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sanjiafsincedayone · 3 years

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Why SaNa over other ships?

Now, this is not to hate on other ships or downplay them, because what shipping really comes down to is often simply preference. What characters or dynamics you enjoy and what reasons you might have for liking different things.

No, this is simply my own reasons for why I like SaNa and also why I think they could make sense and thirdly why it’s possible Oda could be setting it up to actually happen in canon. It’s all just my views and I apologize if I forget a moment or add something that is more head canon, but again, this is my reasons and they will always be partially biased. (And there are too many to remember them all properly, so if you want to add feel welcome to do so.)

I think Sanji and Nami is a lovely ship even based just on fan content and the community. But we also get some great moments in the manga, and I personally think there is potential for Oda to make an actual romance work between them.

1. Why I like Sanji and Nami

I personally fell in love with Sanji before I even started to watch or read One Piece, simply based on his voice actor (Hiroaki Hirata), his design and his fighting style. So obviously I already have a bias towards Sanji (SanjiAFsincedayone having a bias towards Sanji? Who knew?). I didn’t ship Sanji with Nami from the start and even now I am a multi shipper who enjoys fan content with Sanji as a main part of several pairs, most prominently ZoSan.

So, when did I fall for SaNa then? Well, I have talked about it in various posts before which you can find in my Masterpost - SanjiAFsincedayone, but for me shipping Sanji and Nami more seriously didn’t start until Thriller Bark.

Sanji took a knife in the back for her as she is dressed in a wedding dress, even this one scene is enough to explain why someone might like to ship them together.

I for sure saw many SaNa moments before that, and felt Nami seemed special to Sanji, but I didn’t think it would have a big chance of happening and I preferred other ships above it when consuming fan material. Again, shipping is after all mostly fantasy and wanting more of something in a romantic/sexual way. Thriller Bark was when Sanji and Nami’s interactions caught my attention properly and I started to look a bit closer and actually note the way Oda wrote them and their moments. Going back after and rereading I think there is a lot of interesting things even before that. But the wedding theme and bridal carry and how Oda showed them in Thriller Bark was just too on the nose to ignore.

What got me into shipping Sanji with Nami were mainly three things.

1. Their dynamics getting more interesting over time and Sanji and Nami being two of the most well written and interesting characters in One Piece. 2. Sanji consistently seeming to have a preference for Nami in combination with my belief that he is after true love and isn’t just a pervert forever doomed to be alone. 3. The manga showing the potential of it actually happening and them finally catching my attention in Thriller Bark. Basically there are moments to follow and look at in the actual story as well, which in turn also leads to more fan content and material for shippers.

So point 1 and 2 really is mostly about my preference and how much I enjoy watching them together and how well I imagine they would fit together. I think their personalities and desires overlap well with them being able to understand and compromise for each other while aslo being on a similar level of intelligence and communication. They also have their kindness and empathy as a highlighted shared theme for their characters.

Them talking about the Children in Punk Hazard or Sanji helping Nami turn in the argument between both Luffy and Vivi and Luffy and Usopp are some examples. Or Nami letting Sanji smoke in her body because she knows how hard it is for him. Small gestures like this show both understanding and a willingness to compromise.

I think they are fun and have a relationship that right now might need working on, but it’s clear how much they care for each other and how they actually appriciate each other a lot.

Simply put I think they are interesting together and I think they could work as a romantic couple in the future, where their dreams and family oriented views migh allign. Again, from how I view them as characters and interpret their wants and possible futures I think Sanji and Nami is a good match. They can have a restaurant either traveling the world or docked close to both Cocoyashi and Zeff, Nami can tend to her mikans together with Sanji and they can manage a restaurant for a living. I also think they are the most parental members in the crew and has shown some possible signs of wanting to settle down with families. This would also work well as a final contrast to their less than happy childhoods (You might also want to check out my post (Part 3) Sanji x Nami hints - Thematic parallels).

There is a lot of potential in their dynamics and how different they seem while they also seem willing to adapt and try to understand each other that make them interesting as characters of romantic plots. At the same time they have enough in common to relate to each other and work well together. Again, as a fictional ship within the fandom there is a lot of great artists, writers etc. that truly explore them and make Sanji and Nami a great and fun ship with an active fandom to engage with.

Of course there are more shallow reasons like them matching in age and being good-looking but really I could ship Sanji with almost any woman if it was only about the looks. I mean, Purin is basically made to be a perfect match for Sanji, but I personally find his dynamic with Nami much more interesting and his dedication to Nami is of course unpraralleled thanks to the time Oda has spent on them over many years.

I love Sanji and Nami as individual characters and with the amount of moments between them there is also a lot to explore and enjoy in the manga. It makes them interesting in a third aspect for me, which is of course analysis and the potential of them actually ending up together and looking closer at the way Oda writes them from a story perspective. For me what we have gotten from Oda in terms of Sanji x Nami moments is very interesting and I see potential there even though it would need more development to truly work for the current story.

But, again shipping doesn’t have to mean anything for the actual story... There are crack ships or slash ships that surely will never happen but that could still be great and fun to explore for the fans. Honestly, everyone is free to ship whatever they want. We all have different taste after all.

So, what about the manga then?

2. Why do I think they could make sense as a romantic couple even in canon?

First, my own view is that Sanji is someone who seeks true love, and as briefly shown with both Violet and Purin it seems like he would take an actual relationship seriously if given the chance. I also think it would make him happy and thus as Oda might want to create happy resolutions for the strawhats I think Sanji ending up with someone has quite a big chance of happening. This is combination with his preference for Nami and in turn Nami truly caring for him (though not yet in a romantic way) is something that makes me think it could happen. Other ships have potential too depending on how Oda decides to develop them, but considering how he keeps adding moments for SaNa in the way he does as of now I still think SaNa is the most likely ship for Sanji.

As I mentioned earlier I also think Nami has shown some possible inclinations for wanting a family (or at least being a great mother if we look at her with children in many arc, not the least Punk Hazard) and maybe even getting married eventually.

If she ends up with someone we will need to see a more obvious attraction and want for romance from her no matter what ship we might consider. She has at this point not shown a lot, but I do think the thematic parallels she shares with Sanji in combination with how their moments are written has the potential to grow into something more.

As a romantic pair I think Sanji and Nami would be happy, he would adore her and take care of her and both of them would probably find that ideal. In fact it’s already a big part of their dynamics and seem to make them both happy. They also seem to try to understand and show interest in knowing each other as seen with several scenes and general attention towards each other’s backstories. They also challange each other in different ways and we have seen them compromise a few times. I think compared to many other relationship in the manga Oda has shown more personal moments between them. So a romantic additional aspect is not too far off. Not that Oda would make it happen now, but that he would lay down the groundwork for it to work by the end of the series.

In short I think they would make each other happy, but also challange and grow thanks to the other. I think their dreams of traveling the world with Nami drawing her map and Sanji cooking on all the seas and finding All Blue and then settiling down together close to both their “homes” in East Blue with a restaurant and family seems to fit them both. It wouldn’t always be easy, but I think they would actually enjoy their dynamics with Nami bossing Sanji around most of the time.

Now this all sounds nice and all, but it’s of course just my imagination based on biased interpretations of the manga. So where do I get it from?

3. The way SaNa is portrayed by Oda

Now this is really the biggest point... Because again, I can ship whatever characters I want and it is just for fun. It doesn’t have to happen for me to enjoy it or I wouldn’t ship Sanji with Zoro. But with Sanji and Nami there are legit reasons in addition to my preference that makes me think it could happen in the manga.

It might take years to actually go through it all in order with my additional interpretations, but I will try to go through the basics themes and moments that to me could indicate SaNa over any other Sanji or Namji ship.

I think the obvious thing to talk about first is simply how Sanji definitely has a romantic (and sexual) interest in Nami. No matter what other character you might see with either of them, this has been shown consistantly over the whole manga. You may argue that Sanji might be interested in others equally, and though I wouldn’t agree it’s a fair point. However from a story perspective it would still need to be resolved. It’s highly unlikely for Nami to end up with anyone unless Sanji ends up with someone else and gets a happy ending too.

As for Sanji’s interest in Nami I personally think Oda has paid a lot of attention to it in a way that makes it the most likely ship for Sanji. He might yet add moments between other ships and develop them (most notably San/Pu of course), but in my opinion the way Oda has added Nami in other potential romantic moments with Sanji it seems Nami is above every other woman so far.

Most importantly I think we have seen:

Sanji leave Violet who actually seemed to show interest in him to run off to save Nami (and the crew, but the point is that Oda chose to highlight and add this moment with focus on Nami to begin with).

Sanji being more focused on Nami even when Vivi and Robin has been on the ship or at the same place. Oda definitely puts Sanji with Nami above other women at least in amount of moments and involvment.

Sanji being very concerned with Nami in front of Purin and being shown happy with her (the bridal carry for example) and saying he loves her right in front of Purin.

Sanji having stronger reactions to Nami than other women. This could just be my way of seeing it, but I do think we have seen the strongest reactions from Sanji when it comes to Nami. Not the least with turning into a literal devil when he heard she was kidnapped by Absalom. For example compare Sanji rushing after Nami in both Skypiea and Thriller Bark even to him going after Robin. Or his reaction to Nami getting sick in Drum. We simply have a lot of strong reactions from Sanji towards Nami in different ways and more importantly Oda seeming to add focus on them.

We also have him reacting to things like “women’s tears” or calls but only indicating Nami might be calling him personally. For example Sanji hearing Tashigi cry or saying he trusts Violet or Robin even though they are lying but for Nami adding things like “I think I heard Nami call out for me” or moments like “I leave my Nami to you”. Basically the way Oda writes it there often seems to be added a more personal stake in Sanji’s reactions and moments with Nami compared to with other women.

So from Sanji’s point of view, and the way Oda has written them so far, I think he puts Nami above every other woman. But more importantly, Oda shows us moments between them that he doesn’t add for other ships as consistantly or in romantic looking ways. Keep in mind that both Nami and Sanji are main characters, but they are not Luffy. Oda choosing to not use Luffy (who will obviously have strong moments with all of his nakama, like how he had his own time with Sanji both in Baratie and WCI) for some of these moments but rather insert Sanji or Nami instead for each other’s stories makes it more relevant. Because it’s not an obvious choice in the same way. It’s a choice based on their characters and dynamics within the world, not because of their roles as main hero or heroine. Here are some examples.

1. Their first meeting. Sanji is for the first time seen in love cook mode and he basically seem ready to leave everything behind for Nami. Right away his reaction to Nami is stronger than what we have seen from him and it seems to hold true even with time.

2. SaNa having interest and plot relevance to each other’s back stories. Sanji getting involved with hearing Nami’s back story and saving his sister. Also, calling her “sister” which indicates a platonic familiarity where he puts Nami above Nojiko romantically (yes, despite flirting some with her). Nami in turn also getting involved and showing interest in Sanji’s backstory, pushing to go with Luffy to save Sanji and being the one to remind us of Sanji’s past and character traits.

3. Sanji getting personally tantalized by using Nami. This has happened several times, the first with Kuroobi in Arlong Park, but also with Mr. 2 in Alabasta, Absalom in Thriller Bark and then in Fishman Island (Zou too, but that wasn’t just Nami) and on Zou. You can check my post (thought not updated fully) Sanji and Nami – Fights and danger for a more detailed view. (Even in movies like Strong World Sanji has a direct talk with Shiki about Nami and it seems most people are aware of Sanji being extra sensitive to Nami.)

4. Sanji asking Nami if she is jealous or if she loves him, indicating again that he is interested to know is she is interested in him. Once even responding “I love you too”. In general Nami responding in these situations in a more “positive way” or Oda showing Sanji interpreting her actions as more romantic. For example the “proposal” or the hug in WCI.

5. Romantic looking moments or themes. Now this is of couse not something that has been done mutually between them and thus aren’t actually romantic scenes. But the tropes and common use for many of the things that Oda has chosen to use for Sanji and Nami are romantic in nature. Of course the two forced marriages are the strongest examples with them rescuing each other from getting married to someone else. But we also have the switch body trope, the slap and of course smaller gestures like the bridal carries or the way Oda drew the hug between them in WCI. I am not saying that SaNa is the only ship with romantic looking moments, because San/Pu And San/Violet obviously has some as well. However, considering the amount SaNa moments and the fact that he has left Violet and Purin in particular for Nami seems to make the SaNa moments trump any other ship. At least for me personally SaNa as it is now and as Oda has portrayed it in comparison to other Sanji ships gets in the way of Sanji ending up with someone else unless Oda starts to make some changes.

I want to make some emphasis on how Nami and Sanji seem to get some “bigger” moments between them in almost every arc. Again, compare this to Sanji with other women, or even Nami with other crew members.

Baratie - Their first meeting and Sanji’s reaction to Nami and interest gets focus. Arlong Park - Sanji shows interest in Nami’s past and Kuroobi mocks Sanji by specfically mentioning Nami. ( Loguetown Arc, Reverse Mountain Arc, Whiskey Peak Arc and Little Garden mostly have small moments, like Sanji asking if Nami is jealous or Sanji giving Nami his jacket.) Drum Island - Nami is sick and we see Sanji worry and care for her and in the end even sacrificing himself for her. Nami worries about him too. Alabasta - Sanji fighting Mr. 2 looking like Nami and lots of small moments like Sanji asking Nami if she loves him.

Jaya - Nami showing interest in Sanji’s back story. Small things like Nami hiding for the bugs behind Sanji or Sanji. Skypiea - Sanji being hell-bent of saving Nami and making the others look for her. Then him saving Nami and Usopp from Enel and Nami being worried in return. (Both times Sanji gets hit by Enel Nami is there and worries.) Then a lot of small moments like him giving her a flower and Nami pulling Sanji’s ear for flirting with Conis. Long Ring Long Land - Nami encourage Sanji be the ball and win, but mostly small moments like Sanji getting annoyed with Aokiji for flirting with Nami or him sitting next to her and trying to kiss her. Water 7 - Sanji leaving his love letter to Nami and Nami being worried for (and impressed with) Sanji. Enies Lobby - Sanji losing against a woman, Nami being understanding and then stepping in to basically revenge him. Also Sanji hearing it as Nami loving him and then him showing up to save Nami and Usopp from Jyabura.

Post-Enies Lobby - Not much, but Sanji stepping in to make Nami and Zoro stop fighting and make Nami understand Zoro’s pov. Thriller Bark - Sanji just being extremely focused on Nami and worried about her throughout the whole arc. Also him getting specifically selected by Luffy to save Nami. Of course the wedding theme with the bridal carry and Sanji’s reaction to Nami. Also Sanji’s Zombie protecting Nami (and later kicking Robin) and his “obsession with Nami” being mentioned. Sabaody Archipelago - Another smaller arc, but we do get Nami worried about Sanji possibly drowning. And smaller moments like Sanji being angry for Nami being put in danger by the Fishman Riders or him telling Franky to take care of Nami as he runs to protect Zoro. When they return we of course also get the nosebleeds, and Sanji daydreaming about Nami’s development.

Fishman Island - Sanji’s reaction to Jinbei and Arlong. Also the fishmen pointing out that Nami might be their weakness due to Sanji’s “over reaction“ to her falling. Punk Hazard - The body swtich, Sanji’s body saving Nami and Sanji being careful with not hurting her etc. Also them working together to save the children, Sanji listening to Nami’s request and saying he loves her more because of her kindness. Also small things like Sanji giving his jacket to Nami again. Dressrosa - Sanji leaving Violet behind to save Nami, insisting that he should be the one to save her and then him getting attacked by Doflamingo and Nami getting worried and not wanting to leave him. Sanji basically tries to sacrifice himself for Nami for the 4th time (Drum, Skypiea x2, also maybe in Thriller Bark). Zou - We get a lot of focus on Nami and Sanji together, and then of course when Sanji is gone Nami is the driving force for his plot. Once again Nami is also used to taunt Sanji (inside Capone). Then Nami is both the one to mention Sanji being from North Blue and to listen to Pekom’s talk about his family. Not to mention her insisting on going with Luffy to WCI and having a fight with Zoro as she defends Sanji. Whole Cake Island - The way she pushes for them to find Sanji, her hapiness when they find him and her hurt and the slap. We even get something like Nami being tantalized with Sanji by both Purin and Brulee. The only strawhat besides Luffy who gets a personal story thread with Sanji and a personal resolution for their conflict is Nami. The tension seems personal and combined with Sanji having another love interest but choosing Nami above her it does seem like Nami is the more natural choice both for Sanji and for Oda.

There is also a distinct increase in romantic-looking moments between them, with them touching more than ever before.

Wano - Even after WCI it doesn’t seem like Oda is stopping the SaNa moments. Sanji manages to save and carry Nami three times in the beginning of Wano. On top of that we have the bath scene and of course a lot of small moments and mentions between them like Sanji asking Usopp to take care of “My Nami-san” or Sanji jumping in abobe Nami to save her from arrows.

How many times have we had Sanji be the one to go after Nami or save her? By his own choice, by being the one present or even by Luffy asking Sanji to go. Oda puts Sanji next to Nami a lot, and I think it’s possible he might be doing it for a reason.

Who knows what we might get, but the fact that we have as much as we do really seems to show Oda having a preference to put them together in various ways.

The point is they have a lot of time and moments dedicated to them from Oda despite them both being secondary characters. At this point it’s possible Sanji is the person Nami has moments with the most in the story besides Luffy (and perhaps Usopp) as they often end up together. Of course this is including them thinking about and talking about each other as well, and not just direct interacting. For example counting the body switch and Nami being worried and focused on Sanji while on Zou. Oda doesn’t have to, but he has chosen to write it like this. On top of that he adds romantic interest from Sanji and romantic looking moments between them.

I could go on, and there are plenty of moments and examples to find between Nami and Sanji that are interesting to look a bit deeper at. You can check out my Masterpost - SanjiAFsincedayone for some of them. But as it is now here are the main points for why I think SaNa at least has a bigger chance to happen than other ships with the two of them as it is now.

One-sided attraction and romantic interest from Sanji’s side that needs to be resolved in one way or another.

Nami seems special to Sanji. Even small things like only using -san for her and -chan for others is a detail that makes her stand out to him.

Great involvement in each other’s stories. Oda likes adding Sanji and Nami in moments together both for interaction and explenation about each other. For example Sanji is also often used to save Nami.

Interactions of understanding and changing dynamics between the two, like them compromising for each other or wanting to know about the other’s past. Matching personalities and a possible future.

Romantic themes and moments, mainly the weddings, but also the amount of times Sanji has saved Nami and things like the hug being drawn in a very romantic looking way with Nami being more focused on.

Tension and urgency. This is basically Sanji and Nami having a lot of focus on each other in dire situations and Oda showing it with specific mentions.

So, to summarize, I like Sanji and Nami both as indvidual characters and together. I enjoy them as a ship and to explore their dynamics in a romantic way no matter what they might end up as in the story. Anyone should be able to respect that people have different preferences. Additionally I think and speculate that they would work well and could happen in the manga as well. This is obviously a biased interpretation and opinion.

I might be wrong, but you should be able to respect that too as we have yet to get anything objectivly confirming any ship. We don’t know if any ship with end up canon at all. Maybe Sanji and Nami will remain a ship that never becomes canon, but even so they are a ship that is definitely worth enjoying.

I hope you found this post interesting and can enjoy your own ship and fandom while also seeing that it’s ok for others to like something different than you. Thanks for reading.

#sanji #nami #sana #sanami #sanji x nami #sanjixnami #sanami theory #One Piece analysis #sanji x nami analysis #sanjiafsincedayone #one piece manga

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jeanjauthor · 3 years

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Hello there. Please can you do a guide on how a king would live in the Medieval Era/Middle Ages? (Daily routine, hourly tasks/things they occupy themselves with each week) etc. Thanks.

Unfortunately, there's a LOT of ground to cover in that request, because the Middle Ages covers basically from 600s-1500s, and is presumed to be European, which means a gazillion kingdoms big and small. The best I can do for you is to point you at some possible times & places where there might actually a number of resources.

There isn't a lot of information on the early period stuff outside of Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire), but you might want to look at resources covering that empire/timeframe as Romans were notorious for writing down almost everything. There may be more information floating around Charlemagne (the start of the Holy Roman Empire).

Next era could be in England, the time of Richard the Lionhearted (Richard II, his brother King John & the Magna Carta era, etc), also the Empress Maude (Empress Mathilda, mother of Richard & John) who lived in France, etc--her epitaph reads something like "Daughter of a King, Wife of a King, Mother of a King, but Never A Queen"...so you know there's going to be some history there.

Other spots that have royals that are fairly well studied: the Borgias and their influence across Mediterranean Europe, the Holy Roman Emperors of Austria, et al, all the way up through to the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV of France (admittedly more Age of Exploration than Middle Ages). With these latter timeframes, remember that a king's life gets more complicated and regimented by customs & rituals the closer you get to our most recent centuries, less complicated the further back in time you go.

For much of the above 1000-year timeframe, the daily life of kings wouldn't be that much different from the daily lives of nobles--better than peasants, with people to do your cooking, cleaning, and laundry--and if if you were lucky, you'd be able to read and write, though not always. The daily schedule would vary from place to place, time to time, and would not necessarily reflect our own mealtimes of breakfast-lunch-dinner for a start. Breakfast might be something simple like fruit, cheese, bread, or it could be pottage (porridge, a mix of grains & dried fruits, or leftover veggies & meat, etc), or it could be an actual elaborate meal, depending on the era, etc.

Daily concerns, there wouldn't be the agricultural labor expected of 90% of the population, and not so much any of the crafting labor expected of most of the population, though it's possible a king could have an interest in blacksmithing, leatherworking, even doing spinning. (Spinning was done by everyone, regardless of age or gender, though social class did have some effect.)

For absolute sure, most kings would definitely spend a few hours a day, either each day or most days a week, in combat training, weapons practice, mounted combat, and of course riding, since they could afford the horses. It is also possible some kings did their own falconry, but as rearing, training, and caring for hawks, falcons, etc, is a daily job, that would more than likely actually be the work of the king's falconer, with the king knowing enough of how to handle the bird (well, one hopes he'd know enough).

Hounds (various breeds of dogs) are depicted quite frequently in the presence of kings, so having a loyal canine companion would be a high probability (cats would be around, too, and might be favored), and while the full training and responsibility of feeding wouldn't be on the king's shoulders in all likelihood, dogs are much more likely to stick around than fly off back into the wild than, say, a hawk, so the king would have a lot more daily contact and interaction with them.

I include hounds and hawks because one of the things a king would be expected to do was to hunt. A lot of places had rules about the deer in the king's forests belonging to the king, to the appointed game wardens, to the local nobles...but hunting down feral animals was also an expected job of the nobility, so feral cattle and pigs, wild boar, those would be skills a king would train for, and would certainly have specialist warriors and huntsmen to surround him when going out on one of these hunts.

The king (or queen) would likely have petitioners arriving to speak with him. In earlier eras when travel was more difficult, these would probably be less formalized, but might still be frequent enough to require a formal royal court session (you know the one portrayed in movies, with the audience members, the petitioner being announced and brought up to the throne, etc).

Remember, however, that the earlier you go, the smaller the facilities, the less regimented-by-custom the activities, the less formal things will be--the king might hear petitioners in the solar (a room with a lot of natural light, where the royal family would hang out and do things indoors), the equivalent of sitting down in someone's living room and having a chat over coffee or tea. (Or rather, small beer, lightly alcoholic and drunk instead of water because after being brewed, it was more sterile and safe to drink, plus, calories!)

There might be specific days when the king does have royal court sessions, but again, that'll depend on timeframe, nation size, ease of travel, and overall frequency of petitioners asking to be heard...along with how close an acquaintance or how unknown they are to the king. Some would bring gifts as bribes in the hopes of getting their petition favorably handled...but this wouldn't always be guaranteed. (iirc, there's a cueniform tablet saying that a pair of sandals "in the greek style" had been brought to a king in the Middle East as a gift, and that said king had ordered them returned, though the reason why was not written down, wrong size, wrong person, wrong petition, who knows?)

The king's taxes would have to be assessed, with reports coming in and orders going out across the kingdom at certain times of year. This could be in the form of coin, crafted goods, or raw resources such as grain, lumber, ore ingots, etc. He would have to see to whatever passed for a standing army, making sure from time to time that they were being kept well-trained and well-armed--not all kings or kingdoms or eras had a standing army! But there would be a group of warriors whom the king would be able to call upon, professional or voluntary (or voluntold, as the case may be).

This is because one of the duties of a king (at least a good or reasonably competent one) would be to ensure the kingdom--ts peoples, livestock, resources, borders, etc--were kept as safe as possible from invasions, raiders, roadside banditry, random skirmishes between disgruntled nobles, possible uprisings, etc.

Another duty (presuming good or competent) would be to engage in diplomacy both within (disgruntled neighboring nobles) and without (neighboring nations, potential trade partners farther away, etc) their lands. This could involve sending diplomatic couriers with letters, or it could involve sending spies to integrate and ingratiate their way into the ranks of the persons or groups trying to be spied upon and/or influenced in certain ways.

Queen Elizabeth I of England had a very widespread network of spies and informants throughout most of her reign, and engaged in diplomacy while wielding the weapons of knowledge and influence upon her opponents--not necessarily her enemies every time, but her opponents. (Mind you, she also had a temper at times, and could make threats with the best of them, but most often she chose to try things diplomatically to start, at least from what I understand.)

One more thing to consider when it comes to Medieval Europe and the monarchy. The Church's power stretched everywhere--even after Protestantism got started!--so a monarch would be expected to bow to the religious expectations of piety, etc. They'd be expected to pray near-daily, would certainly be expected to attend masses, and would without a doubt be expected (pressured or coaxed) into giving gifts to the Church.

When King Henry VIII got pissed off at the Catholic Church (and was strapped for cash), he did an about-face to Protestantism so fast, there were monasteries and churches in England literally in the midst of upgrades and renovations that got informed all the Church lands belonged to the king now, so bugger off, but leave all the valuable silks and gold and silver behind, kthxbai! *doorslam!* That was because the Church held a lot of lands, and a lot of wealth, and the king was tired of not having all that land and wealth himself.

In earlier periods, the fear of Excommunication was strong, because Christianity was what tied disparate peoples together...gingerly and fragilely in many cases, but even if you couldn't speak each other's language, you could mumble along the Latin phrases for the prayers and services of a mass, and your unintelligible buddy over there would know and nod along and mumble them, too, hey, you do have something in common!

In later periods, when trade became quite widespread and strong, when secular interactions could hold together alliances, not just the "we're all in this together as fellow worshippers," then it became easier to break away from the Church's hold, and to not fear excommunication so much. (Shunning can be a powerful social activity regulator.) So that's something to consider: how strong is the influence of the local religion(s) in your area? The heart of Byzantium, Constantinople, had many religions working and living together for years. A lot of that was live-and-let-live in attitude. Other areas were very...fanatical...about their specific local belief systems, and so the local sovereign would be expected to go along with that, or be trampled by the zealotry of their population base.

...As you can see, there is quite a lot to consider. The daily life wouldn't always be the exact same 9-to-5 office hours, but there were certain rhythms to the day, the week, the season (life was very much seasonal in medieval times), and the passing of each year. But in many ways, there would be many similarities.

#answers #a day in the life of a king #so much to cover!

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mochuelovelli · 3 years

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Lilith for the character ask?

Oh boy, a controversial character! Gotta say, I stan James Charles /J

How do I feel about this character?:

On a real note, I do like Lilith as a character. When we first meet her, she's pompous and proud. Oozing with entitlement, she's easy to route against and you like to see her get worked up and "brought down" to Eda's level as the wild which so eloquently put it. Later on, but not too much later that it feels disingenuous, we really get to see her show that she cares for her sister. One might believe it is *Eda* being ridiculous, as far as the audience is aware, Lilith's offer holds little downsides. Eda would be cured and be afforded the luxuries of the upper class AND keep her magic. All she had to do was be the Emperor's soldier.

As to not get off track by talking about Eda, (im sure Lilith herself would loathe that lol) Lilith's reveal to have cursed her sister over a spot in the emperor's coven was...controversial to say the least. I don't think it's unpopular to voice that, yeah. It could've been communicated better to the audience since I saw plenty of commentators and regular fans themselves either thought Lilith cursing her sister was *needlessly* petty and not at all thought out (which yeah it kinda was).

From where I stand on that issue is, yeah, Lilith's whole reason to curse her sister could've been avoided by just talking to her sister and asking her to let her have this. BUT, I think a lot of people forget that the Emperor's coven would want to limit the number of powerful witches in their coven. Sure, Belos would want to be protected by a bunch of loyal soldiers, but he wouldn't want too much of the population to ever have a much power as him. So limiting the number of members in not just his coven but possible in the other major covens, would aid in controlling that population.

This might be pure hogwash but like, there are a ton of other "lesser" covens. So in my mind, it's more likely that the general population of witches gets sorted into one of the various miscellaneous. If you think limiting yourself to only practicing Illusion magic sucks, imagine only practicing whatever the fuck the "swag coven" does.

Lol gonna add a page break this shit is getting too long

Romantic Ships for this character?:

Hm, it's only s1 and we haven't seen her interact w/ many characters outside of her fam/Belos/actual children. I kinda jokingly ship here with Steve lol. Kikimora and her also have a funny dynamic but in all actuality, I don't ship her w/ anyone rn.

Non-Romantic Ships for this character?:

Her and Hooty lol. I mean Eda is an obvious answer but like, Hooty fucking with Lilith is too funny to not want to see. Her and King would be great too, probably get some good B plots out of it. It would be a good contrast since they both can be petty but in different ways and I think that would help flesh out their characters a bit more and maybe cause some introspection (at least on Lilith’s end lol)

Unpopular opinion about this character?:

Lol. I feel like she is such a divisive character in general that most opinions about her aren’t too out of the main stream. I guess a more meta take is that when she’s portrayed in fanworks, usually fanfic but not exclusively, very...one note lol. She’s usually a pretty flat, boring character in an attempt to highlight the contrast between her and Eda. She’s the straight-laced, “responsible” sibling who has a chip on her shoulder. In fanon, that equates to her characterization to either be like, completely and utterly apologetic to the point where it becomes unbelievable for any person to do. Her apologizing or making amends is usually quickly forgiven by Luz/and or Eda. Sure, Luz is very forgiving person naturally but like?? She’s wasn’t mad in canon too much about THEIR well being (almost getting impaled), she was specifically pissed about Lilith betraying Eda.

So, if Lilith is a big part of your story (and it’s working in the realm of canon), then this should be a problem which doesn’t get resolved by just ONE big action. I also feel like her being on better terms with Eda would come BEFORE Luz since Eda’s main gripe with her would be about her being annoyed by Lilith’s controlling nature and the fact that she didn’t trust her enough to talk about her feelings back when she was first cursed (also her using Luz against her but I feel like that would probably be a hurdle that wouldn’t really be over come until Lilith in turn would be willing to sacrifice herself for Luz while also making an effort to care for Luz as a person not just see her as a “pet”). Hhhh this section is so long and its kinda bleeding over in the next question so-

Something I wish will happen or would have wanted to happen in canon?:

yall if you are still reading I am so sorry sksk

I want Lilith in general, not to be forgiven by either Luz or Eda. Eda probably early on stating about how she is unsure if she could EVER forgive her sister for what she has done. BUT, critically, Eda would see that Lilith is trying and she is willing to work with her (with a unhelpful dose of teasing) because at the end of the day she still loves her sister. For the relationship they had before everything with south, for knowing her side of the story even though she believes it doesn’t justify her actions. She understands and sympathizes, she’s grown a bit softer thanks to Luz, which is very funny since I want Luz to be the one who is the hardest to convince Lilith actually had a change of heart but more on that later.

Before I move on to what I want her path towards forgiveness with Luz looks like, I want to bring up a parallel that I haven’t seen many people make. Fans always talk about the parallel between the Clawthornes and Luz/Amity, and rightly so because there is a lot to extrapolate there, but I think another interesting dynamic that might be interesting to see in s2 would be an episode that focuses on lost friendship/sisterhood with the Clawthornes and Amity and Willow. It’s kinda funny that Amity and Willow’s friendship was ruined because Willow was too “weak” while Eda was too “powerful”. In a potential episode, it can show the progression both Eda/Lilith and Willow/Amity are making in rekindling their relationship with each other. For Eda and Lilith this would be a lot more rough around the edges since it both be either the first or one of the first attempts at doing so while Willow/Amity would maybe be further along yet still have some major/minor hang ups with one another. With Willow/Amity, their relationship would either be rounding the bend of fully moving past the “idk how to feel about you stage” or it is stated outright that Willow forgives Amity, (and by forgive, I mean in the “we both know what you did, you’ve actually changed. we won’t have the same relationship that we once had but I’m okay with trying again”). In contrast, Lilith and Eda would reach a understanding and come up with some ground rules on how to handle each other (Eda’s main take away from this “episode” would be what I previously stated in the last question), ones that will be more like guidelines cuz its Eda lol. Also what separates the Clawthornes conflict from the Willow/Amity one (besides the obvious) is that the Clawthornes both know how the other works. Which buttons to push and all that so both of them are going to have to learn to resist doing that, at least a bit, in order to actually progress.

ANYWAYS, I also want Luz to be the one to regard Lilith the coldest. Luz refusing to let Lilith teach her anything despite probably having more practical/book smarts knowledge on magic theory than Eda because she doesn’t trust her. If they are gonna use that masked dude as a spy, I want Luz to assume Lilith is somehow a coconspirator. This plot thread doesn’t have to be going at 100% the whole time, (in fact I would want it to be a temp thing maybe lasting a couple eps at most or like, just something that is hinted at but not dived deeply until the second half of the season). Really, Lilith has a hard time because Luz straight up doesn’t give her the opportunity to really express her regret/remorse. Lilith probably won’t at first give her a ton of reasons to forgive her as she usually attempts at coming back at Luz’s snide remarks with her own quippy comebacks. Sksk a really angsty end to an attempt could include Lilith saying something to Luz after going on a small talk with her (where yeah Lilith has improved but still needs noticeable work) that she “reminds her a lot of Eda” and Luz bites back with something like “Oh yeah? You going to curse me too? You want another person you can force to do what YOU want?”.

Hell maybe “parental problems” could have Lilith poke at, either on purpose or accidentally, Luz’s feelings about going back to the human world and Camila. Lilith reminding her, maybe unknowingly, reminds her a lot of her mom and that causes her to blow up on her. Luz would hate that comparison, thinking about how similar her mom and Lilith are to one another. That because she still has such a strong dislike of Lilith, it bleeds over into how Luz views Camila and vice versa. In that, both Camila and Lilith value respect, an adherence to the rules, have a great sense of wisdom (arguably for Lilith lol /hj), and (eventually for Lilith once she gets to know Luz better) a genuine want for Luz to succeed and belief in her even though they are critical of her actions at times. Sure Eda reminds her of that more, motherly protective kind of love, in which she would do anything for her to be happy and healthy. Lilith can be the other side of that, the worry and slight doubt. That familiar way they each go about trying to understand and get close to Luz yet not quite getting it yet would still do whatever she’d ask for her sake. Luz at first would take Lilith being disappointed in her actions as an accomplishment. As they grow closer and the more Lilith reminds her of her mom, it becomes scary. The disappointment hurts and in an effort not to feel like that again and to not want to think about the comparison between Lilith and her mother she will snap back at her. Eventually Lilith would then have to change again and reassure her that she cares and by extent, her mother cares to. It is here Lilith is willing to let go of being so constantly controlling and learns to encourage first (or do some form of the compliment sandwich) and Luz comes to peace with her feelings about her mother and understands her position better. To be able to love herself even if she knows that she will always try to do her best.

oh my fucking god you made it im so sorry i guess i had a lot of thoughts. fffffff

#TOH #lilith clawthorne #the owl house #character ask meme #luz noceda #edalyn clawthorne #yall im so sorry #this is very fanficy an long rip #if you read all this you are a champ but also no i cant cover your insurance lol

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eevee-miscellaneous · 4 years

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Homura and her Demons

CW: Strong Language and Swearing

I tend to find myself a difference of opinion when it comes to this topic in the Madoka Magica. The most popular pairing (Be it platonic or often romantic), Madoka and Homura, is the best thing that came from the original series and that the third movie effectively demonizes the love between them. However that’s not a good or accurate outlook on these two. It’s time to take a step back and look at the whole picture without the shipping goggles.

So let’s start off with the obvious jumping off point that everybody’s mad about, the twist of REBELLION. Homura removing Madoka from the system that she made to save everyone and basically rewrote the entire universe. Everyone hated this twist when it first came. No shortage of outrage and criticism on this plot point. I should know. I used to be one of the people. But after years of thinking, looking at other works in the franchise, and growing, my outlook has shifted. If anything, I prefer the twist and mad that they didn’t do much with it afterwards.

The most common criticism I’ve heard is that it’s either out of character or worse it demonizes Lesbian love by turning Homura is basically the Devil. Now I find this interesting because both aren’t true when you look at the series as a whole. Let’s tackle the first one, and put a pin in the other. Homura is sadly one of those characters. Where they have the larger fan base but those fans make more misinterpretations then the most of the fandom as a whole.

Homura is often portrayed as a savior trying to save Madoka, that’s misunderstood by everyone, who just wants what’s best for Madoka, is a good person against the world, and the true protagonist. If you actually read or watch most of the works in the series (and actually pay attention), you’d know that none of the above actually applies to her. Yes she does become a Protagonist in both Wraith Arc and Rebellion, she’s not the protagonist in the Original series.

Remember the whole conflict about the Witch/Magical System was solved by Madoka, not Homura. Homura didn’t care for the system, and only tried to stop it ‘for Madoka’. And even then she didn’t want to fight the system, she just wanted Madoka to not become a magical girl.

The whole “misunderstood and against the world” angel is also faulty. A lot of people that say this refer to when Homura tries to tell the other about how the magic system they’re in actually works, and they don’t believe her. Pushing her to work alone because no one will accept the truth. This one hits a few snags.

Firstly, she couldn’t explain how or why when they pushed further than that. She didn’t learn more and there’s no evidence that she bothered to learn more about the why. So it clearly looked like she was lying and was trying to fuck with them. Secondly, did everyone simultaneously forget how Homura was acting both before the twist and what kind of world we were dealing with? It was safe to assume before Magia Record even came out that yes, backstabbing and betrayal is more common than we think. Homura was not making it easier for people to trust and work with her because of her demeanor and seclusion. If anything it alienated her even more. That wouldn’t have been an issue but her entire goal would have benefited from being able to work with at least Mami and Kyoko. Not to mention her entire belief of “no one will accept the truth” is an assumption from limited data. She has been shown only tried it once in the entire franchise as a whole. We can assume or imply all we like, but the fact that she goes cute and well-intentioned to what we see in the present; and we don’t see anything close to an in-between of the events. She never shown us her approaching the problem from a different angle or direction. If anything the only one to make absolutely sure that she never finds out about the truth is Mami. Sayaka and Kyouko tend to handle it better by sheer circumstance.

The last one is the utmost important to clear up and is by far the most inaccurate. A savior trying to save Madoka, who just wants what’s best for Madoka. Almost everything that the series has produced has contradicted this sentiment, from spinoffs games and comics, to the original show, to the notorious REBELLION film. Homura is not a good person and isn’t doing what’s best for Madoka. She’s doing what she thinks is best for Madoka. That may seem like a small difference, but it makes a huge change.

In Episode 8 of the original series when Madoka is worried sick about Sayaka, Homura attempts to genuinely help (only once passive aggressively in the whole series I made add), she attempted to kill Sayaka when Sayaka saw through her. Because “She didn’t want Madoka to see her like this”. Sayaka is a childhood friend to Madoka and losing her best friend would effectively be worse for her than losing Mami. In ORIKO MAGICA, when the whole school was trapped in a labyrinth, Homura takes only Madoka to save her. When Madoka confronts her for not saving the others when she had the chance and power, Homura is actually surprised that the friend who she herself regarded as incredibly selfless, was mad that she abandoned their friends for her own selfishness. This is the timeline after she saw Madoka break down when Sayaka turned into a witch. She didn’t think that Madoka was at all upset that she just lost her friend.

In Magia Record, when Kei confronts her about not knowing someone other than herself, all the things she says in response just prove their point. All the things she thinks Madoka wants, are more aligned with what she wants. For someone who is said both by fans and some of the writers to be Madoka’s best friend, Homura really doesn’t know her friend.

And again a lot of Homura’s treatment towards Madoka and her friends isn’t healthy. A lot of fans hate Madoka for not doing anything, but praise Homura. But that’s strange because whenever Madoka does try to help, Homura comes in at the last minute just to stop her. It’s hating a character for something that the other character is causing. Homura is constantly making Madoka feel worthless by pushing her away from everything.

Madoka goes from a strong capable magical girl to someone more timid and weak over the time Homura tries to protect her. And when someone other than her takes Madoka’s attention, she acts antagonistic towards them. When Madoka doesn’t do what Homura wants her to do, she guilt trips and gets mad at her. And one question I must ask, and this one is important. If Mami, Sayaka, and Kyouko all died, but Homura succeeded with saving Madoka, would she have gone back to save them? Even if not doing so would cost Madoka’s mental and emotional health. Cause with everything I’ve listed, the answer is no.

Now I can’t blame the fans entirely on this misinterpretation. Since if you look at only the original series, it’s a little muddled with how they treat her actions. On the one hand, they’re not afraid to show her as a bad person, but on the other they don't fully acknowledge this. The final scene the two have together is what everyone remembers but many forget the attempt to murder Sayaka.

That’s why I’ve softened to the Rebellion twist but it’s unapologetically showing this front and center. A lot of the things that happen aren’t just Kyubey’s fault. The infamous fight between her and Mami is literally because Homura had an idea on what was going on but didn’t think fully through. And not along after is called out by the one that she tried to hurt more times in the course of the series. From what seen in Wraith arc and the end credit scene of the series, it’s safe to assume that she was able to be caught by the incubators cause she was alone and not keeping herself sane. The entire climatic witch fight is not from Kyubey’s plan to catch Madoka, but Homura trying to self destruct to save Madoka. Even though we all know it would cause more harm than good.

Watch the tearing in half scene again and pay attention to how Madoka is reacting to the act. That’s the brazen display of what kind of person Homura is. The only place you could find that is spin off mangas, and not many fans bother with them. If I were to hazard a guess on why the two endings are vastly different, I’d say that Gen Urobuchi likely didn’t notice the abusive element between the two until the higher ups wanted to make a franchise. I’d say that point since the original ending idea for Rebellion seems closer to what happened in the Original series, and Urobuchi has admitted to liking the ending they did go with.

It might sound like I hate these but seeing how it’s framed as a bad thing and there’s actually consequences in-universe, I love it. I love selfish characters that aren’t always good. I love it when they do bad things and those things actually have some form of consequence. A lot of things that are staple Homura behavior are compelling and have potential for interesting character work. It’s just on who’s writing and how they frame her that becomes an issue. She’s like a lot of characters that have this kind of discourse. Interesting design but it relies a lot more on framing and writing than some other characters.

Remember the second point I made about the criticisms? The thing the ending is demonizing is not lesbianism like many claim, it’s demonizing Homura’s creepy abuse. If they had gone with the original ending, they’d effectively be making the same mistake they made with the Original. All the things I listed for what they did in Rebellion would’ve been framed completely differently.

I would love to see Homura’s Rebellion direction go to cool interesting routes. Seeing how we have a majority of human antagonists that aren’t….the best design, I’d like to see what kind of villain she’d become. We don’t need a morally complex antagonist like Oriko, just a well written one that does her role well. If they do go the route of redemption, all I’d ask for is not to repeat the mistakes of the worst antagonists we’ve had (y’all Magia Record fans know who). I do have faith in Gen Urobuchi on making a compelling and interesting story, but he’s human and so it’s a toss up.

I know I’ve been really harsh on the fans of Homura and her, and I wanna make something clear. I don’t hate you for liking a character. I’m not saying you can’t enjoy Homura as a character, but I am saying that if you do you have to understand that she is a bad person. And that’s ok. You can understand why and how she is the way she is, and that’s great, but you can’t act like Homura is a good person cause that’s just a disrespect to the story and the character. Characters that are bad or just not good aren’t inherently badly written. It’s perfectly allowed to like a character like that. If that wasn’t true, villains and antagonists wouldn’t be as popular as they are.

#homura #analysis #magia record #madoka magica

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curly-willow · 3 years

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I decided to watch Bridgerton this weekend without really looking beyond it being a period drama. Imagine my surprise by the copious amounts of sex scenes. One of the reasons I like watching period dramas is because of the lack of sex. Granted, this has changed heavily in recent years, with many now being fraught with sex scenes. Regardless, there were a lot more than I had anticipated.

What I found to be even more surprising was how utterly devoid every single one was of any kind of intimacy. For all of them, but specifically as it relates to the main couple who are supposed to have the truest kind of love. Their story is full of tropes (faking dating and falling in love with each other, everyone sees it but them, inability to communicate clearly or effectively, potential ruin of her honor forces them to actually get married, etc.), but we are still supposed to believe them to have found true love in each other, despite the lies and betrayal involved. Which, cool. If the sex scenes didn’t exist, I could actually buy into it.

For example, in their marriage portrait scene, they are stiff and unhappy (because of the lies and betrayal and inability to communicate) until the painter tells them to be closer together and when they get closer and he touches her shoulder, they soften and actually look like they could be in love.

But the moment a sex scene happens? All understanding of love or intimacy are forgotten. And it’s like the director/writers know how lacking it is because they try to create tender moments with words, but it falls absolutely flat. One point, in particular, calls back to a previous moment of intimacy when they were still faking their courtship. Daphne is exceedingly naive about how children are conceived and, because she’s curious about it and trusts him, she asks him for explanation. His is not at all helpful for conception, but basically convinces her to masturbate for the first time. Fast forward to the sex scene, and he asks her what she thought about when she touched herself, and she of course responds, “You.”

This moment is very clearly a call back that says ‘we were trusted friends first, and now we have grown to love each other. Let us connect these two moments of intimacy to make each better than it would be alone.’ But it comes across so hollow. Instead of adding to the intimacy of the moment, it detracts from it. Instead of showcasing the strength of their bond in all its forms, it shows they were more intimate in a public conversation than they are in bed together.

That’s just ONE of the many sex scenes between them. After they start fucking, they’re like bunnies. But that’s all it ever seems to be -- fucking. Seeking that physical release. It’s utterly devoid of emotion and desire and connection. And sure, yes, arguably the lack of intimacy was done intentionally with all but the last (they are of course battling with his lies about children and her naivety about sex, and once she understands more about sex she discovers his big betrayal about not having children and so on). So sure, every sex scene before the last could conceivably be intentionally lacking intimacy because of their issues.

But the last one? When all their issues are dealt with and he’s finally agreed to start a family with her? They’re happy, communication issues resolved, and excited for their future together. They have truly achieved the love match that was what she most desired. And still, the sex scene is just empty of all emotional connection.

Basically, it all feels like someone who only looks at the surface of intimacy created this. Someone with no real understanding of that connection. Sex and intimacy are not at all the same thing.

Take the masterpiece that is Pride & Prejudice (2005) for example:

An intimate touch

An intimate moment, alone in a room full of other people

An intimate moment, after an argument

An intimate moment, a beautiful declaration

Sex is entirely absent from this film, yet still we feel the intimacy between these two. Public and private, passionate and dispassionate. Every time I watch this movie, I get shivers at his second declaration. Watching their relationship change and grow, you see the progress of intimacy. From the first seedling planted to the final expression. Sex is not a requirement for us to see this kind of relationship develop.

But, so too can intimate sex exist without having the characters falling in love. The first scene that comes to mind is from Supernatural.

This gif doesn’t encompass the whole scene, but you can watch it here. The sex part starts at 2.13.

But, for those who aren’t aware, Dean and Anna have known each other at this point for like a day, maybe two. She’s discovered she’s actually an angel who ripped out her grace and fell to Earth, and gets all the memories that come with the knowledge. Earlier in the episode, they discuss the merits and the pitfalls of being human. Before initiating sex, she brings up his experiences in hell.

There’s plenty of parallels -- she fell from heaven and he rose from hell for one. Hell, even the dialogue is a direct parallel (Anna saying ”I don’t deserve to be saved”/Cas in an earlier episode saying to Dean, “You don’t think you deserved to be saved”) -- that pull them together. Their connection is forged swiftly.

There’s a lot of emotion being thrown around here, despite these two having only just met. They’re practically bleeding it.

No, they aren’t in love. Nowhere close to it, in fact. There was no “love at first sight” nonsense applied to them. From dialogue to character parallels, they are strung together, but in no way is this supposed to be portrayed as some sort of “making love” sex. It’s just sex. Just release. Just one last moment of pleasure before they die.

Yet this scene, which shows less of the actual sex act than what Bridgerton does, displays a great deal of intimacy. She places her hand on the hand print scar on his arm, the omnipresent reminder of the horrors of hell*, and it says, ‘i know what you have suffered, what you have done, and i want you anyways’ and he knows the she means it.

There is an understanding that exists between them in this moment. This is a furthering of the connection previously established. It’s not fucking, it’s not animalistic. It’s soft and tender and filled with emotion and connection. It’s two people seeking to bring the other pleasure, not two people just wanting to get off.

Bridgerton misses this in it’s sex scenes - emotion, connection - and, for me, thus destroys any belief that they understand what it is they are trying to present to their audience. It’s difficult to believe that two people who are a “true love match” and interested in sex with each other could have such lacking, empty sex.

All of this basically to say the intimacy and sex are not the same thing. When the storyteller believes that they are (or that sex shows a greater intimacy than anything else), they will destroy all the hard work they put into developing a strong relationship.

*I do think this interpretation changes as he grows closer to Cas but that at this point it just reminds him of his time in hell.

#ive finally got the energy to put into words my thoughts on some movies and shows so im finally going to do it for once #bridgerton #spoilers #supernatural #pride and prejudice #intimacy vs sex #mine

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ammi104 · 4 years

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Any favourite fics with Shouji?

Oooh boyyy.. See, the thing with Shouji is that there aren’t a lot of fics that feature him as the main character. And because he’s such an enshrouded individual, some writers who actually have him as the protagonist within their stories tend to portray his character in a way that’s deviated from what the original series delivers. So I have a hard time finding good fics about him that both abide by the original concepts, yet remain loyal to the writers’ own unique depictions, which are traits I look most often on. But good Shouji fics are worth all the hard searching. It saddens me on how some are underrated, as they didn’t seem to get much attention like hits or kudos (note that all my favorite fics with Shouji are from the site “Archive of Our Own”), so I’m really glad I could talk about this. Anyways, let’s cut to the chase, shall we? >ㅅ<9 Here are my 5 favorite Shouji-centric fics!

“Masks” by Aglo - This is a character study fic, the main topic of the story being quirk prejudice against heteromorphs. I really like how the fic displays discrimination in a realistic way, to the point where it mirrors the appearance-based prejudice that exist within our own world. The narration is in first person, so it vividly conveys a lot of Shouji’s inner voice and thought to the readers, plus hinting tangibly of his belief, motivation, and intention whilst pursuing the “hero’s path” within the society that stigmatizes him. The author does an excellent job implying within their story with references of Shouji’s character concept, such as the fact that he began wearing his mask after making a child cry with it and there being prejudice within his hometown (Fukuoka), plus referencing Horikoshi’s note beside a Shouji sketch stating that “a hero must not inspire fear”. The fic in general is quite critical on society’s prejudice and really shows well the perspective of heteromorphs on this issue, which is always a topic I love knowing more of. I read this whenever I want to further understand Shouji and find closer connection to him, as the fic really does well in making me sympathize with Shouji (perhaps even empathize), due to how the depiction of his character seem rather “realistic” and “human”.

“One Week in Kyushu” by ZeroUnitRGB - This is probably my first Shouji x Tokoyami fic, as is the reason why I ended up liking the ship. This fic has a slower pacing, the two characters slowly developing a bond throughout the course of seven chapters. The narration mainly focuses on Tokoyami’s perspective, but as the two get along, it opens up more on Shouji’s secrets. The build-up is really intriguing and the author does well one manipulating mood through the depiction of vivid tone that’re dependent on the characters’ feelings. As the fic focuses more on “emotion” than “action”, I like reading this whenever I want my attention to seep into the character-based story world, as I imagine the scenarios while reading.

“A Hero for a Villain” by ZeroUnitRGB - Another character study fic I enjoy reading. It’s one of the shorter ones (3000 words), but due to how short and straightforward it is through superb usage of literary devices, such as the stream of consciousness, I think I’ve read this most often before going to sleep. As I’ve mentioned before, I REALLY love the issue of mutant prejudice in association to the MHA world, as well as favoring the characters that have fallen victim to it. And this fic specifically shows the interaction between Shouji and Chimera, a villain from the movie “My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising”. Shouji and Chimera, two people who’ve suffered prejudice from society that ended up in different paths.. The poignancy of juxtaposing the two characters that’re alike yet different is something I always found favor of seeing. I have high appreciation for this fic because it’s one of the earliest stories I’ve read about in regard with the topic of quirk prejudice. It granted me a new perspective on Shouji’s character and his potential for growth as a hero.

“The Maiden and the Monster” by Luneth - It’s a “Beauty and the Beast AU” fic which handles a rare ship: Shouji x Shiozaki. The main concepts are derived from the Disney movie, but some are altered to match with the MHA characters that’re featured within the story. The concepts are interesting and the ideas are enchanting. Also, the author does a really good job displaying the characters in a way that’s loyal to the original series. The narration is really expressive, the dialogues are realistic, and the paralinguistic features that depict the traits of the characters are likely and accurate in the comical sense of MHA (I still wheeze at the concept of Iida being a roomba X’D). This fic is probably one of the more wholesome and adorable ones; I smile every time I reread them huehue...<3

“Wisdom Teeth” by Luneth - This is an extremely goofy fic looooool. So it’s basically a slice of life fic, where Shouji’s being all drowsy and clumsy after his wisdom teeth removal. What makes it even more hilarious is that two characters that take care of him are Iida and Tokoyami; their dramatic personalities being reflected through their reaction to Shouji makes it even better *lmbo*. The fic contains lots of humor within both the narration and dialogue, so I really enjoy reading this whenever I wanna feel lighthearted or entertained with cuteness >w<

And that’s it! Those are my 5 favorite fics with Shouji. Wow, uh.. seems like I got a little excited here;;; Props to you if you actually stuck around till the end loool Xd Hope this answers your question, Anon! (now will you excuse me, Imma head out and reread all these lovable fics from the start -w-)

#ask #anonymous #anon #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #shouji mezou #shoji mezo #mezo shoji #mha fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #shoutoko #shoubara #masks #one week in kyushu #a hero for a villain #the maiden and the monster #wisdom teeth

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

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RWBY Recap: Volume 6 Episode 9 “Lost”

Welcome to Volume 6, Episode 9 where “Lost” truly encompasses all of my feelings today! Sorry for the late recap, but let’s not waste anymore time.

We open on Emerald and Mercury as they hang out in Salem’s palace, the woman in question nowhere to be found. She’s probably still off seething over Ozpin’s latest reincarnation. There’s some pretty heavy symbolism attached to how each character navigates the room: Mercury energetic and full of purpose as he trains in the open space; Emerald static and curled in on herself on the floor. She admits that she hates “being in the dark like this” and Mercury agrees. Cinder was annoying, but at least she kept them both filled in.

Of course she did, because Cinder craves power in a way Salem doesn’t. She wants a particular type of submission tied up in validation. Qrow reminds us in Volume Four that Salem keeps to the sidelines. She’s—to borrow our Wizard of Oz vernacular—the man behind the curtain, happy to pull strings that lead to everyone pointing accusingly at one another, with no inkling that someone more powerful is really to blame. Can we picture Cinder laying out plans that didn’t result in her taking credit for the plot? I can’t. She needs to be in the thick of things, monologuing her victories, and by extension she has a closer relationship with her pawns than Salem ever will, by pure necessity. Cinder would have eaten up the kind of attention from Tyrian that Salem brushes aside unless acknowledging it directly suits her purpose. It’s that faux intimacy that’s convinced Emerald they have a real connection.

With these kinds of thoughts on her mind, Emerald asks Mercury why he bothered to come with them all those years ago. He reveals that his father was an assassin, trained him to be the same, and the night he manages to kill him a group comes along that just happens to need his particular type of expertise? “Just felt like it was meant to be.”

Emerald: “That’s it?”

I agree. Though Mercury is by far the more convinced of the two, he’s still demonstrating the same lack of clear convictions that our heroes have been grappling with. You signed your life over to this war because a bunch of strangers happened to be passing by? That sort of coincidental justification can’t sustain itself. Even Pyrrha’s firm belief in destiny grew shaky once she was faced with a truly difficult decision and Mercury has had pretty smooth sailing lately, especially compared to the life he had with his father. He beat up a bookseller, framed Yang, helped destroy Beacon, had a minor role at the Haven battle, and has been hanging in the palace ever since. He’s actually been doing pretty well, especially since losing Cinder is no real blow to him, so why wouldn’t he think he made the right choice to impulsively follow her and Emerald when they met? The problem is, these victories won’t last. What’s Mercury going to do when his “it just felt like it was meant to be” collides head on with a truly difficult situation… like oh, say, having Salem turn that anger on him as an abuse survivor? As others have already pointed out, Mercury was pretty damn spooked by her reaction to the news about Oz and saw it coming far faster than the other characters. One of these days he’s going to realize that it’s not going to be continuous smooth sailing to Salem’s new world where he’s a top dog no one can touch. Then he’ll have a choice to make.

Of course, Tyrian is already anticipating that. Sometimes it doesn’t matter whether you ever discover those true convictions. Even if Mercury some day realizes he wants to get out from underneath Salem’s thumb, good luck with that. Hello, difference between her and Ozpin. Ozpin let’s people leave, no matter the cost to himself and the war effort. I doubt Salem provides such luxuries.

Emerald tries to get Mercury to understand how her motivations were tied up entirely with Cinder: “[She] was the only family I ever had. She cared about me…” Mercury interrupts with the cruel truth that no, she doesn’t care about either of them, and Emerald is so enraged that she attacks.

You can easily see her heart isn’t in it though. In a nice parallel to Oscar’s line at the end of the episode, she’s been worrying about the exact same stuff. After her initial attack Emerald is barely keeping her fists up and backs off as Mercury starts advancing on her.

He brings up an interesting conundrum: is it worse to have been denied the love of a parent, or to experience the hatred of another? Of course, the truth is that both are horrendous, but Mercury is clearly of the mind that his trauma trumps Emerald’s. Surprisingly calm while also housing great fury, he reveals that some semblances can apparently steal others. At least I’m assuming this power came from his father’s own semblance. Whatever it was (omg tell us lol) apparently made Mercury “weak” in his eyes and after taking it he said he could get it back when he proved he was “strong.” Well, Mercury proved his strength by killing his father, but he didn’t get his semblance back. So it apparently doesn’t revert back after death.

Before things can get anymore heated Tyrian sneaks creepily out of the shadows. His usual entrance. The highlight of his hastily justified visit—just saying goodbye!—is the reveal of his new tail. Did he have the rest of his tail removed? I’m assuming that only the end is new with the rest of his tail just encased in that armor. Later we can clearly see a drop of his poison on the tip (along with the purple visible on the underside) so I suspect in order to create an apparatus that could draw it out again they’d have to keep the rest of the limb. Regardless, it’s too bad for our heroes. It looked like Ruby had done some permanent damage back in Volume Four.

I’m actually rather fascinated by how RWBY treats its disabled characters. There’s a very heavy focus on the psychological trauma as opposed to the physical. Meaning, once the character “gets over” the injury (I use that awful phrase not literally, but just to describe the moment when the arc focused on their injury is complete and the narrative needs to move on) the focus then segues to how much stronger they are now. Again, physically if not mentally. Mercury’s legs are now more powerful than the average human’s, as is half of James’s body, Yang’s arm, Tyrian seems to be able to do everything he previously could with his tail, except now it won’t be so easy to slice through it with a scythe. We also get moments where the act of being disabled is the factor that tips the scales: such as when Yang detaches her arm to get into the vault. On the one hand this is an incredibly positive and potentially inspiring trend. On the other hand real life disabilities sometimes still suck in a way that really isn’t portrayed here, especially since everyone has access advanced tech to “fix” the problem. Yang is right. There’s a part of her missing that she’ll never get back, but that doesn’t change the fact that her new arm is portrayed as more powerful and versatile than her original could ever hope to be. Putting aside the trauma of losing it for a moment, the fact that she’s missing an arm is itself no longer presented as a disability.

I’d actually like to see more moments where the tech isn’t portrayed as such an easy fix: Someone doesn’t have the money to get fancy Atlas stuff, Yang’s arm breaks down in the middle of a fight, whatever dispenses Tyrian’s poison jams up, someone with a tech or metal-based semblance gets a huge advantage when they realize a bunch of the allies are reliant on metal limbs, etc. AKA, more like Fullmetal Alchemist where disabilities are both an asset (I always have a weapon on hand!) as well as a hindrance (…that often gets destroyed) depending on the situation. I think the closest we get is with Maria. Losing color meant that she didn’t pick up on Ruby’s eyes until the very last moment, putting them in more danger. Beyond that she says her specs need a tuneup, but so far we haven’t seen any downsides to not getting them upgraded.

ANYWAY. I should get back to the actual episode…

Tyrian points out that Mercury is too afraid to leave the pain and violence that he’s always known and Mercury gives the expected line that Tyrian doesn’t know anything about him. Makes me wonder what Tyrian’s past was like and why this conversation out of them all would bring out his more philosophical side.

We see more of Emerald’s need to hang onto what little family she has left. Despite attacking Mercury just moments before she lets out a furious, “Hey!” when Tyrian pins him and uses “we” when asking whether they’re just supposed to leave, despite the fact that Mercury has expressed zero interest in considering that option. Emerald considers them a set and, like with Cinder, is projecting more love than might actually be there. She expects that if she leaves, Mercury will follow.

Boy, that might be another kick in the teeth if it ever came down to it…

Tyrian gets his line about how they should love what they do… but ultimately you don’t have much of a choice. Not when Salem is involved. Watts appears reeeeeal far back to let him know it’s time to leave for Atlas.

Could you be more dramatic?

With the ominous knowledge that literally every semi-notable character is heading to Atlas, we cut to JNR looking for Oscar. Jaune gets some excellent lines here:

“This is all my fault. I overreacted…he didn’t do anything wrong.”

Damn straight. Most of the fandom was willing to absolve Jaune the moment he showed a guilty look, but in this volume particularly looking guilty isn’t the same thing as an apology and a change in behavior. Qrow hasn’t apologized to the group yet. The group hasn’t apologized to Ozpin. There’s been a lot of shots of people looking regretful, but not doing much to act on that regret. Given this theme I wouldn’t have been surprised if Jaune hung onto his anger and tried to justify his reaction… but he didn’t and I’m so glad to see this glimmer of maturity, especially coming from one of the more violent characters this volume. He’s doing everything right here: being frank about his mistakes and responsibility, implying that it won’t happen again, apologizing the moment he sees Oscar. Good job, Jaune.

We see how with a few hours to calm down JNR is totally on board with continuing the mission. They’re concerned about what they’ll do, not whether they’ll do anything at all. “It’s going to be a lot harder than we thought” implies that they’ll be continuing the fight and Nora and Ren are back to their endlessly optimistic selves. Honestly… while I’m glad to see this characterization in general, it feels cheap after last episode. As said, RT has given everyone an identical reaction to the information about Salem, undermining their individual temperaments and outlooks, all so we can build up this hatred of Ozpin. But if you’re going to give characters unlikely reactions (like Nora going full pessimism) at least commit to it. By skipping over their thought process and discussion, by jumping straight back to, ‘Of course we’ll fight!’ it paints their original reactions as inauthentic. Nora isn’t really doubting whether all their work meant something, Ren isn’t really mad at the rest of the group, Jaune doesn’t really think Ozpin has taken over Oscar—those emotions were just tools to fuel the drama of one scene. And yeah, some people will read that as a legitimate response to getting horrifying news. I personally don’t. That scene could have achieved everything it needed to without making JNR a carbon-copy of RWBY in their grief.

We also get another example of how the team is happy to keep secrets when it serves their own purposes—“I know, I know. Top secret”—and how less stock they put in the traditional huntsmen lifestyle now. Saphron says that if they’re not sure what to do they can always get their licenses and help out in Argus. “There’s a lot of good you can do here” and this is juxtaposed with images of safe and smiling people who only have that happiness because of the everyday huntsmen doing their work. Saphron points out that they don’t have to be the ones to complete this mission and “it’s not the only mission that needs doing.” She doesn’t have any of the details… but she’s right. Someone needs to get the relic to safety, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be 10+ people. If anyone has doubts about continuing the fight against Salem specifically, now’s the time to bow out, especially since not being committed is dangerous to everyone else. It’s what Ozpin said back in Volume 5: abstaining isn’t anything to be ashamed of, but you’ll reach a point where you can’t retreat.

This suggestion is brushed off though and I don’t think it’s because JNR has some inspiring drive to face Salem no matter the cost. It’s because everything else still feels ‘useless.’ It’s hard to learn about the Big Bad and then go back to fighting the small fry, even though that’s primarily what keeps Salem at bay. Fighting grimm, bandits, her subordinates, promoting peace… these are the things that keep her from getting a foothold. JNR may be willing to continue to Atlas, but they haven’t quite acknowledged yet that this war doesn’t always have straight-forward quests for them, the heroes, to complete. Secure the relic! Kill Salem! I mean this will never happen because it’s a show and we need plot, but in-world it’s totally possible that after Atlas the thing to do is just the sort of stuff Saphron suggests. Salem’s plans are usually years in the making and we can’t go kill her… so I guess all we can do now is go back to being just huntsmen.

I hope RWBY addresses this pseudo-superiority that’s developing; the idea that their group always has to be on The Mission To Save The World. I just want someone to acknowledge again that keeping magical relics safe is important… but so is, say, saving a random village from their geist grimm. The world needs both.

Which brings us to Pyrrha.

(Ah, look at that Volume 1 opening callback.)

Ren and Nora try to cheer Jaune up with drinks at a cafe (coffee! shop! a! u!) but he hangs back on a bench. Everyone’s heart rips out when a familiar leaf drifts by and lead’s Jaune to Pyrrha’s statue…

Let me be clear here. I love the emotion of this scene. I love that JNR finally got to have this conversation. The only thing I don’t love is how heavily it pushes the idea that it’s noble to die even when you didn’t have to, even when it accomplishes precisely nothing.

Woman: “[Pyrrha] understood that she had a responsibility to try… I don’t think she would regret her choice, because a huntress would understand that there really wasn’t a choice to make. And a huntress was what she’d always wanted to be.”

This viewpoint makes sense for whoever this woman is, Pyrrha’s mom, her older sister, etc. Of course that’s how she’s going to rationalize the tragedy, especially when she presumably doesn’t know the details of Pyrrha’s death. I truly doubt anyone from Beacon told her Pyrrha went off after someone who she knew she’d lose against and died uselessly. But JNR and the narrative itself? They can afford to be more critical.

Of course there was a choice to make. If Pyrrha was here she SHOULD regret the choice she made! There was no reason for Pyrrha to die. She didn’t die out of ignorance by underestimating her enemy. She didn’t die to save someone else’s life. She didn’t die to buy someone time. RWBY was careful to make sure that Pyrrha’s death served absolutely no purpose and has brought only hardship to those around her. That was her fatal flaw—fighting for the sake of fighting—and Ruby at least recognizes this as something they need to learn from. JNR? Apparently not. They parrot the woman’s words and talk about how they “have to try,” clearly conflating Pyrrha’s situation with Salem’s immortality, but they’re in no way the same thing. They actually don’t have a choice when it comes to Salem because the only other option here is death/enslavement for all of humanity. You know what other choice Pyrrha had though? Listening to her headmaster, not throwing her life away, sparing her friends their grief, and living to do more good later on. I’m used to the fandom endlessly twisting Pyrrha’s death into something inevitable (Ozpin manipulated her!) or something purely noble (she was so close to beating Cinder!), but I didn’t expect the show to do the same thing. It’s a disservice to her character to pretend that she didn’t have any faults… and that one of those faults got her killed.

So yeah. The lessons in general are important ones, just not when they’re applied to this specific context. Regardless, it solidifies their feelings that they’ll continue on to Atlas and after some more apologies from Jaune for being a “terrible leader” and friend, they decide to head back to the house. Jaune takes one more look at Pyrrha’s statue with an airship flying overhead, a very non-romantic choice that won’t make sense until the end of the episode.

After all that emotional upheaval we cut to Ruby. Looking like this:

This child is so fucking done.

I suppose the one silver lining is that Qrow managed to make it back to the house before he passed out? Yang comments that she’s “never seen him this bad” as these poor kids drag him back onto his feet. As Ruby angrily fills him in about Oscar being missing Jaune goes, “Don’t worry. We’re not going to Atlas without him.”

Ruby: “We? :D”

As everyone basks in their newfound determination, the door opens to shed some literal light on them all. Our farm boy is there, safe, sound, and sporting new digs.

Oscar: “Oh. I was wondering when you’d get back.”

I know I joked last time about how Oscar probably just went for a walk since everyone agreed to take time to themselves, but RT could have given us some indication of where he went, what he did (besides shopping), what he thought… basically anything that would show us some actual development, rather than having it all happen off screen. Like Nora, Ren, and Jaune suddenly 100% on board after their pessimism last episode, we completely skip over Oscar’s thought process. We don’t get to see how he went from this

to this.

The fact that this time skip proceeds Jaune’s apology makes it a highly uncomfortable scene—for me at least. Because Oscar went from flinching in his company to making them all dinner and interrupting Jaune before he can even finish, claiming it’s fine because he’s had the same worries. In short, it feels like Oscar is the one apologizing here because we haven’t gotten any insight into what else might explain this sudden mood change. He’s a “like minded” soul to Ozpin though and Ozpin blames himself for everything. So Oscar watches how no one gives a damn if he’s okay after Jaune assaults him and, instead of being angry at them for that, makes everyone casserole with the hope that they’ll be pleased with that gesture. He doesn’t let Jaune take full responsibility for his actions or complete his apology because Oscar thinks that reaction was justified. Oscar implicitly apologizes for making them worry all day even though he had every right to leave. He talks about himself like he’s dying—“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be me”—and instead of being upset about that anymore he says that he’s going to help others with “whatever time I have left.”

Oscar is doing exactly what Ozpin did a few episodes ago, trying to please those around him instead of calling them out on their shitty behavior. For Ozpin it was giving them a life without him; for Oscar it’s playing the supportive outsider who’s determined to not be a burden. He can’t help that he’s merging with Ozpin, but he can be better prepared for their next battle (combat gear), take care of little things he has control over (dinner), and accept their apologies instantly with a smile. He’s not giving them any reason to hate him anymore than he thinks they already do.

If this is at all a reflection of how Ozpin’s comeback will go, it’s not a good sign in my opinion. I’m still worried that Ozpin will be the one apologizing and will just brush off any half-hearted apologies he gets in turn.

Of course, a big portion of the fandom is theorizing that this isn’t Oscar at all, but rather Ozpin controlling him. I’m not buying that theory right now. Mostly because Ozpin wouldn’t do that. We just watched Jaune lose it because he thought Ozpin might be tricking them by pretending to be Oscar…so Ozpin’s gonna turn around and do exactly that? And to what purpose? Take back the relic from Ruby? If he could hear during his self-imposed isolation then he knows that RWBY is still determined to get to Atlas. If he couldn’t then he woke up in Argus and can infer the same thing. It’s foolish to go off on his own in a body that, to be frank, is still barely trained, especially when time has proven that it takes a team to make it out there. The only way I might buy this is if Ozpin thinks he’s sparing everyone by taking the relic himself; unburdening them from the mission.

I can see why people are suspicious. Oscar is indeed acting off, though I attribute that to the fact that, again, he’s clearly rattled by what happened and is trying not to show it. I can also kinda see why people would be suspicious of him buying combat gear now—he’s planning to go off on his own!—but this was also just a decent time for him to get an outfit change. Plus he needs combat gear regardless of whether he’s with the group or not.

In the end, believing that this is Ozpin in control here is rooted in the fandom’s belief that Ozpin is a horrible manipulator who would turn around and do all the things Jaune just accused him of. If this ends up being the case I’d be incredibly disappointed in RT, because this goes against so much of Ozpin’s core characterization. Until it’s actually proven, this isn’t a theory I’m subscribing to.

With Oscar’s Jaune’s apologies out of the way Qrow tries to leave and Ruby finally loses her temper, snapping that he can at least sit with them. Qrow is once again entirely dismissive of Ruby. He sarcastically says how he “wouldn’t want to get in the way of your celebration,” callously brushes off whatever Oscar and the group apparently made up about, and reiterates that they don’t have a plan. Hell, he doesn’t even know that JNR has learned about Salem and he clearly doesn’t care. Jaune tries to diffuse the situation by mentioning that he has thought of a plan... though it’s the “no going back” kind.

Steal an airship. Please look at everyone’s horrified reactions. Except for Nora.

She’s so proud!!

Why the shock though? Objectively speaking this group has never cared much for laws or rules. Ruby and Yang come from a family with bandits in it. Blake was a member of a terrorist group. Ren and Nora clearly had to steal in order to survive. Jaune got into Beacon with forged transcripts. They happily let Ozpin bend the rules for them at school. They never reported all the illegal activity of the White Fang. They then started acting as huntsmen despite not having licenses. Weiss snuck out of her own Kingdom as cargo. And they just straight up lied to a military figure to try and cross the boarder. Like I get that stealing a ship is a bit bigger than this other stuff (with the exception, perhaps, of Jaune’s transcripts and Blake’s past), but it’s not like this is a group of totally law-abiding citizens. They’ve been working outside of the Kingdoms’ laws for a rather long time now.

It’s the perfect excuse for Qrow though and he tells them to drop it. There’s a clear visual divide between him on the stairs and everyone else below, reinforced when Ruby says that she wants to “hear [Jaune] out.”

Interesting choice of words. Jaune just admitted that ‘steal an airship’ is all he’s got. There isn’t anything more to hear out. Ruby is just making it very clear who she’s siding with.

She says she knows Qrow is worried for them and thinks it’s all hopeless, but “right now I don’t really care what you think.”

To quote the popular meme, you can pinpoint the exact moment his heart breaks!

Needed to be said though.

However then… then. Oh boy. Then Ruby spouts this absolute nonsense about how the kids have never needed adults and definitely don’t need them now.

“We’ve been in tough situations before and we didn’t need an adult to come save us or tell us what to do. We did it our way.”

I’m sorry, Ruby. When the hell was this?? Was it when you tried to take on the White Fang by yourself instead of providing Ozpin with information that might have helped him figure out Salem’s plan? Or was it when an experienced huntsmen had to come save you with your team when you went off alone at Mountain Glenn? Was it when the adults did just as much work to win the battle of Beacon as you? How about when you were traveling to Haven and didn’t have any grimm to deal with because the adult was following behind and taking care of them all, then saved you from being kidnapped? Was it when Ozpin trained you for weeks and finally gave you a plan to follow? Or was it two days ago when Maria’s experience literally saved you all from certain death?

To say nothing of the reverse. It’s because of the kids’s actions that they’re in this position in the first place. It’s because Ruby went and used a question that Ozpin isn’t around to help them anymore, to help recognize the Apathy for what it was, to gain them entrance across the boarder. Kids thinking they know best is precisely what started all this nonsense.

But yeah. Apparently there’s no remorse for how they treated Ozpin yet. Rather than regretting their inhumane treatment now that they’ve had time to cool off, they’ve settled on a ‘Who needs him anyway?’ mentality.

This viewpoint came totally out of left field and I honestly hate it. Everything from the rousing shots of everyone’s smug expressions—Yeah! Bonding over how much we don’t need you!—to Maria cheering them on, I absolutely hated it. Ruby isn’t mad at adults, she’s mad specifically at Qrow and his drinking. She could have easily called him out on his shit (something that needs doing) without charging her team up with the misguided idea that they’ve somehow been surviving without adults when they haven’t. We could have re-asserted Ruby’s convictions to keep fighting without throwing all her 20yo+ allies under the bus. Apparently they’ve learned little from their impulsive decisions this volume.

However, RWBY is acknowledging a common issue with child protagonists: how do you make them the star of the show when presumably adults should be fighting in their stead? There are a couple ways to get around this:

Adults are available but we don’t trust them (Harry’s abuse in Harry Potter)

Adults are around but are fundamentally useless (HP again - Harry is brushed off by McGonagall in the first book, dealing with evil or idiotic DADA instructors, etc.)

Adults are forced to hand over the reigns to kids (any story with a Chosen One plot)

Adults might want to help but can’t for reasons outside of their control (they all died off, they’re hypnotized like the parents in It, etc.)

The problem with RWBY is that adults have always and will always be an integral part of the plot. The narrative hasn’t given Ruby a distrust of authority figures (she grew up with a loving father and clearly respected her instructors), it hasn’t painted her as Remnant’s inevitable savior (in-world at least. We as the audience know she’s the primary protagonist, but to the cast she’s only a little special because of her silver eyes), it hasn’t forcibly removed adults from the battlefield, and it hasn’t characterized them as useless. Yes, RWBYJNR has had some of their faith undermined given Ozpin’s fall from grace and Qrow’s drinking, but those are balanced out by Maria’s endless help and the Cotta-Arc family giving them sanctuary. RWBY is suddenly trying to push a YA-esque ‘kids know best’ viewpoint without doing any of the work to justify that. As an adult watching this show, that scene didn’t make me go

like I think it was supposed to. It just reinforced that they are, in fact, kids. Literally. Only kids look at adults and go, “We don’t need you! We’d be just fine on our own!” I mean yeah, as semi-trained huntsmen they’d probably survive, but that’s not what Ruby is saying. She’s taking her frustration with Qrow’s individual problem and twisting that into a failing of everyone who’s not her age... while standing next to the adult who saved her life and finally explained silver eyes, while her hosts finish making her dinner, in the house they’ll all be sleeping in tonight, while prepping a mission that hinges on getting to Ironwood. Sure, Ruby. Your way doesn’t rely on adults at all.

God I hope this view was just a one-time thing that I can forget ever happened. If Ruby’s leadership gets tied up in a kids vs. adults mentality the rest of this volume is going to be very uncomfortable to watch. Maria’s,“Looks like you didn’t give her enough credit either!” is great, just not in this particular context. A lot like Oscar’s kindness and JNR’s determination to “try.” This episode was filled with things I wanted to see, but then they all got twisted in ways I never expected—and largely don’t like.

Oh well. I’m gonna hang onto Oscar’s BAMF new nutcracker outfit and that glorious image of the gang prepping to dog-pile on him.

Until next week!

Other Details of Note

I’ll admit, I did like the apparent threat behind Tyrian’s goodbye while he had his tail poised over Mercury’s face. He’s good at messing with people.

Nora’s gasp when she sees Pyrrha’s statue : (

But she still got Jaune a drink! :D

I’m wondering now why Pyrrha chose Beacon over Haven…

Terra freaking out about the neighbors was pretty hilarious.

Interesting that Ruby says, “We got this far without Oz.” Normally I’d be thrilled to see her treating him as a peer with a nickname, but considering that the rest of the speech is about how they don’t need adults, it feels more like a dig. He was still “Professor” after Jinn’s vision. Now that she’s decided he’s useless? No more respectful titles.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #mymetas

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nottskyler · 5 years

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Controversial Post

I’ve run into issue voicing my opinions before, but this is my blog and I’m going to voice my opinions here and now. I hope to not turn people away from following but to open a civil discussion on how we handle inconsistencies in how people view the world.

One of the things that really turned me away from the trans crowd and kept me from realizing I was trans was their denial of voyeurism in women’s restrooms by people who may or may not be male. They all go around and say the “man dressed as a woman to spy on women going to the bathroom was a myth made up by the anti-trans crowd!” but that is about as true as an author saying she wrote a half-black, half-Polynesian bisexual but that person doesn’t actually exist in the real world (I bet there are plenty who fit that description but just because the author hasn’t met them doesn’t mean that they don’t exist!). It happens and a simple google search will get you reports of police records about people who were arrested for this behavior, and I bet this is like 1% of actual incidents because it happened to me.

I was a preteen in a mall bathroom and I distinctly remember someone dressed oddly in super baggy clothes (something that portrayed someone dressed poorly as a woman because it was a dress or skirt or something that dragged on the ground), walking slowly past the bathroom stalls, breathing heavy with their purse up partially concealing a flip phone which I could see because whatever this was stopped at the crack in my stall and I pulled my shirt down and waited for them to disappear before leaving the bathroom. I didn’t see enough to know if it was a *real* woman or a *fake* woman or anything. I was uncomfortable and the person who did it was wrong and bad. That is all that mattered. Then I grow up and the pro-trans crowd tries to defend their position in the bathroom debate by saying my experience is invalid because trans-women would do no harm.

There is so much to dissect in this.

Let’s start with the crime. Voyeurism is wrong whether it is a cis woman doing it to cis women, or a man dressed as a women to get into the woman’s bathroom to do it, or if it is a trans woman who does it. It doesn’t matter who is doing it, it is wrong and a crime. Instead of saying that it doesn’t happen, the pro-trans crowd should’ve reflected that this has a larger implication and danger to trans people than it does to cis people because voyeurism will out them in a situation they didn’t want to be outed and potentially put the trans person in a dangerous situation. Isn’t this the crime trans people claim when people spy on them in the restroom stall because they aren’t sure if they are cis? Aren’t they victims of the same crime? Why go about denying real experiences because they could potentially be false when you could realize the implications it would’ve had if I had been a trans woman instead of a child who didn’t know he was a trans man? I know the real solution is to get bathroom stalls that don’t have two-three inch gaps between the door and the walls of the stall, but why argue against people’s experiences instead of talking about how that crime poses a threat to the same group you are trying to protect?

Now let’s talk about the <3 uwu <3 trans women would never commit a crime mentality. What the-?! Why would you ever claim a large group that has nothing to do with choices or personal morals would do no wrong? I wouldn’t even claim that a group that technically have the same morals would do no wrong. I know mormon congregations attract con-men like rats brought the plague. I know Bishops and other people in authority in the Church can and have committed terrible crimes. I would never say, “Trust this person because they are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. I know that groups contain good people, bad people, and sheep. If I tried to say that trans men would do no wrong, I would be wrong because one was involved in a school shooting this year. Trans women are women who were likely raised as boys who aren’t taught the same “you can’t do anything” that girls get from birth and cis women still commit terrible crimes with that upbringing.

This entire argument that trans women are allowed in women’s restrooms because men don’t dress as women to commit voyeurism was built on a house of cards. It is akin to saying men can’t be raped while arguing that we need to listen to rape victims. Crimes happen. Yes, most trans women aren’t criminals entering bathrooms to commit voyeurism and rape (in fact 99.99% are likely not intending on committing a crime ever in their life), but by denying the existence of this “man dressed as women committing crime in female bathroom” they are denying the experience of the people who have had that happen to them and the people who they have told. It resonated, not because it was a pretty lie but because it was the experience of people (and if a man told the lie, it was likely something he considered which means somewhere else a man actually did it).

The bathroom debate could argue all day long about other matters, but in the end the real solution is to create bathrooms where voyeurism isn’t easy as walking by and to understand the stages of trauma with sexual assault and rape so that when they go into the stage of denial they aren’t written off as a wacko filing a false claim. Also, give gender-neutral bathroom options if you don’t want visibly trans people in your bathroom. Those of us who don’t pass would gladly use those than play the guess which gender we’ll be perceived as when we enter the bathroom by people who may or may not be in there.

Anyway, we need to listen and understand the groups who seemingly oppose us because that is what we expect them to do for us. We just think we are right and this side we are on is right because the other people are mean and won’t listen to us and our experiences...but the problem is both sides are doing this. The only time we can bridge the gap between us is if we listen to them and their concerns, only then will they be interested in our experiences and be willing to listen. You know the principles about missionary work we are taught in the Church? Those apply to all matters where you want to change someone’s belief.

No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. Not that I’m complaining about the length of my self-discovery timeline, but I would’ve been more open to listening to these experiences sooner if something I had experienced wasn’t written off as a lie. Everyone just wants to be heard and validated. If we applied that in the political debate arena, we would have no issues being friends with people who think differently. We would even progress as a society because these differing opinions would begin to meld together into new differing ideas that would help us come closer to a real solution. Stop judging and being self-righteous and listen. Someone has to break the cycle and the only person who you can control is you.

#TW: voyeurism #trans #bathroom myth #busted

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themagnificentartofshipping · 6 years

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Im planning on rewatching Once Upon a Time, mostly to watch Emma and Hook fall in love again. Also just to help me realize when exactly I stopped liking certain characters and what has changed in the way i see things now with the series being basically completely over and it being a few years. I might make posts about it, I’m not sure. I’m going to on this, have the opinions i have now prior to rewatching. That will be under the cut because you might not care and some of it is reference for me.

Season 1:Its a great opening for the show. I really enjoyed Regina as the villain and her and Emma’s antagonistic dynamic was great. Emma learning about Henry and their blossoming relationship was the cutest and so great. I also loved the friendship between Emma and Mary Margaret. Had some great quotes. Loved the introduction to the characters and how they are connected to each other. I WILL NEVER GET OVER GRAHAM’S DEATH!!!! It hurt me so much and Regina’s reasoning for killing him was such bullshit. The curse breaking was pretty great. The duality between the Enchanted Forest stories and the Storybrooke ones was very well done and well balanced which i missed in later seasons.

Season 2: I loved this season mostly cause we meet Hook but also because it just continues the storyline nicely. Seeing everyone deal with the aftermath of the curse breaking was good. Emma and the Charmings awkwardly trying to figure out how to do the family thing was endearing. I still liked Regina’s character, the conflict she had in this season made sense and I liked it. Cora was very interesting in this season. Seeing Rumple’s actual reason for using the curse(finding his son) was nice. I got to see more Bae which I liked. Backstory and flashbacks were used well. Seeing Emma’s past was great. The addition of characters in this season felt organic and just fit really well. And Mulan is a queen, i love her so much. Emma being in the enchanted forest. Great set up for the next season and Neverland. I love Belle so seeing more of her was great. I also enjoy the development Hook has from his introduction til the end of this season and his willing to give up revenge to save Henry/help Emma. As much as I hate Neal, I think his addition to this season was necessary to Emma’s storyline as well as Rumple’s and even Hook’s to a degree. So even though he sucks, his character was able to show us different sides and dynamics of other characters that I thought was important. Even though I wish certain things involving him were handled in better ways.

Season 3: This is my favourite season. Both 3A and 3B are amazing. Neverland is great, Everyone trying to work together to save Henry is great. Sassy Hook and Sassy Regina, amazing. Emma taking charge is great. Hook’s belief in Emma. More of Hook’s backstory. That fucking kiss. Hook’s secret. Emma using her magic. Meeting Tink. “I hoping you were dead” Peter Pan was a cool villain. Regina and Rumple’s evil shit not meshing with the Charmings. Hook saving David. Neverland was kind of my life. I’m gonna say it is around the time that I start to have some issues with Snow. I also didnt love that both David and Snow were pushing Emma towards Neal but, I believe they likely didnt know the whole story. Rumple killing himself to kill Pan was fucking epic. Pan being in Henry’s body was a boss twist. Emma and Hook’s goodbye. Mulan being into women, yay!! Her heart being broken boo!!! Belle and Ariel teaming up was chill, I think this season had Belle’s hero flashback and that was great, but I honestly don’t remember when that happened. 3B was amazing. Hook believing Emma was his true love, him going to find her. Zelena was a good villain. Also the Cora flashback was fucking crazy. Neal was an idiot in this season but, whatever. Hook and Henry bonding. Hook’s regret for what he did to Belle and Ariel. Regina and Tink flashback was into it. Outlaw Queen loved. Liked that David and Snow had another baby, didnt like the name. Regina suddenly getting light magic was weird and not totally into. Loved Zelena/Regina showdowns though. The finale was the greatest thing ever. Like everything about it was great. “Someday I’ll stop chasing this woman” “I’d go to the end of the world for her, or time” “We both know i’m his type” Past!hook scene. When they kidnap Marion. When Emma deprived Hook of his dashing rescue. The ball!!! Watching Emma watch her parents meet. David and Hook’s talk. “You traded your ship for me?” “Aye” That fucking kiss!!! Rumple and Belle’s vows were amazing even though there wedding upset me. Like I was really pissed cause this mofo was lying to her again. Regina not getting to be happy w/ Robin sucked but, her bitching to Emma about it was trash. And i forget about how adorable Roland is.

Season 4: I like 4A like alot actually. I know a lot of people aren’t a fan of the frozen arc, but I like it. I love Elsa in this. She has a really great friendship with Emma and I like that their friendship isn't over complicated with connections to her family. Elsa also helps Emma accept her magic which I love and she understands that part of Emma in way no one else does. I kind of wish Elsa could have been on longer so Emma could continue to have her own friendships. I enjoy Emma trying to learn how to control her magic. I dont love Ingrid as a villain but I like her backstory well enough and I like how her involvement gives us a look into Emma’s past/childhood. Killian and Emma trying to have a relationship after the whole epic kiss thing is nice. There date is amazeballs. They are like really in love and become committed to making it work through this season and I love that. I’m not a huge fan of Snow through either half of this season, I felt like she was the person who saw the worst in Emma both presently and in the past. I find it really telling that in 4B we see that she is the one to see the vision of evil!Emma. I think this is the season I stop liking Regina cause her angst is kind of dumb and she’s very pity me about it. I love Belle at the end of 4A when she sends Rumple away, I think it is a very empowering moment where she stands up for herself and is able to stand up to her abuser. I like how 4A has a nice intro to Lily through the things we’ve seen of Emma’s past. 4B I liked significantly less then 4A. The season really putting Snowing in a bad light particularly Snow and I believe it definitely highlights the fact that David’s relationship with Emma is closer and healthier then the one Snow has with Emma. The fact that they gave Emma potential for darkness to another kid is super fucked up. I actually find this whole concept kind of dumb, like I don’t think it was a good storyline, it just dumb. Killian trying to make amends with Belle and succeeding til the point that they are friends is great. Rumple scheming to get Belle back is awful. I find Operation Mongoose pretty awful like I feel that Regina blaming the universe for her not getting a happy ending with Robin is dumb. I think that this idea that a villain can’t get a happy ending might be true when you are still a villain but it isn’t true if you are a reformed villain case in point being Killian his relationship with Emma is great this season and he is an actually villain who has and continued to have a really good redemption arc. So the fact that Regina isnt getting a happy ending and her line of thought is along the lines of the actual villains of this season proves she hasnt had a real redemption arc no matter what the characters in universe seem to believe. I do like Maleficent and Regina friendship. Cruella being a villain with no tragic backstory was refreshing. The introduction of the author was cool. Zelena pretending to be Marion was so fucked up and the fact that she got pregnant means that Robin was sexually assaulted(he consented to sleeping with Marion, not Zelena). I liked Lily being involved but I hate that she was never mentioned again. Henry become the author was pretty great. I really liked how the apprentice was all over this season leading to Merlin's involvement next season. Emma sacrifice herself was an intense moment.

Season 5A: I didnt like this season, I believe it was an okay idea but executed poorly. I loved Merlin and liked Camelot and evil!King Arthur was interesting. Violet and Henry were cute and I loved seeing Henry’s first relationship. Emma and Hook’s thoughts on a future together were nice. Getting to see Mulan and Ruby again was great. I thought Merida came out of nowhere and i didn’t think she had a reason to be there so, I didn't love her. Belle giving Rumple another chance upset me. Emma made grave errors in judgement but she did do everything for love, so I felt conflicted. Dark hook was sort of entertaining. Emma killing Killian was heartbreaking.Her threatening Gold was badass. Gold lying to Belle again was fucking annoying. Emma going to the underworld to save her mans was great.

Season 5B: I have issues with this Arc on many levels. One being I like greek mythology and because of that I hate when Hades is portrayed as like super evil when he’s really not, he’s stern and stubborn but not evil. He tends not to actually torture people there are other people in the underworld to do that and that only really happens in Tartarus where only the worst of the worst go and though he implements punishments he tends not to be the one who created them, that tends to be the gods that the people in Tartarus actually messed with. So they vastly misrepresented him and I was not a fan of that. And as cute as Zelena and Hades might have been Hades is married and is the only god who doesnt really cheat on his wife so I’m not overtly a fan of that. If we discard everything that is wrong about Hades and the underworld there are other issues I have with this season. Regina is just pretty awful in this season. She tries to force Robin to forgive Zelena as well as let her see his kid when this woman raped him. She also treats Emma like crap like she’s a super hypocrite, the way Regina treats Emma when Hook dies and the way she expects Emma to treat her after Robin dies is ridiculous. Robin’s death is also fucking awful. And Regina blaming Zelena pisses me off but whatever. I thought Liam was kind of dick. And Rumple was even more garbage then I expected. I loved getting to see Milah and I found the flashbacks really good. I enjoy that even with Rumple trying to cause Milah and Emma to hate each other they didn’t. I’m really pissed that Rumple made it impossible for Milah to move on. I wish there was more Milah. Seeing James was fun, like it was hilarious. Cruella and James as a couple was pretty great. Emma and Killian being confirmed true love was amazing. OTP of the gods!!! Emma’s family was very supportive of her. Ruby and Mulan being in an episode was nice and I liked that we had a true love kiss between two women but I would have loved for the first LGBTQ couple on the show to have Mulan be apart of it because I want her to have love so bad. Also I’d rather it be two characters I care about then One character I care about ,Ruby and a character that we barely know, Dorothy. Henry trying to destroy magic was dumb, I understand why he tried, it was just misguided though. He also needs to stop hero worshipping Neal. King Arthur running the underworld is boss. I don’t remember much from the finale other then the destroy magic thing and i know that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was introduced.

Season 6: Wasnt great. I liked Emma and Hook moving in together and the wedding. The musical episode was good. Belle choosing to leave Rumple and having the support of her friends specifically Killian was very moving and empowering. It felt like she was finally done with Rumple which was great and why her getting back with Rumple at the end of the season was so heartbreaking for me. Hyde actually being the good one was cool. Regina using the serum was awful and stupid and I hated it, it was just her trying to take the easy way out of redemption. The wish universe was awful and truthfully nothing in it actually made sense like the timeline has to have totally change for Emma to have met Neal in a universe where the curse didn't occur. Wish!Robin ending up with the Evil half of Regina was ironic and hilarious. The flashbacks were used a lot to add unnecessary drama particular the Hook ones. I found the black fairy to be a let down in terms of villains, especially after basically having the evil queen as the villain. She was also basically Rumple and Regina as one villain but with a lot less character depth to make me care in anyway. Rumple being a saviour was awful and didn't make sense. Belle not getting to raise Gideon sucked. Gideon over all was annoying and I think the writers wanted me to sympathize with him and I just didn't. All the added characters happened way too fast and there was just a bunch of characters that were forgotten.

#once upon a time #my thoughts on the seasons minus 7 #anti rumple #anti regina #i guess anti snow but im not sure #Captain Swan #gonna rewatch #this is really long #I dont expect anyone to read #might not make total sense #anti rumbelle

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shanedakotamuir · 4 years

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The fight to release the Snyder Cut of Justice League (which may not even exist), explained

A still from Zack Snyder’s alleged directors’ cut | Vero/Snyder

Zack Snyder’s fabled cut of Justice League and the corporate conspiracy theory behind it.

The most anticipated Warner Bros. superhero flick is one that might not even exist: the infamous “Snyder Cut” of the movie Justice League. It’s an alleged version of director Zack Snyder’s Justice League that has become something of a myth among fans.

Diehard DC Comics fans will tell you that the fabled Snyder Cut is exactly the Justice League story fans wanted: a darker, more cohesive, and overall better director’s version that completely changes the movie for the better.

Whispers of a possible Snyder Cut began soon after Justice League hit theaters in November 2017. The movie that we got, according to Snyder’s biggest fans, is a twisted, gnarled, ignorant work that was knee-capped by outside forces that suffocated Snyder’s true vision. And since its release, a hashtag movement has simmered, bubbling up with each Warner Bros. premiere with increasing fervor.

This week, coinciding with the two-year anniversary of the Justice League’s theatrical release, the Snyder Cut — which until now has mostly existed as a myth spread by word of mouth among fans — is the closest it’s ever been to a reality.

On November 15, Snyder posted pictures on the social media platform Vero, which fans quickly believed were from the cut itself: a still of Henry Cavill’s Superman in the hero’s trademark uniform, and another of the character in what appears to be a resurrection scene that differs from the one in the original Justice League:

Zack Snyder/Vero

Henry Cavill in a still that’s allegedly from Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League.

Zack Snyder/Vero

A screenshot of Zack Snyder’s Vero post teasing a potential director’s cut of Justice League.

The shots Snyder posted might seem like typical superhero-movie fare of an actor in costume. But to devoted fans, the stills are evidence that the superior Snyder Cut does exist, and that for some reason, it’s being withheld from the public.

Adding fuel to the fire were tweets from former Batman actor Ben Affleck and Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot on November 17. Affleck, who vacated the Batman post after Justice League, simply tweeted the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut:

#ReleaseTheSnyderCut

— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) November 17, 2019

Gadot tweeted a black-and-white image of her character looking wistful, using the same hashtag:

#ReleaseTheSnyderCut pic.twitter.com/wssMmlPqEK

— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) November 17, 2019

For the heroes themselves to be spreading the hashtag has given what’s been dubbed the “Release the Snyder Cut” movement more legitimacy than ever before. It’s one thing to have DC Comics enthusiasts get the hashtag trending, but Gadot and Affleck are actual Justice League members.

If even they want the Snyder Cut released, is the fan-driven movement onto something? Could the Snyder Cut really exist?

Warner Bros. Studio hasn’t officially addressed the campaign, which has expanded beyond tweets and hashtags to include real-life demonstrations and events held by wanting fans. But according to the Hollywood Reporter’s sources at Warner Bros., there’s no imminent plan to release any such cut — nor has the studio confirmed it even exists.

That said, DC Comics fans’ interest in an alternate, higher-quality version of the poorly received team-up movie is natural, especially when stars and the film’s own director say one exists. But the “Release the Snyder Cut” campaign has darker motives too, as it galvanizes the fandom’s toxic sect, which has previously clung to conspiracy theories about film criticism and the business of Hollywood that threaten to damage the reputations of all of the above.

#ReleaseTheSnyderCut is a genius marketing push — if that’s all it is

The origin story of the Snyder Cut starts in May 2017, when Snyder left the Justice League project just before reshoots to deal with the death of his daughter. (There are reports that dispute this and claim Snyder was fired much earlier, however.) Avengers director Joss Whedon was called in to handle the movie’s numerous reshoots. The reshoots with which Snyder was reportedly uninvolved, combined with fan theories that Warner Bros. was rushing the film to meet a year-end release date, led fans to believe the finished product had strayed from Snyder’s original vision.

Perhaps “Release the Snyder Cut” wouldn’t have become such a rallying cry if Justice League had been more successful.

After months of anticipation, Justice League turned out to be a critical and box-office disappointment. The more time that passed, the more fans blamed Snyder’s departure and Warner Bros. for its failure. In response, their hopes for some unannounced director’s cut of the film grew. Snyder fans consider his previous directors’ cuts of 2009’s Watchmen and 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice to be improvements upon the theatrical versions, and that fueled a belief that a similar redux of Justice League would also be much more satisfying.

An online petition by one fan in late 2017 that asked for a director’s cut garnered over 179,000 signatures. That kicked off a full-on movement that, among other things, spurred a site called ForSnyderCut.com, which become a centralized hub for all Snyder Cut news. Then there was a January 2018 “march” on Warner Bros.’s Burbank studio to show how serious fans were, along with YouTube videos (in many languages), letters, and phone calls to Warner Bros. itself.

Oh my gosh, look at this loud, crazy protest! Yeah, lame YouTubers & media reporting misinformation, we were just going 2 take a photo! Thanks 2 Leo 4 taking it & EVERYONE who showed up! ❤#ReleaseTheSnyderCut #ReleaseTheSnyderCutPhoto#ILoveZackSnyder #JusticeLeague #DCEU pic.twitter.com/f7qK53oCKz

— Itzmoe (@itzmoe) January 6, 2018

The Ringer has a good breakdown of the various teases Snyder himself has participated in to further fan the flames. Fans sunk their teeth into every one, culminating in a nearly $27,000 GoFundMe campaign to fly a banner at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. It wasn’t until March 2019 (just prior to the GoFundMe campaign) that Snyder confirmed the existence of his director’s cut to a fan while attending a fundraiser for the ArtCenter College of Design’s Ahmanson Auditorium:

It's done. It's up to them. Tried cleaning up the audio a bit to make what he's saying more discernible@wbpictures #ReleaseTheSnyderCut pic.twitter.com/VUuxqWLK8d

— Charlie (@SnyderCutJL) March 26, 2019

Gadot, the flagship actress of Warner Bros.’s superhero universe, tweeting about the Snyder Cut is another sign of how much this movement has grown — and the possibility that the edit may eventually see the light of day.

But despite the star-studded endorsements and Snyder’s crafty hints, only a few people have said they’ve seen the cut. Most of its existence hinges on the word of Snyder himself or secondhand accounts. And others, like director (and early champion of the “Release the Snyder Cut” movement) Kevin Smith, say they’ve heard the cut isn’t in cinematic shape to actually screen.

“There is a Snyder Cut. For sure. That’s not a mythical beast. It exists. Now, it’s not a finished movie by any stretch of the imagination,” Smith told CinemaBlend earlier this year. “The ‘Snyder Cut’ that, again I haven’t seen, but the one I’ve heard everyone speak of was never a finished film. It was a movie that people in production could watch and fill in the blanks. It was certainly not meant for mass consumption.”

The rumors kept moving closer to home throughout 2019. In August, Aquaman actor Jason Momoa posted on Instagram that Snyder let him see the cut and that it was, in Momoa’s words, “ssssiiicccckkkkkk”:

View this post on Instagram

Well let’s be honest if it wasn’t for this man we wouldn’t have Aquaman I love u Zachary synder. Mahalo for showing me the synder cut. Here is a token of my appreciation. Leica Q2 for inspiring me as an artist through and through @leicacamerausa I wish I was a better actor but I can’t lie. The Snyder cut is ssssiiicccckkkkkk #luckymesucksforu #q2 #leicaforlife @cruelfilms aloha j

A post shared by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies) on Aug 18, 2019 at 5:41pm PDT

It’s worth keeping in mind that Momoa and Gadot are still playing the heroes they portrayed in Justice League in upcoming standalone sequels. Drumming up interest in Justice League also drums up interest in their upcoming projects; tweeting about the Snyder Cut keeps their names in the news.

Supporting the Snyder Cut shows they also care about what fans want. These actors are essentially saying, without explicitly doing so, that they want the best for their fans. And since Justice League was so universally trashed, Gadot and Momoa aren’t really burning bridges by saying a better version of that movie exists somewhere.

When Wonder Woman 1984 comes out in June 2020, fans will likely remember that Gadot asked for the Snyder Cut to be released. And Gadot will likely be asked about the Snyder Cut again during that press tour.

Even if the Snyder Cut is never released, the Justice League stars who support the movement will have garnered goodwill from fans.

But releasing the Snyder Cut also courts a toxic aspect to this fervent fandom

Gadot and Momoa’s support may be good for them, but it’s not great for those who are less concerned about the Snyder Cut. Despite the motivation or intent behind the Snyder Cut campaign — and regardless of the shape it’s in, if it does exist — it’s worth noting that some of the fans involved have gained a bad reputation. Their demands for the Snyder Cut’s release have grown more intense, and it’s emblematic of how toxic some fandoms have become in the past decade.

The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement frames the scenario to make it seem like Warner Bros. is keeping fans from the high-quality superhero movie they desire. The movement is not simply about wanting a director’s cut to be made available.

Rather, its supporters actually use the phrase to suggest that Warner Bros. executives like ex-DC Entertainment president Geoff Johns (who takes the brunt of the fans’ blame for Justice League, since it’s theorized he sabotaged Snyder’s vision because it was incongruent with his own); reshoots helmer Joss Whedon; and even Marvel Entertainment, film critics, and many people in between all have it out for Snyder fans. They don’t care whether fans get a good movie out of Justice League, a beloved property many DC Comics fans wanted to see adapted for years. They just care about making money.

This notion continues to send fans on the more paranoid side of the argument into attack mode online:

I really hope Geoff Johns does the right thing and stay far away from #ReleaseTheSnyderCut as he is greatly responsible for what happened with Zack’s departure, Cyborgs story getting cut/redone, hiring the pig that is Joss Whedon. It’s best he stays far far away from this!

— Jason Laboy Photography (@Jason24cf) November 18, 2019

Those motherfuckers Whedon and Johns turned Barry Allen from a badass who was gonna reverse time and stop the motherboxes from destroying planet earth, into a bumbling fucking buffoon who falls on womens tits and pushes a fucking pickup truck. #ReleaseTheSnyderCut

— Dr. Chris Ω VOTE LABOUR! (@vinaldo7) November 12, 2019

The online harassment has grown so fierce that a former DC exec deleted her Twitter in fall 2018 to avoid the rage in her mentions. A year prior, a writer from Pajiba received an avalanche of vitriol for criticizing the campaign online.

The reaction, albeit far more intense than previous Snyder-fan antics, is nothing new. It’s reminiscent of the great conspiracy theory of 2016, when a vocal sect of DC and Warner Bros. fans were convinced that Marvel had paid off critics to trash Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Supplemental to that theory is the narrative pushed by Snyder that his movies are made for fans, not critics.

The Snyder Cut contingent subsist on an “us versus them” mentality, where if you aren’t a fan of these poor movies, you must not be a “real” fan of the heroes themselves. Real fans are the ones who matter, of course. Brushing off negative criticism becomes a lot easier when it’s coming from people who aren’t real fans.

This creates a strange paradox of sorts in that true fans ostensibly should enjoy the Justice League movie no matter what, according to Snyder himself. But Snyder Cut fans will argue that the movie they were served was actually the work of other people — Whedon especially — and that they never got to see Snyder’s vision.

Hating Justice League means hating everything that was tinkered with. The Snyder Cut is what “real” fans should want.

Pitting fans against critics and movie execs reflexively creates an environment in which a silly idea like Marvel paying off the media to trash Warner Bros. takes flight. It also encourages some fans to verbally abuse anyone with a negative opinion of the movie or a Warner Bros. property.

Just prior to the release of October’s Joker, fans sent misogynistic tweets and emails — some that vaguely warned of theater shootings — to critics who saw the movie and gave it a poor review. This behavior continues and, in some ways, is entrenched in modern fandom culture, particularly among fans of DC superhero movies, which have suffered poor reviews over the years.

With stars like Affleck, Gadot, and Momoa urging Warner Bros. to release the Snyder Cut of Justice League, it seems like it would be in Warner Bros.’ best interest to eventually release it — if that edit of the film does exist in some watchable form. There are countless fans who want it and the studio could cash in, especially on the anniversary of the movie. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing more of Gadot and Momoa superhero-ing.

But there’s also a question of what happens after fans — especially the particularly toxic ones — get what they want. They could very well see the release of a Snyder Cut as something they earned by acting and lashing out, as though Warner Bros. is caving in to their demands or rewarding their bad behavior. And it’s hard to believe that’s the best course of action.

from Vox - All https://ift.tt/2OqSU74

#Vox - All

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corneliusreignallen · 4 years

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The fight to release the Snyder Cut of Justice League (which may not even exist), explained

A still from Zack Snyder’s alleged directors’ cut | Vero/Snyder

Zack Snyder’s fabled cut of Justice League and the corporate conspiracy theory behind it.

Zack Snyder/Vero

Henry Cavill in a still that’s allegedly from Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League.

Zack Snyder/Vero

A screenshot of Zack Snyder’s Vero post teasing a potential director’s cut of Justice League.

#ReleaseTheSnyderCut

— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) November 17, 2019

Gadot tweeted a black-and-white image of her character looking wistful, using the same hashtag:

#ReleaseTheSnyderCut pic.twitter.com/wssMmlPqEK

— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) November 17, 2019

If even they want the Snyder Cut released, is the fan-driven movement onto something? Could the Snyder Cut really exist?

#ReleaseTheSnyderCut is a genius marketing push — if that’s all it is

Perhaps “Release the Snyder Cut” wouldn’t have become such a rallying cry if Justice League had been more successful.

— Itzmoe (@itzmoe) January 6, 2018

It's done. It's up to them. Tried cleaning up the audio a bit to make what he's saying more discernible@wbpictures #ReleaseTheSnyderCut pic.twitter.com/VUuxqWLK8d

— Charlie (@SnyderCutJL) March 26, 2019

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies) on Aug 18, 2019 at 5:41pm PDT

Even if the Snyder Cut is never released, the Justice League stars who support the movement will have garnered goodwill from fans.

But releasing the Snyder Cut also courts a toxic aspect to this fervent fandom

This notion continues to send fans on the more paranoid side of the argument into attack mode online:

— Jason Laboy Photography (@Jason24cf) November 18, 2019

— Dr. Chris Ω VOTE LABOUR! (@vinaldo7) November 12, 2019

Hating Justice League means hating everything that was tinkered with. The Snyder Cut is what “real” fans should want.

from Vox - All https://ift.tt/2OqSU74

#Vox - All

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gracieyvonnehunter · 4 years

Text

The fight to release the Snyder Cut of Justice League (which may not even exist), explained

A still from Zack Snyder’s alleged directors’ cut | Vero/Snyder

Zack Snyder’s fabled cut of Justice League and the corporate conspiracy theory behind it.

Zack Snyder/Vero

Henry Cavill in a still that’s allegedly from Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League.

Zack Snyder/Vero

A screenshot of Zack Snyder’s Vero post teasing a potential director’s cut of Justice League.

#ReleaseTheSnyderCut

— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) November 17, 2019

Gadot tweeted a black-and-white image of her character looking wistful, using the same hashtag:

#ReleaseTheSnyderCut pic.twitter.com/wssMmlPqEK

— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) November 17, 2019

If even they want the Snyder Cut released, is the fan-driven movement onto something? Could the Snyder Cut really exist?

#ReleaseTheSnyderCut is a genius marketing push — if that’s all it is

Perhaps “Release the Snyder Cut” wouldn’t have become such a rallying cry if Justice League had been more successful.

— Itzmoe (@itzmoe) January 6, 2018

It's done. It's up to them. Tried cleaning up the audio a bit to make what he's saying more discernible@wbpictures #ReleaseTheSnyderCut pic.twitter.com/VUuxqWLK8d

— Charlie (@SnyderCutJL) March 26, 2019

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies) on Aug 18, 2019 at 5:41pm PDT

Even if the Snyder Cut is never released, the Justice League stars who support the movement will have garnered goodwill from fans.

But releasing the Snyder Cut also courts a toxic aspect to this fervent fandom

This notion continues to send fans on the more paranoid side of the argument into attack mode online:

— Jason Laboy Photography (@Jason24cf) November 18, 2019

— Dr. Chris Ω VOTE LABOUR! (@vinaldo7) November 12, 2019

Hating Justice League means hating everything that was tinkered with. The Snyder Cut is what “real” fans should want.

from Vox - All https://ift.tt/2OqSU74

#Vox - All

0 notes

semicolonthefifth · 7 years

Text

Fans won't like this, or, Death Note 2017

“Death Note” is a story that I got into at the height of its popularity, when the anime and its English Dub was being spread across media, and when fan support was at its most public. I saw it around the time when the “Death Note” aesthetic was growing in stores like Hot Topic, and when schools were banning products similar to the titular notebook from their classrooms. Although I was spoiled on several of the critical plot points surrounding the series, I still enjoyed it from beginning to end. Aside from the animation and story, which followed the dramatic battle of the minds between a teenager who wished to use the death note as a means to combating the world’s ills and the mysterious detective bent on putting this self-appointed god down, it was the themes and intrigue that truly grabbed me. Each episode was another new method in out-thinking your opponents, in a world where death could be brought down by simply writing a person’s name in a book. Light Yagami was cold and calculating, always thinking 2 steps ahead as he slowly went insane from an ever-growing god-complex and disillusion of moral superiority; the detective L, although a socially-awkward golem, proved to be Light’s intellectual equal, and was getting closer and closer to learning Light’s identity as Kira, an omniscient figure who killed those who committed bad deeds. There’s a lot of themes to pull from the story, even to this day, but it worked thanks to a series that approached it all through the genre of a detective piece, with multiple characters making the mystery all the more complicated. It’s understandable then that an American film adaptation would draw in a lot of concern and hate, especially due to the controversial name and race change. Unlike some anime where race is somewhat questionable due to fictional locations, “Death Note” is undoubtedly Japanese in both location and culture. It would be controversial to make all but one of the characters non-Japanese, in addition to changing the main character’s name to fit the western location (the now often-mocked Light Turner). In addition, with all western film adaptations of anime, the story is heavily condensed to fit the typical running time for a movie, and so a lot of the characters and story that would have been present in the original manga and anime is cut out to fit the new story. Obviously “Death Note” isn’t a good adaptation, enough so that you wonder why it wasn’t its own movie. Dwelling on that thought though, there’s an observation I have to make. Could it be that, were this film not an exact adaptation of the “Death Note” story, and at best a side-story to the universe, that the film is actually pretty good? What I’m saying may come across as blasphemy to fans, but let me explain through this review. STORY: Netflix’s “Death Note” follows Light Turner, a bright kid in high school who (after a run in with some bullies) discovers the strange death note. In his time at detention he reads the rules of the book and soon discovers the presence of Ryuk, a death god who has chosen Light as the keeper of the notebook. When an individual writes a name into the book, while thinking about that person, the named victim will die, whether by the writer’s choosing or through some form of fate. Light, testing the book, uses it on one of his bullies, and witnesses the books effect almost immediately. With the book, Light decides to take up the mantle of Kira, and uses the death note to kill criminals, terrorists, and evil people. He does this with the help of a high school friend turned lover named Mia Sutton, who helps in picking the names for the book. However his actions soon takes the notice of the world, and with it its greatest detective, L, who quickly theorizes the location of Kira being where Light lives. Now Light must hide from L’s investigation, all the while Misa grows reckless, his sanity starting to slip, and Ryuk watching it all with a sick sense of glee. DEATH NOTE THE ADAPTATION: I’m going to devote a section of this review to pointing out the differences between the film and the original anime/manga. While the film does its best to match the general story, there’s a lot of changes between the source material and the adaptation, enough so that the film feels like its own story. Light Turner is vastly different from Light Yagami. While Light Yagami is mostly cool-headed and places himself at a moral high-ground, Light Turner is prone to emotional outbreak and often questions his use of the death note. Yagami is more intellectual in his actions and behaviors, to the point that you can believe he has truly thought out the use of the book, its strategic value, and the value in his way of thinking; Yagami is also charismatic, and he does a fine job in hiding his identity from everyone around him. Light Turner, on the other hand, is in way over his head, and constantly runs into issues regarding how he uses the book through much of the film. Although bright enough to dodge suspicion, he lacks the charisma to really convince people of his involvement to Kira, to the point that it’s easy to suspect he has some sort of ties. In a battle of wits, Yagami overpowers Turner very easily. The same could be said between the American L and the Japanese L. Both L’s are socially awkward, and prove to be competent in their investigation, however that is where the similarities end. Anime L is awkward, but it more shows that he’s absolutely focused on the case, and that there are attempts to softening his act when he needs to get close to people; L is also as intellectual as Light Yagami in how he acts, and very rarely does he go into emotional outbursts. Film L, meanwhile, is very awkward, trusts very few people, doesn’t attempt to connect with people, and is very prone to letting his emotions get in the way. Whereas Anime L can be seen as an investigator who is barely a person, Film L is a gifted youth who can be ruthless in his attempts to finding Kira, and loses as much sanity in this case as Light does. More so than Light, the film L is very different from his anime counterpart. Other characters are different as well, with Light’s Dad being more gritty and as father than an investigator as compared to the anime, and Film Watari barely having a presence. Misa Amane, the second Death note user and an obsessive love interest to Light, makes an appearance as Mia Sutton, Light’s partner and potential lover who quickly becomes obsessed with the death note and Kira. On Mia versus Misa: Misa was characterizes as being bubbly and in love with Kira, and having a tragic backstory that led to her ownership of a death note. Mia, meanwhile, becomes a partner to Light when he shows her the death note’s power, and helps him along in hiding from L while slowly wanting to power of the book herself. Lastly there is Ryuk, who is the most like his original character than all the others. Still, the film Ryuk is actually more evil and gleeful in how he acts, in contrast to the anime Ryuk who, while gleeful, is treated more as an entertaining spectator to Light’s actions. One can almost see the film Ryuk as a villain in how he’s portrayed, however that would be getting ahead of myself. Aside from the character differences, the stories are vastly different. Missing from the anime is the friendship between L and Light, as well the in-depth investigation to finding Kira, as well much of the characters that were present in finding him (like all the agents who helped Light’s father). Rem is not present, nor is she mentioned, as well as any other Shinigami (the death gods aside from Ryuk). The second half of the anime is cut out, so we also don’t meet Near and Mello either. Instead we have a story that’s all about L trying to find Light; Light’s relationship to Mia; and the fears towards Ryuk and what he plans to do with the death note once Light’s done with it (if it even goes that far). If you are a fan of the original “Death Note”, there’s a good chance you’ll be pissed by all these changes. The story doesn’t match the source material, and its understandable to be frustrated by it. Of course it’s also quite expected, as it would’ve been impossible to adapt such a long and complicated series without cutting so much out to fit a single film. All of this sounds like it makes for a bad film… …right? Well, here’s where I think I may lose some people. While this film is a bad adaptation, strangely enough it’s a pretty good film. Not necessarily a great one, as there are issues, but it’s actually good. Allow me to explain. STORY (SPOILERS) AND ACTING: I want you to first change how you think about this film. Let’s pretend that this isn’t a movie about the story from Death Note. When approaching this film, let’s think about the story in a different way. If we were to see this movie as a side-story to the Death Note universe at best, which followed another user of the book who was influenced by Ryuk (or any other Shinigami) who was also hounded down by another detective (perhaps even change all the characters’ names so they don’t match the source at all) you would get a film that is actually quite interesting. Instead of the story surrounding a battle of wits between two intellectuals, you’d instead get a horror story surrounding a naive youth who comes across the death note, whose problems grow more and more as he’s hounded by an obsessed detective. Both sides are quickly losing their sanity, all to the entertainment of a sadistic death god who simply had to toss a book their way to bring out an insane world-changing phenomenon. What the film lacks in intrigue, it almost makes up for in madness. Almost. Light Turner is alright, but he comes across as foolish for a lot of the film. You sympathize with him not for his beliefs and the idea that he could fix the world, bust instead because he’s very pathetic, and you feel sorry for him for getting caught in this mess. The actor’s performance is great, and there’s nothing bad that comes to mind about it. L is cast almost as a secondary villain, especially in how he jumps to outbursts towards Light. He’s less of an investigative character, and more so an obsessed detective who is letting this particular case become more personal as time goes by. Another fine performance, almost better than Light in how he uses his emotions within the story. Another villain is Mia, as she progresses to this mad individual who keeps trying to influence Light to go deeper into his Kira persona. She’s very different from her anime counterpart, but in a way that she becomes her own character. Like the others, her performance is actually quite good. I’d say that everyone does a fine job, but nobody gets on Ryuk’s level, thanks to the voice acting done by Willem Dafoe. Dagoe’s Ryuk is amazing, although it does get into Spiderman’s Green Goblin at times. He’s very sadistic in how he acts, taking delight in Light’s suffering and always making joyous threats to what he’ll do with the book when he passes it on. The way he comments on Light’s situation is always entertaining, and the way the film raises him to a full-on antagonist is amazing (specifically for the film, of course). The story is simple where it needs to be, with the investigative intrigue being present at the middle and end of the film. There’s less of a mystery and more of a horror/drama, with Light being in panic over what he’s gotten himself into, and the actions he commits to trying to fix everything. The first third of the film is a hard sit; the attempts at comedy can be dull, and Light is pretty dumb in a lot of the moments at the beginning. In addition the beginning feels a lot like a typical horror movie, with bully characters, death scenes and scares. However, after Light takes the alias of Kira and L is introduced does the film become a lot better. The way Light tries to avoid capture is great, and L’s obsession raises the stakes well enough. I’d say that the film gets better and better as it goes, with the ending making up for the beginning. The gore tones down along with the dumb moments, and the film actually starts being smart in how Light uses the death note. It’s at the end where it feels like a real “Death Note” film, with a closing scene that is the best in the film with how it leaves on an ambiguous (albeit frustrating) end. Honestly a lot of the fault lies in the beginning up until L comes in. The way characters act is dumb and very typical, with Light’s father being a gruff cop who scolds Light for getting in trouble, and Light being this typical teen who has some angst. Once the actual crime drama comes in does it finally get better. As great as the anime/manga though? Not close at all. The original anime/manga is a lot smarter, and has the advantage of being a series, whereas the film is short and relies more on the drama/action side of things. Still, it’s quite entertaining, and there are moments that does serve as a smart film. VISUALS AND MUSIC: The visuals and cinematography is great, and a lot of the artistic editing/shots are fantastic. The film does a great job in adapting a lot of the wild angles and shots that were present in the anime, and I’d say that’s well worth some praise. Some shots are really dark though, especially whenever Ryuk is present, however the coloring and lights is great when the darkness isn’t too strong. Once more the beginning feels a lot like a typical modern horror movie with its use of blues, but (again) the tone improves once L enters the picture. There’s a careful use of CGI, mostly in Ryuk and in other scenes. It’s not too obvious, although Ryuk (while as incredible as he is) does feel like a puppet when he talks. He’s certainly better when seen either from behind or away from direct view. The music though… is more miss than hit. I think it was a mistake to use a lot of songs from bands, rather than its own original soundtrack. They try to be quiet for a lot of the film, with a soft orchestral soundtrack in a lot of the scenes. However in the final third the music tracks come right after the other in attempt to make certain scenes feel more powerful. It can be laughable at certain times, but in others it’s just extremely noticeable and gets in the way of seeing the film. It’s a terrible mistake, and one I wish wasn’t in the film as much in the end. CONCLUSION: This is going to be difficult. If this film were its own story, or was treated as a side-story with characters completely separate from those in the original, it would be an entertaining film that has some flaws, but could be considered a good watch. Not something you could recommend to see, but a good film to pass the time. However, as an adaptation it is extremely unfaithful, and fans will hate this film a lot for what it did with the story and characters. The film-makers had to make the film about Light Turner and a detective named L, and for that it suffers for making so many changes. Were it about a teenager (not named Light) who was stalked by a code-named government agent, with the teen finding a death note that looks eerily similar to a case happening in Japan (thereby being a story running parallel, rather directly from it) this movie would be seen as an interesting mini-drama that could perhaps expand the world more. Instead it chose to be a adaptation, and it’s difficult to ignore that, even for me. So do I ask you to see it? Perhaps to not see it? I can’t say. If it is impossible to ignore this film as an adaptation, than I’d say don’t watch it. Go watch the anime, or maybe the Japanese film adaptation in 2006. You won’t find the anime or manga in this Netflix film. Fans will hate it, this I promise. However, if you can treat this as a side-story, or something completely cut from Death note, it’s a good popcorn film to see with friends. Nothing worth remembering, but entertaining nonetheless. I wouldn’t say it’s worth recommendation, but if you have any free time and you’re browsing Netflix, I don’t think you’ll regret putting it on.

#semi reviews #review #film review #movie review #death note #death note 2017

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elysiumrp · 7 years

Photo

Congratulations TRISHA! You have been accepted as Sabrina McCarthy. Please go through the checklist and send in your account within 24 hours. If you need more time, make sure you send a message to the main.

Welcome back, Trisha! It’s been ages, but I’m so glad you decided to join us again as Sabrina. I can’t wait to see where she goes on the dash cause I know that you’ll do wonders playing her. In regards to your question about having one of her parents be from England, go for it! I definitely think it makes sense with her character, and I’m fine with either parent. Welcome to Elysium!!

OOC INFO

Name: Trisha Age: 26 Timezone: GMT Preferred Pronouns: She/Her Previous RP Experience: [RFP] Activity Level: On a daily basis, I’m working office hours, until six in the afternoon. I’m usually free in the evenings, sometimes I need to go to a meeting or two but it’s rare. Of course, it’s also in the evening when I cook, clean and whatnot, but I tend to have at least one hour on a regular night to log in and be around. Anything Else: Nope! And I do hope I’m not missing any catches here, because I’ve read basically everything around, hahahaha.

IC INFO

Character Name: Sabrina McCarthy Second Choice Character: N/A Why did you choose this character:

I don’t tend to have a favourite type of character; I usually like them closer to who I am, a bit different, which gives me more room to develop them without strings attached. However, once in a while I need a change. Perhaps it’s my writer’s instinct telling me it’s fed up of the same old thing (like it led me to write stories in first person - which I’m not exactly a fan of - and write from a male’s perspective, as well as a variety of others experiments). I believe this time came. Sabrina is out of my comfort zone, which would push me to actually portray a character and not simply, naturally play it with my instincts. I have played characters like her before, of course, and it took me places I didn’t expect, which is always amusing.

Sabrina is apparently flawless, a privileged. Underneath layers of expensive designer clothing, imported makeup and youth, she has her own demos, caused by a relapse in the family, often amongst the wealthy ones. As I’m always drawn to the darkest bits of everything, I guess it’s concealed it all and slowly opening up the troubled cracks that led me to Sabrina. She’s very raw as a person, so I think she has a lot to be explored and refine.

Describe your plan for them: It will all depend on how things play out, but portraying Sabrina adjusting to a severe circumstance would be interesting. A more ordinary and less drastic scenario would be the loss of her clique - for whatever reason, from gossip to a misconduct in friendship from either end. How would she deal with the fact that she has no friends other them and how what would she do to come out of her decade-planned social agenda. She would be forced to interact with people that she isn’t too fond of, or even intimate of, for instance.My aim is, I want development. And with that, in Sabrina’s case, it comes with a lot of personal suffering. Her personality isn’t easy, she’s adamant about her beliefs and the way she was raised, without anything to trouble her and make her want to change; I want to put her in situations out of her comfort zone, to slowly build personal growth. And there’s no way of making someone without breaking them first.

Describe your character’s feelings, reactions, and potential involvement/want to be involved during/after the recent fall of the Council (At least a few sentences): Disbelief. Not a surprised one, but a “are you stupid?” eye-roll one. For Sabrina, everything was nothing but well-planned marketing. The media, nowadays, could do wonders to anything and anyone’s reputation - and she knew that quite well, being in her area of expertise. The videos all over the internet, the allegations - they were all publicity. That thought persisted as the first attack occurred in Times Square. It was an odd and clear cry for attention for whatever company was producing that movie/TV show/series/campaign, but it was all an act. Monster did not exist. After the third attack, her creativity perhaps couldn’t wander that far, yet she was rational and intelligent enough to realise something was wrong. That sixth sense clicked the moment he started starting at her, commanding her. Yet nothing said by Nicholas compelled her into doing anything at all. The man acted off with confidence and naturally. Sabrina fought back with teeth (ironically) and fists, running off. It was when she got home that she decided to peek through the layer of silk she were around her neck. Bite marks, trailing down her shoulder covered by blouses of long, high collars. In the danger of the madness the city was truly living now and her own, unanswered fears, she tried to play along without actually sharing with anyone how vulnerable and afraid she was, not even to her parents and closest friends, with the exception of Samantha, who took the time to explain her what many humans were still blind to, telling her small details and even teaching her a few ways to protect herself.

Para Sample:

(I’m sampling this thread, which is more developed and in depth, usually the way I prefer writing. It isn’t IC as I often struggle to write any IC applications.)

Bubbles jumped from the skillfully balanced coupe glasses seemingly superglued to the silver tray. Tulip ones would have been better to preserve the sparkly taste, but after countless refills of Moet - and some downed whiskey on the side - Ella lost her sense of criticism. Regardless of some errors perceived only by a controlling businesswoman, the celebration was, as usual, outstanding. The magazine’s filial in Canada was particularly acclaimed by their Christmas parties, a tradition in a country where snow cornered every living being. New Year was typically celebrated in New York City, back at Ella’s headquarters and main building of the fashion empire. Hard liquor could be found at an arm’s length, champagne was spurting from fountains and, needless to say, there were private areas where recreational ‘distractions’ had the prerogative of a turned blind eye.

In certain zones, the music was as loud as in a night club, the spaces dark as in the anonymity of a Vanilla Sky movie. It was a party, after all, and nobody could party better than rich, powerful people. Especially when they all held dirt on one another, which kept all the gatherings - no matter how large - always very secure for some occasional colleague lose control over the incentive of an invited outsider plus one - or multiples.

Particularly, Ella felt like indulging into champagne. It wasn’t unusual for her to drink (not lately), but the bubbly liquid seemed to be getting to her head fast enough to unleash her scarce inhibitions. It was past one in the morning, though, and consequently everyone else was cut or their way to alcohol intoxication, so the editor-in-chief didn’t mind her sharp, bold tongue and impulsive behaviour. It had proved to be fun so far, in spite of some honest, foolish mistakes.

With a half empty glass of flat Moet, the brunette detached from her crew of co-workers and headed to one of the many bars. With a bubbly smile matching her drink of the night, she requested a new coupe, taking the brief moment of wait to scan her surroundings. Coming to the party was purely an obligation, at first, but she managed to find the fun in it after some litters of alcoholic beverages. Those who knew her, were aware that the brunette was going through a rough time, regardless whether she would share the details and causes or not. Tonight, she allowed herself to feel lighter; tomorrow, she would deal with the consequences of hangover.

It seemed to have started ahead of schedule. A sting hit her temple vividly, like a pin hammered in her brain, at the blurry sight of a familiar silhouette. It was very much alive in her memory to provoke her the certainty of seeing what she thought to be standing across the room. No more than a month had it been she had last seen him, and from afar she could sense his presence, now that she was aware of it. However, it couldn’t possibly be him.

The bartender politely handed her the glass, while Ella’s azure gems wouldn’t diverge from the target her brain focused on. Her lips moved in a ‘thanks’ that was muffled by the music back in the open chamber nearby, so quietly she spoke. It was like being on a trance. In a black tuxedo, his gold-tone, slick back hair was all she could see. But the stance, the gestures he made whenever speaking to whoever was that unfamiliar person he talked to - the voice she heard had to be his, or else her mind was repeating it just for tease. Playful tricks of the mind, after too many glasses. She believed it, she also doubted it. He was away, somewhere in Europe. She was here. She came back. This isn’t happening.

He turned around. Black shawl lapel tuxedo, ebony shirt underneath - a complete full-black outfit just like that first party. Ella was also in black. Her colours were neutral, always black, beige, dark brown and, on occasion, some white. They looked like coordinating colours when most carried on the Christmas warm up in red and green. And the voice that she heard before, it turned louder as she, much to her surprise, walked toward her in the company of another man, which soon enough turned a corner and left Princeton to arrive at the bar alone. He was quicker than Ella’s despair to flee. She couldn’t hear her own thoughts, her heart was too loud in her ears.

Any questions/concerns/things you’d like to change: (siblings to add, pronouns, sexuality you’d like to specify, personality, face claim, history, etc., etc.)

If it’s possible, perhaps Sabrina’s mother of father could be from the UK? I don’t know, I’m asking because I live in Europe and there’s a few differences from the English here and from the USA. I think it could add a bit more of character to her, by having a double nationality and being raised back and forth two distinct continents. It’s not mandatory, just something I thought interesting. :)

#accepted #supernatural rp #supernatural rpg #bio rp #bio rpg

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thisdaynews · 5 years

Text

Here's what surprised us during the Mueller testimony — and four other takeaways

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/heres-what-surprised-us-during-the-mueller-testimony-and-four-other-takeaways/

Here's what surprised us during the Mueller testimony — and four other takeaways

poster=”http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201907/3094/1155968404_6063646604001_6063644535001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404″

true

Congress

Five of POLITICO’s reporters who have been tracking the Russia probe for two years give their thoughts on what stood out and what they wish Mueller had discussed.

It’s over. After months of anticipation, Robert Mueller has finally testified on Capitol Hill.

Over five-plus hours of testimony, Mueller regularly deflected and refused to answer lawmakers’ questions about anything that wasn’t already in the 448-page report Mueller’s team submitted when it closed up shop earlier this year.

Story Continued Below

Still, to five of the POLITICO reporters who have been tracking the Russia probe for years, there were a number of observations and moments that stuck out. We asked them for their thoughts.

What surprised you?

Natasha Bertrand: I was surprised by the change in Mueller’s tenor between the first and second hearings. He seemed much more confident and forceful during the House Intelligence Committee hearing than during the House Judiciary Committee hearing. The difference might reflect the fact that investigating Russia’s election interference and the Kremlin’s potential ties to the Trump campaign was Mueller’s original mandate.

Kyle Cheney: Mueller allowed cutting criticisms of his report to stand unchallenged, including some lengthy monologues from Republican lawmakers who mocked his understanding of criminal law. It was at times a painful contrast, as Mueller watched blankly while his credibility was called into question.

Andrew Desiderio: I’m, frankly, surprised that Mueller slipped up in his answer to Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) about whether he would have indicted Trump if there wasn’t a DOJ policy prohibiting the indictment of a sitting president. Democrats were elated at Mueller’s initial response, and for a moment there, I thought that answer alone could be a defining moment in the impeachment debate. But Mueller had to walk back his answer later that day, a striking moment for a question that he must have known would come.

Josh Gerstein: While Mueller was very mild-mannered throughout — critics might say almost somnolent — he got notably animated when explaining why he explicitly noted he wasn’t exonerating Trump. The answer seemed to be that Mueller feared Attorney General Bill Barr might seek to argue that a decision not to charge was a kind of vindication for the president.

“We included in the report for exactly that reason. [Barr] may not know it. He should know it,” Mueller said.

Darren Samuelsohn: I’d been hearing the chatter for months that Democrats were warned Mueller didn’t want to participate in the hearing, and maybe it was because he wasn’t “up to” doing it.

There wasn’t much more detail than that, but it did fuel lots of speculation he didn’t have the stamina for two major hearings like this. While Trump supporters and even some of his lawyers were making these points as the hearings got started, it surprised me how quick others spoke up expressing concerns about Mueller’s demeanor.

Did we learn anything new that wasn’t in the report?

Bertrand: Mueller appears to have shot down one potential avenue of Trump-Russia conspiracy — the repeated pinging in late 2016 between the Trump Organization servers and servers belonging to Russia’s Alfa Bank.

“My belief at this point is it’s not true” that the servers were secretly communicating, Mueller said. He also indicated that the issue was investigated.

The response is notable because Alfa Bank and the pinging servers was not addressed in the report, making it a rare divergence from the report for Mueller.

Cheney: Very, very little. Mueller refused to answer dozens — if not hundreds — of questions. At times, he even refused to answer things that were laid out in the report. He did, however, defend his investigation as “not a witch hunt” and directly criticized President Donald Trump’s praise of WikiLeaks, saying that calling it “problematic” would be “an understatement.”

Desiderio: Mueller held closely to the Justice Department’s directive about the scope of his testimony — and for that reason, he declined to answer many of the burning questions both sides posed to him. However, Mueller refuted many of Trump’s attacks on his probe and his findings, potentially giving Democrats fresh ammunition.

Gerstein: A few small things. For instance, Mueller said he didn’t take part in approving any surveillance of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, a subject that Republicans have long hammered. But Mueller was extraordinarily cautious, declining to confirm or restate things actually in his report. And at times it seemed like we were actually losing details, when he either misunderstood questions or misstated the report, like when Mueller said he never investigated whether the Trump campaign sought to steal Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Samuelsohn: Mueller did finally put words to his report in a substantive way, with the give and take that you just don’t get by reading the document. That’s something. But as for substance, I didn’t learn anything new.

What did Mueller not talk about that you were hoping to hear?

Bertrand: I still want to know why he did not subpoena the president, whether Donald Trump Jr. cited his Fifth Amendment right to not self-incriminate as a way to prevent Mueller from forcing him to testify and why Mueller ended the investigation when he did. I also wish Mueller had gone into more detail about campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s handing over internal campaign polling data to a suspected Russian spy. What did Mueller think the purpose of that was?

Cheney: I was hoping Mueller would expound a bit on his interactions with Attorney General Bill Barr and whether he believed Barr accurately portrayed the findings of his report when he first summarized them in March. Democrats have said Barr’s portrayal was essentially a disinformation effort that cast Trump’s actions in a benign light while Mueller’s report remained secret for a full month. But Mueller’s refusal to engage on this left those questions mostly unanswered.

Desiderio: I would’ve liked to hear Aaron Zebley, Mueller’s top deputy, interject when Mueller responded to a question by saying he was unsure or could not recall. Zebley was sworn in as a witness for the Intelligence Committee hearing, but his involvement was minimal. He was more involved in the day-to-day aspects of the investigation and likely could have answered some questions that Mueller couldn’t.

Gerstein: I was surprised that Mueller didn’t offer a more forceful defense of his staff. He did deny his probe was a witch hunt, and launched into something a couple times about the professionalism of his staff, but never really sold it. I expected a bit of reserved outrage at the repeated attacks on his office and also on the FBI. Perhaps he didn’t want to seem too protective of his former colleagues there in case the looming inspector general report slams folks at the FBI.

Samuelsohn: I’ve been as interested as others in why Mueller ended his investigation when he did — when Trump adviser Roger Stone’s trial was still months off and when cooperation from the likes of Trump deputy campaign chair Rick Gates had not ended. Mueller didn’t go there on Wednesday, leaving us to continue to wonder why things wrapped up in late March.

What did the hearing accomplish? Will this change anything?

Bertrand: I think people’s predetermined views on this will just be further hardened. Right-wing media is doubling down on Trump being innocent and the Russia probe being a hoax, while Democrats are highlighting the few things Mueller did reiterate about the campaign’s contacts with Russia and WikiLeaks, as well as the president’s alleged obstruction of justice.

Cheney: It’s dangerous to assume how the hearing might play out politically and in terms of public perception — including on impeachment. Though the hearing was widely seen as a bust for Democrats, due to Mueller’s halting performance, it could be days or weeks before it becomes clear which moments resonate outside Washington.

Desiderio: Out of the gate, I don’t think the dynamics on Capitol Hill will change much at all. The hearing gave Democrats an opportunity to highlight the most damaging parts of the report, while Republican were able to use their time to challenge Mueller’s legal theories and prosecutorial decisions. I don’t think anyone’s mind was changed — at least in the short-term.

Gerstein: In the short term, Democrats are going to take a hit from various commentators and pundits for once again swooning for Mueller rather than carefully thinking through how a hearing was likely to play out. I think they got fewer usable soundbites to feature in TV ads than they hoped, if that was the goal. I don’t think it will muster much sympathy for Trump either, in part because Mueller did not seem like a crazed zealot.

Samuelsohn: Not much. I think it sends the political parties deeper into their respective corners. Democrats got some soundbites, though I don’t think they were especially made-for-TV moments. Trump is only going to rant harder about the Mueller team, which he has been painting for two years as partisan hacks pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Are we any closer to impeachment?

Bertrand: These hearings would’ve had to convince House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that impeachment is necessary — she’s currently against it — and it remains to be seen whether Mueller’s testimony was strong enough to change her mind.

Cheney: Though Mueller didn’t do the effort any favors, Democrats pushing impeachment are unlikely to be deterred, while those wanting to oppose it can feel more comfortable with their decision. Pro-impeachment Democrats said halfway through the day that they still viewed an impeachment inquiry as a likely course and predicted that more than half of House Democrats would be on board in the not-too-distant future.

Desiderio: It’s almost certain that the pro-impeachment number will rise before the end of the week. But the only indicator Pelosi cares about is public sentiment. If public opinion doesn’t shift closer to impeachment, Pelosi will remain entrenched.

Gerstein: Attention to Mueller and his report tends to encourage more Democrats to move in that direction. And we have August recess coming up, during which many Democratic lawmakers will see their most partisan constituents at town hall events demanding a move to impeachment. But I think the effect on public opinion will be negligible.

Samuelsohn: I think we get more Democratic impeachment supporters coming forward. And I’d not be surprised, too, if House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler announces the launch of proceedings at some point soon to open up new lines of inquiry and embolden his court fights ahead. But I don’t think any Republicans will flip on impeachment because of what happened Wednesday, and so the process itself is far off from getting the kind of bipartisan traction it would need to become a reality.

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