price, you're here. Just the usual, Adolf is worried about me and others." Leon said and didn't bother Price that he sat down next to Adolf and Adolf was now sitting normally he always used to do it. Price knew that Leon and Adolf were in love with each other, he had once seen them say to each other and how worried they were about each other. It didn't bother them. "You don't have to be afraid Adolf, everything will be fine, we hope that the task will be easy." Price looked at Adolf and then looked at the view.

"I know Price and thanks for encouraging me. Did you get the invitation Price?" Adolf is a little distracted from the word.

"Yes, I got the invitation and Ghost will come too. And those who know." Price smiled at Adolf and Leon. "That's very good news Price." Leon said. Everyone remained silent and enjoyed this moment, and then Price got up and went back to where he had come. "I didn't just come to talk to you, it's not long before we're leaving, get ready." Price said and left, both Leon and Adolf got up to go and walked out of the building and everyone got in the freight car and everyone was trying to relax or think of something else.

///

"Here's the bravo five and the bravo four, we couldn't find the target just a few papers that will be the weapons at the next location." Leon said next to Adolf, Leon looked at the papers, and Adolf on the machine to see if there was anything in it. "I bought bravo fives. And I'm going to continue cleaning up the area." Price said. "I understand L.T Price."

"Here Ghost do you take the broadcast bravo five or four?" Ghost said on the radio.

"Yes I can hear you clearly Ghost." Adolf said and listened to Ghost now. "Where you are now a lot of enemies will come and it may be a trap where you are." Ghost hurriedly told Leon and Adolf, immediately reacted to this and walked out of the room where they were now. "I bought Ghost right away we're going out of here-" Before Adolf finished the conversation he had been shot at immediately, Leon quickly brought back in the corner Adolf before being shot. "thanks sweetie." Adolf said. "Anytime you understand Adolf." He said and shot at the enemy he had already shot three. "You throw grenades at them and I throw smoke grenades okay?" He said prepared. "Okay." Leon began to throw it away and then Adolf threw the grenade, they waited for it to explode and then rushed to escape.

After a lot of time, they were still running away from the terrorists now they were under cover tired and fed up with being shot. "How much ammunition do you have left Adolf?" Leon asked and looked at his own magazine of weapons. "There is little left. And for you Leon?" Adolf looks up at Leon. "My sniper gun is still ammo left, but my other weapon is just a magazine left." Leon said. "Where the hell did they come from so much?" Adolf asked. "I don't know, I guess they thought they could easily capture two handsome soldiers." Leon said for a little humor, Adolf chuckled a little at that. Adolf took his right shoulder because he was shot and wounded, Leon looked at Adolf's shoulder and treated him a little. "how is your shoulder." Leon asked as he took out the sniper. "It hurts and bleeds, but everything is fine." Adolf said. "Here the bravo five I am asking for reinforcements my partner is injured and I am asking for medical treatment!" Leon said on the radio. "Here's the bravo six in you. I'll hurry as fast as I can Leon." Price said over the radio. "Thanks L.T Price."

Leon thanked him. Leon had already taken out the sniper's gun and fired an accurate shot at the enemy, and when he shot one more, he was holding the rocket, but he fired the rocket and Leon immediately saw it. "RPG!" Leon yelled at Adolf, but they couldn't escape immediately because the house they were in was starting to fall over, but they were just able to get out the door and jump out of the house. Coughing didn't get any air Leon immediately stood up and looked around that there was no enemy, and now nowhere did anyone Leon think that these were the three terrorist soldiers he had just shot were starting to go crazy that the rush was over. Then the ground began to crack and under Leon his feet and began to fall, but Adolf caught his hand and also in pain, because his shoulder was injured. Leon saw that Adolf would not be able to bear it, because he also began to slip.

"Adolf sells out, let me go-"

"Shut up, I'm not going to take you Leon."

Adolf tried to pull Leon up, but the ground began to crack, but not quickly, and in the meantime they heard that the enemies were coming as well. "It's not going to work Adolf. Please let me go." Leon said pleadingly. "Nope! I won't get you for you! I don't want to lose you!" Adolf began to weep in his eyes, for he knew that this would be and what would say. "Adolf you must live. Please for my sake. it's going to be bad for me if you're going to fall too." Leon began to let go of his grip so he began to slide. "Don't don't, don't do it, Leon please. I can handle it." Adolf tried to lift it up, but he couldn't stand it anymore. It was already on Leon's wrist and Adolf was still trying to lift it. "You know I love you Adolf. Please tell me." Leon said and saw that Adolf was already beginning to cry. "I love you Leon you fool…." Leon smiled and his eyes were teary and his hands slipped and Leon began to fall into the dark abyss.

"Leon!!!" Adolf reached back and yelled at him. And he just watched Leon fall into the black abyss. He heard the voices coming closer and closer, and the enemies were already firing at him," he said and started rushing. It had been a few hours since the reinforcements had arrived and Price and Ghost were both here. Price knelt across from her and looked at her. "Adolf may still be alive. I'm going to look for it, I promise and I'll take it back to you." Price immediately set out to find Leon, and Ghost stayed here with Adolf. "Ghost please, go help me…" he said softly. "Not Adolf, Prince told me to stay with you." Adolf grabbed his shoulder and didn't even notice when he was up. "Simon please help him." Adolf rarely said his name when something happened or something else. "Alright Adolf I'll help him, until then, heal yourself until then." Ghost left after Price and Adolf was already being treated by the doctors for his wounds.

///

"He said on the radio that he was going to be in that deep pit." Ghost said Price and nodded, the two of them went down just luckily the debris fell so that going down was easy, but climbing up wasn't easy they saw. They took out their guns and turned on the flashlight. It took them a few minutes to find Leon rushing up to him and seeing what condition he was in. "My Jesus Leon you are still alive." Ghost said to Leon, an iron rod pierced Leon's left fire, his hand was broken, and there was an iron rod on his right leg, but it could be picked out. But they did not even dare to take out the iron rod at his feet, a lot of blood was lost Leon, but they did not want to leave it here they had to think quickly, because they are still in the enemy's territory. "lots of bad news-" coughs Leon coughs blood on his mouth. "Don't talk Leon. "All right, Leon we're going to lift you up now and we, we're trying to get your wounds infused quickly, okay?" Price said in Leon's eyes and Leon just nodded Ghost grabbed a rag to stuff his mouth so others wouldn't die. Price counted to three. "1, 2, 3rd" immediately lifted Leon. Leon roared in pain, but the rag dampened his voice and immediately stuffed his wound with Price and Ghost carried it to their shoulders and slowly walked up. When they got up and hid in a dilapidated building and then went, they took turns doing it a few times. An hour has passed and I still haven't reached the radio they can't radio to send a helicopter because they interfered with the radio broadcast and cursed those terrorists. "Stop Ghost, I can't stand it…" Leon said in pain Ghost sat Leon down and rested his head to keep him awake Leon could barely see anymore and he lost consciousness a few times and felt the blood trickle down his chest and soaked the cloth. Leon can breathe slowly and Ghost sees that he can't last long anymore. "Price…" Ghost said and looked back to see Price. "price immediately went over to them and knelt down we re almost there leon you still have to hold on price said hopefully to leon adolf is waiting for you leon"

Ghost also told Leon hopefully that he could hold on, Leon felt that he was still trying to get stronger, but he couldn't. "Price. Please take the ring off my new one..." Said Leon Price didn't want to do it. "Please..." *cough* Price watched and took off Leon's gloves and the ring and put them in his belly wound. you guys came..." Leon looked at them and his eyes started to water Price also started to water a little Ghost also started, their best friend was Leon and they had to watch him die. "Adolf, how is he, is he alive...?" Leon said speaking slowly . "Yes Leon is alive and well." Ghost said. "Thank you Simon for saying that. Tell him I love you with all my heart..." Leon smiled and closed his eyes. "Hey don't close your eyes Leon!" Price said and he took Leon's face, but Leon didn't react to that, his head fell. Now he's not here with them, Price looked down at the ground and started to cry a little, but he didn't have to focus on that, Ghost stood up and walked around, he had to calm down somehow. "Come on Simon, let's take him the body to Adolf, I promised him.” Price said softly and Ghost nodded, they covered his eyes with the cloth that Leon had just given him and took the dead body to Leon.

///

Another hour passed and the doctors arrived and went there. Price told two doctors to bring a stretcher to take the body home. They brought and they also brought a body bag and put it in, Adolf, Price and Ghost went there and saw Leon being put in it. Adolf held his head and went to another place so that people wouldn't see him. Price and Ghost went to him. Price went to him first. "Francba! A jó édes kurva nap ez is!" Adolf spoke in Hungarian and Price approached him. "We did everything we could to keep Leon alive, but he couldn't fight any longer to stay alive." Price started to speak calmly and Adolf looked at him with teary eyes, Price took out the ring that Leon was wearing. and Ghost also came to where Price and Adolf were here. "Leon wanted me to give you the ring. And he also said that he loves you very much, with all his heart.” Price was a little sensitive at this sentence, which he said now. Price gave it to Adolf on his hand and Adolf just looked at the ring and crumpled on the ground. Price had to leave because he was being called on the radio, and Ghost stayed with him and knelt beside him. "I'm very sorry Adolf, I really am. I'll leave you, come back to us alone, because we might leave the base and go home." Ghost got up and went to be alone with Adolf. Adolf now really wants to be alone and started to cry, it was grief and anger, but the grief and the pain in his body were the best. Leon was at a loss as to how he was going to fix this.

///

The funeral had just ended, everyone's friends and families were here, Leon's family was also here, when he had to tell what happened was the hardest part for him. Everyone left slowly, Adolf was still sleeping on Leon's grave, someone came to him. Adolf didn't see him, when Kate Laswell appeared, she came to him. "Adolf, my sincere condolences to your couple, Adolf was a very good friend of ours." Laswell said this. "Thank you Kate for telling me this." He said softly and they were silent for a minute, Laswell turned to Adolf. "If there's anything to talk about or something else, Adolf, I'll be here." Laswell said this to Adolf. "Thank you Kate for saying that." Adolf looked at Kate and smiled and hugged her and Kate started home. Adolf remained at Leon's grave and he also went home.

///

It's been three years since Leon died, the house he was used to living in was so empty, but it's hard for him to accept it, his hair has also grown longer, it's good for him to be with his friends and he felt that it's good to fight on missions too, but even so, he didn't feel good inside. He has been thinking for a long time and he will do it. Adolf went to Kate Laswell's office and knocked, he didn't know if she was here or busy elsewhere or the usual, he heard Laswell's voice and entered the office. "Adolf, it's good to see you." He told me happily, Adolf smiled at him and asked if he had time, Kate nodded and said she could sit down. "What do you want to talk about Adolf?" Kate asked, Adolf began with a sigh. "I don't know if this is possible. I would like to serve elsewhere, I mean. To work in another country, to serve in the army." Adolf said looking at the table, he didn't dare to look Kate in the eyes now, Kate was surprised by what Adolf said. "It's possible Adolf, but why do you say that?" Kate asked, but she knew. "I don't feel that what happened three years ago Kate has completely improved. It's really nice to be with my friends and you and drink with you and everything, but I still don't feel it..." Adolf stopped talking. "I understand Adolf, I know a person in Mexico who might accept you to be part of the team, we keep in touch a few times when I ask him for help and he helps me arrange things like this, which the American military can't arrange, because of the border and all that, you know." Kate said and Adolf nodded. And who would it be that I might be allowed to join them?” Adolf asked. "His name is Alejandro Vargas. If you really want this, I'll give you your details, because he chooses the team who can join." Kate said looking at Adolf. "I sure would Kate." Adolf said and Kate smiled, a little nervously, the feeling that all the nervousness had been coming to her for a year came back, she didn't miss her much. "Alright, Adolf, I'll talk to him, maybe he'll answer today or in a few days." Kate smiled back at Adolf and Adolf stood up from the chair and almost left before Kate could say anything more.

"Please Adolf be careful away." Kate stood up on the office table and hugged Adolf. "You also take care of yourself Kate, don't do anything bad." He winked and went back to work. Only one day passed and Kate called Adolf that the Mexican special squad would be happy to receive Adolf and asked when he would like to leave, Adolf said that he would like to have a month to arrange everything, Kate agreed and they hung up the phone.

///

A month passed, he organized everything, put the house up for sale and packed everything he needed in the suitcase, he was at the airport and had to travel on a lonely plane, Adolf said to himself that Kate was helping him too much, but now he accepts it, he will thank you later Several hours by plane, arrival in Mexican airspace and arrival at the Los Vaqueros base, which Kate said they have a base and will be waiting for him there. He waited for the plane to land and stop and got off the plane and there was only one person waiting for him, who he didn't know who went up to him and the person also approached him. "Welcome to the City of Ghosts, my name is Alejandro Vargas!" He said it out loud over the sound of the machines. "Adolf Balogh is my name Commander!" And while they were driving the off-road vehicle, the sound of the machines was getting less and less loud when they got there in the car. "Just call me Alejandro Adolf." Alejandro said as they got into the car and drove off. They were silent for a few minutes and Alejandro spoke. "I read your files Adolf, I found you interesting, what I read about you, they are great." Alejandro had a good Mexican accent and he particularly liked it. "I don't think you speak Spanish, Adolf?" Alejandro asked and Adolf chuckled at that. "I know Alejandro. Also in Spanish, English, Hungarian, French." Adolf said with a smile, Adolf thought that he asked directly, because by default it is in his file how many languages he can speak.

Alejandro is surprised but chuckling. "I have only one question, Adolf. Why is your code name octopus?” Alejandro turned on a road and Adolf looked at the small town and began to tell what he asked. "However, my code name is octopus, because I can stick well to my enemies and camouflage well in the environment, but I can even blend in with the color of the houses. Most of the time I feel like a ghost, but that's already the name. I think the city is very nice?” Adolf asked Alejandro. "The city is beautiful, but there is a problem that I have difficulty solving. Las-Almas Cartel people occupy some areas, almost the entire city, the police and the paid soldiers are unfortunately unreliable, but we are different. The locals call me Cowboy because we don't leave the city. There are also many other matters that need to be resolved." Alejandro finished speaking and only Adolf listened to him when he told this little story and they were just in silence for a few minutes and arrived at the sheltered house and got tangled up in the car. "This is the sheltered house, some people live here, but few people, this will be your home now, if you don't have a house in Mexico." Alejandro said. "It won't be perfect for me until then, Alejandro." She looks at Alejandro with a smile. And Alejandro opened the door for him politely and Adolf accepted this and they went in, Alejandro showed him where his soba was, Adolf put down his suitcase and Alejandro showed him where the kitchen armory and other things were. And he said that he would wait outside the office later. Adolf nodded and Alejandro left. Adolf unpacked what was in the suitcase and put the wardrobes, his clothes and looked around the room, he had his own bathroom and dishwasher. Then he went to where Alejandro said and saw that there were many people working on or repairing the car. Alejandro whistled. "Attention people! This is Adolf Balogh, he is our partner and friend from now on, because he will work here. He's not a rookie soldier, he's a veteran! And you don't have to teach him Spanish because he knows Spanish!” Alejandro said out loud and said only in Spanish that everyone is dying, everyone laughed Adolf thought that there was no need to teach the language. "Everyone respect Adolf and don't hurt him, then I'll be in trouble! That's all I wanted my friends thank you!" Alejandro finished his speech and they came to meet Adolf and said their names and they are happy that there is a new person here and another one has come. "I'm Rodolfo Parra, second in command, welcome Adolf, you'll be fine here, don't worry, Alejandro and I chose you to be here." he said with a smile, shaking Adolf's hand and thanking him for being here. He had a long day and enjoyed the feast of food. Almost everyone was at a long table and he cooked food for everyone. Adolf also cooked a Hungarian meal. Now he feels like he is in Hungary. He listened to funny stories and enjoyed it. He feels that he has not been there for a long time. such a feeling. Maybe that's what was missing, the local customs. Then evening came and everyone went to sleep in their own rooms and he also went to rest, Adolf took a shower and lay down on the bed and looked at the phone to see if there was a message at all, who sent his message. Price, Ghost, and the rest of his friends often asked the same question, 'How are you? Did you manage to go there?' And many other things. Kate also wrote to thank her for going there with a lonely plane, Kate only sent her a winking emoji. And he hung up the phone so he could sleep, he was hoping for long years or maybe good days.

(I cried when I killed Leon. ;-;)

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coraniaid · 2 years

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Willow Rosenberg for the character ask game!

Favorite thing about them

When I first watched Buffy as a kid I overidentified with Willow to a worrying and slightly obnoxious degree. She was smart! And funny! And had hidden depths! And was occasionally callous and strange. All very relatable.

(And I for one found it completely believable that Willow could teach a class despite not even being a senior yet. I mean, I was pretty sure I could do that, if only anybody had thought to ask me....)

She's not my favorite character anymore, but I still like her a lot.

I think she's probably the second best realized character across the whole show, with a narrative arc that nobody other than Buffy can really compete with. And I think it's great how so much of what she does, even in the later seasons, can be explained by her character in the first couple of seasons: her attempts to live up to being Ms. Calendar's replacement; her instincts to take charge in a crisis; her need to always be helpful so that people she cares about will want her around.

Least favorite thing about them

There are a few subplots with Willow that I don't think really work. The secret affair with Xander, just after the show went out of its way to confirm that she'd moved on from pining over him. The 'magic is a drug and Willow is an addict' subplot, that briefly threatens to derail all the character progression she's had over the past six years. But what the show does to her relationship with Buffy in the second half of season 7 is the low point, probably. I mean, she kicks her best friend out of her own house so that Faith can be in charge? Willow does this? I don't think so.

Speaking of Faith, I also have very different emotions watching Willow tell Faith "It's way too late" to redeem herself in Choices these days than I did when I first watched the episode. ("You had friends in your life like Buffy"? Did she, Will? Friends, plural? Are you sure about that? Could you name two of them?) If I think about it for too long, it makes me a little sad that the reaction I had to this scene aged thirteen ("go Willow!") was probably closer to what I think the writers intended.

Favorite line

"I knew it! I knew it! Well, not ‘knew it’ in the sense of having the slightest idea, but I knew there was something I didn't know!"

brOTP

Xander.

Actually, this was almost also my answer for the nOTP question as well: Willow's early crush on Xander is kind of adorable (if often inexplicable, given what we see of early Xander), but I'm really glad the show doesn't have them end up together.

Willow's friendship with Xander over the course of the show is really great though. And I think it works particularly well post-Season 4, when ... yeah, they don't really have much in common, but they still have all that shared history that they don't have with anybody else, and they still obviously mean a lot to each other.

OTP

Oh, Tara, for sure.

(I mean, I love Oz, I think he's great, and I'm still mad about how he gets written out of the show in Season 4, but there can only be one answer to this question, right?)

nOTP

Hmm. I don't particularly dislike Kennedy as a character -- and the truth is she's one of the only Potentials who I can easily remember -- but I do think the writers rush Willow into a relationship with her a lot faster than they should have done after Tara died. (On the other hand, given how quickly Willow herself tries to set Buffy up with Scott Hope after sending Angel to hell, and how much importance she puts on being in a romantic relationship generally throughout the show, I guess it's not exactly out of character for Willow either.) Kennedy has the bad luck of only being in my least favorite season of the show though, so.

Also, and I know this is one of those worldbuilding questions I'm in danger of thinking about more than the writers ever did, but. I can't really wrap my head around how Kennedy can be young enough to still be a potential Slayer -- when we know from the Cruciamentum that all Slayers are called sometime before their eighteenth birthday or not at all -- and yet old enough to be in a relationship with Willow, who's presumably at least 21 years old when they meet. (I think the show just ignores the Cruciamentum, right?)

Random headcanon

I don’t really see how Jesse and Willow can ever have been friends, given (among other things) their very different attitudes towards Cordelia Chase. So although we see them hanging out in the first episode, I think this is one of those cases of two people associating because they have a friend in common – and not many other friends – even though they can’t actually stand each other.

(This also helps explain why Willow never talks about Jesse after he dies.)

Unpopular opinion

Honestly, I think it's kind of sad that Willow didn't get to go to any of the fancy colleges she was accepted into.

I mean, sure, she chooses not to go, and I know lots of people find that empowering or encouraging. And of course, not everybody has to go to the most prestigious academic institutions they can, and it's not the end of the world if you don't go the 'best' college. And I know that, on a more practical level, Willow had to go to UC Sunnydale if she was going to stay as a regular on the show.

But at the same time, when I see Willow and Buffy argue in the later seasons, when I see Willow feel resentful about being in Buffy's shadow and being seen as her sidekick, when she clearly has so much free time on her hands that she fills up with learning more and more magic, I can't help but think that -- if Willow were a real person -- she'd have a been a lot happier at Harvard or Oxford or somewhere else where she might have actually been challenged academically for once in her life. And that her relationship with Buffy might have been healthier if she hadn’t given up that future for her.

Song I associate with them

I'm going to be painfully literal here and stick with Michelle Branch's Goodbye To You.

Favorite picture of them

Not my favorite episode, as I've said before, but I love the awkward little wave Willow offers Oz when she's pretending to be her vampire alter ago in Doppelgangland

#btvs #willow rosenberg #ask game

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ironwoodprotectionsquad · 2 years

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LOL THAT ASS GOT SO MUCH WRONG I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN.

First off, Ghibli was only ever used ONCE to make a single Grimm, and that was back in volume 4 with the Sea Feilong, who was based on Haku. Before then Ghibli wasn't involved and hasn't been involved in the design process since.

Second: While it's not uncommon that tragic and unfulfilled endings happen, it happening to this degree is far less in the real world than what lore was implying. Because most writers actually know what they're doing to some degree, and when they don't, they try and learn how until they can. And Miles has no excuse for the writing on RWBY being this bad because of his work on Red vs Blue. He wrote what's considered one of the best arcs in the whole series. So good that fans wanted it to END RIGHT THERE. When you make something most fans find that satisfactory, you sadly can't slack off anymore. And that's exactly what happened with the writing for RWBY. they slacked off.

Third: It's irresponsible and down right disrespectful for MKEK not to be giving time to the main characters the way they should be. If they don't want to be writing for team RWBY, they either need to change the name of the show or put writers in charge that actually want to write team RWBY. Once you take over a project like RWBY, its your characters. Thinking things like "RWBY aren’t the characters of the current writers at this point" wouldn't fly in the real world. If you got a job writing for Doctor Who, then those characters are now your characters, so you better be writing the fucking Doctor. If you join the authors who write under the name Erin Hunter, you write for the damn cats who are the focus in whatever 6 book arc you're doing at that moment. You make it work, because that's your job. Team RWBY are MKEK's characters to write. They need to take responsibility and either write them, or find people who will.

And also, “This isn’t Miles and Kerry’s story of Ironwood, this is Monty’s story of team RWBY,” is only maybe 1/3 right. This isn't just Monty's story anymore. It hasn't been since they made the map of Remnant out of ketchup on a napkin during a lunch meeting. Monty specifically asked for Miles and Kerry to be writing this series (much how like George Lucas hand picked Kathleen Kennedy at the start of the sequel trilogy. What a shock). That was the moment it became their story as much as Monty's. And now with Eddy and Kiersi on board and Monty no longer with us, it's MKEK's story to tell. And whoever it's about is up to them. It's not the viewers fault Ironwood turned out to be the more interesting character people wanted to follow. It's the writers' job to make us care about team RWBY in a show called RWBY, and they failed so hard that they even admit that they only wrote some of the scenes in V8 the way they did because they wrote themselves into corners.

Fourth: Jason Rose, the actual VA who plays Ironwood, the face the character was based on, and is arguably his biggest fan, didn't even know his character had a semblance until a fan told him at a panel. And they expect you to know every little detail about Ironwood's creation? Gatekeeper much?

Finally, because this pisses me off the most: If lore truly did not mean any harm and only want open dialogue, then they need to take responsibility for their own actions. Saying things like "I blame my inability to convey what I mean" and continuing on being like "I consider myself this" and "I find it humorous you didn't know that" just make them sound like your average Cinama Sins level asshole in a youtube comment section. Either apologize properly, realize people have real reasons to be upset and actually listen to what they have to say, or don't engage and leave people the fuck alone.

Sorry for ranting in your inbox. I just needed to say this.

Hey anytime someone apologizes for ranting I say this same thing, do not apologize, I am more then happy to listen to peoples rants and usually enjoy them and this time is no different.

RWBY wishes it could be as loved as a Ghibli movie, those movies are gorgeous in every way. CRWBY often uses one scene or something as inspiration then grabs something else so this one doesn't surprise me at all.

But yes yes I agree with all of those points, the poor writing is just painfully inexcusable. It's not the viewers fault that the audience was able to connect more with James then the mains, that's just poor writing. They accidentally wrote a more interesting character then the mains and instead of working with that and using that to boost the mains and built they up, they destroyed him in the most hurtful and offensive way possible and it just boils my blood thinking about it. Yes, sometimes characters have tragic ends, but it disproportionately happens to disabled characters and those suffering from mental illness's and PTSD. It's wrong that people who relate to James and are like James are the one's forced over and over again to watch characters they connect with painfully die after being turned into a forced villain its exhausting and I'm not gonna pretend otherwise to try and make people feel better.

Yes yes yes if they don't want to write RWBY anymore, they need to get someone on who wants to write RWBY to do it so that the mains can get an actual writer to write the mains the way they deserve in not this bullshit that MKEK is trying to feed us and pretend is good writing. EVERYONE mains included, deserves better. People have come up with such better ideas for Volume 8 and what they could have done to make the mains actually heroes instead of the horrible excuses for people they are currently.

You know it's funny, the actual VA for James doesn't know so much about his own character how the fuck are fans supposed to know certain things? And as you said, having rules about what a person has to know about a character to be able to be their fan is gatekeepy as hell. Their is no amount you have to know about a character to be able to love them. All that matters is you love the character, that is the only requirement. Nothing else, if anyone tries to claim otherwise or guilt you for not knowing something they're just an asshole.

Hehe yea no they did mean offense and harm they just pretend otherwise to make themselves look better. If you hurt someone, apologize and move on, don't try and hand wave your mistakes away or worse blame the person you hurt. If something annoys you, block and move on don't harass the person creating the content. A lot of mega fans need to learn this but they won't because they want to harass anyone who dares point out any flaws with their precious show.

I'm sorry I don't have as much to say as you did anon you just put all of this so perfectly.

#RWDE #RWBY Critical #Toxic fndm #toxic fan #spencer james #ironwood protection squad #pro james ironwood #pro ironwood #general ironwood #general dadmiral #dadmiral ironwood

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introvertguide · 3 years

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Duck Soup (1933); AFI #60

The next film on the AFI top 100 is a throwback to before the Golden Age of Hollywood when "talkies" were new, Duck Soup (1933). This film was the last attached to a 5 feature contract that the Marx Brothers had with Paramount pictures. It was moderately well received at the time but has since become the most critically acclaimed of the Marx Brothers films. The movie is only 68 minutes and is absolutely packed with gags. It is not, however, packed with a storyline or plot. I want to very briefly go over the summary because that is not what this movie is known for. Let's unnecessarily start with...

SPOILER ALERT? THIS MOVIE HAS NO PLOT. IT IS ALL ABOUT SITE GAGS AND SET PIECES. READ AWAY!!! IT WILL NOT DO ANYTHING TO HURT THE EXPERIENCE!!!

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The film starts off with the wealthy Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont) insisting that a man that she is sweet on, Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho), be appointed leader of the small, bankrupt country of Freedonia before she will continue to provide much-needed financial aid. Meanwhile, neighboring Sylvania is attempting to annex the country. Sylvanian ambassador Trentino (Louis Calhem) tries to foment a revolution and to woo Mrs. Teasdale, and he tries to dig up dirt on Firefly by sending in spies Chicolini (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo).

After failing to collect useful information against Firefly, Chicolini and Pinky are able to infiltrate the government when Chicolini is appointed Secretary of War after Firefly sees him selling peanuts outside his window. Meanwhile, Firefly's secretary, Bob Roland (Zeppo), suspects Trentino's motives, and he advises Firefly to get rid of Trentino by insulting him. Firefly agrees to the plan, but after a series of personal insults exchanged between Firefly and Trentino, the plan backfires when Firefly slaps Trentino instead of being slapped by him. As a result, the two countries come to the brink of war. Adding to the international friction is the fact that Firefly is also courting Mrs. Teasdale, and, like Trentino, hoping to get his hands on her late husband's wealth.

Trentino learns from his femme fatale spy, Vera Marcal (Raquel Torres), that Freedonia's plans of war are in Mrs. Teasdale's safe and tells her to assist Chicolini and Pinky in stealing them. Chicolini is caught by Firefly and put on trial, during which war is officially declared, and everyone is overcome by war frenzy, breaking into song and dance. Chicolini and Pinky join Firefly and Bob Roland in anarchic battle, resulting in general mayhem.

After a fierce battle, the end of the film finds Trentino caught in a makeshift pillory, with the Brothers pelting him with fruit. Trentino surrenders, but Firefly tells him to wait until they run out of fruit. Mrs. Teasdale begins singing the Freedonia national anthem in her operatic voice and the Brothers begin hurling fruit at her instead.

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There are many exceptionally good and bad aspects of this film. On the good side, there are a couple of amazing set pieces that the Marx Brothers did like no other. The mirror scene in which Groucho and Harpo stand in front of each other and Harpo perfectly mimics his brother's movements was outstanding. Specifically, there is a point where Groucho stands outside the reflection and moves in a ridiculous way past what he thinks is a reflection. The mirroring between the brothers is exceptional. Add in the same dressing gown and cap to the actual resemblance (they are full actual brothers) makes for quite an effect. This mirror gag was first done on film by Charlie Chaplin almost 15 years earlier, but this is likely the most well known and best done example of the bit by real people. It was repeated by Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, The Pink Panther, Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo, and the Smurfs. That kind of mirror quality action was only repeatable through animation, apparently.

The constant wardrobe changes during the frenzied war scene have caused full speculative articles to be written. Groucho starts out in a Union officer suit, then appears in a Confederate officer suite, then a British palace guard uniform, and then in what looks to be a boy scout officer suit, and finally a Davy Crockett hat? The deep cynicism and anti-war sentiment of the brothers was blatant. It is summed up by the line "while you're out out there risking life and limb through shot and shell, we'll be in here thinking what a sucker you are." The United States had just gotten out of a war and many militaristic leads felt the need to show off. This lack of care after feeling so dominant following WW1 was the mindset that in part led to the Stock Market crash and the Great Depression. There was turmoil brewing in Europe and many Americans wanted nothing to do with it after seeing so many young boys getting ripped apart by trench warfare and machine gun fire. The brothers were satirizing all of those figures that we use to teach boys to want to fight for their country. They also went after what they believed were the causes of many wars: money and moral indignation between powerful men.

Although the film gives the audience insight into the mindset of much of the population during those extremely turbulent times between wars, it also boasts some of the most unsophisticated humor of a new visual medium. The silly songs do not translate well and sound like something created by a child. With truly clever artists like Frank Zappa, the Dead Kennedys, and national treasure Weird Al Yankovic, the Marx Brother's songs just sound lame to me. I think the same of Groucho's one liners. With comedians like Mitch Hedberg, Paula Poundstone, Steven Wright, and Jimmy Carr, the work of Groucho Marx feels seriously dated and quite cringy.

The real let down for me in this particular film was the fighting between Harpo and the Lemonade salesman. In fact, the character of Pinkie was "The Joker" levels of psychotic. I know he represented the constant undermining of communism. That is fine and makes a good point. Practically speaking, though, he reveled in causing problems for no reason and he was a constant nuisance. I have been around a lot of teachers and they sat that students who act like that are the bane of everyone's existence. It may be witty, but it is not funny. I have seen movies like Borat and Jackass, who are at least very creative in the way they cause problems and mostly harm themselves. I legitimately hate the character of Pinky and find him devoid of any real humor beyond the mirror scene. I also realize that Chicolini is a play on Mussolini, but I didn't really find him funny either. I want to emphasize that these are my opinions and I welcome comments on why Pinkie and Chicolini are hilarious.

There are some things that I do forgive and almost find charming. Directors from the silent film era had to emphasize that their actors over dramatize their lines so that the audience could get even a modicum of tone. This over-the-top dramatic speaking continued with many actors into the era of talking pictures. You can tell that this film was made near the change over because a lot of the actors talk like they are making one continual speech. Just about everyone is projecting for the cheap seats, and I totally appreciate it and smile. I also appreciate that the Marx Brothers absolutely jam pack the film with gags. I don't think many of the gags are funny, but I acknowledge that the movie is 68 minutes of constant jokes and the Marx Brothers made a concerted effort to give their audience the most bang for their buck. Good for them.

So does this movie belong on the AFI top 100? I am actually going to say no. I think that Horse Feathers is a funnier film and has the iconic football scene that got a screen cap on the cover of Time magazine. If the AFI was going to choose a Paramount produced Marx Brothers film, this one seems to me to only be second or third choice of the five. Would I recommend it? Sure. It is definitely dated and the jokes will not make a lot of sense any more, but some of the scenes have become iconic and it is fun to see what has been so heavily referenced in current media. It is a pretty fun movie to sit back and just experience for an hour, so I would give it a shot.

#marx brothers #duck soup #afi films #comedy #black and white #1930s #groucho #harpo #zeppo #chico #mirror scene #introvert #iontroverts #one liners

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jadelotusflower · 3 years

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Robin Hood Rewatch: 2x08 Get Carter!

This is actually one of my favourite episodes of the season, partly because I really enjoy relationship angst, but mostly because we get multiple characters dealing with their trauma/grief. If we can't get these guys and gals into therapy, at least we get to see them talk (and hug) it out.

Also the best episode title they're had for a while - I have no doubt one of the writers is a fan, and Carter is so named only because they wanted to make this reference. The assassin seeking revenge for a dead brother is wholesale lifted from the plot of the film, and Joseph Kennedy almost has a passing resemblance to Michael Caine's look in that role.

"Get Carter - before Carter gets you!"

Carter is one of the only guest stars they actually will bring back later, and for good reason.

"Why don't you ever kiss my ring?" Vaisey, always making things creepy.

Marian is simmering with unrestrained anger, eager to get into the fight, while Robin is the one advocating for the watch and see approach, and it’s quite the role reversal.

The gang's reaction to her charging off is quite funny though, she knocks John over completely and Djaq throws her hands in the air.

Robin’s now getting a taste of what the rest of the gang have to put up with dealing with his recklessness.

Tying Marian up in the middle of a melee, however, is disgusting behaviour - while Marian was hot-headed throwing herself into the fight (nothing Robin hasn't done before himself), he knows that she can hold her own with a sword and doesn't need protecting. Tying her hands is the absolute worst thing he could have done, because how is she meant to defend herself? I can somewhat understand where Robin is coming from in this episode (even if he goes about it badly), but this is unjustifiable.

Clearly she gave that guard she clanked on the head amnesia, because he never reports back that Marian was fighting with the gang.

“I owe you my life”/“I won’t take it just yet.” Nice.

Scimitar is still missing in action.

Robin doesn’t want Marian to be seen in case she needs to return to the castle, when he’s spent the whole season urging for her to join the gang. I think he realises he made a mistake asking her to flee last episode without giving her time to deal with her grief, and wants to leave her options open. But telling her that she’s not ready to make the decision (about whatever she wants to go back), however correct, is patronising.

There's a fundamental conflict that Marian wants to be treated like a member of the gang, but doesn't want to cede to Robin's authority like the rest of the gang - in turn Robin expects her to follow his orders like the others, but isn't treating her like he would the others either - he would never tie them up to keep them out of a fight, and Marian has every right to pissed at him about it.

Djaq and Much having a little tête-à-tête about Carter - I just really enjoy that they’re often paired together in these gang scenes, they balance/play off each other so well. Just this pure platonic frazzled vs calm vibe.

Much just has this really great memory for faces - he was able to recognise fake Richard last season just from his profile despite wearing a helmet, and now he knows he remembers Carter's face from somewhere (or as it will turn out, Carter's brother).

Much really just does not let up, and I love that about him. "You'll be disappointed though, with uh, today's wound. I mean if you're planning to go back to the Holy Land and, uh, kill him." That not so subtle probing for information and Sam Troughton's delivery is always perfect.

"Wasn't me, was it?" Oh Much, so close.

“The crusty one” - lol

It's not explicit, but implied that Vaisey and Guy believe Edward was the one passing information to Robin, and Marian is cleared of any suspicion (paving the way for her return). Guess Guy never showed the Sheriff that hair dagger after all.

Vaisey is actually giving Guy some really good advice here, albeit laced with his usual cruelty and getting all up in Guy's personal space.

"Grow up Gisborne" - now I don't think it's deliberate on Vaisey's part to invoke a Marian parlance, seeing as she really only says this to Robin (and once to Much), but it's a nice little callback, however unintentional.

Marian asks for an apology (and deserves one), but Robin doubles down and doesn't come out of this exchange well.

Because his delivery is terrible, but he's otherwise quite correct - as skilled as Marian is, she’s used to relying on (and having to worry about) only herself and not work in a team, and look to a single point of command. But both of them have their backs up - they're two strong personalities and neither is going to give ground, reverting to the ideological clashes of season 1, except now in much closer quarters.

Robin's also not used to being challenged in this particular way, and in his frustration is reacting like a captain disciplining a soldier, not a lover helping their partner through their grief. I do wonder if the conversation would have gone differently if they'd been alone.

lol at the gang awkwardly standing around listening to Robin and Marian fight. Djaq trying to busy herself with her mortar and pestle as Robin and Marian argue around her.

A really great scene between Marian and John aka the camp dad. Marian really just needs someone to listen to her and appreciate what she's going through - Robin is too fixated on the dangerous way she's channeling her grief and not even trying to address the root cause. He trying to tell her what to do, not listen to what she actually needs.

On the other hand it's probably better coming from John, a neutral party without the emotional baggage she has with Robin.

Because Robin and Marian are really being driven by completely different motives - Marian by grief and therefore loss, and Robin by trauma and therefore fear. In her sorrow, Marian has lost all her fear of being discovered, in fact she wants to make it know she's with the gang, to finally be free to say which side she's on and fight openly, to make her father's death worthwhile, and can't understand why Robin is trying to stifle that.

"I thought you used to have your own men Little John?" So someone remembers Forrest and Hanton!

After Carter takes down the gang one by one, Robin takes down Carter in three seconds (including catching the long dagger Carter throws at him, and flinging it back) and it's lights out. Can you believe it's the first concussion of the season? (Notwithstanding the multiple head injuries Allan sustained last episode).

While Marian has been known to be punch-happy, the "he'll tell us more if he knows we're willing to hurt him" is just so (intentionally) out of character - it is however somewhat reminiscent of Robin in 1x08, wanting to get his punch and torture on with Guy. However rather than understanding where Marian is coming from, he pushes her away with the "go and cook something" jibe. This almost feels like he was going for familiar banter and miscued, but is also an asshole thing to say. When their positions were reversed in 1x08 Marian at least tried to reason with him - Robin is seems to be ill-equipped to do the same.

Allan just having a little snooze against the castle wall. He really seems defeated and depressed after last episode.

Marian's corset has a pouch to hold a dagger - or at least I hope there is because otherwise it's ouch time.

Leaving Marian at the camp is again a mistake on Robin's part - it excludes and isolates her from the gang, rather than trying to involve her so she can bond with them, engaging in their outreach to the peasants - who she helped as the Nightwatchman, but never really had the opportunity to come to know. It would remind her that they are not just fighting against the Sheriff but for the people, which in her frenzied grief she has perhaps lost sight of.

Instead, Robin's focus is on Carter, who he rather identifies with and so finds it easier to address his motives, and try and change them.

Carter is in many ways Robin’s dark mirror, what he could have become in the Holy Land if he chose a different path. It’s important that this happens right when Robin is backsliding - he’s trying to save his own soul as much as Carter’s.

Okay, let's talk about Marian’s forest gear - fashioned from the outfit she wore when she fled the castle the previous episode - but dear me it's awful. The grey culottes, rather than becoming trousers have now been turned into that corset, and her vest/skirt overlay have now become those trousers. Just baffling.

“I’m good with nuns” followed by Allan straight up knocking the Mother Superior over and stealing her ring is iconic.

Much gives Robin a sword to use going after Carter - still no scimitar.

I really love the confrontation/fight scene between Robin and Carter - it's very well choreographed and written, but we also see the best of Robin's character (after seeing some of the worst earlier).

Carter's brother is called Thomas - Allan's brother was called Tom. Lots of dead brothers in this show (including Djaq's).

The story of Carter's brother Thomas dying because he "stopped listening" and led a raid against orders is a little on the nose, but gives context to Robin’s fear for Marian’s safety in part triggered by his war trauma - someone charging in against orders and then dying in his arms.

But it shows Robin as a man who, even when Thomas' recklessness had cost not only his own life but others of Robin's men, was still moved to instruct the stretcher-bearers to make Thomas the hero, and himself the negligent captain, in order to comfort his family.

The fight is fairly even, and although Robin gets the upper hand in the end, it's only partly his skill - rather his true strength is in reaching the man inside the assassin, and then surrender and allow Carter to take his revenge if that's what he wants, and despite his fear, trust that there is good still in him, and that he can leave behind the life as a killer as Robin has done (tried to do).

This scene is the core of why I really love Robin as a character. He's riddled with PTSD and a reckless bravado, he's at time emotionally stunted with those he loves, makes terrible mistakes and often says the wrong thing, but he also has this great heart and compassion that allows him to reach people, to understand and help them, even at the risk of his own life. He's trying.

"He was a hero - just not on that day" is quite a poignant line.

Much and Djaq together again, just saying.

Robin finally finds out that Roger of Stoke was intercepted. I had assumed he'd figured that out once he knew Allan was a traitor but okay.

Poor Much crying out for Robin's attention - he's got his own trauma from the war and wants to talk about it, to commiserate with Robin about what they went though, but Robin can only cope by not talking about it, not even thinking about it.

Much makes a good point that Robin should have listened to him about recognising Carter, but it comes across as jealously over Marian and Robin misses just how deeply Much carries his hurt.

One of Robin's biggest flaws is that he's overwhelming in his affection, compassion, and understanding for strangers, but takes those he loves for granted - Carter's response to grief was the same as Marian's, but Robin listened to Carter, consoled and comforted him, while keeping Marian at arm's length. Perhaps because strangers don't ask for anything beyond that - it is the granting of kindness, but not the sharing of self. It's the latter Robin truly fears, but what Much and Marian deserve (although tbf Marian has problems with this as well).

“Either I’m part of your gang or I’m not” is a valid point, and Robin's still not happy even when she agrees to stay behind!

But she disobeys him, and saves his life. It's a rite of passage - almost all of the members of the gang have this.

Allan looking rather distressed as Guy is about the chop off Robin's head, and he makes a small movement just before the swing (as does Much).

Guy again pushing Marian past the point of discomfort - she left, wrote him a letter asking him to leave her alone, straight up told him to his face to leave her alone, and still he persists.

Her kissing Guy (to distract him from seeing Much and Will) is really the only time she sends mixed signals, but Guy's whole energy seems to be just to wear her down until she agrees to be with him and it's gross. It is however kind of amusing that he tries to be authoritative and forbid her from leaving, and she immediately walks away.

Robin and Marian are back in playful banter mode, although I wish there had been a deeper discussion (and that Robin had apologised in return). It doesn't quite feel like the conflict between them has been resolved, it really is just a "truce".

But I do like that it's Marian who reaches out to Robin at the end of this episode, because up until this point it's Robin who has been (somewhat) the one making overtures - asking her to join the gang, telling her he needs her, telling her he loves her, while Marian's been more reserved. This feels like her acknowledging that sometimes she needs to take the first step.

This was a long one - but as a I said, I really love this episode!

#robin hood bbc #robin hood rewatch #rewatch #2x08 #get carter!#long post #lots of rambling here sorry

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famous-aces · 5 years

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Marilyn Monroe

Who: Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson)

What: Actress, Model, and Singer

Where: American-Jewish (active largely in US)

When: June 1, 1926 - August 4, 1962

(Image Description: a photo of Marilyn Monroe by Richard Avedon from 1957. It is a black and white image showing Monroe on a sparkly dress from the waist up. It almost feels weird to describe her, her face is so famous. She is a white pale woman with an oval face and heavily lidded eyes with long lashes. She has full lips with a beauty mark beside them. She is wearing makeup and has her trademark short, curly, blonde hair. She has her arms hanging limply at her side. Instead of posing sexily she looks to be lost in thought, looking somewhere off camera. End ID)

Marilyn Monroe is The Hollywood Beauty. The quintessential sexy starlet. Even if you have never seen a movie with her in it, you know who she was, a bit like possible aces I have covered before Andy Warhol or Sir Isaac Newton, you can picture her in your mind just by existing in Western popular culture. She has become a part of our communal consciousness. Her life was brief and marked by tragedy below the glitz and glamor. Her biggest role was playing Marilyn Monroe.

She was intelligent, warm, and a gifted actress, but she is rarely remembered for that. She is far better remembered for singing Happy Birthday to her sometime beau President Kennedy and for the scene in The Seven Year Itch when wind from a subway grate blows up her skirt. You've seen it. Really her whole persona was often created rather than who she really was. She was an actress in her real life, unfortunately.

Monroe actually came into the spotlight in the Second World War when she posed for photos for the boys on the front. From there her modeling, singing, and acting career skyrocketed. Until her tragic death at the age of 36 she was among the go-to actresses for those sexpot roles especially in comedies. Her death by potentially intentional drug overdose (discovered by her psychologist) is just one piece of the evidence of how much of her life was hidden, like her struggles with substance abuse and mental health.

She was famous for playing Blond Bombshells and Dumb Blonds. She was all beauty, glamor, and sex appeal and it earned her millions of dollars. She always wanted to be more though, unfortunately she never really got it. "Please don't make me a joke," she told a journalist, "End the interview with what I believe...I want to be an artist, an actress with integrity...I want to grow and develop and play serious dramatic parts. My dramatic coach tells everyone that I have a great soul, but so far nobody's interested in it."

She is best known for as an icon and emblem of the popular culture of the 1950s and early 1960s, but her most definitive/important roles include All About Eve (1950) (a small role that would lead to her "discovery" and contract with 20th Century Fox), Monkey Business (1952), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), Niagara (1953), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Some Like it Hot (1959), The Misfits (1961), and her final film, released posthumously as a short, Something's Gotta Give (1962). She also sang "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" and the very sexually charged "Happy Birthday Mr. President" (just the song here).

(Image Description: the poster for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. It shows drawings of Jane Russel and Marilyn Monroe in red costumes the size and shape of one piece bathing suits that are sheer or pink on top. They have on red top hats and long black and white necklaces. They have black canes and are dancing with one leg upraised. Behind them is a busy Paris scene done in a more cartoony/simplified style. There are musical notes around them. Their names are above their heads in blue. Below them on a black rectangle it says (in white and orange) "in Howard Hawks' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes [in] Technicolor" below that rectangle but above the studio info in blue it says "co-starring Charles Coburn". End ID)

Probable Orientation: Mspec Ace

Oh, I am going to get a lot of hate for this one.

And a lot of people are going to show a lot of misogyny and aphobia, be it overt, unintentional, or internalized. Indeed the first thing the first (allo) person I told these findings to said "but she had a ton of sex!" Yes, that is true, she did, and so do some other aces.

Not to mention that Monroe's relationship with sex was a complicated one. A very complicated one. Monroe had a deeply traumatic childhood (mentally ill mother, tossed between foster homes and orphanages) and married extremely young -- she had turned 16 just two and a half weeks earlier -- to prevent her from becoming homeless and returned to the orphanage after her most recent foster family planned on moving out of state and leaving her behind. Then while working a munitions plant in L.A. she became a model for the troops in World War II, aged 18. From her teen years she was made aware that sex was expected from her, thrust into adulthood and positions she might not have been comfortable with. She was a beautiful woman and people wanted her and she accepted that because it did get her what she wanted.

(Image Description: the 1944 factory photos that launched Monroe's modeling career, taken by David Conover for Yank Magazine at the Radioplane Munitions Factory in which she worked. Interestingly the commanding officer that sent him to take the photos was Ronald Reagan. The photo shows an 18-year-old Monroe. She is holding a small propeller and is beside some kind of red machine. She is wearing a simple green top and gray bottoms with a photo ID badge at her waist. She wears a wedding ring. She has much frizzier brown hair. She is smiling broadly. End ID)

Over the course of her life she was in love with and had sexual relationships with many different men and women. That doesn't mean she was sexually attracted to them. Indeed throughout her life she had a lot of difficulty with sex. She didn't like it. She thought she must have been doing it "wrong" and stated that a lot of her sex appeal was applied to her rather than something she felt. She was playing to the crowd. Which makes sense, Monroe was a people pleaser. She desired closeness, she romantically loved many people, I have no doubt, and from the time she was a teenager the best appreciated way to show it was by being sexual. The fact that later in life she had a sexual encounter with a literal 16-year-old when she was 30 shows she had a pretty fucked up understanding of what was appropriate sexually. The 16-year-old was the leader of her fan club, she also had an affair with her acting coach, her first husband was her neighbor who was kind to her. She was loving the people who loved her and was showing it the way society told her to. (On her being mspec, there were several women she had affairs with, including the fan and acting coach mentioned above, indeed it has been speculated she was more attracted to women than men).

No matter how she appeared on screen, she voiced fear that she was broken and frigid to her psychologist (who agreed with her) because she didn't really enjoy/want sex. The desire of wanting to fix herself and wanting to please the people who loved her and who she may have romantically loved in return. She probably romantically loved some of these people but didn't know how to separate that from the sexual aspect or didn't want to lose them if she did. She was giving them what they wanted and expected and what culture told her was essential to normal loving relationships.

Her sexual "failure" was a subject she returned to often in therapy throughout her life. She had only one sexual encounter she actually said she enjoyed and it seemed to be more of a relief because it made her normal than what she got from the sex itself.

She said again and again that she wasn't the sexpot people thought she was, nobody listened.

(Image Description: a series of photos from a photoshoot from Life Magazine. It shows Monroe at home in 1953, a huge year in her career. The photographer is Alfred Eisenstaedt [a photographer of whose work I am extremely fond]. They show Monroe wearing a dark turtleneck and checkered trousers. She is in a bunch of different positions and wearing different expressions. Some of these appear candid and others posed. I am especially fond of one in the middle in which she appears to be trying to stop herself from laughing or sneezing. I like to imagine it is the former. It is very human. End ID)

“People had a habit of looking at me as if I were some kind of mirror instead of a person. They didn’t see me, they saw their own lewd thoughts, then they white-masked themselves by calling me the lewd one.”

-Marilyn Monroe

"I never quite understood it, this sex symbol. I always thought symbols were those things you clash together! That's the trouble, a sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing. But if I'm going to be a symbol of something I'd rather have it sex than some other things they've got symbols of."

—Monroe in an interview for Life in 1962 (both of these quotes illustrate that her "sex appeal" was manufactured and applied rather than her own natural state. Her audience made it clear what they wanted and she played to it.)

"A man who had kissed me once had said it was very possible that I was a lesbian because apparently I had no response to males - meaning him...I didn't contradict him because I didn't know what I was... Now, having fallen in love, I knew what I was. It wasn't a lesbian."

-Marilyn Monroe in her autobiography My Story (written 1954, published 1974). (Note that she has "no response". She loves a man, this one or another, but she has "no response" to men physically. That is the only response he could comment on, her physical one. Clearly she feels some kind of attraction to someone eventually, but not sexually/physically. It is the difference between romantic and sexual love. It also shows that homosexuality and asexuality have always overlapped.)

"Primary frigidity"

-the diagnosis from Monroe's therapist Dr. Ralph Greenson, he worked to "cure" her of this "frigidity"

“Maybe I’m a sexless sex goddess.”

– Marilyn Monroe to Life magazine journalist Richard Meryman, 1961

(Image Description: a photo of Marilyn Monroe behind the scenes on the set of The Misfits in 1960, photographed by Inge Morath. She is leaning across a table and smiling at someone to the right of the frame. She has tired eyes. End ID)

#queer #lgbtq #asexual #ace #history #20th century #american #usa #entertainers #bio #mspec #jewish #actors #musicians #models

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