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toujourspur13 · 3 years

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The Black family / Walburga Black / canon.

As I said before I do not care that much about canon/fanon/headcanon because transformative works by definition include a wide variety of different interpretations. However, I am forever perplexed when I see uncompromising opinions on the Black family - particularly the unwavering certainty that Sirius Black’s parents were psychotic abusers. All personal opinions aside - why is this so popular?

I mean - it’s absolutely ok to headcanon this version and to play with it - but saying 'don’t you dare say they did not physically and emotionally abuse Sirius' is a little strong, isn’t it?

This is a mystery to me. So…let’s discuss my favourite subject…Again.

Let’s stick to the facts. The frequently cited things proving the abuse in the Black family are as follows:

Sirius said his parents were awful maniacs (pureblood ideology)

he ran away from home

he was severely depressed in OoTP

Kreacher

Portrait

So…when you say that Sirius’s parents were abusive…you mean exactly what? These people got cold feet when they saw the real nature of Voldemort - I guess it somehow implies that they did not share his methods…that they were against violence as a tool to get purebloods in charge.

But then it usually goes this way: ‘well at least he was verbally and emotionally abused by his family’ - but is it so? Is this based on the portrait of Sirius's mother? She insulted strangers who took over her house and her runaway son - how does this prove anything about how Sirius and Regulus were raised and treated when they were kids? I agree it’s rather impolite - jkr did a good job showing how purebloods perceived others ( those below them) -but in all honesty, this has very little to do with Sirius and his childhood.

Why to make Sirius a victim at all? - c’mon he was tougher than this, he spent 12 years in Azkaban; are you actually saying that a portrait throwing insults at everyone is worse? I doubt that. And is it such a surprise that a mother who lost her son (that said son actually ran away and abandoned his duty) would be that furious at him when seeing him again...even if it’s only a portrait...I believe it to be a rather unpleasant experience for a parent when a child runs away.

We already talked about the portrait a lot - I don’t even want to mention it here- - I feel we should rather pay more attention to the fact that Sirius himself was not an angel.

I am not saying the colourful vocabulary of Walburga Black should be used…but Sirius himself upon seeing Snape immediately recognised his weakness and went for it without any hesitation …we are talking about Sirius who in fact was quite a renowned bully ( I mean - we know for a fact that from time to time Sirius and James got carried away)…

And it was Sirius who sent Snape to meet and chat with a real werewolf (yes, I agree - he was not thinking this through - he probably was just vexed and fed up with Snape and thought he wouldn’t go there, would get cold feet or idk run away…But it actually changes nothing. If a drunken driver hits someone it will be 100% his fault whether he means it or not. Whether he is in a fragile mental state or not - such situations are definite. It’s the same with Sirius - even if he did not mean anything bad he should have understood the cost of his mistake - all teenagers make silly things but not all of them send their classmate to meet a werewolf - James thought it not a very good idea as I recall… -

So we see that Sirius was not an angel from the start and I can hardly believe he was a victim by nature. His behaviour loudly manifested that he used to get what he wanted with no thought of the consequences.

And all those pictures of bikini-clad girls on the walls in his room prove that he was quite a spoiled boy who had nothing to fear from mum and dad. Harry himself noticed «Sirius seemed to have gone out of his way to annoy his parents». All this shows that Sirius was not afraid of his parents at all. What kind of masochist would suffer for motorbike posters? That would be ridiculous.

Let’s move to Kreacher: If Sirius’s mother had been a monster why even mention her heart? JKR wrote this for a purpose and this heavily implies that Sirius's situation was never meant to be ‘the abusive heartless parents vs the poor helpless victim’.

The fact that Sirius ran away and hence broke his mother’s heart says against the popular idea that he was not loved by his family, that he was always the second one, that they abused him. I’m 100% certain that Kreacher told the truth in that scene. Why would he say something like this if it were not the truth - something like…that his beloved mistress having been so upset over Sirius running away that it broke her heart. Just tell me one reason that would have justified such a lie - why to say this at all?

Then this: “Leave?” Sirius smiled bitterly and ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair. “Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal … my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them … that’s him.”…. “He was younger than me,” said Sirius, “and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.”

I’ve already said it before - this ‘better son than me’ is exactly what insecure 14-year old kids like to say. Well...he’s a bit older but it’s not as if he had a life and a chance to mature. Moreover, I don’t know if it comes as a great shock but a lot of teenagers like to badmouth their parents…usually, it involves something like ‘those bloody uptight retrogrades know nothing of the real world’ (it fades away when they get closer to thirty).

To be serious, I find that it’s just another example of similarities between Sirius and his mother. They clearly did not know what it means to be composed, polite, and respectful. Yeah…I think that, on the whole, parents are owed their children’s respect (unless they are completely inadequate - somehow I don’t believe this was the case). Someone should teach both of them what mutual respect means. Anyway, there is nothing in this quote that says that Sirius was subjected to any forms of abuse - it’s about how Sirius justified his running away, how he saw the situation.

There’s also the fact that Sirius was incredibly unhappy because he was back at his childhood home and having to spend time around anything that reminded him of his family: “Hasn’t anyone told you? This was my parents’ house,” said Sirius. “But I’m the last Black left, so it’s mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters — about the only useful thing I’ve been able to do.” Harry, who had expected a better welcome, noted how hard and bitter Sirius’s voice sounded”.

Here it comes…the severe depression that makes people question the severity of his abuse… I have thought a lot about this because it is the reason why some consider ‘the abusive blacks' canon while others believe it was more of a tragedy of the family rather than the banal brutality.

Of course, Sirius was upset in that house - but I don’t think he suffered the memories of his unhappy childhood - I think he suffered from the strong feeling of guilt. Being in that house meant an everyday reminder that he was a failure. And it’s not even a lie. If you look at his whole life you’ll see that he literally failed everyone in his life: he failed James and Lily - they were dead and he unwillingly became the reason. It was his plan that turned everything into a tragedy.

And, to some extent, he failed Harry- he was not around him like James and Lily would have wanted. Sirius did not give him the real family - he only promised they'd be the one «when it’s all over».

And finally - he failed his parents, his brother, his own family.

Is it possible to live with so much guilt in your heart?

I don't think that Sirius completely forgot who he was born to be. If the family keeps traditions and can trace its existence back in centuries you can't shake it off even if you want. I doubt Sirius switched it off just because he had griffindor friends. He was the last Black - it is tragically poetic that he was once the hope of his family and then this family died with him. If Sirius had heart (and I truly believe he had a heart) he knew exactly what it meant to be trapped in the house that represented the death of his family. A constant reminder that he was the last one.

“The others’ hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person”.

I think that the scene when he threw his father's ring away - he threw it away because it was all over for his family. It was the end of the dynasty - and for him it was all over long before he met Bellatrix for the last time.

Well, I admit Sirius' situation is open for wide interpretation but I don’t think the abusive black household is a canon thing - of course, it’s fanon. It makes Sirius a hero who broke the chains when in fact he ended up being a victim of his own life.

You know, it always seems strange to me that fandom when discussing Walburga usually overlooks the simple truth of life - that even if you are clever enough and mean good for your loved ones it is still possible to end up on the losing side, on the dark side. However, mistakes don't automatically turn humans into monsters.

To some extent Sirius’s story represents the consequences of war. No-one is protected; the whole families could be wiped off the face of the earth. It’s a simple yet profound idea. It correlates with the main idea of hp books far better than the ‘abusive psychopaths’ (there are already Voldemort and Bellatrix - there is no-one who can beat them in this department).

All I say - it’s okay to imagine them bad if you want- your right - but don’t write everywhere that it’s canon because it is not.There is no need for such inflexibility especially when it comes to the fandom - a place where everyone should be welcomed and their views on the books be respected.

#the noble and most ancient house of black #hp meta #harry potter #sirius black meta #walburga black #orion black #regulus black #harry potter meta #Order of the Phoenix #Sirius Black

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neoatiny · 4 years

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정 윤호 | Ateez Yunho (pirate!au) | Ateez Headcannon

“My compass is your whispering. Even if you go back a long time, please stay by my side.” -Ateez, Mist

The Sailing Master of the Horizon

The dude is LouD

I mean LouD as in you-can-never-not-hear-this-guy-talking kind of LouD

You can always hear him happily chatting with however is near him

He spends most of his time in the captain’s quarters helping Hongjoong build maps

When he does leave the quarters, everyone is happy to see him

He’s always cracking jokes

Would have been such a chaotic duo with Wooyoung if he just s t o p p e d stealing his things

He can’t find his parchment? Probably hidden in between the kitchen plates

He can’t find his telescope? Probably dangling over the bulwarks by a piece of rope tied to the railing

And when he can’t find his compass that’s he’s said countless of times before is irreplaceable? Probably wedged in between some broken planks on the deck

Isn’t really one to hold a grudge so Wooyoung never listens and continues to steal his things

Is the most wonderful artist the captain’s ever met

The whole crew has ever met let’s be honest

He can draw maps, buildings, caricatures

You name it, he can draw it

Takes requests when he’s off-duty and Mingi holds his drawing close to his heart (he won’t admit it no matter how many times Yunho teases him about it)

San and him get along well because “he actually understands the importance in learning the names of various plants”

Yunho is shut-lipped when he gets injured because he feels it’ll be a problem to others

When he got his first injury on the Horizon, it took weeks for his limp to heal and Seonghwa was the one to find him hiding in the storage room, messily rewrapping bandages he stole from the medbay around his leg

It was the first and last time he saw Yunho cry

Captain told everyone to keep an eye on him discreetly, but Yunho knows

He’s a smart guy, after all

Restlessly proves that he’s useful to the crew because he’s scared of being left behind

“Captain, if we continue to head in this direction, we’ll bump into an Honor Guard ship in four hours or so”

“Yes, Yunho. I know.”

“…Oh” :(

Was a very cheerful kid back in his hometown, Caligo

Loved to help the townspeople (carry milk bottles, carry out flyers, find missing cats, etc)

Everybody loved him, but it was also because his father was part of the town council so they needed to respect his son

Didn’t have a lot of friends even though he played a lot with the street kids

They always asked him for money saying that he “Had loads more at home, so why not give some of it to us?”

Yunho thought he was doing a good deed at the time, always following others to make them happy

Had loved exploration since he could remember

His father was an exploration enthusist himself so Yunho always played with his father’s telescopes and cartography kit

Made a really descriptive map of the town when he was 9, marking where everyone lived and worked

Drew them himself and was praised by his father for it, gifting him his silver compass that he used to travel with when he was younger

His mother was also proud, but slightly disturbed on his amount of research into the town

During the Nox War, general soldier recruitment happened and most of the men in town got drafted to fight

During those times, his father became more snappy and more unloving towards him

Whenever that happened, his mother would take him to the garden to comfort him

“Do you want to play a game, Yunho?”

immediately would stop crying and they’d make little maps of make-believe islands with his mini cartography kit

Yunho always won, of course

They’d post them on the garden’s walls and they would take care of the flowers

Yunho pretty much knows every single type of flower and their meaning

When he was 11 years old, his father went POOF and disappeared for over a month without any word

His father got replaced by someone else on the town counsel and that man did e v e r y t h i n g to badmouth his father

“He left without a word! Do you want someone who leaves the town while they’re in need?”

When his father eventually came back, he constantly ignored him, muttering about sea thieves

Yunho would later come to learn in one of his father’s dusty books that it was another term for pirates

His parents would fight in his father’s study and he’d cry while listening in through the door

“You can’t just come back without saying anything, Kyungho! Our neighbours are badmouthing us! Our son believes you don’t even love him anymore!”

“He isn’t important! He isn’t important right now, Yunha! The Honor Guard, Yunha. Somebody lied and said that we helped a band of pirates. They’re going to come for us and you want to worry about people judging you? You want to worry about him?”

He isn’t important. Those words would be a constant reminder as he grew up

He felt alone and it didn’t help that he no one in the town would talk to him anymore because of the new council member

Yunho has this scar on his right hand after someone threw literal glAss at him

“You and your family aren’t welcome! Your father abandoned us!”

The house seemed to grow emptier and emptier as days went by

One late night, his mother had brought him to the garden after he heard loud noises from downstairs

“Mo-Mother? What’s happening? Where’s father?”

“Let’s play a game, Yunho.”

And being the obedient son that he was he agreed

“I want you to stand very still, okay? Don’t move because…because then you won’t be able to see the surprise your father and I planned for you.”

He should have known something was up when he saw her mother not dressed in her nightgown

She disappeared and all that kept him company were the chirping crickets

"The stars looks so nice tonight.”

Some time passed and she still hasn’t come back

And she never did

His mother had abandoned him in the garden and tried to run away and officials found her in the outskirts of town by a dingy boat

On the same night, his father and mother were hanged in the gallows for aiding in piracy (false charges but nobody knew that)

He was taken away the next day, never seeing the garden ever again

Stayed in the town orphanage which obviously did not have enough space to accommodate all the kids inside

Spent sleepless nights wondering why she did what she did

maybe she did it since she knew he wouldn’t get hanged and maybe she did it for his safety and it wouldn’t have been the best for him, but it messed with him for y e a r s

Especially since the older boys in the orphanage would not let him forget

“If you were important, your mother wouldn’t have left you to rot in that stupid garden.“

He hated the town and he hated everyone so the moment he saw a flyer (‘Looking for a Navigator’) for a local merchant ship he was OUTTA THERE

Had only a small bag of money and his father’s compass around his neck before he left

Spent only six months on the ship before they got raided by pirates (you know who)

The captain was absolutely fascinated by the maps

"Who drew these?”

“I did.”

Don’t blame Yunho for speaking up he was just afraid he was going to die if nobody spoke up so give him a break

“You’re an amazing artist.”

That was the day he joined the Horizon, the Pirate King’s ship

“Mingi! How would you feel about not having to navigate anymore?”

He had joined during the early years of the Horizon and it took the captain almost a year to actually learn anything personal about him (oof)

Said yes to the captain’s proposal since he was still a bit (very) terrified of him

Didn’t really believe the pirate life was for him, but he accepted it fully

He’s a very big reason why the Horizon is more merciful with the people they encounter on sea

He’s glad he met the captain and swears he’ll have his back no matter what

He finally had a family and he wasn’t just going to go and leave them like his did

:’)

————

Captain, take care of him, please-

Horizon Masterlist / Taglist

1 out of 8 headcannons finished

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hamliet · 5 years

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On Privilege and Parallels: MianMian and SiSi, Wei WuXian and Jin GuangYao

Aka two minor characters who happen to be some of the only female characters who survive MDZS. Granted a lot of characters don’t survive MDZS, but it’s definitely lopsided gender-wise. However, no story is perfect.

(brb crying forever)

Anyways, what struck me while rereading certain parts of MDZS after watching The Untamed was how these seemingly very minor characters actually have quite important thematic roles. On the surface, both MianMian and SiSi appear to be plot devices as neither really has a character arc and yet both play important roles in two of the novel’s turning points: Wei WuXian, Jin ZiXuan, and Lan WangJi saving MianMian essentially kicks off the Sunshot Campaign, and SiSi and BiCao’s stories turn the tides against Jin GuangYao. But these characters have a lot of similarities, and these similarities reflect on their respective foilings with the main protagonist and final antagonist (Wei WuXian for MianMian and Jin GuangYao for SiSi).

In the cave, MianMian is targeted by JiaoJiao purely because JiaoJiao is jealous. After she survives the attempt to tie her up and use her as bait, she is then captured and JiaoJiao tries to burn her face off. Wei WuXian intervenes, getting his flesh branded in the process.

And what’s worth noting is that we see this precise situation later on through SiSi. A merchant’s wife was jealous and had her face cut seven or eight times, leaving her scarred and unable to work.

What’s thematic about this is that it relates to what Wei WuXian observes: society is always going to find a villain.

Instead of JiaoJiao taking her anger out on Wen Chao, or the merchant’s wife on the merchant, they target the objects of their respective partners’ affections. (It’s also worth noting that JiaoJiao is actually a mistress anyways, not Wen Chao’s wife.) In these situations, MianMian and SiSi have considerably less power than JiaoJiao or the merchant’s wife; regarding MianMian, she’s noted to be “the daughter of a servant,” regarding SiSi, obviously, she was a prostitute and we’ve seen how society treats a well-known and educated prostitute like Meng Shi. We can only imagine how they’d treat SiSi.

Along these lines, Wei WuXian empathizes with Jin GuangYao towards the end of the novel, and observes much the same:

These stories and rumors were indeed familiar. Wei WuXian recalled how back then countless people told stories of him kidnapping a thousand virgins to his demonic cave at Burial Mound, ravishing them day and night to cultivate the dark path. He found it somewhat funny, Fine. No matter what, the things they said about me were definitely better than what they’re saying about Jin GuangYao.

Jin GuangYao was not the villain society claims he is; he did not build a temple to himself as they observe, but for his mother: a scorned prostitute who lived a life of sacrifice to give him a chance:

As one sect leader saw the features of the Guanyin statue, he first paused in surprise, then pointed at it for others to see as though he found something new and interesting, “Look at its face! Doesn’t it look like Jin GuangYao?”

Everyone mused after they looked, “It’s his face indeed! Why would Jin GuangYao make such a thing?”

Sect Leader Yao, “To declare himself a god with wild arrogance, of course.”

“Arrogant indeed, then, hahaha.”

Wei WuXian thought to himself, No, not necessarily.

Jin GuangYao’s mother was seen as the lowest prostitutes, so he decided to carve a Guanyin statue with his mother’s appearance, receiving the worship of tens of thousands.

But there was no use in saying all that. Nobody knew with more clarity than Wei WuXian that nobody would care and nobody would believe him. Anything related to Jin GuangYao would be given the most malicious conjectures and passed through the mouths of the crowd.

And that’s another parallel between MianMian, Wei WuXian, SiSi, and to a lesser extent Jin GuangYao as well (I’ll get into where he differs later). MianMian, Wei WuXian, and SiSi will stand up for what they believe is right, for the people they care for, no matter who stands against them. MianMian narrowly avoided the social implications of getting her face ruined, as Wei WuXian observes:

Wei WuXian, “It’s not like I had any other choice, right?... MianMian is a girl, and quite a pretty girl, at that. If she was blind in an eye or such a thing gets onto her face, it wouldn’t be able to come off for the rest of her life. How bad would that be?”

Lan WangJi spoke in a thin voice, “The thing on your body right now will not be able to come off for the rest of your life either.”

Wei WuXian, “That’s different. It’s not on the face. And I’m a man—what am I scared of?”

These are implicitly gendered as well. Yet she chooses to throw her reputation away anyways to shame her sect for their treatment of Wei WuXian. Nie MingJue even observes "The woman has much more backbone than the mob of her sect” after they again judge her on the basis of her gender:

“There’s no need for me to say anything. You know, deep down, and we know too. You fell for him back in the cave of the Xuanwu just because he flirted with you? You’re still arguing for him, calling white black no matter how irrational it is. Ha, women will always be women.”

SiSi too stood up for Meng Shi when all the other prostitutes were badmouthing her, when she was humiliated, and challenged the men who were gawking at the humiliation:

[they were] chuckling as they told the story of the poor old woman to their clients just like AnXin did. Only one of the ladies squeezed through the doors. She took off the gauze robe that was so flimsy to begin with, revealing half of her full, snowy breasts enwrapped by a crimson slip, her waist was exceptionally thin as well. She was more than eye-catching and everyone hurried to take a look at her.

The lady spat, cursing, “Keep on looking, you bastards! Do you have the right to look at someone like me? With each look you gotta pay—where’s the money?! Come, where’s the money?!”

As she cursed, she reached out and asked the bystanders for money. The crowd dispersed somewhat, and she threw the robe she took off onto the woman, the two of them staggering into the main hall...

She challenges society thereby, pointing out that if they’re going to gawk at a woman’s fate, they might as well pay up, because they’re the ones who employ the women in the brothel, they’re the reason they resort to this fate. Society is to be blamed more than anything or anyone else.

But their fates differ. MianMian is able to marry a man who supports her in night hunts despite her lack of sect belonging; she finds belonging and happiness outside society (which is a theme).

Luo QingYang gazed at her husband, smiling, “My husband isn’t of the cultivating world. He used to be a merchant. But, he’s willing to go night-hunting with me…”

It was both rare and admirable that an ordinary person, and a man at that, would be willing to give up his originally stable life and dare travel the world with his wife, unafraid of danger and wander. Wei WuXian couldn’t help feeling respect for him.

We’re not given a clear answer to SiSi’s fate, and I’m not going to assume it’s negative, but it’s worth noting that SiSi is literally saved by and yet locked up by Jin GuangYao, which is symbolic of both Jin GuangYao’s choices and how society treats women like her: they are forever categorized by a life they quite possibly didn’t choose. Their scars repulse people.

The woman spoke with no shame in her voice, not at all trying to beat around the bush. Many of the female cultivators covered their lips with their sleeves, while the men frowned. Sisi, “After my face became like this, my days were different from before. Nobody wanted to spare me a single glance, let alone do my business. My original brothel kicked me out. I didn’t know how to do anything else, but I couldn’t take in any business at all, so I joined up with the older sisters. Their customers didn’t have high demands. If a job is up, I’d tag along with them. I could manage with my face covered up.”

At this point, some of the people couldn’t take it any longer. They let the contempt in their eyes pour out without any intent to cover it.

But Jin GuangYao, to whatever extent it matters--and Wei WuXian remarks that he thinks it does matter--saved Sisi even though he had to know not killing her would likely come back to bite him. He doesn’t stand up for people against society, but he does surreptitiously find ways to protect those who were kind to him.

“Speaking of it, that SiSi used to be quite the well-known prostitute back in the days. With how old she is, I couldn’t even recognize her. What a fucking hag. It was quite the torturous death for Jin GuangShan too, hahahahaha…”

“Props to Jin GuangYao for thinking of such a way to kill his dad. A perfect match. Absolutely perfect!”

“It’s quite a mystery—why didn’t Jin GuangYao kill that old prostitute? Witnesses should be silenced. Is he an idiot?”

“Why should he be an idiot? He’s the seed of Jin GuangShan, after all. Maybe he’s a lover of affairs too. Maybe he’s got special tastes and has… haha, an unspeakable relationship with SiSi?”

“Hah, I think so too, but don’t the stories say? Because he engaged in incest with his sister-by-blood, Jin GuangYao was so shocked he somehow fell ill in an unspeakable way, so even if he wanted to, he couldn’t, hahaha…

This is exactly what doomed Jin GuangYao insofar as his choices are concerned: he both hated society that treated his mother terribly, knew it left him with little choice, and yet still chose to be a part of it. He chose to keep himself locked up instead of seeking a more meaningful life outside of society’s approval.

The symbolism of SiSi being locked up for so long is what happens to Jin GuangYao as well. We see both him and Wei WuXian categorized by their parents: Wei WuXian is disparaged as a “son of a servant” and Jin GuangYao as the “son of a whore.”

Wei WuXian, however, was given a chance, a chance that enables him to save MianMian from being forever categorized by her scars: he was found on the streets by Jiang FengMian. However horrible Madame Yu was to him (and she was), however he was rumored to be the illegitimate son of Jiang FengMian (which while it’s unlikely, the novel never directly gives an answer to), he had support and love growing up. He had cultivation taught to him, and he thinks this:

if Jiang FengMiang hadn’t take him back to Lotus Pier, perhaps he wouldn’t cross paths with cultivation his whole life. Then he would have never known that such a magnificent path existed in this world. He’d only be a head beggar who roamed the streets, fleeing at first sight of a dog, or maybe looking after cows and stealing other people’s crops in the countryside, playing his flute to pass his time. He wouldn’t have known to cultivate, and he definitely wouldn’t have had the chance to form a core. With such thoughts, he’d felt much better.

Take it as repayment, or take it as redemption. Take it as he’d never received the golden core to begin with.

Jin GuangYao did not have this. He grew up as a poor child in YunMeng just like Wei WuXian, but no one stood up for him save his mother and SiSi. When he found his way to his father’s house, as the actual illegitimate son, Jin GuangShan had him kicked down the stairs of Koi Tower instead of welcoming him. Madame Jin abused him physically as well as emotionally (Madame Yu’s, to our knowledge, was primarily verbal/emotional):

Blood streamed down from [Jin GuangYao’s] forehead, but aside from the wound from the fall, there was also an old wound from before, wrapped in bandages. It had been hidden only because he was wearing the black gauze cap. Now, both wounds gaped open...

Lan XiChen walked as he spoke, “Brother, I am afraid that you do not know. Our third brother really is in a terrible situation as of the moment... His mother never liked him to begin with. After ZiXuan-xiong passed away, she often hit him and scolded him.

Wei WuXian never fully fit in with society, and no one tried to integrate Jin GuangYao with it without removing the labels and boxes they put him in . He only achieved a place in society via lies and deception that just turned out to be another box, leaving him to be trapped in a literal locked coffin for at least a hundred years. He’s fully responsible for his choices that led to his tragedy, but it’s foolish to say that his circumstances did not contribute to them as well; take Wei WuXian’s word for it, not mine. Society is a monstrous, toxic creation in MDZS, and Jin GuangYao’s focus on its approval instead of on the people who loved him’s approval (Lan XiChen, even Nie MingJue) led to him doing monstrous things to vulnerable people who had no choice in their circumstances either (namely, A-Song and SiSi’s shunned prostitute friends).

It’s still remarkable to me how often I see takes arguing that Jin GuangYao=bad and Wei WuXian=good, when, while everyone’s entitled to their opinion, the story’s themes directly contradict this. Both of them messed up, and Wei WuXian made better choices than Jin GuangYao did ultimately. However, Wei WuXian also was had support from a young age in ways Jin GuangYao never did, and the novel goes out of its way to point this out. It’s hard for servants, prostitutes, the disabled (Xiao XingChen), the disfigured, women, to find a place in a society that scorns them. It’s directly criticizing privilege beyond sociopolitical boundaries and points to the privilege in people’s experiences as well, emphasizing the importance of empathy in solving problems.

Wei WuXian is warned numerous times that empathy is dangerous, yet he uses it more than once in the novel. Jin GuangYao asked Nie MingJue for empathy several times, and was rebuffed (though Lan XiChen did give him empathy to an extent... but there’s more to that which is a topic for another meta). Ironically, the one who empathizes with Jin GuangYao in the end, who understands him most, is Wei WuXian, because they were not that different in the end.

#wei wuxian #mdzs #mdzs meta #jin guangyao #mao dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #founder of diabolism #gdc meta #the untamed #chen qing ling #sisi #mianmian #luo qingyang

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ffamranxii · 4 years

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I just finished Fruits Basket Another and I have some Feelings, okay? Under the cut, because spoilers.

THE CHARACTERS

Hoooo boy let’s unpack here. Furubana is about Sawa Mitoma, a nervous first year in high school. She firmly believes that she’s basically human trash, and resolves to take up as little space in the world as possible, and that’s not even me paraphrasing. She says within the first few pages she wants to take up as little space as humanly possible. We find out that she’s the daughter of an extremely abusive mother - emotionally abusive. Sawa’s mother never hits her, but she’s also never once nice to her in any of her appearances. She isolates Sawa from any and all friends, she constantly drags Sawa down, and she’s rarely even at home, even back when Sawa was a little girl. How long has Sawa been looking after herself? Sawa is what Tohru could have become if Kyoko had been involved with a gang member rather than Katsuya.

The main trio of characters is rounded out by essentially the same trio as before: Mutsuki Sohma as the son of Yuki and Machi and Hajime Sohma as the son of Tohru and Kyo. Visually, they look nearly identical, which is why I chose that ^ picture. But they could not be more different. Sawa is every Sohma insecurity rolled into one, and the Sohmas are what their parents could have been without the curse and the constant abuse. Hajime is one of the oldest of the cousins, smothered with love and affection by his entire family, and is lovingly referred to as Dad and Papa (which annoys him), being one of the few in the family who cooks, cleans, or is, y’know, responsible. (Good job, Kyoru! Teach your boy right!) He is unwillingly elected student council president, and manages it easily. Unlike his father’s life, things come easily to Hajime, but he doesn’t let that make him conceited. He’s a down to earth character who trades biting remarks with Mutsuki. Mutsuki, on the other hand, I love. I adore. I want to erect a shrine to this boy. Poor Yuki, his wife hath birthed him a miniature Ayame. Mutsuki is trouble under a beautiful exterior, subtle snark and gentle teasing, but over the top in other aspects (like his thing that was once a desk and complete inability to do the most basic of tasks like buy laundry detergent, his utter willingness to let other people do things for him). He is also a deeply caring individual, and has an extremely close relationship with his cousin Shiki which is the complete opposite of his father’s relationship with Shiki’s mother that I nearly cried right there while reading volume three.

Kinu Sohma is the daughter of Hatori and Mayuko (a pairing of which I am not fond), and I actually was not fond of her until volume three, at which point she became a treat. A college student, Kinu seems to have no real ambitions or life goals (much like many college freshmen), spends much of her time sleeping, and only really sweeps in at the last chapter to comfort a very distressed Sawa in the way only a fellow woman can, delivering a wonderful speech right up with Kyoko’s Words Of Wisdom about how no one has the right to treat you badly, even your own family. No one has the right to abuse you, demean you, hurt you. That is a curse. She actually uses the word curse, and it makes me wonder what her parents told her of the Sohma curse, if Hatori ever mentioned how Akito used to be, or how Shigure was such a piece of shit about the seahorse, and it made me love Hatori all over again, for teaching his daughter such a powerful thing. Volume three also gave wonderful interaction between Kinu and the entirely deranged (but perfectly appropriate) Hibika Sohma, the daughter of Ayame and Mine. Just like Hatori is the only one who has any sort of control over Ayame, Kinu is the only one who can reign in Hibika. I believe these two are the oldest, out of all of the cousins, because in volume two, Hibika just fucking jets off to Paris with no warning, at the top of one of her tiny tophats instead of setting up her parents’ second store, because she needed inspiration to create new dresses. I don’t think a high school student could do that. Hibika may possibly be the oldest (Kinu is still a minor at 19 [Japan’s age of adulthood is 20]), because I don’t think a minor could do that either. She’s obsessed with Sawa and playing dress up with her, something Kinu is able to reign her away from doing with ease. She’s only the tiniest bit toned down from Ayame. I love her.

Michi Manabe is the daughter of Kakeru and Komaki and is sometimes at odds with Hajime. My biggest complaint with Furubana is that she is not in it enough!! Despite not being a Sohma proper, Michi is included in nearly all Sohma activities and all the Sohma cousins know her. She and Mutsuki were raised as siblings and address each other as such, which is precious because awww, but also because Kakeru has a deep sibling bond with his half sister as an adult, Komaki (who I view as another Tohru in a way, from how she was introduced) made an effort to keep Yuki and Machi in their lives and comfortable, and Yuki and Machi both created a family unit with the one family member who wanted Machi around, a bond so strong that their children saw each other so much growing up that they refer to each other as siblings. How precious is that?? Poor Hajime is probably the only voice of reason Mutsuki ever had in his life because you know Michi is to Mutsuki what Kakeru would be to Ayame. God I need a Kakeru-meets-Ayame-centric episode right now. Yuki would DIE. Riku Sohma is one half of the twin siblings born to Haru and Rin, and while he looks like Haru, this boy is a lot like his mother. He doesn’t have the anger issues his parents have, not really (except for instance of punching out Hibika’s brother), but he can be a bit spacey, he’s very serious and literal, and he likes to sleep. Everywhere. This family and their sleep. It kills me. He also gets himself a cute little girlfriend, and because of his crush on this girl and his watching of her, he notices her wanting to reach out to Sawa, and Sawa makes her first friend (mostly) on her own in nearly her entire life! On the other hand, Sora Sohma, his twin sister, is cute and spacey, a bit ditzy, and looks like their mother but is 100% Haru. She has nicknames for everyone in the family, and never calls anyone by their actual name. She’s my second favorite character after Hibika. Sora reminds me very much of Usagi Tsukino: instead of seeing a person, Sora sees a friend.

Poor Chizuru Sohma should’ve been Yuki’s kid. Honestly I’m surprised Ayame and Mine don’t have more kids, given how passionate I’m sure they are. And while Chizuru loves his father, he does declare the man crazy (as does every other character, minus Mutsuki, who says he’s “the most terrific of all uncles”) on more than one occasion. Chizuru is the more responsible of the Ayame/Mine Sohma children, setting up the Ayame II shop essentially on his own until Mutsuki offers Sawa’s help as a part timer (because remember, Hibika decided to go to Paris for the week). He hates that others view his family as eccentric and him as normal and especially hates when they comment on it, and he tends to be a bit foul-mouthed and outspoken. A bit like Hiro. Poor kid. Rio Mosca is Saki Hanajima’s boy and he is NOT KAZUMA’S SON AND THIS MAKES ME SO SAD. His parents’ love story is rather cute, however. His father is a foreigner (Italian, given that his surname is Mosca), and the two met on a plane, making this a cute little callback to when young Megumi prayed for a someone for Saki to “get on a plane and meet her.” Mina Sohma is the most precious baby and is the daughter of our boy Momiji! Although, look at her - could she be anyone else’s child? She is sweet and cute and seems to be without Momiji a lot - Momiji inherited his father’s business (which seems to be international?), and he travels all the time. Mina has a great talent for batting and rather than be privately tutored and follow her father all over the world, she stays behind in Japan to play baseball for her school. Her dream is to take over the family business from her father like he did from his. It seems Momiji’s terribly tragic story ended happily, as it seems he reconciled with his father enough to inherit his business... (more on this later). And then we have Shiki Sohma, who is surprisingly the son of Shigure and Akito! :O Shiki seems to inhabit two worlds, much like the Sohmas of Furuba. On the one hand, he is part of a generation who was raised by those healed by Tohru Honda. Loving, caring parents who love and adore their children. He has friends who care deeply for him - his best friends, despite all being in different grades, are Chizuru and Rio, and they all play Go together in the school club. His family are all deeply committed to him - Mutsuki especially is close to him, as seen in the first volume where Shiki was teased at but not seen, as Mutsuki called him to come to the house where he, Hajime, Kinu, and Sawa were having a hot pot with Michi, Riku, and Sora. His parents both are and aren’t the Shigure and Akito we know from Furuba - Shigure is still the immature jokester and Akito is still the serious head of the family, but they both love their son immensely, totally and completely in a way that Akito remembers being loved as a child by her father, in a way that Shigure’s parents probably loved him. On the other hand, in volume three, it is shown that, being the son of the head of the family, and living in the Sohma compound, with the old servants, the “old timers,” and Ren, subjects Shiki to some truly horrific abuse the likes of which no other second gen Sohma child has had to go through. Shiki would greet guests who would give him gifts, only to find that within those gifts were notes badmouthing his mother. Ren attempted to stab him as a small child, something the old Akito would and has attempted on the first gen Sohmas, and it’s implied the only reason was because Shiki was Akito’s child. Akito threw herself in front of Ren’s knife and took the blow for her boy. Shiki is a quiet and withdrawn child, one foot in each of these worlds, and seemingly paralyzed over how to act. Much like Sawa, especially once she meets the Sohmas.

Remember I said we’d come back to Momiji’s happy ending? See that woman in the top left? That’s Momo Sohma, Momiji’s sister. In Furubana, Momiji has reconciled not only with his father, but with his sister as well! Momo appears to pick up Momo from the Sohma house; she is Momiji’s assistant and Mina seems to stay with her sometimes when Momiji is out of the country. Momiji has his family back!!! Speaking of families, Hinata Sohma, Hiro’s little sister, is all grown up and makes her own appearance in the third volume (and is a slight alcoholic, lol). She also mentions brothers - did Hiro did another sibling after his curse broke?? Megumi Hanajima makes an appearance as a teacher at Kaibara High School, and this is my second complaint about Furubana - there is not enough Megumi!! He grew up sexy! Second best glow up in the series after Momiji! It’s Megumi who tells the romantic story of how Saki met her husband on the plane. Also making an appearance is Makoto Takei, former student council president, unwilling witness to Haru’s natural hair color explanation. He is now a teacher as well, and Sawa and Riku’s homeroom teacher. He’s also still in love with Yuki, and lets Mutsuki get away with anything. He is often at odds with Ruriko Kageyama, the daughter of Motoko Minagawa of the Prince Yuki Fan Club. Ruriko has inherited her mother’s obsession, though unlike Motoko and Makoto (god those two would’ve made a great obsessed couple), Ruriko loves ALL Sohmas. I don’t understand how the worship of an entire family to stalker levels is an official school club but whatever. Ruriko is actually pretty cool, and while she’s pretty strict, she’s also on somewhat friendly (like, “person I talk to at school but nowhere else” type friend) terms with Sawa.

THE STORY

I feel this can best be summed up in five sentences and in reverse: When Sawa was little, she fell down the stairs. She was found by Shiki, who simultaneously called an ambulance and fell in love with her. Her piece of shit mother sued Shiki because he was rich as shit. Ten years later, no Sohmas harbor any grudges against Sawa, her mother is still a piece of shit, the Sohma children are full of Tohru-and-Kyoko wisdom passed down from their parents, and try to help Sawa. And also they all hardcore ship Shiki/Sawa. The end.

No seriously, that’s the story. It’s beautiful. I wish there was one or two more volumes, a cameo featuring the adults, it would be perfect. Could you imagine the terrible awkward jokes Shigure would make? “Honey look, Shiki’s in love with the girl he pushed down the stairs as a kid. Was marrying her one of the terms of the lawsuit? Hahaha.” And Akito would just be like “....baby, you and Sawa go outside while I smack your father, you don’t need to see this.” And the two go outside and we then see Shigure fucking fly through the paper door and a loud “YOU FUCKING MORON” follow him out with the classic -_- “did I say something wrong?” Shigure face. And Shiki is just a fascinating color of ruby fire about the cheeks and mumbles, “so yeah... that’s my father....” and Sawa is a similar color and staring at her shoes like “he seems nice...” and Akito opens the ruined door as though she didn’t just beat the shit out of her husband and calls out to them, “come and have tea, your father had to step out for a bit. Sawa, dear, I’d love to hear more about you. would you prefer jasmine tea or green,” because Akito has done a complete 180 and become a decent human being since becoming a mother and Shiki is EVERYTHING to her and if her son loves this girl then GODDAMNIT SO DOES SHE.

#fruits basket another #furubana #fruits basket #furuba #fruits basket spoilers #furuba spoilers #i just finished the series and i don't know what to do with myself

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hoenytae · 7 years

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Always There

Word Count: 2k Genre: Angst/Fluff Pairing: Park Jimin x Reader

Description: Here you go, fluff fluff fluff. ♡

She breathed heavily as she instantly flickered her eyes opened. She sat down on her bed and she placed one hand on her chest as she felt her heart was still beating fast. She touched her face with her own hand and she could feel the drying tears stained on her cheeks.

She just had a horrible dream. She dreamt of her fighting with some of the most important people in her life. What an awful and an unexpected dream. She did not have a fight with anyone for months which was why she did not expect to have that kind of dream slipping into her nights.

However, at the time she opened her eyes, she turned her head around to seize her surrounding. And that was the moment when she realized that it was not a dream. It was a reminiscence of what had happened the night before. She was now alone inside her apartment, sitting on her bed, not in a hotel room. No one of her family members was in sight.

Her family came to pay her a visit all the way from their small hometown. She moved to a bigger city to pursue her career and occasionally her family would visit her once every year. The thought of having her family around was already exciting for her. She looked forward to meeting her family, but she did not expect that all of her excitement would be thrown away on the last two days of their visit.

At that night when she stormed out of the door, all she wanted was just to be alone. She left the arguments hanging and not even once turning back, as walked out of the door. She did not even carry her bag with her. All that she could think about was just, her apartment key, her phone and that’s about it. Not even her wallet or a cent of money. All she wanted to do was just leave the scene. She hated being there, she hated the atmosphere, she hated the tension, she literally hated everything inside the room. She needed to be away, far away from them. She needed somewhere to be alone.

She let out a sigh as she ran a hand through her hair. It was not the first time there was hatred sent from her family member towards her. She could feel it. She knew it. She knew how the woman who gave birth to her badmouthing her to another woman, who claimed the woman as her daughter. She knew the impact from it was pretty harsh on her because she could sense how she was disliked by no other than her own grandmother.

She shook her head lightly and chortle a humorless laugh as she remembered the moment when she heard few people talking about how their grandmothers send lovely and caring messages to their grandchildren. Her friends, her colleagues, even the idols she adored, all of them mentioned how their grandmothers took care of them and every single thing that a grandmother usually did. Meanwhile, in her case, all she could remember was just a sarcastic retort one after another that she always heard coming out from her grandmother’s mouth. A pair of lips that should have been used to say lovely things but turned out the opposite.

Truths hurt, and sadly that was not the end of it, she could not forget how she heard her grandmother trying to make her feel bad about herself by kept digging on her past. She was not an angel to begin with, she was just an ordinary girl who had thousands of flaws and one of them was talking back to her parents or caused her parents to feel hurt because of her behaviors. Which probably one of the reasons why her grandmother’s sentiments raised higher.

When she thought it could be the end, her thoughts ran further across her memory as she remembered another horrendous occasion that had happened. It was right after her sweet seventeen birthday party where she had a huge fight with her family, again, with her own biological mother. Where near the end of the fight, there was a loud noise of a crack echoed in the room. The sound of skin meeting with skin and she clearly remembered how tears welled in her eyes right after it.

She moved her hand up to her cheek, she could feel it still sting even after years.

Every scene of it came like a light to her head, flashing back everything that she could absorb into her head. The facial expression her mother had on her face was very vivid in her mind. The sound of her grandma and the wicked tone she had in her voice, rang in her head like it just happened yesterday. “Stop caring about her! Just leave her. Forget about her. You don’t need her because you still have me!” Was what her grandmother said to her mother. She heard it clearly, every single word that gave a cut deep in her heart was carved in her consciousness.

There was another heavy sigh came out in between her lips. Deep down in her heart, she knew her mother loved her despite everything she did to her, so did her grandmother. It was just their actions seemed quite harsh, considering the two of them have the same stubborn and bold personality with a big ego. For the reason that fights between all of them were pretty difficult to avoid.

She still felt a pang in her chest and she hated herself for letting her thoughts ran around her head and sliced open her old wound. She did not want to meet anyone, she did not want to talk to anybody, for this reason, she had been ignoring every phone calls she received on her phone. She stared down blankly, hands fidgeting on her lap as she still sat on the corner of her bed, not yet moving even after few hours of being awake.

She ignored the sound of a knock on her door and the next knock that followed. She could hear the sound of her front door cracking open. She could hear the rush noise of feet walking hurriedly towards her bedroom. She could hear the sound of bedroom’s door that was pushed open. Next, she could feel, there were eyes staring at her figure before the person walked towards her and stood there in front of her. She ignored his presence for a while until she felt her body enveloped into a warm embrace by strong pairs of arms, the only arms that could send a comforting feeling to her. That was the moment she felt her tears start wetting his shirt, as her face was buried against his abdomen.

Jimin did not say any word, he kept silent while stroking his hand up and down her head to soothe her. He later leaned down to place a kiss on her head, shushing her as he whispered a constant ‘it will be okay’ to her.

“How do you know I’m here?” She finally let her voice be heard as she asked slowly.

“Your mother called me, sweetheart.” His voice sounded gentle, as always.

“She…hates me. All of them… hate me.” She said in between her sobs. She felt her breath hitched in her throat as she spoke.

“No, babe,” Jimin said. “They do not hate you.” He continued, as he slipped one of his hand to catch a hold of her chin and tilted her head up so he could look at her beautiful face, her cheeks were rosy, her lips were glistening and her eyes was red and puffy. Jimin could see tears rolling down on her cheeks. He then ran his thumbs over it.

She shook her head slowly. Her breath stuttered as she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself down. “Jimin. I lashed out my temper at her again.” Her lower lip quivered before she caught it in between her teeth to stop another sob come out of her mouth.

“Oh, baby.” He cooed as he cupped both of her cheeks on his hands. “I know, but your mother doesn’t hate you. I can tell she loves you dearly, honey.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “She wouldn’t be calling me early in the morning, to come here to check on you if she hated you. She loves you, and I know you love her too. And I also know, right now in your head, you probably think negatively about yourself too. But listen to me, love. Every negative thought that you have about yourself inside your head is not true. You are lovely and kind, and that is why I keep falling in love with you.” Jimin curved his lips into a tender smile as he finished his sentence by giving a peck on her lips.

Her hands slowly found its way to settle above his, she intertwined her fingers with him and pulled both corners of her lips into a small smile. Jimin always had this magical effect on her. He knew how to make her feel loved when she was at her worst. He had once again successfully returned her endearing smile back to her face. “You know, you are so beautiful when you smile.” He said as he played with her fingers before brought up her hand and kiss the back of her hand.

She scrunched up her face upon hearing his cheesy remark. “Cheesy.” She muttered as she rose up to stand on her feet in front of him.

“You love it though.” Jimin grinned teasingly and she rolled her eyes at his cheeky response.

He lightly pinched her nose. “Come on, let’s get you ready and meet your mother. You still need to apologize to her.” She groaned and flung her hands around his neck. She furrowed her eyebrows into a frown and ready to leash out her complaints. She was not ready to say her sorry.

“Come on, I know my baby is such a good girl.” Jimin said to her, his voice almost sounded like a father who tried to convince his sullen daughter. Honestly, sometimes Jimin did act like her father. She nestled her chin on his shoulder. “But..” She tried to whine but he would not let her finish.

“No buts, babe. Come on, I will go with you, okay?” She did not give any response for a while as she was battling with her own thoughts. Finally, she let out a sigh and she nodded her head, agreeing with him. She realized that she needed to lower her ego and talk to her mother. She knew she also needed to apologize for walking out of the hotel room in a middle of arguments. “That’s my good girl.” He said, placing a kiss on her exposed shoulder.

Aside from anything, she always felt thankful for Jimin. He was always there when she needed him the most. Jimin was always on her side when she needed a shoulder to lean on, he was there when she needed someone to cheer her up and most importantly he was there when she needed someone to show her that she was loved.

She pulled her face a little to press her lips to his cheek. “Thank you.” She uttered to him, her voice sounded soft and sincere.

“Anytime, love. Now go take a shower.” Jimin patted her butt as he ushered her to go to the toilet. However, her clingy girlfriend just would not stop clinging onto his neck. She hid her face under his chin. She plastered kisses on his collarbone, muttering. “Go with me?”

Jimin chuckled as he could sense the hidden motive behind his girlfriend’s words. “Why does my good girl turn bad in a split second, hm?” He said teasingly. She raised her face up to look at him with her pleading eyes and her lips puckered into a pout. Jimin always thought his girlfriend was adorable, even more when she begged to him. And even after all these years his heart still flipped whenever she made a cute gesture to him. He beamed at her before leaning down to kiss her on her lips. Of course, he could not resist her offer.

He grabbed her up on the hips and in an instant she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her for their morning shower.

#bts #bts jimin #bts fanfiction #bts fanfic #kpop fanfic #kpop fanfiction #kpop angst #kpop fluff #bts fluff #jimin fluff #jimin fanfic #jimin scenario #park jimin #jimin angst

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therachelperspective · 4 years

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FILM | The Family (2013, dir. Luc Besson) Welcome to a mafia movie if it were rooted more on comedy than drama. And for the most part, it actually does work. But I won’t lie to you, it still just feels like another mob movie. It almost got me there, because it’s from a different perspective and a slightly different tale... before falling short during some crucial scenes.

Brace yourselves, this is a long one with lots of spoilers.

Giovanni Manzoni (Robert DeNiro) is a mafia boss that *gasp* snitched – but in his defense, there were attempted his on his and his family’s lives; it’s what any patriarch would do. For the obvious reasons, he and his family are put under Witness Protection and are relocated. And when we catch up with the Mazoni’s, we don’t have a clue how many times they’ve been relocated, but it’s obvious this isn’t their first rodeo. They are on first name terms with the Fed in charge of their seemingly constant relocations (Tommy Lee Jones as Robert Stansfield), as well as the two other agents set up in the safe house across the street from their new home.

This was a moderately fun movie; acceptable for DeNiro fans, good for a few good chuckles, and for those of us Italian-Americans, at least one moment where you could definitely relate. But I thought it felt underdeveloped in some spots. Or, overdeveloped in the wrong places. Regardless, it left me wanting more; eventually I just got bored and wanted it to be over, keeping my fingers crossed for something, anything, to give it a redemptive twist. Sadly, it’s just another mob film that revolves around that typical “taking people out who have wronged me” violence we always see in these tales.

Robert DeNiro is a great actor, but Gio was a little boring to me. Gio writing his memoirs – revealing all that he’s experienced as a boss – was intriguing and an obvious opportunity to provide backstory, but It would have been MORE interesting if something had actually become of his manuscript. Furthermore, I found his “why is the water from my faucet brown?” arc bland. Was that really the best writers of this movie could do? Gio going around shaking people down for answers in typical mob guy fashion? I suppose he was to be laying low, mostly sequestered to this little old French house with not much to offer, and it was a way to give Gio a more personal touch, a sense of activism to help himself and ultimately the community, but I have to believe there was something better that could have given him to occupy his time. At least he ended up in a decent scene: a film debate/discussion amongst the locals where, in a turn of events, he found himself talking about topics related to Goodfellas (pssst, for those that don’t know, DeNiro also starred in Goodfellas). But mostly, I just think The Family is just an aging DeNiro starring in the same stuff he’s always done. It makes sense when you see Martin Scorcese’s name as a producer.

I had a little more interest in Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer), but only a smidgen more and really because of her culinary related scenes. The first, when she brings a snack to the FBI agents in the safe house – roasted peppers doused in olive oil and garlic. I literally said out loud how delicious that sounds (yes, my Italian is showing). And while I don’t necessarily agree with what she says in denouncing the French use of butter and cream in the majority of their dishes, her description of the effects of olive oil versus butter in the body was a fantastic scene. Other than that, her only major arc was related to going to church and attempted redemption through religion, which is all too typical Italian-American fare in film. Again, like DeNiro, her character was just so typical of a mafioso’s wife.

The way The Family differs from other mob films I’ve seen is that viewers get a bigger glimpse into the kid’s point of view. Which might be why I feel the arcs of Belle and Warren overpower that of their parents. They had so much more memorable aspects that I just didn’t have with Gio or Maggie.

With Belle (Dianna Agron), we have the “girl next door” with an attitude and edginess thanks to her place in this hardened family. Honestly, I think they did her dirty with her arc and character. Belle becomes infatuated with a college-aged substitute teacher that we ultimately see in an overly dramaticized look at teenage love. How could a girl that beat the crap out of a boy her own age earlier in the film (for good reason, more on this later), who was also savvy enough to seduce the aforementioned teacher in the first place, be the same girl that wanted to commit suicide because of unrequited feelings? I call lazy writing (**SPOILERS** it is on that rooftop where she contemplates death that she sees incoming trouble for her family). Even later, during the final fight scene, we see Belle quite literally prancing away and crying while trying to escape the bad guys, despite having just shot them up in a pretty badass way mere minutes before. MAKE UP YOUR MIND, PLEASE?!?! I found my feelings about her character bounce back and forth with each scene. Girls next door can still be feminine and hold their own in the face of danger. Psh.

And while Warren (John D’Leo)’s narrative isn’t as dramatic as his sister’s, his role in the overall story was just silly to me. First of all, this kid is mastermind enough to collect information about his fellow classmates at his new school in record time, and create a resulting “mini mafia” system to not only take down the school bully but also make profit from his fellow students. Like, this boy has got skills for sure. But Warren is also sloppy. He has the abilities to create such an amazing thing for himself... yet apparently wasn’t capable of keeping all his goings-on underwraps and was confronted by school faculty. Again, I say lazy writing, as his role was the same as Belle’s in ushering the final conflict of the film (like legit, it his slip up that makes the whole ending happen). But at least I’ll say it is more realistic in the repercussions of his actions; we see schoolyard violence often enough in film, but not always the punishment for doing so.

This is very obviously not a perfect film in my eyes. Especially considering they neglect how the Witness Protection Program actually works – YOU DO NOT JUST CHANGE YOUR LAST NAME, GUYS. Only Gio changes his entire name to his new identity, “Frank Blake.” The rest of his family maintains their same first names. This and other details throughout the film honestly just bother me to no end.

Buuuut.... I love that we see each family member handle things on their own against those that wrong them throughout the film, while simultaneously doing their part to defend their family. Of course we expect acts of brutishness from Gio, that’s just what he does and how he rolls. Then, however, we see Maggie, at the grocery store asking for the overtly American specialty of peanut butter, and the townspeople begin badmouthing Americans because of it. So what does she do? Sets off a little explosion in the back of the store that starts the place on fire as she walks away. And Belle has the previously mentioned tussle with a group of male classmates, when one is being a gross greasy boy wanting to take advantage of her at a park when she merely just needed a ride home. Not only does she hit him with a vicious right hook, but she also finds a tennis racket in the trunk of the car and continues to pummel his disgusting ass while simultaneously giving a stern lecture on how to treat women and how important women are to the men’s futures (again, how does this badassery get so warped later on for her?) Similarly, young Warren’s run-in with the school bully allows us to see how masterful his skills are for utilizing his knack for collecting information and creating a well-crafted pull with the other students as a result (class nerds and rugby players alike) to give that bully exactly what he deserves. Not surprised at all that each and every one of the Manzoni’s/Blake’s would handle matters with violence, as all good mafia families do. And it’s equally not shocking at all when **SPOILERS** we see them drive off into the distance to start anew again at the end of the film. I was, however, constantly waiting for this wonderful moment at the end of the film where I believed the entire family was going to fight together, literally side by side. And it never happened. Honestly, the big gunfight between the Manzoni’s and the Don(s) he betrayed felt so anticlimactic I think because of this fact. We know they’re all capable of holding their own separately as they’ve already demonstrated, and they did it separately again here at the end, though at least in the same vicinity. But just think how beautiful it would have been to actually do it all as a true family unit, as was seemingly impressed upon us throughout the film.

I know The Family is not supposed to be some award-winning dramatic piece of cinema. In fact, some if not most reviewers call it a satire of the mafia trope or dark comedy. But I think Ben Nicholson of CineVue (found via Rotten Tomatoes) says my general assessment quite well: it is “acting Goliath [DeNiro] as a now all-too-familiar caricature of the parts that made his name.”

Frankly (ha! see what I did there?), I would say it’s a film I might put on as background noise as I often do with the television when I stay up late these days, but only if I’m truly desperate; I would not actively pursue watching this one again.

OH! I do like fun facts though: like that this is the first time we see legends Tommy Lee Jones and Robert DeNiro together in a film. Only took forever, right? And apparently there’s another with these two coming out later this year, a remake of The Comeback Trail. Equally so, The Family was actually based on a book called Malavita by Tonino Benacquista. How much you wanna bet the book is better?

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